THFA Artist Kathryn Van Steenhuyse Exhibit in NYC

Trish — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:54:01 +0000

The exhibition is Full Fathom Five, from November 3, 2011
December 23, 2011 at Jenkins Johnson Gallery, 521 W 26th Street, 5th
Floor, New York, NY 10001. An opening reception will be held Thursday,
November 3 from 6 8 pm.

The exhibition examines a non-digital reaction to new visualizations of
societal shifts. The exhibition title references Shakespeare¹s Ariel¹s
song from The Tempest, and is also the title of a 1947 Jackson Pollock
painting, a 1958 Sylvia Plath poem, and used in Laurie Anderson¹s ³Blue
Lagoon.²

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that does fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding-dong,
Hark! Now I hear them Ding-dong, bell.

Additional invited artists include Vija Celmins, Mairin Hartt, Takashi
Iwasaki, Erin Kaczkowski, Tim Knowles, Lucinda Linderman, Sarah Mizer,
Dawn Ng, James Norton, John Powers, Carol Prusa, and Barbara Weissberger

August THFA Artist Spotlight: Bruce Van Osdel

Trish — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 02:03:41 +0000

Trish Higgins Fine Art: Tell me about your latest project.

Bruce Van Osdel: I have been developing (over the last year) a series of pieces that deal with the empowerment of the viewer with the interactive involvement in the manipulation of a variety of media in terms of a mixed sculptural format.

THFA: Give me three adjectives that sum up your current work or studio experiences.

BVO: Investigative, Contemplative, Interpretive.

THFA: How does this relate to your earlier work?

BVO: I have always (and I think all artists do) used these actions and more in the formative aspect of creating my work.

THFA: What artists are currently influencing your work?

BVO: Trenton Doyle Hancock, Joseph Beuys, Hans Haacke.

THFA: What other (visual, conceptual, technical) influences inform your artistic practice?

BVO: Nature and historical influences, both cultural and artistic along with current world events. I often discuss a variety of technical, conceptual and visual aspects in art with my wife and daughter.

THFA: If you were not maintaining your artistic practice, what would you be doing instead?

BVO: Mowing the lawn!

THFA: Anything else you want to add?

BVO: For me, creativity is found in many forms and many ways. It is the development of ideas interpreted through whatever means that is the excitement of making and interpreting art. I was fortunate to find this out in kindergarten with my first finger painting and have been creating ever since.

“The Language of Drawing”-Thoughts on Drawing from Participating Artists

Trish — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 23:42:37 +0000

THFA Artist Jodi Lightner writes:

“Though the practice of drawing may frequently involve imagery of objects and ideas, whether representational or abstract, I see it also as a form of communication through its specific qualities of line. This is why I use drawing. It is like a language, using only the element of line, that communicates simply by being used in a particular manner. It has as many variations as it does users of the language of drawing with each individual hand speaking of their own interpretation.

The aptitude of drawing to be similar to language and writing in being direct and straightforward or obtuse and abstract is the reason that I find myself using it as a foundational element in my work. Its variations are numerous and dependant on my interpretations of the elements

and environments that I am utilizing.”



THFA Artist Kevin Kelly writes:

What is the language of drawing? Well, the language surrounding drawing can be a little shady, so to speak. At best, drawing can aspire to be a “study”, but even this studiousness implies that the real test will come later.   “Doodling” is easily equated with laziness, or down-right brainlessness. A “cartoon” used to be a plan for great things to come, but now it is a goofy, sugar coated distraction. And, if a painting is praised for its paint handling, we call it “painterly.” Well, the adjective “sketchy” means something entirely different than high quality.   However, these less than stellar connotations also imbue drawing with a shady sort of power. Its shallow profile allows the artist to slide it through cracks in the system, like Keith Harring’s street doodles slipping from the subway system and into the gallery and museum system. Drawing is also more believable because drawing is more akin to raw truth than buttery myth (think Leonardo’s matter-of-fact studies of exhumed bodies versus the formality and fuzziness of his Mona Lisa). Drawing avoids archival staleness, feeling perfectly at home on a paper napkin, on the edges of The Yellow Pages, on the fogged window of a minivan, in the crackling blur of a fourth-of-July sparkler. The language of drawing is stripped down, as in the sparse elements of a good sketch. And, this restricted vocabulary brings the viewer closer to the artist, as it gives the artist a thinner veil to hide to behind.

Emily Brookover writes:

“Trying to define what drawing is, let alone what it means, feels impossible. For me, drawing is the most fundamental form of art making. You can’t get more pure, more intrinsic, than pencil and paper. To make up for my lack of vernacular, I will quote from one of my most favored books, The Undressed Art, Why We Draw by Peter Steinhart.”

“Drawing is a way of communicating with the world, of listening to what the world has to say and answering back… Drawing, then, is a way of fostering interest in the world. It is a way of making connections with the things that surround us and with the forces that shape and animate and move them. It’s a way of taking in the world’s strangeness and power and finding comfort in it… Drawing is a way to know things, and the more one knows about the world around one, the more one feels at home in it.”

Amber Stene writes:

“More than any other art form, drawing allows us to see the artist’s process. And I like that. I can become so involved in tracing a mark, going nuts over a texture, or indulging in a “happy accident” that the intent of the drawing becomes moot. But then I step back and discover how the drawing with all its intrinsic nuances comes together and creates an illusion and expresses content that deepens the experience.

This utter absorption into process, pattern, and purpose, becomes even more rewarding when the viewer is invited to complete the form. That is to say, drawings that involve the viewer to mentally complete the form offer even more viewer involvement in the work. And when both parties (artist and viewer) get involved, there is heightened success.

In my figurative work, I use controlled cross-contour lines that follow the object’s form to describe volume. However, I want my work to offer more than tight realism. To loosen it up, I introduce areas of relief using spilled inks to create blossoms and runbacks (wet-in-wet techniques), which give the work a new rawness to further manipulate.”

















“



Ron Christ offers:

Excerpt from the article Drawing is the New Painting by Karen KurczynskiArt Journal, Vol. 70, No. 1, Spring 2011, College Art Association, New York

Drawing is the new Painting. Drawing reveals processes that painting hides. Drawing in paint enlivens painting. Drawing is marginal. Drawing is handmade and expressive without being outmoded or too commercial. Drawing defies mass mediation and the digital. Drawing is free from convention and therefore it is the ultimate expression of freedom. Drawing is unpretentious and partial. It is a fragment of a new world, or it is a partial memory of the past. It captures a moment in time. Drawing never died. But drawing is threatened: there is no more life drawing; design is now all done on computers.

Drawing can be done in any medium. Drawing is cheap and always available. It is uniquely suited to expressing the ephemerality of all life, today. Anyone can do it, and everyone does it. Drawing is the first art we all produce as children, and therefore it is universal, raw, spontaneous, and innocent. Drawing is an international language. Drawing is the oldest art form, even before writing. The animals at Lascaux are actually drawings, not paintings, and they preceded any other art form by millennia. Drawing is the foundation of all art and design since the Renaissance. Chinese ink painting and Islamic manuscript illumination are actually drawing. Photography is the “pencil of nature.”

Drawing is closest to the original kernel of an idea. Drawing is private. Drawing is the trace of a unique human subjectivity. Drawing returns us to narrative but without objectivity. Drawing always connects to writing. It links directly to literature. It is always a fiction. Drawing is irrational and rational, done on both sides of the brain. Drawing uses the newest digital technologies. It creates a virtual reality. Drawing is the foundation of all art departments, so important that it does not even need a concentration of its own. Drawing is very valuable, and must be shown only rarely, protected by glass. The more minimal, delicate, and ephemeral, the more poetic and evocative it is. The more obsessive, the more expressive it is. The more monumental, the more paradoxical and contemporary it is.

Ginger Tarrer writes:

“Essentially drawing is what I do in any media. Whether I use pencil, charcoal, paint or just stuff, I try to describe what I see and want to see as tangibly as I can – to see by touching, like someone who is blind as well as to touch from afar as might any lusty voyeur. For me this sensibility has grown from the tradition of drawing nude figures. And lately, after more than forty years of making art, the skin that I want to reveal is most likely to be the subtleties of the actual surface I’m drawing upon.

“Figure/ground”, “positive and negative shape”, “line in space” – all formal terms we use to talk about drawing. But they’re much too analytical for what I’m getting at. Kimon Nicolaides comes closer with “gesture” and “contour”. With him, I think drawing is a reaching out with empathy to what we see in the world. And, I would add, drawing is also doodling, a teasing out of ordinary, blank, murky or otherwise uninspiring ground that which really should be seen.”

Peter Johnson writes:

“You can say drawing is making marks in search of form.
Making marks randomly is not drawing. Searching for form is not necessarily
searching for naturalistic form. The form searched for and found by drawing is
an illusion when found. The flat drawing surface is still flat. “Searching” for
aesthetically authentic form with drawing tools (charcoal, ink, etc.) and
leaving the marks (visual evidence of the search) of those tools on a flat
surface results in the satisfying illusion of form.

I first drew as a child on a large slate blackboard attached
to the wall at floor level. This was a formative influence on my life in art.
Working on a very large surface instilled the freedom and discipline of
manipulating the large with the small. This was reinforced by my experienced
open space outside my door. The black and white linear compositions that I
created (fantasy landscapes, battle scenes of epic panoramic scale, maps) were enough,
without color.

Contour drawing was the other key step in my drawing education.”

THFA Artist Judith B. McCrea writes:

“While I use the experience of drawing from the live model as a “tune-up” for large-scale oil paintings, it is also a reminder that the very idea of human depicting human is dramatic and implies a tangle of gender and representational issues. Recently, that process has included the development of poses emphasizing our role within the natural world. For example, Crouched Woman I and Crouched Woman II, use body language common to monkeys creating inferences that hark back to a primal existence or an apocalyptic world.

Contemporary drawing is fantastically varied in terms of intention and media. These drawings are made quickly and valued for their immediacy. They contribute to the combinations of real and abstract form that I use in paintings, but they also stand alone as testimony to the meaning that can be embodied by a single pose. When painting, I use a combination of perceived and invented form, so the constant presence of a model can become a distraction. At that point, drawings from life are valuable as a reference.

I am amused that early training in life drawing (I refer to academic experience gained during the male dominated 60’s) has steadily evolved into drawings and paintings that recast the female as sole survivor, alter-icon, and protagonist. Since I am interested in an anthropological sense of human life, figures are rendered as timeless without costume. Models who are flexible and have a strong visible skeletal structure are sought. There is an exciting partnership that happens when drawing directly from a great model. For me, reality provides an endless variety of unique discoveries: the tactile quality of actual flesh, unexpected shapes, and, most importantly, a heightened sense of life.”

THFA Artist Robert Bubp writes:

“I have always been a bit of a dreamer, intrigued by the contrast between the plan and the real. These drawings refer to, but are not, architectural renderings; their colors and settings relate to specific places or, rather, how these specific places might exist in our imaginations. I think of these drawings as pretend proposals for urban developments that may (or may not) be improvements.

As for drawing itself, it is nothing short of visually thinking out loud (“out loud” because if its immediacy and blatantly naked process). It has existed in one form or another since the first of humanity, in caves in France, on blueprints, in the instructions for the TV stand you’re about to put together, on the video game you’re playing, as the doodles you drew in the margins of your art history notes. In this way, drawing is egalitarian: it’s a way of seeing and thinking for everyone, artists and non-artists alike, whether we’re all aware of it that way or not.

As for me, I am one of those artists who cannot recall a time of not drawing. As my artistic life has changed and I’ve broadened my artistic practice into many different methods and media, I have never stopped drawing—it is one thing that never took time off from what I was doing. Quite honestly, I relate it so much to being alive and engaged that I think not being able to do it would be a lot like not being able to see anymore. So, because I like seeing, imagining, and being engaged in the world around me…I draw.”

Robert Josiah Bingaman writes:

“A mentor once advised that I make drawings as an exercise, and he instructed me to try my best to “remove the hand” from the visible results. Ever since, I have viewed my drawings as small, personal battles, where an idea is clarified and simplified. Drawings sometimes have identities as experiences that paintings don’t. I see them and remember the effort; the limitations of material and physical stamina.”

THFA Artist John Freeman writes:
“My drawings are not a study or prelude for a subsequent work that may or may not follow. They are fully realized works of art on paper.”

THFA Artist Rebecca Hoyer writes:

“Drawing as a tool to think and rethink a problem.
Start with one line and add others until the structure and balance are right.
Movement and verisimilitude – try and get both.”

THFA Artist Cody McLouth writes:

Drawing as a Process

“As a painter I find a direct correlation between drawing and painting, and I often see little distinction between the two. I use drawing in every stage of my work, ranging from preparatory sketches to finished paintings. Drawing to me is the most direct form of visual representation. When the hand is used to communicate what the mind is thinking drawing becomes a translation of idea into form—a visual record of thought and expression. As memory becomes a more and more significant part of my work, the development of form through this translation of ideas leaves a more evident account of events in my drawing process. I use these accounts to better inform my paintings. Drawing is most important to me because of this process.

The drawings in this exhibition represent the first stage of development in my latest landscape work.”

THFA Artist Scott Brown writes:

“I am interested in how a drawing is built. My work is rarely a raw confrontation with a blank page. Images are aquired, processed and manipulated through a series of technological mediators culminating in the physical act of executing the drawing in its final form. I use scanners, software, projectors, cameras and a variety of print making techniques to arrive at an infinite array of compositional possibilities from which to choose. The primary focus is the creation of the drawing. I choose charcoal for its primal nature. It seems to be at the opposite end of thetechnological spectrum, far from the elaborate technologies that informed the development of the image. The drawing never deviates far from the notion that it is a document, a record of the drawing activity. Erasures are left on the surface along with other hints or clues contained within the image that serve as indicators revealing some of my drawing process”

THFA Artist Bruce Van Osdel writes:

“Throughout history artists have made their mark. Be it drawing, painting, sculpture, ceramics, etc. there has been a continuity of creative force that transcends all aspects of human existence. Reflecting aspects of society and their own lives the work is the residual of intellectual thought and the physical interpretation of ones own creative endeavor. We have all left traces of ourselves through the many forms and endeavors we pursue. One of the most basic of traces we leave is ones fingerprint. That which identifiess and is a singular representation of ourselves both physically and metaphorically.”

The trace of a single fingerprint left on the surface of a Greek pot thousands

of years old can transcend time when it is used to identify the artist. The fingerprint, used to authenticate who we are, correlates to our own historical linage that complete the connection from past to present to future, just as a line can be drawn from point A to point B.

THFA Artist James Kandt writes:

THFA Artist Shannon Johnston-New Work from Perth, Western Australia

Trish — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:23:15 +0000

THFA artist Shannon Johnston has images of new work being created while in residency in Perth, Western Australia.

Working Statement, Sept. 2011

In March of this year I moved to Perth, Western Australia. Having come from the land of the Boston Tea Party, I was surprised to be invited to tea by a friend. This simple gesture was a turnkey moment. I learned to meet my new community over cups of tea. It became how I not only got to know people but also became familiar with my new neighborhood. As I collected new experiences, people and customs I collected the remnants of these moments often it was teabags. This work is a documentation of my journey into a community.

Collector’s Corner- July 2011

Trish — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 02:13:49 +0000

“Living with Our Art” - caring for, maintaining and preserving original art

Now that you’ve acquired a piece of artwork, the journey is not yet complete. The location and method of hanging must be taken into consideration, as should the framing. Investing in the framing materials is important and best put into the hands of a professional framer who can guide you through the process of choosing a quality material and style for your piece.

THFA extends a special thank you to Pam Van Landingham of The Frame Guild. Pam specializes in frame restoration and conservation and has shared some important guidelines for maintaining artwork.

Pam gives the following suggestions on choosing a frame and matting solutions suitable to your personal tastes and aesthetic needs of the work:

don’t see the frame before the artwork
use only cotton or rag mats and backboards, as they are archival
UV filtering glass is recommended in all situations
keep framing minimal in order to focus on the artwork itself
a single, white or ivory mat (colored mats not recommended) will best suite most pieces

Pam cautions hanging original artwork in the following locations:

above a working fireplace
on an outside wall in your home or business
in direct sunlight
with a picture light attached to the frame

In the event that your artwork is damaged by food, flood waters, scratches or other unforseen forces, turning to an art conservator to restore your purchase is important. Conservators are trained to professionally and archivally, repair damages.

July THFA Artist Spotlight: Judith Burns McCrea

Trish — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:24:26 +0000

Trish Higgins Fine Art: Tell me about your latest project.

Judith Burns McCrea: I recently completed a large painting of a floating horse titled “Blue Roan”. Blue Roan is a painting that combines physical and spiritual realities. I have a friend who told me his grandfather saw a woman he admired working in a ditch along

the border, so he just roped her and took her home to marry. The translation of that story into this new painting is part of an ongoing personal mythology that casts “esquelitos”, dancers, cowboys, soothsayers, prostitutes, and monkeys enmeshed in the drama of their natural environment.

Far back, far back in our dark soul the horse prances….

– DH Lawrence

The imagery in Blue Roan combines my lifelong admiration of horses with vague references from travel to Mexico and South America that suggest both sex and death in my work. I am interested in an anthropological view of life and a sense of the “animus”, an energy coursing through people and events.

I live now in a fairly remote place where dense forest serves as a surrogate jungle in the summer and where nature continues to surprise and influence my thinking.

THFA: Give me three adjectives that sum up your current work or studio experiences

JBM: DARK; SHIFTING; EARTHY

THFA: How does this relate to your earlier work?

JBM: Well, this painting is figurative but this is the first painting of a horse since I was a teenager.

THFA: What artists are currently influencing your work?

JBM: Almost everyone in art history, but recently a painter known as Atticus, from Canada, who showed in Berlin and at Phyllis Kind Gallery in N.Y.C

THFA: What other (visual, conceptual, technical) influences inform your artistic practice?

JBM: My own nature and a desire to be transported by process, to leave conscious awareness of time and place are constant factors.

THFA: If you were not maintaining your artistic practice, what would you be doing instead?

JBM:I could have been an author or an actress, I think.

Recent Sales- June

Trish — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:31:04 +0000

Scott Brown

Jana Durfee

Peter Johnson

John Freeman

Recent Sales- May 2011

Trish — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:18:58 +0000

Judy McCrea

Phillip Baumer

Recent Sales- April 2011

Trish — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:12:24 +0000

Matthew Hilyard James Kandt

Kevin Kelly

Collector’s Corner- June 2011

Trish — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:23:34 +0000

So, now you’re seeing and interacting with art around you. Maybe you’re seeing the art world through new eyes; with understanding and appreciation for what appeals to you.

This month we are going to step back and define some art “buzz words” that may be popping up around you. Having an understanding for common words and phrases used in the gallery/museum setting and the art world in general, will build your confidence in talking to others about building your personal fine art collection. Let’s see some of the ways art is “packaged”….

Conceptual Art- A broad term that refers to art that is based more in ideas than traditional art objects. Many contemporary artists have expanded the vocabulary of art-making and art-viewing by investigating concepts that go beyond traditional painting, sculpture and photography.

New Media Art- Art that veers from traditional techniques by using the addition of technology. Video art, sound recordings and even internet based art all fall into this category. Owning a new media piece can translate to buying an edition of a DVD or an audio CD. Internet projects are still questionable as to their “collectibility.”

Tony Oursler, June Pak, and local THFA artist Kristin Beal-DeGrandmont are a few examples of new media artists.

Installation Art- Art that is typically temporary by nature. It has been brought off the wall or pedestal to activate a whole environment. Artists often use installation when they want the viewer’s body or the environment to play a more interactive role with the art. Installation art may or may not have components that can be collected. Collectable items may include preliminary sketches, video or photo documentation, sculptural or painterly elements.

Sarah Sze, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and local THFA artist Robert Bubp are good examples of installation artists.

Performance Art- Art that is manifested as an event or action. Like installation art, performance art may or may not contain components that can be collected.

THFA artist Shannon Johnston is an example of a Wichita based performance artist. A pioneer in this field would be Jim Dine and a more current example would be Janine Antoni.

Process-Oriented Art- All artists use processes (think lowercase p) but Process-(think capital P) oriented artists often write rules for how an art object or event is made, therefore focusing most of the attention on how their art was made instead of the final product.

An example would be the artist Andy Goldsworthy making a rule that all of the supplies for his sculptural works must come from the natural environment (except for the camera he uses to document his work). Again, Process-oriented artists may or may not produce collectible pieces.

Mixed Media- Can be applied to any art object that uses multiple processes (think lowercase p!) in the same object. An artist might list a piece as mixed media when it becomes too cumbersome to detail all the materials that went into making a piece. Artist’s may turn to mixed media to make a break from traditional approaches in art making.

Local THFA artist Kevin Kelly is an example of an artist who primarily uses the mixed media approach. Jessica Stockholder and Trenton Doyle Hancock would be a noteworthy examples also.

Multiple (as a noun) – Refers to an object that is not unique. Sculpture, ceramic work and prints can all be made in editions.

Trish Higgins Fine Art is pleased to assist you through each aspect of purchasing and maintaining your original fine art purchase.