And here's a photo of me with some wonderful artist friends...
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Paintings of Monhegan Island, Maine
I recently had the chance to paint with a group of artist friends on historic Monhegan Island, Maine. Artists have been travelling to the island for decades to paint the rocks, coast, forests and maritime scenery. This was a wonderful opportunity to experience a landscape so unlike where I live now, and of course to share ideas and learn from other plein air painters. Here are two paintings of mine:
"Morning at Gull Cove", Oil, 12" x 16"
"Surf at Lobster Cove", Oil, 12" x 16"
And here's a photo of me with some wonderful artist friends...
L to R: Judy Carducci, Sue Braswell, Me, Greer Jennison, Alex Tyng, Carolyn Lewis, Diana Ansley
And here's a photo of me with some wonderful artist friends...
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Print ad in October, 2011 issue of Southwest Art Magazine
One of my recent gardenia paintings is now available at Abend Gallery in Denver, CO and here's the ad in the October, 2011 issue of Southwest Art Magazine.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
"Tumbled Cherries", Oil, 6" x 12"
A new little still life I finished recently, taking advantage of this year's crop of Queen Anne cherries.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Missing Paintings
I had a minute of mild panic today when I thought I had lost a sketch for a figurative painting I've long been eager to get to. I had drawn it a couple of years ago and today I was finally ready to start the painting. I'd kept the sketch taped to the back of a board which, in retrospect, was maybe not a great idea. (Note to self: take photos of sketches and download onto computer, file under "Sketches for Future Paintings".)
Anyway, I found the sketch, which was only a simple working sketch, but I started thinking about all the paintings and drawings that have gone missing over the years. There seems to be a lot of representational work in particular that has disappeared. This may have to do with the lowly market status of much realist art in the latter part of the 20th century, or it may have to do with the state of many private art collections after the mayhem of the two world wars.
"Miss Nichols", by Philip de Laszlo, c. 1912. Image taken from the de Laszlo archive trust website. Painting is currently missing.
Take, for example, the status of many of the paintings by Philip Lexius de Laszlo, a famous 19th - 20th c. portrait painter widely regarded as Sargent's successor as the world's leading society painter. There are pages and pages of missing paintings and drawings found on the above de Lazlo website . I wonder if this sad state of affairs has to do with the fact that most of these paintings are portraits and the heirs of the paintings either didn't care about the work (or the person) or maybe the heirs simply have vanished as well. It didn't help that much of de Laszlo's clientele was that of now-vanished European aristrocracy.
There are a couple of books available about de Laszlo. The one I have is "A Brush With Grandeur", available on Amazon.
Photo of de Laszlo's self-portrait is taken from http://www.wikigallery.com/.
Anyway, I found the sketch, which was only a simple working sketch, but I started thinking about all the paintings and drawings that have gone missing over the years. There seems to be a lot of representational work in particular that has disappeared. This may have to do with the lowly market status of much realist art in the latter part of the 20th century, or it may have to do with the state of many private art collections after the mayhem of the two world wars.
Take, for example, the status of many of the paintings by Philip Lexius de Laszlo, a famous 19th - 20th c. portrait painter widely regarded as Sargent's successor as the world's leading society painter. There are pages and pages of missing paintings and drawings found on the above de Lazlo website . I wonder if this sad state of affairs has to do with the fact that most of these paintings are portraits and the heirs of the paintings either didn't care about the work (or the person) or maybe the heirs simply have vanished as well. It didn't help that much of de Laszlo's clientele was that of now-vanished European aristrocracy.
There are a couple of books available about de Laszlo. The one I have is "A Brush With Grandeur", available on Amazon.
Photo of de Laszlo's self-portrait is taken from http://www.wikigallery.com/.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Congratulations Alexandra Tyng!
My friend Alex Tyng is a well known portrait, figure and landscape painter and has a fantastic new show at the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine. Her big canvases take your breath away. Opening reception is August 5th and the show runs through August 28th, 2011.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
New Painting: "Gardenia Frieze"
This painting is now available for purchase at Abend Gallery in Denver, Colorado.
Monday, April 18, 2011
William McGregor Paxton
“Let the surfaces flow into one another in a supple envelope of light & paint
Find a new motive
Make the picture look as if it were painted in one sitting
Paint as large a piece as possible at once
Never paint on one piece too long at a time
Do something somewhere else to rest your eyes
Paint neither too thickly nor thinly
The quickest way is the best
Compose by masses of light & dark or dark & light
Chiaroscuro is what makes pictures rich
Seek a noble and ample design
Make the objects swim in the air
Paint all things in relation to the focus.”
- William Paxton, 1901
William McGregor Paxton (1869 – 1941) was a Boston-based painter who, along with the artists Tarbell, Benson and DeCamp, painted portraits as well as interiors and exteriors using a generally impressionist palette. He painted a world of beautiful women sipping tea from china cups as sunlight streamed through windows.
The book I own on Paxton was published by the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1979, William McGregor Paxton, 1869 – 1941 . It’s hard to find, which is a huge shame, as there’s a lot of useful information for artists as well as having wonderful reproductions. The maxims quoted above are from the frontspiece of the book and I think of them from time to time as I paint, particularly the “Make the objects swim in the air” advice.
Here’s a Paxton painting courtesy of http://www.artrenewal.org/ :
Find a new motive
Make the picture look as if it were painted in one sitting
Paint as large a piece as possible at once
Never paint on one piece too long at a time
Do something somewhere else to rest your eyes
Paint neither too thickly nor thinly
The quickest way is the best
Compose by masses of light & dark or dark & light
Chiaroscuro is what makes pictures rich
Seek a noble and ample design
Make the objects swim in the air
Paint all things in relation to the focus.”
- William Paxton, 1901
William McGregor Paxton (1869 – 1941) was a Boston-based painter who, along with the artists Tarbell, Benson and DeCamp, painted portraits as well as interiors and exteriors using a generally impressionist palette. He painted a world of beautiful women sipping tea from china cups as sunlight streamed through windows.
The book I own on Paxton was published by the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 1979, William McGregor Paxton, 1869 – 1941 . It’s hard to find, which is a huge shame, as there’s a lot of useful information for artists as well as having wonderful reproductions. The maxims quoted above are from the frontspiece of the book and I think of them from time to time as I paint, particularly the “Make the objects swim in the air” advice.
Here’s a Paxton painting courtesy of http://www.artrenewal.org/ :
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