Per amore dell'arte... schizzi e riflessioni.. (For the love of art...sketches and reflections

Hello again...  I have been away for much too long and seem to have abondoned all of my students, friends, colleagues, and followers. I hope to make this up to you as work to bring you up to date. So much has happened as life took some interesting turns.  To begin, these are things that need to be said:
For the love of the art one does not abandon the creative inner being in dificult times.
For the love of the art one finds a way to stay focused even though outside stresses take their toll.
For the love of the art one must continue to expand and develop their skills.
For the love of art, we live. All art, music, literature, drama, feeds us and restores us.

As the world around us changes and new pressures crush even the most willing souls, great literature and art are the only things that can feed us and bring us back to life. My father, the son of Italians who came to the US to make a better life for their future generations, devoured great literature. Among the various works he often quoted was "If" by Rudyard Kipling. If you have had any personal struggles recently, read on and see if you can relate.

If you can keep your head when all about you
  Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
  But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
  Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
  And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream — and not make dreams your master;
  If you can think — and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
  And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
  Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
  And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
  And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
  And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
  To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
  Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
  Or walk with Kings — nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
  If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
  With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
  And which is more; you'll be a Man, my son!
http://allspirit.co.uk/kipling.html
All art, music, literature, drama, feeds us and restores us. We must continue to create even when - perhaps, especially when  - we think no one is paying attention.

The North Carolina Opera Ball...highest bid

This weekend the North Carolina Opera held their annual ball and fundraiser.  Having been asked to donate a portrait to help raise funds in this dreadful economy, I was happy to help. The lovely lady you see in this graphite drawing told the audience of the work I had done to create her mother's portrait last summer. (You may remember the oil I showed you in stages as we worked together before my sitter left to go home to Singapore.) It was a wonderful evening at the opera event - a very nice dinner, a lovely dance, with beautiful performances by NC opera hopefuls, and a very successful auction.  I am proud to share with you that Mrs. Romano's talk to the audience apparently encouraged some very generous patrons to bid for the portrait. The winner will have a head and shoulder portrait painted of the person of their choice. The bidding was very lively and very exciting. It claimed the highest income ( by more than a third) for any item that night! We all need to do what we can to help non-profits stay alive.  We must not lose our music, art, opera, ballet, drama to these uncertain times.  Read more about how the NC Opera has merged with other opera companies in NC. http://operanc.wordpress.com/

Red Cross Ball 2010 - Fundraiser

The Red Cross is one of my special activities.....  Now more that ever we need to be raising funds for their good works globally.  Happily, I am their signature artist here in the Triangle again this year. Their theme this season was "Carolina Nights."  This offers so many visual opportunities. Our state is wide and diverse in its topography, people, food, etc. So I decided to offer three designs - one for each of our regions. To the east, there are lovely white-sand beaches of the coastal region.  The extremely diverse central area of the Piedmont has the busiest of towns known for banking, universities, and technology,and are interspersed with rolling pastoral farmlands.  Then to the west, the wonderful Blue Ridge Mountains.  Tonight I will share the painting of the Coastal Scene. Now go to http://www.trianglearc.org/EVENTS/AnnualGala/tabid/896/language/en-US/Default.aspx

The Sketchbook...

Have you seen the wonderful Leonardo exhibition in Atlanta at the High Museum? Go to http://www.high.org/main.taf?p=3,1,1,15,1 or go directly to the home page at the High http://www.high.org/ The exhibit is there until the 21st ofr February. Quite lovely, inspiring.... when one walks in, each person receives a magnifying glass and invited to approach the artwork at very close range....how unusual! So here is a page from one of my toned-paper, 14x11 sketchbooks. The work is in brown Sharpie ink, touched with green-grey watercolor pencil, and white charcoal pencil. Why ink? It is a little like those folks who do the NY Times crossword puzzles in ink... makes you think fast, stay on your toes, and build confidence. The next couple of images will be pages from my sketchbooks that are matted and for sale.

Jerry's Art of the Carolinas...

So glad to have been a part of the Jerry's event at the North Raleigh Hilton this past weekend. The students were great!  My classes were really interesting  - for both of us!...a lecture on The Color of Light, creating color charts for The Color of People, building better portraits through clearer understanding of the individual features in Parts and Pieces, and the busiest class, Great Faces! Special thanks to all the manufacturers who sponsored my classes. Go look at http://www.ampersandart.com/  http://www.savoirfaire.com/ and http://www.sennelier.fr/ and http://www.strathmoreartist.com/ and http://www.richesonart.com/   I love working with your materials...your materials make my art the best it can be...   And those students had such talent and enthusiasm, all ages, all backgrounds - their energy just gave me more energy.  I love, love, love demonstrating portrait sketches. It is always so much fun...really magical... to see an image develop from nothing on a blank canvas. Come back and see me...every one of you!

Looking back at the oil sketch...

Here is a oil portrait sketch I did of a lovely fellow who modeled for one of my workshops a few years ago. I think this is still one of my favorites.  Have you ever noticed how the more spontaneous the work - all while talking, explaning color, value, placement, lighting -  is the real ticket!  All that chatter you are pouring out to the students helps somehow to keep part of your brain occupied so that you don't overwork the painting.  You just do it! And this character study is all in the eye and the corner of the mouth..not to mention the rakish tilt of the hat! I guarantee that you would recognize him in a crowd.

The two hour oil sketch...

Today I would like to share this 24 x 20 oil sketch with you today.  Dana was one of my interns two years ago. She came to me to learn more about figure drawing as she was preparing to go on to the Savannah School of Art for fashion design. We have a great internships program here at Artspace http://www.artspacenc.org/  that works in conjunction with our scool system and the local colleges.  We train them in the business of art, all aspects of creating art, stocking the studio, difference in materials, difference in techniques, the basic daily life of the studio....and in return the students help us with daily work of all types and occasionally assist us with our workshops or classes, deliveries, etc.  This sketch was done in about two hours...note the unfinished hands... but it really caught her in a great spot under the sky light.  Please call for pricing.