INSIDE AND OUT!

Entrance to Kemper Museum...Louise Bourgeois' "Spider"

Lawn Sculpture Kemper Museum "The Thinker"

This was the first time I have been to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.  If you are familiar with Kansas City, it is right off the Plaza tucked in behind a major hotel.  The Kansas City Art Institute is right across the street and the Nelson Gallery of Art is around the corner.  When I was a little girl we used to go to the Wishbone Restaurant....that's right, home of the famous salad dressing...and I think it was on the site where this Kemper Museum now sits.  Originally, this was a neighborhood of elegant mansions.  There are still some left in the area.  The administration building of the Art Institute was a mansion and the Wishbone Restaurant was in another.  The Nelson Gallery was the original home of William Rockhill Nelson, founder of The Kansas City Star.  

Enough history!  The Kemper Museum covered the walls of their cafe with canvases...quick copies of famous paintings.  I am posting a detail so you can see how they put it together with a metal framework between the paintings.  I think this is a fabulous idea for artists to create in their own homes.  I could use more wall space and this is a great solution!  It reminds me a little of a painting quilt!

                     

Detail of wall

The next image is a triptych by David Bates.  Each painting is quite large and the three together   make a powerful statement.  These are images of people from New Orleans after the devastation of hurricane Katrina.  There was a major exhibition of his paintings on this theme and the museum purchased these 3.  I purchased the book and will have an opportunity to read more about it.  I love his style and I am particularly interested in how he put so many images in the same painting so compactly to great effect.  I am definitely adding David Bates to my favorites list.

David Bates Triptych "The Storm" Katrina painting 60" x 250"

MORE ONE DRAWING A DAY RESULTS

BAMBOO PEN/ COFFEE STICK & INK

COFFEE STICK & INK W/WASH

COFFEE STICK & INK PLUS WASH

The next exercise in the One Drawing A Day book suggests using Bamboo pens.  I have two different sizes, one being quite large, but the ink line isn't nice and wide like the example in the book.  In fact, the two pens produce a rather similar line.  I don't know what I am doing differently, but I prefer drawing with a flat thin wooden coffee stirrer as I can get a wonderful variety of line with that simple tool.  It is actually much more portable for on site sketching, too!  The first drawing today started with the bamboo pens and then I switched to the coffee stick.  The second drawing I added the wash.  I kept playing with the materials.  The first two images are of a gentleman that sat in Rembrandt's studio in his house in Amsterdam, keeping an eye on the place.  I actually asked his permission to take his photo.  A very handsome man!  The last image is of my husband....who also made a surprise appearance on Gary Everest's blog over the weekend!!!  Check it out!

I was in Kansas City for the weekend.  Almost all of our time was spent with family but I talked my husband into taking me to the Kemper contemporary gallery.   It is small but very attractive and had some wonderful work on display.  I will post images tomorrow.  My biggest disappointment was the Dean Mitchell painting "Release" wasn't on display although it is owned by the museum.  It is one of my very favorite paintings by this amazing artist and I was anticipating seeing it in person.  Oh well, maybe next time!  They have a large collection and a limited exhibition space.  

FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS!

KELP BASKET MULTIPLE DIP PENS AND INDIA INK

The second assignment in the book One Drawing a Day by Victoria Lawlor was to draw with different dip pen nibs.  All these drawings are supposed to be from life, not photographs, so I looked around and thought this basket made from dried kelp, would be interesting.   After I completed the drawing, I decided to photograph the basket to see how I did.  I felt compelled to add the ink wash.  I guess I can't totally follow directions but I came close.  I so like the variety of line.  This idea has real potential for future work.

FOCUS ON DRAWING!

ONE DRAWING A DAY #1 BAMBOO PEN

ONE DRAWING A DAY #2 CONTINUOUS LINE RAZOR POINT PEN

ONE DRAWING A DAY #3 CONTINUOUS LINE RAZOR POINT PEN

We had a great time up in Mendocino County this past weekend.  The great people in Gualala were warm and welcoming.  If you have a chance to see the portrait show at the Gualala Art Center, don't miss it.  Great work with so much variety from drawings to photography, sculpture and painting in acrylic, oils, watercolors....et al.  

We drove to Mendocino on Friday and I found a wonderful book store there.  Often, great finds are in the smaller independent bookstores.  Buying on line may save money but it is important to keep brick and mortar stores in business.  Having been an entrepreneur all my life, I like to support small independent business owners.   Two new books on drawing now grace my burgeoning book shelves.  One drawing a Day by Veronica Lawlor inspired me to do the above drawings.  Veronica is part of one of my favorite blogs....Urban Sketchers.  I find her style very exciting, so I couldn't pass up this book!  The first assignment was to draw a still life or some section of your environment.  I have a greenhouse window in my kitchen, so I focused on that.  I was so anxious to try out my bamboo pens that I didn't focus on the details of the assignment (use a razor point pen and a continuous line)  I decided to do a second drawing following directions and then started a 3rd drawing.  Don't you just love the soft sculpture "Eve" that my sister bought for me!  She's lots of fun to draw, too.

I have just started to read the second book.  I will discuss it when I have digested more of the concepts. Till then, it shall remain a mystery!

BACK TO WORK!

AMSTERDAM PATRON

I haven't done much painting this past month.  I have been focusing on framing.  I glued three watercolor paintings onto gallery canvas, using hand made collage paper to decorate the edge.  I failed to photograph the final result before taking it to be hung on the walls of a very elegant restaurant.  I was struggling with getting a perfect contact between the two surfaces.  I have concluded that 300 lb watercolor paper gives the best results.  

Anyway, today I had time to do a few paintings in my travel journal.  The stripped shirt adds a lot to the feel of the painting.  I will give more thought in the future to how I will "dress" my subjects.  You can always add a pattern to any garment.  I plan to fill the entire book with paintings based on my recent travel photos.

ANOTHER IMAGE FROM AMSTERDAM

FROM MY AMSTERDAM FILES

This is another painting from a photo I took in Amsterdam.  It was fun playing with stripes.  I decided to create some counter stripes in the background.  I have a number of different photos of this rugged guy.  I think I will do several more and see how I can improve on this study.

SNEAKY!

GARY EVEREST'S PORTRAIT OF ME

Google has a service that will track what ever you want.  I have them track my name and the name of my blog.  Imagine my surprise today when I discovered my portrait posted on the talented Gary Everest's blog.  Gary is one of those wonderful people that you create a friendship with via the internet.  Every once in awhile I have the joy of getting to meet someone in person.  I had the pleasure of meeting Gary when I was in Portland and we had a nice visit.  He took a few photos.  Gary does unique  self portraits that are very compelling.  He also paints portraits of others of his choosing.  I am so honored to be selected as a subject and he achieved an excellent likeness. Although I would never paint a self portrait with this expression, it perfectly reflects the comments Gary made about me.  I am humbled that he holds me in such high regard.  When a good portrait artist chooses their subject, their feelings for that person comes through unconsciously, and shows in the final painting, both good and bad.     

I am going to return the favor one of these days, but like Gary, I am going to catch him off guard and make it a big surprise.  Announcing this beforehand kind of makes it a bigger challenge to pull off a surprise, but stay tuned....

Gary didn't know this, but I am going up to Gualala, Ca. tomorrow to judge a portrait competition and will be giving an informal talk Thursday night at the Art Center on contemporary portraiture.  This coincidence of finding a portrait of myself today,  gives me more insight on the effect of the portrait on the subject.  Thanks, Gary!  If you are in the vicinity of Gualala ( 1 hour south of Mendocino on Highway 1) join in the lecture and discussion.  We start at 5:30.  I am looking forward to seeing the entries into the show and reconnecting with all the wonderful friends I have made in Gualala.

You can check out Gary's work by clicking on the link.