The Richmond Art Center has opened its Fall 2020 classes – all online until they can open again.
We have a stupidity problem in America
To quote Aaron Sorkin regarding the state of the Presidency, of Congress and those people who put them there: “We have a stupidity problem going on right now in the United States.”
Trump’s new budget defunded the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Here’s the complete story.
Kiki Smith & International Women’s Day
For me, Kiki Smith symbolizes everything I have felt and wanted to be as a woman artist. Partly because I’m of her generation and partly because she couldn’t be talked out of doing it like so many of us (women) have been. Her work has addressed themes of sex, birth, gender and AIDS with a female voice. Her work in the 80s and 90s dealt with women (menstrual blood, urine and feces) and the AIDS crises (death, blood). Needless to say this brought her much criticism, but social significance. Her recent works have depicted the human condition in relationship to nature using natural materials. Her sculptures have been placed in many world-wide public spaces, including the consulates in Istanbul and Mumbai. She’s a craftsman working in sculpture and printmaking. She’s also a writer and painter and social activist.
“Just do your work. And if the world needs your work it will come and get you. And if it doesn’t, do your work anyway. You can have fantasies about having control over the world, but I know I can barely control my kitchen sink. That is the grace I’m given. Because when one can control things, one is limited to one’s own vision.” ~ Kiki Smith, American. 1954
In honor of International Women’s Day, March 8. This day is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights.
After the Socialist Party of America organized a Women’s Day on February 28, 1909, in New York, the 1910 International Socialist Woman’s Conference suggested a Women’s Day be held annually. After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted by the feminist movement in about 1967. The United Nations began celebrating the day in 1975.
When you feel like throwing in the towel ….
Listen to this sage advice from the NPR radio personality Ira Glass about the creative process. It’s wonderful.
About Watercolor…
I ran across this quote today on www.handprint.com, which speaks to my experience learning how to paint in watercolor. It’s a medium not often taught in art school. You can find good, wonderful teachers and classes in some of the most unlikely places, but in my many years in art schools (3 universities), there was no formal instruction in watercolor. It’s one of the most challenging mediums to paint. Georgia O’Keeffe says it all.
Georgia O’Keeffe began to paint in transparent watercolors in 1916. Though she had used gouache in her work as a commercial illustrator, she described her first experiences with transparent watercolor this way:
“After about ten attempts — I certainly had to laugh at myself — It’s like feeling around in the dark — thought I knew what I was going to try to do, but find I don’t — guess I’ll only find out by slaving away at it.”
“Done”
My latest painting!
“Done” 2018
23″ x 33″, watercolor
Flower (cow)Girl
Flower Cowgirl
18″ x 22″, watercolor
Come See Our Show!
Nancy Lamb – Fort Worth Artist
I love love love Nancy Lamb. I’m honored to say she’s a friend of mine. She is a sculptor and painter, living and working in Fort Worth. She has exhibited at the Dallas Museum of Art; Tuchfabrik, Trier, Germany; Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California; Arlington Museum,Arlington, TX.; Kimbell Art Museum, Ft. Worth, Texas; and the Galveston Art Center, Galveston, TX.
Her work has been featured in Harper’s Magazine, Texas Monthly, and New American Painting and many local Fort Worth publications. Some of her notable work includes designs for two 200-foot terrazzo floors at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, murals for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, and her “Social Spaces” of party scenes.
She was featured in a video series of Fort Worth stories…
The Pursuit of Excellence
“A healthy artistic climate does not depend solely on the work of a handful of supremely gifted individuals. It demands the cultivation of talent and ability at all levels. It demands that everyday work, run-of-the-mill work, esoteric and unpopular work should be given a chance; not so much in the hope that genius may one day spring from it, but because, for those who make the arts their life and work, even modest accomplishment is an end in itself and a value worth encouraging. The pursuit of excellence is a proper goal, but it is not the race itself.”
~Gough Whitlam, Prime Minister of Australia 1973
Who Does She Think She is?
How many times have I heard THAT in my life… plenty. But only when I was doing something for me, not for my original family or my children. The criticism, as a woman, that comes when we do something that’s meaningful for ourselves and not necessarily to anyone we are prescribed to take care of. I didn’t know this documentary existed until today… only available via Amazon now.
Wanda Corn’s Georgia O’Keeffe Exhibition
I wish I hadn’t missed this exhibition by Guest Curator, Wanda Corn, at the Brooklyn Museum last year from March-July called “Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern” . It combined O’Keeffe’s artwork with her clothing and other personal affects. Watch this short video of the show… it’s wonderful.
Want to be an artist? Do it.
If you haven’t already, go see the newly released Loving Vincent movie. It’s a full-length feature film completely animated in oil paintings done in Vincent’s style. Here’s a short YouTube video clip of the process of its making.
Come take a class !
Registration is open for Winter classes beginning in January. I’ll be teaching Beginning and Intermediate Watercolor on Fridays and a one-day Watercolor workshop on Saturday, March 3rd. Come paint together in the Center’s wonderful painting studio.
Cutting Girl 2 Finished
Finished Cutting Girl 2. After the original Cutting Girl was destroyed in a shipment to the owner, I decided to re-do it. Although never quite exactly the same, the outcome was still a good one. Here’s a few shots of its progress. I painted it in pieces, assembling it at the end:
Then the photo shoot with Dana Davis:
Sold to the woman who had purchased the original from the Tubac Art Show before it was destroyed in shipment. Its new home is in Jackson Hole Wyoming.
Richmond Art Center Video
Open House at Richmond Art Center
It’s fro 10-3. Live demos. Studios and Gallery open.
California Watercolor Show
Mark your calendars for the month of April. Come see the California Watercolor Association’s show at the Delta Gallery in Brentwood, California. (Two of my paintings will be there!)
Sign-up for Art Classes!
Painting Progress
Finally…. I just finished another 3-dimensional cowgirl painting. I learned a lot during this process and am happy about the outcome. Here’s a progression of the painting with some mistakes and corrections along the way.
Her face is just not right… so did over several times…
Still not right… try it again
Now to replace the previous head…
Now finishing touches on Pink’s face.
It’s always hard to know when to quit. The goal of the painting is the portrait of the horse woman and her horse in the 3-dimensional style.
DONE.
“Susan and Pink” 22″ x 30.5″ watercolor and ink on foam board