ArtBlog

Does size really matter?

Does size really matter?

“Why don’t you paint this on a larger canvas, let’s say a 24” x 36” or bigger?”  I hear at times such unsolicited feedback as if bigger were better.  Other advice givers claim: “painting big is more forgiving!”  I have yet to get a clear explanation for such an argument.

I choose many different canvas sizes from 2”x2”to 24”x36 or larger, in fact my largest painting done on one single canvas and not on several panels assembled together,  is 42”x42” which gave me in real struggle when I attempted to transport it in my SUV.  How do you determine the size of your canvas?  For me, it is often simply a question of pure practicality.  When painting outdoors for example I prefer an 18”x24” canvas;  it is easy to handle and just big enough for my half box French easel without having to worry too much about the wind tipping it over.  More often it is the subject matter that will help me determine the shape and size of the canvas.  The rendition of an expansive landscape might be more convincing on a sizeable format.  Sometimes I prefer squares to rectangles, ovals no thanks…pas pour moi! Driven at times by a desire to experiment I opt for odd sizes such as a 10”x30”.  Then again I often choose a canvas that will fit a standard size frame which is far less expensive.

Needless to say very large paintings seem to make a bigger impact…at least at first glance.  Are big impacts really that desirable? Having a painting smack in your face may be as overbearing and saturating as loud noise or a domineering person.  For sure it will catch attention but after a while it may just become irritating.

There is a correlation between subject matter, intent and size; common sense will guide you.  Yet, when looking at the vast repertoire of past masterpieces, they seem to come in all sizes and shapes; would Mona Lisa or Rhode’s Aphrodite  be better works of art if they were bigger?  In the end it seems to me a good work of art has little to do with its size.

Everyone loves Max!

 

Everyone loves Max!

Max is my Labrador retriever who was born on July 4th seven years ago.  Every year we have a big celebration for him here in Boston with music, fireworks and of course plenty of food.  The Boston Pops play for us while Max gets his birthday sausage.

Every artist should have a pet. I am partial to dogs.  Their loyalty is unshakable, their love unconditional and their intelligence impressive.  In fact, they know you better than you may know yourself.  A dog can sense your mood while you may not even be aware of your own true emotion.  Researcher Alexandra Horowitz will show you the amazing perceptual and cognitive abilities of dogs in her remarkable and delightful book (1).

Max makes a perfect and patient model in my studio and I don’t even have to pay him in money.  He likes to hang out in the studio because it is bright and quiet and, like me he likes the scent of paint.  Moreover, Max always likes what I paint; he is a true fan in full admiration of my artwork.  His motive is not to erode my self-confidence but to please me.  It makes me feel good to have him there.

(1)    Alexandra Horowitz:  Inside of a Dog, What Dogs See, Smell, and Know. Scribner, 2009

Beyond The Summer Wind

Cinque Terre

Beyond The Summer Wind

High above the wheat the summer wind

Carries a scent of hay and honey

Meadows of jewels soften the sky

Let me linger here in comfort

The glow of a wondrous gaze

As summer ripens with ease

Seductive against mango dusk

I don’t want to go north just yet

On the journey ahead

Let me touch the pale ferns instead

And smell the mushrooms

In the early morning forest

Listen to the mellow space

Between woodruff and blueberries

Like harps in the summer wind

Butterflies and bees multiply

Let me linger here a while

I don’t want to go just yet

On the long journey north

Beyond the summer wind

Where the wheat fields end

There is but silence ever so bleak

Ever so endless white nothingness

On the long journey ahead

Donations to Charitable Functions

For a number of years I have contributed to various charitable functions by donating artwork.  I have for example supported  large organizations that have a broad following such as the American Lung Association, the Alzheimer Association, WGBH channel 2 Fine Art Auction in Boston and PBS Art Auction in Rhode Island.  I have also supported local causes such as the Newman Preparatory School in Boston.

Supporting charitable organizations by donating your art to public events and auctions will not only give you great exposure, connections and a tax deduction, moreover, it will bring you the satisfaction in contributing to important causes in a creative way.

When contributing to a charitable event, I would recommend selecting a piece of art you yourself would wish to purchase.  Many artists tend to give pieces they consider of lesser value.  While this may be tempting, after all you are giving away a free painting, I believe it would be a mistake.  Charitable events should not be viewed as venues for streamlining your inventory or uncluttering your storage space.  Doing so would discredit your potential and undermine your self-respect.  Do not, however, hesitate to include promotional materials including an artist statement and a short biography which I usually attach to the back of the painting.  This adds a personal touch and may even lead to a future sale.

 

“Holiday Fruit” 18” x 18”, Oil on Canvas
Donated to the 2011 WGBH Channel 2 Fine art Auction
“Blush Peonies” 18” x 24”, Oil on Canvas
Will be donated to the upcoming PBS Rhode Island Fine Art Auction

 

Using up all your paint

After some experience we become much more adept at predicting the amount of paint needed on one’s palette for a particular project.  Yet, somehow as the mood carries us along, we seem to often either run out of certain colors or have too much left of others.  After all we don’t want to limit ourselves in any way.

You might find the following steps to be a worthwhile experiment.  After I have decided on which colors to press out of the tube onto my palette, I put all paint tubes away and out of sight.  I will use up whatever paint I end up with without adding a color or replacing one should I run out of it.  For as long as I can, I won’t put any restrictions to which colors I use.  I simply keep on painting until I have used up every bit of paint on my palette.  This may require that I start another painting.  If I run out of time, I’ll seal the palette with a plastic wrap and return to it later.  By following these steps you will discover that less can become more.

This procedure may feel constraining at first, but it really does not need to be.  Rather, it forces me out of my habitual inclinations and shortcuts; it forces me to improvise and invent new strategies.  As I progress along I look to new combinations.  My palette will indeed become more and more monochromatic, and since I consider myself primarily a colorist, this becomes a real challenge rather than a confinement.

Confinement may very well reside in our own habitual responses and in the comfort zones we have forged.

Unclutter and expand

     After a long winter, spring is particularly appreciated this year.  I always feel energized by the change of seasons and welcome the longer daylight in March.  Perhaps this is a good time to tidy up the studio and do some spring cleaning.  Too much clutter leads to a smaller working space which in return may lead to excuses and inertia.

If you have been painting for a while you probably have accumulated “surplus stuff”.  You may even have some paintings you forgot you had.  Take inventory.  I know I have a number of paintings that no longer matter much to me for one reason or another, I simply have moved on and have embraced new directions. Please understand, I do not mean paintings that fall below my standards, those are long gone and recycled; I never hold on to a painting I consider inferior.  What to do with the “surplus stuff”?  Why not donate such paintings!

I have decided this year to donate my surplus artwork to local homeless shelters.  It would please me enormously to know that some of my paintings will brighten the wall of a shelter and bring perhaps a little cheerfulness to not such a cheerful place.  There are many such places and managers are usually eager to coordinate a schedule with you.  I have chosen to focus this year on shelters for women and safe house for victims of domestic violence.  For sure I contribute regularly to fund raisers and auctions, but the smaller local shelters tend to get forgotten.

Each piece I donate will be framed and ready to be hung following the same rigid standards of presentation required by galleries.   Upon completion and delivery I make sure to have a donation slip which includes the fair market value and have it signed by a person in charge at the shelter; this will give me a tax break.

Whether you are an artist who feels compelled to create, a collector who follows a desire to surround him or herself with art, or simply a viewer who stops in front of a piece of art to contemplate, art’s mystique  can draw us in, art has the power to heal and elevate the spirit.  Bringing art to people, who may not have any access to viewing art, is both a unique and rewarding opportunity.

Southern French Mimosa in bloom now

Warm up exercises

Warming up Exercises and Transition Time

Many instructors often start class with quick warm up exercises meant to loosen one up before starting to work with more serious intent and focus on a painting, quite similarly to physically warming up in a gym class before the tempo speeds up.

I find such exercises very helpful. They indeed physically loosen up my wrists, fingers, neck and elbow. Moreover, they mentally loosen me up too. I feel freer to experiment as I am less judgmental, less self-aware and tense; after all, these are only exercises, not the “real stuff”! The exercises are usually fun and playful. They lift my spirit, and I enjoy losing myself in the releasing energy of being able to let go. From these warm up exercises I go back to my easel refreshed and relaxed as if I had just meditated.

Another kind of warm up mode for me, is what I call the ritual of setting-up. I try to do this mindfully with the reverence that is called for in art. I imagine that my easel is an altar that I am about to dress up for a ceremony; my gestures being purposeful and never rushed.

I stand up with good posture and begin. I first chose my colors which I always arrange in the same order on my palette. I carefully handle my brushes as if they were ceremonial candles, I select my palette knives and display them on a small table next to me…etc. I set up with the same concerted effort each time in slow ritualistic motions not thinking about the painting ahead but rather weighing each gesture one at the time. This too is very meditative to me. It clears my mind.

Whether one begins with warm up exercises or some other activity, I believe transition time is of utmost importance. All too often we seem to rush from one activity into another without any time to recalibrate and adjust. When I find myself caught in such a hectic mode, I feel out of sorts and have a harder time focusing as if I were out of sync; my rhythm is off and my creativity blocked.

Finally to come back to warm up exercises, on occasion I have surprised myself, indeed what started as a simple warm up exercise has turned into a sophisticated painting.

Boston Angel, 19×20 Acrylic on paper

The New Year

The New Year

I did not make any resolutions this year. May 2011 bring healing and discovery, music and poetry, adventures and wisdom, above all may the New Year bring peace.

I would like to share this wonderful passage written by Roberta Smith and published in the New York Times on December 31, 2010.

“Paintings like poetry or music,
are essential nutrients that help
people sustain healthy lives.
They’re not recreational pleasures
or sidelines. They are tools that
help us grasp the diversity of the
world and its history, and explore
the emotional capacities with which
we navigate that world.

They illuminate, they humble, they
nurture, they inspire. They teach
us to use our eyes and to know
ourselves by knowing others.”