Blues

A series ongoing

Fishermen of Brittany and Normandy

At a flea market yesterday I saw this fantastic painting, about 12x10", of a close up on three men's faces; weathered, leathery fishermen's faces.

I inquired about the painting, and the woman told me the name of the artist, that his subject of choice was the fishermen of Brittany and Normandy, the Northern coast of france, and that is cost 620 euros. Since I had just bought a beautiful painting of a port scene down the street for 10 euro (down from 15) I was not really ready to make such a commitment to these three men, as good looking as they were, so to speak. I told her I would do some research about the artist. And of course, the name now escapes me. So in my effort to find him again, I have gathered a collection of paintings from the genre that I'll now share.

BARNOIN Henri Alphonse

 nathalie hudaverdian, for a more contemporary scene

by Pascal Briba, just for fun

An amazing image, portrait of Georges Bertré

And these are the closest I have found to what I saw:

All Portraits by Lionel Floch

 Still haven't found who I'm looking for...

Iconography

Religion, Christianity, Faith, Iconography, thoughts run through my head these days. Here is my own brute effort, plus a couple of images from a visit to the Musée Jacquemart André

Landon Metz

still at the beginning of his career, Landon Metz has developed a style that draws you in with a narrative of shapes. His colors appear in forms that look uncontrolled, but the composition as a whole is sensitive and just right. 

It is not easy to know when to stop, or hold back. Metz does. Some of bolder colors are less harmonious to me in comparison to the more washed out tones, but it is all a mater of the evolution of the work. And nice to see more than one dimension to the artists' exploration.

Here is a selection, you'll see his body of work on his website

 some older work (2010)

Helen Frankenthaler

 This amazing artist, Helen Frankenthaler, is someone i stumbled across in a magnum photo archive of the art scene of the 1950s and 1960s. Amazing images, including one of her in her studio looking down over a huge piece that lay on the floor- trying to get a little perspective, it seems. Wish we could do the same with our lives. Climb up on a ladder and say 'hey, maybe i should extend the yellow to just about there...'

For more follow the link to this great blog post with an extensive collection of her work and living/work spaces

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

this amazing artwork by Askeli Gallen-Kallela, all done around the end of the 19th century, are unlike anything I've seen as a body of work. And I'm always thrilled to discover a new artist who was not covered in any of many art history classes. While it is a current exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay that brought him under my radar, I have not yet gone to see the pieces in person.

The settings, the subject matter, the compositions, all are unique and show a distinctive way the artist saw the world. It is the part of art that cannot be taught, but is instinctive. I am grateful for a new source of inspiration in mood, color, and atmosphere. I hope you enjoy.

blue portraits

the shapes and brushstrokes and blueness of these paintings. I have been doing prep sketches for my paintings in preparation for the spring collection that I'll present in September of this year. I'm finding these colors are  good start.

painting process

From start to finish 

the idea is a photographic documentation of the process of a painting from start to finish to then be displayed, sequentially, in limited edition prints along with the finished painting at the end of the series. 

(this ended up being painted over months later, but it was a good trial run)