TEST TEST TEST TEST TEST TED:
Featured Artwork: Diane Burchett
Diane Burchett
“Homeless”
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 in.
$3,000
About the artist:
LivvnArt Colorado and The Religious Academy are pleased to announce the first LivvnArt Literature Gallery Show. LivvnArt Literature focuses on showcasing classical visual Art as it relates to classical literature. This month we have pieces from Paul Grass, Diane Burchette, Vera Anderson, John Stadler, Sarah Phippen and more. Preview the show on www.livvnart.org.
Join us for an opening on Friday, January 18 from 7-9 PM at the LivvnArt Gallery, 216 South Grant, Denver. The 3rd floor will feature artwork like Diane Burchett’s “Homeless” and other pieces that depict themes through the lens of literary history. Thoughts on literature will be read in correspondence with the show. In our side Gallery, Biblical artwork from The Religious Academy will be available as well! Show will be on display for a month.
As always, 7% of our proceeds go towards Brandy Cattoor Children’s Trust. The Brandy Cattoor Children’s Trust was created in December of 2014 when LivnArt’s CEO passed away from a two month battle with breast cancer at 27. We currently have been blessed to sell some of Brandy’s work on our site at this location: http://www.livvnart.org/#!trust-store/bamfw
In addition to artists from around the world, Paul Grass, Gregory Mortenson, Niki Covington, Mike Malm, Quang Ho, Joseph Brickey, Robert Barrett, and many more have generously donated work in an effort to help Brandy’s three small children. 100% of the donated work go towards helping this precious family.
Field Mourns Gerald Ackerman
Fine Art Connoisseur joins the chorus of praise – and heartache – as the art world says goodbye to visionary scholar Gerald Ackerman.
Dr. Gerald Ackerman (1928-2016), widely known throughout academia – and beyond – as a preeminent scholar, has passed away. Born in Alameda, California, in 1928, Dr. Ackerman is often credited with having spearheaded a revival of interest in French academic painter Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904).
Dr. Ackerman’s passing has sent ripples through the art world, with Fine Art Connoisseur’s own B. Eric Rhoads and Peter Trippi offering their thoughts – and memories:
“Gérôme would be virtually unknown today had it not been for Gerald Ackerman. He was one of the finest art historians of our time and his influence will be felt for generations.”
– B. Eric Rhoads, Publisher, FIne Art Connoisseur.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Gerald Ackerman, who made a huge contribution to the field of art history by refocusing attention on an array of 19th-century academic artists and artworks. In 2003-2004, my colleagues and I at the Dahesh Museum of Art (New York) were honored to work with him and the artist Graydon Parrish on the exhibition and publication highlighting the drawing curriculum of Charles Bargue; happily, the book has lived on to become a bestselling touchstone for a new generation of artists, a phenomenon that rightly made Jerry very proud. And I recall fondly how pleased he was during the festivities surrounding the opening of the Jean-Léon Gérôme exhibition at the Getty Museum in 2010; that superb presentation marked the culmination of his decades-long effort to return this French master to the spotlight he deserves, and now holds again.”
-Peter Trippi, Editor-in-Chief, Fine Art Connoisseur.
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 Artwork: Jeffrey Wells
“Free Bird”
Oil
30 x 40 in.
www.jeffwellsart.com
[email protected]
847-361-5124
I am inspired by the creative world around us. The color harmonies of nature, the pose of a model, the beauty of line, shape and the effects of light as they all interact to tell a wonderful story of beauty and creation. I strive to capture these scenes in a way that resonates with the viewer and brings joy, hope and goodness into their lives.
Education
Palette and Chisel Academy of Art, Chicago
Academy of Art, Chicago
Northern Illinois University
Workshops
Daniel Gerhartz
Rose Frantzen
Romel De La Torre
Gregg Kreutz
Scott Christensen
William Schneider
Recent Shows
NOAPS Award of Excellence, Online International 2014
NOAPS Award of Excellence, Best of America 2013
American Impressionist Society 2013
OPA Salon 2013
American Impressionist Society 2012
NOAPS Best of America 2012
OPA Eastern Regional 2011
Best of Show Award: OK Art, Oklahoma
23rd Annual Conservatory Art Classic, Bosque TX
1st Place Gold: 22nd Annual Conservatory Art Classic, Bosque TX
Barns & Farms National Juried Competition 2007
OPA Eastern Regional Miniature 2007
OPA Eastern Regional, 2005
Professional Memberships
OPA, Oil Painters of America
Portrait Society of America
ARC, Art Renewal Center
American Impressionist Society
NOAPS, National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society
Commissions
Jeff has painted numerous portrait and corporate pieces
Featured Artwork: D.K. Richardson
“Offerings of a Silk Merchant”
Pastel on Watercolor Paper
24 x 18 in.
$8,500
Description:
Tiny shops often have the most delightful treasures. This painting was inspired by a small shop I frequented when living in Manhattan which carried buttons and fine trims with gold embroidery.
Awards: People’s Choice and 3rd Best in Show
Austin Pastel Society Annual Juried Members Only Competition 2010
Exhibitions for “Offerings of a Silk Merchant”:
World of Art Showcase – Las Vegas 2012
The East Gallery, Breckenridge Fine Art Center – Breckenridge, Texas 2012
2e Congrẻs Europẻen des Pastellistes in St. Florent le Vieil, France 2011
Austin Pastel Society Annual Juried Members Only Competition 2010
About the Artist:
Influenced by Masters of their craft: Da Vinci, Moroni, Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Rubens; D.K. Richardson endeavors to breathe a feeling of “Life” into her subjects regardless of the medium. She is known for her unique and detailed pastel work. Strong composition, color, and expression hold viewers fascinated with the painting’s life-like appearance.
Recent Achievements:
“The Shaman” recently exhibited in Madrid, Spain. “The Babylonian Woman”, worked with a verdaccio oil underpainting and glazing technique, has exhibited in Texas, Sweden, Lithuania, Romania, Italy, Spain, and France. “Once a Queen – Twice Exiled”, verdaccio underpainting with color glazes exhibits at the Galerie Artes in Paris in May of 2015. Finalist in the 2013/2014, 2012/2013, and 2011/2012 ARC International Salons; Richardson has been honored with two Best of Show winners in the Austin Pastel Society competitions; Certificate of Excellence 2013 Portrait Society of America International Portrait Competition;
Richardson is an active member of the Portrait Society of America, and IN3 International Artists Incentive. Native to Texas, she resides in Austin.
D.K. Richardson | 830-928-3393 | [email protected] | www.dkrichardson-artist.com
Featured Artwork: L. Richichi
About the Artist:
“For me, painting is a pilgrimage – a journey into the mystery of creation and, through that sacred path, ultimately a journey into the deepest reaches of my soul.
Whether I am painting in the breathtaking Hudson Valley, near Italian castles, or on a sun-drenched beach in Florida, Maui or Costa Rica, my paintings capture the underlying brilliance – the spiritual energy – that underlies all of nature. Painting “en plein air”, absorbed into nature’s grand but silent communication, with all of my senses acting as ready receptors to whatever might be presented to me, further enhances my mission of discovery.
With intuition leading the way, I avoid focusing on too many details to allow for a total immersion of myself into the “greater self” that surrounds me. Slowly, the world of form and color merges and shifts, separates and impresses, the whole dissolving into an insistent mood of pure energy.
It is this distillation of both what is seen and not seen that I attempt to capture on my canvas. When a mixture of color and form resonates in my being, when I feel that I am at one with nature and that my painting is reflecting that union, then I feel a sense of spiritual awakening. The magic is there and the painting is complete.
In the end, it is my hope that through my painting I have passed along a bit of the mystery to you.”
Visit www.LindaRichichi.com to receive a free online painting lesson, view more work, find out where she is exhibiting, or where the next workshop will be held.
test
test
December 30: Great Joy at Tree’s Place
Time is quickly running out to grab your next masterpiece at Tree’s Place Gallery.
On view through December 30 at Tree’s Place gallery in Orleans, Massachusetts, “Small Works: Great Joy!” is a group exhibition that offers an outstanding lineup of holiday oils.
To learn more, visit Tree’s Place.
Hidden Behind Reality
While the “purpose” and “meaning” of art is an ever-evolving concept — surely open to the artist’s subjective interpretations — the creative process frequently seems to be grasping at something beyond the light that enters our eyes and brains. Plumbing the visual in search of the invisible is painter Dana Levin, whose masterful still life and portraiture speak to “ideas that are too big and esoteric for language.”
Some artists create finished products that closely resemble their original concepts and sketches; others begin with an embryonic idea that blossoms into something different. Painter Dana Levin belongs to the latter group, remaining flexible during a picture’s development and allowing multiple sources of visual information to flow organically. A masterful still life painter and portraitist, Levin allows herself to question her artistic decisions at every phase of the process. She writes, “If something needs to be changed I change it, no matter what stage the painting is in. I am always looking for the highest potential of each painting.” The task is undoubtedly challenging for Levin — or for any artist — but her results are unquestionable.
Dana Levin, “Twirl,” oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in. (c) Dana Levin 2015
“Painting reconciles the world inside with the world outside,” Levin says. “The ideas that are too big and esoteric for language. There are images that come into my brain that I need to see outside my head in order to fully understand them. There are objects I see that I feel compelled to interpret in paint because they represent something other than what they appear to be.” In this way, Levin’s still life work is taken beyond its traditional genre roots. “‘New Earth’ is a good example of this,” says Levin. “You would never walk into a room and see a table like this with a bell hanging and Japanese wood block prints in the background depicting eagles. I had been studying the universe, planets, time, and the time-line since creation. I was thinking about Earth’s relation to the rest of the universe in this piece. Of course it is not the only interpretation, but that was my original idea.”
Dana Levin, “Earth and Sky,” oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in. (c) Dana Levin 2015
Representing the figure, especially via portraiture, presents different challenges for the artist. For Levin, all the information she needs lies in the sitter’s visage and “switching between two modes of observation,” she says. “On the one hand you want to objectify the sitter so you can accurately see the forms and shapes of their face. My eye utilizes the same critical function to understand the forms of a teapot and the human head. However, people are not a bunch of shapes. If I cannot transmit that the human being is far more profound — what’s the point of making art?”
Levin’s renown as a portraitist serves as evidence that she’s established a solution. How does she do it? “I try to erase myself,” she says. “I erase my judgment and my personality from the experience. In this way the visual information will determine the character of the sitter in the painting, not my mood. All the information passes through me, through my temperament, but the painting is about the sitter, not about how I feel about the sitter.” This approach can be traced to the artist’s tenure at the Florence Academy of Art. Levin writes, “I remember as an art student drawing the torso on a model. I had drawn from the nude many times before and so many times after, but I still remember this intense moment: I was observing the forms of the ribs and the changes in value on the belly. I was drawing through a filter of ‘artistic anatomy.’ As the model was breathing I could see the ribs rise and fall. All of a sudden, I thought about the lungs and intestines and all the organs underneath. I thought about the blood pumping through the veins and the heart beating. I thought, ‘Never forget the big picture.’ A figure painting should have presence. When you are in a room alone with a painting, it should feel like company.”
Dana Levin, “Lovers,” oil on canvas, 20 x 30 in. (c) Dana Levin 2015
In both her still life and portraiture, Levin achieves the presence she’s after with breathtaking beauty, and collectors continue to come knocking at her studio door. “I hope viewers can feel that when there is a vase in my work, it represents something more than an object,” she says. “It’s a wonderful feeling when someone ‘gets’ my artwork in the same way that I intended it. But I also feel that paintings have a life of their own. They will be interpreted through the perspective of the viewer — and perspectives change.”
Dana Levin, “The Wedding Painting,” oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in. (c) Dana Levin 2015
Levin continues to forge ahead, suggesting, “I am a mystic. I am also a representational painter. I am obsessed with things I cannot see but am inspired to express those ideas through objectified art. It is a challenge, and I expect to be struggling with it for some time!”
Dana Levin, “Symmetry,” oil on canvas, 20 x 40 in. (c) Dana Levin 2015
Currently, Levin appears to be focusing predominantly on her still life, but her figurative work remains on queue. “I am still excited about still life,” she writes. “I will continue to employ it to explore and express more complex ideas. I took a break from figure work but am getting back into it now. I have started sketching images of two figures together. I found a couple to model for me so I can develop the idea more. So we will see what comes of that!” We will wait, with confidence, on the gifts to follow.
To learn more, visit Dana Levin.
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.