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Category Archives: Books

Long Hot Summer

09 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by pat in Art, Art Museums & Exhibitions, Books, paintings, sketching, Travel, Uncategorized

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Blue Mountain Lake, conte crayon, graphite, Jardin des Tuileries, Norfolk Coast UK, pastel

I normally think I prefer the winter months to work in my studio.  It’s cozy inside hiding from the cold.  But this summer, I find I am also  retreating from the heat in to my studio.  And I have decided instead of my usual oils I wanted to try something new.  So I have returned to conte, graphite and pastels.

Blue Mountain Lake, 11 x 14, conte and graphite on paper

It is like visiting a dear friend whom you haven’t seen in a long time.  It takes a bit of time to pick up the rhythm, but then it slips into the familiar.  Such joy.

Norfolk Coast Dunes, 11 x 14″, conte and graphite on paper

Part of the fun is I get to spend hours going through my images.  I always only work from my own photos, so each journey in to the past allows me to relive the beauty of my travels.  That always seems to be where I find the best inspiration.  The unfamiliar invites wonder.

Jardin des Tuileries,  11 x 14″, pastel on paper

Paris, England, the Adirondacks, Shenandoah…each has its own appeal. And how do I approach the subject?  I have a general idea in my head.  I look at my collection of art books or borrow from my local library for a gentle push of my creative brain…Hockney, Kahn, Bonnard, Porter, Twombley, Van Gogh, Whistler. A quick trip in to the city to an art museum always helps, and often creates its own subject matter.

There are so many great artists to learn from, but my own style always pushes through all the influences. I find the space where I am comfortable, the stroke of the chalk that makes me happy, the color palette that brings me contentment.

I push through the frustration when things just don’t work right.  I don’t give up easily.

Sometimes I only find completion when I’ve given up all hope, and just don’t care if I “ruin” it or not. That’s often when it takes flight.

June (Kousa Dogwood), 11 x 14, pastel on paper

 

Everything is all right in my studio, whatever the season.

 

 

David Hockney, The Bigger Picture

25 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by pat in Art, Books, London, paintings, sketching

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David Hockney, Royal Academy of Art

I finally got my book in the mail, which I had ordered over a month ago, on the current Hockney exhibit at the Royal Academy in London, David Hockney, A Bigger Place.  It was well worth the wait.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The book is huge and has gorgeous color reproductions.  I had seen a few of the early works from his Yorkshire landscape series in 2006 when My Beloved Brit and I were in London and tracked them down at the Annely Juda Fine Art in London.  I had read an article about how Hockney had returned “home” after years of success in LA.  His dear friend Jonathan Silver was in the last stages of terminal cancer and these early landscapes came from the drive Hockney made back and forth from his mother’s home in Bridlington to his friends bedside in Wetherby.

We were blown away by the show at Annely Juda and these photos seem to do that earlier view justice.

Late Spring Tunnel, May 2006

It is fascinating that what I saw 5 years ago was the beginning of this new wave of pictures. We had seen his first efforts of the brightly colored rural landscapes, and I studied how he did multiple panels, something I was starting to explore.

The book helps explain what went on in those 5 years with the development of this work, and how this truly expansive and intriguing collection was born. I poured over the pages of sketches that preceded the actual paintings.

Mid-summer, East Yorkshire, 2004. Thirty-six watercolors on paper.

And am still going back to look at the full paintings again and again.

Woldgate Mist, November 2005

The book has a wealth of visual and written information on how the work formed.

It also helped me to understand how he approached his subject matter, as here where he studied the same three trees in different seasons, and in different mediums.

Autumn Thixendale, October 21st 2008 and October 28th 2008, charcoal on inkjet print on paper

Three Trees near Thixendale, Summer 2007, oil on eight canvases

 

Three Trees near Thixendale, Autumn 2008, oil on eight canvases

 

Three Trees near Thixendale, Winter 2007, oil on eight canvases

The book is organized similar to the show at the Royal Academy itself, from what the introduction claims.  This exhibition is placed in series by subject, much as I have always organized my own work.  I can understand finding an intriguing subject and going back to it again and again over time.  So where I have “waves” and “branches” and “encounters”, Hockney has “Hawthorn Blossoms”, “Tunnels” and “Winter Timber and Totems”.

And as glorious as the color reproductions are, some of my favorite work is the black & white pieces…

Timber Gone, 2008. Charcoal on paper

But beyond the pure joy of seeing the art, the book is rich in its editorial content.

There is a great discussion of Hockney’s love hate relationship with the use of photography and new technology in aiding the artistic process, versus the choice of painting directly from nature.  It supports a better understanding of how Hockney has struggled with the strategy of approaching the landscape, something I have found personally to be a challenge as well.

Nov. 26th, 2010, Woldgate Woods, 9:30 am. Digital video still

 

Painting in the fields.

And we hear from the artist himself about his anticipation to the actual show.  He knew for some time before hand that he would have the space, and worked with that in mind.  This is a layout of the room that held his iPod pieces, an amazing work comprising 51 iPad drawings and a very large painting. As he says in the Preface “All are new, and would not have been conceived without the offer of the Royal Academy’s splendid rooms.”

I am only part of the way through the reading material, although I have studied the reproductions of the art several times already.  At the moment my favorite essay is about returning to the landscape of youth, and Hockney’s ability to find a new motif for his art in his roots. The joy Hockney has in re-discovery of his boyhood haunts is compelling. He confirms what I long suspected.  Life is always a new adventure.

Margaret Drabble's contribution, "The Spirit of Place: A Certain Road to Happiness"

I have many art books, with pages and pages of gorgeous color reproductions. But I must say, this is one of my favorites for the content and editorial. It is so layered with interesting material, both visual and the written word.  I will read it cover to cover.

Prelude to Fame – “Just Kids” by Patti Smith

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by pat in Art, Books, Uncategorized

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"Just Kids", books, Patti Smith, Robert Mapplethorpe

I’ve been on holiday for a week, and finally am returning home. Fortunately, I managed to find a tiny little book shop in Key West (an independent one–shock– specializing in good reads and used and classic books). When I chose “Just Kids” by Patti Smith (which has been on my must read list for months), the shop owner gave me a thumbs up.

"Just Kids" by Patti Smith. photo by me.

He was right.

I had taken along a sketch book and camera with me on this trip, and although I took a few photos to possibly work from in the future, I didn’t touch the sketch book.  Instead, in every spare moment, I read this amazing book about a youthful journey of an artist and his muse (as Patti describes themselves).

Patti Smith’s memoir, published in 2010, reminisces about her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe when they were both young, trying to interact with the New York art scene, struggling with their own personal art and convinced that someday they would be famous.  And they were.  But in those early days it was all about creative exploration…and trying to find something to eat. As Patti said, it was all about finding a direction of art that would illuminate.  I love that idea.

Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe, from "Just Kids". photo of book by me

When I was young, I tried to convince my parents that going from high school to art school was the right thing to do.  I had my eye on Pratt Institute in NYC, which Mapplethorpe attended at this same time.  They insisted a broader liberal arts education and a university degree made much more sense, so I went on to Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia and got my BA in Fine Arts.

Mapplethorpe's photo of Patti for her first album, from "Just Kids". photo of book by me.

I have often wondered how different my life would have been if I had fully committed to fine arts at an earlier age, instead of straying into commercial graphic design.  Reading this book gives a wonderful look down that rabbit hole.  I don’t know if I would have had their stamina, but it was fascinating to live that youthful fantasy through their eyes. It was an astounding journey.

If you get a chance, pick up this book.  Artist or not, it is a wonderful read.

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