Evening's Light Not Yet Gone
Yesterday I was watching a documentary on Georgia O'Keeffe. I enjoy renting artists' biographies from NetFlix, both artists I have never heard of before or don't know much about, and artists whose work I am very familiar with, as there is always something new to learn. For instance, I knew O'Keeffe's eyesight was failing, but I didn't realize she had no central vision, only peripheral vision, caused by macular degeneration, for almost the last twenty years of her life, but she managed to continue working. (She died in 1986 at the age of 98.)
The reason I thought of Georgia O'Keeffe is because I learned from this video that one of her teachers did not believe in the method of copying the old masters to learn how to paint. (I'm sure some art historian out there can tell this story better than I can...) To paraphrase really badly, he told her that to create artwork that anybody could paint, is not art... that REAL art comes from your own vision... from within. I couldn't agree more.
One standard for judging art that I hear over and over again is "Wow, what a great painting, it looks just like a photograph!" In my opinion this is not a compliment. If that's the case, why not hang the darn photograph on the wall and done with it! In 1609 painting a scene as if it was real life was a worthy ambition. But in 2009 we have things called cameras for that! I love landscapes but I really don't care about an artist's technical ability to draw or paint a plant or a mountain (unless it's done to illustrate a technical publication, then please, make it look as realistic as possible.)
When I look at a landscape painting (or any kind of artwork) I am looking for the artist's own interpretation. Georgia O'Keeffe was certainly a master at that.
Lately I've been following Katherine Keane's journey through landscape painting. To call her works landscapes is probably a misnomer. "Mystical-scapes" would be a better description. Of that ouevre, I believe her latest painting, "Evening's Light Not Yet Gone," is her best. Although I have liked all her paintings in this series, some in the past have been somewhat dark and mysterious. (Or perhaps I was going through a dark, mysterious patch in my own life, trying to figure out some things about myself, and that's how I interpreted them.... but to me, that's what art is all about, the artist's take on life and then the viewer's take on what the artist is conveying... oh, it gets complicated!). One of the reasons I like Katherine's paintings is that they always tell a story... for me, they bring to mind some of Ray Bradbury's tales like "The October Country."
Anyway, the bottom line is I really love this new painting. I had the opportunity to admire it at the TAG show last night (which runs through January 31). This is no "photographic" painting. Katherine's emotion and personal style come through loud and clear. In the painting, I see the storm clouds clearing away. What was a cold, rainy, turbulent day has become a calm, peaceful setting with the sun breaking through just in time to shed some light and warmth on the scene before it disappears into the dark night. I have no idea what the artist intended, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
As an ending note, I must mention that I always enjoy the shows at TAG (see links above for more info). There were several other pieces that caught my attention and I woke up this morning thinking about them. But you will have to attend the show yourself and figure out which ones those are (they might surprise you, but you will never know for sure.............!).

A Familiar Place
I was browsing around some of my friends' blogs to see what was new and interesting. I was struck by Katherine Kean's painting of Monterey Cypress Trees at Point Lobos. I feel like I've walked down this same path in dreams or meditations many times. In my interpretation, the end of the road overlooks a green valley with a village nestled in the hillsides. This village is very colorful and full of creativity, music and laughter. (I'm probably channeling "Brigadoon," one of my favorite movies.) I feel comfortable in this village. I settle in there as an artist, living in a small cottage with birds and butterflies enjoying the flowers in my garden. Of course, I live happily ever after, surrounded by friends who are also artists, musicians, poets, philosophers... I'm saving Katherine's painting to my file of favorites so I can look at it from time to time. It's my metaphor for the New Year: walking through unknown territory to find a very familiar place.
http://katherinekean.blogspot.com/2007/12/new-work.html

TAG (The Artists' Gallery) in Santa Monica

Saturday evening we attended the opening reception at TAG (2903 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404) for a friend, Katherine Kean. Also exhibiting were Anne M. Bray and Carol Kleinman.

I always enjoy Katherine's work which she describes as "memories, dreams and visions." Her paintings have an other-worldly quality which take me on journeys of the imagination... disquieting, yet peaceful and safe, all at the same time. The photo here shows Katherine in the center surrounded by her paintings.

The inset painting of the field of sunflowers (which I couldn't quite squeeze into the photo) is my favorite from this exhibit. I have always loved sunflowers. My mother is from Argentina and made sure we always had sunflowers growing in our garden in England. Of course, Van Gogh's sunflowers have a special appeal for me. Katherine, as always, has her own spin on this subject, not the bright, sunny scene we might expect, but one of mystery. I was especially taken by the one sunflower that refuses to conform and turns its back to the viewer, either out of mischieviousness, or perhaps saying to the other sunflowers, hey guys, let's make a run for it! Or perhaps just wanting to drink in the view for itself.

One of the other artists, Anne M. Bray, showed some landscapes in pastel. I was particularly interested in the sunset over the Nevada desert. Rough, dark storm clouds contrast with the smooth sweep of the foreground hills depicted in rich browns. A line of blue/grey mountains divides the foreground hills from the sky which occupies three quarters of the landscape.

Unfortunately, the TAG website, which is supposed to be at www.tagtheartistsgallery.com, is not currently in operation. But give it a try anyway, maybe it will be back one of these days.

(All photos on this blog copyright roslyn m wilkins and not to be used without permission.)