Posts Tagged ‘arTists’
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Stick by stick: Steven J. Backman’s splintery medium finds a home in Carmel gallery
 More of Steven Backman's art can be seen at Mountainsong Galleries, Ocean between San Carlos and Mission, Carmel. (STEVEN J. BACKMAN/toothpickart.com) Not too many people consider the toothpick an art medium. That is, until they’ve seen the creations of Steven J. Backman.Backman has made a scale model of the Golden Gate Bridge out of 30,000 toothpicks — and a very tiny model of the same structure from a single toothpick. He’s captured the Empire State Building and San Francisco’s iconic cable cars, all painstakingly pieced together from those little bits of wood.
As if all that weren’t enough, he also has made toothpick portraits of celebrities and abstract sculptures from — you guessed it — toothpicks.
Backman’s work is so distinctive that it has earned several mentions in “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!”, the New York Post and Reuters.
“I love making art. It’s a unique medium, and it’s very challenging,” said Backman, a 42-year-old San Francisco native who began playing with toothpicks as a child, and obviously never stopped. “I’m one of the very few that does this, I think.
“It’s an item that you’d use to pick your teeth or pick up hors d’oeuvres. I’ve elevated a thin sliver of wood to a work of art.”
Lest you think this is merely an exercise in weird constructions, Backman’s work is now being carried by a Carmel art gallery, where currently a number of pieces may be seen anytime the gallery doors are open. (More of his work may be seen online at www.mountainsonggalleries.com or at Backman’s site, www.toothpickart.com.
Mountainsong Galleries of Carmel is Backman’s exclusive worldwide representative, and thus is the only place where the sculptures may be purchased.
Lucinda Mountainsong, co-owner of the gallery with husband Jonathan, said their recently opened establishment features works by California artists, with scenes from the Monterey Peninsula and other places around the Golden State.
She said Backman’s intricate work always draws comments from visitors, who are impressed with the intricacy and attention to detail.
“There’s one cable car that has little lights all over it,” she said. “Steven hollowed out toothpicks to hide the wires.”
Backman’s unusual path to the world of art really took off after he received his bachelor’s degree in industrial arts from San Francisco State University in 1984. He got the idea to make a cable car out of toothpicks — “I love cable cars, I used to ride them all the time” — and then he made another. And another. And another.
He then began to turn his attention to other historic landmarks. His 13-foot-long scale model of the Golden Gate Bridge took more than two years and 30,000 toothpicks to complete. In a happy coincidence, he finished the model just before the bridge’s 50th anniversary in 1987, and so it garnered a lot of attention — it was displayed at San Francisco City Hall and received proclamations from past and present mayors.
The bridge now belongs to the “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!” museum in Hollywood, which bought the piece for $250,000, according to Mountainsong.
Backman’s works are unique in other ways as well. At a distance, his works don’t look like they’re made from toothpicks, but appear as though they are carved from a single piece of wood.
No extra material is used to support any of his structures — he uses nothing but toothpicks and Elmer’s Glue to make them — and they are not lacquered or painted. Even his bridge replicas use no wire or cables, just toothpicks.
And so far, the pieces have proved they were built to last.
“I have some pieces that are over 25 years old, and they’re holding up just fine,” said Backman.
He also takes great pains with his replicas of famous structures. For instance, when he made a scale model of the Empire State Building, he was able to obtain copies of the building’s original blueprints, which he pored over so that he could get it just right.
In addition to these labor-intensive works, Backman also does toothpick portraits of famous people, including Carmel’s own Clint Eastwood, the Obamas and Oprah Winfrey, and also re-creates works of art like “American Gothic” and the Mona Lisa.
These, Backman said, are fun and don’t take so much intense effort over long periods.
In addition, there are several sculptures Backman has made from a single toothpick. He swears he uses no magnification devices when he carves these — “My eyes are pretty good, I guess.”
The toothpicks are “like tiny building blocks,” said Backman, who uses several different types in making his sculptures, including unpointed “blanks” that come directly from a toothpick manufacturer.
His next challenge: creating scenes in Monterey and Carmel … from toothpicks.
Backman has had his work on display at Mountainsong Galleries since August, and his work will be highlighted with a special exhibit at the gallery this December. A reception will be held, with Backman in attendance, on Dec. 4 from 4-7 p.m.
Backman’s motto is “The Essence of Patience,” which pretty much sums up his dedication to his craft.
“You stick with something long enough, you get good at it,” he said.
If you go:
What: The works of toothpick artist Steven J. Backman
Where: Mountainsong Galleries, Ocean between San Carlos and Mission, Carmel When: Open daily 10a.m.-6p.m. Reception for Backman set for Dec. 4, 4-7 p.m.
Information: www.mountainsonggalleries.com or 626-0600
Tags: abstract arT, arT, arT mediums, arThou, arTists, California arT, California arTists, creative arT, Mountainsong Gallery, portraits, sculptures, Steven Backman, toothpick arT, unique arT, unusual arT
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Friday, August 21st, 2009
Hawke and Hunter is an unusual venue but currently the ideal choice for those desperately seeking midnight encounters with art. Turn a blind eye to the bling if you must. The new series of works by Bob and Roberta Smith lovingly transcribes a Guardian sports writer’s review of a Louise Bourgeois exhibition.
Steve Bierley’s first and intimate foray into an artist’s labyrinthine world has been playfully rendered. The work is like a series of nine large illuminated manuscripts, painted boldly from a kinky palate. There is an enjoyable circularity about the journey, from review, to painting, to review. It is not often that a critic is taken so literally. By reiterating the review the sentiment is amplified, but split up into panels the meaning is partially obscured. But, I know as well as you do that it is not always good to fly your flag directly from the mast. Here form has lifted a painterly finger to function.
Central to my experience of Bob and Roberta Smith is some unfettered innocence in both approach and delivery. The work in all its shambolic reverie smacks of the perpetual thrill of the chase, of the professional amateur. Unlike in sport, it is hard to tell who the winners and losers are in art. Bierley’s deft writing is shaded in angst and perturbance, yet this exhibition summons up optimism. If we could siphon this off we would be high on the fumes of hope, or accountability. Now that would be truly dangerous.
Source: theskinny.co.uk
Tags: arT exhibition, arT gallery, arThou, arTists, arTwork, Bob Smith, Bourgeois exhibition, drawings, Grey Gallery, Hawke and Hunter, painings, Roberta Smith
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Friday, August 21st, 2009
Making his way into the ring, weighing in with his oil painting and mixed media work, is Dustin Zentz.
In the opposite corner, is a local favorite Robin Nash, renown for her painting and ceramics and one of last summer’s Mother Earth globes in Eagle.
Let the battle begin.
Under normal circumstances, the words “art battle” would appear to be an oxymoron. Not next weekend in Eagle.
The 2009 Art Battle will pit local artists against each other in a timed competition that will be decided by ballot. The event gets under way at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28 at the Addison Building in Eagle Ranch Village. At 7 p.m. the artists will get to work creating a piece that must be completed by 10 p.m. At that point, the party go’ers will choose the winner and all the art work will be auctioned off.
While the artists work and the crowd watches, there will be an on-going party with music, food and drinks.
“I know we will have enough going on that people really can make an evening of it and be entertained,” said organizer Kim Bradley.
The Art Battle will be contested in the unfinished Addison Building space, giving the event a chic, industrial loft atmosphere. What can viewers expect? No one really knows.
“I have a few ideas and I might team up with somebody,” said Zentz. “I don’t know if I want to give anything away. I need to keep my secrets and surprise people.”
In addition to his artwork, Eagle resident Zentz is a woodworker/antique restorer with a studio in Red Cliff. Along with painters such as himself, Zentz expects the Art Battle will feature print makers, sculptors, woodworker, glass blowers, welders and maybe even a performance artist or a fashion designer.
This isn’t the first battle for Zentz. He noted that the battle idea was born at the Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Mich. Students launched the program called 280 Studios where they competed against one another in timed events. The events grew more popular and began spreading across the nation as the students graduated, moved away and introduced the 280 Studios concept to their new communities.
“The whole idea behind it is to experience the art as something more energetic than just having it hanging on the wall,” said Zentz.
Audience energy is a key point in the battle atmosphere. Zentz remembers one event when an audience member implored a competitor to stop, saying she would buy the piece right then.
At another competition, Zentz watched the misadventures of a concrete sculptor. The artist brought in a concrete mixer and fashioned his piece, racing against the clock.
“It was one heck of a show. Nobody knew if he would make it. And then, when he pulled the form, the piece crumbed before our eyes. That was definitely drama.”
Working in a crowd will be a new experience for many of the artists, Zentz said. “Having the crowd behind you is definitely a factor. It’s not like a typical art event where the audience is quietly observing. We want the participation for sure.”
While many locals are familiar with Robin Nash’s work, they probably have never had a chance to see her in action. Next Friday, she figures she will complete a painting or a ceramic sculpture or some combination of the two. Recently her work has explored a theme of transformations so maybe items such as insect larve or animal bone will find their way into her final product.
Nash isn’t really phased by the deadline aspect of the competition and she is intrigued by the idea of working in front of an audience. Recently she and fellow artist Amy Dose collaborated on a sidewalk chalk drawing during an Eagle Ranch Village Art Walk event. Nash had a great time fashioning that work in front of a crowd.
And, she noted, while the event is billed as a ‘battle,’ it will actually feature friendly competition.
“I know a couple of the other artists. We may talk some smack, but it will just be in fun and a way to push our creative boundaries,” said Nash.
There’s still space for a couple of competitors to sign up for the Art Battle. For more information visit www.eaglevalleyartists.com.
Source: eaglevalleyenterprise.com
Tags: arT and design, arT auction, arT Battle, arThou, arTists, ceramic arT, drawings, Dustin Zents, oil painings, sculptures
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Friday, August 21st, 2009
 From de Kooning to hookers, 50 years in the Downtown art scene Leonard Rosenfeld stood beside his latest self-portrait, wavering slightly.
The piece, in green, fuchsia and black pastel, hung in Rosenfeld’s hospital room at N.Y.U. Medical Center, where he was awaiting heart surgery last week. In the drawing, Rosenfeld, 82, clenched a paintbrush; his goatee and black-framed glasses made the resemblance unmistakable.
Rosenfeld’s wife and friends, who gathered at the hospital last week, were careful to refer to the drawing, completed a week earlier, as the artist’s “latest,” not his “last.” And Rosenfeld was in good spirits as well, despite his bandages and institutional surroundings. With growing vigor, he told stories from his half-century in New York’s Downtown arts scene, encompassing everything from the wild ’50s and ’60s to the more sedate present.
“Those days were pretty intense,” he said of his start in the decades after World War II. “That’s when art, you were really with it every moment, not like today.”
Rosenfeld’s expressionist work vibrates with sharp lines and overt feeling, whether in his early black-crayon drawings of elevated railroad tracks or his more recent oil paintings of soldiers in the Iraq War. The figures in his paintings often loom large and exaggerated, and he juxtaposes images of Minnie Mouse and guns, or a toilet and an American flag, to make political points.
Among his most nontraditional works are his “wire paintings,” in which he wrapped colorful wire around rectangular canvas stretchers to create representational images. The wire paintings sell for five figures.
Some of Rosenfeld’s strongest memories from his career come from the Cedar Tavern, the bar on University Pl. that served as informal headquarters of the abstract expressionist movement in the 1950s and ’60s.
“Everybody was there,” Rosenfled said, listing his friends Willem de Kooning and Franz Kline. Jackson Pollock was a regular, too, but he was in the Hamptons when Rosenfeld arrived on the scene and he was killed there before Rosenfeld could meet him.
Art was a common topic of conversation — de Kooning, in particular, would speak of nothing else — but the Cedar was far from a buttoned-up affair. Rosenfeld once found de Kooning lying in the gutter outside, passed out and covered in money. Rosenfeld collected the bills, gave them to the bartender, and dragged de Kooning home. After settling de Kooning into bed, Rosenfeld returned to the Cedar, where, several hours later, he was surprised to see the artist walk in, cleaned up and ready to continue drinking.
Another night, de Kooning recalled overhearing Clement Greenberg and another art critic talking at the Cedar. When Greenberg said Pollock was the greatest painter of the day, de Kooning turned around and slapped the critic in the face. The men jumped on each other and started throwing punches, until Rosenfeld and others stepped in to separate them.
Rosenfeld also recalled a deal he witnessed between Kline and an art collector, in which Kline agreed to trade several of his mammoth black-and-white paintings to the collector in exchange for a brand-new Ferrari shipped directly from Italy. Kline and the art collector shook on it, and shortly thereafter Kline drove up to the Cedar in his new Ferrari, which Rosenfeld said became a regular fixture out front.
As Rosenfeld described the all-night loft parties, the artists who grew rich overnight and the sudden death of Andy Warhol, he shook his head.
“Those were moments, they were like a movie script,” Rosenfeld said. “Everybody was pretty wild.”
“You’ll never have a scene like that again,” Rosenfeld added. “That was truly like a renaissance…a modern renaissance. Everything went dead after that, as far as I’m concerned. The whole art scene kind of died after abstract expressionism.”
Rosenfeld isn’t an abstract expressionist himself, because he felt that type of work had already been done. Rosenfeld’s work has a similar intensity but is representational and often tells a story. He takes inspiration from current events and his own observations, and much of his work makes a political statement.
“I never really had any goals,” Rosenfeld said. “The only goal is what I was doing immediately.”
Rosenfeld’s artwork has drawn many acolytes, including Danny Simmons, an artist and gallery owner who was recently named chairperson of the New York State Council on the Arts, and who is also Russell Simmons’ brother.
“Len’s work is direct,” Simmons said by phone this week. “You get a certain feeling about the artist, what he thinks about and what he feels about it.”
Simmons has shown Rosenfeld’s work several times, including a solo exhibit of post-9/11 paintings that reflect Rosenfeld’s memories of the day, which include seeing people jump from the smoking towers. After 9/11, Rosenfeld did a series of paintings depicting pink angels floating against a background of multicolored dots, reflecting the confusion over how to “connect the dots” of what happened that day.
Simmons thinks Rosenfeld is under-recognized in the art world because he doesn’t promote himself the way other artists do.
“He spent his time being an artist,” Simmons said. “Len just does the work, and he’s really successful with the work.”
Rosenfeld’s longtime friend, the artist Vernita Nemec, likes Rosenfeld’s work because it is personal.
“He’s got a very aggressive approach to reality,” Nemec said. “It’s never abstract. There’s always a kind of strength.”
Rosenfeld’s projects often start with big ideas — like the General David Petraeus quote referring to the Iraq War, “Tell me how this ends?” — but his process remains focused on the act of creating art.
As he works, Rosenfeld said, “I’m not feeling anything else but what it requires to do the painting or the drawing.”
Asked what he wanted to do next, Rosenfeld at first turned glum.
“I don’t know if I’m going to do anything next,” he said. But after a few minutes Rosenfeld perked up, and interrupted another thought to add, “I’d like to do something very big, like the size of the wall,” he said. “But I don’t know what it would be exactly.”
Rosenfeld had heart surgery Tuesday, several days after the interview, to replace his aortic valve. The next day, his wife Janet Hoffman said he was recovering as well as could be expected.
Rosenfeld’s memory is still strong, but it sometimes requires a jump-start, usually provided by Hoffman, a lawyer. During the interview last week, Hoffman, 63, encouraged her husband to tell a reporter how he made his early railroad drawings.
“How did I make them?” Rosenfeld asked.
“Well, you tell her,” Hoffman replied.
“I don’t know — I’m asking you how I made them,” Rosenfeld said.
“You remember,” Hoffman said, and it turned out that he did. Rosenfeld paused, then launched into the narrative of his 1957 railroad drawings: how he perched on elevated train stations in Brooklyn and Queens, sketching furiously with black crayon, using sharp lines to render the tracks weaving between the buildings.
Several of the drawings are on display now in the Van Der Plas Gallery on Pier 17 until Aug. 28.
“It just comes from his soul,” said Adriaan van der Plas, who has owned the Seaport gallery for 18 years. The railroad drawings are among Rosenfeld’s strongest work because of their immediacy, van der Plas said.
Rosenfeld also has several upcoming exhibits, including a show opening Oct. 15 at Salomon Arts in Tribeca and one opening mid-September at Sabay, a Thai restaurant in Jackson Heights.
Rosenfeld was born in Brooklyn in 1926 and was drafted to serve in World War II while still in high school. During the war, while posted in Guam, he filled the walls of a warehouse with “lascivious, pornographic drawings,” as he put it. When a general discovered the drawings during a routine inspection, Rosenfeld expected to be reprimanded. But instead, the general asked if he could take some of the drawings to keep.
“I said, ‘Sure, take what you want,’” Rosenfeld said.
After the war, Rosenfeld attended The Art Students League on 57th St. and then spent the next decade alternating between collecting unemployment and working in odd jobs like framing and delivering food. Rosenfeld also married a woman he met at art school and they had two daughters together, but the marriage didn’t last. All the while, Rosenfeld continued creating art.
His first break came in 1980 when he convinced Ivan Karp, owner of the OK Harris Gallery in Soho, to show some of his large minimalist paintings. Karp’s support immediately brought in buyers and also helped Rosenfeld get shows elsewhere.
Rosenfeld has lived in Lower Manhattan for over 40 years and can’t imagine living elsewhere.
“Why did I stay?” he said, echoing a reporter’s query. “It was never a question of that.”
Rosenfeld lived and worked on Forsyth St. between Broome and Grand Sts. from 1958 until 1991. The neighborhood inspired his “hookers and pimps” series in the 1980s, when the material was literally on his doorstep.
“Day and night we had hookers,” Rosenfeld said, cracking a smile. “The hookers were alright, but the pimps could be pretty rough.”
Rosenfeld frequently saw prostitutes and johns, including a rabbi one time having sex in Sara D. Roosevelt Park across the street from his apartment.
Rosenfeld had a standing joke with the prostitutes who hung out in front of his apartment.
“One of them would come over to me and she’d grab me — by the balls — and she’d say, ‘How ’bout a date, Pop?’” Rosenfeld said, laughing. “And they’d all wait for me [to respond] and I would say, ‘Stay cool baby.’ Every morning. And they would all start laughing — that was like the morning joke.”
The neighborhood changed when Chinese immigrants arrived in droves. More children were around and the prostitutes disappeared. Rosenfeld’s landlord tried to throw him out, but he won a court battle to stay.
Still, when Rosenfeld married for the second time in 1991, he realized it was time to move. Hoffman, his new wife, deserved better quarters than a shared hallway bathroom, and they settled on a live/work space in the Financial District, where they have lived ever since.
The rabbi who married the couple asked why they didn’t just move up to Hoffman’s apartment on E. 79th St.
Rosenfeld explained his reasoning: “I got five grapefruits for a dollar Downtown,” he recalled telling the rabbi. “You had to spend a dollar to get one grapefruit in her neighborhood Uptown. The rabbi said, ‘Oh, I understand.’”
Rosenfeld’s work is on display at the Van Der Plas Gallery on Pier 17 through Aug. 28, open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily (vanderplasgallery.com, 212-227-8983).
By Julie Shapiro
Source: www.downtownexpress.com
Tags: arThou, arTists, de Kooning, drawings, Leonard Rosenfeld, Manhattan arT scene, New York arTists, New York exhibition, NY arT, NY galleries, painings, pastel arT, renaissance, Van Der Plas Gallery
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Friday, July 24th, 2009
Petcha Kucha is an informal Japanese lecture format that allows one presenter 20 images and 20 seconds to discuss each. With as many as dozen lecturers, the idea is to bring myriad ideas and subject matter together without getting bogged down.
The “2009 Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region” is much the same way: condensed and diverse. In the 76th annual survey of recent art made within a 100-mile radius of Albany, no single artwork dominates the two-floor gallery at the University Art Museum. A sparseness envelopes the 35-artist exhibit that’s usually jammed with well-known artists whose works tend to muscle out others. Though Petcha Kucha is roughly translated as chatter, the exhibit is quiet and understated.
That can be attributed to juror Mathew Higgs’ keen sense of tone, texture and form. Director of White Columns, an alternative arts space in Manhattan, Higgs chose “idiosyncratic” examples from 1,200 images submitted that display a strong identity on their own terms.
He’s included more new faces than in recent memory, a refreshing development for a show that has become predictable.
The weathered paintings of Marje Derrick, the quirky paper-mache snow globe of Gail Kort, the South Park-like drawings by Brian Cirmo, the whimsical fabric of Barbara Todd and the suspended burlap sachet by Georgia Wohnsen join sculptures, drawings and photographs by more established artists such as Sharon Bates, Harold Lohner and Jim Florsdorf.
For the most part, absent is hard-edged social realism, the heavily conceptual art so common today, and, except for Abe Ferrarro’s massive light switch in “One Morning I Woke Up with a Bright Idea,” there are not any elaborate multimedia installations.
What’s left is an exhibit that blurs the line between fine arts and traditional crafts in a homespun kind of way. More than a quarter of them take fabric, string, thread, construction paper — things more associated with home than a studio — and turn them into quirky objects with humor. It’s a lighthearted exhibit that revels in design for design’s sake.
The paper relief “Direction” by Laura Cannamela finds an eloquent depth of field through indentions in its plaster like substance, while the Persian wool “Fugue #19″ by Mark Olshansky uses stitches to illustrate geometric abstractions like rings on a tree.
Mocking the German tradition of figurines, Joan McKeon’s series of four clay statuettes add looks of exasperation, consternation, and downright suffering. All of them are achingly trapped in their bodies and roles, crying to get on with something different.
Lori Lupe Pellish’s “”Boy Dreams II” captures innocent’s lost in a decorative tapestry. Made with intricate weaves of fiber and dark, rich colors, it hangs like a canvass with deeply etched brushstrokes sensually conveying the coming of age. “Portable Forest Floor” by Dorene Quinn employs leaves, muslin, cotton and thread to contrast nicely with the spotted concrete floor at the entrance. Lying flat on the ground, it blends in so well; don’t be surprised if you find yourself sidestepping it.
Like “Portable Forest Floor,” the exhibit pleasantly catches you off guard through its hushed tones, subtle humor and homey designs. It is a gentle challenge to the notion that contemporary art has to be pushy and bombastic to succeed.
Tim Kane is a freelance writer from Albany and a frequent contributor to the Times Union.
Fast Talk
What: Slide show and lecture with artists from the Mohawk Hudson regional: Sharon Bates, Brian Cirmo, Richard Garrison, Kelly Jones, Harold Lohner and Dorene Quinn.
Where: University Art Museum, University at Albany. 1400 Washington Ave., Albany
When: 7-9 tonight
Cost: Free
Exhibit hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, through Aug. 8
Contact: 442-4035; www.albany.edu/museum
Tags: Albany arT, arT event, arT gallery, arT installations, arT museum, arT show, arThou, arTists, contemporary arT, new york arT, NY arT, painings
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Sunday, July 19th, 2009
 A Picture of Inka: arT by ℓūfħer ℓūfħer has recently drawn a picture of Inka, his black chihuahua, using oil paints on a part of what used to be a shelf door. While he does not consider this arT project as finished, this arT is something he wanted to share with the world.
Tags: arT, arThou, arTists, drawings, oil painings
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Friday, July 17th, 2009
 VAIL, Colorado — When James Jensen, who will host an art show in Vail Friday and Saturday, was a young man, he wanted to be a concert pianist. His artistic endeavors eventually found a different avenue — visual art.
But the similarities between piano and paint remain noticeable to him. Like a good piece of music, each of his paintings contains a story. There’s lyricism and there’s emotion.
“I really construct them over a series of layers, and the story kind of builds up within each painting,” Jensen said. “They’re very deep. They have a composition to them. These words are also used in the building of music.”
Jensen will be bringing another batch of stories — in the form of his paintings — to Vail’s Masters Gallery for his 38th art show here.
About five years ago, Jensen made the transition from painting a lot of florals to contemporary art. He was challenged by the free-form, chaotic style of painting.
While he still incorporates some florals into his work, the paintings he will bring to Vail are largely abstract.
One piece he’s excited about is called “Alizarin Crimson,” named after the paint he used. By using only the color red, it was kind of like tying one hand behind his back, he said.
“It’s an example of me limiting myself to smaller color pallette and making it be very interesting,” Jensen said. “It’s all done in red. Red is a very strong color emotionally right off the bat. People respond to red. To make this painting very interesting I probably used 50 shades of red and a lot glazing. Glazing is a laborious process of building a painting up so it looks like it’s liquid, maybe out of water.”
Coming to Colorado is actually a homecoming for Jensen, who was raised in Fort Collins. His father is a sculptor, and he grew up surrounded by creativity.
“I was raised in kind of an unusual household where art was always going on. Just the smells and feel of materials and projects being made, ever since I can remember,” he said.
Jensen now lives in Palm Springs, Calif., where he has a studio in an old movie theater. He stands in the middle of the big space, and all the paintings are flanked around him as he works on them.
“I needed a lot of room, and it’s very theatrical, and my work really has a lot of theater to it,” he said.
Staff Writer Edward Stoner can be reached at 970-748-2929 or estoner@vaildaily.com.
Tags: arThou, arTists, James Jensen, paintings, Vail, visual arT
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Saturday, July 11th, 2009
Drawing, like painting, is a medium for artists to express their own unique vision. To create from nothing virtually anything, or to reinterpret the surroundings within the artists environment, allowing them to reveal the hidden shades of the human experience overall. There is nothing that the artist cannot recreate into their own work, incorporating the many nuances and influences to discover those parts that might have remained misunderstood, and choosing to enlighten the masses at their leisure or motivation.
Drawing can be an expressive hobby for those not willing to take it into the realm of professional expertise, drawing is but one form of artistic expression for those that choose to do something other than painting or sculpting, and can be used to map or even plan things when drawing is utilized effectively. Becoming ideas and concepts that materialize onto paper, from interpreting the world and environment around them to advertising and documenting commercial goods, but drawing can do so much more depending upon the artists personal outlook.
To know what drawing means is to know for yourself what uses or interest drawing can serve to give to the viewer or even the artist, there are many techniques that can be utilized to create the image that one would wish to devise, but to know them all would take awhile of intense study to serve that purpose. This is where many have chosen to go to an art school to bridge the gap between what they do know to what they can know, from cross-hatching to stippling and so on, but even ideas on shading and concept of negative space can be discovered through these means.
Art is an open field for anyone to contribute their own vision to the overall whole, whether utilizing particular techniques or drawing a freehand sketch, and drawing is but one of the many mediums to be used to define the creation of an artists unique vision. There have been many innovators, even more followers in the wake of their innovations, but the artist is always left to their own devices to interpret what they want to create. However you might choose to utilize your artistic visions, drawing is one of the means easiest to acknowledge as being able to give form from function, and there are few ways that this can be matched by any other medium.
Tags: arT, arTists, drawing, painings, vision
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Saturday, July 11th, 2009
Oil painting is a many varied segment in the established areas of what an artist works with as far as a medium to focus the artistic vision through, and many artists in the past have had a long history with the style of painting with oil-based colors and artwork, as this particular medium of artistic expression has had a long history in the making. What oil painting entails is the use of pigments that ground and mixed into a base of oil, and especially the oils similar to linseed oil, which was a popular kind of oil to use back in early modern Europe.
These oils would give the paint less of a yellowing effect, and would alter the drying times and the sheen of the paint depending upon the oil used that would give various properties to the pigment, other oils commonly used then were poppy seed and walnut oils. Some painters have used various oils in the same painting to mix effects, and depending on specific pigments as desired, also the surface used can do much to change the effects of the oil painting. A good example where an artist has used a different material instead of canvas is Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa that was painted on a wood panel surface.
Some of the rules applied to painting with oils are that each layer over the first should be oilier than the layer below it to prevent from cracking and peeling as it dries, traditional oil painting began with the paint being mixed in a specific amount with turpentine, but there are other items which can be utilized to prevent this such as varnish or cold wax. These additional elements can be an aid to the painter in adjusting the translucency of the paint, the sheen of the paint, the density of the paint, or can even be used to change the ability of the paint to hold or conceal brushstrokes.
These various traits of the oil paint are greatly related to the expressive capacity of the oil paint, aiding in the choices made by the artist as they applied the paint, and allowing a sense of those choices from the viewers standpoint. Moving the paint is done with palette knives, rags, or even directly from the paint tube itself, though to be removed, one must do so while the paint is wet or scraping may be required to take off the layer. Before this ends up being necessary, a rag dipped in turpentine can remove the layer previous, and oil-based paint dries through oxidation not evaporation so it may feel dry after a day.
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