What's Cooking in the Studio - November

Last newsletter I mentioned how I was focusing on just one painting and how unusual that was. The other day I touched up or worked on four different paintings in one sitting. Things have changed. Here are two new paintings I am working on. The one on the easel is a landscape and the one on the wall is a new still life based on a Cezanne painting. Facing the wall is a blank canvas asking me to wait until I get one or two current paintings done.

See My Paintings in Your Office or Home

 

If you are not viewing my website with a phone or tablet you can see what a painting will look like in various situations and wall background colors by using the "Wall Preview" button underneath the "Live Preview AR" button. In the upper-left of the screen you can change the type of room and the color of the wall to approximate your home or office. Check it out!

Framed Original Gouache Paintings Available

Framed original gouache landscapes are now available on my website:

Fawn Island View at Gallery 360

The Saint Paul Art Crawl was my last exhibit/event for 2019 where you can see my art in-person.  But don't fret, there are still ways to see my art in the near future.

My painting, Fawn Island View, is currently at Gallery 360. If you need a fix and are in the Linden Hills area, stop in. They have a great gallery with a variety of interesting and unique art and hand-crafted items.

See My Paintings on Your Wall!

Want to know what one of my paintings would look like on the wall of your house? On the webpage of each painting there is a button called "Live Preview AR." If you are using a phone or tablet to look at my website, you can click on this button and, looking through the camera, see my painting on your wall in your house! How cool is that? Try it, I'm not kidding! If you stand 7 feet from the wall, the image will be the general size of the original painting. Go ahead, just for fun, and try it. Want to know what my award-winning State Fair painting would look like on your wall? You can!! Check it out!

Finishing Touches: One Still-Life at a Time

 As I am wading into Cezanne and his painting I am finding what he accomplished quite amazing. He, along with others, have been called the Father of Modernism. The length and breadth of the impact of Modernism across European society and beyond is breathtaking. I find it funny that a man could sit in his studio and paint fruit and wine bottles and that this would lead to a world-wide movement. But that was the power of art, thought and ideas back then. 

Modernism is the rejection of that which was the established norm in society, including art, architecture, literature, religious faith, philosophy, social organization, activities of daily life, and the sciences. There was a sense among the educated and common people that these institutions had become empty or unsuitable in the new economic, social, and political environment of an emerging fully industrialized world. Modernism started slowly in the mid to late 19th Century and came into its mature state between the World Wars and after. 

 Cezanne was early in the development of Modernism, rejecting the realistic painting of the government-sanctioned art academies of the mid-19th Century. He literally changed the perspective of several generations by changing perspective. It was his playing around with the elements of a painting (color, line, shape and perspective) that harmonized with other transformational Modernist developments in the burgeoning industrial cities of Europe. He did this without running for elected office, without sending out a single email blast or sharing a fake news post on Facebook. He did it by being in his studio painting still-lifes.. 

And now we find ourselves in a similar situation. The Industrial Revolution is being eclipsed by the Technology Revolution. People are finding the institutions; economic, political, and religious to be ill-fitted to a new way of living out our daily tasks and activities. Again, the powerful and the wealthy have corrupted these institutions to support their power and to become propaganda-esque – championing what should be seen as the “norm” in our society. 

But the change will come. The leaders will be swept away and new systems will be set up that cater more directly to the individual and protect the earth. The last transition killed millions of people world-wide with the lessons of industrialization being applied to war in order to protect power and wealth. Can the new transition happen without massive destruction? Perhaps there is an artist in her studio, right now, applying paint to a canvas or editing a film or changing her dance movements in a manner that will propel this transition forward in a peaceful manner - protecting all forms of life. I like to think that I am at least trying.

What's Cooking in the Studio - November

Last month I mentioned how I was focusing on just one painting and how unusual that was. The other day I touched up or worked on four different paintings in one sitting. Things have changed. Here are two new paintings I am working on. The one on the easel is a landscape and the one on the wall is a new still life based on a Cezanne painting. Facing the wall is a blank canvas asking me to wait until I get one or two current paintings done.

New Painting: Still Life with Arctic Apples, Styrofoam Cup and Oil Can

Still Life with Arctic Apples, Styrofoam Cup and Oil Can 

Oil on canvas 

40" x 30" 

$2,100 

This painting is part of a new series I have begun that plays around with Cezanne's still-lifes. Through his still-life paintings, Cezanne sought a new way of painting and a new perspective on society (more on this later). As I am beginning to delve into still life with a new purpose and perspective, I thought it would be fun to go back to the Modernist foundations of how I paint (and understand art). But, I am adding a twist to each of these still-lifes that speaks to my era. In this painting, the background is similar to a winter's Arctic landscape with open water. The apples are Arctic Apples, the first genetically approved apple to go to market. Of course, Styrofoam and oil have had a big impact on the Arctic. Though a still-life, this is a commentary on what we are doing to the Arctic, the cold wild places of our planet. You can see details of this painting on my website.