Monthly Archives: January 2012

Art Crutches What?

Jan. 2012:  Donald Sultan’s juror’s statement for the Katonah Museum Tri-State Juried Exhibition gave me pause. “Today there are too many crutches for people (sic: artists) to hide behind,” says Sultan. “That includes- ideologies, pasting junk together, random installations words, craft, and so on.” Other mediums can be used in this show if they adhere to the juror’s desire for clarity of expression in the simplest medium. Ok I find this confusing.

Crutch? Hide? I’m not thin enough to hide behind one anyway, but…painting, drawing or sculpting, the “ok to use media” in the Sultan statement involve the use of crutches, aka tools, to create a work of art. The brush, pencil or the stick our fore-artists used is a crutch. And speaking of innovation in tools, some art historians think paint may have been blown onto cave walls by mouth to create some of the great wall paintings. (“no mouth blown paint allowed.” I can see the prospectus now! What we would have missed…)

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Color!

January 13, 2012  Color! Winter in the Northeast is a perfect time to hang out in the studio, experimenting with color. As beautiful as the winter landscape can be, we still long for the richness and variety of color around us. And when we paint we can “be” in as colorful a place as we create!

That’s what we’ll be doing starting Tues. morning, January 17, when  I’ll be teaching “Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner” at Silvermine School of Art in New Canaan, CT. Beginning painters will learn painting basics- how to handle the painting tools, and create a variety of painting effects. They’ll also experiment and learn about how colors “work”. Because colors have their own set of rules, a “do your own thing” approach to using them without knowing those rules often results in unwanted mud colors! So to have more success and enjoyment using color, color information is key.

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Ten Week Course “Painting for the Absolute and Utter Beginner” Starts January 17, 2012

Time: 9:30am – 12:30pm

Duration: 10 sessions, January 17 – March 20Fee: $450

This course introduces students who have no previous painting experience to the techniques and principles of painting. Participants start at the very beginning of the learn-to paint process, using a step by step sequence to learn core techniques such as brush handling, how to control paint consistency, effective color mixing, as well as principles of color theory. Once these elements are acquired, students learn how to apply what they’ve learned to create a spatially convincing still life. Subject matter will gradually grow more challenging, while remaining within reach of the beginner. Acrylic paints are used to allow students to take advantage of the versatile nature of this medium. Drawing experience is necessary preparation for the course.

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