I discovered Debbie Little-Wilson on the WPA website also. I like the humor that comes through in her work. The print on the left is called Hummers. On the right is Her Life on the Line and when you can see the work closely the woman who's "life" is on the clothesline is apparently a paper doll, at least her cloths are paper doll cloths. Antique punch out paper dolls embody rich historical connotations. I want to see and contemplate more of this artists work because of this piece.

I would like to know more about her process and maybe could surmise the answers to most of my questions by seeing her work in person. Otherwise, It is wonderful to enjoy the available images while imagining the written humor that must come forward in her artist statement.

Women Printmakers of Austin

I found  Lynne Hubner on the Women Printmakers of Austin website. I am very interested in the group. Although I have seen some of the members work in studio galleries I was unable to make the annual show WPA held recently.

The two examples of her work here help show the diversity I found in her portfolio. On top is a one color relief print. The bottom example is an oil based monotype. Although not all of her work appeals to me I am drawn to her diversity in the printmaking medium.

I am noticing that many of these women printmakers are making prints of birds. I realize that even in my limited printmaking portfolio I have two series of circus birds. Weird!

Kathy Sheehan taught me drawing then printmaking at Austin Community College. I truly enjoy seeing her work every year in the Pump Project at the EAST studio tour because I know some things about her process and her. When I read her artist statement again to prepare this blog entry I was reminded that she makes her work with a passion for animals and the environment. Her purpose is much deeper than what I have summed up but what is important is that her statement about her work, her work, and her lifestyle are all in alignment. I often wonder when I research artists if the same is true, if what I perceive about them, through their presentation of themselves, is true.

Kathy uses patterned materials, such as lace, in conjunction with her drawings to create dynamic, layered prints. In some cases she embosses some layers without ink creating beautiful textural depth while emphasizing the interaction between species and man.

Judd

Marfa Voices

Above is a link to the video trailer for Marfa Voices. This video explains the work of Donald Judd, especially after his settlement in Marfa, Texas. His daughter manages the foundation that preserves his work and continues his mission. A good selection of his work is shown in the video. 

I am very interested in Judd's work because of the conceptual nature of his pieces. I feel like I am forced to slow down to comprehend a Judd piece. Surely, captivating a viewer is a mark of success for any artist. I was initially interested in his work because of the stories that abound about viewers reactions to Judd's sculptures. It seems from New York galleries to the veritable Brazoria County takeover Judd invariably wins the viewer over time. 

I also researched Judd because the greater extent of his body of work is so close to home for me.I think I will make the trip to interact with his sculptures in the fields of Marfa so that I may better understand the art discussed in the video Marfa Voices.

Chuck Close is interesting to me because he does portraiture, he works on a huge scale, and he employs printmaking as well as painting. The example of his work to the right is a woodcut that was professionally printed. His ability to collaborate with others to accomplish these massive  portraits is inspiring. The underlying grid is obvious in nearly all his work but here the radiating pattern adds so much to the composition. 

While I continue to work and fulfill assignments I am searching for my identity as an artist. People are very important to me. I understand that Close is working to identify people visually through his portraiture and I would have a different aim to identify characteristics of people through portraiture. There is a lot to take in with a Close portrait, scale certainly not the least. I am interested also in how similar Close's work is to mural painting at least in fundamental structure.

I remember becoming familiar with Frida Kahlo. I have always thought pictures of her were as fantastically colored and interesting as her representations of herself. I love how the symbolism in her self portraits is used to make the portrait a complete and accurate portrayal of herself at a given time.The more familiar I became with Mexico and the folk art of Mexico while I studied there the more I could see her heritage in her work. It seems simple enough that she would draw on what was familiar to her. That is exactly what draws me to her work again and again. She never pursued a formal art education yet she certainly came to a mature style that is severely distinguished from her early works. The thread that ties her body of work together is the rootedness in Mexican folk art.

I have felt hot and cold about Kahlo's work, probably because she became so popular that I wanted to not like her anymore. Yet I come back. She has made a connection with people even long after her death by reappearing on handbags, jewelry, and reproductions. I cannot ignore my utter astonishment that a self-taught artist has created such a legacy simply by being true to herself.

Diego Rivera

Mexican muralist Diego Rivera is most fascinating to me as a character. He was politically outspoken, quite immoral with the ladies, and famous. He had crews of people working under him to complete his mural designs. He was commissioned in Mexico and America.

I was able to visit one apartment he lived in as a child. It has been turned into his museum. I felt quite familiar with his work before the visit to the museum where I learned that he had been classically trained. He took his learning and combined it with traditional indigenous representational methods to create his unique style. This was one of the first times I truly understood the value of art education in the pursuit of personal artistic style. 

Calder

Known for his mobiles, Calder combined his engineering skill with artistry. I like the mobiles because the shadows play as much a part in the work as the parts he actually crafted. I also like the idea that these artworks can be huge and seen from below instead of straight on. Also, traditional three dimensional work would be placed on a pedestal but Calder's work could not be forced onto a pedestal for display.

The mobility and viewer interaction are essential components of a successful Calder mobile. I choose this picture because this mobile is striking, enhancing the space. The accomplishment is amazing in light of the very busy architectural elements of the skylight.

Miro

Falling under Surrealism, Miro was the Automatic version opposed to Dali's Surrealism. When it comes to Surrealism I am drawn to the automatic. Miro's work starts out as a subconscious doodle that he develops into fantastical imagery. His color palette is as arbitrary as his under-drawings. He used mostly solid colors, often primary, and the way he employs them reminds me of the De Stijl balance. His use of line, on the other hand, is free and often described as whimsical.

There are characters and a story in every one of his paintings.

Mondrian

De Stijl used primary colors and horizontals. The effort focused on simplification and harmony. Non-representational art finds some of its roots here. Mondrian made paintings in this style. It influenced every area of art and architecture and continues to be influential today. I like the way you can look at a Mondrian and say "What if that blue square were not there?" It changes the whole composition and spins everything out of balance.The fact that it is easier to comprehend from this backward approach is fascinating to me.

Picasso

Well, cubism! Picasso was an artist with a long career of strides that quickly evolved from style to style. Picasso, the various cubists, and all those influenced after cubism can only be understood through the development of cubism. Here I have included an example of Analytic Cubism by Picasso. There is a subject but it is seen from many different angles. The painting shows the whole subject. The colors are muted which is typical of Analytic Cubism because the important part is the breakdown and re-assemblage of the image. When I understood this goal of cubism I began to appreciate the work of Picasso as well as much of the work that is contemporary to his and later influenced by these short lived but influential times.

Paula Modersohn-Becker

In Expressionist movements some women fall just outside the defined movements but have a lot worth looking at. The first of these in Paula Modersohn-Becker. She belonged on and off to the Worpswede artist colony in Germany where she was involved with Otto whom she bore a child. Although she had always been encouraged to be an artist she was not given the same recognition as male artists and her untimely death leaves us with only early work of hers to consider in today's less sexist climate.

The painting shown at right is the work of hers that I most admire. It is a self-portrait during her pregnancy. She has taken the female nude and reinterpreted it. Much more could be said on this subject, but for now I will leave you with just that.

Gaudi

An architect, Gaudi left a beautiful mark on Barcelona where he mainly worked in a splendid Art Nouveau style. His work appeals to me simply because of the unusual design for common use buildings. He created amazing spaces instead of simply adorning them. His work is often referred to as organic and he did look to nature for ideas about form. He went on to mosaic most of his work which adds to the splendor.

He also created public parks that allow visitors to enter his creations. There is not anything you cannot touch, or sit on. How cool?

Edvard Munch

Munch is known as a Symbolist painter. He is perhaps better known for the disturbing imagery that he created. He conveys emotions with rather simple images that employ repetitious use of line and fantastic colors. I have seen The Scream in its home museum and was taken aback by how small it is because I have been familiar with this work for as long as I can remember. The impact of this particular painting continues to be what I consider a worldwide phenomenon. Munch and I share a common ancestry, I hope to have inherited his artistry without his disturbed nature.

Seurat

The inventor of divisionism, more commonly referred to as pointillism, studied color theory and implemented it in his art. He put small strokes of contrasting colors next to each other. Viewing his work your eyes mix the colors from a distance, up close you can see the individual strokes of pure color.

I am very interested in colors and how they work. Seurat is among the first artists to really study color theory from a scientific as well as artistic approach.

Here is a detail from a Seurat painting.