My Most Maddening Painting

It started before Halloween. I was going to make a painting recycling the bottom of a cupboard drawer for the support. The painting would be a celebratory remembrance of a wonderful French dinner under my favorite tree in Strasbourg, France; a massive and ancient plane tree, full of knobs from decades (centuries?) of pollarding. The first layer was a sort of "staining" layer in acrylic. I wanted the grain of the wood to show through. I chalked in drawings of David and Mary.  So far, so good...

 Then, I began working on the visages of Mary and David.  Mary's eyes came out fairly convincingly. The goal was to have a cursory go over with acrylic and then add oil (from oilsticks) for detail and richness. I was very happy with the shorthand description of the tree.

Working along, Mary and David both off to a good start, or so I thought. David was not happy with his open mouth. To me, it looked like he was in the middle of a Francophile rhapsody, but the customer is always right (even though he is not a customer!)  I should have stuck with Mary as she is right now!







I took a photo of David with his mouth shut and used it to adjust his image. David was happy with the results and proclaimed the representation obituary worthy (!) I guess he can die happy... I thought Mary was reasonable, too. But, David felt her representation to be off. And so started an intense period of revisionism.

This was an interesting exercise, because, although I was quite frustrated in not being able to get it right, the work was exhilarating. I had endless energy to work and scrape, work and scrape. Still, it was not coming together.







One has to be able to both see the image accurately, and yet translate the visual information into abbreviations that read well from a distance. Too much information looks cartoonish and off from a distance.



I remember what I have told students, to always return to looking. Get your first hand knowledge and use it. Don't make assumptions, don't figure you know something before you know it! I made a drawing of Mary to see what I've been overlooking and/or over-emphasizing. I like the drawing, but it didn't help. I stayed up until 3:30 am working on Mary, but she was playing hard to get! So, I gave up and figured what I learned from this exercise was worth enough. I did not have to have it end exactly like I had planned.




So, I put myself in the painting. It was an evening I wanted to remember: sitting under this beautiful tree, having my third goat cheese salad of the trip (this one made with phyllo dough) drinking a red Alsacian wine in my favorite little Alsacian glasses. This is the first time I've included myself in a painting. Painting myself was fairly easy. We know we have preconceived ideas about our own likeness, so we have to be particularly careful and objective; really focusing on abstracting out the image. I was in the picture in no time at all! Or maybe, David just figured he shouldn't say anything about it...!

David even made the frame for the painting. I'm going to hang it where the old cupboard used to be. We can remember a fine trip to France and a wonderful evening. Though this was a maddening exercise, it also reminded me that I love the challenge of looking and thinking; translating what I see to the surface of a painting, being objective and subjective to make a convincing representation. I think I'll keep painting.
Happy New Year!

Resist Temptation

Thanksgiving Day 2013, 7 x 5"
oil pastel/watercolor

We are in the holiday season and there are a lot of temptations. It is the season to give in to those temptations. I'm giving in to the temptation of resist: where a medium is used that repels another medium that is laid over. My dominant mix of media are watercolor and pastel. I've been intrigued by oil pastel and its added quality of resisting water based media. I thought it would be fun to make a watercolor/oil pastel painting, starting with the oil pastel. This scene, with a canopy of pear tree leaves worked well, because I could use the oil pastel to create the spaces where light shines through. It was also useful in rendering the light layer of snow on the grass and on the hedge. The leaves were then created by rich layers of watercolor. The most striking thing about this setting was the intense color of the leaves: red and green with highlights of golden ochre. After a good bit of paint had been put down, I went for a walk to let things dry. When I came back, I added more layers and finished detailing with watercolor. Since I can, I added oil pastel on top. This made for a nice little painting finished in an afternoon.  Thanksgiving Day 2013 will be for sale at MS Rezny Studio/Gallery for Holiday Revels, and it can be found in the drawers at the back of the gallery. If you buy the work during Holiday Revels 40% of the price will go to Hospice of the Bluegrass and their art fund. You can buy gifts of art and help an important local institution at the same time!

Holiday Revels

MS Rezny Studio/Gallery

903 Manchester Street, Distillery District

Thursday, December 5th

4 - 7 pm

40% of purchase price will go to

Hospice of the Bluegrass fund for art

10-22-13 Weekly Watercolor

At Rogers Point, watercolor, 14 x 17"

This week's offering is from the "archives." Recently, I went through my mother's belongings in Maine. She died nine years ago, but my stepfather was reluctant to let go of her things, so when we were up in Maine for Richard's memorial picnic, we had a chance to collect some items. This is a painting I made for my mother twenty years ago. At the time, I was painting mostly in watercolor because it seemed the simplest with young children about (not sure why I thought that!) I must have worked on this while the kids were away a couple of hours at preschool. Working with watercolor is very meditative (though painting with kids running around would not be.)
      I shipped back several paintings and it is nice to have old visions hanging around once again. Here, I especially remember the refreshing visit to Maine in the midst of a hot, humid Kentucky summer. And what joy to see my children experience the wonders of the natural world. The coast of Maine is an excellent spot for that!

10-17-13 Weekly Watercolor

This week's watercolor is a commissioned piece, so I haven't given it a title or put the date on it. Painting the mountains was particularly fun. The shadows have different qualities: true shadow and shadow with reflected light. Rendering the shadows were critical for giving dimension to the slopes. The time of day was before dusk. The mountain tops are still in full light, yet the same mountains make for an early evening light for the town below. A beautiful setting!
    I'll write more after this painting has been received by the recipient...

10-8-13 Weekly Watercolor

Along the Bluestone, 9 x 4.5", watercolor

I'm thinking ahead to my next show, which will feature people and creatures. The working title is: Earthlings. At the same time, a new style has been percolating. After a couple of visits to the Musee D'Orsay, I've become smitten with some decorative panels by Pierre Bonnard. In these works, Bonnard flattens the natural backdrop and people are decked out in flat patterns that somehow also effectively define the figures.
     So for my Weekly Watercolor, I decided to make a study for a possible work for the next show. At a wedding over the weekend, I spoke with a cousin about my plans for my new work and I also saw a young cousin, and was once again struck by her spunky personality and I thought of how well this scene would fit my new way of working. I made a pencil sketch to work out the composition and traced that off on the watercolor paper (Arches, Cold Press, 300 lb.) This study has already given me ideas for tweaking the composition and is directing me on an approach. Students in my watercolor/pastel classes might recognize this image, as I've used it for a demo-painting.
    The scene here is at Pipestem State Park near Athens, West Virginia, my mother's hometown. The Bluestone River flows through a gorge and you have to take a tram down to the lodge below. We have had a lot of fun family reunions at Pipestem. It is a very special place!

10-2-13 Weekly Watercolor

Morning Work, 7 x 5",  watercolor

I'm home after a trip to visit my daughter in France. It is appropriate to feature a horse for my weekly watercolor. My sister, Jennie Rees, covers horse racing for the Louisville Courier-Journal. Sometimes I accompany her to the track or training center as she goes on her rounds. The easy demeanor of the riders always impresses me. They are coaxing these large animals to be calm, focused and energized all at once.
Gray/roan horses are my favorites.

9-12-13 Weekly Watercolor

Trio of Birch Trees, Cadillac Mountain
watercolor on paper, 5 x 7"

I knew the subject of this week's watercolor as soon as I spotted a trio of truncated birch trees on top of Mount Cadillac. The vegetation was quite striking at the top; the bronzy greens being set off by the pink marble rock. The stark white of the birch bark shone brightly, making up for the short stature of these birches. The dancing, playful quality of this trio was particularly alluring!

9-4-13 Weekly Watercolor

First Fruit, 7x5" watercolor on paper

Once again, I went only as far as my backyard to locate subject matter for my weekly watercolor. I particularly liked the way the shadows are playing in this image. The hosta blooms were an interesting challenge.
     As it turned out, I had to make an unexpected trip out to our lake place and watercolor proved its portability. I simply took the watercolor in progress and used all the "premixed" palettes (left from classes I teach, etc.) at Clover Slope Studio. There was a Copenhagen Blue which was pretty interesting for the shadows. Coming back to Lexington and Fourth Leaf Studio, this blue was diluted with premixed Prussian and French Ultra Marine Blue. All in all, this was a fun exercise.
     Something that came up in my last workshop; one of the participants insisted on using only 3 watercolors, a blue, yellow and red. She mixed all her colors from that. That is a challenge I will try soon with my weekly watercolors.
     This watercolor will be headed for the drawers in the back of MS Rezny Studio/Gallery. You can own it!

Rich Ecology

Lichen and Leaves, watercolor & pastel on paper

I have already written about Sweet Spot Ecology. Today, as promised, I am going to write about Rich Ecology, something I have already touched upon in my profile: There are layers and layers of life, seen and unseen; known and unknown; and in a previous posting: The Efficient Complexity of Nature, 11-12-12. The rich and mysterious complexity of the Earth is captivating. Using a layered  approach to making art lends itself to rendering such a scene. I've been thinking about this rich ecology for a while. David Haskell's book, The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature, revels in this richness and has intensified my sense of all that exists around us. The image portrayed in the painting shown here is from Haskell's woods in Sewanee, Tennessee. As I am writing this, it is the last day for OF the EARTH at MS Rezny Studio/Gallery, where Lichen and Leaves is on view. (Come on down and see the show, you have an hour and a half!)

     Thus, I was keenly interested when my art librarian friend, Meg, lent me a book entitled: From Corot to Monet: The Ecology of Impressionism. My first action was to take in the paintings--they are splendid, of course. I even found a new favorite artist, Jean Charles Cazin. But I was a little curious about how ecology and impressionism go together. It turns out, that my concept of considering the whole of a scene, from the seen and unseen to the known and unknown goes back to impressionism. One of the ways in which impressionism was radically new was in the way that it includes all that is in a scene; the traditional, the modern, industrial and agrarian life, technology and well-established custom. Impressionism came into being as the Industrial Revolution was fundamentally changing life for the western world. Here, Thomas Moore's thoughts on ecology ring true as well. He points out that ecology is not simply about nature, but also about human activity such as the Industrial Revolution, and cultural influences. It is interesting to think about how all of this comes together in the world we live in. It is indeed a complex and sometimes maddeningly chaotic, yet still fearfully wonderful world!

8-27-13 Weekly Watercolor

Sycamore along US 68

This tree is a favorite one that I look for every time I travel on US 68 from Lexington to Nicholas County. I take photos when I get the chance. They are expanding US 68 between Paris and Carlisle and the new lanes will be quite close to this magnificent tree. I hope the roots won't be bothered!
       I chose this scene to work on to practice a technique that I developed while working with participants in my Experimenting with Watercolor & Pastel class. You start with the lightest color (as always with watercolor) and after letting that dry to fill in the darker value background, but start with a lighter value and drop in the color.
      I love the way sycamore shine against a blue, or even gray sky!

8-20-13 Weekly Watercolor

Scene from the back window

As a discipline, I am aiming to make at least one watercolor a week. The reasons behind this goal are two-fold: 1) to make sure I make a painting a week and 2) to create work that go in the drawers at MS Rezny Studio/Gallery (where smaller work is stored.)
      I enjoy the contemplative mode of working with watercolor and the smaller scale, 7 x 5", will keep me from getting too fussy. There is a lot to be learned from quick work and constant work.
     This sketch was fun because I did it directly, while looking out the back window at our garden with bronze fennel, butterfly bush and a sand cherry tree.
      Please watch for upcoming Weekly Watercolors.

Sweet Spot Ecology

Zacchaeus's Perch
acrylic on panel

   
      Several months ago, I was madly preparing for my exhibit OF the EARTH. I  had to write an artist's statement early so that it could be used in publicity blurbs. In that statement I wrote: "...there is a sweet intersection between nature and human influence that fuels my passion." The statement (which is included in my last post OF the EARTH, August 15, 2013) truly reflects my modus operandi as an artist.

      As August and the opening of the show approached, I was a little anxious about things. At night, I would select calming books to read. One that I reach for often over the years is Thomas Moore's, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life. A chapter caught my eye: Ecology's Home; where Moore says the following: "Enchantment arises on the threshold between human activity and Nature's presence." That struck me. Moore is describing the sweet intersection that feeds my art. He elaborates: "It is always a liminal phenomenon, a momentary relationship, made of the right arrangement of stars and planets and elaborated with art by human consciousness.  Enchantment is nature's song heard by a sensitive human ear, and it is the crafted work of human hands reflecting their admiration of nature's geometries." 

      Moore provides an etymological break down of ecology; eco meaning home, in the broadest sense; and logy denoting mystery and even the divine. Putting those together, he suggests that ecology is "an infinitely deep and mysterious notion of home." This is also a way that I would like to think about my artwork.

Coming up next: Rich Ecology

 "Ecology's Home"  Thomas Moore, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997) pp. 44, 45.

      

     

OF the EARTH

   My exhibit of landscape paintings, OF the EARTH is on display at MS Rezny Studio/Gallery during the month of August, 2013.  MS Rezny Studio/Gallery is located at 903 Manchester Street, Lexington, KY, in the Distillery District. Gallery hours are 11 am - 4 pm, Tuesday through Friday and noon to 3 pm on Saturday.  There is a mix of media represented in this exhibit: acrylic, watercolor and pastel, and (of course!) mixed media.  I will be in the gallery on Saturdays, come see me!

   To give you a taste of what my work is about, I will include my Artist's Statement here:

     Spending time outdoors is essential to who I am as an artist. In fact, it was necessary for me to take a walk so that I might gather some thoughts for this artist's statement.  While walking, I naturally observed that most of my images for painting are collected on such walks. (I passed several redbud trees with dark leaves of deep red and green. When I turned around for another look, the wind has exposed a delicious purple underside.) The Earth provides me with my artistic inspiration as well as serving as an antidote to some of our man-made problems.  Still, there is a sweet intersection between nature and human influence that fuels my passion.  This sweet spot can be found at my favorite places, such as: Blue Licks State Park, the Arboretum, the Henry Clay Estate and Lake Carnico.  I hope that these paintings allow for an interval of enjoyment for the beauty that surrounds us.

     Coming up next, I am going to talk about the sweet intersection between nature and human influence.
   

Fallen Soldier

A maple tree lies in "estate" at Ashland

Walking is my preferred method of gathering images to paint. I was thinking about this when I took a walk recently to clear my mind for writing my artist's statement for my upcoming show, OF the EARTH (on exhibit at MS Rezny Studio/Gallery, 903 Manchester Street, Lexington, KY, this August). On this walk, I came upon the scene in the photograph to the left: an old maple tree on the Henry Clay Estate had fallen. I realized that I have painted this tree. You can see it at my website: kathyreesjohnson.com/artwork/innerbluegrass/gallery3/autumn_lawn.

         But that is a sight and site you may see for only a few more weeks.  I am discontinuing my website at the end of August 2013.  I have enjoyed having a website and the work that web designer Derek Zachary has done so beautifully. It has been wonderful to have a place where people may view my work. I also enjoy writing about life and art and the world and I plan to continue that through my blog (which you are reading right now!) So please stay tuned!

Upcoming Class and Workshops

Sun after Rain, 18x36", watercolor/pastel

How about trying something new this summer?  

  

                                                     I will be offering watercolor/pastel classes and workshops scheduled around my exhibit at MS Rezny Studio/Gallery.  My goal in teaching is a little different than many artist-teachers'. Rather than teaching a particular technique or genre, I like to use watercolor and pastel to encourage each participant to find their own voice and make their own creation.  Since watercolor and pastel are complementary mediums (mutually supplying each other's lack), we can cover the basics of drawing and painting, solid and texture, opaque and transparent, etc.  And if you have taken any of my classes you have heard, "Redemption is always possible!" The focus is on having an idea of what you want to create and then experimenting to find out how to fulfill that vision.  I request that participants bring their own photos to work from, so that we know the subject will be of interest.

 That is the why, now for the what, when, where and how:

Experimenting with Watercolor & Pastel

4-session class

Tuesdays, July 23 & 30, August 6 & 13

1:30 - 3:30 pm

Fee:  $145 (includes all materials*)

One-Day Wonder Workshop

Choice of two dates

Saturday, August 10 or Saturday, August 24

10:30 am - 3 pm

Fee:  $75 (includes all materials*)

Where:  Both the class and the workshop will be held at MS Rezny Studio/Gallery, 903 Manchester Street, Distillery District, Lexington, KY.  To reserve a spot in either the class or the workshop, please mail a check (payable, MS Rezny Studio/Gallery) to:

                                   MS Rezny Studio/Gallery

                                   P.O. Box 4714

                                   Lexington, KY  40544

* Materials include: watercolor paper, watercolor, brushes, pastels, special little palette and water containers. The specific materials will be listed by brand for your reference. The class/workshop gives you the opportunity to try out these expensive supplies before you invest in them.  Please bring your own reference photos.

      Also in August, on display at MS Rezny Studio/Gallery will be my exhibit of landscape paintings, Of the Earth. This is a celebration of the beauty that surrounds us every day.  The opening Reception is  Thursday, August 8th, 5 - 8 pm. Come join us!

Any questions?  Feel free to contact me:

                     

The Home Path

Autumn Greens/Blue Licks

My life has been greatly enhanced by a road. Because of this road, David and I have joined a wonderful community of faith at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Paris. I have found a place of simple wonder at Blue Licks State Resort Park which I can return to whenever I need to just stand in the woods or walk a path. I have experienced the serendipity of making music in Mozart Hall, housed in the Neal Building in Carlisle, KY. It is easy to imagine the scene in that hall with touring spectacles coming through town; and the acoustics and atmosphere are amazing! With a mighty throng, I enter the unique world of MaysLick, KY during the Asparagus Festival in May. I taught my first workshop in Flemingsburg, because of connections made along this road. This road extends all the way up to Maysville and continues up into Ohio, all the way to Findlay, where my father spent an important part of his childhood. And, actually, the road heads southwest from Lexington all the way to western Kentucky going by another favorite spot, Land Between the Lakes. By now, if you are a Central Kentuckian, you know which road I am writing about: US Highway 68.

     Of course, I wouldn't have so much experience with this road if David and I had not acquired a retreat on a beautiful little lake in Nicholas County. We bought our place on Lake Carnico in 2000. This was when the Paris Pike expansion began, thus, we were able to see the landscape from a multitude of perspectives as new road was built. Paris Pike is the most beautiful road in the world! I was so enchanted by this road that I used two scenes from this stretch to paint my 2010 Horse Mania horse, Paris Pike. Now the highway is being expanded from Paris to Carlisle, and we can again see the rolling hills from a fresh angle. This is an ever-evolving road, which began with buffalo crossing at a low point in the Ohio River (what would become Maysville) and roaming from salt lick to salt lick, creating traces. There is quite a story to tell and fortunately, now there is a book which thoroughly delves into this story. That book is Kentucky's Frontier Highway: Historical Landscapes along the Maysville Road by Karl Raitz and Nancy O'Malley.  The launching party for this book is a wonderful exhibit at the beautiful Hopewell Museum in Paris, KY: Road Life: Sites and Scenes along Kentucky's First Highway. This exhibit is up through June 2, 2013.

     I am very pleased that I will be the Hopewell Museum's artist for the April 12, 2013 Artwalk. From 5 - 8 pm, I will be nestled within the Road Life exhibit with small paintings, cards and prints. All will feature scenes from along US 68.  I hope that you can stop by to see this wonderful exhibit at the Hopewell along with a sampling of my work!  For more information please check out the Hopewell's website: www.hopewellmuseum.org.

Recognizing Reality, Revealing Enchantment

The sun rises on 12-12-12

Something that I try to drive home when I teach, is that artists must develop two types of perception: objective and subjective.  Of course, the act of perceiving objectively is used constantly as we look for just the right color or the accurate relationship between objects. Recognizing reality is always useful when you are trying to create or accomplish something. You have to know where things stand. This is true whether you are painting a landscape or running for President. I personally believe that this alone makes the case for art being part of everyone's education. Through art, and drawing in particular, you learn how to see things directly, think and evaluate for yourself. This is especially important now, when everyone and their brother is writing a blog (including me!) and throwing opinions out there willy-nilly. We need to know how to recognize reality for ourselves.

Fortunately, making art is not just about representing reality in a sterile fashion.  The whole idea is that something is loved enough to bring it into the world.  So, an artist also needs to develop subjective perception: What do I think is so important here? Why should this perception be shared? This type of perception is also in short supply. People can go through whole days (months? decades?) without seeing what a wondrous and beautiful world we live in. Perhaps we are too busy or preoccupied. I have to remind myself to keep my senses open to what is happening without any work on my part. Just today, I was walking Carly and I realized that the birds were sounding like Spring is coming. In my art, I want to bring out this beauty and wonder using my subjective perception. This is the true work of the artist, to shine a light on something that needs to be sensed. This can go in any direction, pointing out injustice, silliness, darkness as well as loveliness. To me, the news and much of today's art focuses on what is wrong and tragic in our world. So, I think it is important to reveal the enchantment that surrounds us.

     And that is my goal for this new year and beyond: to recognize reality and reveal enchantment.