Monday, June 7, 2010

Bits of Art and a Demo by Katherine Chang Liu

"Art Objects"
12" x 15" pastel

Today I went to my drawing class, the first time in a month. We had two new people join the group, so Bob was pretty busy getting them started. This pastel was done flying solo and mostly at home away from the still life. The only thing Bob did was sit in my seat and confirm that my drawing was good to go. I first used charcoal to shade values and then began with the dark cup holding the painting utensils. At that point I had to leave a bit early, so later at home I decided to finish this from memory. In case you are wondering, the three small canisters are containers of paint. The Grecian lady is one of Bob's small treasures and I have a drawing I did in one of the early classes about 3 years ago. This is the first time she's come to pose again. She is a patient model.

Yesterday I attended a wonderful presentation by Katherine Chang Liu who is doing a workshop this week for the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society. You can see Katherine's abstract art here: http://www.lewallencontemporary.com/searchresults.php?start=1&artistId=1070
From the Lew Allen gallery website:

“The content of my work,” Liu once said, “has to do with my feeling that in this information age, our senses are saturated daily with visual, literary, musical and verbal information. I am mapping this emotional state with autobiographical marks and a reference to the urban environment in which I live and work.”

Katherine gave us two slide shows. The first was developed for (I believe) the National Collage Society. She showed us images of abstract works by her favorite artists. She also showed some work by her mentees. Her explanation was very intellectual and thought provoking. I am still trying to absorb it, so I can't summarize it well enough to write about it here. Common to all the artists is a desire to do very unique, identifiable work. I jotted notes so I can do more research on the artists whose paintings "spoke" to me.

The second slide show was on figurative painting, which combined elements of realism and abstraction.
Katherine does not demonstrate painting. She has each artist bring 7 or 8 pieces of their work. She gives them a thorough critique and suggests how they can develop their artistic voice. I am not enrolled in this class as I have conflicting commitments.

Tomorrow our core Monday drawing class, along with some family (though none of mine) are going together to the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco to attend the show entitled:


I have twice had the pleasure of viewing the impressionist and post-impressionist collection at the Musee d'Orsay, so I am very much looking forward to attending with our instructor Bob Semans, a career portrait artist. Also, it will be interesting to see the art in a different setting.

I will again be away from the computer for a while. I will miss my blog friends.

6 comments:

Autumn Leaves said...

This is a lovely little piece, Mary. I am transfixed by the background and its juxtaposition with the table top. What did you do to the background? Love the whole set up of this still life (and now have a yen for one of those cute little statues! LOL).

Unknown said...

I'm so inspired by the myriad of art activities you engage in!! It's wonderful. KCL is an fabulous instructor and speaks gems of wisdom. How great that you could learn from her. Your pastel painting is lovely!

Anonymous said...

I too love your pastel Mary! WOW!!! The colors are wonderful. I read about that exhibit- I wish I could be there with you. I'm glad you are having such a wonderful summer full of art and friends!

Candy said...

Your still life is beautiful. I'm glad you're having so much fun and I'm jealous of your trip to the museum:)

Charlene Brown said...

What a good 'artists' still life! Better than the average bowl of fruit, and you've done a lovely job of it.

Margaret said...

This is beautiful and I love the pop of color in the front. And lucky you to have been able to go on the Impressionist tour! Wow, those names are some of my favorite.