Sezession

Music, 1911 Gustav Klimt

(German 'secession') Name given to various groups of German and Austrian artists in the 1890's who 'seceded' from official academic art institutions in order to found new schools of painting. The first was in Munich 1892; the next, linked with the paintings of Gustav Klimt and the Art Nouveau movement, was the Vienna Sezession 1897; the Berlin Sezession, led by the Impressionist Max Liebermann followed in 1899. In 1910 the members of the group die Brucke formed the Neue Sezession when they were rejected by Berlin's first Sezession. (Brockhampton)
What better way to add a lovely image of Klimt's work, a personal favorite. I love him for his figural work, decorative patterns, gold and sunbathed color choices and the fact he is such a huge part of the Art Nouveau style.

Painting Announcement:

I have bravely (or foolishly) decided to take on the challenge of doing a painting -a -day and will be displaying them at the right side of the page where the corresponding images to my postings have been appearing. They will be smallish in size and of various media. If you would like to purchase, contact me by going to my profile.

Diptych

Diptych of Anastasius, 517 A.D. Ivory, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

Painting or sculpture (usually in ivory) consisting of two panels hinged together, most often employed as a portable altar or altarpiece. (Brockhampton)

The diptych featured in the photograph is carved ivory, of the emperor Anastasius who is enthroned, perched above an arena of men and animals.

"Anastasius sits in rigid formality, making a static, suspended gesture - entirely symbolic, the abstraction of his consular authority. ... The work is entirely ornamental and symbolic; the living man is lost in the concept - in this case, the concept of supreme and suprahuman authority." (Gardner)

Chiaroscuro

Lucretia, 1664 by Rembrandt
* Note the dark background, figure bathed in light and jewels and dress glinting in the light*


(Italian, 'light-dark') Pronounced "keer-ah- skeer-oh".
In painting and graphic art, the balanced use of light and shade, particularly where contrasting luminous and opaque materials are represented, for example, glinting metal and dark velvet. Masters of chiaroscuro include Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt and Caravaggio. The term is also used to describe a monochromatic painting employing light and dark shades only. (Brockhampton)

Jamie Wyeth

Black Spruce, 1994 by James Wyeth

Painter, born 1946 he is the son of Andrew Wyeth, grandson to N.C. Wyeth, (student of Howard Pyle - famed painter and illustrator) all successful American painters of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

"The seamless blending of dream-like imagery and closely observed detail is characteristic of many of the paintings of Howard Pyle and N.C. and Andrew Wyeth, but nowhere is it more apparent than in the work of Jamie Wyeth. He is a child of the post-WWII era who is deeply conversant with the art of his own time. His imagination wanders freely between past and present, his family's remarkable legacy and the contemporary milieu." Christopher Crosman

der Blaue Reiter

The Great Blue Horses, 1911 by Franz Marc. During this movement, Marc took
a departure from societal interests and moved toward nature.

(German, 'the Blue Rider', after a painting by Wassily Kandinsky) Loose association of German Expressionist painters (some of whom had previously been members of die Brucke) formed 1911 and based in Munich. They were interested in color values, in folk art, and in the necessity of painting 'the inner, spiritual side of nature', but their individual styles were highly varied. Kandinsky and Franz Marc published a book that outlined their views 1912, and there were two exhibitions 1911, 1912. (Brockhampton)

Glorious Winter Solstice grettings to one and all!!!

Predella

Adoration of the Magi - by Gentile Da Fabriano, 1423, Uffizi, Florence
The far right predella, Presentation in the Temple is a copy the original hangs in the Louvre.



Pedestal of an altarpiece, usually decorated with small narrative scenes.

Gentile Da Fabriano's Adoration of the Magi or the Strozzi Altarpiece has a predella, it is the lower area of the painting depicting 3 scenes from left to right are: The Nativity, the Flight into Egypt, and the Presentation in the Temple. (Frederick Hartt)

Apologies for the poor quality photograph! Credit: Frederick Hartt

Foreshortening

Durer's viewpoint from Betty Edwards Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

The Bread makers by Brenda. Woman's face is an IE of foreshortening.

(apologies for the poor quality photo!)

A way to portray foreshortening on a 2-dimensional surface so that they appear to project from or recede behind a flat surface; a means of creating the illusion of spatial depth in figures or forms. (Betty Edwards)

Foreshortening became very commonplace during the Italian Renaissance and Northern (European) Renaissance. Albrecht Durer used a device called a viewpoint in which he looked at the model through a wire grid. This helped him simplify the information he was seeing and draw it 'square by square'. A key point here is for the artist to draw what he is seeing and not what he thinks a knee or hand looks like but to trust what is appearing in each grid square and draw that.

Nikki McClure

Inside from McClure's book Awake to Nap, published by Sasquatch Books

Nikki McClure is a living, working artist I truly admire. Her medium is paper cutting, which is drawing on black paper and cutting out the image with an exacto knife. She just uses one piece of paper! I discovered her art at a gallery in the town of Winslow, WA. Her work is soul-stirring, it really speaks to the beauty and importance of everyday life, chores, family and the wonder of the natural world. The incorporation of text with her images adds an awareness and direction for the viewer.

Nikki is from Olympia, WA. She used to play music in a punk band and majored in science at Evergreen State College. She is a Mama to a pre-school aged son.

The photos included today are from her book Awake to Nap published by Sasquatch Books. She also has a beautiful book out called, Collect Raindrops published by Abrams. For more information about Nikki McClure, click on the link to her website in my links section at the bottom of the blog.

Happy Birthday to my big brother Brian!

Red Ochre

Barnacle Vase by Brenda IE of red iron oxide glaze

Octopus oil painting by Brenda with red ochre

The only RED IRON OXIDE EARTH PIGMENT that is naturally dark red, and not made by roasting yellow iron oxide. One of the very first pigments used, it was painted on the head and chest of corpses by Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon peoples (possibly as early as 50,000 BC), who perhaps associated the color with life-giving blood. It is extremely PERMANENT and OPAQUE. (Rose Folsom)

Gamblin makes a beautiful, quality shade of red iron oxide. The photograph of the Octopus painting has a liberal amount of this color. Red Iron Oxide is also a great way to bring out detail in ceramics. On the Barnacle vase, I painted a wash of the paint on and rubbed it off, then added a clear glaze.

Lisbeth Zwerger

From the Little Mermaid by Lisbeth Zwerger
A Crowd of People


Artist profile:

Lisbeth Zwerger is a very accomplished illustrator of children's books. She was born in Vienna, Austria in 1954 and has illustrated hundreds of books. In 1990, she won the prestigious award, the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, celebrating her lifetime achievements in children's literature.

Working mostly in watercolor, Ms. Zwerger has a very magical, dreamlike quality to her work. She has illustrated many fairy tales and classic stories. Her style is much like 19th century children's illustrator, Jessie Wilcox who did Mother Goose, among others.

My favorites books by this artist include Alice in Wonderland, Swan lake and Gift of the Magi. Here are a few photos from the books I have, enjoy!

Signature

Handmade Accordion Mini-Book

Signatures for a handmade book made by

Spokane artist, Esme Guenther

Bookmaking is a beautiful and complicated art form. A person must be good at planning and measuring to be a good bookmaker!! During my art school days there were a few assignments to make books in painting classes and calligraphy classes. It was challenging but rewarding. As we became more adept we did mini-book exchanges in Calligraphy class and the books I have are such treasures to me now.

Signature

A specific type of section, differing from the general term of section, in that a signature is a sheet that first has been printed, then folded to a section. Signature is a printer's term for the binder's word section. (Keith Smith)

Charcoal

Buddhist quote Calligraphy by Brenda

Among all the drawing media available, charcoal is one of the most essential and basic. Here's a short history 'story ' from the mid 20th century about this versatile drawing material...

'Charcoal is an ancient drawing material, but Britain's main supplier - PH Coate's - has only been producing it for just over 40 years, and only because of accident. Or rather because of 2 accidents, the first one being a slipped disk, then the late Percy Coate fell over one autumn day in the mid-1950s. He spent 2 months lying on the floor, as weak as his own wicker and worrying about money. Once upon a time willow was good business-it was the bubble wrap of its time, and almost every merchant ship leaving Liverpool or London had its valuables secured in wicker hampers. The Coate's family chose this as their crop in Somerset England where willows grow easily.

While lighting a fire one day, Percy found a burned willow and he started to draw with it. Fascinated by the possibilities, he spent the rest of his convalescence experimenting by roasting little bits of willow in biscuit tins. In his Craftsman's Handbook, Cennino Cennini had advised 14th century charcoal makers to tie up the willow sticks in bunches, put them in a new airtight casserole, "then go to the baker's in the evening, after he has stopped work, and put this casserole in the oven; let it stay there until morning and see whether these coals are well roasted and good and black."

Artists' charcoal is tricky to make, it has to be charred uniformly right through in order for the artist to draw a consistent black. Percy got it right, and today there is scarcely a classroom in Britain with out its box of PH Coate's charcoal.' (Victoria Finlay)

Calligraphy

example of Serif - R. Folsom

Serif:

19th -c. word for a small stroke to finish off the stroke of a letter. Seems to have first appeared in carved Greek letters c. 4th c. BC. Among the many kinds are: beak, bracketed, unbracketed, clubbed, cupped, hairline, hook, rolled, slab, tick and wedge. (rose folsom)

As a lover of calligraphy, I had to include an apropos word in my first week of blogging! This word is dedicated to my former teacher in Portland OR., Carol DuBosch. She is an outstanding teacher of all things Calligraphic and beyond. Thank you, Carol, for all the letters!

Notre-Dame de Amiens

Clerestory

(from Middle English clere, "lighted," plus "story") Originally the upper section of the nave of a Gothic cathedral, with its banks of large windows; hence, any elevated series of windows for light and ventilation. (leland m. roth)

Hello and Welcome to Artslice

Collograph Matrix by Brenda

Hello, and here is my first post ever! I am very excited to bring an art word or artist three times a week. I will try to include a visual with my posts since I am a visual learner.
I am a fan of French Word a Day by Kristin Espinasse and thought this would be a nice spin off for art fans.

Allow me to introduce myself...My name is Brenda and I have been a studio artist since 2001. I work in oil and acrylic on canvas and wood, as well as woodblock printmaking and fiber arts. Now let's get right to it!

Today's word:

Collagraph - A print made from a piece of thin masonite that has been collaged with low relief objects and sealed with waterproof medium. It is then inked, wiped with cloth and printed.