Blog
Exploring Seclusion. As you may have gleaned from a past post, I do not follow Khalo. But I have to hand it to her (pardon the expression). She knew how to make art while sheltered. So, for now, she is my muse. Rather than an exclusive series of self portraits, I will explore my secluded life. I think we have all been doing that, one way or another...watching, writing, culling, repairing, reading, cooking, gardening, etc.
So, I decided to do a series of sheltered paintings. My first painting was of my husband, who agreed to pose for me. He didn’t have any other plans. My next project was to paint some items in my studio.
Then I started to take photos around the house as references and ideas for additional sheltered paintings. After playing with several photos, I had an aha moment. Most of the photos were not conducive to paintings but were very interesting to me.
I realized that I discovered another way that we all can explore our secluded life. Look at your home in a new way through your camera. Create vignettes and rearrange objects. Search for patterns and reflections. Look up and look down. Zoom in and stand back. Have fun with your camera at home.
Bringing this approach to a whole new level…my friend, Neal Knobler, is an artist who uses his camera. “I find inspiration in everyday objects. A crack in the cement can resemble an expansive landscape to me. Or a gleaming chrome faucet, an intriguing nightscape. Representation and abstraction become a mystery for the viewer. What common object was the source of this image?” The following photos are from Neal's home.
inside of metal mailbox
windowsill and caulking
reflections in stainless steel sink
cement laundry tub
You can view more of Neal’s work at https://www.aarnungallery.com/portfolio/neal-knobler/.
Netflix is not cancelled. But, before I get into a discussion of home entertainment, let me entertain you. Humor me as I think outside of the coronavirus box. Here are some irreverent thoughts about venturing outside. Does anybody have the stats regarding COVID-19 among women in strict Muslim communities? I don’t…but I’m thinking that a burka might protect one’s face. You might take your cue from Yogi Berra: “No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.” Or consider this variation from Captain Kirk…“To boldly go where no one has gone before.” And if you’re vigilant, perhaps verse #2 of this children’s song will remind you to stay home, shelter in place, hunker down.
So… thinking inside the serious virus box. Home. We will be spending more time occupying ourselves at home because, sadly, much of our world has been shut down, postponed, or cancelled. And we have retreated. But not Netflix. I have seen most of the Academy films, not interested in action films, and dare not to peek at at adult films. But there are art films on Netflix. I have choices...
Abstract: The Art of Design Netflix doc series
Bob Ross: Beauty Is Everywhere
Cutie and the Boxer
Fake or Fortune series
Have You Seen the Listers?
Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-qiang
Struggle: The life and Lost Art of Szucalski
The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait
The Creative Brain
Amazon Prime is amazing. Below I have listed free art films and series with subscription. Be patient in your search. You may have to type in the entire title, but it is available. I checked…
A Boy’s Dream
A Genuine Forger
American Masters: Tyrus
A Real Vermeer
Being and Becoming Chua Ek Kay
Bill Cunningham New York
Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World
Brushstrokes: Every Picture Tells a Story series
Colored Frames
Comix: Beyond the Comic Book Pages
Dali’s Greatest Secret
Detroit Paint Warz
Everything: Studio Conversations With Andrew Saftel
Exhibition on Screen: History’s Greatest Artists series
Gauguin The Full Story
Gauguin Voyage to Tahiti
Holbein: Eye of the Tudors
Iris
James McNeil Whistler and the Case for Beauty
Let’s Not Pretend
Local Color
Manifesto
Manet and the Birth of Impressionism
Marcus Jansen: Examine and Report
Masterpiece or Forgery?
Masterworks series
Miriam Beerman Expressing Chaos
No Footing
Nothing Changes: Art for Hank’s Sake
Painting Anna
Parallel Dreams
Portraits: Picasso
Raiders of the Lost Art. Series
ReArt: Baroque
Rembrandt: A Genius Without Fear
Renaissance Unchained series
Renoir
Robert Williams Mr Bitchin
Rubens: an Extra Large Story
Ruth Asawa: Of Forms and Growth
The American Artist: The Life & Times of George Caleb Bingham
The Artist in You
The Art of Bradford Brenner
The Caravaggio Affair
The Collector
The Fabulous Life of Elisabeth Vogel Labrun
The Hudson River School: Artistic Pioneers
The Impressionists series
The Liberators
The Painting Life of Rembrandt van Rijn
The Rape Of Europa
The Secret of Mona Lisa
Self Medicated: A Film About Art
Walt Before Mickey
What Remains: The Life and Work of Sally Mann
Who is Oda Jane?
Willem de Kooning Artist
William Dobson: The Last Genius of BaroqueWomen Painters
Wyeth
And, while at home, I will get plenty of rest, drink plenty of fluids, eat healthy foods, and manage my stress to keep my immunity strong. (Kaiser Permanente)
Please post reviews and additional suggestions in “Comments.”
Quotes. I was going through my computer files to do a clean-up and came across a list of quotes by Robert Henri. I have written about him before. But I never had the ego or imagination to fantacize that these insights were spontaneous appreciative responses to my paintings. As I shake off the dream and return to reality, I know that these quotes really are aspirations. I receive each of these thoughts as if it were a personal message and instruction. This curated collection will become my checklist for judging my work.
Good composition is like a suspension bridge; each line adds strength and takes none away... Making lines run into each other is not composition. There must be motive for the connection. Get the art of controlling the observer – that is composition.
A Curve does not exist in its full power until contrasted with a straight line.
There are forms that can only be seen when you are near a painting, others only appear when you are far away.
Strokes carry a message whether you will it or not. The stroke is just like the artist at the time he makes it. All the certainties, all the uncertainties, all the bigness of his spirit and the littlenesses are in it.
Your style is the way you talk in paint.
Look for echoes. Sometimes the same shape or direction will echo through the picture.
The model is not to be copied, but to be realized.
I think it is necessary to pursue this idea. Therefore, I will use the above statements as a tool to critique my own painting. In order to look as good as possible and to minimize my vulnerablity, I selected one of my strongest paintings, Serenade on the Street.
Serenade on the Street
The lines in this painting direct the viewer to the primary focal point, the group of people. They also support a secondary focal point which is where the buildings merge in the distance. The curves in this painting are exclusively reserved for the figures and the guitar. They are in contrast to the lines of the building, further defining the figures as the centerpiece of the painting. On the right side of the painting there are dark figures walking in the distance. They are difficult to see when viewing the painting from a distance. Most of my strokes are visible, which is characteristic of my painting style. However, I do wish that I had more expressive and visible strokes to describe the figure with the red shirt. I think this figure is the weakest part of the painting. Another improvement would have been to repeat, or echo, spots of color. Although the chartreuse is repeated, the pink square could have had a partner in the red shirt.
This painting is from a reference photo that I took in Buenos Aires. For at least the first half of the painting process, the reference photo was upside down. The purpose of that approach was to capture shapes, values, and overall composition. I didn’t want to be distracted by identifiable objects or details. In fact, when the painting was nearly complete, I realized that accuracy was lacking in the figures. They needed additional treatment in order to come to life. So, I did have to rework this painting to provide credibility without rendering a duplication of the photo.
