ArtSpirit7

Day 20 – Keep the Channel Open

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Vitality, by Mary Gow

“Vitality,” watercolor by Mary Gow

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. … No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others” – Martha Graham

My art is a visual expression of energy and this Martha Graham quote reminds me we’re all artists expressing our own unique style.

There’s no one to keep up with but yourself.

Day 19 – Inspired by Hyunmee Lee

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Derived from Hyunmee Lee's Work

Untitled, Derived from Hyunmee Lee’s Work

I was in Santa Fe a few years ago and saw a show of Hyunmee Lee’s work at the Nuart Gallery.

Loved her use of yellow ochre with black and white, with gestural lines.

Her work reminds me of three other abstract expressionist artists: Clyfford Still, Robert Motherwell, and Franz Kline.

Here I am already on day 19 of my experiment of blogging for 30 days straight, sharing my everyday paintings.

Are you enjoying this?

I am inspired by Hyunmee Lee’s work and today’s piece is derived from one of hers.

Lee was born in Korea and in 1991 got a Master of Arts in Visual Arts from the Sydney College of Arts, University of Sydney. From 1997 to 2008 she taught at various universities. She retired from teaching art in 2008 (in Utah) to concentrate full-time on exhibiting her work in galleries in the USA.

You can find our more about Lee at her website. Have you seen her work before?

Day 18 – The Midpoint between Realistic and Abstract Painting

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Afternoon Sailing, by Mary Gow

“Afternoon Sailing,” watercolor by Mary Gow, inspired by Gustave Courbet’s “Seascape”

Derived from Gustave Courbet’s “Seascape” by Mary Gow[/caption]Some impressionist paintings look borderline abstract to me.

Like Gustave Courbet’s “Seascape,” painted in 1874.

Here’s a watercolor I derived from his painting.

Day 17 – Honoring Antoine Chintreuil

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Honoring Antoine Chintreuil's "The Coast," by Mary Gow

Honoring Antoine Chintreuil’s “The Coast,” watercolor by Mary Gow

I love gestural drawing and painting – and especially admire the work of Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, and Vincent Van Gogh.

Have you ever heard of impressionist painter, Antoine Chintreuil, born in 1814 in Paris, France?

I thought I’d paint a quick semi-abstract landscape today. Here’s a watercolor I derived from Chintreuil’s “The Coast,” which he painted from about 1850 to 1857.

For this sickly, solitary, poor painter, a former pupil of Corot, the Ile-de-France was the occasion of delicate poems in which Redon rightly distinguished “that tender and gentle genius which reveals itself in a simple manner and in such a discreet form and whose profound and passionate reserve is echoed only in a number of select souls.”

(Impressionism, 1973, published by Chartwell Books, Inc., p. 45).