Several years ago I had the opportunity to visit MOMA in Queens and view the Picasso-Matisse exhibition. It was a thrilling experience to see such a range of work by two of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
However, I recently visited the Arvada Center for the Arts to see a Joseph Raffael exhibit of his large watercolors. Most of the works were close to 60x90 inches in size and had such a presence that I sat on a bench in the middle of the gallery for a long time surrounded by the paintings. Raffael's work is so powerful, especially considering the subjects, that I didn't want to leave. I didn't know that floral still lifes and intimate nature scenes could evoke such strong emotions from an old guy like me. The show was highlighted in the Artists Magazine and seeing small images in the magazine made me realize that this would be a strong exhibition. But seeing the paintings in person made me understand how watercolor can reach a level on par with the MOMA exhibit. For more by this artist go to: http://www.josephraffael.com/. This show will be traveling to other parts of the country and I'd recommend it highly.

My recent work is on more mundane like the painting shown below of an old garage with an interesting collection of signs.

Thomas J. Owen Newsletter

My newsletter on photographing artwork is now on line at www.thomasjowen.com -- click on newsletter.
My next post will be on the Joseph Raffael show, now in Fort Collins, CO. A must see if you can do it.
Tom

Springtime in the Sangres

Returned last night from the workshop -- the area around Westcliffe in the Wet Mountain Valley is picturesque and holds some surprises.
For someone who grew up in Lancaster county, Pa, I didn't expect to see an Amish community in a high Colorado mountain valley. Friday afternoon, I saw a group of young men playing softball in their traditional attire (black pants, white shirts, suspenders and hats) while a group of young women in long black skirts and white prayer bonnets filled the bleachers. (Sorry, no photos out of respect.) You could hear them speaking "Dutch" as we used to say growing up (it's really a form of German).
The Valley is a relatively isolated area that's irrigated and grows some of the best grass hay on the east slope of the Rockies. I guess that's what has attracted the Amish to this valley. The families still ride into town in their horse-drawn buggies, but the team arrived in a bus with a non-Amish driver.
The Sangre de Christo Range starts at the Arkansas River and extends south into New Mexico as far as Sante Fe. The area west of the Valley contains the highest percentage of peaks over 14,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains. This time of year, they still hold a fair amount of their snow and the jeep roads up to the high lakes are often blocked by snow drifts eight feet high. Had to fish at DeWeese Reservoir instead, a few miles northeast of Westcliffe, where I caught a nice rainbow on a "gold-ribbed hare's ear".
Teaching the workshop was fun: the students were highly motivated and kept me busy answering their questions. They were interested in design and composition more than technique. The workshop was held in a turn-of-the-century stone schoolhouse that doubles as a museum (http://www.custercountyco.com/museums.htm). Here are some of the students working on simplifying complex subjects while developing a strong focal point.

A Juror's Observations

I've just completed juroring Watermedia XVI, a biennial exhibition sponsored by the Pike Peak Watercolor Society. After selecting 80 paintings from a field of over 380 works, I'd like to make some observations on the process.

Artists entering the exhibition ranged from Dolphin Fellows of the American Watercolor Society to newcomers to watermedia. Most states and six foreign countries were represented. In order to be more inclusive, I selected no more than one painting from an artist (artists could enter up to three works and several artists entered three strong works). Submissions were via slide or digital image.

My method of selection was to evaluate each painting on four criteria:

1. Technique

2. Design

3. Content

4. Originality

Design and originality were the main qualifiers. Most entries had sound technique and something to say. Original thought was at a premium, but some good examples were entered. Design was strong on at least half of the entries, so it was a matter of being demanding on many of the borderline paintings. As Ed Whitney used to say, "In watercolor a placement differential of 1/4" can promote or demote". (He was extremely picky, in my opinion.)

One major concern was the large number of poorly photographed paintings. Artists can help themselves immensely by putting more energy into photographing their work. I've judged several shows where the quality of the image was crucial to being accepted into the exhibition. So, if you're serious about getting work selected, make the effort. A good entry should be in sharp focus, have the correct tone (not too dark or too light) and show only the image (no mat, frame or background). Digital entries should be set at the appropriate resolution as required by the exhibition prospectus. If it says, "No larger than 1200 pixels on the longest side", then pay attention to that requirement. Photography problems like keystoneing and angled or skewed images must be avoided. Appropriate lighting is important for displaying the colors correctly in your painting. Failure to pay attention to these things makes the evaluation of your work difficult. Hence, a judge is more likely to pass on it. Remember that you're competing with other artists who are serious about getting into shows and are doing an excellent job of photographing their work. To learn more about photographing watercolors, check my Summer 2009 newsletter at my website: http://www.thomasjowen.com/. It will be posted in mid-June.

This coming weekend, I'll be in Westcliffe, CO at the foot of the Sangres de Christo Range (the highest and longest range in the Rocky Mountains) for a landscape painting workshop titled"Springtime in the Sangres".

ps. the photo has nothing to do with the show, I just like my irises!

Working from Photo References

Photos can be a great time saver in the developing realistic paintings. However,they can present many problems:too much information,key stoning,black shadows,false colors,distortion of scale,and compositional problems. I can often tell when an artist is a slave to the photograph. One or more of the preceding problems will be evident, and the painter will say,"but this is how it looked".

One should think of the photo reference as a springboard to a painting that will eclipse it. Some solutions I use are: One shoot images with a 90 MM lens for scale.Take more than one shot with varied F stops for value variation. Simplify information (trace subject on parchment,next trace the tracing.Repeat until you have the essence).Check all vertical and horizontal lines against the edges of you paper to catch key stoning .Move or introduce objects to the best positions in the compositions. Finaly express yourself with unique colors,textures,edges,tones.etc.

One method I like is to paint an abstract under painting. Finish the work with complementary colors of the under painting. The marina painting above is an example.

Regards-Tom

Reef Fossils,Combined media on paper mounted on canvas

Combined media on paper,mounted on canvas.

These are really fun! I use this method for many abstracts paintings,also. First, mono print a mix of acrylic modeling paste and gel medium on Fabriano 140 lb rough artistico to create bone like textures. Continue painting wet in wet over the paper with acrylics,watercolor, and India inks to revel forms. Opaque colors are used to paint around fossil forms. Lastly emphasize bone textures by sanding the high spots. Mount on gallery wrapped canvas using acrylic gel medium as a glue. Spray with a fixative,then varnish. Let your imagination go,be inventive. My college students love this way of working. They come up great variations on this theme.

Tom

A tale of two shows.

A tale of two shows. Yesterday I visited the Colorado Watercolor Society's statewide exhibition and the Colorado Open . Both are excellent ,however ,they express very different views on art. The Open is true museum show with content and original thought leading the way. It is edgy and thought provoking . The artists are making statements,and this is good. Art should seek to be a visual communication. The CWS is more comfortable.Design,color,and technique lead the way. I could live with most the works in this exhibition. The key word is Quality, and both have this in abundance. I invite commentary on the value of each school of thought.
Tom