Losing the Story

sometimes an artist tells a story

within a painting...

do you ever look for it?

I have many strong impressions of the cities I have visited in Italy...and a stack of reference photos I love to revisit.  In anticipation of painting a very large canvas of a street scene I decided to do a 

smaller study first.

 6" x 12"

acrylic underpainting

To save some time I started with an acrylic underpainting just so I could get some basic shapes down on the panel.  This smaller piece has the same height to width ratio as my larger canvas so I will be able to easily transfer dimensions of what I like to the next version.

The acrylic dried quickly so I could come in with the oils and get busy on the next stage.  Now, here is where it went off track.  Yes, this was a piece about laundry day in the neighborhood but there is no focal point...there is nothing really that gives you any clues to the real story I intended to tell.  I got so caught up in the wonky buildings and the itty bitty pieces of fabrics that I failed to convey anything interesting about the scene.  

This is when one breathes a sigh of relief that it was a mere 6 x 12 inches and NOT a 3 x 6 foot canvas.  For all the times i have been told to do a mock-up or a practice first....really, who enjoys doing that?  like homework.  BUT, every now and then it proves wise to to follow old school and invest the time it takes to practice.  Think of the time and the paint (never mind the heart ache) I have saved?

I won't go into the list of errors I see above, you can do that...or not!  And I do not disagree that it is an "ok" little panel suitable for a colorful laundry room hanging.  However, along the way I lost my story and made numerous errors.  I am so very glad that it was not larger than it is and that I now have an example of how I will not execute the larger one.

Living and Learning...ColorFULLY,

Cindy

Meet Kelly Medford

Meet Kelly Medford (www.kellymedford.com) my friend, Italian hostess, teacher, critic, co-adventure-lover....oh, did I say:  ARTIST.  Before you get to know her through my eyes, go to this site and watch this professionally made,  very short video about her:  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8LrX-9C8wWU. 

 

Sounds like a dedicated artist, eh? Here's Kelly (above) painting on the rooftop of our apartment in Procida.  Yep, she's just the kind that looks out the window during wine time, sees the soft yellow light of sunset, grabs her paints and runs to catch the glow.  I followed but gingerly carried my wine and camera up to catch her catching it!  Kelly came to Florence, Italy to study art about 10 years ago.  She soon realized she could learn more painting daily on the streets than copying the classical busts that were protocol at the academy.  The rest is history....

After several years she moved to Rome to live and work.  In addition to her daily plein air discipline she conducts "Sketch Rome" tours, teaches and collaborates on myriad other art projects.

We didn't paint 24/7 however, because breakfast coffee was a must no matter where we found ourselves....above is our favorite coffee setting overlooking the fisherman's harbour from a hotel we stayed at in Procida.  Of course we discussed the light.....but look at those rooftops and colors and lines and arial perspective......oh my!

Kelly loves her work and is happiest when painting but she is a fine teacher as well.  I have great appreciation that she recognizes we all have our own style and approach, "I'm not trying to teach you to paint exactly like I do," she begins, "I am here to help you apply some basic formulas to your own work." Nothing "basic" however about the depth of knowledge she shares.  Everything from mixing all the colors you"ll ever need from 3 tubes of paint to the principals of perspective. 

Kelly engaged us in a number of exercises which I greatly enjoyed.  Many of us lack the discipline to do the daily work that really advances us, so this rang my chimes. Here she is moderating a critique of our work....mine on the hot seat here!  I'm not thin skinned but I will always be grateful that she commented on how most of my work, even the timed exercises, seemed to offer a story in them....something I have tried to do since the day I picked up a brush.  Of course her noting this, unprompted, makes her brilliant in my mind!!

We later crawled around Rome sketching in the various parks and looking for new angles to paint.

Kelly has made me want to work on my watercolor sketching more, it is a different ballgame than oil but has such portability that I will enjoy honing my skills.  If I need inspiration I only need look at the photo above done in a park before we indulged in a birthday lunch and bottle of wine.  Further nudges will come from the jewel below.  A tiny little sketch I loved and then found in my card as a precious gift from a sweet friend, a valued teacher and a fine plein air painter.  Lots of grand memories!

P.S.  I would be remiss to let you think this piece is as blue as it appears....blame my camera and my lack of technology on an iPad.  You can see more of her work and sign up to get notices of new work at her website, www.kellymedford.com.  I know Kelly would love to hear from you.  If you are in love with Italy keep in mind that she does commissions and visits the U.S. in the winter.  

Ciao Italy and ciao Kelly!

Villa Poggiolame of Arte Umbria

It's nap time (Italians don't call it a siesta) so I have a few minutes to show you the villa where I am happily ensconced this week. 

This is the back side, above. You can see the studio entrance thru the glass doors. The terrace is above and the upper window on the right is my bedroom. 

Here is a little view of my space. So lovely. Every room of course is different. I have taken wrong turns many times going from my room to the dining room or salon. Lots of long halls and many turns, all distinguished by large wooden doors which are kept closed and, to me, directionally challenged as I am, all look alike. 

I took a little walk about this morning before breakfast and caught some distance views before the rain moved in. 

I didn't need to speak italian to figure out what these signs read!

This is where our eggs come from. 

Here are the trees that are responsible for all the olive oil we are consuming as well as another view of the villa. 

I found this tree house on the property and was ready to skip class in favor of dragging up a book and pretending to be a child again. The dark clouds and approaching storms, plus a body ready for coffee, squashed that idea however. 

Rain has changed some of our plans. Obviously long range views of landscapes are not too practical. Kelly is punting well however. This morning I experimented with several others on interior landscapes. We used watercolor so as not to leave our marks and that was a huge challenge for me.

Here are my first three attempts at the same scene. There is something decent about each but no one that is error free. No worries, I have it sketched for one more pass after naps... Hopefully I can take all the right parts and get them into one piece!

More later, gotta get a rest-up, dinner out tonight and these Italians dine late!

Ciao,

Cindy

Arte Umbria: appetizer for art making

Rubbing my eyes as the sun came gently into my room, I thought for a minute I had woken up in a movie....star or bit part? Didn't matter, I snuggled deeper into the covers and looked around: old stone walls, a ceramic chandelier, tile floors, sloping beamed ceilings and, oh my, a canopy bed.  Birds were calling, I heard a rooster, and as I got up to open the shutters on my windows I looked out onto miles and miles of the gently rolling, ancient hills of Umbria.  Below I could see a stone terrace and everywhere  flowers: huge, hand-sized roses of all colors, pots and pots of geraniums, daisy pockets, waist high herbs, yellow broom with fragrance and so many others that have no name to me yet.  If this is a movie, I feel like the star!  If this is a novel then surely I must speak Italian.  If this is really a dream, well, don't wake me up.

Dinner was the best of an out-of-body experience: drinks on the terrace, conversation in small pockets inside when the winds got chilly and then a move to the dining room where, at a table for 12, a four course dinner was leisurely served as the wine and conversation flowed.  Where am I?  I had to strain to understand the language....and it was all English!  (No it was not the wine.) Those Brits sure know how to fancy up a sentence. And add to the fact that we had three from down under (which speaks in its own version of "English,"), plus 2 brave gals from Swedan with a totally different slant on the language, Kelly now speaks American-ese with an Italian accent and then me, the lone American, the only one whose language was fully comprehensible and at times that was even questionable.  We have a Catholic priest, a doctor, and international tech man, a retired college professor, a school teacher, a farmer, a shrink....it was a lively and fascinating conversation ... if one could keep up with it!

And, and......(be still my heart) we get to paint today.  Please don't wake me up.  

Ciao,

Cindy

P.s. Did I mention the on-site chef? 3 meals a day?  

Just another day in paradiso!

It's like a buffet: the sights, the sounds, and the smells...my senses are over-fed and yet constantly hungering just the same.  I'm not used to trying to get it all down on paper while still digesting and sorting it all out.  Processing will come later, at a more leisurely pace, time to sit and ponder all I am tasting for the first time.  Then, and only then will I be able to make artistic music with the notes I am trying desperately to capture quickly here.  Meanwhile, odds and ends from the road:

Cappuccino and water colors, perched on a wall over the beach...just me and the sea gulls...

The beach where scenes from "El Postino" was filmed.

My oil paints did not arrive (in my checked and thus lost luggage) so I was using my tiny travel water colors....

Can't wait to paint that sky....

Simplifying....trying to anyway, back side of the church....

Colorful waterfront at the fisherman's marina.....

Enough for one day...time for a vino!

Ciao, ciao,

Cindy

Naked Artist? Painting when the luggage goes astray.......

All packed and ready to go!  Here I am at the orlando airport ready to begin my painting trip to Italy.  Minimal clothes and painting supplies are in my backpack...take a good look and let me know if you see it anywhere....it has not yet joined me in either Naples or the island of Procida.  Depending on who I speak to it is either still in Atlanta, visiting Paris or somewhere on the island.  Who knows....burning daylight so Kelly and I decide to get with the painting!

After several days in Naples (where I picked up a few necessities) we took the ferry to the island of Procida.  Thank goodness I had thrown my travel watercolor set into my purse before leaving Florida.  It was not what I came to do but I decided If I had to draw on paper towels, darn it, I would not leave without some art making under my belt.

Procida has gorgeous scenery all over the island.  Since it it small and built on a very steep hill, we could find great views all over.  This is from an evening scouting trip before dinner down at the port.

Here's Kelly from our apartment roof top painting a scene of Mount Vesuvius.  Didn't take me long to climb up and join her for an early morning warm up session.

Really, who is worried about lost luggage with a view like this?

A few warm up sketches and I was ready for a little lunch and a new venue.  We caught a bus (it seems there are two: one up and one down) and headed down to the waterfront where the ferries come in and the fishermen still head out for work.  One story regarding the brightly colored houses on the island is that it made it easy to the fishermen to spot their own home when coming back from sea.  

And I think you could easily pick out most any home you were looking for from the shoreline.

I learned something very important here, sounds obvious but...the boats do not stay still!  Most boats I have rendered have been from photos and it makes it fairly easy to line up landmarks and get a decent drawing.  I had forgotten that the water spins these beautiful subjects around and thus every time I looked up my hull had moved or the lines had tightened....something to make it exceptionally difficult!

I was not far from a gelato stand so when kelly announced she had scouted a new view I was all too eager to get a sweet and move along!

Here's my last scene of the day.  Not having earned my stripes as a "real plein air painter," I like to think of these sketches as studies for larger work to be done in the studio.  Just drawing it several times is a wonderful way to work out the composition as well as get familiar with the shapes.

By the time we found a little outdoor cafe for wine time the sun was dropping so this is a dark photo.  There is a lot wrong with this piece....but there is also a lot right.  Both lists will be enormously helpful when it comes time to review my photos and my sketches and turn this into a larger oil painting. 

Can't wait to get out tomorrow, there is always the excitement of trying something new and making new discoveries artistically, as well as uncovering some new, breathtaking scene.  Kelly has been amazingly patient in having to translate menus etc but has also provided some memorable art discussions and laughs: all part of the sport of plein air work.  Gotta get some shut eye-- we plan to get on the road early tomorrow, and who knows maybe, just maybe, my luggage will arrive and I will have my oil paints back in hand.  Ciao, ciao!

Cindy

Colorful History

The Umbrella Pines

oil    8" x 24"

Painting in Rome and Venice was an experience I will always recall fondly.  Plein Air work is a totally different sport than studio work.  Here are some of the pieces I have worked on since I returned.  Come visit me and most of this work next weekend, Nov. 23 and 24, 10 - 5 pm, at ArtWorks Fine Arts Festival on Highland Avenue in Eau Gallie. Click here for a map and directions.  

 Ponte di Rialto, Venice

oil    8" x 10"

Roman Colosseum 2013 AD

oil     9" x 10"

 The Appian Way

oil    5" x 7"

St. Peters Basilica from Villa Borghese

6" x 12"

See you at the art festival!  My space is #114 on the western side of Highland Avenue.  Cindy

Pisa

I had to resist titling this blog "A Piece of Pisa,"  but that's what it is!  Again in my "Places" series:

   size 5 x 5

white mat to size 12 x 9

Everyone hears about the Leaning Tower of Pisa and can't resist the allure of actually seeing it. 

And while the Tower is fascinating the area is what we Floridians would call

"a tourist trap."  I came, I saw and I was ready to leave.  So we wandered around a

bit, off the beaten path, to remove ourselves from the

hawkers, gawkers and buses, and this was one of

the resulting photos I captured.  Much more Italy-esque

than the other side!

The difficulty I had with this piece is the lack of a strong sense of sunlight.

We were there during some cloudy months and had to deal with low light for much of the time.

I remember this being near the end of the day and we did have an orangey-yellow glow

from the west as the sun began to set, but not much other contrast.

Hence, few dramatic shadows, cast or otherwise!

Who doesn't love Italy?

Even this small vignette makes me thing of wine and olive oil and

great food.

BUY NOW

Plenty of Plein Air

Kelly Medford on Plein Air painting…..                          email recipients can: (comment here)

Today’s guest is Kelly Medford, a new friend and a “plein air” painter who currently bikes around Rome capturing the landscape and nuance of Italy.  Seven years ago she spent a year at the Florence Academy of Art while a student at the University of TN, Chattanooga.  (See her work at: http://www.kellymedford.com). Realizing that all her time had been in the studio Kelly vowed to get outside and paint the countryside….

Just what is “plein air painting?”

Kelly:  It’s taking your easel and all other painting “gear” outside, setting up and painting the scene.  I spend hours walking or riding my bike around looking for the right composition or the right light and then, bam! there’s a painting just waiting to be captured. It’s about being inspired by real life in the blink of an eye.  I have my easel in a backpack and saddlebags on my bike.  It’s a real challenge.

This sounds a little….hazardous?

Well, it’s not dangerous (if you have your gear system down pat) but you need to be mentally agile.  For example, I usually wear sandals and once in FL I noticed way too late that I was standing in a fire ant bed; my feet swelled to the size of melons.  You have to put up with the elements: wind, sun, cold, the annoying person who tells me I’ve painted it all wrong or the one who parks their car in front of my perfect composition.

But?

But I like it.  I was attracted by the level of spontaneity, unpredictability.  I like being outdoors (farming didn’t work for me).  I like the strong light and I love how people are surprised by someone out on the street painting.

Do they interrupt you?

Constantly, it’s part of the adventure.  If you don’t like being friendly I suggest you wear oversized earphones and act like you are listening to music.  But I enjoy sharing my work; sometimes they ask to buy the piece or want to see more on-line.  Italians are a lot nosier than Americans.  In the US people spoke to tell me I was trespassing…in Italy they tell me stories, they want to know why I picked a scene, they tell me they paint better, I’ve even been serenaded while painting on a bridge.

People are amazing, wonderful creatures and always have something fascinating to tell me.  I can’t imagine painting in the studio every day; it would be so boring and lifeless without these odd interactions.  People ultimately make me appreciate what I do.

So, you do not paint from photographs?

I’ve only used them if I need to finish up something and usually I toss them as memory and imagination better serve me.  Without judging those who do, let me share my philosophy: I could take a photograph (which is also an art form) but copying it somehow lacks imagination.  If I do a little sketch with a pencil, the lines will say everything about the place, the moment and how I feel about it right then.  I’m an artist, I create something from nothing.  I want to paint life in that moment…not make an accurate record of a static situation.  You can enjoy my recent series of scenes in Rome "When in Rome" by clicking on the title.

Kelly, you have a challenging but exciting job; it’s obvious that you totally love what you do.

I do love it.  I enjoy that every day is so unexpected: I have no idea what I will paint or who I will meet.  It’s a lot like the weather: you can try to predict it but ultimately you have to experience it as it happens…and always dress accordingly!

For more of Kelly’s adventures visit her blog “Adventures in Painting” at http://www.kellymedford.blogspot.com, or contact Kelly at paintings@kellymedford.com).