DR ELIZABETH R MATTHEWS on Venice Paintings, Cindy Sherman, and Plein Air

This week I am too exhausted for words. I spent the better part of the past five days doing taxes. But, I want to keep to my goal of a weekly blog post, and I am super excited about what I had planned to post about, so I will do it!

In this post I talk more about my Venice Painting, tell about a project I did influenced by Cindy Sherman, and introduce her as the next GREAT woman artist on my list. Finally, I explain my upcoming plien air artist project and share some tips.

PAINTING OF VENICE CANAL, and Canaletto…

This week, I did some research to find out, who has painted Venice the most? Answer: Canaletto (1696 – 1768). Enjoyable paintings and an occasion to learn about the history of view painting in Venice.  I love his clear crisp color and architectural detail, his paintings are timeless.

Here is a great youtube link to an informative talk by curator Francesca Whitlum-Cooper, Canaletto: View Paintings of Venice, National Gallery of London (screen shot of Whitlum-Cooper standing in front of painting from youtube video linked here) on his paintings. Full of tidbits such as the fact that Canaletto really was his name, even before he became the preeminent painter of canals in Venice. My painting of Venice (top left) has now been properly informed by Canaletto!

Pictured above way up top is also a project I did called “what a mother must be” (top right) where I altered my own appearance with digital tools to make myself look like 8 completely different people. I wanted to express the impossible situation placed on mothers today, who have to do more than one person can possibly do. I referenced Cindy Sherman in the project, although her portraits featuring herself as other characters, have a completely different intention, technique, source and effect. Nonetheless, I love her work, and she is an influence on this particular work of mine. She is also the next artist on my list of GREAT women artists.

GREAT Woman Artist Cindy Sherman

Third on my list, no. 30 on the art price 2017 list, Cindy Sherman (b. 1954) is a GREAT woman artist who makes conceptual photographic “self” portraits. In 2017 She had one piece sell for $1,032,500; altogether auction sales total $7,046,636. Disturbing, provocative, poignant, hilarious (photos above screen shots from interviews linked below) you really have to look at one of her works to get what she is doing.  I found two YouTube videos, dated 1994 and 2009, both interviews at different stages of her life and career. Her work is harder for me to understand than is the work of Cecily Brown or Njideka Akunill Crosby, thus her articulation of her practice is all the more fascinating. Yes, there ARE great women artists, some who are powerful enough to have gained prominence and recognition in the art world. Cindy Sherman is one of them. These video clips of her talking tell it very well in Cindy Sherman – Nobody is Here But Me and Cindy Sherman in “Transformation” Art in the 21st Century 

Plein Air Painting Tips 

How can I give Plein Air Painting tips when I have never really done Plein Air painting? Only by sharing my research as I do it. I am planning to do an enormous amount of Plein Air Painting, something I have always wanted to do, but somehow never had the opportuinty or wherewithall. Now I am living in Paris, and the time is right. I am reasearching madly in preparation. As a result I have made a list of supplies to assemble and have at the ready, and I have perused a few you tube video demonstrations to find some role-models for myself. Here is the list, and the links to some resources. If you are interested in Plein Air painting and would like to join me in the flesh, or virtually, send me a message or check back next week for more details.

Supply List:

1. 3-4 brushes
2. easel paint box
3. backpack or cart
4. loose canvas, paper to tape on board canvas boards, thin light panel
5. tape, binder clip
6. carrier for done panel
7. hat
8. layers
9. sunscreen
10. pad to stand on
11. smock
12. bug spray
13. water bottles
14. trash bag
15. umbrella
16. location quiet with great composition
17. limited palette
18. view finder
19. gray scale
20. sketchbook and pencil
21. means to take photo of subject for finishing it in studio later

Artists Helping Artists podcast on Plien Air Painting

Plein Air Painting Demonstration-Gregg Russell

Utopian Art Blog: Painting Venice, Discovering Njideka Akunyli Crosby, and How to Save a Brush from Ruin

This week I continued painting. I researched the next GREAT woman artist on my list, Njideka Akunyli Crosby, a fascinating Nigerian American artist in her 30s who has already achieved great things with her amazing art. And finally, as I unearth my painting practice, I found out how to revive some brushes that have lost their shape, while adding new ones to my tool box. I am looking forward to getting the longest life possible out of my brushes as I move forward with my full time painting practice!

In the Studio

This week did 3 hours of figure painting, started a painting of a Venice Canal, and shipped a sold painting. I really did not feel right sending the painting without a frame, wired and ready to hang. I wanted them to open it up and be able to hang it up right away. Once I ordered the frame and put it together, I placed it around my own house to really get a feel for what I was providing View more views here. This process of starting to sell my paintings is revealing to me what kind of “selling” artist I want to be.

 

My figure painting session – first in 5 years – went really well. I started with a series of gesture drawings, and was reminded of how the scribbles of gesture can really capture the essence of the subject so brilliantly. For a great, great explanation of gesture drawings with exercises to try out, check out The Natural Way to Draw: A Working Plan for Art Study   For the painting, I found myself thinking of Vuillard, because the sensibility of the pose of the model in an interior and the loose manner of rendering necessitated by the single sitting I would have access to,  lent itself to that. Learn more about Vuillard in this fantastic youtube video:  ArtStop | Édouard Vuillard

 

I began a painting of Venice, because I visited there recently, and am using it as a theme for the next few paintings. One of them will be donated to the American Section of the Lycée International near where I live – a worthy cause. I roughed in the canal, and am looking forward to progressing. I love the reflective surface of the water, winding its way around the buildings. The concept of a city on the water is potentially rich. Check back in next week for more on that.

GREAT Woman Artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Once again this week I explored a GREAT woman artist, alive and working today. I am taking a new one every week to prove to myself, and everyone else, that even though under-represented (Only 10% of the 500 top priced artists in 2017 were women – ridiculous!) there are GREAT women artists who are phenomenally successful. They ought to be made better known and more visible. This is me doing my part.

 

This week’s artist is Njideka Akunyili Crosby. She is a Nigerian American artist in her 30s. She has developed a very innovative style of collage and traditional painting on paper. Her work is inspired by the likes of Kerry James Marshall, Matisse, Vuillard and others. She creates domestic scenes, with or without the figure, on paper, using collage, photo acetone transfer, and Old Master painting techniques. Her imagery and technique is layered with meaning and reference to her Nigerian, American experience, bringing together personal and political content, especially the experience of belonging to two different cultures.

She draws from literature, and literary theory, quoting her favorite author as saying that representation in fiction is necessary for social existence. Something like that. Her top 2017 hammer price was $3,072,745 with an auction turnover of $10,643,670 – number 22 on the list of the top 500. Its very well worth learning more at the following links – truly fantastic to hear this Yale educated, Philadelphia School of Fine art trained, Nigerian-American artist who came here on a lottery green card, articulate her practice. I took the screen shots above from the interviews on youtube and a news article linked here: Njideka Akunyili Crosby Discusses COUNTERPARTS, her Front Room exhibition at the BMA, ARTIST DOSSIER: NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, and Njideka Akunyili Crosby: In Conversation | Tate Talks

Next week, next on the list coming in at number 30 with a hammer price total of over $7,000,000 paid for her works at auction over 2017, with the most highly priced piece selling for over $1 million, is Cindy Sherman. I know and love her work already, and did a piece myself related to what she does. I look forward to getting to know her a bit better for next week.

Studio Tip: wrap a splayed brush in a paper towel or tissue paper and re-shape it

This week I also bought a number of brushes. I did some research to find out how best to take care of them, and how to revive a brush that has gotten neglected. I liked what this youtuber had to say: How to remove dried acrylic and oil paint from brushes

 

 

If you’ve read this far, be sure to send me a message and tell me what you think!

 

 

 

 

 

Utopian Art Blog: Painting Père Lachaise, Discovering Cecily Brown, and How to Ship Sold Work

Green Paintings

This week has gone by quickly! I have kept on with my green paintings, and here they are:

 

I was inspired to paint ‘Victor Noir’ because first, I love painting sculpture, second, I love cemeteries, and third, this was a very weird creepy thing to encounter on my visit to Père Lachaise – It seemed a story to tell. I love the folds of cloth, the artful poses, and the signs of aging that sculptures offer to the painter. Just plainly super fun to paint. This figure is laid out on a tomb, and weirdly, it serves as fertility and/or a find-you-a-husband charm. Apparently if you kiss his lips and rub his crotch you get the goods. Placing flowers in his top hat is optional. Victor Noir is a sad story, and now it seems disrespectful how he is treated, but it is apparently a time honored tradition for women looking for a husband, or trying for a baby, to ask poor Victor Noir for help. The story as told on Wikipedia, is quite fascinating – of his life, politically volatile death, and subsequent patronage: Victor Noir

I do love cemeteries, and took lots of pictures, made sketches, and took color notes for future use when I went to Père Lachaise on that beautiful day. I did the next painting inspired by the long column of tombs and the leafy green trees behind. I was interested in the challenge of taking all that information and tackling it a relatively small painting. I found myself thinking of Cezanne as I broke up the space, accommodating shifting angles of vision, and shifting light, and simplified everything with an aim to creating a lyrical composition. Thanks Cezanne! Here is a super interesting video about what he does, optically speaking: Paul Cezanne and his Revolutionary Optics

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Great Woman Artist

I investigated the first GREAT woman artist on my list, Cecily Brown.

 

I am starting this regular feature weekly, on my weekly Blog, to introduce myself and others to GREAT women artists, alive and working today. I want to debunk the myth that you have to be an old lady to have the love of the Art World – not that the love of the art world is so desirable, and certainly it is ridiculous how underrepresented great women artists are, occupying only about 10% of the artists on the top 500 hammer price list – there should be way more. Cecily Brown is evidence for my cause.

Born in 1969, she is a painter who got representation at age 29, by Gagosian Gallery in New York. She designates herself a figurative painter. I listened to a couple of great interviews on youtube, pictured via screen shots above, that you can go to and learn more. She talks about the importance of the figure in her work, describing how without it, she feels her paintings would be merely decorative. I thought that was very interesting. Also, she takes Old Master paintings as a starting point, which I love. I am so glad to be introduced to this excellent artist! I had seen her work before, but did not know too much about it. I thought it was mainly people having sex and therefore the artworld let her in… not so! I loved hearing her articulate why she does what she does, and all about her practice. She is 28 on the list of top hammer prices paid in 2017, with a painting selling for over 7,000,000. Here are the links I used: Cecily Brown Interview: Take No Prisoners (2015) and An evening with Cecily Brown – Contemporary Talks Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (2018) Also, through the latter interview, I got onto her instagram, and now happily am a follower and a fan @dellyrose.

Next week I am going to feature an artist I have never heard of at all, and even mistook  her for male the first glance down the list because her name was unfamiliar to me: Njideka Akunyili Crosby (b. 1983). On a quick glance of her images, I am super excited to be introduced. More on that next week!

If you would like to be notified when I make a new blog post, send me a message and I will send you notification when I make a new post.

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How to Ship a Painting

I entered into a new project that now I must stream line: Shipping sold paintings. A happy problem! here is what I learned on that.

 

 

How to ship a sold, framed, oil painting (no glass):

1. wrap in glassine, create  corners to protect from damage
2. wrap in bubble wrap, have the bubbles facing outward so they won’t leave an imprint on the painting
3. put the wrapped painting between two appropriately sized foam core boards, tape together, create cardboard corners to make it a neat protected package
4. wrap like a gift, with clear plastic wrap, to keep out any moisture
5. place wrapped work in a box, label it fragile
6. take it to the post office and you are done!

Here is the best link I have found to show how it is done How to package a framed painting (no glass) for shipping. I feel very lucky to be supported by my newest collector, and AMAZING artist herself.

Utopian Art Blog – Week Five in paint: Women Artists, Art Marketing Blunder, and Thinking Green, by Dr. Elizabeth Matthews

This week has been a busy one. With Saint Patricks day I shifted to green themed paintings. I re-visited my PhD exhibition, and that, along with the buzz around international women’s day, got me to thinking about women artists. In closing, I had a horrific instagram experience which I would like to share in case anyone might know what the heck happened.

First, here are the paintings of the week along with the images I pulled up from my PhD exhibition::

The paintings of the week – grapes, a forest, and fennel and parsley, were inspired by green produce, which I sought out at my local supermarket, in celebration of St. Patrick’s day. I realize now that I can’t really expect myself to paint one unique painting every day. Its a nice goal to have, and I am glad I tried, but it made me realize something about myself as an artist, and as a person. I like to take my time and let thin layers dry before resolving the final painting with thicker blobs. I think three paintings a week is all I can expect, and it really does serve a great purpose. I am getting lots of practice. I am also producing paintings that I feel happy with, and I have sold two of them! I am keeping prices appropriately low for these preliminary studies (larger paintings are in progress, expanding upon the more successful small studies), at $100  – $200 per piece. If you want one, then I definitely want you to have it, so send me a message and I will send you a paypal link and pop it in the mail to you right away. Above you see “grapes” 7×5 inches, and that one is for $100. “Fennel and Parsley” is 11×14 inches, and that one is $175. “Magical Forest” is 8×10 inches, and that one is $125.

The rest of the images are from my research exhibition in August, 2016. I pulled up the PhD work looking for some more green, and I threw in some images from opening night including pics of the great peace activist and famous Irish dramatist, Margaretta D’Arcy, who graciously opened my exhibition. She counseled me to be outspoken against injustice, and to be willing to fight for what you believe in. Well, I am definitely more of a lover than a fighter, but with International Women’s day creating some dialog around the issue of women in the arts, I have heard a comment repeated that annoys me. That comment, based on a quote by Louise Bourgeoise, is that the art world loves young men and old women, the implication being that women might have to wait until they are in their 80’s to get recognition – thats just how it is. This comment reminded me of Linda Nochlin’s 1971 essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” which explains the myth. I researched to find great women artists to prove that they exist. Its true, there are way more men than woman represented amongst the top living artists. But about 10% of the top hammer price living artists are women. I know, that’s really sick when you consider that women vastly outnumber men in art schools and have done so for decades. Why do women not account for at least half on that list of 500 top? I don’t know but I do think its worth celebrating the 10 percent or so on there. We should make them more visible as role models, I think. Next week I will highlight one of those artists, starting from the top down, inspired by my role model Margaretta D’Arcy to be an activist and do something. Tune in next week! That woman artist is… Cecily Brown, b. 1969, no. 28 on the list of top hammer price artists in 2017, an amazing painter.

In closing I would like to tell you of my instagram scare. It was harrowing. I am trying to post my current and past work several times a day on instagram, to release my work a bit at a time to my audience. In that effort, I subscribed to a post scheduler, Iconosquare, that an artist friend told me about. It worked fine for a few days. But then today, at 11 am my scheduled post randomly started posting multiple times. every five minutes it posted itself again! Now what will that do to my istagram account? Probably they would block me eventually. I am allergic to technology, things like this happen to me all the time, but this really did have me in a panic, I felt really embarrassed. What would my followers think? Finally, I figured out how to de-activate my account with Iconosquare. If anyone reading this uses Iconosquare and/or has had an experience like this let me know how it worked out. It was scary! I would like to use this post scheduler because my followers are in time zone’s such that I would like to make a post at 4 am for the sake of my Washington state and California followers – dear friends all of them – but I don’t want to get up at that hour to do it!

Thank you for reading my blog. If you would like me to send it to your inbox weekly, send me a message and I will do that. I am just forming a mailing list bit by bit for that purpose. Thank you so much for reading!

Sincerely,

Dr. Elizabeth Matthews

Full Time Painter week 4…

This week has been a long one, as in about three weeks long. But, here is my so-called weekly blog post at last! My PhD project was on Contemporary Art and Utopia, and I wrote a whole book on it, and started this blog during it, hence the title of this blog. But today, I am reflecting on the fact that painting full time is, to me, Utopia! I am delving into colors, and paint behavior, adjusting to a new studio space, and to me these problems, and this focus is like heaven, a job I really love, my utopia. Next week maybe I will make a more theoretical blog post, but this week here it is: Simply images of what I have been up to in my studio.

 

“Grapes on Red Cloth” 24×14 cm oil on canvas. I learned so much from this painting. The main lesson is: do not expect painting three grapes on a red cloth to be simple. I wrestled with a shockingly badly behaved palette until finally, toward the end, I got out the palette knife and am now pleased with how it all came together in this little study. It now expresses something of what I was trying to say. I will be painting a few more grapes in the near future to build on what I have learned. Do you need to have this in your your house? Then I think you should have it! click here on my Buy it Link

“Paint on Paint” oil on canvas 12×12 in. You would think that painting paint with the actual paint that you are painting (try to say that 10 times fast) would be easy, but its not! I do love paint, and this little painting pays homage to that. Ultramarine Blue and Cadmium Yellow. Would you enjoy having this as your very own? Well, its just about dry and I could easily pop it in the mail to you. Just follow this buy it link

“Think Spring”, 12×12 inch,Oil on Canvas. I was inspired to paint this because I really am thinking of Spring. This beauty will pop up on the median strip near my house amongst hundreds of likewise gorgeous blooms. I know we still have a way to go, but the snow is melted and it won’t be that long. Thank you to the gardeners and planners of Saint-Germain-en-laye, who make this happen, I am here to tell you that the gardens of Versaille could not be more beautiful! It is quite amazing.

“Pomegranate” 24×16 cm oil on canvas. Painting this was harder than I thought, but the colours and crevices made an interesting study.

Full Time Artist? Week 3 in paint by Dr. Elizabeth R. Matthews

Last week I had to confess that I did not make my goal to make 5 paintings per week, but this week, I actually really and truly did it. A shift took place, in part because I now have a studio a lovely 15 minutes walk through a park, rather than the one hour commute by train. But also because its finally happening, I am a full time working artist. I have spent 8 of the last 10 years pursuing higher education in Fine Art spending 30 hours a week on academic research, with my head in the books. I was blessed with that opportunity. But now finally I am full time working on my art, putting all that I have learned into practice without my head always in the books. Its wonderful and I love it! I still love to read and think and write of course, but the time ratio has shifted toward the studio, making the art, with academic stuff on the side.

This week we had snow in Paris, and it inspired some of the work. The tree branches caught my eye at the height of the storm, as the soft snow piled up higher and higher, and later the melting snow caught my fancy. I found myself experimenting between thin layers and thick globby paint. On one of my sessions I did a tiny portrait as an exercise in color mixing. I pulled out an old cow I did a few years back as a guid. And finally, I finished my Dame of the Hour clock. Its set to go in an official International Women’s Day event in Bath, I will give out that information the second I get it shipped out.

So, its been exhausting but productive. A full-time artist, I am. Have you or someone you know made the transition from art student to artist? How is it going?

Thank you for reading!

Sincerely,

Dr. Elizabeth R. Matthews

White on White,  7×5 inches, oil on canvas board

 

Clockwise from top left: 1. Dame of the Hour, 12×9 inch, oil on board, clock 2. Cow, 5×7 oil on board 3. Tiny Portrait, 3×3 inches, oil on canvas board 4. Bargue Plate Foot, 18×24 inch, charcoal on paper 5. Piled High and Deep, 7×5 inch, oil on canvas board 6. Melt, 12×12 inch, oil on canvas board