OKC Museum of Art - Paris 1900 Exhibit

Here is a drawing (below) as a study I did after a beautiful litho poster (at left) by one of the great artists of this time. To appreciate these giant posters and the artists who created them, one needs, really, to have done some lithography. 

An image is drawn upon giant five inch thick stone slabs ... yes stone slabs ... that have been polished silky smooth. (These are very special stones quarried and sawn into flat slabs upon which images are printing.)  The surface is "opened" with acid and the artist then draws the image on with either wax litho pencils or painted with a thick masking litho ink to make a resist; then the stone is closed causing the background to resist ink and remain "white" or "closed" during printing ... meaning that it repels ink and keeps the area from taking ink. The drawn area is inked with and the edition is pulled.  Paper is dried and re-moistened and the next color pass is made. Therefore every color requires a different stone slab very similar to modern 4-color separations. (My prints were only done in black ink so I can just imagine.)

The stone and paper are run thru a printing press for each color. To make an edition is no small task for all of the color must register perfectly in every color pass and be printed evenly throughout the run.   It's a big difficult chore.  

This Paris 1900 Exhibit is, unfortunately over but you can find current exhibits at this link:
http://www.okcmoa.com/exhibitions/currentexhibitions

I enjoyed the exhibit. Having done lithographs, I appreciated what went into those monumental posters. I love art nouveau and the decorative work from that period.

Here are more drawing from my sketch book (I always do this because it helps my recall) of the other art work on exhibit that I .  

Mother

This is my beloved mother...a sketch done without her knowing while she was watching TV at my home. I didn't capture her essence for she is truly a matriarch and a lady in every way and I don't think this sketch does her justice and I will try again another time.

Edith is the kind of loving mother all children desperately need and want. She is full of love and affection and dubbed the "hugger" at church. She is modest, has no tattoos, or body piercing except for her earrings, is disciplined, and yet she is the most "with it," knowledgeable ... the most beautiful woman inside and out ... without a trace of vanity .... that I have ever known. Yet she is a very feisty woman, not perfect but pretty close. There is a spiritual depth and steadiness in her that draws people by the droves to her for advice even at the age of 88.

Is this a fading image of motherhood and feminine beauty?

I wonder what tomorrow's mother will be like? Somehow modesty and virtue is so out of vogue to the majority of young women (if the images on television are a correct reflection, and if what I see by personal experience in my own little world is any measure) how on earth will our children grow to have any character or spirituality. Mothers are not suppose to be your drinkin' buddies.

It seems to me, the American television-Hollywierd image of woman has become so sexualized, immoral, self-absorbed, self-sufficient and very anti-male ... can one not wonder what the next crop of kids will be like?

Isn't this the growing image of today's modern tattooed mother? Look at the image below. Call me a tattooaphobic, I don't care.

Could the ugly tattoo become an accurate and fitting reflection of today's society in history?

I have been in the image business throughout my career. Images are powerful. Businesses spend millions of dollars to create a positive image because they know that the wrong image will drive customers away.

People amuse me LOL. Strong and nasty comments cannot be made funny and positive by merely putting "LOL" after the period; neither will a cute-see image tattooed on an ankle be acceptable because it's cute, or religious neither is it a badge of masculinity. All tattoos scream "in your face rebellion" at me, and it will take a lot to change that negative impression.

For example, this must be a "proud mamma." It's "kitsch" not art and it's taste-less...right there with dime store paintings on black velvet.

Now there are several in my family who have opted to have tattoos...they may not like my honesty. I was hesitant about writing about this for that reason. I love my family dearly and I am thankful that I know all them, I love them unconditionally; however, I am profoundly sad that they made that choice for I fear that it's going to take my generation or more, to die off before it is an acceptable practice in polite upwardly mobile society. I guess that is what makes me so frustrated ... it is because I know how wonderful they are that I hate what that permanent mark might do negatively against them in society especially when they try to get better jobs, etc.

Appearances create image and images speak powerful non-verbal messages. The argument for tattoos and against marriage; it's just ink and it's just paper on a contract. Not good arguments. The Beatle's long shaggy hair...it's just hair they protested...they were right... wasn't permanent and that fad has disappeared along with disco and bell bottoms and I don't think male ponytails are much accepted yet.





Could it be that one girl never had a real mother.

Double Your Pleasure Double Your Bubble...

This post is inspired by a discussion on Ceninni Forum about favorite bubble gums like Bazooka and Double Bubble Gum...remember those?

As a gum chewing connoisseur...my personal bubble gum favorite is a combination of Wrigley's "green package" Double Mint Gum and Trident Pink Bubblegum.

The green makes the Trident gum more pliable and the bubblegum makes the green more elastic to make a bubble.






Combine these two and you have a perfect bubble gum that won't loose it's flavor on the bedpost over night and won't turn to lead in your mouth...a trait that Bazooka and Double Bubble produce making one's jaw very sore and impossible to produce a bubble of any real size after the sweet taste is gone.

Now this is a real big secret so please do not pass this on.

Decompressing - Art Boot Camp

SEE SLIDE SHOW
http://s260.photobucket.com/albums/ii3/padurrett/Art%20Boot%20Camp/?action=view¤t=9379f891.pbr













Haverhill, MA - Boot Camp and the Peddler's Daughter Pub...what an experience. Rob Howard and Kurt conducted the camp and concocted still-life setups that would challenge and provide the images to teach a very focused curriculum.

Decompressing, that is what I am doing for the rest of the week. Life presses in as I attended a funeral, planned my daughter's birthday dinner party, dealt with car trouble, and attended a family party for my nephew and his wife who are departing for Washington state to live. All of these activities keeping me from my studio. (A little frustration.)

I came home from Art Boot Camp completely exhausted from four days of painting as fast as I ever have and all these above activities. For all the money I spent on camp no masterpieces were created but I learned so much my brain is hurting: why toning a canvas makes it so much easier to block in the values; how to create strings of values; received an overview of the Munsell Color System - simplified; explored the value and range of a limited palette; an analysis of the composition of light and shadow - clarifying the difference between a "bump" and a prenumbra; and driving home the key to realistic painting -- edges and values.

Grisailles, Glazes and Dappled Light...oh my.

The comradeship of serious artists and the quaintness of a former shoe manufacturing New England town built along side the blackish Merrimac River and the delicious food found in the abundant pubs make the experience truly memorable. (Haverhillians do not sweeten their quite strong tea....oh what they are missing to punch up that very strong tea with a bit of sweet!)

A few random pictures from camp:






















The apple was done in graiselle and then glazed.














This was a monchromatic studies to understand
the range of chroma/value according to the
Munsell Color System.





















These studies were done on one canvas.



























The great thing about camp is that the artists who come here are not only very talented but serious about developing their ability to the maximum. The networking and friendships that are developing as a result of this association is very rewarding in itself.