The Lovely Month Of April
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I hate to be someone who constantly speaks about the weather, but I live in the Catskills and the weather is a very big subject for us northerners.
We do not wake up to warm temperatures and sunshine every day of the year. Thankfully I have the good fortune to visit friends and family in Florida, Phoenix and Southern California when I need a dose of that.
No, where I live we wait months for the warm sunny days. For the most part we are rather stoic in our anticipation, but when the calendar finally moves to April we know something special is on the way. The snows have receded and that delicious smell of spring in the air is no longer just a tease on a rare, warm February day, but a real bona fide turning of the corner.
Soon I will take my watercolors outside once again to paint in the open air, or sit at the out-door cafe and sketch the people passing by in their sleeveless dresses, shorts and tee-shirts. It all starts in April, so get ready!
Spring is simply inspiring, rejuvenating and intoxicating. I think it just makes everything a little bit better!
If you would like any further information about any of our art or artists, please ring me up or send me an email. Thank you for subscribing to my newsletter and for your feedback which is always very much appreciated.
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Sunflower
Digital Montage by Carol Weinberg
Prints are available
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Someone decided they needed a little dose of Spring/Summer just a bit ahead of schedule.
A print of this digital montage, created by Carol Weinberg was sold recently to a NYC buyer for her weekend home in the Catskills.
Our client had a very specific mood and color palette in mind for the piece she was looking for.
Sunflower certainly met her criteria, but she said what really sealed the deal was the surprising element of whimsy — the cat face and the inchworm in the right lower corner.
She is happy and that makes us happy!
View more of Carol's work
here
Call or email me for details.
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After many years of creating his abstract landscapes using a palette knife, Jerry felt the urge to reacquaint himself with his brushes.
Here is the first in what I am sure will be an exciting change of direction.
The nuance in the brush strokes of this painting can not be fully appreciated here because it is not possible to enlarge the image.
Please go to our website
Originals are for sale.
Call or email me for details
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Fields of March
Oil on Board
15" x 20"
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Ice 1
Photography by Renaud Granel
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As I spoke about in my introduction for this months newsletter, winter takes a very long time to completely give in to Spring in the Catskills.
But eventually it must and, as it does, the receding ice and snow form beautiful natural shapes and patterns which when captured in the right light become works of art unto themselves.
Nature photographer
Renaud Granel documented the letting go of winter's grip in a series of images simply titled
Ice.
It was a challenge to decide which image to choose from this series to illustrate Renaud's post for April's newsletter — they are all equally strong and striking. I finally chose
Ice 1. I
find the subtle blue and gray palette and the watercolor quality of the piece to be extremely painterly. Renaud has a way of making a photograph feel like a painting and that pleases me.
There are 7 more pieces in this series which can all be seen on our web site
barbaralaurie.com.
Have a look. Prints are available in various sizes and can be printed on watercolor paper or the substrate of your choice.
Call or email me for details.
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I pulled this image aside out of a group of images Steve and I had discussed as possible pieces for the April newsletter. I felt there was something very poignant about this one. It evoked in me a keen sense of sadness or even perhaps regret.
The source was a wall which had an old movie poster poking out from beneath many layers of pealing paper.
Steve felt that the cropped area he shot told a little story all of its own. There seemed to be something dejected in the posture of the man, even though you can only see a small section of his body. The hands are loosely folded in what could be construed as a moment of resignation.
We can never really know what this original image was meant to convey, but here it has been re-imagined by Steve into a fully formed new piece of art.
What do you think this man was thinking?
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Wall 1-28-19
Photograph by Steve Snider
@stevesnidernyc
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Jasper Johns
Untitled, 2012
Oil on Canvas
36 x 27
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If you are in NYC in the next few weeks and have some time to get over to the gallery district in Chelsea, you would do well to check out
Matthew Marks Gallery.
The gallery has an exhibition on view
Recent Paintings and Works on Paper by Jasper Johns.
The exhibition includes fifteen paintings and twenty-three works on paper, all made since 2012.
One of the reasons I have always admired the work of Johns is because he has never locked himself up in one genre but rather is the master of the perpetual surprise.
These works did indeed surprise me as they are unlike much of the work I am familiar with and visualize when I think of the work of Jasper Johns — and that is just fine.
I think Johns said it best when he stated,
" I think you can be more than one person. I think I am more than one person. Unfortunately."
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Daniel Castonguay is a street photographer whose series "
Quotidian Life"
is a collection of his photographs which capture everyday people in everyday situations in his home city of Montreal, Canada.
In this series of black and white images, Daniel explores the relationship between the elements, i.e. rain, wind, snow etc. and the simplicity of people going about their daily activities.
His images depict small slices of life, but with the added drama of inclement weather. This addition of "bad" weather goes to the heart of his photographs. He feels that everyone is vulnerable to the elements in some way as we go about our simple daily lives. So, despite all our differences, we have one commonality which transcends those differences and levels the playing field — the weather.
I find that a rather interesting concept.
See more of Daniel's work on Instagram
@daniel.castonguay.165
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Le Canvas
Photograph by Daniel Castonguay
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Lumieres du Nord
Oil on Canvas
By Nicolas de Stael
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Re-discovering Nicolas de Stael
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What an unexpected pleasure to run across the work of the extraordinary painter Nicolas de Stael.
If you are not familiar with this artist or his work I can tell you there is much to know. I could devote an entire newsletter to his personal story (which is fascinating) as well as the artists who influenced him and ultimately the vivid imprint he left on European art and particularly abstract painting.
But I am not an art historian so I will simply say that he lived a very short life which unfortunately ended in suicide at the very height of his career at the age of 41.
He was widely known for his abstract landscapes which he created by working with a thick impasto technique involving wide fractured planes of color. He often applied the paint with a spatula which resulted in sculpted, ridged canvases with a quality of geometric abstraction.
There is so much to learn about Nicolas de Stael.
Click
here to see his works
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Although the creative process is a deeply personal and singular endeavor no artist works in a vacuum. Inspiration comes from everywhere — sometimes deliberate, but oftentimes subliminal. Ideas for new projects may be provoked from the unconscious mind by a familiar smell, or a pattern of color, or even the written word. There is no telling what the catalyst will be, but the desire to express an idea compels the artist to act on these impulses.
In this illustration by Charles Benton I think it is clear that there is some inspiration from the Gold Period of Gustav Klimt.
Of course no matter the inspiration and influence an artist makes each piece his/her own creation.
I happen to love this piece: I love the expression in the subjects eyes, I love the color palette, I love the attention to detail and I love the Klimt influence.
Everything about it pleases me.
Would you like to own the original or a print? Contact me for details!
Follow Charles @charlesbentonart
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Afternoon Tea in Vienna
Graphite and Gouache on Watercolor Paper
12 x 16
by Charles Benton
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Spring Snow
Watercolor on Arches Watercolor Paper
5" x 7"
by Barbara Lowry
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Without fail, winter always throws its final, last ditch effort at us in late March or early April.
The last snow of the season! You almost have to say "seriously, are you kidding me!" But then you know it will all be gone very quickly and it
is beautiful while it lasts.
My colors of choice when I paint snow vary according to the season. For a frozen winter snow I may choose a wash of phthalo blue for the base and ultramarine for a medium tone, then more concentrated ultramarine for the darker tones, But for a morning spring snow, as in this painting, I chose a softer palette of lavender and violet with the added hint of cerulean blue to indicate the sun trying to push its way through the cloud cover.
Every artist has their "go to" colors, their comfort zone, so to speak. Mine are undoubtedly in the blue and umber families.
In general, it never ceases to amaze me how, with a little paint and water, a white piece of paper is transformed into a minor miracle.
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See you next month!
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