Sketching, drawing class

Saturday (6-27-09) I met some friends at the marina near where the Jazz Festival in Portland is held each year to do some sketching. I've never explored the area and have to say it is beautiful. A small lush garden with lily ponds and a paved trail that goes all the way to the Sellwood bridge. Not to mention views of the Marquam and Hawthorne bridges.

We had lunch at a grill right on the water. Once when a large boat or ship went by the server came by and told everyone to pick up their purses in case the water came all the way to where we were sitting on the dock. They have a very nice seating area inside too. Very good food!

I'm starting a drawing class on July 6th and I'm sure I'll improve with some help. In the meantime, I'm posting one of my drawings. This is part of what this blog is about----taking chances and sticking my neck out!

Women's Art Show at the Pompidou Center

I posted in an earlier post about the women's show at the Pompidou Center. 

Here is a review of the show. Sounds most interesting and runs through May 2010.

I believe male artist's couldn't have made their art without a woman in the house doing all the work around maintaining a structure for him and the family. Women were too busy to think about making art! Well, it's one explanation about why there are fewer women artists represented in the art museums.

Economical art show

I want to point you to a very good artist's newsletter which sends an email every Sunday morning with the week's topics. It's called Empty Easel and it's a very good source of information written clearly by the author and several guest writers. This Sunday I especially enjoyed reading about "How to Plan and Prepare a Solo Art Show on a Shoestring Budget" by Robb Scott. Some really good ideas here so go read his other topics too. 

I know there is a world of information out there in the arts field and I try to limit how much time I spend on the internet and how many sites I bookmark or subscribe to on a regular basis. But Empty Easel is one of the good ones I read weekly.

Last week end

This last week end was full of events for the Rose Festival in Portland Oregon. Did I go to the Rose Parade? Or the Waterfront Park fun center? Or do anything related to the Rose Festival? No. I went to the Japanese Garden where they had a show called "Parallel Worlds" which runs through June 28th. They also had a show of unusual Ikebana floral arrangements. Not the small, stylish and refined Ikebana I've seen before but huge arrangements with tree like branches. Very unusual and wish I had taken pictures. The day was cool and misty but not really raining. The Rose Gardens were beautiful even with the hard rain storm we had on Thursday. I also visited Powell's book store so it was a full day and I had a wonderful time.

As far as art related activities, I've spent several hours cleaning my studio. I've even scraped up most of the paint from the floor. Now it's time to get this room dirty and messy again!

Artist stereotypes

It seems like about the time I'm thinking of an art focused topic Robert Genn writes about it in his newsletter! Today's letter is about stereotypes. We all use stereotypes sometimes to make sense of our lives and our place in the over all picture. I've seen several topics on the web relating to the low number of women artists shown in various museums and galleries especially in the past. And it's true so this isn't a stereotypical statement about women artists.

What about the starving artist? The unreliable or flaky artist? Do you have to be a little crazy to be an artist? I can only speak for the artists I know and I can say they are dedicated, hard working and fully functioning members of society. And mostly well balanced! 

Scroll down and read Allan O'Marra's post about how he thinks Robert is making it sound too easy and doing a snow job on other artists. I don't think Robert's newsletters have ever made being a successful artist sound simple or easy. But that's why I always read the responses to his newsletters---there's always another idea out there to think about.

Be sure to read the post by Janice Slattery about her group of artists sharing encouragement. Here is the gallery where the group shows: La Habra Art Gallery.

Earlier I posted about when to know if a painting is finished and some tips to figure it out. One of the important things I didn't add was the support, encouragement and help of my critique group. So thank you to Collin, Marge, Nikki, Leslie and Ann. You are so appreciated!

Stendhal Syndrome

Here is an article I found about Stendhal Syndrome. I didn't know such a syndrome existed.

by Clint Watson 

In the July/August Issue of Art of the West Magazine, Tom Tierney and Allan Duerr wonder in their column "Straight Talk" why some people respond to art so strongly while others seem impervious to art's spiritual effects upon one's soul.  As I pondered their questions, I remembered reading about an obscure psychosomatic "illness" regarding cases of people who exhibit extreme sensitivity to beautiful art.  The phenomenon is called "Stendhal syndrome."

Stendhal syndrome is a psychosomatic "illness" that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art.  

Marie-Henri Beyle, the French author known as Stendhal (his pen name), visited Florence in 1817. His book, Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio, describes his experience of the "illness."  He actually became dizzy and confused by the majestic beauty of Florentine art. According to an Italian psychiatrist, Graziella Magherini, it happens all the time.  Magherini observed and described more than 100 similar cases among tourists and visitors in Florence. Apparently Sensitive tourists enter the Uffizi, stand in front of  paintings by Brunelleschi or Botticelli, and simply keel over.   

I've seen similar effects upon visitors to art exhibitions that I've attended.  People stand in front of paintings gaping, weeping, or laughing.  Stendhal syndrome illustrates the amazing power that artists wield when they concern themselves with painting or sculpting, rather than making ridiculous splashes or preposterous gimmicks. 

Speaking of splashes and gimmicks, I have to wonder if anyone has ever fainted in front of an Andy Warhol or a Jackson Pollock?  How many tourists have collapsed in tears in the MOMA?  How many have been elated to spiritual highs by the geometric shapes of a Mondrian?  Although to be fair, I have to admit that the apparent appeal and popularity of Warhol, Pollock, Mondrian, Picasso and other modernists does leave me in a state of confusion, but that's not quite the same thing as keeling over from the sheer beauty of their works....

As Allan and Tom point out in their column, those of us who are art lovers "...respond to art because it feeds our souls and, simply put, makes our world a better place."  If being a person who responds strongly to art makes me ill, then I don't want to be well brother!

Women's art show at the Pompidou Center

"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity." Ellen Parr

Here is a link to an article about a show featuring only women artists at the Pompidou Center in Paris. The show ends August 10th.

And from Making a Mark I found this blog about making color charts to better understand the paints we use.

Hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day holiday.

Gilding & gold leaf

After
Before

I recently bought 10 new canvases. I didn't need them but they were on sale. I have five 16x16 and five 36x36. Even though they say they are triple gessoed I always do one or two more coats of gesso. My favorite gesso is Utrecht's Professional grade gesso. Then I covered them with gold leaf. The bottom picture is before cleaning and the top photo is after gently cleaning with an old T-shirt on a small sponge.

There are several types of adhesives to use and my favorites are either Duo Embellishing Adhesive by USArtQuest or gold leaf adhesive size by Old World Art. I've also used matt or gloss medium but you need to be sure it is kept semi-wet because once it dries the leaf won't stick too well. The very worst thing to use is spray adhesive. It is bad for you and the environment and besides it doesn't work well at all. Nasty, nasty useless stuff in my opinion. 

Now it's ready to be painted on and may bead up a bit with the first coat but keep going and the paint will stick very well. I start with the most transparent paints available. Later the more opaque colors can be added when I'm sure I want to really cover the gold leaf. Why gold leaf a canvas if you cover the whole thing with opaque paint?

I recently drove between Vancouver and Seattle which takes about 2 1/2 hours. This is the perfect time of year to drive as far as the scenery goes. The deciduous trees are turning from the very palest greens to more mature greens which creates a wonderful contrast between the evergreens which are sort of black green and the newer greens seen in the spring. I saw blue-purple lupines, California poppies, burgundy grasses, pale yellow mustard plants and the deeper yellow Scotch Broom. Wonderful blue skies and good views of Mt. Rainier too. 

When is a painting finished?

This is a question much weightier artists have addressed over and over in books or on the internet. I don't have the answer except to say---it depends---on the artist. When a painting is leaving the ugly adolescent realm and starting to be it's own special piece is when I turn to some tricks or tests. 

The two 12x24 pieces I posted here are approaching this stage of development. 

These two paintings are on at least their fourth go round with me. If they don't come into their own soon they will be the first canvases I've destroyed which gives me a lot of freedom really. I'm working with lots of alcohol now and digging into very old layers.

Tips on finishing:

1. Look at the painting in all four directions rotating it and squinting or take your glasses off.

2. Check out light and dark using a piece of red plexiglass.

3. Do you have different sizes of general shapes?

4. Do you have or want a center of interest?

5. Do you need neutrals to rest the eye? I have a hard time using neutrals at all!

6. If on paper using mat board "Ls" is helpful. Wish I could crop canvases sometimes.

7. Simplify. Major problem for me.

8. Put in a darker room and see it out of the corner of the eye. You'll see things you didn't see before. What about working in the dark?

9. Check it out in a mirror.

10. Take a photo and see it on the computer in color, black and white and sepia. Make larger or smaller. Try way smaller too.

11. Wait a few days and look again. Or a few months!

If I think of other things that have helped me in the past I'll post them later. I'll be gone for a few days.