Today I would like to talk to you about my three favorite artists and why I chose them. They are quite different in style and medium, but they all bring me great joy, which is what I believe art is all about. Some artists use their art to give expression to their angst or suffering, or to draw attention to societal problems, but so far I have not felt that need. I think there is enough ugliness and suffering in the world. I create art because I find it beautiful. Number 1 on my list is Andrew Wyeth. He was an American artist, born in 1917 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. He worked mainly in watercolor and tempera. One of his most famous works is no doubt “Christina’s World”, which shows his neighbor Christina Olsen on the grass near her farm. She was the subject of many of his paintings. He had a long and prolific career, splitting his time between Chadds Ford and Maine until his death in 2009. Why do I like his work? I love how he can find beauty in the mundane. A lace curtain dancing on the breeze in an otherwise plain room. An angle where two buildings meet. A wicker basket propped up against a wall. A weathered face. He uses strong light and shadow, or unusual points of view to transform these into fascinating stories. I have yet to find such inspiration in my surroundings as he did in his, but I continue to hope. I have been lucky enough to see some of his paintings exhibited and to be able to observe them close up to see how he uses incredibly dark watercolor in seemingly easy and immediate strokes, something I haven’t managed to achieve yet either.. You can find out more about Andrew Wyeth at https://andrewwyeth.com/ Second on my list is Alex Colville. He was born in 1920 in Toronto, but moved to Nova Scotia where, along with New Brunswick, he lived a good part of his life. He died in 2013. His most famous painting is probably “Horse and Train”, which depicts the unlikely and unsettling black horse running along a train track with a train coming in the distance. I like his work because it is beautiful first, then unsettling. At first glance you see a lovely image of an animal or a person or a boat, but after a few seconds you notice the train or the storm clouds in the distance or the odd thing that leads you to believe you aren’t getting the whole story, there is literally more happening than meets the eye. His images are of real things, but they are not done from reality. They are meticulously composed. I was fortunate enough to see an exhibit of his work in New Brunswick 2 years ago, where some of his numerous studies were displayed alongside the finished piece. He was a geometry “geek”, in that he calculated and positioned every item in his composition to follow certain lines. This revelation led me to investigate and further study geometrical composition, including things like the golden mean which I had heard of, but also the 14 line armature which I hadn’t. The unfinished painting you see on this page is a result of this experimenting. I am not 100% happy with it, and maybe I will go back to finish it some day. I have since backed away from using a strict armature, but still keep it in mind when designing a painting. You can learn more about Alex Colville at http://alexcolville.ca/ You have probably never heard of my third favorite artist. I hadn’t until I saw a painting of his at a big art show in Palm Beach a few winters ago. He is John A. Grimshaw, and he was born in 1836 in Leeds, England. He was, like me, self-taught. The first painting of his that I saw was of a Victorian street, with a woman, no doubt a servant, walking away down the sidewalk, surrounded by the mist and the dawning light. What attracted me was how he had captured such a fleeting moment, not only the quickly changing light, but also the feelings of cold and damp, the beginning of the warmth, to a point where you could not only feel these, but almost smell them. I have been lucky to see a few of his paintings. They are spellbinding. You can find out more about J. A. Grimshaw at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Atkinson_Grimshaw. I hope you enjoyed this quick introduction to my three favorite painters. I continue to be inspired by their work as I progress on my own journey. Who are your favorite painters? Let me know in the comments!
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AuthorMy name is Claire Bureau. Archives
March 2023
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