Art happenings

      These three paintings are some experimental results from the painting and posting last week. I think this is an interesting idea, and I will continue to develop it. Although it may be difficult to believe, these images are watercolors. They look very much like oils. I painted them on foam core, and found that applying the paint to the surface was very much like working with oils as well. The watercolor stays fluid, and can even be erased, reworked, and scratched into just like oils. It was a new experience for me, as I had always been instructed that watercolors could not be worked like oils. I think it has to do with the sheen of the foam core, but whatever the reason it seems like a good surface to use in the future.

      It is a busy time, and there are many art happenings. "Stabbed in the Art" and "Fest for All", two different art exhibition/festivals will be happening in Baton Rouge this weekend. I plan on attending both and will post about them here. You should go too, if you are in the area.

      In addition to these events, I also have some upcoming exhibition opportunities. I will be submitting some of my work to an exhibition in North Dakota at the end of the month. I was also contacted by my gallery representative in New York, with an opportunity happening in early June. She also confirmed that I will once again be listed in the annual Art in America guide to artists and galleries. It is indeed a very busy and exciting time. I will update information here as it is available. See you in the future, don't forget to post your comments.  

Artist Update

    
      I have once again been invited to participate in the Cultural Association art exhibition in Civitanova Italy. The exhibition is May 20th-July 8th in the Cultural Association Gallery. The image above is the one I created for this show. The theme was arts and crafts makers.

      For quite a while I was uncertain what I would submit to this exhibition. I originally thought about doing something with weavers and/or spinning wheels. I still think that might be an interesting idea to explore, perhaps I will do so at a later date. After discussing different ideas with a co-worker (she suggested cheese making), I decided to experiment with wine making. The completed image is interesting, but I think I may need to explore this idea further.

      I like my pallet choices. I find the colors in this image to be very soothing, and I think they create an almost sleepy atmosphere. As I was working this image, I was torn between using distorted, representational figures, or more accurate, naturalistic ones. The result of this quandary is a kind of combination of both ideas. The figure in the foreground is more representational, while the one in back is somewhat more naturalistic. The same idea was carried though in the ellipse of each wine barrel which virtually divides the painting in two. This division is bridged by the viewer’s eye as it moves across and down the page. I think the addition of a third, even more distorted figure, (perhaps in the lower right corner) would add to this image. I was limited to specific dimensions for the exhibition, and I think working with a larger picture place would also benefit the composition.

      These are my considerations for this painting. What do you think?

    
    

Thomas Kinkade

Thomas Kinkade, the self-proclaimed "painter of light" died this past Friday (Apr. 6, 2012). A full article from the New York Daily News can be read here.

Kinkade has been an interesting figure. I have written about him and his work before. Click here to re-read that post. I have never been a fan of his work, but I have found his philosophy towards art useful and interesting when teaching and discussing art. To me, his work represents an extreme of the art spectrum, and helps to define how meaning is derived through art.

When I was in art school, I had an art history class that focused solely on landscape art. This course included landscape paintings, but also sculptures and environmental works. Anything that explored the idea of land, land use, or the landscape in general, was discussed. One day my instructor brought up the work of Thomas Kinkade. We, as art students, dismissed the work as laughable. But when the instructor asked us why we laugh at it, no substantial answer could be reached.

Reflecting on this now, almost ten years later, I can say that we possibly laughed at this work because it didn't contribute anything unique. There is nothing inherently wrong with the work of Thomas Kinkade, but the ideas and information communicated in each piece were not new. What Kinkade did do differently, however, was his marketing. This contribution to the art world does raise questions and can put his work in a separate category.

The way Kinkade sold his works (original works are rare, most were re-prints on canvas or paper) asks what is the purpose of art making. Kinkade claimed that his goal of mass-distribution was to create appeal for art at any level, and that the generation of this interest in art was a good thing. I can agree with this philosophy, I think people need art, but I would also hope that viewers are drawn into the world of art and that they explore works beyond the levels that Kinkade represents.

Shreveport Artist Rachel Stuart-Haas

During a recent conference in Shreveport, LA I surveyed the local art scene. Shreveport has an art museum, a weekly outdoor art market, and a few little art galleries. Many of the buildings are also covered in original murals. Despite this, I found that most of the downtown area seemed abandoned, and I only managed to locate one gallery. That gallery (Artspace, linked here) was featuring an exhibition by Rachel Stuart-Haas. The postcard from her show is pictured below.

Stuart-Hass described her work as drawing on her emotions and experiences of being a woman. Her artist statement added that many of the pieces exhibited were based on thoughts and feelings she had while becoming a new mother.

To that, I would add that her paintings definitely have a sense of mystery to them. I have also noticed how she has drawn inspiration from other artists including Michelangelo and Gaugun. I have included three of my favorites, in no particular order.

I enjoyed the work of Stuart-Hass. I liked how she composed her images and used her space. Many of the images were flattened, but I think this added to the overall feelings derived from the content presented. The pen and ink images were smaller and somewhat playful, which contrasted nicely with the larger paintings that dealt with heavier concepts. What was presented was a nice body of work, and a very talented artist.

I think it is important to support artists and galleries at any level. I know an artist who once remarked that "...artists are a dime a dozen." And while it's true that there are artists everywhere, if we do not support their efforts and build a community the responds to artistic endeavors, artistic expressions will be lost.

Progress of a painting

This week's post is going to be more visual than textual. I recently completed a painting, and I documented the progress that I made with each wash. I work mostly with watercolor these days, and before I added each layer I photographed the previous layer when it was dry. I was surprised to learn that, for this image, I only went over it eight times. I would have thought it was more.

Wash 1

Wash 2

Wash 3

Wash 4

Wash 5

Wash 6

Wash 7

Wash 8

Arts Fest and Frank Lloyd Wright

Image courtesy of the artist


For those of you who do not know me personally, I am the fine arts librarian at a community college in south Louisiana. This week the college kicks off Arts Fest 2012. This is an annual event where the campus hosts a variety of art related activities, exhibitions, and shows for the next two weeks. We in the library have been receiving calls every day asking the location of the gallery. This is where a display of student paintings, prints, and drawings will be exhibited (they were setting it up on Saturday afternoon), and based on the number of calls people are very excited about this. Arts fest is also going to feature a visit by Louisiana artist Kathryn Hunter. An example of her instaltion art is pictured above. The full schedule of events can be read here.

Arts Fest is a celebration of all art forms. There's to be theater performances, music recitals, dance demonstrations, movies screened, and of course visual art. I enjoy the collaborative efforts to combine all the arts. Too often, particularly in academic settings, I believe there is an effort to compartmentalize the arts by discipline. However, when these forms of human expression are brought together the results are usually amazing, more so than when presented individually.

For example, I have provided the following video link:(link removed from internet, hopefully it will be replaced later)



This was a collaborative effort between Los Angeles singer Simone White, and her friend Hideyuki Katsumata. It was created as a response to the terrible earthquake that hit Japan one year ago. I find the images and the singing to be a haunting reminder of the power of nature. And I think the execution of this piece, with both music and printed animation, adds a great deal to what is being communicated.

Finally, I wanted to include a story and link about a dog house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, even though it doesn't really fit with the theme of this post. The article can be found here. I enjoy this story. It's too bad Eddie never got to enjoy the house that was designed for him.

Art Show

This past Saturday I went to a one-night all-night art show. To have the exhibition at night for one night only, added to the experience of the art. The painting above is an example of the art shown, created by William G Osborne III.

Osborne wrote, in his artist statement, that his art was meant to be experienced as it was. The works were not meant to be complicated depictions, but full representations of optical imagery. He stated that each image was based on something he had seen/experienced but that it was not important for viewers to know what. By exhibiting them for one night at night, the artist created an environment in which to focus solely on that art. If one were to step right outside the gallery, darkness and solitude would envelop.

The view up the street:

The view down the street:

There was little else going on.

I found the concept of the show interesting, but I was not terribly impressed by the art as it stood alone. I think that had this show been open during normal gallery hours, the impact of the work would not be as effective. In this case the exhibition was less of a show and more an installation piece.

Some upcoming shows that I might attend are below.

Encaustic Printmaking Exhibition March 10-April 6
Reception Saturday March 24

LSU Art Faculty Exhibition March 7-30
Reception Friday, March 9