The Storm is Coming

Woodcut by Antonio Frasconi. Emigrated from Uruguay, Frasconi is a master graphic and woodcut artist. He's one of my personal faves... I did a previous post (December 2008) with some of his Christmas and winter scenes.
"Coupled with technical virtuosity is a rich, meaningful content. Frasconi has taken the popular art of the woodcut and clothed it in visually exciting color. " (sorry there were only black and white photographs available!) (Jules Heller)

Diane Kempler

Root Maidens (earthenware) glazed and unglazed

detail of Celebrations

Celebrations of the House

Ceramicist, Diane Kempler, likes to work mostly with human form and enjoys its connection to nature. Thorn, root and leaf forms are often combined with the figure. She first encountered ceramics while working at a crafts center in MA, (a native of New York) after college, and found it was what she wanted to do with her life. She stopped working as a studio artist for a while and took a job as director of a puppetry arts center museum while she continued to teach. But after 8 years she returned to ceramics with a new vision and energy. Her work is all sculptural and focuses mostly on the abstracted human torso. She often uses elements of nature such as tree forms, root shapes, or other green growth. (Tommy Simpson and William Bennett Seitz)

Joni Mitchell Quote

"One line came like a gift. It flowed out. I drew back and said 'thank you' to the room." -Joni Mitchell.

The Canadian singer/songwriter, Joni Mitchell was really a painter 'first' before she was a musician. She went to art school and I believe started singing at that time. I think this quote could be meant for painting or songwriting... or both! I love the way art can sometimes 'flow' out of us... those are the good creating days. Funny how other times it just doesn't come easy. This CD has one of her paintings on it - a self portrait holding an iris bouquet. She has a way of painting in the van Gogh style... visit her website to see many more paintings here. I love the idea of her art and music melded together in this one useful object - a CD.

Jamie Wyeth

Automaton, 1979

Mischief Night, 1986

Giuliana and the Sunflowers, 1987

Pumpkinhead - Self-Portrait, 1972.

James Wyeth (1946- ) Born in Pennsylvania and is the son of the famous painter, Andrew Wyeth and grandson of another famous painter, N.C. Wyeth. He is known as part of the 'Brandywine Tradition' which is a group of painters who worked in the countryside of Delaware and Pennsylvania. He has been influenced by the methods and styles of his family as well as the Flemish and Dutch masters. He was also influenced by Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. During the 1970s he did many portraits of famous people including Jimmy Carter, Nureyev and Andy Warhol.

These images were taken from a beautiful book, Wondrous Strange, The Wyeth Tradition, published by Bulfinch.

BIG FIBER ART SALE GOING ON IN MY ETSY SHOP... CHECK IT OUT!

Will Barnet

3 Chairs, 1991-92. Oil on canvas, 43 x 53 1/2 in. Private Collection

Vigil, 1974-75. Oil on canvas, 48 x 67 1/2 in. Private collection.

The Blue Robe, 1962. Oil on canvas, 50 x 54 in. Private Collection

The Lesson, 1984. Oil on canvas, 71 x 33 1/2 in.

Will Barnet (American born 1911) has profoundly influenced 20th century art. His works are simple yet elegant, tinged with mood. He explores social realism, abstraction, and modernism, all the while playing to fleeting emotions. His images invite reflection, evoke nostalgia, and recall poignant memories.

Grounded in classical sensibilities, the artist is always searching for clarity and harmony as he offers interpretation of life's events. What could be the mundane become the important moments of both the view and the subject.

Barnet studied at the School of Museum of fine Arts in Boston and the Art Students League in New York. He has taught at the Art Students League, Cooper Union, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Cornell and Yale Universities, and other schools. His paintings and prints, spanning social realism, abstraction, figurative work, and modernism, are in prestigious collections worldwide. (author unknown but published by Pomegranate.)

Johann Zoffany

Charles Towneley's Library in Park Street, 1783. Oil on canvas. Towneley Hall Art Gallery, Burnley

Marble athletes, nymphs, gods, goddesses and portrait busts are crammed into the library of the collector. Towneley, seated in the chair on the right, his faithful dog at this feet, is surrounded by fellow antiquaries and connoisseurs. The elegant library contains all the accouterments of the cultured 18th century gentleman with highly refined tastes. The bust of Clytie on the desk is said to have been such a favorite of his that he referred to it as his wife. German by birth, Zoffany (1733-1810) travelled and studied extensively in Italy. He met Towneley in Florence and the 2 men became close friends. Zoffany arrived in London in 1760 and set up as a painter of portraits, interiors and theatrical scenes. In 1783, he went to India where he made his fortune painting portraits. (Butler, Van Cleave and Stirling)

When I first looked at this painting, it was hard to tell who was real and who was a sculpture... it struck me as humorous. Surrounding one's self with all that sculpture would maybe combat loneliness. :) On the flip side, Mr. Towneley was obviously a man of information, wealth and a serious art collector.

The Book Binder

Marie Danforth Page, The Book Binder, 1906. Oil on canvas, 25 x 16 in.

Ms. Page was born in Boston, MA in 1869 - 1940. She primarily painted portraits, children, figures and genre scenes. She attended the Boston Museum School and painted in the 'classical style' working in oil and watercolor. She was quite popular and successful in her time. She painted many portraits of Harvard professors which still reside at the university. Unfortunately, there is not much more information available on Marie Danforth Page, but, I thought the subject matter of this painting very interesting. I'm curious to know more about the machine or device the bookmaker is using in this scene!

Fernand Khnopff

I lock my door upon myself, 1891. Oil on canvas, Bavarian National Art Collections, Neue Pinakothek, Munich.

This painting is based on a line from a poem called, "Who shall deliver me?" by Christina Rossetti. Khnopff's sister was the model for this and most of his paintings. Her name was Marguerite, 'In whom he depicted himself as androgynous.' Look at those eyes, quite haunting!

Here's a small bio:

Fernand Khnopff: 1858-1912. Belgian painter and graphic artist. Having completed his law studies, in 1878, he began a painting course at the Academie des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and later became a pupil of Jules Lefebvre in Paris. Khnopff was the principal Belgian representative of Belgian Symbolism. Influenced by the English Pre-Raphaelites and Gustave Moreau, he painted pictures with mystic and allegorical subject matter. His oeuvre includes landscapes, etchings, and book illustrations. (Gabriele Fahr-Becker)

A Bit of Comopsition

Women Reading 1909, Rolf Deyhle Collection, Stuttgart by Robrt Breyer

Composition is so important in a painting or any image one is creating - it's really almost a science! I think Vermeer was such a master at it, all the triangles, diagonals etc. that he created... as was Rembrandt. Here's a little explanation of what Robery Breyer did in his beautiful painting here. Love this era of hair and dress.

"This painting focuses on two fashionably dressed and coiffured women. Although they are not directly communicating with each other, they are both engaged in the same activity. Their togetherness is also established by the fact that their two figures, next to one another, form a wavelike curved diagonal from the upper left to the lower right edge of the image." (Stefan Bollmann)

Gretchen Erhsam

Gretchen Erhsam is a wonderfully talented Block Print artist who lives in Seattle. She also is an artist for Rubbermoon rubber stamps (you can see loads of her stamps at their website, rubbermoon.com). I really admire Gretchen's work and style. I love how she uses old objects as still life in her stamps. I don't know much about her life except that she is a mom and seems to be very inspired by her daughter. She teaches workshops here and there in the Spokane/Seattle areas. These are a few prints I purchased at a local art gallery, Spectrum Gallery. Enjoy!

(I'm not sure she works in wood - I know she sometimes uses 'safety cut' and linoleum to carve images.)

Wayne Thiebaud

Girl in White Boots 1965. Oil on Canvas 72 x 60 in. Collection of Blair Sabol.

This painting is not what one would picture, thinking of Thiebaud since he's so popular for his still lifes of cakes, toys, food etc. Love her bobbed hair. She's so Audrey Hepburn or Diana Rigg of The Avengers!

Wayne Thiebaud was born 1920 in Mesa, Arizona. In 1921 his family moved to Long Beach, California. During high school, he attended the Frank Wiggins Trade School in L.A. to study commerical art. He served in the US AirForce from 1942-1945. He earned a MFA in 1960. In 1962 He had his first solo show in NYC. In 1998 , he received an honorary doctor of fine arts from California State University.

'Wayne Theibaud has long been recognized as one of America's most prominent modern artists. Probably best known for his straightforward, deadpan still-life paintings of the 1960's traditionally linked with Pop Art. Thiebaud is identified by his brilliant palette, luscious handling of paint, and the intensity of light that lends a particularly "California" flavor to his images.' (Nash and Gopnik)

Gabriel Metsu

The Letter Reader (1665) Gabriel Metsu

This artist was born in Leiden, Holland (1629-67) and later lived and worked in Amsterdam. He is most known for his striking similarity to Vermeer and for his genre scenes.

"This is one of Metsu's finest paintings and is also a reflection on the place of art in 17th century Dutch society. The servant who has delivered the letter pulls back a curtain covering a picture (they were often hung like this) so that she may
examine it. Paintings were indeed so abundant in 17th century Holland that they could be enjoyed by all levels of society rather than being the preserve of the rich
and privileged. (John Julius Norwich)

Alfred Stevens

The Bath, 1867 Oil on canvas, Musee D'Orsay, Paris

There is something about a bath that draws me in... if only I had a clawfoot tub and that golden swan spicket, what a lovely bath it would be...but why is she wearing her underthings??

"The Belgian Stevens ceased painting political themes after 1855, becoming a very succssful painter of bourgeois genre scenes. Here, the watch in the soap dish may mean that this respite is stolen from domestic responsibilities and social rounds. The roses may be a trac of another, also stolen, private moment." (Alexandra Bonfante-Warren)

Alice Neel

Mildred 1937, Oil on Canvas

Alice Neel is one of my favorite figure painters. It's so hard to choose a painting of hers to post, I highly recommend seeking her out in a library or bookshop, you need time to pour over her paintings.

Ms. Neel was born in Pennsylvania in 1900. She had a tumultuous personal life by the 1930s and spent some time in psych hospitals. She was a mother, wife, Divorcee and all the while was painting, primarily portraits. She began doing a lot of children's portraits upon the arrival of her 1st grandchild, Olivia in the mid 1960s. She painted many nudes and pregnant women. She is now deceased.

The Fortune Teller - detail

Georges de La Tour, 1630 French (Metropolitan Museum of Art NYC)

Oh how I love La Tour's faces, especially the women! Look at how pale and fresh-faced she is. Don't you want to see her hair? I'll bet she is blonde or maybe with a hint of red... long, wavy locks, who knows? She seems as though she could be a woman of today's time. I'm sorry to say, I have not seen a lot of La Tour paintings, but I can't help mentioning the movie, Le Divorce, starring Naomi Watts and Kate Hudson. It is based on the Diane Johnson novel and the story is partly about who is entitled to possessing a family painting thought to be by La Tour... great movie if you like Paris and a slice of French living. Enough rambling, here is a proper short history of Georges:

'La Tour, Georges de 1593-1652. French painter, active in Lorraine. He was patronized by the duke of Lorraine, Richelieu, and perhaps also by Louis XIII. Many of his pictures are illuminated by a single source of light, with deep contrasts of light and shade, as in Joseph the Carpenter about 1645 (Louvre, Paris). Theye range from religious paintings to domestic genre scenes.' (Brockhampton)

Vilhelm Hammershoi

Photograph of the painter and his wife Ida 1898. (Finsen & Raaschou-Nielsen)


Portrait of Ida Ilsted, whom he later married. 1890 (Finsen & Raaschou-Nielsen)


Interior with a Woman Seated on a White Chair. 1900 (Finsen & Raaschou-Nielsen)

Danish painter, known for his evocative domestic interiors rendered with monumental simplicity in a muted palette of greys, greens, and soft blacks. His quiet, Neo-Classical rooms often feature a young woman alone and with her back turned as in Interior with a Seated Woman 1908. His work, exemplifying the inner strength and mysticism of the Nordic spirit, occupies a central place in Scandinavian art. (Brockhampton)

I just love the quiet stillness Hammershoi evokes and how often he has the model's
back to the viewer, which Giotto made famous... in theory, it allows the viewer to become the person in the painting and "experience" what the figure is doing, thinking etc.