Pondering Posters, Commercial Work and Giclee's

I see that I have said that certain works look commercial - like posters, several times now. I keep thinking about that. If there had been printing technology in Rembrandt or Da Vinci's time and someone had made posters of their paintings - would I view that as commercial? I don't think so ..... but I am not sure. Actually now that I think about it - I am not enjoying Da Vinci so much as of late because of all the commercial aspects of the recent Da Vinci Code craze. I see his work plastered everywhere and it makes me tired of it - for me it takes the uniqueness and value of it and just trashes it. What is it that I see in a work of art that makes me see "poster" instead of "art" - ??? and why? I certainly don't think posters and art are mutually exclusive and yet there is something in my head that make a separation or differentiation. Is it because I was developing at the Peter Maxx, Robert Motherwell and rock star poster craze and I am forever affect by that? For the record I detest the whole giclee thing! I understand the desire of an artist to make a living and sell their work - but making giclee prints just seems to be cheapening the whole art world in my opinion. If the giclee printing process is used as a tool in creating work - in my mind that is probably OK, but to just crank out cheap copy after cheap copy - I don't care how good they look - just diminishes the value. And maybe the worst possible offense is to crank out a bunch of cheap giclees - make a few "hand painted" alterations and then call it original or one of a kind. To me that is absolute fraud and should be prosecuted immediately. And yes I am referring to the so called "St Victor" and anyone else that tries to sham people that way! Shame on them.

Ludmilla Perec

Yet another unknown - at least to me. Have you heard of her? I found her on the Internet and really liked what I saw.



I really do enjoy a nice still life now and then - I am not a huge fan of flowers but on occasion I see one that just calls to me - this is one of them. Her work reminds me of Gauguin - (I will have to look up that spelling - I can never get it right) - I think it is the colors and shapes. By now I bet you could have guessed that Gauguin is one of my favorite artists. The house I painted in McKinney was totally based on the colors in 2 of his paintings. I found a blr about the artist on Russianart.com ( I think - more work can be seen at artlondon.com too) Here is the quote: Ludmilla Perec was born in 1959 in Uzbekistan. Graduated from the State University of Latvia with a degree in theoretical astrophysics. She learned the professional drawing in the studios of artists V.Karkunov and A. Bykov. In 1993 Ludmila graduated from Riga Academy of Arts. Since 1988 she has exhibited her works together with the artists group "Free Art" as well as with other Latvian artists' associations. She has also worked as a teacher. Right now her art works can be found in private collections in USA, France, Italy, Germany, Norway as well as in collections of Norton Dodge, Zimmaly Museum and Jersey City.

Fressinier

Here are some paintings that remind me of Gustav Klimpt.




I am not sure why I like them - they are very "girly" which I normally do not like - in fact they are overwhelmingly feminine - NOT my thing at all and yet I do like them.
I know nothing about this artist - it's on my list of things to research. They are single figures, abtract qualities, I do enjoy the texture and pattern and the decorative quality, they seem quite commercial, like posters. They also seem to me to be shallow, I think I would tire of them quickly - in fact I am almost tired of them already! Here is a blurb about the artist I got from Schaffer Gallery: Francois Fressinier was born August 4, 1968 in Cognac, France. His father, a photographer and artist, had a passion for the old masters and guided Francois into the exploration and creation of figurative and symbolic art. Francois studied fine art at Ecole Brassart in Tours, France. Over the last decade Francois has perfected his artistic style of neoclassicism, and has done countless hours of research and study of the old masters techniques. Though accomplished at various styles of art, his favorite subject matter finds itself in the ethereal romantic presence of sensuous women. Many of his paintings combine ideas taken from his heritage, European history, and landscape. It is evident in his work that he has been significantly influenced by artists like Da Vinci, Titian, and other Masters of the Renaissance.

Zhaoming Wu

I adore this mans work . I have his book of painting and a book of his drawings. What I see is a figure in space with dramatic lighting. The atmosphere Wu creates with light and color is so appealing to me. I so admire the way he uses lighting. I put the painting of the Girl With Scarf that I had tried to do a little study from - just so you could see. Go Google Zhaoming Wu - he has a website. Beautiful work. Common threads? big simple shapes, one figure in space seems to be theme - more than crowds or multiple figures - the atmosphere and use of space, colorful but in a quieter way than say Burridge or Hessam. Drama. I like the way he handles the abstract qualities of the fabrics.

Bob Burridge

Here is one of my most favorite images ever! It's called "A Little Bird Told ME" I LOVE it!!! While I like the color it is not my favorite - but I LOVE birds - I wish I would have taken more photos of all of our pet birds in the past. I just love this - I love words and lettering in art, ever since I first saw and fell in love with Jim Dine's work, and Motherwell and some of those guys. I don't think the words are necessary on this piece, in fact I think I might like this one even better without the words - nevertheless I love this piece - I am excited to be taking some workshopes with Bob in 2007. You can go to Bob's website and see tons of his wonderful art - he conveys a sense of life and joy in his work that I aspire to.

Cynthia Packard

Here's another artist I don't really know anything about and have never seen her work in person. I find a lot of these artists while searching the web for other stuff - . So hmmmm - what is it that I like about her work? The textural thick paint, semi-abstract figures, the color and atmosperic quality - I do like her still life work too. While I am not a big fan of pink - I like the way she uses it.

Abrishami Hessam

This is an artist I just discovered - I have never seen his work in person - not yet anyway, and I don't really know too much about him. I do not like the roly-poly handling of the figures, or the romantic-love subject matter of a lot of the work I have seen so far. However - I do like the shapes, semi-abstract figures in an environment, the color - although it borders on being too pure and bright and "circus-like," for me - but for now I am attracted to his work. I sort of like the heads- well I like aspects of it - the faces are maybe a little too simplified for me. His work seems very commercial and I do think he does a lot in the print market. Here is a blurb I found: "HESSAM ABRISHAMI — "Dynamic composition, powerful expression and vibrant colors along with great imagination." A recent description of the paintings of Persian born artist Hessam Abrishami. He creates works of amazing depth and dimension that intrigue and disarm the viewer.

Hessam paints passionately, influenced by his dramatic life experience and the world is responding enthusiastically! Hessam has exhibited throughout Europe, Asia and North America. The French press has called his paintings "a statement in the fluidity of human figures . . . with tension between each figure, a kinship that provokes the viewer to seek reasons for such a relationship".

It is no wonder that his works have been described as "taking the onlooker to a realm of suggestion and mystical beauty . . . where everything is alive with a sense of everlasting fluid motion." In doing so, "Hessam is expanding his horizons and stimulating the mind as well as charming the eyes of the beholder."

Says Hessam, "I didn’t set out to use bright colors, they just came out. This is important, I don’t give any direction to my paintings. Any colors I use just come from my feelings.”
And another quote: "The viewer can see also the strong influence of Matisse in Hessam’s work by the emotional expression through the use of color and design and “is essential to his career” claims the artist. “I don’t choose my colors, they choose me” … “I set out to paint with feeling, an emotion, or theme of love or parting, or music, or loneliness”, he states Hessam’s works are greatly influenced by his dramatic life experiences and the warm acceptance he has received from the world at large.

Hessam’s desire and goal with any work is to paint from a “pure flow of energies” not from a preconceived consciousness, and his work demonstrates this repeatedly. The common theme that threads Hessam’s paintings is celebration in relating. His abstract figures grab the viewer with movement and color and always expressing relationships – the lovers, friends, family, music, food and drink. Hessam views the female figure as mysterious and identifies her with life, death, power, continuity of God, and above all art and music.

His use of musical instruments in his paintings is about emotional expression. “Music is about feeling, pure feelings without words ….. It’s about movement and flux, in other words, the dynamic of being and the way to truth.” Hessam says.

Hessam has exhibited his art in Europe, Asia, and North America, where his one-man shows have grown in popularity in the public eye. His talented works have been colorfully illustrated in various Ivy League University textbooks nationwide."

My Plan and Linda Christensen

Here is my plan for the next few posts. I will be posting samples of art by some of my favorite artists. The goal is to look at them and figure out what is the common thread in them - I already know that I like big simple shapes, semi-abstract figurative work and just recently figured out that I like a figure in a space - preferable an atmospheric space of some find - that just flat surface shapes is not enough. I figured this out in the experimental water media class I was taking with Claire-Lise. A lot of that work is more about texture, pattern and the flat surface - I found myself always struggling and working to get a sense of depth and space - a subject in an environment. Color will be another common thread I am sure - but what else? - when you see a pattern or thread be sure to email me - help me figure this out.
Introducing: LINDA CHRISTENSEN Right now Linda Christensen is my most favorite artist. By the way - you can Google any of these artists to see more of their work - I am just putting a few samples up. Her work is very textural in person. I love her use of color, space, shape -everything - I love everything about her work.

Here are some more of my recent artistic endeavors. I really need to learn to finish stuff. The charcoal drawing of the Gypsy by Firelight is a 3 1/2 hour drawing - it is nearly finished, it needs a few tweaks here and there. The painting of the girl is a small study after Zhaou Ming Wu - one of my favorite artists and of course the last one is a study after Rembrandt - nothing is finished, never is - or hardly ever is. The paintings are oil on canvas boards, the charcoal is on Rives BFK paper.

A Big Disappointment

Brittany still has not gotten her mail art. I am very bummed about this because I really liked the painting. Here is another picture of it - bigger this time. So sad....scroll down to see the envelope and back of the piece if you haven't already seen it.

A Few Updates

I've been busy - so busy in fact that I don't have time to do much art on my own. Here are a few of my more recent pieces. These pieces are small: the globe and marble painting is 5 x 7 as is the painting of the seated model. The portraits of Penny are all 6 x 8.

So the above paintings are all small. The round things were done from photos. I know that the highlights are in the wrong places on the marbles for the shadows to be cast where I put them - however on this little piece I really don't care. I tried to put them in the proper places on the marbles and it looked sort of chaotic and very busy and distracting - having the highlights all in the same place - even though it is not "real" feels better to me. I am marginally happy with this little piece. It was fun to do - remember I am a fan of round things after all ;)

Then the following 3 paintings are of Penny. The first one is a burnt umber pick out under painting. I just sat down and began to paint - rather mindlessly without focus or direction - it was a model, it was a portrait, it was boring. I spent quit a bit of time puttering around on this little piece - feeling restless and actually kind of bored. I had brought 3 little canvases with the intent of dividing my time up into 3 one hour quick sketches - but like I said I lost focus and spent 90 minutes or more puttering on this. The second painting is the best - I will have to reshoot it and post a better photo later. This was done in about 20-30 minutes all with a knife, all direct with out any drawing first. Now THIS was fun - I loved doing it - I love the painting. Then in the last 20 minutes I did the next one - it was only really about 15 minutes with whatever paint was left on my palette. I find it interesting that the first and last of the 3 painting are more accurate to the pose -but the second one is more like Penny - in an essence sort of way.

The last 2 little paintings are 5 x 7. The seated pose was about 2 hours, and the portrait was about 15-20 minutes with a knife again. I really like painting fast with the knife. There are things that I like and am happy with in both pieces and things I am not happy about - but I guess that is probably normal. I still feel like I am inching my way forward to something - still not sure what though.