Archive for October, 2010
Studio vs Outdoor Painting
When San Diego artist Scott Prior was asked, “What do you prefer about plein air painting over creating landscape works in the studio?” he replied, “I like being able to see the natural light in front of me and being out in the elements – feeling it all. Just working from photos in the studio is not the same”.
Recently, I spoke with Mary Ecroos, a well known local plein air painter. She said she was doing more studio work now, but every so often she must do plein air painting to refresh her vision.
After many years of learning to paint in the studio, when I first discovered plein air painting, I was sold! I can see the landscape so much better, feel it, and see the distances and colors much better. My out door landscape paintings have an energy that my studio paintings never had.
Remembering the Day
When Colorado plein air painter Michael Lynch looks at one of his paintings, he has something close to total recall of the world the moment he painted it, no matter how long ago it was. He recalls the sound of the breeze through the grass, the aggravation of gnats, the plane flying overhead, even what he had for dinner the previous night. Plein air painters often say they try to paint a landscape in a manner that lets you feel as well as see the scene, so it follows that the canvas holds a degree of sensory memory for the artist.
When I look at any of my paintings, I, also, remember the day it was painted, whom I was with, the temperature of the day and other things about the day. I can still feel that cold day in Montana when I first painted red tree trunks, that hot day in a park in Mexico when a large crowd watched me paint those 3 trees, and the feeling of the day for all the others as well.
Making the Expressionism-Existentialism Connection
Being a fan of existential philosophy and literature, I’ve found myself drawn to expressionism art. Although the two words aren’t connected on Wikipedia (Nietzsche does popup in Expressionism), there are some among parallels between the views. Expressionism emphasizes the subjective perspective and the “living” aspect of life and emotional experience.
In the same vein, existential philosophy presents the world as a subjective place where we are capable of choosing our own path. According to Sartre, the definitive existential voice, this endless array of choices leads individuals to crippling existential fear. Expressionism is often characterized by emotional angst as well, such as the iconic piece The Scream by Edvard Munch.
Painting the Soy Beans
Suzanne asked me to come to her home to paint en plein air today. Her husband, Carl, plants soy beans and about this time of year they turn a gorgeous orange color. Last year, I painted the soy beans also, so today I tried a different angle.
I arrived about 10 AM and Suzanne had already started on her painting. We visited a short while, then I decided on my location, set up and began. In no time at all my watch said 1 PM and Suzanne brought out sandwiches. We visited again under the shade of a tree at a picnic table in her back yard. If that isn’t a wonderful way to spend a day, I don’t know what is!
Princess Anne Days
Before the days of the Revolutionary War, America was a British colony, and, as such, named many of its towns in honor of British influential personalities. Baltimore, Georgetown, and Kingstown come to mind, as does Annapolis and Princess Anne.
Princess Anne is a small town about 30 minutes south of my home and every year they have “Princess Anne Days” where, one can visit several homes still in the original Colonial décor. This year they also had an art show for the first time. Jennifer and her sister visited several locations, including the Chincoteague Paint Out to see how others planned, set up the facilities and carried out the work of displaying and selling the paintings.
Their display location was a room at the FireDepartment. They had 32 black panels, each 4’ x 8’, of compressed wood, held together with a beam and with lights attached to focus on each panel. There were 28 artists in attendance and a fine Artist’s Reception on Friday evening. One artist did abstract paintings, but most did still life or landscape paintings. There were also several pottery objects available. It was really a very nice show, well organized and attended. I don’t know the dollar amount, but they sold several paintings and pottery objects.
Celebrating the Life of Jeannen-Claude – Part 2
Christo and Jeanne Claude were an inseparable partnership of art and love. They were born on the same day in the same year. She would ultimately refer to him as her “twin”.
They initially used the name “Christo”. They thought it would be easier for them to get established if they were known by one word. Later they decided for their large installations they would use “Christo and Jeanne Claude”. Christo was the painter who always put the ideas on paper to clarify and crystallize the ideas. Jeanne Claude was the manager, the art dealer, the coordinator and the organizer. She was the one who spoke to private landowners and government agencies, seeking permission and approval to bring their art ideas to fruition. She had an unrelenting determination to bring projects to completion and said, ”It is not a matter of patience; it is a matter of passion.”
Last November, at the age of 74, Jeanne-Claude succumbed to complications from a ruptured brain aneurysm. On April 10, 2010, a memorial service was held for her at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, celebrating the life of this “Nomad of Art”. Despite his loss, Christo remains determined to complete the last two projects they had been working on: The Mastaba of Abu Dhabi (since 1978) and Over the River (since 1992).
Celebrating the Life of Jeanne-Claude – Part 1
Jeanne Claude Denat de Guillebon was born into a wealthy French family in Casablanca, educated in France and Switzerland. In 1952, she earned a degree in Philosophy and Latin from the University of Tunis. She met Christo Vladimirov Javacheff in Paris in 1958, supporting himself by painting portraits. Their love endured, they married, and in 1964, they and their 2 year old son emigrated to the United States to make New York their permanent home.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude first worked together in 1961 on Dockside Packages, on the Rhine River in Cologne, an installation of stacked oil barrels and rolls of industrial paper covered with tarpaulins and tied with rope. They were an inseparable partnership of art and love. In 1969, their installation Wrapped Coast, a large installation set up at Little Bay near Sidney, Australia, firmly secured their place in art history.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Many of you may remember the large installation The Gates. For 16 days in February 2005, the public was encouraged to visit New York’s Central Park and walk under the 7,503 saffron-colored gates spaced along the park’s walkways. It was an exhilarating opportunity for hundreds of thousands to enjoy how Christo and Jeanne-Claude had temporarily appointed Central Park, a truly festive sense of community.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude have no gallery affiliation – they come with strings attached. All workers are paid from their personal funds. They are their own agents, maintaining full control and autonomy over each project. This allows them freedom to do whatever they want, how they want and where they want. Funds for the hefty expenses are raised from the sale of Christo’s original paintings which are now big ticket items that are most wanted by museums and major collectors.
Work by Christo and Jeanne-Claude is intentionally impermanent. Each outdoor installation only exists for a finite, limited amount of time, making temporality also important to their aesthetic. Jeanne Claude explained, “We wish our works to be temporary. We have love and tenderness for childhood because we know childhood will not last…. This quality of love and tenderness, we wish to give to our work of art as an additional aesthetic quality. For instance, if someone were to tell you, ’Oh, look at the rainbow’. You would never say, “I will look at it tomorrow’. It is more precious because of its impermanence”.
Caring for Brushes
Recently, I read an article from Artists’ Magazine about caring for your brushes. Two watercolorists and two oil painters described their methods.
First the watercolorists: Frank Francese said he just washed them in soft soap and water, blotted them dry with cloth or paper towel and reshaped the points to dry. Carolyn Lord emphasized that to be sure they always dry straight, she puts “up” arrows on the lid of her brush storage area.
Chris Saper cleans his oil painting brushes with Goop, found in large grocery and hardware stores. The other thing he likes is Jack’s Linseed Oil from Jack Richeson and Co. Sometimes he just drenches his brushes in the soap or Goop, wraps them in plastic wrap overnight and rinses and blots dry. Robert Liberace uses Gamsol to clean his oil brushes and occasionally washes them in soap and water to keep them from getting hard.
I soak mine a short time in Turpenoid Natural (non-toxic) and wash them in Dawn detergent. Sometimes I also use “The Masters” Soap and Brush Cleaner, which can be found in an art suppply store, and which will also restore hardened brushes.
Rain, again
It has been 2 weeks since I have painted outdoors with my friends. We did have a few other nice days that week, but we have had probably 10 days of rain in the last 2 weeks! Yesterday, the only sunny day in at least a week of rain, I just had to mow my grass and do yard work! It’s enough to make a plein air painter go stir crazy!
I did have time to do studio work – lots of that, not that I spent all that time in the studio, though. I still have some paintings to finish from my vacation in August, and one to finish from the Paint Out in Chincoteague, 2-3 weeks ago. I do paint the sides of the canvas, so that takes extra time to paint the top half and let it dry, then the bottom and let it dry. Sometimes I do the whole outside edge and let it dry flat on a cardboard for a few days. After that, it’s amazing how much time it takes to name and sign and wire it, give it a number, and attach a frame. I wouldn’t trade this life for any other, but I do hope the sun will come out again soon!