Archive for March, 2011
Susan Swartz Featured at NMWA
“Susan Swartz – Seasons of the Soul” will be featured in a special exhibition of abstract landscape paintings at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C. The exhibition will run from June 17 to October 2. Her captivating work has been displayed in private collections as well as museums, including the International Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Swartz is not only an abstract landscape painter; she is also a philanthropist and environmental activist. Her artwork is known for its bright, bold colors that demand an emotional response. The focus on environmentalism in her paintings is “an urgent plea, to notice, respect and preserve our natural environment,” said the artist. I, for one, will be urging all my friends in the D.C. area to check out her inspirational work, and perhaps take a peek at the other female artists’ work on display at the NMWA.
The Edison Estate
Thelma and I have been waiting for today for a long time. Several weeks ago we inquired about painting at the Edison Estate and we were told that artists are allowed on Wednesdays, and the entrance fee would be $5. The classes for which we had registered were always on Wednesday, so we had to wait until class ended before we could come.
Today we arrived at the Estate about 10:30 AM and I went in to pay the fees. One cashier knew nothing about the fee for artists, the other had heard of it, but wasn’t sure the amount. That already told me they have not been overwhelmed with artists. Eventually I paid the money and we found a tree that appealed to each of us. After a couple of hours we had completed our trees and some background and headed home – the rest to be completed in the studio. It was great to be outdoors doing plein air oil paintings again after so many weeks of acrylics in class.
The Basket List
In his twice-weekly newsletter, Canadian landscape painter, Robert Genn, says he is making a “basket list.” Not a “bucket list” of things he wants to do before he kicks the bucket, he is making a “basket list” of things he wants to try in his work. It can be made on the run in a sketchbook of observations related to nature or painterly ideas or motifs or techniques.
Here are a few of his: Foreground snow interspersed with patches of bare ground with green shoots sprouting. High-key green. A moldering stone-based barn with horizontal and vertical boards in a variety of grays. Texture and impasto. The casual use of scumble to add freshness and “think-on-your-feet” sincerity. Be Velasquez.
While words are useful, a quick drawing is also helpful. No matter how pedestrian the observations seem, we need to make them our own. It’s one of the great principles of making art: “Name it and claim it,” “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” (Jack London)
ECHO
For the past three years, each winter when I came to Florida, I went to Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO) and did oil paintings of their banana trees. They are such cool trees! ECHO is a wonderful organization. The people there, very many volunteers, do research on all kinds of soil mixtures, sand to clay, and terrains, desert to highlands. They grow seeds for developing nations and invent low cost and natural ways of enriching the soil, irrigating, and solving other problems.
This winter, I didn’t arrive until December and just in time to witness two devastating frosts that ruined the orange and vegetable crops of Florida. It ruined the large banana trees, too , but always a sprout remained. When I was at ECHO today, those sprouts had grown and looked good, but they’ll look better next November when I return. In the meantime, the small painting that I made last year, I brought home from a gallery where it was for sale, and I think I’ll donate it to ECHO. I’m sure they would like to include it in one of their money making projects.
Just for Laughs
Robert Genn, Canadian painter, in his twice-weekly newsletter recently discussed humor in art. He said he had received emails asking, “If it’s funny, is it art?” or, “does art have to be so serious?”
George Condo is one of the hotties in the New York art scene. Critics have described his oil paintings as “goofy,” “really bad,” “creepy” – you get the picture. Meanwhile, the public loves it. At a current show at the New Museum, collectors are buying his work like crazy, everything is selling out, and Condo is enjoying a life of luxury.
As Marshall McLuhan once said when asked about a definition of art, “Art is what you can get away with.” Genn says, “Be funny. Maybe a few laughs is what’s needed right now.” James Kalm noted, “I often find myself at cocktail parties, fantasizing that the person I am talking with is some sort of Condo monster,” Studios, ataliers, art galleries and museums are all full of Condo characters! We’re just not able to see them clearly!
The End of an Era
Today I put on the finishing touches to “Aspens” that I thought was already completed. Also, several paintings were scheduled to be photographed. That happened, too. Tonight I edited them and “Aspens” is included in today’s post.
My time here is getting short. Exactly 2 weeks from today, Thelma returns to Illinois and I will leave shortly thereafter for Maryland. In the meantime we plan to do at least one more plein air painting next week at the Edison Estate. And soon the tax man cometh and I’d better be prepared!
Class Today
Today was my last “Paint Your Passion” class. We began as usual with a critique of work we had completed since last class. I took a painting of aspens and three oil paintings that I had started a while ago and wanted suggestions from Teacher as to how to finish. I had thought the painting of the aspens was finished, but as soon as teacher held it up, I realized I had not completed a bit in one corner. I did appreciate the help with the other three, though.
Teacher brought pictures of landscapes as suggestions for today’s paintings. A few weeks ago she had brought a picture of a painting by Wolf Kahn which I had had copied and brought to paint today. Wolf Kahn is one of my favorite artists and you can see several of his paintings on his web site at http://www.wolfkahn.com . He sometimes paints his tree trunks blue!
Preparing for Class
Last week I took to class a very small photo of aspen trees in a forest. I had it enlarged enough to see in order to make a painting from it. I have not had time to spend on that painting until today, so today I spent the day painting.
By the time I finished the acrylic painting, it was too late to photograph it. In spite of the recommendation from the instructor of yesterday’s class on Photographing Art to do it indoors, I have had good luck taking photos of my work outside on the north side of a building in the shade. Tomorrow I will try to get some photos of paintings completed during this session so I can post them.
Tomorrow is the last class of the series. I look forward to it with sadness because I have had such fun this winter and done so many paintings that were outside my usual modus operandi. There is nothing like doing something different to gain a new perspective.
Photographing Art
Being an artist is more than creating beautiful oil paintings - although that is difficult enough. Painters enter their works in galleries, competitions and shows and post them on web sites and blogs. In order to do this, a photograph is necessary. Either the artist must photograph the work herself, have a husband or good friend do it, or pay a professional – and that can be quite expensive.
Today I attended a class in photographing art. I learned about placing the artwork in relation to the camera and lights, different kinds of lighting, the focal lengths of lenses, the apertures of the lenses and the depth of field a small or large aperture produces. All this and much more are important in producing a great photo of art.
Our Second Show at Marinatown
Today is the third Sunday of March and our group is having another show at Marinatown in North Fort Myers. We are a small group: a chocolatier, photographer, two artists, and others selling healthy skin care, metal wall art, stuffed animals and plastic ware. Another who sold chocolates set up and stayed an hour, but her chocolates were melting, so she left.
In preparation, Thelma and I had finished a few pieces of acrylic paintings yesterday and varnished several. It has been a month since our last show – so all that we created in that month needed varnishing. The temperature rose to around 89 degrees so we were happy to find shade. Others had tents. None of us became rich on our sales today, but most made at least a few dollars. It was nice to visit with the passersby and with each other. This is probably the last show until late fall as next month our show will run into the holidays and Thelma and I will be home in Illinois and Maryland.