Sunday, January 30, 2011
She's Done ...I Think...
Saturday, January 29, 2011
More Crone Painting
I find it a little disheartening and sad that it appears there is no one available to teach me the skill of this fine tradition in a University that once was no doubt, full of students that were very familiar and skilled in the medium of tempera painting. So for now I glean the information of the book I am reading and this is where the web becomes a very useful tool as well.
I'll get at this painting again tomorrow. I must head off to the store ...I'm out of eggs!
Is This No Longer Relevant
Friday, January 28, 2011
Today's Blog - Art Seminar
Choosing an artist I admire and respect is both enjoyable and simplified. Deciding on one that I dislike, is rather complex, in that there is usually something to discover, that is attractive in some way, without doing so within the context of political correctness, and to clarify, I am not interested in being, when it comes to artists, the making of art, and creativity.
The art market is a reality, whether we agree with this or not. The difference between Eric Fischl and Damien Hirst I believe, is a matter of personal integrity, and they have appeared to be diametrically opposed to one another in philosophy and art practice.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
“I do have a fear of chaos and a strong sense of the fragility of civilization.” - Alex Colville
I may be mistaken but I think some subjectively and reactionarily judge artists like Alex Colville based on misconception or misunderstanding or simply because they don't think the tradition of what has gone before within the art world is important to their own practice.
Egg Tempera - a slow process - Alex Colville Transcript
I wanted to be able to work for a long time on one image, that I couldn’t achieve the kind of thing I hoped to achieve in a short time. This is a kind of limitation in the …you know a great Chinese painter of the great period does something and it’s done, it may be done in a matter of minutes actually and it may, he may do, you know, thirty of them and one of them seems perfect. It’s a kind of gestural thing, it’s more in a sense like dancing or something in a way. My stuff, it’s a much more plodding procedure. Incidentally I should just mention extremely boring to watch, you know, that is a person would be just bored to death if they could watch me work. Far from it being interesting or exciting as some people think.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Photography, Rare Breeds and Heuristic Teachers
This experience helped to clarify why I seem to have had an ongoing love-hate relationship with photography, especially since coming to Mount Allison in 2009. When I first enrolled in Professor Thaddeus Holownia's class, part of my intention was to of course learn about photography, mostly however this class would be a means to an end, in that, I would hopefully learn how to take good photos-in turn enabling me the skill of being able to document my art work, which is primarily painting. I was soon to have my eyes opened to deep discovery. This discovery I believe is the direct result of having a teacher and mentor like Professor Holownia. I hope he is not a dying breed of photographer and teacher but he certainly is a rare one.
Not unlike Professor Holownia, Andrew Danson Danushevsky clarified this struggle of discovery for me, that I have been trying to resolve and understand. Photography is a conduit to energy that is about a path to understanding self, and life, in a profound yet simple way. It does not mean that this is in any way easy. In fact it is difficult, very difficult. This struggle I think for me, is directly related to my love-hate relationship with photography.
Over the past year and a half, I have asked myself, why do I continue to take photography when it seems to give me so much anxiety, grief and stress? I think it is all about the struggle. It is where the growth lies under the creative skin of life, that you can come out the other side, somehow a better person and a better artist.
Andrew Danson Danushevsky was able to put this into words for me and my vision is becoming clearer. I can feel myself going through a metamorphosis of change, getting to a deeper level of my own commitment, and my creativity, as an artist. I think really, it is personal integrity that is imparted by those who can teach. I am so very grateful I am in an environment where I have the opportunity to learn from those who are heuristic teachers. This kind of learning, I believe is not unlike the way First Nations people teach their children and those lessons stick. The lessons I am learning are finally beginning to stick.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tired Again.
I had a great day. Truly, I'm not just saying that. I did manage to inadvertently get a parking ticket. All I have to say about that, is summed up below.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tired
I went to see John Dickson speak tonight at the Owens and was very fortunate to get a studio visit with him. He's a lovely man and a great sculptor. We had an engaging conversation, during the studio visit.
His presentation was at 7:30 I couldn't stay any longer than 9 p.m. I just got home made my lunch and set the coffee for the morning. I'm bagged! I can't write any more. It was a very productive day. My friend Jill called me yesterday to tell me Thaddeus Holownia was on Live At Five tonight. I missed it but I hope I can catch it online. Off to the fart sack! Six a.m. comes too early. Crap it's cold out there, freeze your granny's preserves!!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
"I paint to tell myself about myself"
Eric's studies of nudes are often put in ambiguous situations, often depicting suburban lifestyle, placing the viewer in a somewhat voyeuristic perspective which can be uncomfortable, disconcerting and even shocking. This is not why I admire his work, but it is an very important element in his work.
He said," I paint to tell myself about myself". This appears to be a simple message statement, nonetheless it is also a complex and philosophical one on many levels that says a lot to me about his art practice, and who he is as a person and an artist. He has been peeling the layers of an onion, and involved with self-discovery. The fact that Eric Fischl has engaged himself in this process is most compelling for me personally and why I admire his work and him as an artist and a man.
He has been long involved in this process of introspection and emerged from decade of the 70s when the ,"Death of Painting ", which was the prevalent attitude within influential art institutions such as Cal Arts. When he arrived at NSCAD he was afraid to paint realistically but struggled with what he said was, " the weight of modernist discourse he had to shrug off when he attempted to own the tradition of narrative realism."
My piece is for third year painting class. We were to do a research project based on an artist we liked. and then produce a painting that reflected the artist's style.
It was a process that was a little unsettling. I have no desire for anyone see me naked as an old woman, God knows not even me! Fortunately because I was using a completely new medium, egg tempera, for the first time, I was absorbed in this process, as opposed to thinking too much about my portrait of myself as an old naked woman.
Normally when I work, I need to have a connection with what it is I am painting, I call it being in love with the subject matter. Without having to be too psycho-analytical I can't help observing my reactions to being the subject. I don't want to think about this too long! I am attempting to distance myself, suffice to say, I think there is a kind of cathartic experience to be had, delving into, and facing the fear that comes with growing old and losing one's looks. Acceptance makes it palatable and even liberating. We are more than what we look like. This is more of an issue for woman, as we have lived in a world that has long objectified the female body.
When I was a student in the 70s up to the early 80s I supplemented my living expenses by modeling for life drawing classes. Some people may think that to be a good model you need to have a ideal body type. This is a misconception as artists want and need to be able to render all kinds of body shapes and sizes. When I modeled, I had a variety of thoughts and beliefs regarding my own body image and self-esteem many that were not very healthy, which I did not fully comprehend until many years later in my adult life.
Doing this self-portrait has once again given me the time out to be introspective about my own beliefs about my own body image, now as a crone.
When I reached the age of fifty there was a shift in my attitude. I developed a "I don't give a shit what people think". It' s an ongoing process and it is my experience when a woman gets to be a certain age she becomes more comfortable in her own skin and really begins to accept and love herself not in spite of who she is , but because of who she is. This is liberation! http://www.ericfischl.com/
Portrait of the Artist As A Crone - 2011 36 cm x cm Egg Tempra
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Writing, Painting, Procrastination, Motivation, Masturbation
I have just finished writing four large pages in my brand new sketch book. I had been putting off writing in it. Daunted I suppose once again by the white, blank page. It's just like the white blank canvas. I have a completed drawing waiting to be painted on a large piece of primed masonite.
I am taking on the challenge of egg tempera. I have all I need now to start. So I have done all the writing I've needed to do for the day with the exception of this last blog entry.I have no excuse to procrastinate on this painting.
There was a fellow on CBC radio that has a book about procrastination and motivation and. I must get this book as soon as I get around to it!
A good friend once told me this. "Procrastination is like masturbation, the only person you screw is yourself!"
http://www.danpink.com/drive
What is procrastination?
Procrastination is the deferment or putting-off of an action or task, usually by focusing on some other distraction. It derives from the Latin words pro (a prefix meaning "for") and cras (meaning "tomorrow").
Procrastination can be a persistent trait in some people, known as chronic procrastinators. In these people, it can be a self-destructive state where the procrastinator can get nothing accomplished on time, resulting in serious career struggles, persistent financial problems, and diminished quality of life.
Natural Law #1
procrastination naturally occurs when faced with events that are unpleasent, complex, lengthy, or uninteresting - regardless of the priority
The mnemonic device for procrastinate is:
•uncle-unpleasant
•clark-complex
•loves-lengthy
•underwear-uninteresting
When you procrastinate about things that take over 45 mins you should break them down in to smaller pieces and then set dates for each piece.
Natural Law #2
- we change our lives by changing our attitudes and perceptions we become most what we think about ourselves.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Joyce Wieland Being A Woman / Artist
Joyce Wieland Menstrual Dance 1987
Joyce Wieland Untitled
The noted Canadian artist Joyce Wieland, I never had the privilege to meet but certainly would have been honoured to have done so. I relate to why she never wanted to call herself a feminist. I always was concerned and involved in women's issues but never wanted to call myself a feminist. I don't much care for labels, though I do understand why we have them, as being the discourse we use whether we are artists or not. I am grateful to her and women like her that have gone on before as trail blazers for other women.
Today found a few websites that I see are related to the work Joyce Wieland was doing, particularly her love of and involvement in fine needle work . I have posted some photos and the links to these sites below. These are inspired by woman writers. This is based on the work of Emily Dickinson. I think they are just beautiful and amazing works. Willow also embroiders illuminated manuscripts. She has she produced a book cover entitled "Blue" inspired by the work of Artist, Cliff Eyland.
.
http://web.me.com/wrector1/Willow_Rector/Home.html
Cliff Eyland Self Portrait Blue Manuscript
http://capacioushold-all.blogspot.com/
This blog is beautifully written along with photos that are sure to touch the spirit.
"I think being an artist is about following your own way, and having the courage to be who you are and what you are. To have self-knowledge ... that deep, dark discovery of self, part of which is maturing, part of which is creating wholeness." - Joyce Wieland
Joyce Wieland Video Transcript
Orphaned at only nine years of age, Joyce Wieland found solace in her drawing and painting, which would eventually become her career. She was ahead of her time; she used traditional crafts like quilting and embroidery. Nor was she afraid to deal head on with the issues of the day. For the sixties, her art was refreshingly new. Yet her struggle with the art establishment was won when Joyce became the first woman to have a major exhibition of her work, staged during her lifetime, at Canada's National Gallery. Joyce Wieland dislikes being called a feminist. She says she takes it for granted. But she's convinced that men and women create art that, as she puts it, comes out differently.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1358083 Here is an interesting article written in the 1980s about Judy Chicago and Joyce Wieland From The Women's Journel
Thursday, January 20, 2011
I'm Not Stuck
Our Art Seminar class was a good one. We had a lively discussion about the Art World, the Art Market and the myths that are perceived about artists and what it means to be one.
In my Canadian Art History class today, we covered Garry Kennedy and Gerry Ferguson from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design. I don't have anything I want to write about that, suffice to say, I couldn't wait to get out of that lecture. Being a NSCAD student all through the 70's I was exposed a lot of conceptual art, however many students were very involved in painting and drawing, in a traditional way, either inspite of the conceptual art ideology or perhaps because of it.
In my painting class I am preparing a presentation on Eric Fischl, who was at NSCAD when I was a student. It was a great revelation to me to find out after all these years that I was conflicted about conceptual art and figurative/representational art in much the same way Eric Fischl was. It was very re-affirming and comforting to me find this out.
In my Art Seminar I am doing a presention choosing two artists, one we like and the other not so much. Needless to say I am reading and learning all I can about Eric Fischl. It is so much easier to study an artist you love. The one I don't care for is Damien Hirst. I have read some material online about him much of it negative from a particular group of artists that call themselves Stuckists. My impression of this group is, it is somewhat tongue in cheek, but as with so much humour and satire comes, the critic ,which I believe is a necessary person to maintain a balanced perspective. I have included the link below and you can see for yourself the opinions they have regarding Stuckism, Conceptual Art and Damien Hirst and decide for yourself.
Charles Thomson the Founder of the Stuckism Movement concludes that Damien Hirst himself is a Stuckist.
DAMIEN HIRST
THE STUCKIST
Damien Hirst's rejection of conceptual art and his advocacy of figurative painting is yet another vindication of the ideas promoted for the future of art in the manifesto issued by the Stuckists ten years ago. He is not a formal member of the movement, but in art historical terms, Damien Hirst is a Stuckist.
1999 It was a revolution waiting to happen. The latest daring group of artists ... says that painting is the best thing ... calling themselves the Stuckist movement
Dalya Alberge, The Times, 26.8.99. 2009 I always thought painting was the best thing to do.
Damien Hirst, Financial Times, 16.10.09
(quoted from No Love Lost book, p. 63)
2000 artists who want a return to tradition ... The Stuckists"
The Times, 4.3.00 2009 what now counts as radical is a return to tradition. Hirst has been painting.
Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times, 14.10.09.
1999 The manifesto of the Stuckists ...
says that they want "to advance the cause of painting"
Dalya Alberge, The Times, 26.8.99. 2009 I think painting’s back
Damien Hirst, Bloomberg, 14.10.09
1999 The Stuckist is not a career artist but rather an amateur ... who takes risks
The Stuckists manifesto, 3.8.99. 2009 it's not really about ability, it's about guts
Damien Hirst, The Daily Telegraph, 13.10.09.
2000 art is ... about addressing the shadow and making friends with wild dogs
Stuckists Remodernism manifesto, 1.3.00 2009 I find painting cathartic
Damien Hirst, The Independent, 14.10.09
1999 So what is Stuckism? The group's manifesto proclaims it "bitterly opposed to ... conceptual art, minimal art"
Rose Aidin, The Sunday Times, 1.8.99. 2009 Conceptual or minimal art seems a bit dead
Damien Hirst, Time Out, 13.10.09
2002 the Stuckists ... on Thursday, they will proclaim the death of conceptual art by staging a funeral procession in which they will carry a coffin to the White Cube
Dalya Alberge, The Times, 20.7.02.
1999 The Stuckists ... pillory "any art which features dead animals or tents" ... which has "shown itself to be lost in
a cul-de-sac of idiocy"
Dalya Alberge, The Times, 26.8.99. 2009 Conceptual art, abstraction, they're total dead ends.
Damien Hirst, The Observer, 6.9.09
2000 the Modernist school ... declined into formalism and abstraction
Stuckists Handy Hints manifesto 11.4.00
1999 So what is Stuckism? The group's manifesto proclaims it "bitterly opposed to Brit Shit"
Rose Aidin, The Sunday Times, 1.8.99. 2009 You start thinking ... why are you making more of this shit
Damien Hirst, The Observer, 6.9.09
1999 Against ... hedonism and the cult of
the ego-artist.
The Stuckists manifesto, 3.8.99 2009 I definitely believed I was going to live forever ... you've got to get off the table and stop shouting "yeahhh".
Damien Hirst, The Guardian, 13.10.09.
1999 The Stuckist is opposed to the sterility of the white wall gallery system
The Stuckists manifesto, 3.8.99. 2009 You get a bit bored of putting art in contemporary art galleries, it's just a big white space isn't it?
Damien Hirst, Daily Mail, 13.10.09.
2002 I'm mainly talking to people who
aren't yet born with my work
Billy Childish (Stuckist co-founder), The Observer, 24.3.02 2005 in a way you make art for people who haven't been born yet
Damien Hirst, The Independent, 16.10.05
2006 you’re working for people not yet born
Damien Hirst, Time Out, 20.11.06
2000 The painting of pictures has endured since the Lascaux caves
The Stuckists, An Open Letter to Sir Nicholas Serota, 26.2.00. 2009 there's an unbroken line all the way back to the cavemen
Damien Hirst, The Daily Telegraph, 13.10.09.
http://www.stuckism.com/info.html
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The Happiness Project
I ran out of gas last night on the way back from University. Fortunately I am blessed to have a good friend along the way who had some gas in the jug and lent me twenty bucks to get to town to put some fuel in the tank, to get home and make another trip to town as soon as I got my dough in the bank. Bla Bla Bla. We all have shit to complain about. Shit happens, that never changes but my attitude that can change!
As I do everyday every morning I listen to CBC Radio with Jian, ( I love you ), on Q, had a lovely intelligent and erudite woman talking about her blog , The Happiness Project, which she has now based her new book with the same title.
I got thinking about happiness, which I too, have spent many years figuring out just what it means and how to get it. There was a time when I thought happiness was for others and until I began the inner journey, of finding out what it means to be myself, and learning to love and accept who I am , then happiness wasn't so elusive to me.
I have a good life long friend who once told me, she though I was resilient. That's a good thing to be and it made me feel great to know she saw me in that way.
That said, sometimes in life things happen that you have no control of and there isn't anything you can do to change it. You can be resilient but that doesn't mean you don't feel tired out, stressed and even overwhelmed. During these times I've found it best to simply withdraw yourself from the situation if you can, in a way that is positive for yourself, in order to rest whether it be physically, mentally or emotionally. Some would call it listening for the small quiet voice, or being still, quite reflection, or maybe just laying around, like a carp waiting for time to pass, if that's all you can manage to do. I have decided to do this today because there wasn't anything else for me to do. This always helps me and allows me time to re-group and practice mindfulness. Happiness, in the form of contentment seems to seep into my spirit before I know it and things have a way of righting themselves again. It was serendipity that I heard Gretchen Rubin this morning and I am grateful because she has certainly added to my happiness and has enabled me to opportunity to add to my own.
http://www.happiness-project.com/
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Art Exchange - What is an Artist?
Rather strange thing I heard on CBC Radio Q tonight about art work being sold to clients as shares like the TSE. Here's the link. https://www.aexchange.net/
Thought I'd include this great You Tube Video a freind shared with me. Got me thinking about my Open Media Class. At the end of class we were asked to give thought to the question, " What is an artist?" Our Professor said one of the most common statements she hears is, that
" Artists are crazy. " I shared with a friend I had not heard any one say that directly to me but I have heard, " You artists all have a look about you.", and, " You're different."
Well we may look and act differently than the norm, heck may even be disturbed or disturbing but we aren't crazy! Here's some food for thought on the question.
http://www.goines.net/Writing/what_is_artist.html
http://www.artnewsblog.com/2007/06/what-is-art-what-is-artist.htm
Monday, January 17, 2011
The Oh Shit Blue Monday Blog
Another Monday, a rather blue one. Not that I have any thing to complain about, I don't.
I'm just wanting to rant. Please bare with me here, I won't be long.
Awakened early, 5 a.m laying in bed like a carp, thinking to myself why can't I just sleep until it's time to get out of bed?
Fact is, I should have gotten up then because by the time my feet hit the floor at 6 a.m the power went out. Dark, cold, no coffee made but looking on the bright side I knew exactly where my underwear was and remaining clothes, I had put out the night previous and I had bought new candles for the next power outage. I may never be organized, but I strive to be prepared, it's a daily struggle sometimes.
Out into the dark morning and it's cold enough to freeze your grannies preserves. I head half way up the road realizing oh s _ _t! I forgot my lunch, and I'm broke! I carry on and pick up a cheap coffee at the Irving (don't get the Hazelnut Vanilla). I gum on my cold banana.
My first class, Open Media, which was very productive for me as I delegate Christian to assist me and I document some more of the ongoing process of the transformation project, which happens to be one of my soft sculpture projects from last term , 2010. It is the knotted rope ladder. I have unraveled it, ( thanks Christian for your help), and now have copious lengths of thinner rope. I may very well unravel that. It's a perfect project for the compulsive obsessive. Pictures will be posted within the next few days the document the transition. I love Open Media, regardless of not having a clue what I'm doing much of the time.
Post Script
Glad to arrive home from school, very hungry I made a bee line to the fridge and being so tired, thought briefly about hittin' the ole fart sack but instead turned on CBC Radio and heard that January 17th is considered to be the most depressing day of the year...really is Blue Monday! I feel so much better!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Art & Life
I read an article today for Canadian Art History, entitled, "How To Get Indians Into An Art Gallery, " by Candice Hopkins. There was a statement she made that really struck me in relation to how art has always being a community based activity in Native culture.
"Art was never seen as something separate or distinct from life itself."
This statement may not be profound to some, but it is to me. I have believed this for a long time but I want to remind myself often because I think from time to time, I have a tendency to forget.
Joe Average
Listening to CBC Radio as I do every morning and crawling out of bed, I heard an interview being done about an artist named Joe, Joe Average. I wondered if that was his real name. As I listened, I learned, that he had been making art to support himself after being given a diagnosis of HIV 27 years ago.
He was determined to make a living solely through his art.
Now a days he was living pretty much like a recluse. The reason being was that he'd been struggling with the side effects from the various drug cocktail he had to take in order to fight the HIV.
His was a moving and very inspiring story. A testament to his determination, and loving kindness.
Photography is his mode of expression now as opposed to the very different work he'd done in the past that brought him a great deal of acclaim.
I thought I'd post the link to his site. http://www.joeaverageart.com/
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Blog Brain
Thursday, January 13, 2011
I don't hate Michael Snow! "Shakespeare always said his plays should appeal to the beer-drinkers in the front row "
The period of the 60s and 70s does have particular interest to me as I am a child of the 60's born in the 50's. Attending NSCAD in the 1972 right through the 70s gives me a certain perspective.
I had no idea what to expect upon my arrival into art school. The prevalence of conceptual art was confusing, disturbing, threatening, intimidating, distancing, gender specific and entertaining by times.
In open Art Seminar class at Mount Allison we have been discussing Clemet Greenburg, the acclaimed and infamous art critic. The juxtaposition of him as the privier of abstract expressionism, painting being the only relevant art form, the idea of pure art, along side of what Michael Snow and Joyce Wieland attempted, to re-define art that dealt with the ideas of what art is and examining what the process of making art is an interesting one.
I am not an artist that has ever been a really interested in conceptual , abstract or abstract expressionism, although I have explored it some in my own art practice. I am glad things have changed in the art world and that we are no longer subject to adhere to a particular ideology and discourse if we choose not to. The Avaunt Gard had it's on rigidity, as did other art movements.
I say we don't need to throw the baby out with the bath water. We need to hang on to and understand some of our past in order to understand our present and our future.
Thank goodness for change.
Painting Exhibit Honors The Work Of Late OU Art Professor
By Athens NEWS Staff
From the 1960s until 1990, Ohio University's art program boasted a nationally renowned abstract expressionist-cum-surrealist with galleries in New York City. Now, almost 14 years after Dana Loomis' death...
From the 1960s until 1990, Ohio University's art program boasted a nationally renowned abstract expressionist-cum-surrealist with galleries in New York City. Now, almost 14 years after Dana Loomis' death, OU's School of Art is holding a retrospective exhibit sampling the life's work of the artist.
Ron Kroutel, OU art professor and close colleague of Loomis, was instrumental in organizing the exhibit. He said Loomis' paintings won't just draw intellectuals and artists at the university, but will also appeal to the Athens community. ""I think the show is not only for the people in the School of Art, it's also for the wider Athens community,"" he said. "Shakespeare always said his plays should appeal to the beer-drinkers in the front row -- I think Loomis' paintings have that quality."
Indeed, Loomis' oil paintings do have a populist appeal. The crisp and stunning realism might leave even the most jaded art critic in awe, and the careful arrangement of metaphorical objects leave inevitable echoes in the subconscious.
Consider, for instance, Loomis' ""Four Ages of Man,"" on display at the OU Art Gallery in Seigfred Hall. The picture shows an open closet with an army jacket, a business suit, a university team pennant, and a baby's hat and pacifier. Each fold in the fabric and shadow on the shelves is photographically accurate, yet the angles and arrangement of the still-life objects follow the same composition used by abstract artists like Piet Mondrian -- the man who painted those sleek pictures composed of big red, blue, yellow and white tiles. Loomis, in fact, began his career as an abstract expressionist in the school of the famous American painter William DeKooning, under whom he studied at Yale.
Seigfred's exhibit samples Loomis' early abstract work as well, the most gripping of which is ""Group Forms,"" which he finished in 1961. This painting, though initially appearing as simply obsessive smears of paint, reveals itself to be an intensely sexual painting upon further examination. The swoops and scrawls of paint form the almost-figures of naked women -- or at least squirming and suggestive organic forms.
Kroutel said Loomis' paintings were not difficult to organize because many locals own Loomis originals. Many come from the private collection of his widow, Gloria Loomis, while others belong to professors or other Athens residents.
Kroutel also expressed surprise that the art school didn't act sooner to honor its deceased professor -- they simply hired a replacement. ""When he died, they didn't really do anything,"" he said. ""I thought it was odd that the school would act like a corporation.""
But Kroutel commended the school for its support when he brought up the idea of a Loomis retrospective, allocating money to print a color pamphlet for the exhibit. A graphic design student in the School of Art laid out the publication, and it contains reproductions of Loomis' work along with commentary from Kroutel describing Loomis' career. ""He and I were close colleagues for 25 to 30 years,"" Kroutel explained. ""(Loomis) was quite a bit older than me, but we shared the same attitude toward art.""
Kroutel's essay describes Loomis' transition to realism with works such as ""Pharos #1: Greece,"" which appears at the gallery. Loomis, in this painting, makes no attempt at realism, but he is beginning to use representation to convey his ideas while still retaining his abstract composition.
Most of Loomis' canvases on display, however, sample the artist's realistic work. Some of the most impressive are those that depict a carefully positioned canvas arranged before an open door or window. The paintings on the canvases complete the landscapes outside -- a quote from the surrealist vocabulary of Renee Magritte. ""Mirror Image,"" painted in 1986, uses this device, as do several other paintings in the retrospective.
Loomis' admiration of Mondrian is also a theme throughout the show. Works such as ""Formal Devices,"" ""Bloody Mary Morning"" and ""The Four Humors"" all have the same strong, linear composition and repeating planes of red, blue and yellow.
Anyone in Athens can see Loomis' paintings at Seigfred Gallery through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at no charge. Viewers should be prepared, however, to stand in awe.
I don't need to loose my ear!
Self Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh
It is my belief that practical business/ commerce knowledge and skills are vital to all artists to aquire.
More often than not, our work is undervalued। As artists we don't need to contribute to this by short selling ourselves or over pricing and perpetuating the stereotype of the starving and long suffering artist that lives in a garret!
As an artist, that has returned to university to complete my Bachelor of Fine Art, I am painfully aware of how students are not given the business skills regarding, marketing and selling their work etc.
This was even more so the situation in my early years as an art student at NSCAD in the 70s. Today in art school it is still prevalent, but fortunately art students have the opportunity to access commerce related information if they seek it out, and Professors encourage and reinforce the importance of having commerce as part of your education in art school.
Studying and understanding how to market yourself as an artist, I would dare to say is perceived as diametrical to what it means to be an artist, to the point of being a sacrilege. This is also a myth, making us victims of our own persona's in which we are perceived as never needing or wanting to seriously consider the material or monetary in terms of our practice or careers.
This is not a moral high ground nor should it be. I am certain no artist wants or chooses poverty as their lot in life, loosing an ear or madness in order to be an artist! Please, hang on to your ears!