Everyone is invited to Art Exposure Gallery tomorrow night, where I'll be showing the above painting ("The Profile") as well as the two below - the first of my New York paintings to go on show!
There will be nibbles and wine and good chat, as well as my paintings hung in a group (there are a few others going on show) and of course many other painters work on show.
Also recently finished (maybe) is this one, which has also gone through many stages since it was begun back in Vytlacil. She is based on photographs I took of what appeared to be a model shoot at the Staten Island Ferry terminal. There was something about the light that was just magical as well, of course, of all the effort that had clearly been put into her clothes, make-up and so on.
Later that day I visited the Frick, which I heartily recommend for anyone interested in paintings of people. They have an amazing collection of first class paintings that span from Holbein's Thomas Cromwell to fine Degas , hitting various high points along the way. Almost all of the paintings are not only by great painters but are among the best of their works - the Raeburn's , for example, are top notch, which is quite impressive. Having such great works in close proximity makes it very easy to compare and contrast and try to have deep thoughts. There isn't the scope of the Metropolitan, especially as almost all paintings are portraits. This is, of course, also a strength.
So, after seeing all these three-quarter length portraits I wanted to have a go myself - and this is the result. She started out much darker but seemed to become more mermaid-like as she progressed. I had gone on the ferry as I was missing the water (having grown up by the seaside and having a view of the Kelvin from my front window) and every time I started painting it took me back to the pleasure of the ride, the mystery of the sea and rivers, and the unfathomableness of what goes on behind another person's eyes.
Here is the (probably) finished version of The Princess - she was the last painting I started in Vytlacil, and was hung on the wall at the opening while the paint was still wet. Back then, she had a yellow background and grey clothing - originally she started as an exercise in using raw sienna as a background. That didn't work out - turns out the paint was both too opaque and too transparent for what I was after. Never mind, I'll try something similar on another painting soon.
So, now she surrounded by shades of green/grey/blue and is looking much calmer - originally she seemed to have a little bit of a sneer to her, which just did not seem right. A real example of the painting taking over and the reference material being left far behind.
Looking at her here on the blog it is clear I am very drawn to these types of blues - all my most recent paintings are very blue themed. Oh well. Guess I should keep experimenting with the colours . . .
Just spotted something I want to fix. A painting is done for me either when I run out of things to improve, fixing it means starting from scratch, or when it has to be taken to a gallery to be sold. How does everyone else decide?
Despite a woefully rubbish cafe, I enjoyed my visit here, although I didn't bother with any of the trendy, modern stuff. Instead I spent ages looking at second rate paintings, with a few first class paintings thrown in. At my stage of learning this can be very useful - they are, of course, still way beyond me, but tend to show the workings and give me use-able ideas. Masterpieces are great to look at, very inspiring, but often difficult to assess for help in how to paint. It can be hard to use the critical mind when your jaw is hitting the floor . . .
These photo's are of Ribera's painting of St Joseph of the Flowering Rod. Seeing these hands were a jaw-dropping moment, although I can't saw I am too keen on the whole thing - Ribera for me is a first class painter but his subject matter can make him a little hard to love. But look at these hands.
I'd hoped that the photo's might help me show how to paint skin better, but I think that they are just going to be reminders of how important hands can be, and of how much distance there is between my paintings and a class act such as Ribera.
As may be clear by now, I spent a lot of time in New York hanging around the parks. Towards the end of the stay, I discovered Washington Square Park. It is easy to understand why the Fresh Prince chooses to live there in I Am Legend (beautiful, but rather stupid film. Much prefer the book . . . ) although I suppose he would not have the benefit of Caffe Reggio being nearby. The almond pastry I had there was very, very good - on my list of places to revisit.
One of the times I was there, a bunch of folks were sleeping on the benches near the arch (it was about half nine on a sunday morning). Attached to a lead was this absolutely gorgeous kitten - it was bigger than a full grown cat, despite being quite skinny and clearly not yet fully grown, so I have no idea what kind of cat it was.
Lots of pictures were taken, and this is my first drawing - I have a bug in my head about drawing movement which comes out every so often but does not seem to be anywhere near resolved. At some point there will probably be both more developed drawings of individual poses, and more work on the moving theme. Until then, this is it!
Way back again to the start of my trip, I went to a talk organized by Patricia Watwood at the Forbes Galleries.
The talk was a panel discussion between Patricia, Nelson Shanks, Sabin Howard and Peter Trippi . I had a nice seat near the front and after a while began sketching. Sitting still for more than half an hour is a real trial . . . Obviously, they kept moving, Peter Trippi at the end in particular - while the others tended to go back to the same pose, he was always different. And the hands! They were absolutely fabulous, never stopping, very expressive - even when not talking. Odd that he was the one non-artist in the panel. He saw the sketch later (a very approachable chap) and didn't seem to disapprove too much.
It was Nelson Shanks (the first face in my sketch) whose viewpoint I understood most - he talked very much of the joy of painting what is in front of you and how expressive that can be, and how there will never be an end to the subjects to be painted. The others were more political and a lot of it went over my head - especially as I had not yet realised how very little representational art there is in NYC. It was a bit of a shock to me that my kind of art is seen by some as very old fashioned. But at the end of the day, does it matter? Only in the sense that the audience for my work may be smaller than I'd wish
Anyway, I got to meet Daniel Maidman, who introduced me to Joe Ongie (who is a big Raeburn fan), Nelson, Patricia and Peter, Karen Kaapcke (another great painter) and various other interesting folks. Wine was drunk, the party moved to the Salmagundi Club (which had a startling range of representational art on show, from the brilliant to the embarrassingly bad) and there was much talk of art amongst other things.In the perfect world there would be many such meetings and we would all be better artists for them - it is hard to quantify how much talk enriches, but I have no doubt it does. Otherwise I wouldn't be blogging - so please comment, folks!
The view from New Jersey, just before the bus turned into the Lincoln Tunnel, is spectacular
At the weekend, the bus went across the George Washington Bridge, rather than through the tunnel. This gave a view at an angle down the island, but unfortunately it was raining pretty bad each time I made that journey, so the best I could manage was a shot of the bridge itself.
There are a few more photographs over at flickr
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