Susanna's Sketchbook

May 19, 2008

On my last post, I showed a photograph of an Obama graffiti poster spray painted on the side of a building in New York. My friend, Brian, later emailed me a link to an online Huffington Post article about the artist who created this image - Shepard Fairey.

Fairey has made a name for himself in the art world through his graffiti art. When he first created this Obama image, he made it possible for people to download it for free and since then, it's been countlessly copied onto t-shirts, mugs, you-name-it.

I thought this was an interesting article on how someone could be moved to take a political stand through their art.

January 10, 2008

This past Wednesday, I went gallery hopping in New York with bloggergal Karen.  What was supposed to be a rainy, windy day turned out to be spring-like with a blue sky and a breeze. We met on the train going into New York - third car from the front - and upon arriving into Penn Station, we found the nearest Starbucks for a must-have morning coffee.

After a little sojourn to Tinsel Trading, we headed to our first art gallery destination: the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). And yes, you read the ticket correctly - it costs $20.00 for an adult to go into the gallery. That includes getting into the permanent exhibitions and into all of the special visiting art exhibitions. According to the website, however, Target is sponsoring Target Free Friday Nights, between 4pm- 8pm, at the MOMA. I immediately kicked myself for not bringing my new digital camera (or any camera) with me into the city. I thought that the MOMA might not let visitors bring their SLR cameras  with them throughout the exhibitions and I was reluctant to leave mine at the coat check. As it turns out, the MOMA does allow cameras to be taken throughout the gallery. Visitors just can't take photographs of certain special exhibitions. Good to know for the future. Thankfully, Karen shared her digital camera with me for the day and you can see our photographs and read her post of our day together on her blog.

The first exhibition we saw at the MOMA was of Martin Puryear's sculptures. I hadn't been to a sculpture exhibition in quite a while and I enjoyed walking through large rooms filled with Puryear's sculptures, many which were taller and larger than me.

We then made our way to the Lucian Freud exhibition. Now I have to say that I am not a fan of Lucian Freud's artwork. I tend to be drawn to images that are beautiful and invokes a dream-like mood. Lucian Freud goes in the polar opposite direction with his artwork. The subjects in his drawings, etchings and paintings seem to be harshly lit and every little detail on their faces or bodies, whether a hairy mole, a bump, stubbly facial hair on a woman's cheek, are included in their portraits. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing character and personality in portraits but his work is raw, certainly not pretty. Anyway, that's my personal opinion on Lucian Freud's painting and you may feel otherwise.

After the MOMA, we walked over to Karen's cafe find, Le Bon Soupe, where we had a bowl of soup, bread, red wine and chocolate for lunch - mmm! We met an older couple sitting beside us who were visiting NewYork from Miami. They were evidently still smittened with one another after so many years of marriage - it was really sweet to watch.

After lunch, we headed down to Chelsea to check out a few of the smaller galleries. It's interesting to see what the art trend is in certain areas and there seemed to be many cartoon-y paintings and roughly-assembled collages in Chelsea this time 'round. Karen and I cracked up laughing when we walked into one gallery and discovered a huge black, white and silver abstract painting of Homer Simpson. Then there was another exhibition with a huge painting of, I'm guessing, the artist and his friends lounging in the woods, high on the hundreds of colourful mushrooms sprouting around him. I don't mean to be an art snob but puh-leeze! 

All was not lost, however, because we discovered an incredible exhibition, El Anatsui's Zebra Crossing, at the Jack Shainman Gallery on West 20th St.

Ghanaian artist El Anatsui's large intricately-constructed...I don't actually know what to call them...collages? installations?...are hanging at the gallery this month. The artist has taken hundreds of thousands of bottle caps and pieces of tin cans, mainly beer cans and painstakingly attached them to one another with wire. Each finished piece looks like a huge swath of embroidered and jeweled fabric, something a Tibetan monk or ancient royalty would have worn. According to the gallery, the work references cultural traditions like weaving, Ghanaian kente cloth and adinkra. Light reflects off the metal like gold and silver. It's incredible to think that one person created something so beautiful. Karen told me that during her trip to Italy last year, El Anatsui's work was draped over entire buildings and that she remembers hearing the metal pieces clinking against one another in the breeze. I can only imagine what it must have looked like under a summer's late afternoon sun. It's well worth a visit to the Jack Shainman Gallery to see this exhibition.

So I had great day walking around the city with Karen, checking out artwork and looking at the New York sights. Thanks, Karen!

Photos: (top) MOMA admission ticket and my sketch of Manhattan's skyline; the MOMA's Martin Puryear catalogue cover; a Lucian Freud image from the MOMA's website - www.moma.org ; a close up of El Anatsui's work from the Jack Shainman Gallery's invite.

October 31, 2007

There's something strange in the air tonight. The sounds of barking dogs and ghoulish laughter can be heard, floating across the front lawns and through the cracks in the windowsils of my neighborhood. My neighours have turned off their lights and placed candles in the windows. Pumpkin grins flicker on the doorsteps and cobwebs hang from the shadowy branches of trees. And dare I say, strange creatures have appeared under the moon tonight. This is not normal. Something is happening. Hush! What is that I hear? Faint footsteps approaching up my lane... Hush! There's more than one... Hush! I can hear whispering...and giggling...and...and...now the doorbell! Should I open it? Just a crack? for a peak?

Happy Halloween!

Images: Andrew Wyeth's The Witching Hour and Jack-Be-Nimble from the book, Andrew Wyeth: Memory and Magic by Anne Classen Knutson. Images posted with permission from the Andrew Wyeth Office.

October 30, 2007

Shortly after I moved to the States from Canada, I discovered (for myself) the artwork of the American painter, Andrew Wyeth. With the exception of his painting, Christina's World, which I remember seeing in a book at home when I was a teenager, I really hadn't known of his artwork before the move. It's surprising, really, as he is so well-known in the States (as "the Painter of the People").  His paintings would no doubt have heavily influence my photography in art college, as they are inspiring me now.

Andrew Wyeth's images invoke memories of past seasons and the senses. A branch of raspberries remind me of a particular hike in the woods, a scene of a farmhouse reminds me of visits to the farm of a high school friend. I swear, I can hear the dry, frozen grass crunch underneath the heavy boots and I can feel the cold, winter wind push against the heavy velvet coat.

His paintings often seem to be moments taken from a much bigger story. Who is this man wearing the black velvet coat, walking across the cry, frozen grass? Where is he going? Is he actually standing in one spot, talking to someone? Why is the viewer, that is us, looking down at the ground? What is being said?

Images from Andrew Wyeth: Memory & Magic by Anne Classen Knutson, 2005; images posted with permission from the Andrew Wyeth Office.

Alphonse Mucha

I spent a couple hours in the library this afternoon, pouring over artbooks, looking for ideas for my screenprinting class. My head is swimming with the images of Art Nouveau heroines and Arts and Crafts plant life. I came across the artwork of Alphonse Mucha today. According to the front flap of the book I signed out, Mucha was "one of the most important decorative artists working in Paris at the turn of the (20th) century" and "his distinctive and original posters and his decorative panels in Le style Mucha became almost synonymous with French Art Nouveau." What caught my eye were these images...

Study for The Moon, 1902; Study for The North Star, 1902

Study for Music, 1898; Study for Dance, 1898

And how can I resist posting this photograph taken by Mucha of the artist (and Mucha's studio mate) Paul Gauguin...

Maurice Denis

Recently, I signed up for a silkscreening course at a local community college with blogger, Michelle. Michelle and I met through Artful Blogging Magazine this past August and we both thought it would be fun to try our hands at this new medium together. It isn't a credit course, just one of those adult interest courses that local colleges sometimes offer their community. Anyway, last Tuesday was our first class. Now I'm not sure if I really had a preconceived notion of what the space would look like, but if I had, it certainly didn't include a huge room full of mac computers and big steel machines. Not what I had expected - it's even better.

It turns out that I don't have to cut out stencils for our screenprinting class (something I admit that I was dreading). Instead, a fancy photocopier-looking machine will translate my image into different silkscreen images for me (alright!). So this week is all about ordering silkscreens and coming up with ideas.

 

So what does this have to do with the artist, Maurice Denis? Well, nothing really except that I came across his artwork through my research and I was inspired by the graphic lines and compositions of his paintings. Look at the way he portrays the forest floor in this painting...

 

September 21, 2007

   

J and I went mountainbiking yesterday in the early evening, when the colours of the forest were at their most vibrant and the branches and vines became black ink lines against shadows of purple and blue. J came across a deer in the middle of the trail and later, on our return ride, I saw a black silouette of a rabbit disappearing into a thick bush and a stag bounding through the woods, his white tail bright against the darkness.

Finders of Extraordinary Things

Well, I am back in my apartment (no, not in this building. I wish! This is a street near the Fulton Fish Market in NYC. Just thought I'd throw in a photo this morning.), hoping to get some work done on my encaustic painting. I've been visiting my recent posts and there haven't been many that have to do with making art. Instead,  most of the posts are about meeting up with family and friends for a coffee and a chat. Not that I'm complaining. It's always great to meet up with family and friends. But I've been yearning to get back to creating again. So I've decided to talk less of myself for the rest of the week while I work and talk more about other artists and bloggers that I've found on the net recently.

First up:

Kirstin Beeler's Beauty and Other Monsters jewelry at the Velvet da Vinci Gallery. I especially like how Beeler has found beauty in the smallest objects - a fly, a thread, a scrap of writing. I found out about her work through blogger and finder-of-extraordinary things, Kariann of Daily Poetics. Check out Kariann's recent post on the sketchbook pages created by Anthropologie staff members.

Beeler's work reminds me of Bettina Speckner's jewelry. I just love Bettina Speckner's jewelry. Poetry and romance can be found in each of her pieces. The way she's taken a black & white image and transformed it into a brooche that tells a story takes my breath away. So beautiful. I discovered Bettina's Speckner's jewelry through another finder-of-extraordinary things, Ulla of  Ullabenulla.

Speaking of Ulla, take a look at her jewelry. Aren't they beautiful?!  She also teaches art classes and often shows the finished projects of her talented students on her blog. If I ever make it to her area of the world, I'll definitely sign up for one her classes.

Art Opportunities for Artists & Creative Folk

Two art opportunities for artists and creative folk landed in my inbox this past week and I thought that perhaps some of you might be interested in participating.

The first art opportunity is Book Divas - the first annual Words to Art Contest, sponsored by Bust Magazine. This is the idea behind the contest:

Once in a while we are truly moved by a piece of literature. You know, that heartfelt, change-the-world feeling... Now's your chance to show the world how your favourite book, scene, or character has inspired you.

The deadline for the Words to Art contest is June 22, 2007.

The second art opportunity is the Bookmark Project 2007, held at the Bathurst Jewish Community Center, and organized by the Koffler Gallery in Toronto, Ontario. This is an annual event that draws about  10, 000 visitors each year. The deadline for the Bookmark Project is October 1, 2007.

Photo: a collage from one of my sketchbooks.

Drum roll, please...

Before we head into the long weekend, I want to introduce you all to two friends of mine.

First up is my new friend, Constance. I've written about her before and shown you the gorgeous handbag she designed and then gave to me (yep, I'm lucky!). She's an absolutely lovely person and so creative. We spent today together, photo-playing and climbing trees in a local park. I'll drop the film off at the lab tonight and show you the results next week. Well, I'm happy to report that Constance finally has her very own blog - Rochambeau!

The second friend I want to introduce you to is my good friend, Laurie. She's been a muse to many people, including me. I swear that there are so many photographs and film stills out there starring Laurie that one day she's bound to have a biography written about her! Hmmm...come to think of it, I'd better start writing some of her crazy adventures down on paper... Well, not only did a film starring a wee little heroine with an uncanny resemblance to Laurie premiere in Cannes last week, but just yesterday Laurie premiered her very own website!

Three cheers to both Constance and Laurie! Hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray, hip hip HOORAY!

Photo: Me and Constance in the park