Compton ART Studio Notes

White Paint

2011-08-01T18:59:00.001-07:00

Today, an art editor came to my studio. He helped me go through 54 half-baked paintings that needed a ruthless eye. We saved sixteen that showed promise; most of which were recent work and a few that were from the first years I started painting. Fourteen paintings on panels ranging from untempered Masonite to Gessobord were deemed better in white than the picture I had labored over under some pretense that I would re-work them at a later date.

Five of those were acrylic paintings that I gave up about four years ago. I found some joy in sanding down the surface and pulling out a huge bucket of acrylic gesso. I covered each one carefully with two coats of the fresh white surface and sanded them in between. I felt air and space entering my mind as I applying the satisfyingly white surface.

The other nine were all oils and from what I've learned, one is welcome to paint in oils over acrylic paint, but woe to the artist who covers oils with acrylic. I needed something else to cover these rather dense paintings. I found three tubes of white paint in the bottom of my old artist's box: Holbein Neo-Zinc White, Holbein Cermaic White and Gamblin Fast Matte White Alkyd. It was a perfect opportunity to try each one to see how each behaved.

I have always worked with Titanium White in all my paintings so this sampling of whites were obviously demonstration paints I had picked up somewhere. I started with the Neo-Zinc. It was recalcitrant about spreading over the first surface I tried. As I researched it, I found that Zinc white has a nasty reputation for encouraging oils to peel off. According ton one article from "Natural Pigments," Paint layers containing zinc white "delaminate." And it could take four days to dry. I read this after I had covered three panels with the stuff. A mistake, perhaps, though I've finished the tube, at least. No more Zinc White in my paint box.

Then I tried the Ceramic White. It covered much better than the Zinc. The chemical name is "Strontium Titanate" which just sounds like a superhero in comparison to "Zinc Oxide" which is something I'd put on my nose in the Gobi Desert. I covered another three panels with this stuff, noting that it was covering much better than the Zinc-White.

The Gamblin Fast Matte Alkyd Titanium White covered more solidly than the other and is listed as an opaque paint. It had the matte quality of the gesso on the first panels and a brightness that exceeded the other two whites. And it looks like they may be dry within 18-24 hours.

While some artists fear the white canvas, today's exercise made me appreciate what it is to literally create a clean slate in one's own studio. Oil paint is a joy and a jealous lover. It is a medium that takes over one's life. There is nothing so useful as repainting old paintings to get a fresh perspective on one's work.

And if you're doing the math, you'll note that there are still 24 paintings in question. Those are paintings on canvas and linen that need to be unstretched and rolled for residence in the back of a closet for a while. Stretcher bars take up less room stacked in the corner with nothing on them, waiting for a new fresh bit of cloth that can be gessoed into a fresh, clean surface.

Let the ideas begin. The surfaces are becoming ready.

The Future of Farming

2011-04-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

This is a watercolor I completed today. I titled it "The Future of Farming" and I'm thinking about doing a series related to this topic.

Last fall, I was invited to visit Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport, Vermont where there are over 2000 head of dairy cows. The other thing this farm produces besides milk is "cow power" for Central Vermont Public Service.

It was a crisp late October fall day when we got the tour around the facility which was anything but your typical "red barn hillside farm" in Vermont. A tractor trailer 'rig' is more likely to be seen here than a simple tractor. The tires are used for silage: a far cry from the silos of my youth. So a pile of tires often appears on the farm landscape these days, waiting to put to good use for tamping down fodder.

I was struck by the young boy, wandering around, looking at pebbles, dwarfed by this vast landscape. The Adirondacks of New York State hung in the distance under steely, cold clouds. Farming has become big business and this farm is doing its best to stay alive under tremendous economic pressure. Thanks to the CVPS Cow Power program, through collecting manure and turning it into electricity to sell back to the power company, five families, all related can make a go of this giant farm.

Small hill farms could hardly be expected to make an investment in the infrastructure it takes to produce bovine powered electricity, but those few who do benefit greatly from the added income. And the customers who buy Cow Power get the good feeling that their renewable energy is coming from a clean source that allows Vermont farms to continue and flourish.

I wonder if harvesting energy is as satisfying to the farms as harvesting food? Our world has become so dependent on energy, we seem to value it above food. To me, this is worth observing. I love juxtaposing the bright intensity of the colors against a reasonably somber story. What is the "future of farming?"

Discovering African Art in Geneva, Switzerland

2011-03-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

The year I graduated from high school, the Musee Barbier-Mueller started in the old town in Geneva, Switzerland. In between winter and spring classes, I had the great good fortune to discover these elegant galleries filled with esoteric African art.

The collection was started by Josef Mueller in 1907 and contains over 7,000 items from tribal as well as 'classical antiquity.' It seems Monsieur Mueller was quite the collector. And his heirs appear to be continuing the legacy by publishing extensive catalogs of artwork for all to see.

The current exhibition was on "Les Gans du Burkina Faso" which reminded me a tad of a Dr. Seuss book. Burkina Faso is a little kingdom of about 6,000 people who came from Ghana in the 15th Century. From the video I saw, artists in that same area are still working with the same bestial images they did in the 1400's while the Renaissance was just beginning in Italy.

Jewelry from these people were on display—great bronze amulets and bracelets of snakes and human forms. There were rams who looked like daschunds and snakes that were braided with three heads. There were "Amulettes relevant to the personal protection" of the wearer, if my french serves me. I spent a long time drawing and basking in the relative silence of the place. Whispered french was all I heard over the playing of a video that showed a twentieth century Gan artist working on a sculpture.

I don't know much about African art and I find myself more drawn to cultural differences. I was always a big fan of dead, white European male painters because that was my education. I find myself stretching into realms that make little or no sense to me. And at the same time I find myself inspired to see artists creating across time, cultures and space around the Earth.

The most poignant piece was a tiny little sculpture of a two headed fused body with four legs adjacent to one another and only two arms. It seems the others had fused at the shoulders and the head had a pair of faces flatly staring into space. Yet these two were joined, not provocatively, but intimately, as if married for a very long time. These little iron people were frozen in time together, not looking at one another, but looking outward in the same direction. It was simply titled, "Double Figurine" and this lacked all the sweetness of the pose, all the nuance of a couple that had simply grown together over time. How gracious of the artist to capture something so pure and universal that a 21st century viewer could be as captivated by something six hundred years older.

And with that, a lovely African couple walked in with exquisite clothes: she in a white pashmina and he in a traditionally elegant suit seen on most men in Geneva. They quibbled about the price of entrance and then agreed to give in. I watched them walk around together, holding hands, their elegant brown faces peering into cases of artifacts from the continent of their ancestors. There they were: looking outward in the same direction.

Ocean City, New Jersey

2011-03-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

Seen at the Jersey Shore, this sign caught my eye for so many reasons. From a design perspective, I responded to the clarity of the blue and red lettering on the clean white background. Mondrian's colors with none of the finesse. Yet the script had a classic approachability to it. The slight back-hand of the artist evokes a casual joy you expect from a seaside resort.

And then you see the bacon. Or is it? For a moment, it appeared to be a reclining nude, with her arm tucked coyly under her head, draped in a red shawl. Of further examination, simply the fat and lean of the bacon, wrinkled and sizzled into a strip that is meant to be alluring, appealing and maybe even appetizing. The image begged me to read the words again: "Chocolate Covered"? Is that what it said? I see the bacon which appears to not have its covering on. Simply bacon before the fact.

The artist in me tried to imagine what Chocolate Covered Bacon looked like and I imagined the sign artist was daunted by representing that on a sign. In this case, do the words need a picture? As an illustrator, I respect words. I was taught that if the writer said it, perhaps I did not need to visually describe everything, but rather I could simply allude to the facts, enhance the words with a picture. Illustrations are meant to enhance rather than duplicate. So here was a perfect case for my brain to conjure. What did Chocolate Covered Bacon look like anyway? And especially was it worth the calories and the arterial sclerosis to try it?

Fortunately, the shop was closed. All I have is this little picture and a vivid picture in my mind. Some day I will return to Ocean City to try it, however, I have a few other places to visit first. Let me know if this sign works for you.

A Painted Valentine

2011-02-15T18:08:00.000-08:00

I painted this little 8" x 6" painting for my partner for Valentine's Day this year. This maple tree at his farm has a quality of strength that reminds me of him. The view beyond with the warm light in the eastern sky at sunset gives me pause to remember the times he offers a hug or a bit of warmth during some brutally cold encounter with life. We are in love and it is easy to paint for someone I love.

I was eager to paint this image as soon as I saw it because he loves this farm and has lived there for nearly thirty-three years. Soon, he may move and I wanted him to have something that would remind him of the property. And something I had painted specifically for him. Valentine's Day is full of ephemeral gifts like chocolate or flowers—but February is good solid studio time. Why not make a Valentine like we used to make in school?

I find myself far more motivated to paint for someone I love. Perhaps it is the memory of being a child and having my most recent work admired by my own family. I am a painter who likes to have an agenda and I wish I didn't. It really is so much easier to paint because you love to do it, not because you want to paint an image for someone.

It seems for some, the audience matters. I find myself encouraged by deadlines as well, so the fast approach of February 14 after Christmas gives me something to work towards. Otherwise I will revise ad nauseam. And the more I paint, I find my muse is usually someone who loves and appreciates my work. With time, I hope to cultivate myself as that audience. I think it would make me paint more often and with much more enjoyment.

Painting the Figure

2011-01-26T17:52:00.000-08:00

"If Painting is painting, it is drawing. You do not stop drawing when you begin to paint, for painting is drawing. A study from the nude should be a study to comprehend the human body."—Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

This winter, ten students gathered weekly for a class on painting from the model. Eight weeks were divided into three weeks of portraiture and five weeks of working from the nude model.

In the first weeks, I found myself relishing setting up the lights, and interacting with our models, most of whom had never done such a thing before. We worked in twenty minute increments and I guided the students from pencil to watercolor. Some even worked in oil. Working from a model involves vital interaction for the artist to feel the tension, balance and even emotional content that the sitter possesses. To achieve that in such a short span with only a brush or pencil to describe these layers of the human condition seems daunting for anyone.

Most found that working against the clock was the biggest challenge. And some found that the results were not satisfactory. For me, the results are less important than the experience of drawing and painting from life. For me, responding to a model, on a surface with my brush is the ultimate privilege of experiencing a moment in time. Whether the model sits breathlessly still or moves slightly, I am engaged fully in the similarities between me, the model and the painting I am creating. Three in one, this trinity we call making art.

The Potter and the Painter

2010-12-29T16:09:00.000-08:00

Miranda Thomas came to mind when I was asked to put together a commemorative piece for a minister in New Jersey. The church, St. George's By the River in Rumson, New Jersey has a striking stained glass window at its apse of the goddess Sophia. An unlikely reference, it seems, for an Episcopal Church, I found out from Miranda that the Sophists were keen on referencing the intelligence of humanity. Sophia is sometimes considered "the Mother of God." Her image became the thing I wanted to share on the piece.

First, I thought of a quilt, but the quilters I knew had no interest in something so complicated. That is when Miranda came to mind. I hoped she would be willing to paint the image on some piece of pottery. When I went to visit her in her studio in Bridgewater, Vermont she said, "Oh, why don't you do it? I don't usually do people." I tried to convince her that it was a window she was painting, not a person, but she encouraged me to try. "Glazing is just like watercolor."

Maybe to her, but to me it was like painting with very small brushes in sugar. I felt completely paralyzed by the 16" white platter and nearly gave up. I tried a small sample plate first and began to trust the results. The part that was similar to watercolor was that I could dilute the glaze enough to have it sit on top in a variety of values. I waited until the last minute to complete it, only due to fear and uncertainty. Or perhaps because I work well under pressure? But it was a success. I want to share it with you here.

Collaborating with another artist in a field apart from my own builds confidence and allows me to become inspired by new media. How have you collaborated in your work recently?

Painting a Portrait

2010-06-18T20:12:00.000-07:00

Today, I painted in three big chunks of time. The family that I'm doing a portrait for is coming by tomorrow to see it. They loved it the last time and had just a few minor changes. As I started making those small adjustments yesterday, I started seeing all the things wrong with it. By this afternoon, I had completely painted out both faces and started again.

By 5:30, I felt suicidal. Not that I wanted to kill myself entirely, just the grandiose part of me that ever thought I could be a portrait painter. I wanted to take her out back and throttle her for her stupid notion that she could actually paint! From a month ago when I had a painting that the family rather liked, I had taken the thing apart to the point that the girl had eyes the size of one of those pound puppies usually painted on velvet. Her brother looked like Liberace on Valium. Who did I think I was anyway saying yes to this commission a year ago?

Thank God I have a dog. He began to bark having not been out for nearly 8 hours because I had become the self-absorbed, obsessed painter I can be. And now I was a suicidal, obsessed painter. With every change I made, the painting continued to fall apart. So doing the only thing I could think of worth doing, I got my biggest brush and lots of tinted white and painted over her face...again.

Why is it that painting is often fifty percent scraping away or painting over? Why is it that at least half a tube of paint dries on the palette or ends up in the turp bucket? No wonder Vermeer only has 16 extant paintings hanging around for a lifetime of work. Painting is often about repainting—especially when trying to get a likeness.

So this is what the session after dinner resulted in. It was like the self-assured portrait painter was murdered during supper at the White Cottage. A veggie burger and fried mushrooms nourished the humble self. I walked in the studio at 9 PM and by 11 had something I feel comfortable showing these people tomorrow. It is not perfect, but it has a bit of the Dutch Masters like Franz Hals who I fell in love with at the Rijksmuseum in 1977. And it has enough David Hockney colors and Edvard Munch psychology to satisfy me. I got out of the way, cleaned my brushes and went to work doing my honest best.

Oddly, after what felt like a complete break down six hours ago where I was sure I would never paint again, tonight I'm wondering who I might know who would like to sit for my next portrait? Van Gogh might have lived a longer life had he just gone to the White Cottage and ordered a veggie burger.

Painting Space

2010-03-23T19:44:00.000-07:00

I had a conversation today with a Unitarian Universalist minister about public transportation. He said, "The difficulty is to overcome people's resistance to waiting for a bus. If it takes ten minutes for the bus to arrive, people will say take their own car because they believe that waiting is a waste of time. But it is an opportunity to read a book, look around or even talk to a person who is also waiting.

The image here is a small painting of the parking area near Elizabeth, New Jersey with New York City in the distance. I painted it in gouache during the last class on Highway Culture. I like the odd pastel palette I achieved with my new Acryla Gouache from Holbein. I wanted to explore how abstract brush marks can transfer the banality of a parking lot into something more beautiful than it is in "real" life.

Barnett Newman said in his essay, "The Sublime is Now," in 1948—"The impulse of modern art was this desire to destroy beauty." I would suggest that sixty-two years later my impulse as an artist is to look at what may be ugly and to find beauty in it through the medium of paint. Painting space—parking spaces, air over a landscape is the challenge.

Speaking of space, the studio I work in has not been painted since 1995. Today, I embarked on that journey, around the four walls of this room with its 10 foot ceilings. I'm told the room was once a barber shop. The building was built somewhere in the 1850's, the walls are easily a foot thick and the windows have deep sills in them so that I can sit and look out at the street. The walls are getting painted "Featherdown White" because the paintings are colorful enough. I like to think I'm painting space on which objects can sit.

By the time I am finished the painting space will be painted and classes will commence again. The space will become a place in which to paint. Waiting can provide much needed space to create.

Highway Culture

2010-03-10T05:27:00.000-08:00

In preparation for the final class in Abstraction in Watercolor today (before new classes start next week), I read Lawrence Alloway's book, "Topics in American Art Since 1945". He says, "Highway culture is the hardware and sociology generated by automotive transport and the road system...Highway culture is invisible because it's taken for granted, except by those who don't like it."

I think about Monet and Pissarro–their facination with all things in the landscape that pointed to the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th century. Trains, roads to train stations, "gares" all point to a new wave of motion for humans. The gray tone of "Sunrise, Rouen" by Pissaro from 1895 shares his fascination with engineering and this curiosity about the ant-like work of humans. Smoke stacks and rippled water imply action and time passing. We know between the specs of paint, daubed on the surface, life is going on in Rouen. Commerce is bustling.

Last night, I drove to Lebanon, NH to take some photos for the class. I have always liked neon, growing up in New Jersey. And night time offers a whole new look at a magic world of lights against the dark. Glows in watercolor should be easy to achieve, with a patient hand and a wet-in-wet technique. I like how text from signs become shapes or meaning. Logos become compositional conundrums for the artist, because they can be read without the context of the setting.

In class today, we're going to take the theories of abstraction we've begun to study and use them in a painting of "highway culture." The American landscape is a ripe resource for imagery. We are too quick to dismiss the "ugly" or "banal." At the hand of the artist, all could become beautiful.

Archiving Photos

2010-03-09T13:33:00.000-08:00

I walked by my shelf today with photos on it. I'm pretty organized. Its just the volume of photos that's killing me. I have boxes dating back to 1991 on my shelf and in my mother's basement, I can show you photos from my childhood. Last week, my mother came to me with photos of my great grandmother from 1875. I should be glad. How many people have access to this kind of information?

The problem is, I don't have access either. I need to sort through them. I need to catalog and identify them and mostly I need to throw out and edit. I just put 45 digital images from this weekend's ski trip on my iPhone. I stored them in iPhoto. Shall I put them on Facebook? I have over 7000 images in iPhoto right now, dating back to 2005. I like that I can't see the piles of albums, but they're all still there, taking up space in my computer, like dust mites–clutter that's almost imperceptible to the human eye.

Where do I start? I'm scanning images from family history for my mother. I'm taking pictures for my class I'm teaching tomorrow. Tell me what you think.