Oakland Bay to Golden Gate

Judith, model today at my Saturday morning zen workshop:



What a gorgeous day it was all over the bay area. How do I know it was nice all over? Because my drive to this workshop spans two bridges, the Oakland Bay Bridge (still being retrofit...) and the Golden Gate Bridge, the most beautiful bridge ever. The weather was nice on both spans.

and a better photo from a few Saturdays ago:



the model in the drawing above reminded me of Waterhouse's nymphs:

The turpentine haze in my studio


i listen to music while i paint. it helps to create an incredibly zen-like state; paint and the brushes and the color of my still life travel through my eyes, into my mind and back out onto claessen's lead primed canvas while listening to elliott smith, thinking about my mistakes, facing my future, and hoping that this
alternate-verse I just stepped into is the right one. I am hopeful because I know that the ether that permeates this universe is made of the turpentine haze in my studio, and the kindness and patience of friends.

after a hiatus, i am painting again when i can. my living situation is such that i don't have a good place to paint, but that is all working out.

You are missed, David Threlfall


David Philip Solari Threlfall
October 3, 1948 - March 6, 2007

*photo was taken by Kathleen, somewhere in Sequoia National Park

Sometimes there are people that flow through our lives that make a really big impression. An avid hiker, mountain climber, photographer, husband, father, baseball fanatic, geologist and all around interesting person, David Threlfall was and continues to be one of those people for me.

The first time my sister Jenny and I met Kathleen and David was at my Dad's wedding to my step mom, Susan, many years ago. Other than Susan, we'd never met people from California before. They were so cool and casual, so laid back and friendly.

Over the years, as my step mother's family became more a part of my life, I had a chance to get to know Kathleen and David. I was always excited to take trips out to their house at Azevedo ranch. David always had his cameras out as well as prints, slides, his new scanner or a new book, and talked enthusiastically about what he was working on or an interesting photographer he'd come across. As a young adult, it was his passion for photography and the outdoors that made a powerful impact on me as I was forming my own artistic pursuits. The idea of combining a love for hiking and the natural world with a love for photography made sense to me as a young painter hoping to someday be able to do the same as a landscape painter. David represented to me the idea of pursuing your interests for no other reason than just because you love it and it makes you feel alive, which is far more courageous than I'd realized.

Now at 38, I have come to understand that there is no place for guilt in wanting to pursue your interests. What are we if, at the end of our lives, we have lived nothing but 'responsibly' and have failed to listen to our hearts? As I look at the walls of Kathleen and David's ranch house, I see the beautiful prints he made of his work, as well as the ones he acquired, all of it a record of his existence, of what he saw and thought worthy to photograph, and of what he saw in other's work that made him need to own a print, and am left thinking, this is a man who really lived...

How fortunate I have been to have known David Threlfall.

My thoughts and love are with Kathleen, Rosie and Willie.

"And yet, there is only
One great thing,
The only thing:

To live to see in huts and on journeys
The great day that dawns
And the light that fills the world."

-song from the Kitlinguiharmiut, Copper Eskimo

Rainer Maria Rilke and Mr. Kappa

A good friend recently sent me the following passage via e mail:

In 1903, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke responded by letter to a young man seeking his advice. Rilke eventually wrote ten letters now collectively known and published as "Letters to a Young Poet." They are heartfelt advice from a successful but still struggling artist to another who was deeply mired in self doubt. Rilke's idealism is applicable today to all who might pursue any sort of creative activity:

Your work needs to be independent of others' work
You must not compare yourself to others
No one can help you but yourself
Criticism leads to misunderstandings
Work from necessity and your compulsion to it
Work on what you know and what you love
Don't observe yourself too closely, just let it happen
Don't let yourself be controlled
Live in love and the activity of your work
Be free of thoughts of sin and guilt
Be touched by the anxiety of life
Be patient with the unresolved in your heart
Try to be in love with the questions themselves
Be gentle to those who stay behind
Your inner self is worth your entire concentration
Allow your art to make extraordinary demands on you
Bear your sadness with greater trust than your joy
Do not persecute yourself
Its good to love, because love is difficult
You are not a prisoner of anything or anyone

Rainer Maria Rilke counseled the young poet, known only as Mr. Kappus, over a five year period. No evidence exists that they ever met.

 -Namaste

JC Leyendecker Show

Happy New Year! A little bird tells me 2007 will be a very good year. :)

I recently saw a very rare showing of JC Leyendecker originals at the Haggis Museum in Stockton, California. JC Leyendecker was a protege of John H. Vanderpoel,who taught at the famed Chicago Art Institute in the late 1800's. I was interested in this drawing in particular because the influence is quite clear. The way the shadows meld together in one or two values and yet the eye sees all the forms of the subjects. This kind of drawing gets me every time, no matter what the subject.

Sorry for the glare and bad photography.





sorry for the blur on the photo below...



Just beautiful. The drawing is all in the shadow patterns. How can an artist not appreciate the beauty of this kind of drawing?

Merry Snow Everyone!

Disneyland at Christmas time will get anyone in the spirit. The design of the Small World building is really great. I think it looks best at Christmas time when it's all lit up with colorful lights:

(I think the design would look cleaner without the santa hat. can't have everything i guess.)



Those Santa Ana winds blowing through Orange County at night are FREEZING!

Here is a shot from inside Small World, minus the audio :)


Peace on Earth, everyone. Lets hope that happens very soon.
Namaste

Sunflowers

"For Clytie", 14"x18", oil

Another broken arm painting. I like some of the looseness of the brushstrokes and yet it still feels too tightly rendered. I plan to work on this issue in full force over the coming year.

I was inspired to paint sunflowers after seeing them displayed at a store selling Italian antiques. Sunflowers have long been a popular subject for painters. It's understandable. The way their contrasting yellow petals look against a dark brown center is very striking. My interest in them lies not only in their attractive qualities, but also in their historical significance.

The Sunflower has been depicted throughout history in Europe and South America for thousands of years. The symbol the Incas used for their god was a sunflower. The Romans carved sunflowers on buildings and the Greeks told the story of Clytie, a woman who turned into a sunflower after falling in love with Apollo. In 17th Century Europe, the Sunflower represented the vanity of the royal court and by the 19th Century, Van Gogh painted sunflowers to reflect the warmth he felt in the south of France. Although the symbolic meaning of the sunflower has evolved throughout history, the power of it's image endures. I find them quite inspiring.

I'm BACK!



The cast has come off! Now it's physical therapy twice a week. Because of the injury, I don't have full range of motion in my wrist. That is not necessarily a bad thing. While I had my cast on, I discovered that full range of motion is not completely necessary for painting. In fact, the less motion I had, the more interesting my paintings became. I did this quick two hour study of some pomegranates while in the cast. It's not the best and yet I like the spontaneous feel of the brushstrokes.

Although I did several quick paintings both with my cast and with my left hand, the majority of my free time was spent planning out my studio, which is in need of a major overhaul. Hopefully by the end of this year the overhaul will be complete so I can start 2007 with a fresh space that functions in the way that I need it to. I can't wait!

I finished a new painting sans-cast this week. I will post it soon, probably this week - IF work allows...

Thanks for all the nice comments from friends and family about my mishap!

Namaste

"Barbara", charcoal on paper

When I look at this drawing I did last week, I feel a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment. Satisfaction because my drawing skills have come a long way, and disappointment because I see subtle drawing mistakes. I also see the charcoal isn't getting the soft effect on the paper that I'd like it to, and I didn't quite capture the mood on the model's face that day. This disappointment motivates me to keep trying because I know with continual practice, I will someday achieve the look I am striving for in my work as long as I keep working towards that goal.

These days I am starting to rethink my goals. While I still believe personal discipline is healthy, I also believe it is ok to accept what I can do right now. This drawing doesn't look quite the way I want it to and is not perfect. It is the result of everything I have learned and experienced up until the moment I drew it. This drawing is a representation of who I am right now...which is the whole point of expressing in the first place.

Light and Shadow

"Dahlias Forever", oil, 9"x12"

I saw some orange dahlias a few weeks ago and bought them so I could set up a still life for painting. I was surprised they lasted long enough to do two paintings - two weeks. When I looked up the historical meaning behind dahlias, I found that in the victorian era dahlias represented enduring love because they last so long.

I like the shadow and light effect I get from placing flowers on this windowsill. When I set up still life objects for painting, I'm always looking for strong lighting. For me, strong lighting illustrates the idea of sun and moon, positive and negative, Yin and Yang. This painting has all the essential elements I believe in, plus one: Earth, Sun, Moon, and enduring love.

"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars." -- Og Mandino

Symbols



In the Victorian era, flowers were a coded language of emotions, desires, and unspoken messages. Because of this, flowers had the ability to speak louder than words in a time when speaking the truth of one's emotions was socially unacceptable. Today the language of flowers is still relevant. They symbolize love, regret, passion, loss, remembrance, and have the ability to subtly convey a message.

Like so many artists, I am compelled to paint flowers. For me the subject is not merely decoration. When setting up a still life, I use things like vases, cloth, and other objects, combined with the flowers of my choosing, to help express the thoughts and feelings within. While I am painting, it is easier for me to linger in those feelings. Like the people we are compelled to interact with in our lives, flowers can be powerful symbols from deep within. I will be lingering in this place for a long time.

"Be observant if thou wouldst have a pure heart, for something is born to thee in consequence of every action." - Rumi

Gil Elvgen Charcoal at the American Academy of Art



Here is the drawing by 1950's pin up artist Gil Elvgren I was referring to in the previous post. Unfortunately these are the only photographs I have. The drawing was under glass, so there is a glare. I was also new to photography when I took these 15 years ago. :)

If anyone has a better photo of this drawing, please send it and I'll post it!

This drawing is best seen in person. When I first saw this hanging on the walls at the American Academy of Art, i had an overwhelming desire to learn to draw this way so I could also create something so incredibly beautiful. I'm still working on trying to achieve this level of beauty in my life drawings.