Commemorating the Death of Vincent Van Gogh with a Book Review: Vincent and Theo, The Van Gogh Brothers

July 29, 2019 marks the anniversary of Vincent Van Gogh’s death, one hundred and twenty nine years ago. What better day to share a review on a book, I couldn’t put down and some general bits of information I found fascinating from reading it.  

 The book is Vincent and Theo, The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman. Organized like a museum each section is called a Gallery as if you were walking from gallery to gallery in a museum looking at paintings that captured the story of Vincent and his brother Theo.  I appreciated this before reading the Author’s Note at the end of the book to discover that was her intention.  Rather than a tome full of dry facts about Vincent and Theo it reads like a gentle narrative where Heiligman disseminates facts she gleaned from extensive research into a more personal chronicle of an endearing relationship between brothers.  It put into persepctive things I didn’t know before aobut the artist and his brother.

Goupil & Cie Gallery, Place de l’Opéra Paris, photo Wikimedia Commons

Vincent started boarding school at age 11 and by age 16 had a job in his Uncle’s firm, Goupil & Ice, as a junior apprentice art dealer. 

How did the letters between Vincent and Theo begin? Vincent at age 19 Theo age 15, would take a long walk together in the Dutch countryside, one older brother counseling the other and they made a vow to always love and support each other.  After the visit Theo will write a thank you note to Vincent, and thus began a lifelong correspondence with each other by letters. 

A drawing of a woman Vincent sent to Theo in a letter, photo Wikimedia Commons

That is until the year between, 1879 and 1880, Vincent age 44 and Theo age 40. After failing as an art dealer, going to 2 seminary schools to become a preacher and failing at that endeavor as well. At his lowest point disappointed in his family for pushing him to make a life for himself and them in him wondering why at age 44 he can not support or take care of himself physically and emotionally, Theo disgusted with Vincent and vice versa, the letters stopped.

Early work around 1879, Mine de Charbon dans le Borinage, when Vincent and Theo don’t correspond, photo Wikimedia Commons

It was then on many of his long walks some more then 50 miles between one country to another, with no money or place to live, camping on the side of the road, Vincent sold some sketches to pay for a few crusts of bread.  Not even knowing it at the time his art career began.

The Yellow House, The Street, 1880, photo Wikimedia Commons, from the Van Gogh Museum

 In the time he spent in Arles, 144 days, he will have painted two hundred paintings and one hundred drawings. A major accomplishment for any artist, it is here that he grows as an artist and develops his signature style. He paints in all genres, landscape, still lives, portraiture, cafe scenes, interiors.  He paints plein air and in the studio in the yellow house in Arles.

Self Portrait, 1888, photo Wikimedia Commons, by the Van Gogh Museum

When Gauguin and Vincent were living together in Arles, although they did encourage each other, Gauguin to Vincent to paint more from his imagination, they fought incessantly.   They didn’t agree on the processes the other used to paint.  They didn’t agree on artists to admire. Gauguin was more of a rebel rouser, which encouraged Vincent to drink more leading him on a downward spiral for physical and mental health.

Self Portrait, 1889, photo Wikimedia Commons by the York Project

From the infamous incident on Christmas Eve of Vincent delivering his ear to his favorite prostitute in a brothel in Arles, Gaugin was the only witness to the ear being cut from his head.  The book speculates that Gaugin may not have been telling the truth.  He was a fencer and he did have is fencing swords with him.  Could he have been in a heated argument accidentally cutting Vincent’ s ear off?  Could Vincent have lied and said that he did it himself?  He was always looking after other’s interests more than his own.  Is it feasible that he could have lied to protect a friend?

Starry Night, 1889, photo Wikimedia Commons, collection Museum of Modern Art

After recovering from his wound Vincent’s mental health starts to deteriorate, he has episodes, nervous breakdowns, which result in visits in and out of the hospital in Arles.  He realizes with the advice from doctors he has a better chance of recovery so that he can continue to pursue painting if he goes the hospital at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.  It is there while continuing to have mental breakdowns, loading his brushes then eating the paint off of them, between bouts of weeks not painting at all, he still produces 150 paintings, some of his most famous, including his series of Irises and Starry Night.   

Still life of Irises, 1890 Saint-Rény, photo Wikimedia Commons, collection Metropolitan Museum of Art

 I felt after reading the book I got to know an artist that the world admires on a more personal level.  He was an extremely intelligent individual well read and spoke several languages.  He exuded passion in everything he did and when he finally found his calling as an artist after trying to work in a gallery, becoming a preacher, and teacher, he poured is heart and soul in his work.  He spends hours and hours learning to draw, trying to master perspective and the human figure, the latter he was never quite satisfied with and became a constant study for him.  

 He exhibited his work through Theo, at many of the Impressionist’s exhibitions known as the Exhibitions Independent, with Claude Monet, Degas, Sisley, Gauguin, and Cezanne.  In an exhibition in 1890, the same year Vincent is in the asylum at Saint Rémy, Claude Monet tells Theo Vincent’s paintings are the best in the show. Contrary to popular belief, Vincent did sell work before he died, however, his style was way ahead of its time and was appreciated much later. 

Portrait of Theo Van Gogh, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1887, photo Wikimedia Commons, collection Van Gogh Museum

He lived for his art and his brother Theo. Without Theo there would be no Vincent and without Vincent there would have been no Theo.

 When I lived in France a few years ago my family, and a dear family friend went on a pilgrimage to Auvers-sur-Oise, where Vincent died and was buried.  Visiting the attic room where he breathed his last breath, walking the streets, where the last paintings of his life were created were immensely moving, and moments I will never forget. More on that day in a future post.

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Looking West: An Exhibition Highlighting Works by American Women Artists

Did you know that only 3-5% of the permanent holdings in art museums worldwide are by women artists? How pathetic is this?  This is why American Women Artists a non profit art organization made of up women artists in the United States and Canada,  made it their mission to do something about it.  Founded in 1991 with 12 artists exhibiting at the Tucson Museum of Art it is now an organization comprising some of the top women artists today.  AWA’s first juried competition was held in 1997-1998 and since then AWA has launched a 25 in 25 Campaign.  Twenty five exhibitions in twenty five years in prestigious museums throughout the United States.  These exhibitions include other events such as plein air paint outs, and keynote speaking symposiums, open to the public wherever the shows are being held.  

Steamboat Art Museum

I was so impressed with the caliber of artists in this group and truly believed in their mission I joined a few years ago and am extremely proud to have just received Signature status with AWA.  For those not familiar with what that means, Signature status is usually awarded to an artist who has been juried into 3 exhibitions with that particular group or society.  Some groups it may take years to achieve.  AWA also accepts a variety of media including sculpture into their shows.  

My Painting “My Point of View,” Top Second From Left

Steamboat Art Museum

The most current AWA exhibition, Looking West: An Exhibition Highlighting Works by American Women Artists is at the Steamboat Art Museum in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The show runs, May 24-September 2, 2019.  I recently returned from all the events coinciding with the Opening Reception at the museum.  There are approximately 150 works in the show and it was attended by almost half of the artists!  It was a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and meet in person many artists whose work I have admired for years!  

Steamboat Art Museum

Steamboat Art Museum

One of the events was a workshop given by Carolyn Anderson.  Since I’m primarily a watercolor painter I didn’t take advantage of this opportunity. I’ve heard Carolyn is an excellent teacher.  The first full day in Steamboat, a plein air event was organized in the Yampa River Botanic Park.  I love visiting gardens when I travel, and was thrilled to see trees and flowers from a different climate than Florida.  Since I’m not used to seeing Aspen trees, that is what I chose to paint.  

Yampa River Botanic Park

Painting en Plein Air at Yampa River Botanic Part

Aspen Trees, Watercolor, Painted en Plein Air at Yampa River Botanic Park

That afternoon, Nancy Boren, gave a demonstration at the Wild Horse Gallery. Nancy is an artist I  have long admired and I was thrilled to meet her and get to know her.  Nancy is primarily a figurative painting and not only is her portfolio of work stunning, so was much of the other artist’s work represented in the Wild Horse Gallery.  Visiting the gallery was an extra added bonus in addition to the AWA show. 

Nancy Boren Demonstration at Wild Horse Gallery

The second day we were invited to the 83 acre ranch of well known Western Artist, John Fawcett.  John is an oil and watercolor painter and I first came across his work in person at the 2017 Quest for the West Show at the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana.  John and his wife, Elizabeth, where so gracious to host our group and provide a barbecue feast!  This was my first experience painting snow capped mountains.  Just three days before I arrived on the first day of summer Steamboat got about a foot of snow.  Then the rest of the week it was in the mid 80’s. Crazy!

The Fawcett Ranch

My Plein Air Set Up

My Painting Buddy, Carol Swinney

Snow Capped, Watercolor, Painted en Plein Air

That afternoon invited guest artist Carol Carter, gave a demonstration.  I was thrilled to get to spend time with Carol.  She will be joining me again in September for the Florida Watercolor Society’s  48th Annual Exhibition, Convention, & Trade Show in Orlando.  As President of FWS for 2019 I invited Carol three years ago to jury and judge the FWS Show and teach a 4 day workshop with us.  I love Carol and I’m excited to see her again. 

Carol Carter Demonstration

The third day was the Awards Ceremony and Opening Reception of the exhibition for the community and the museum patrons of the Steamboat Art Museum.  At every museum show the museum, with a purchase award, acquires a painting from the show.  Heide Presse will now have her painting, “Pursuing a Dream,” part of the museum’s permanent collection.  

Heide Presse’s Special Exhibit, We Set Our Faces Westward…One Woman’s Journey 1839-1848

Four guest speakers made up the Symposium on the last day of festivities.  Heidi Presse gave a talk on a major project she is working on, We Set Our Faces Westward… One Woman’s Journey 1939-1848.  We were so fortunate to see a preview in the museum of some of Heide’s finished pieces and concepts for others she will be painting.  This project tells the true story of pioneer women gleaned from her 1848 Oregon Trail journal.  The lengths Heide has gone to to be as historically accurate as possible are mind boggling.  Cant find a quilt, costume or bonnet to feature in a painting?  Heide makes her own, historically accurate.  The second speaker was invited guest artist Carol Carter who gave an extremely informative talk on how she built and maintains her art career.  

Jann’s Book

The third presenter was Jann Haynes Gilmore, PhD, art historian, writer, and watercolorist.  Jann’s passion are women artists who have historically fallen throughs the cracks, and feels their stories should be told.  Jann spoke on a remarkable woman artist, Olive Rush, who was the first independent women to be part of the Santa Fe Artists.  Independent refers to the fact that she did not become part of the group based on marriage or an affiliation with a man.  Born in Indiana, studied illustration with noted illustrator Howard Pyle, (as did N.C. Wyeth), her story is fascinating.  Jann has authored an impressive book on her life, Olive Rush: Finding Her Place in the Santa Fe Art Colony, which I’m looking forward to reading.

Donna Howell-Sickles Demonstration

At the end the Symposium noted Western artist Donna Howell-Sickles did a demonstration.  Donna was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2007, and is the first woman artist to be asked to create the artwork for the Pendleton Round-Up in Pendleton, OR.  It is the most iconic rodeo in the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association.  In Donna’s 40 year career she has featured the iconic cowgirl in her work.  

To top off the week, a few of us went to the Steamboat Professional Rodeo!  Another first for me to see a rodeo in person!  

From left, Laurie Stevens, Kim Minichiello, Carol Swinney, Carol Carter

The Yampa River

The town of Steamboat was so beautiful and charming.  It was hard to leave and come back to hot and humid Florida.  I’m still on a high from my spectacular few days there!  No pun intended, or maybe it was. 

Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet & the Paintings of the Water Lilies

Today is the first post in a series on my blog about Claude Monet, Giverny and other French musings.

My favorite thing to receive as a  gift is a good book.  When I discovered Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Paintings of the Water Lilies by Ross King, I couldn’t get it in on my Christmas list last year fast enough.  King is also noted for Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture, and Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling.  King’s books are extremely well researched and Mad Enchantment is no exception.  Focusing on the latter part of Monet’s life at Giverny, and his series of water lily paintings, including the “Grande Decoration”  that would be the large paintings eventually ending up at the Musée L’Orangerie in Paris, it delves into his obsession with creating such an enormous oeuvre  for an artist at his age.

I discovered several things from the book that I never knew before about Monet.  One is he would work on several canvases at once of the same scene while painting plein air.  Essentially,  they were a series of the same view captured at the moments in time before the light changed.  As he was working on one canvas and the light had changed too much, he would grab the next one and work on that one for a while and so on. Sometimes even working on one for only seven minutes.  It wasn’t uncommon for him to work in all weather conditions shuttling canvases back and forth and when he went on painting outings he was followed through the fields by his children and step children carrying canvases for five or six paintings of the same subject matter done at different times and with different lighting effects. 

Georges Clemenceau & Claude Monet_  Photo:  Wikimedia Commons

He had a deep and long lasting friendship with George Clemenceau, the French Prime Minister during World War I. Clemenceau’s fortitude during the war helped the French get through it. Being one of the original architects of the Treaty of Versailles, he was instrumental in the war ending and getting reparations for the French from Germany. Clemenceau and Monet corresponded religiously.  Clemenceau was a huge support mentally, emotionally and physically for Monet and his work.  

         Claude Monet in his studio with the "Grande Décoration"  _Photo: Wikimedia Commons

So it was right before World War I that Monet had the idea for the the larger than life canvases, he called “La Grande Décoration,”  the series of water lily paintings that are now one of the most highly visited series of paintings in Paris at the Musée L’Orangerie.  He painted them during the war while he was in his late seventies.   While the enemy was close, on several occasions with their attacks on Paris and it’s environs, Monet never contemplated leaving. He would rather parish at his home with his work if it came to that.  It was through his connections that he was able to garner favors for gas, so he could continue to use his cars, (he was a car collector), cigarettes, which he smoked like a fiend, and wine, which no French man can live without, during the war.  Plus, he was aided with transport  for  all  of the art supplies that he needed for his “Grande Décoration, " which would be coming from Paris.

Hotel Biron, Musée Rodin, Original Planned Location for an Annex for Monet's "Grande Décoration"  His Donation to the State of France_ Photo: Wikimedia Commons

After Rodin donated his entire collection of sculptures and paintings to the French Sate on the condition that his workshop, the Hotel Biron and his home outside of Paris become museums, the seed was planted in Monet’s mind that he could too be honored in such a way by donating his “Grande Décoration” to the State, if they agreed to build a venue or museum to his exact specifications to house and display the series.

Clemenceau was instrumental in getting the ball rolling and Monet started negotiations with the French State to make his gift a reality.  But it was not smooth sailing and resulted in several tumultuous  occurrences that everyone involved, including Clemenceau, wondered if it would ever come to fruition. Monet would tumble into fits of rage and depressions due to dissatisfaction with his work.  He was known to take a knife slashing and then burning hundreds of canvases, not only  the water lily works, but to those done  through the course of his life. One panel in the collection of the L'Orangerie had to be repaired from the swipe of a knife.  It is estimated that in his lifetime he destroyed more than five hundred canvases. 

Painting at the Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris, Done while Monet had Cataracts_ Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Another obstacle was Monet's health.  He wondered if his grand project would ever come to completion due to his failing eye sight due to cataracts.  He had multiple surgeries on his right eye, with long difficult recovery times, plus trial after trial of prescription glasses that never seemed to work for him.  Eventually he found the right lenses with a new scientific  discovery, an instrument made by Ziess, that could map the surface of his eyes to create a lens that would be the best that he could get.  Even those at first didn’t meet his satisfaction.  He barreled down the rabbit hole into another fit of depression.  After having surgery and multiple treatments on his right eye, his left eye was getting worse, and he refused to go through another bout of surgery, having suffered enough on those with the right eye.

                               L'Orangerie, Paris, France  Photo: Wikimedia Commons

As he was finally adapting to his new way of seeing, he continued to work on the large water lily panels and was working with the architect on the design of the space that would eventually be their home.  Originally it was planned as an addition to the Hotel Biron, Rodin’s museum.  But when the architect fell out of favor for not meeting Monet’s specifications a new one was hired along with a search for a new location.  It was then that the L’Orangerie, the former shelter during the winter for the orange trees of the Tuileries Gardens, during the time of the Third Republic, was considered.  It had also been used for dog and agricultural shows and expositions, and was also a place for lodging immobilized soldiers during the war.  Monet agreed to rennovating the L'Orangerie and the architect  began drawing up plans according to Monet’s wishes for two oval rooms and a skylight to light the works. 

Detail of a Section of a Water Lilly Panel in the L'Orangerie Showing an Unfinished Area_ Photo: copyright Kim Minichiello

Time was of the essence because the French State was in  an agreement with Monet and a date had been determined when Monet would hand over the work to be installed in the L’Orangerie around 1924.  As time was getting close, he made every excuse to not follow through and canceled the donation. An exasperated Clemenceau was distraught and didn’t want anything more to do with Monet, and the situation almost destroyed their friendship.  The underlying factor, on Monet’s part,  was that he not only felt dissatisfied with the work, and that it was such a part of his “essence” he couldn’t part with the paintings while he was still alive. Even today in one of the panels there is an unfinished area, as if Monet couldn’t come to terms with completing them. 

The Water Lilies Room in the L'Orangerie, Paris, France Photo:  Wikimedia Commons

After Monet died in 1926, the project finally came to fruition.  Clemenceau was instrumental in making sure all of  the details were addressed to open the L’Orangerie and dedicate the master works of his dear friend.  The date of the dedication in May of 1927, and the opening of the Musée Claude Monet a L’Orangerie des Tuileries opened to very little fanfare.  Clemenceau noticed that day that a sign for a dog show to take place at the same time in another part of the building was more prominent  then one announcing the inauguration for the Musée Claude Monet.  In fact art critics after his death didn’t hail him as a master artist. Because of the changing taste to more modern works at that time,  they claimed  the impressionists produced art that was essentially “fluff” and were postcards of niceties for American tastes. This, Monet’s  momentous, glorious gift to the French State and no one seemed to care. By the 1950’s the L’Orangerie was essentially deserted and in disrepair.  

It is hard to fathom what went on in the L’Orangerie after the dedication of the Claude Monet Museum in 1927 and how it became what it is today.  Stay tuned for Part Two of this blog post to find out, or grab a cup of tea, a comfy chair and a copy of Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies.

New Work, Mycology, & An Artist That Inspires: Beatrix Potter

Calm Before the Storm

Watercolor Mounted on Board and Sealed

6" x 6" 

SOLD

I created a few new mushroom paintings recently and a collector that owns two in that series contacted me to add to her collection to group four of them together.  The more people that see this series, I learn that I am not the only mushroom fanatic out there!  When I went to Montreal this summer I happened upon a shop that caters to nothing but mushrooms.   They had dried to purchase for cooking, mushroom kits to grow your own, field guides and all sorts of accouterment for collecting while foraging for them.  That was just the tip of the ice burg.  

In the Thick of It

Watercolor Mounted on Board and Sealed

6" x 6"

As of this writing is currently available at the 6" Squared Show at the Randy Higbee Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA

McCoy's Mushrooms

Watercolor Mounted on Board and Sealed

6" x 6" 

SOLD

On my birthday I was gifted a wonderful book, The Art of Beatrix Potter: Sketches, Paintings and Illustrations.  It covers the history on how her famed Peter Rabbit series came to be, plus many tidbits about her art career and life.   One of my most vivid childhood memories is when I had learned to read and started to check out books from my local public library.    I devoured every tiny little green volume of Potter’s Peter Rabbit series and read them multiple times.  

Mycoboutique in Montreal, Canada

Beatrix did so much more than write and illustrate these classic stories.  Being from a wealthy family, the Potters took holidays every summer to various parts of the United Kingdom.  The book is organized in sections geographically to give one the idea of what areas influenced her stories and art.  Scotland played a significant role.  It was there she became somewhat of a scientist and met Charles MacIntosh a well known amateur naturalist.  Avoiding the strict formalities of Victorian society they established a long friendship and a study of Mycology (the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi).  

Even after her return to London they  would exchange notes on their observations of mushrooms.  He would send her samples which resulted in beautifully rendered illustrations of mushrooms and her lengthy study of fungus. She spent many hours on location observing and creating stunning botanical illustrations in watercolor of the mushrooms and fungus she found and observed in their natural setting. She not only captured the mushroom itself but also it’s surrounding environment. 

Between 1894 and 1895 in a period of just one year she produced, seventy-three fungi illustrations and the following year fifty-two microscopic illustrations.  Through her extensive observations and studies she came away with some remarkable discoveries.  She tried to present her findings to the principals at the exclusive Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, to only be dismissed because she was a woman. For another three years she would research spore germination, authoring a paper that was read to the male-dominated Linnean Society, they still refused to publish her findings.  She had hoped that her illustrations and findings would be published as a book, to no avail she carefully stored all of her paintings and research.  

Seventy years later, a former president of the British Mycological Society discovered Potter’s treasure trove of illustrations of mushrooms, plants and fossils, and selected fifty-nine drawings for the Wayside & Woodland series, Fungi volume.  Ironically published by Warne, the same publisher as her Peter Rabbit series of books.  Many of her findings on spore germination that were dismissed were found to be true. 

Links: 

Book: The Art of Beatrix Potter: Sketches, Paintings and Illustrations

Movie:  Miss Potter

My Mushroom Series of Paintings

My Box Set Mushroom Notecards

Armin Hansen at the Pasadena Museum of California Art

When I go to Los Angeles I always spend a bit of time in Pasadena, where I used to live while working for Walt Disney Imagineering.  A new addition to Pasadena since I lived there is the Pasadena Museum of California Art.  A couple of years ago  I saw an Edgar Payne show there which was jaw dropping and I’ll have to say the recent show there on Armin Hanson is just as amazing.

Armin Hansen (1886-1957) is an artists that was really never in my radar, but after seeing the show I want to delve into a study of his work more.  Born in San Francisco he studied with Carlos Grethe at the Stuttgart Royal Academy and also at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.  After studying in Germany he taught at University of California, Berkley and later moved to Monterey and was a founder of the Carmel Art Association.

He eventually became known for his marine scenes and became a deck hand on a number of commercial fishing vessels, portraying the fisherman's life on land and at sea.  One can sense he earned the camaraderie and trust of the fisherman and there are a number of paintings that just wouldn’t be possible to pull off unless he was on the ships and part of the crew.

Photo credit Fine Art Connoisseur

What I found most amazing was his draftsmanship, color sense and brushwork.  The show features a number of paintings he did of rodeo life, a  few still life paintings  that feature table settings after meals were consumed and one of his painting area in his studio.  The majority are marine scenes, sail boats, fishing boats, and fisherman at work.   There are oil paintings with rich color and juicy brush work. To me they resembled the color palettes from the works of German Expressionists, not surprising since he studied in Germany. There are marine scenes with a fantastic tonalist quality in hues of green and blue.   There are also a few watercolors and many prints and etchings.

I was so intrigued with this show and his work I visited the exhibition twice.  The second time really studying and savoring paintings I was drawn to.  I highly recommend this show if you live or are visiting southern California, but hurry the show ends May 31!

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Books That Inspire: Alla Prima by Richard Schmid

I’ve been sticking with my new year’s goal to spend some time reading art books every morning.  So far I have read quite a few so I thought I would start sharing and recommending a few.  One book that most artists have on their shelf is Richard Schmid’s Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting.  I have had this one for while but had never read it cover to cover until recently.  There is an expanded edition of this book out now, Alla Prima II, which I hear is full of a lot of new material, but this post is about the older one. Many watercolor artists may not have this book since Richard is primarily a very well-known oil painter, but honestly if you are a painter no matter what media, you will geta lot out of this book.  It’s not a how to book per sayeven though there are plenty of color plates and some work in progress photos.  However, it’s a very detailed description of how Richard paints and what he thinks about during his painting process.  All things every artist should consider to achieve their best work.  An extra added bonus is, his wit and charm comes through on the pages!

Chapters are titled:  Good Ideas and Free Advice, Direct Painting, Starting, Drawing, Values, Edges, Color and Light, Composition, Technique and The Magic.  There is so much information here it will be hard to grasp on the first read.  This will be one you will want to refer to and read again.

Richard Schmid Color Chart

One of the biggesttake away exercises from the book are his color charts.  Many artists have done them and given their thoughts.  Just Google “Richard Schmid Color Charts,” and you will get a few hits.  He has taken every color in his palette and mixed it with every other color in the palette and charted it out.  Once you compete this exercise you will know your palette  inside and out and you willhave to use as reference the color families and harmonies for each color.  Richard’s teacher and mentor Bill Mosby made him do the color charts early in his career and he says, “ The charts took only two weeks to complete and when I finished I knew more about my paint a than I had ever thought possible. It was an astonishing- imagine being taken into the kitchen of a great chef and shown everything he could do with flavors-that was what it was like for me!”

I have seen him in a video show his charts done on what appears to be foam core, and he describes how he has taken them out plein air painting.  Holding them up to the scene he is about to paint, he can identify which color family fits the scene and know exactly which colors to use and mix on his palette.

The exercise does seem tedious and may take a while to do. However,  you would really learn your palette and not only what colors you will get when all of them are mixed with each other but what they will do when mixed with white as well if you are an oil or acrylic painter.

If you have a set palette be it watercolor, oil or acrylic you could do the exercise to make your own chart of the colors you typically use and you wouldn’t have to follow Richard’s exact palette. I’m very intrigued by this and hope to do it in the future.  This would be a great exercise to do if you feel you were experiencing artist’s block.  I can’t help but think mixing all that juicy color wouldn't get one inspired to paint!

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Books About and by Mary Whyte

One of my goals for the new year was to get back to reading more books. I have found myself the past year  being more self absorbed with reading on the computer, iPad, and checking Facebook which has taken away too much  time I would normally spend reading books from my library, specifically my art books.   How did I let that happen?

Starting with the new year I have been spending a little time in the morning and during breakfast reading my art books.  Since I received the lovely book,More Than a Likeness: The Enduring Art of Mary Whyte, by Martha R. Severens, for Christmas. I started there.  After, I felt compelled to read again Painting Portraits and Figures in Watercolor by Mary Whyte.  I have skimmed and read this one several times since it is chock full of so much good information.

I don’t know of anyone who paints in watercolor and is familiar with Mary Whyte who doesn’t admire her work.  More Than a Likeness is a beautiful coffee table book that features many of Mary’s paintings from her early years, commissions, oils and many of the paintings one might be most familiar with from her “Working South” series and the paintings of life on St. Johns Island.  This is not a technique book but a lovely narrative of how Mary became the artist she is today.  It reads in chronological order from her early years as a student, how she started her art career,  to how she was inspired to paint the Gullah women on St. Johns Island, South Carolina,  to the years she spent traveling the United States to capture people that are working in dying industries in the South.

Demo Page from Painting Portraits and Figures in Watercolor

Written by Martha Severens, an art historian who served as the curator of the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, the book captures the essence of who Mary is as a person and how her experiences have influenced her work.

Painting Portraits and Figures in Watercolor, is a more of a technique book written by Mary.  Even if you don’t paint figures or portraits, I highly recommend this book.  What you would learn you could apply to anything you would paint in watercolor.  The chapters are broken down to:

• Getting Started
• Materials & Tools
• Techniques
• Drawing
• Values
• Edges
• Color & Light
• Backgrounds
• Life as an Artist

I have put this book on my recommend reading list for my workshop students.  Her chapters on design and composition, value, edges, color and background are important aspects to the whole painting processthat many fail to consider when they start out painting regardless of the medium one would work with.  Especially if you paint in watercolor, I feel you would find both of these wonderful books inspiring!

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Books that Inspire: The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel

I have been trying to finish this book before the movie comes out, on Feb. 7, which I can’t wait to see.   I thought I would post about it now in case anyone who is a fast reader is so inclined to do the same!

This amazing book chronicles the lives of the heroes of World War II whose mission it was to preserve the art and cultural heritage of Europe.  Many in the academic  art and museum community had caught wind of Hitlers grand plan to pillage many of the museums and historical sites throughout the European continent.   Being rejected after applying to the art academy in Vienna by a panel of art experts he believed to be Jewish  always had a devastating  effect on him.  When he came into power he had grand visions of being Emperor of Europe making Berlin his Rome and his home town of Linz Austria his Florence. His dream was to create a monumental art complex along the river in Linz.  This development would include a giant mausoleum to house his tomb, symphony halls, opera houses, libraries and cinemas, and above all an art museum.    All to vindicate his rejection to art school.  The architectural renderings alone were 20 feet long and the model for this grand plan took up an entire room.  With all of this in the works, the plan  was set forth during the war,  to amass the largest art collection in the world to fill his museum.

As early as 1941 in the United States directors of all the major museums were meeting to contemplate if they needed to protect treasures here at home and the logistics of doing so. They were concerned about attacks on American soil and the Nazis robbing museums across the country.   Thus a division of the Army was established, small that it was, to protect historical and culturally relevant sites from being bombed, salvaging anything they could from those that were, and going on the biggest treasure hunt in history to find works that  the Nazi’s had already hidden.

This book is just another reminder of the heroic efforts of the brave men and women who fought for the freedoms for humanity and to preserve it’s cultural legacy.

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Books that Inspire: The Greater Journey Americans in Paris, by David McCullough

I love history and travel and feel the two go hand in hand.  I really enjoy reading about the history of places I have lived or visited, especially Paris.  David McCullough’s The Greater Journey Americans in Paris, not only gives us a feeling of what Paris was like between 1830 and 1900, but tells various stories of the many Americans who in the early 1830’s braved the rough seas on sailing ships to live in a country whose language and culture they knew nothing about, with ambitions to learn and excel in their field of work, and in some cases profoundly impact American history itself.

Many traveled to further their medial careers, since Paris was considered at that time the most advanced in medicine in the entire world.  He tells the story of Elizabeth Maxwell, the first female physician in the United States, and Oliver Wendell Holmes and his colleagues who had a lasting effect on how medicine was practiced upon their return home.

He tells of writers, James Fenimore Cooper, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Mark Twain, and the influence their visits to Paris had on their work.

Bust of Edwin Wallace Stoughton, Marble,  1874 by Augustus Saint-Gauden, Ringling Museum of American Art

He covers extensively the artist’s journey of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, born to a French father and Irish mother, who immigrated to the United States at 6 months old.  He was trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, and is probably best known for, among many of his sculptures, a monument to Civil War Admiral David Farragut, in New York’s Madison Square and his Diane created as a weathervane for the second Madison Square Garden Building in New York City. We learn of Samuel F.B. Morse’s journey and his ambitious works, of painting vistas of the Louvre Museum.   In the late 1800’s we became familiar with the journeys of John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassatt.

Probably the most mind boggling is the heroic account of American ambassador Elihu Washburne, who remained at his post during the Franco-Prussian War, the Siege of Paris and the horrific Commune.  His accounts of the suffering of the people of Paris in this moment of history are haunting.

David McCullough is a treasure. His extensive research and propensity to weave together historical accounts in the manner of a storyteller makes this work a joy to read.  I hope it’s on your Christmas list! :-)

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Books that Inspire: Brain Storm, Unleashing Your Creative Self, by Don Hahn

When I was at Walt Disney Imagineering during the design phase of Disneyland Paris there was one morning a week, I believe it was Monday if my memory serves me, that we had the “Monday Morning Breakfast Meeting.”  Any WDI peeps that are reading this can correct me if it fell on another day of the week.:-)  One of the creative directors, Peggy Van Pelt, organized these meetings as well as many other artistic and creative programs for the artists and designers at WDI.  The meetings were on a variety of topics. Guest lecturers gave an hour presentation on what Peggy thought Imagineers would find interesting.  Plus, there was free breakfast from the WDI cafeteria!

One meeting that sticks out in my mind was the one where we went across the street to the animation theatre to see Don Hahn, the producer of Lion King, present Lion King during it’s design phase.  Since animation is a different division than Imagineering  within the Walt Disney Company, we heard rumblings about this new movie they were working on and we wanted to find out more.   Don is a very funny and engaging speaker as well as author.  I never will forget, starting his presentation, he showed a clip of the opening sequence; first the African chant, then the gorgeous animation of the African savanna, Elton John singing the intro and then that last loud drum beat at the end.  We were all sitting there dumbfounded with our jaws dropped to the floor and  goosebumps on our arms.  The room was a buzz with excitement.  This was going to be good!!

Don went on to produce Beauty and the Beast, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  His other credits include, The Disneynature films Earth, Oceans, and African Cats and the short The Little Match Girl, which earned him his second Oscar Nomination.  Beauty and the Beast was his first, which was the first animated film nominated for and Oscar.    He has also authored a number of books.

I just recently read his latest book, Brain Storm, Unleashing Your Creative  Self.  Don is such a witty writer, this is one of those books that can be so funny you will find yourself literally laughing out loud!  However at the same time,  it is very thought-provoking about the creative self and the creative process.  Don pulls experiences from his own life from boy hood to today, siting  personal examples to explain aspects of being a creative person.  There are stories recalling  sneaking a colander in his room, when he was little, in his pajama pants to create the night sky on the ceiling in his bedroom with a flash light to many tales on what it was like  working on his many Disney projects.  The main point I took away from the book was inspiring creativity in your daily life, whatever that creative endeavor is that drives you.

“When you focus on the journey and not the arrival, then your art becomes more like a treasured artifact of the creative process.  A painting, a poem, a sketch or a piece of music that you’ve written becomes a record of your life - a souvenir of the creative process, just as much as the photos are an artifact of your unforgettable travels abroad.”   -Don Hahn from Brainstorm Unleashing Your Creative Self.

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