Winner's Words: July 2021 Student Show

July 15, 2021 8:14 PM | Deleted user

First Place – Light and Shadows – Best time of day by Leisa Patin

Light and Shadows – the Right Time of Day was begun in Carla Gauthier’s Light and Shadow virtual class in September of 2020, and completed the day after (I’m a slow painter!). Carla posted a picture to use that she took at just the “right time of day” in her living room; a perfect contrast of bright light through the curtained window coming directly at the viewer, and the darker areas to the side. I used both my computer screen image (for the light and hues) and one I printed for the shapes. We also had an image in black and white to determine the contrasts.

I’ve made and used value charts before, but never thought of punching holes to compare the value of what I mixed with the value I was trying to achieve. Usually, I began paintings with a neutral underpainting, often Payne’s Grey. But Carla suggested yellow for the mid and darker level areas in this picture. I believe the only masking I did was to depict the blinds and floorboards, using the “card method” that Carla suggested, although I used the edge of a metal erasing shield from my drafting days. Most importantly, I mixed glazes for the rich brown shadowed areas and allowed the pigments to separate into reds and blues to contrast with the yellow from the bright light. I love all the techniques using tools and paints that Carla offers in her classes – so helpful!

Second Place – Reflections by Kristel Peale

The exercise given in Ellen Orseck's class was to have the background define the subject. I shot the photo as reflected in my glass balcony doors. It defines me as an urban art collector. You are seeing some of my interior (with bits of my collection) as well as city lights with a bit of downtown skyline in far back left.

Third Place – Grandmother by Patty Mcgrath Jones

During my classes the artists/instructors had a great impact as far as their expertise in handling portraits. The expert knowledge that they shared with me and the classes really were superb. Texturing backgrounds and methods that they used were amazing. The hair on my portrait of “grandmother” was wispy. Cheryl Evans proposed the use of water and placing around the hair at a 1/2 inch away from the head to make it look very soft. This was accomplished on Zoom because of Covid. Ksenia Annis helped us by executing fast portraits and pointed to several values and quick strokes to capture the action and feeling of the people. This was also a Zoom class due to Covid 19.

Honorable Mention – Bird in Bamboo by Louise Bateman

I was inspired by my love of Chinese art and culture. Chinese brush paintings are very calming and zen-like. This technique has taught me to slow down and be mindful as I put my brush and paints to the rice paper. I want to thank my teacher and mentor, Peihong Endris, who has infinite patience when working with me.

Honorable Mention – Resting Time by Kyunghee Johnson

I like to paint flowers and animals. When I saw that tiger laying in his den, he looked so peaceful. I looked into his eyes, and we could almost talk about how his day had been. l loved that he gave me calmness and peace. I had to paint him!

Honorable Mention – The Universe: Objects May be Sharper Than They Appear by Marion Friedman

This painting and my other submissions for this year's student show were all completed as assignments for Ellen Orseck's excellent class, Abstraction: Organic and Geometric. It was amazing how this one class encouraged my creativity and willingness to have fun with my art. I expect it to have a lasting impact on the direction my art goes from here. In this particular painting while focusing on basic geometric shapes, an unexpected narrative emerged, and I went with it. This painting also represents my greatest success in applying salt and alcohol to achieve different textures.

Comments

  • July 24, 2021 9:00 AM | Patricia Kay
    It's actually quite inspiring to read the comments from all the winning and placing artists. I loved all the paintings and appreciate them sharing their experience(s) with the rest of us. Congratulations to all!
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