January 2022

Happy New Year! One month into 2022 and we’ve seen snow twice! The photo above was taken in Washington, DC, right after our visit to the National Portrait Gallery. Scott and I had such a fun visit to DC, saw world class art and I got to spend time in person with my friend Brandi and her husband who live in the area. Not sure when Brandi and I started our “Triple Ms” (Monday Morning Meeting), but it’s been about a year I think. We met through Liz Floyd’s Chardin painting class back in the fall of 2020, and now we meet every Monday for about an hour and talk through all kinds of things art related: techniques, goals, brainstorming, dreaming, problem solving, books, movies, workshops, pricing our art, exhibitions and so much more. 

Our Triple M has been incredibly helpful, and it’s the perfect way to start the week. I set everything out on Sunday night so that all I have to do on Monday morning is have a seat, dig into Robert Greene’s Daily Laws, outline plans for the week then hop on Zoom. 

It was so much fun hanging out and enjoying amazing art in our nation’s capital. 

“The work of the artist is often thought of as solitary. We picture the painter confronting a blank canvas alone, studio door figuratively shut. Yet few artists thrive in a social vacuum. Even those who prefer to work in private will seek out other artists for myriad reasons: mentorship and inspiration, practical assistance, a sense of solidarity or shared purpose. Artists are often each other’s first and most important audience, providing vital support before critics, curators, and collectors arrive on a scene. Two artists caring about one another’s work is fundamental to the creation of any art “world,” large or small.” 

Pretty much says it all, doesn’t it? No one really understands artists except other artists. There’s no manual for what we do or how to do it. Art school doesn’t prepare you. There’s no roadmap, so it’s invaluable to find an artist you connect with and trust to share your ideas, goals, dreams, failures and successes.  

We saw so much great art in DC. It’s always difficult to choose my favorites, and it changes every time I go. Hands always fascinate me, but on this trip I was really focused on noticing how painters painted indirectly - washing out paint, scrubbing out paint, wiping out, and leaving areas that look unfinished. There were many examples of this technique, but my favorite example is this portrait of Bush 41:

If you click on the photo and look closely you’ll notice that the area around the chair is wiped out, as is the carpet just to the left and right of the chair, and the door on the right side is almost nonexistent except for the 3 door hinges. If you look at the plant behind him you’ll see it’s very fuzzy and also looks unfinished, as does 41’s tie. And then look at Bush’s head, left side near the back where that gold line lights him up like a halo. It looks like it’s been painted, wiped out, repainted. And it appears that the artist may have changed the placement of the head more than once. I’m amazed when I see this sort of thing. Now, if you only spend a few seconds looking at art, you’ll never catch these details, but this is why you go to museums. Slow looking is the key to understanding art! 

Here’s another great example … a portrait of John Lewis (my Congressman!) by Michael Shane Neal

Here are some of my favorite pieces from our time in the DC museums:

Nonchaloir by John Singer Sargent

 

The Peppermint Bottle by Cezanne

Mound of Butter by Antoine Vollon

Mustard Pot by Henri Fantin-LaTour

I love the Mustard Pot for the way Fantin LaTour painted white, and I love searching the painting for all of the lost and found edges. And I love the Peppermint Bottle because I did a master copy of that very painting last year.

We also got to see the Venice exhibition which included a number of paintings by John Singer Sargent that I’ve never seen in person before. And I learned about Robert Frederick Blum, an artist I’d never heard of until this exhibit.

Robert Frederick Blum, Canal in Venice

Corner of the Church at San Stae, John Singer Sargent

MY ART 

Photos of the things I worked on this month:

 

Work in Progress

Plein Air painting in the Orchid House at Atlanta Botanical Garden

Plein Air Painting - Atlanta Botanical Garden

Master Copy of Van Gogh’s “Zouave”

Plein Air painting at The Carter Center

From the free painting demo I gave at The Roswell Square Gallery - Van Gogh’s “Oleanders”

My friend Jane Carroll gave me a free portrait painting lesson!
Jane studied with Nelson Shanks and is a very accomplished artist. Proud to call her my friend!

Otis watched “Inspired to Paint” tutorials with me

Work in progress - from my online studies with Inspired to Paint

OTHER NEWS

It’s been nearly two years since I’ve given a docent tour at the High Museum, but we are back giving tours! The museum will host more than 5,500 students from Atlanta Public Schools for tours of the Obama Portraits. Right now I’m scheduled to give 12 tours over the course of two weeks 😳. I always feel overwhelmed after giving tours, but it’s also very rewarding and I always learn something from the students. 

Training with my fellow docents for the Obama Portraits exhibition, on view thru March 20

I submitted two paintings to the Downtown Gallery in Cartersville for their Winter Show. Both were rejected :( which bummed me out for several days. But that’s part of this business. The competition for the Booth Museum/Downtown Gallery opportunities is fierce, so it just fuels me to work harder. 

READING

I just read “One Word,” and decided that my word for 2022 is experiment. I’m already putting that word into practice. When I go out to paint en plein air I’m taking my time and looking for unique perspectives or subjects. I have to be willing to make mistakes and fail if my art is going to improve. And when I set up still lifes at home I’m thinking about new ways to set up and paint my scene. I know that probably means I’ll have a lot of paintings that don’t work, but that’s still progress because I used to be worried about so many technical, elementary aspects of painting. By graduating to solving problems of uniqueness, I’m waaaay ahead of where I used to be. At least that’s how I look at it.

COMING IN FEBRUARY

L.

Keeping my promise to experiment in 2022, I decided to hang all of my master copies at The Roswell Square Gallery for the month of February. My “Fakes and Forgeries” will be on view through March 5th. They’re all very reasonably priced, and many of them are framed. It was so much fun walking down memory lane, remembering what I learned from each of these. Some go back to 2015, others were completed this month. Some oil, some acrylic, some abstract, some representational. I’ve enjoyed having them in our home over the years, but we are running out of room and it’s time to let them go. 

We have a trip to San Diego coming up soon, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m bringing my sketchbook (of course!), some gouache and watercolors. I’d love to get some studies of boats and water while we are there. More experimentation! That word is really growing on me. Let’s see how far we can take it!

See you in a few weeks. Thank you for reading … whoever you are :)

OTIS and JULIUS