Why PBS Is Great!

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September 7, 2017

Dcmrussell-Gilcrease — Charles Marion Russell, Image via montanapbs.org

Most of us would agree that PBS offers some fantastic programming for our viewing pleasure. They’ve certainly done it again with an upcoming documentary that delves into the life, times, and career of one of America’s greatest Western painters.

On September 9, Great Falls, Montana, will host the world premiere of the Montana PBS documentary titled “C.M. Russell and the American West.” In conjunction with the release, and to welcome a film that underscores Russell’s place among great American artists, the museum has also planned three days of community-sponsored events titled “Raise the Roof for the Russells.”

“A young Charlie Russell fell in love with Montana and called Great Falls home. His legacy is an immeasurable inspiration to and influence on the people here,” said Tom Petrie, chairman of the C.M. Russell Museum board. “Our community support and dedication to launching a film that brings Charlie’s fascinating story and timeless message to the world is both exciting and humbling. The spirit of the American West remains impressive in Great Falls.”

Great Falls Mayor Bob Kelley added, “The community of Great Falls is excited to share the story of her favorite son with all his followers throughout the state and the nation. Charlie’s story is just one of the many things we are proud of. I hope visitors and residents take advantage of such a wonderful celebration.”

The schedule for “Raise the Roof for the Russells” includes the following events. All will be held at the C.M. Russell Museum unless otherwise noted.

The public opening ceremony for the Frederic G. and Ginger K. Renner Research Center on September 8 at 11 a.m.
A member opening of the Josephine Trigg Collection Gallery Exhibition and the Strand Collection Exhibition on September 8 at 4 p.m.
An auction to benefit the Russell House and Studio presented by Petrie Partners on September 8 at 6 p.m.
A Russell Riders Outdoor Sculpture Garden ceremony on September 9 at 2 p.m.
A chuck wagon barbecue on September 9 at 3 p.m. presented by Benefis Health System
VIP meet-and-greet event at the Mansfield Convention Center on September 9 at 5 p.m.
The world premiere screening of “C.M. Russell and the American West” at the Mansfield Theater on September 9 from 6-9 p.m. presented by Benefis Health System

A short description of the film:

“C.M. Russell and the American West” examines the life and art of Charles Marion Russell (1864-1926). The film explores his arrival in Montana as a youth, his apprenticeship and work as a cowboy on the open range, and his self-taught, almost explosive growth into an iconic American artist who affected generations. Russell’s body of work was panoramic and modern in his sensitivity to subject matter, from a reverence for the land and wildlife to his positive depictions of American Indians. The film was created by Producer/Director Gus Chambers and Producer/Writer Paul Zalis. William Marcus and Aaron Pruitt of MontanaPBS are Executive Producers.”

To learn more, visit Montana PBS or the CM Russell Museum.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.

Portrait of the Week: Boit’s Beautiful Daughters

By

Andrew Webster

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September 7, 2017

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CSC123932 — John Singer Sargent, “The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit,” 1882, oil on canvas, 87 x 87 inches, Museum of Fine Arts Boston

In this occasional series, Fine Art Today delves into the world of portraiture, highlighting historical and contemporary examples of superb quality and skill. This week we look at one of John Singer Sargent’s most well-known paintings.

The grand foyer of Edward and Mary Boit’s luxurious home on the avenue de Friedland in Paris was the setting for a magnificent group portrait by the American expatriate John Singer Sargent in the autumn of 1882. In a shadowy setting, Sargent has delicately placed the couple’s four daughters — Mary Louisa, Florence, Jane, and Julia — in a rather odd arrangement. “While Ned and Isa may have initially approached Sargent to make a traditional portrait, they supported his ambition to create something more unusual, a painting that is half a portrait and half an interior scene,” Erica Hirshler of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston writes.

“Each of the girls is presented individually, but the features of two are obscured, an attribute antithetical to conventional portraiture and one that, combined with the lack of connection between the girls, stymied critics when the painting was first displayed. Its unusual format was inspired by the art of both the past and the present, a characteristic approach that Sargent employed to make paintings that seemed simultaneously traditional and modern. The historical precedent for the Boit portrait can be found in the work of the seventeenth-century Spanish master Diego Velázquez, an artist greatly admired in nineteenth-century France. Sargent had traveled to Madrid in 1879 to make copies after Velázquez at the Museo Nacional del Prado; among the paintings he studied was ‘Las Meninas’ (about 1656), a large and famous portrait of the young Spanish infanta with her maids in a great shadowed room. Sargent adapted Velázquez’s mysterious space, his dark subdued palette, and the manner in which his self-possessed princess directly confronts the viewer. At the same time, Sargent must have been thinking of the unusual portraits and oddly centrifugal compositions of his French contemporary Edgar Degas. ‘The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit’ shares some of Degas’s strategies: the asymmetrical composition with an almost empty center, the sense of disconnection between family members, and a feeling of modern life interrupted.

“Sargent placed the Boit girls in an indeterminate space — the entrance hall, neither entirely public nor entirely private — that is brightly lit in the foreground but recedes into a vaguely defined drawing room half-lit with mirrors and reflections. The two tall Japanese vases, made in Arita in the late nineteenth century specifically for export to the West, were prized family possessions; their unusual size in relation to the girls makes the interior seem strange and magical. The sisters are dressed almost alike, in the sort of casual clothes they would have worn in the schoolroom or at play. Their white pinafores gave Sargent an opportunity to demonstrate his mastery at painting white in different conditions of light. Only the youngest girl, Julia, engages the viewer, while the older girls recede progressively into the shadows, becoming increasingly indistinct.

“Sargent titled the painting ‘Portraits of Children’ and displayed it in December 1882 in an exhibition at the gallery of the French dealer Georges Petit, who specialized in works by an international group of artists who were more modern than many of the painters who showed at the Salon, but less innovative than the Impressionists. The picture received generally good reviews, and Sargent decided to display it again the following spring, this time at the Salon, the annual state-run exhibition in Paris that was an important venue for artists seeking to build their reputations. While some critics praised Sargent’s technical abilities, most found the composition troubling for its unconventional approach to portraiture. One unidentified writer even described it as ‘four corners and a void.’ While some have interpreted Sargent’s strategy as a poignant comment on the fickle nature of childhood and adolescence, writer Henry James, a friend of both the Boits and Sargent, described the picture as a ‘happy play-world of a family of charming children.’ With this painting, Sargent masterfully transcended portraiture, providing a continuously evocative meditation on openness and enigma, public and private, light and shadow.”

To learn more, visit the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.

Featured Lot: The Scent of Fresh Air

By

Andrew Webster

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September 7, 2017

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B55716922_1_x — Albert Bierstadt, “Passing Clouds Over the Mountains,” oil on canvas, 42 1/4 x 32 1/2 inches

In this ongoing series for Fine Art Today, we take a longer look at the history and features of a soon-to-be-available artwork of note. This week we highlight a Hudson River School landscape that’s sure to intrigue collectors.

Although he was born in Germany and would eventually study his craft there for several years, Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) is widely recognized as one of America’s greatest artists and was a founding member of the famed Hudson River School. Bierstadt’s parents moved to Massachusetts when Albert was just a year old, in 1831. From childhood, Bierstadt displayed a keen interest in and notable talent for art.

Bierstadt’s artistic career was officially launched around 1858, when a landscape exhibited at the National Academy of Design found instant appeal to critics. It was around this time that the artist met other like-minded artists who adored landscape painting with romantic, almost glowing light. Among them were Thomas Moran, Thomas Cole, Frederic Edwin Church, John Frederick Kensett, and Asher Durand. This group of painters would eventually be categorized as members of the Hudson River School.

Along with several other artists, Bierstadt began to travel with various companies and journeymen of the Westward Expansion. Bierstadt’s lavish views of the American West — including many areas that became national parks — enlivened the imaginations of his viewers and helped cultivate a desire to preserve these lands among the public.

Bierstadt’s financial success is noteworthy as well. In 1865, the artist’s magnificent work “The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak” sold for an astronomical $25,000, the equivalent of around $350,000 in today’s market.

It seems collectors have eagerly bought up Bierstadt’s original works since their production, and the trend continues to this day. Opportunities to purchase an original work from this iconic figure are few and far between, which makes the September 17 sale at Clars Auction Gallery in Oakland, California, significant. Heading to auction, among other works by Thomas Moran and Edgar Payne, is a fantastic original by Bierstadt titled “Passing Clouds Over the Mountains.” The painting is set at the base of a rushing mountain river, and the viewer gazes up toward the cloud-covered peaks of several mountains. In the foreground are several large evergreen trees and a brightly lit path towards the viewer’s right. Auction estimates are between $70,000 and $100,000.

To learn more, visit Live Auctioneers.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.

Spotlight on FACE Faculty: Tragic Beauty and the Human Condition

By

Andrew Webster

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September 7, 2017

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Patricia Watwood, "Flowers," 2016, oil on linen, 22 x 20 inches

Masterful figurative artists such as Patricia Watwood are in such a unique position because — perhaps better than any other subject — the human body can communicate a multitude of deeply moving and fundamental themes. How and why does she do it? Find out here.

The list of world-class faculty members who will be included in the first ever Figurative Art Convention & Expo, to be held November 8-11, 2017 in Miami, continues to grow. Organizers couldn’t be more excited that one of them is New York-based painter Patricia Watwood. In addition to having developed mastery with her technique, Watwood explores transformative narratives, mythological archetypes, and the human condition in her paintings, which have continued to intrigue collectors, connoisseurs, and galleries for years.

Patricia Watwood, “Femen Flora (Sarah),” 2015, pencil and chalk on blue paper, 16-3/4 x 13-1/2 inches

Although Watwood’s most common subject matter includes female nudes, each painting begins with a theme or narrative that interests or inspires the artist. That theme is then developed through small sketches. “A pictorial theme sticks with me when I find ways in which it has connections with my own preoccupations or societal issues — the painting has multiple levels of operation,” Watwood says. “Certain images just pop into my head as a composition. I have developed a practice of making small thumbnails of these ideas (or even just a written description if I can’t sketch), so that I can get them down when I catch them.

Patricia Watwood, “Femen Flora (Larissa),” 2015, pencil and chalk on blue paper, 18-1/4 x 14 inches

“Lately these are small pencil and watercolor sketches that record the inspiration. I don’t allow myself to judge — it’s just a tiny little piece of paper with some color. There’s nothing at stake, and, in this way, I can allow myself to at least explore any pictorial idea that comes and try to catch inspiration before it drifts away.”

Patricia Watwood, “Femen Flora,” 2015, oil on linen, 28 x 26 inches

Patricia Watwood, “Lunette I (Anna),” 2015, pencil, pastel and watercolor on paper, 15 x 15 inches

One of the artist’s current projects — a painting of Suzannah and the Elders — typifies her incredible process. Watwood writes, “This painting actually started with a figure drawing that I made and loved the pose. I added a little composition to the drawing that became an idea firmly lodged in my head. The theme is about ‘forbidden images’ — the two elders spy on the beautiful Suzannah while she’s bathing in the moonlight. Lust, voyeurism, permission, desire, beauty, power — all these thoughts circle around this image for me — which I find very interesting from a feminist point of view as a female artist who paints beautiful women.

“So, with a drawing and a theme that intrigued me, it seemed destined to become a painting. However, then the drawing sat around for a long while waiting for me to get back to it while I finished other things. Finally, I started the painting a year ago, and worked for a while on the main figure. After another long pause, I’ve finally resolved the background, which is a dark nocturnal moonlit scene. It was completely unfamiliar territory, so it was slow pulling it out of the murk. I find I can proceed with quick confidence in areas that I’m familiar with — but whenever I work on some new challenge, it can be slow going.”

Patricia Watwood, “Study for The Sixth Extinction,” 2015, sanguine, charcoal and watercolor on paper, 44 x 30 inches

Narratives such as “forbidden images” or feminism and mythology are extremely important elements in Watwood’s painting. “In fact,” she adds, “if there isn’t some narrative in the painting, then I’m usually not interested in developing it. Occasionally, I make a painting ‘just because it’s pretty’ or for other formal painterly reasons, but I usually want my paintings to work on several levels — the first being aesthetic and pictorial, and the second being narrative and philosophic. I think narratives communicate in a very interesting way with viewers — like a novel or poem that can be read and unraveled. I’m interested in this level of communication, in addition to the visual aesthetic language.”

All told, Watwood seeks to spark connection between people and places in her paintings, “giving my audience a sense of the soul — in themselves and in the art,” she continues. “I hope they see a sense of the power and sacredness of the body and understand it to be in themselves as well.”

Patricia Watwood, “The Sixth Extinction (detail),” 2015, oil on linen, 67-1/2 x 51-1/2 inches

Naturally, and as alluded to above, the human figure is perfectly suited to Watwood’s conceptual and aesthetic goals. “At heart, my interest in the figure is all about my search for meaning in life in general,” she says. “My worldview tells me that we are spiritual beings having a human experience — a beautiful, terrible, wonderful human experience. The poignancy of our human condition seems to be the most interesting thing in the world to me. You could say that I’m trying to create documentary proof of the soul.”

Patricia Watwood, “The Sixth Extinction,” 2015, oil on linen, 67-1/2 x 51-1/2 inches

Can’t you see why we’re so excited to have her as faculty at FACE2017? In November, Watwood will be teaching as a studio mentor, guiding attendees through making figurative paintings from a model. Through these sessions, Watwood will be painting as well, sharing her techniques and approach. She will also be taking part in a panel discussion on figurative art in which she will share her passion for how artists develop creativity and complexity in figurative painting. “I’ll share my perspective and insights from my 20 years in the field in New York City,” she says. “I think folks should attend because the conference is uniquely focused on the development of excellence in figurative art. If you are interested in participating in and having a career in this field, there’s nothing like FACE.”

To learn more about FACE and to register, visit the Figurative Art Convention & Expo. Learn more about the artist by visiting Patricia Watwood.

This article was featured in Fine Art Today, a weekly e-newsletter from Fine Art Connoisseur magazine. To start receiving Fine Art Today for free, click here.

Avian Art Takes Flight

By

Andrew Webster

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September 4, 2017

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Kowch-Courtiers — Andrea Kowch, "Courtiers," 2016, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 60 inches, RJD Gallery

by Kelly Compton

Look up toward the sky, or out of your window. Chances are good you will spy a bird soon enough. Though some humans share their homes with birds, all people are surrounded by these feathered creatures, and, though we may not regularly acknowledge it, out world would be a quieter, duller place without them. In this section, we highlight the broad array of birds depicted by a flock of artists in recent years. Many of these images transcend description or charm to underscore the more profound, even symbolist, meanings that we humans has assigned to birds over the centuries.

Michael Dicker, “Babel,” 2016, oil on canvas, 60 x 40 inches

Will Hemsley, “Descent (edition of 15),” 2009, bronze, 7 x 4 x 4 ft.

Kat Houseman, “Red Sun Wren,” 2016, oil and copper leaf on canvas, 12 x 12 inches

Anni Crouter, “Spooked,” 2015, watercolor on paper, 19 x 24 inches

Michael Dumas, “High Summer (Yellow Warbler),” 2015, oil on birch, 7 x 5 inches

Rob Rey, “Bioluminescence IV,” 2016, oil on board, 18 x 24 inches

Paul Rhymer, “Rant and Skeptic (edition of 25),” 2013, bronze, wood and steel, 72 x 40 x 24 inches

Shawn Gould, “Aspen Embrace,” 2017, acrylic on panel, 24 x 24 inches

Kent Ullberg, “Mind and Passion,” 2016, bronze and stainless steel,” 26-1/2 x 17-1/2 x 6 inches

Ezra Tucker, “American Kestrel,” 2016, acrylic on board, 11 x 15 inches

Terry Miller, “Preserve and Protect,” 2013, graphite on board, 7-3/4 x 18 inches

Carol Guzman, “Crabapple Pie,” 2016, oil on linen on board, 11 x 14 inches

Thomas Broadbent, “Feeding Birds 2,” 2012, watercolor on pap

Jacob A. Pfeiffer, “Full Spectrum,” 2015, oil on panel, 8 x 22 inches

Mary Alayne Thomas, “The Reader,” 2016, encaustic on board, 10 x 10 inches

Kathryn Mapes Turner, “Lady,” 2012, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches

Ryan D. Jacque, “End of Summer,” 2005, pencil on paper, 15 x 18 inches

Jan Stommes, “Moving On,” 2017, oil on canvas, 3 x 4 ft.

Sarah Lamb, “A Brace of Quail,” 2012, oil on linen, 22 x 20 inches

Brad Woodfin, “Frédéric,” 2016, oil on panel, 16 x 12 inches

Ann Moeller Stevenson, “Above the Storm,” 2017, oil on aluminum panel, 14 x 11 inches

Helena van Emmerik-finn, “3 Geese,” 2017, pastel on paper, 20 x 12 inches

Ben Steele, “Poe’s Crows,” 2014, oil on canvas, 44 x 34 inches

Stanka Kordic, “Truth and Knowledge,” 2015, oil on aluminum, 12 x 12 inches

Mark Eberhard, “Red Tail Hawk,” 2017, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches

Bart Walter, “The Critics,” 2007, bronze, 41 x 61 x 34 inches

Ellen Fuller, “Sandhill Cranes,” 2015, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 72 inches

This is an excerpt from “Avian Art Takes Flight”. Find the full article in the September / October 2017 Edition of Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine.

Read the Full Article Now

Featured Artwork: Olaf Schneider

By

Andrew Webster

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August 31, 2017

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FA_Schneider_Sept17 — "Autumn Palette" by Olaf Schneider

‘Autumn Palette’

Oil on canvas

40 in. x 60 in.

Available through the artist

Biography

Olaf Schneider (b.1964) is a husband, father of two, and grandfather of six. He studied at the Ontario College of Art as well as Sheridan College. In 1986, while painting large scale outdoor advertising billboards for Mediacom, he acquired a strong practical foundation that would become integral to his work today.

He is greatly inspired by mentor Ron Grieg and Norman Rockwell.

For Olaf each piece represents an intense exploration and refinement of his personal pictorial sensitivities, especially as they relate to beauty, form, light, and shade. Composition, color, and craftsmanship are all elements that become the building blocks of his work. Olaf is a prolific painter who is inspired by the power and diversity of the northern landscape, and anything that needs a “second look”. An explorer by nature, he travels across North America and Europe to gain inspiration.

“Each dab I make is stimulated by the details that I observe. I hope to see what others miss and then make it compelling. I push and alter the colors to suit my ravenous needs and I love to improvise on the spot.”

Olaf has a passion for a variety of subjects. Through his art, he expresses his love for life and his affinity with vibrant colour.

“I like to use expressive and thick impasto brushstrokes or soft blended strokes to render a sense of movement and texture giving the painting a life of its own. My interpretation of colour also sets the dynamic mood. The tones often range from the darkest to the lightest in an effort to achieve maximum drama. This creative combination is spontaneous and intuitive.”

To keep his mind clear and focused he limits his exposure to all the media ‘noise’ we generally are pummelled with daily. He does not watch TV and restricts his time on the computer. He starts his day with God in prayer and meditation. Painting six to ten hours a day is common practice. Equally important to Olaf is continued growth and learning.

“I want to always have an open mind so that new ideas may come in. In the mind of an expert, there are few possibilities, but in the mind of an amateur they become endless. This is a God given gift and I value it greatly. If I am able to bring emotion, understanding, comfort, or joy into another’s life then I am using it wisely in His glory.”

Philosophy

Art is a celebration of life, and the making of art is an expression of the sacred spiritual discipline. If a painting could, for a moment, capture the attention and awareness of the viewer through visual harmony, carry on a dialogue, bring the viewer further than the call of the senses, beyond a momentary concern for the past or future, to a timeless state free from thought and self consciousness. Then the work has approached the realm of art, the realm of life. Art and money don’t mix.

View more of Olaf’s work at http://www.olaf.ca.

Solo Exhibitions

2016 – Tilting at Windmills Gallery, Vermont

2016 – Broadway Galleries, Virginia

2015 – Westmount Gallery, Ontario

2015 – Woodbine Raceway

2015 – International Artist Magazine June issue

2014 – Cannes France

2005–2013 – Westmount Gallery, Toronto

2011 – Royal Gallery, Rhode Island

2009 – Mercedes Benz, Ontario

2009 – Homer Watson Gallery

2008 – Gallery DeLisle

2005 – Hummingbird Centre

2004 – McMichael Gallery, Kleinburg

2003–2006 – International Artists Magazine

1998–2004 – Formula 1, Montreal & Indianapolis

Group Exhibitions

2014 – Chapel St. Bernardin, France

2014 – Le Cannet, France

2008–2013 – Westmount Gallery, Toronto

2013 – The Louvre, SNBA Salon, France

2009–2013 – Edgewood Orchard Gallery, Wisconsin

2013 – Galerie Demante, California

2012 – The Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists

2012 – Portrait Society of America

2011 – Thornwood Art Gallery, Texas

2011 – Canadian Heritage Art Gallery

2010–2013 – Toronto International Art Fair

2010 – Canadian Heritage Art Gallery, Toronto

2010 – Thornwood Art Gallery , Texas

2009 – Boston International Art Fair

2007–2011 – Miller Gallery, Ohio

2007 – Scottsdale Art Gallery, Arizona

2006 – Kipling Gallery Woodbridge, Ontario

2006 – Manitou Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2006 – Latino America International

2004–2006 – Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum

2002–2005 – Hummingbird Centre, Toronto

2000 – Living Arts Centre, Mississauga

1998–2002 – Molson Indy, Toronto & Vancouver

Publications

American Art Collector Magazine

Arabella Magazine

Houston Lifestyles and Homes

Ducks Unlimited 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011

Etobicoke Guardian

Scarborough Mirror

Vaughan Weekly

George Chuvalo Fight Against Drugs

International Artist

Art Fix

WPBS Television

Algonquin Park news

The Huntsville Forrester

24 Hours

Toronto Life

2004–2006 Magazin’art Biennial Guide

Creative Source 1989, 2004

Corporate and Private Collections

Ripley’s Aquarium Canada, Toronto

PCO – Construction Ltd.

The Haven on the Queensway, Toronto

The Good Shepard, Toronto

Mackenzie Financial, Toronto

Toronto Dominion Bank, Toronto

Ducks Unlimited 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

Make a Wish Foundation

George Chuvalo Fight Against Drugs Foundation, Canada

Paul Smith’s College, New York

Make a Wish Foundation, Toronto

Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto & Montreal

Jessie Centre for Teenagers, Toronto

Ontario Provincial Police, Canada

Labatt Breweries Ltd. Ontario, Canada

Evian Canada

Gilles Villeneuve Museum, Quebec

Chapters Indigo Canada

Mercedes-Benz, Toronto

Ford Ontario

Ferrari North America

Apple Canada

Governor General of Madrid, Spain

L.L.C.B.O.

Art Gallery of Ontario

Centennial College

Van Moorehem Barristers, Ontario

Block Parents Foundation, Canada

Current Gallery Representation

Chloe Gallery, San Francisco CA 415.531.5748

Eclipse Gallery, Huntsville ON 705.783.2579

Emma Butler, St. John’s NFLD 709.739.7111

Lovetts Gallery, Tulsa OK 918.664.4732

MountainMist Gallery, Cashiers NC 407.620.2685

Palm Avenue Fine Art, Sarasota FL 941.388.7526

Rendezvous Gallery, Vancouver BC 604.687.7466

Spa Fine Art Gallery, Saratoga NY 203.226.6934

Tilting Windmills Gallery, Manchester VT 802.362.3022

Westmount Gallery, Toronto ONT 416.239.5427

Westport Gallery, Westport CT 203.226.6934

Featured Artwork: Jose Pardo

By

Andrew Webster

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August 31, 2017

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FA_Pardo_Sept17 — “Simpler Days” by Jose Pardo

“Simpler Days”

Oil on wood panel

20” x 16”

$1,200.00

Available through Castle Gallery

The painting will be on display in NOAPS’ Best of America national juried show. It is available for purchase through Castle Gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the show will be exhibited. The opening reception is October 20th from 5-9pm and the show runs through November 11th. The gallery is open 11am to 6pm Tuesday through Saturday, and can be contacted by phone: (260) 426-6568, or email: [email protected]

About the Painting:

I think I might have an old soul, and I’m perfectly OK with it. Don’t get me wrong, I like technology and love science, but the pace and priorities of society these days is a little alarming to me. While I don’t want to turn back the clock to the supposedly “good old days” I do often feel I was born in the wrong time period. My painting “Simpler Days” is a manifestation of some of those feelings. Although all of the objects depicted are easily from within my lifetime, some of them might well be alien to some of today’s children. Change is inevitable, but not always good for it’s own sake.

The roller skates are actually my wife’s from her childhood and one of my favorite things I have painted. It’s funny how sometimes the objects I think will be challenging to paint turn out to be fairly easy, like the teddy bear, yet other objects like the slinky, turn out to be the real “bear” to paint.

Upcoming Solo Show:

The Center for Fine and Performing Arts Gallery at Seminole State College in Sanford Florida will host a one-person show of my latest paintings. The opening reception for “Literature, Libations, and little white lies” is Thursday, October 5th, from 5 to 7pm, I will be giving a brief talk about my art at the reception. You can find all the details on my website, in my Events page.

I am a representational painter specializing in meticulously constructed and painted still lifes. Most of them tell a story or express my view on a philosophical idea or concept. I also enjoy painting the figure from time to time and the show includes a few examples. I draw much of my inspiration and sometimes pay tribute to the wide range of authors I enjoy, Hemingway, Poe, Adams, Asimov and many others. Many of the paintings have won recognition including several Best of Show awards, there are also many paintings that will be exhibited publicly for the first time.

I am a member of Oil Painters of America and National Oil and Acrylics Painters Society.

You can see more of my work on my website, www.pardostudio.us.

You can follow my artistic process (and occasionally, the escapades of my cats) on FaceBook and Instagram under PardoStudio.

Featured Artwork: JenMarie Zeleznak presented by the National Museum of Wildlife Art

By

Andrew Webster

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August 31, 2017

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FA_NMWA_Sept17 — "Begin Again" by JenMarie Zeleznak

“Begin Again”

Watercolor pencil on paper

40 x 30 in.

Opening Bid: $5600

About JenMarie Zeleznak:

JenMarie Zeleznak was born in 1984 in Cleveland, Ohio. She received her MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and her BFA from Cleveland Institute of Art. JenMarie Zeleznak currently teaches at Lakeland Community College, Youngstown State University, and the University of Akron in Ohio.

Artist Statement:

My work is introspective, concerned with emotional and spiritual experience. The animals I depict are a medium for the expression of the self, yet they retain their own autonomy, embodying gestures that convey emotional form and are signposts of a kind, indicating shared aspects of being. The pictorial space here isn’t the natural world, but an in-between place – the innermost space between thinking and being. There is serenity in surrendering to an external force, suspended somewhere between despair and reconciliation.

I need to establish physical and emotional intimacy with my process and subjects. Anxious mark making fills in my animal forms, as layers of gradients and nuances of color blend together. I meditate in these moments. I work with watercolor pencils in a manner both sensitive and crude, using my saliva and sweat, hands and fingers to manipulate the material onto paper. This personal and direct connection, much like caressing or grooming an animal, gives me the intimacy I need in the work as I bring the animal into being, inducing an empathetic response.

The angular line drawings that accompany the animals I refer to as star maps. They are connections of stars from NASA imagery. Usually when I begin a drawing, I have a general sense of the placement of the star map. I am very inspired by science, and the energy of the stars and the moon on a clear night. Much of my sense of spirituality revolves around the notion of energy distributed and transferred in the Universe. I experienced a spiritual awakening in 2013 that changed my perception of the world around me. I began to feel energy and almost see it manifested within the interactions of everything around me. I felt so deeply connected to everything. The Universe became my source of love, protection, and guidance. The star maps serve as a visual for the invisible energy that is felt, but not seen, by the animal subject. As a viewer, we are onlookers of someone else experiencing something deeply or going through an emotional moment. We can see how the energy affects them. The star maps serve different functions depending on the animal’s gesture. Sometimes it’s protecting them or shielding them, but it also might seem as though it’s cradling them or supporting them. Sometimes the star maps are fragmented, indicating perhaps a loss or lack of something, while other times the star map might seem fluid and graceful, suggesting a moment of clarity and feeling whole. The star maps tend to complement or echo the thoughts and feelings of the subjects.

Western Visions® is the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s largest and longest running fundraiser, with a variety of exciting events. The show features a wide selection of art for sale. Western Visions® painters and sculptors participate in the art portion of the show and sale and as many as 2,000 people attend the events.

Read more about JenMarie at https://www.wildlifeart.org/artists/jenmarie-zeleznak/

Read more about Western Visions® at https://www.wildlifeart.org/western-visions/about-western-visions

Featured Artwork: Leah Lopez

By

Andrew Webster

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August 31, 2017

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“Sweet Summer Roses”
Oil on panel
20 x 16 in.
Contact Tree’s Place

Leah Lopez is represented by the Gallery at Tree’s Place Gallery, in Portland, Maine. “Sweet Summer Roses” is among the available artwork on display, from August 26 to September 8, 2017. For more information contact:

Tree’s Place

RTE 6A at 28, Orleans, Massachusetts 02653

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Leah Lopez is a New York City artist originally from Northern New Mexico. She is known for her breathtaking paintings that capture elegance and romance.

Leah Lopez Fine Art

New York, New York

www.leahlopez.com

Featured Artwork: Elizabeth Black presented by the Grand Canyon Celebration of Art

By

Andrew Webster

-

August 31, 2017

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FA_GCA_Sept17 — “Chuckwalla’s Dominion: Clear Creek Trail” by Elizabeth Black

“Chuckwalla’s Dominion: Clear Creek Trail”

Oil

48 x 24 in.

The 9th annual Grand Canyon Celebration of Art will feature 25 artists painting plein air at the Grand Canyon September 9-16, 2017, with an exhibit and sale of their work opening at Kolb Studio on the South Rim on September 17. The exhibit and sale will be open daily through January 15, 2018.

This year the event is celebrating the women artists—both historic and contemporary—who have taken on the unique challenges of capturing the splendor and vastness of the Grand Canyon on canvas. Nine of this year’s artists are women.

This is the eighth year Elizabeth Black of Boulder, Colorado, has participated in the Celebration of Art. She first painted in the Canyon in 1975, while working as a river guide. Although the boat flipped and soaked all her watercolor sketches, Black says about half of them were immensely improved! That incident gave her a tiny glimpse of the exciting potential ahead. She has continued to explore the West, by boat and on foot, frequently painting on-site.

Each of the participating artists creates a studio painting for the exhibit, which hang in the exhibit along with the plein air work they paint during the event.

Of her studio painting this year “Chuckwalla’s Dominion: Clear Creek Trail,” Black notes:

“During the Great Depression, thousands of poor unemployed young men joined the Civilian Conservation Corps to support their families. They worked on conservation projects in our parks, and built many Grand Canyon trails and buildings—including the Clear Creek Trail and this lovely stone bench.”

For more information and a schedule of events please visit:

https://www.grandcanyon.org/arts-and-culture/9th-annual-grand-canyon-celebration-art or contact Kathy Duley [email protected] 480.277.0458

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