Final Fri Mar 29 & Sat Mar 30

Yes, this Friday night is once again Final Friday at the Pendleton Art Center. And yes, I will be there as will the other two artists who share studio 507 on the fifth floor with me -- Glenda Suttman (ceramics) and Margi Meier (fused glass). Valet parking is $5 at the front door and we're open from 6 to 10 pm.

 

If you haven't visited Cincinnati's new Horseshoe Casino, it is a short walk (about 4 blocks south of our front door). In fact, it's close enough that you could park there and walk to and from the Pendleton Art Center. There are several restaurants in Horseshoe -- Jack Binion's Steak House, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, and Bobby Flay's Burgers -- so it will be nice to have these new options so nearby for dining before or after Final Fridays.

The work in progress you're seeing here is an 18 x 24" acrylic painting I've started of the building, which I expect to use for my demonstration on Saturday from 11am to 3 pm. The Pendleton has been open on the Saturdays after Final Fridays for a number of years. but this year, we're doing something different!

 

Artists in Action!

 

Many of the 150+ artists in the Pendleton teach people how to create work for themselves. So on Saturdays, you'll now have Artists in Action -- and the ability for children and adults to participate in short workshops in artists' studios or watch demonstrations done by people like me in our studios.

 

If you've ever thought about taking "art lessons," whether for painting, photography, jewelry, clay, fiber or glass, this should be a great way to find a teacher you like and learn more about the process. Parking is free and easy on Saturdays in the artists' lot across the street. And again, now that Horseshoe is open, you may want to combine your visits to Pendleton and Cincinnati's new casino, whether on the last Friday night of a month from 6-10 pm or from 11 am to 3 pm the next day (Saturday).

 

If you can't make it this weekend, here are the dates for upcoming Final Fridays and Artists in Action at the Pendleton:

• April 26 & 27
• May 31 & Jun 1 (Not Memorial Day!)

 

 
 

 

 

Inspired by Oliver Wendell Holmes' "shell"

A friend recently mentioned how much she loves the poem "Chambered Nautilus" written by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), which I didn't know, so I googled it. Not only did I love it, it inspired this work in progress on the big 3 ft by 3 ft canvas that's been primed and waiting in my Pendleton studio for almost two years, waiting for the right subject.

I felt like I got a good start in this first attempt but will continue working on this to display at my show June 3-26 at University of Cincinnati Clermont's Park National Bank Gallery. Here's the beautiful poetry that inspired it:

 

The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,

Sails the unshadowed main, --

The venturous bark that flings

On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings

In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,

And coral reefs lie bare,

Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.

 

Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl;

Wrecked is the ship of pearl!

And every chambered cell,

Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,

As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,

Before thee lies revealed, --

Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!

 

Year after year beheld the silent toil

That spread his lustrous coil;

Still, as the spiral grew,

He left the past year's dwelling for the new,

Stole with soft step its shining archway through,

Built up its idle door,

Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.

 

Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,

Child of the wandering sea,

Cast from her lap, forlorn!

From thy dead lips a clearer note is born

Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn;

While on mine ear it rings,

Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings:--

 

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,

As the swift seasons roll!

Leave thy low-vaulted past!

Let each new temple, nobler than the last,

Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,

Till thou at length art free,

Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!

Copying Museum Masterpieces



 When it's snowy and cold outside, the Ohio Plein Air Society used to organize "paint outs" in local museums like the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Dayton Art Institute and we'd meet there to copy some of our favorite artists' works. This is my acrylic copy of Herman Wessel's oil painting of Mt. Adams from Eden Park.

 There are rules associated with doing this but it's a long-accepted practice and a great learning experience for the copier. I remember being so thrilled to see Renoir's name in the registry of the Louvre in Paris from when he copied paintings there and I enjoyed seeing so many artists in Europe copying in the museums there. You don't see that as often in the US but you'll probably see me there this week, because I want to copy Edward Hopper's "yellow houses."

When I copy, I am not allowed to paint the same size as the original painting. And based on this photo I took when copying the Wessel, I think I was standing a little too close to it!!

This is what Herman's original painting looks like. I learned a lot, especially from trying to copy the colors in his sky. Since 2006, I think I've copied at least half a dozen masterpieces, so I'll log the photos and stories of each one here before posting the copy of the Hopper I hope to paint in the next few weeks.