Information Overload – Opinion, Hype or T.M.I.?

(This is Peaches, and I'm going to paint her portrait)

I have read and written about the book “Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck at least four times. After the first reading, I was captured by that generation and the “Great Depression” era. Since that time, I’ve read both fiction and nonfiction books on that time period. 

After my first experience, a high school student at my church was bewailing the fact that “Grapes of Wrath” was required reading that year. She called it a filthy book, and said that the language was coarse and trashy. She didn’t understand why she had to read that kind of a book, anyway.

Her remarks prompted my second reading of Steinbeck’s novel. What on earth was she talking about? I didn’t remember any bad language. The book had inspired me and aroused my sympathy for the plight of the hungry and poor.

As I flipped through the pages, I was stunned. Sure enough, there were enough four-letter words on every page to make a sailor blush. Why had I not recalled such “filth” on my first reading? Perhaps because I was so caught up in the lives of the characters and their very real story.

By the time I finished the book, I loved it even more. So much so that I quickly forgot the student who disdained reading it and her remarks. The whole book is full of symbolism about life, about the roles of men and women in society, and the desperation that comes when everything you ever depended upon is gone.

When the husbands and fathers were jobless and down on their luck, they leaned heavily on their women who gave them strength and propped up their sagging egos. The mothers succored their children, managed to find things for them to eat, and gave their families hope. They were the backbone of society.

(Work in Progress "Peaches 'n Cream") The drawing and first layers of acrylic paint.

In the final chapter, the loose ends are connected in the cycle of life. A woman loses her baby because of poor nutrition. Broken and unresponsive, she wanders away from her family. Her breasts are engorged with milk, and she doesn’t know what to do or where to turn. At wits end, she comes across a man on the ground at her feet who is dying from hunger. Many men went without food so that their women and children could eat.

The forlorn woman lays down beside him and gives him her milk-swollen breast; the only sustenance she has to offer. By this we know that not only will he live, but that they both will survive to witness another day’s struggle.

"Bella Bellissimo" 16 x 20 acrylic on canvas (SOLD), but prints available.

Steinbeck recreates the Garden of Eden showing the dependence of male and female on each other, and in society’s ongoing battle for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Great literature and great art cannot be picked apart by focusing on that which is taken out of context. Without the whole there is no meaning nor purpose. How and what you remember when the last chapter is read is the measure of a book. It will rise and fall not on a useless hunting and pecking exercise, but on how well it is judged through the eyes of history and truth.

"Winston" Portrait of a Westie (SOLD) prints available. (mixed media)

Make Time your Friend not your Enemy

"Release" 24 x 30 mixed media
(Currently I'm adding two panels on each side and turning this into a triptych.)

Get a group of people together and their number one concern is time or the lack thereof. Their problem isn’t a lack of ideas. It isn’t money, although, this is a restricting factor. What worries small business owners the most is time. Every decision that is made is concerned with time: what it’s worth, how to set priorities, where to focus it for optimal growth. Marketing alone requires enormous amounts of time, and making product requires time. Without a product, there is nothing to sell.

(Sketch on panel)

A novice once asked me for detailed information on what it cost me to do a painting. He divided it into parts: supplies, paints, canvas, tools, and time spent in the actual painting. This picayunish breakdown was designed to belittle me and other artist’s work with little regard to the years it takes to perfect a skill or the knowledge required to assimilate what one sees and interpret it on canvas.

I gave him a simple mathematical tool he could use to consider basic costs: Multiply the size of the painting (i.e. 24 x 30), add any overhead costs the artist may have incurred (leased space / gallery, a model, etc.), and add the cost of a frame. This exercise at least gives you a basis from which to judge. Add into the equation, the artist’s background and notoriety and the worth of a painting is much easier to appreciate.

To reduce a painting to a dime-store print or a knock off which has been photographed on canvas and then given a few swipes of paint is an insult. This is not a serious buyer, but a person who hopes to get something for nothing. Walk away!

"1st panel on left" Will require many layers of paint to complete.

Some people get overwhelmed when they see the big picture and understand all the work that is required to become successful. If this is you, try to slow down and take one piece at a time. A child doesn’t learn how to walk all at once. Neither does success come without a series of mini-steps and hurdles to overcome.

Focus on one thing at a time:

• Prioritize your work list in order of importance
• Do as much as is humanly possible in your 24 hour day
• Don’t neglect your health or there will be no business
• Small increments of time are better than nothing
• Use down time for planning, organizing your thoughts, and creatively solving problems.

When your body is at rest, your mind can take over. I mentally paint even when I’m not at the canvas. Sometimes I solve problems in this way. At other times, an idea completely changes and moves in another direction. By the time I’m able to actually work at the canvas, I can move ahead quickly with confidence. Use your time wisely and it can be an asset not a liability.

"Bella Bellissiomo" 16 x 20 Acrylic on canvas
Currently on display at the SWF Coop Gallery at Coconut Point

Two other paintings are on display at this Gallery: "Hey, Coconut Man" and "With These Hands -- Hope"

Never Leave Home without your Camera

 Winter in Florida means a chance to see Manatees. They swim up the Orange River where warm water flows from the huge Florida Power & Light plant (FPL). A lovely park has been erected in their honor and thousands of residents and tourists flock there when the temperatures plunge to see these wonderful creatures.

At first glance, they look like humongous baked potatoes. Further scrutiny reveals a flat elongated tail and two dorsal fins closer to the snout. On females, a teat is located in the dorsal area where suckling’s feed after birth.

Manatees can stay submerged for long periods of time, so people wait expectantly for one to lift its large snout above water for a gulp of air. 

They can also be seen swimming up river leaving gentle swirls of water in their wake. A small patch of exposed back may crest the water as they move. Spotting an actual manatee swimming upstream brings squeals of delight from the crowd.

I’ve seen some beautiful paintings of these aquatic mammals, but I’ve never had the desire to paint them. On the other hand, I witnessed a flock of white pelicans that took my breath away, but I had no camera. These I would love to paint. I’m told that there are swans in Florida, but I’ve never seen one.

An artist should never be without a camera. If you’re like me, the times you have your camera, nothing happens. On the days you leave your camera home, wildlife is everywhere! I’m opposed to painting from photographs of others unless I have their explicit permission.

Final painting: "Bella Bellissimo" acrylic on 16 x 20 canvas

I have followers on Facebook from different countries. I was given permission to use their personal photos as they are not photographers or artists. I have done this for my India Rising Series, and for my African Series. When you can’t travel yourself, it’s the next best thing to being there.

Original photo of Bella
(I tried to make her look happier!)

If you use online photos or the artwork of others for inspiration, make certain you turn that painting into something uniquely yours. Change the pose. Change the color or composition. Don’t outright copy anything. If you do, you’re breaking the law.

I visited an artist blog recently where the author complained that someone had taken a photo of her painting and copied it authentically. If that were a writer, they could be charged with plagiarism. Copying old masters and declaring that you did is one thing. Stealing the ideas or paintings of someone else is downright criminal. If a person can’t fly by the seat of their own pants – they shouldn’t fly at all.

First drawing of Bella

It’s a Frame Up – the Painting that is!

Photo of Bella a mixed breed I'm going to paint.

Framing is sometimes difficult. What looks good to one person, may not look good to another. Many artists sell canvases and let the buyer select their own frame saving the client money.

Other artists prefer to select the perfect frame for their painting only to find out the buyer has later switched to a frame of their own preference. It’s a quandary.

The only time the frame seems to matter is in juried competition. Here the education and experience of the judge colors his or her opinion. A frame that you think enhances and compliments your painting may be seen through the eyes of the judge to be obtrusive, overwhelming or distracting. What’s an artist to do?

16 x 20 drawing on canvas of Bella

I found a web site that was very informative. I’m sharing the link and some of the content with you here:

"Choosing the right frame for paintings and prints enhances both appearance and value, but choosing the wrong frame does an artwork no favors.

"Frames are rather like film stars' dresses on the Red Carpet. The perfect one flatters the celebrity model and makes headlines. A bad choice is dissected by the Fashion Police. Like the unfortunate starlet, a painting can be underdressed, overdressed, or simply surrounded by something that is not “age appropriate.”

"Auctioneers recognize how frames affect fine art lots on the podium. Leslie Hindman in Chicago emphasizes that the artwork is the most important element, but “a bad frame is jarring and it takes away from the painting.”

“I think private individuals appreciate when a work comes with a very nice frame,” Hindman continued. “If you have something that is good and it is framed in a nice period frame, it can add to the value.”

"In previous centuries, frames were often carefully selected by the artist. Preserving the original frame on an artwork – like an original finish on antique furniture – bolsters value. The borders chosen by an artist may be plain or elaborate, but they are part of the object's history and integrity.

"Joe Standfield of Hindman's Fine Art Department cited the case of an untitled 1945 landscape painting by regional American painter Marvin Cone (1891-1964) that sold in September for $156,400. “For this particular painting, pretty much everyone we spoke with who were potential buyers – museums, private collectors, galleries – commented on the fact that it appeared to be the original frame,” he said.

“That particular painting had been in the family for an extremely long time; the provenance was impeccable. The great provenance and the original frame were the two things that enhanced the value of this beautiful painting.”

"Home at Last" 16 x 20 acrylic on canvas

"On the other hand, Stanfield noted, “A more ornate gilded frame would certainly make more sense on a 19th-century French painting.” Frames should be appropriate for the artwork's period and style, not a reflection of current fashions in interior design. In June 2009, Leslie Hindman held an auction devoted to period frames.

"Jerry Holley, vice president of Dallas Auction Gallery, agrees that frame selection can have a subtle but sizable effect on a painting's appeal to customers. “You see nice little Southwestern paintings from the 1920s or 1930s that are in their very simple original period frames,” he explained. “Everybody makes a big deal out of it and comment on the frames.”

“It does seem to affect value. If you see that same painting in an ornate gilt frame that doesn't fit it at all, people just don't have the same perception of the painting. Sometimes people don't really realize what the problem is, but - if you had them side by side in the two different frames – it would be obvious.”

"Winston" 12 x 16 OIL on canvas SOLD

“It can work the other way too,” Holley continued. “ A good Victorian painting that originally had an ornate carved gilt frame on it – if you see it now in a plain black modern frame, that would do nothing for it at all. No doubt about it, it can have a very significant effect on the look of a painting and – at auction – on the value of paintings.”

LINK:
Read more: http://acn.liveauctioneers.com/index.php/component/content/article/70-acn-staff/1653-art-101-the-wrong-frame-does-a-painting-no-favors#ixzz2GfBPMcl3