Winter Landscape #7, Sledding Hill and Beautiful Rochester Gray

24" x 18" and 8" x 10"
oil on panel

I heard someone say while looking at the Vermeer's View of Delft in the expansive exhibition at the National Gallery (11/1995 - 2/1996) artists must want to throw down their brushes when they see the accomplishment of this painting. I say we all have our own song to sing and painter/educator Robert Slutsky told me, "Those times are gone." He didn't mean that it is impossible to achieve excellence anymore, rather that the path to that excellence doesn't lie in a mirroring of past approaches.
I think what makes the View of Delft astonishing is its state of heightened awareness. The vision is hyper-real, conveying an acutely awakened state sensitive to the world. Seeing the real thing forces one's eyes to open widely like after being pinched. It is sad if you glance at the painting and seeing an old Dutch town, continue on, bored and indifferent. Don't do that! I got so worked up when two women walked by a small Rembrandt self-portrait (etching) that I told them to go back to see what they missed.

Notes on my work:

The top is another painting inspired by sledding. It is a clear winter day as opposed to the painting below. It has a deeper space than some of my other work and I got a bit obsessed with it, working the idea with a few watercolors in addition to this oil painting. I like the contrast between the treatment of the cloud and snow; although both white, they each feel like what they are. The loose handling of the trees convey their essence without getting caught in minutia.

Most people groan when talking about the cloudy, gray skies of Rochester, especially the natives. This painting focuses on the beauty of the grays which vary so much in weather conditions and offer endless possibilities. The title frames the idea as do the black edges.

The Wikipedia article on Vermeer says that he continued to use expensive paint through a financial crisis in Holland due to the support of a patron. Artists will have to find ways to continue in our times; here is a great article in Newsweek by Peter Plagen about where the art world has been and where it is now during the recession:


http://www.newsweek.com/id/185786/page/1

View from the Bathroom Window

12" x 12"

oil on panel

Art and the changes in the economy is addressed in a February 12th article by Holland Cotter in the NY Times, "The Boom is Over. Long Live the Art!" Cotter suggests that art often gets better when artists are left to do it for the sake of doing it, removed from any market driven pressures. He advises artists in this financial climate not to quit their day jobs.

I remember a children's book which exemplifies art's true value in society. Frederick is about a mouse who is a dreamer while all the other mice are working to prepare for winter. In the story (spoiler : ) Fredrick is able to tell stories of all he saw and imagined to the other mice while they were waiting for winter to end. While they were storing up provisions, he was immersing his senses, saving them for this collective sharing. I loved this book as a child and remember the colorful illustrations, often with round elements.

My paintings are bits of color and sensation stored up from the observed. Although I make them year-round, the ones made in winter are very much in keeping with the spirit of the book.

Notes on this painting:

It was done from the memory of looking out my bathroom window. The bright blues at the bottom were the color of the shadow of the house, the pale pinks, blues, and whites were the sparkling snow, and the top is the colors of the bare trees as well as some sky. I hope it buoy's you up while you wait for spring.

Winter Landscapes #5 and #6

both are 24" x 18"
oil on panel

These two paintings contrast stylistically enough that someone might think they were painted by two different artists. They make for an interesting comparison and contrast, although saying so makes me think of high school writing assignments, standards I'm not sure I can uphold at this point. I'll move along anyway.
The top painting, #5, is Expressionist in handling. After painting some more controlled pieces, it is nice to let loose. This was done at the end of a painting day, a memory of taking my son sledding at Highland Park in Rochester at twilight. I love that time of day because everything turns blue. The cobalt upper right corner is different from the more cerulean blue of the snow, but the colors make sense. The trees are somewhat anthropomorphic, seeming like a crowd of people with arms waving. They have a sureness about them, bold and planted despite the tilting slope.
#6 is curvaceous and crystalline, the qualities I like best about it. The shapely center is dictated by the trees. Large areas of clarity meet wood with edginess, saved for the edges. In #5, color is reflected but in #6 the snow is all white. The latter is more frontal & relies on gradation of blue light and contrast to make space while #5 is more atmospheric.
These experiences of looking, feeling, and painting are what I do. At my Unitarian Church, I listened to the beautiful music created by the choir after being told that this was their gift and to receive it as such. Painting here in relative obscurity, it is hard to know to what extent my art will be heard. It is kind of like those balloons people send out with messages to write if found. I came across this quote which I think is an impetus for much art-making.

Dag Hammarskjöld in his diary, Markings, wrote that “Only what you have given is salvaged from the nothing which will some day have been your life.”

Winter on the Left, Spring on the Right

Winter on the Left, Spring on the Right, 24" x 18", oil on panel

From Norman's View, 12" x 12", oil on panel

While winter is in full swing here in Western New York and I am fully enjoying it, I confess to having one eye looking ahead to spring. Winter on the Left, Spring on the Right has that duality. The fairly symmetrical composition lends itself to the content. Earlier on in the painting the road was basically paved the same color as the sky. It fell short; the blue sky's compliment, orange, did the trick.

From Norman's View has that blend of what is seen and imagined. The invented, the synthetic can add zing. Picasso said, "Art is a lie." He meant that what is observed as it is in life may not have the right chemistry to turn into kicking art. Hollywood knows it well, as does advertising. Blue and orange also play opposing roles in this painting, creating tension, drama. Their intensity brackets the calm landscape.

This week I came across the work of artist Chris Cook from Georgia. I really like his landscapes which have a Milton Avery flair but are very original. He has a unique way of inventing space with shape and color. I especially like the unselfconsiousness in his portrayal of horses in Two Horses. I'm so excited that we might trade paintings!

I recently traded with artists Rita Baragona and Naomi Nemtzow. It is very encouraging and stimulating to have one's own work as well as the work of other artists in one's living space. Thanks, guys!

Winter Landscape #4

18" x 24"

oil on panel

The space is interesting in this one. The center area, which I often enjoy framing, is shapped by the two clusters of trees. The ones on the left are set back further, trunks ending at about one-third from the bottom, while the ones on the right go to the edge. This, in combination with the angles of the trees, create a diagonal tension, giving a feeling of the distance between the clusters. The space also works from front to back as the blue tracks lead to the center of the painting, although remaining fairly parallel, unlike the one point perspective exercise of the railroad tracks. Yellow lines on the left delineate an area, and one can sense space wrapping around behind the trees.

I like the blinding light of snow in winter and the colors I see in it, exaggerated here in the pink solid. Milton Avery reassures me that simple, color, and lyrical have their place next to an encapsulated shark.