Thursday, March 27, 2014

Tim's Vemeer

And the answer to yesterday's "What is it", is: The back door ramp to Tulsa's Circle Cinema. I was there on Wednesday to see Tim's Vermeer, a documentary about a possible technique used by Vermeer & other Dutch masters to produce their paintings.

Tim Jenison is an inventor who began to wonder how artists of the 17th century were able to paint so photo-realistically and he set out to find a possible answer (it's all done with smoke & mirrors, minus the smoke). Tim not only proposes an answer but uses his technique to actually produce a "Vermeer".

A highlight of the film for me was seeing David Hockney. He is my absolute favorite living artist. About 10 years ago David proposed his own theory as to how these paintings exhibited such startling realism in his book Secret Knowledge. However it was done, it certainly remains a secret, but by the end of the film we are convinced that Tim has come up with an interesting possibility that actually works.

I'll let you check out Vermeer's images for yourself.


Monday, March 24, 2014

Gertrude Beals Bourne

I am always excited to discover an artist that I have missed or maybe previously overlooked. And what caught my attention in the watercolors of Gertrude Beals Bourne was the intensity of the color.

Gertrude Beals Bourne
1868-1962

Gertrude lived at a time when American art was bursting with innovation. Artists were ready to embrace the revolutionary ideas of the European Impressionists, but they were also poised to produce a brand of "American Art".

Gertrude, a Boston native, produced 100's of paintings of her familiar surroundings and scenes from her travels. I wasn't able to find an image of her Waterlilies, which certainly looks like it was inspired by Monet. Monet's paintings were exhibited in Boston in the early 1900's, so she may have seen his Waterlilies there. But her paintings show her love for color, and are a celebration of the events and places as she experienced them.

Marshland

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

In the Studio

I heard this quote today from author Madeleine L"Engle: "Inspiration comes during writing not before." 

As I thought about it, this applies to artists as well: inspiration comes during the painting, drawing, printing, sculpting etc. not before. 

This happens to me often. As I enter the studio I really have nothing specific in mind to create, but as soon as a color or mark is down on the surface, I am "inspired" to add another color or mark. Each one builds on the next, and soon a composition appears, and I say, "Wow, looked what happened."

Friday, March 14, 2014

Quote of the Week

"Color is the place where our spirits and the universe meet."  Paul Cezanne

Monday, March 10, 2014

Pretty Enough to Eat

I heard about a banana, avocado & grapefruit salad and it sounded interesting, but how to put it together & what kind of dressing? Well, what did I find on Google? Just a bunch of wonderfully colorful images of tantalizing salads. I guess I'll have to figure it out for myself. Maybe a citrus dressing?