Studying with the Masters {Week 2-Gaudi}

Hello Lifers....I have a confession. 

I am in love with an older man...who's not my husband. 

BUT...before you put me on your prayer request list...it's OK...he's been dead for almost 90 years. :)

This week in "Studying with the Masters" we delved in to the architecture of Antonio Gaudi, a Spanish architect who was dubbed "God's Architect" in the last 1800s/early 1900s. 

Our teacher was an AMAZING woman named Junelle Jacobson-who I have a total girl crush on and would love to meet one day...she is just the sweetest and one of the most sincere people ever!

Gaudi was known for his close communion with God, his architecture that reflected nature and being light years ahead of his time in terms of his engineering endeavors. 

For our projects we were challenged to do 3 types of projects: a quick sketch/water color project, a mosaic and an abstract painting. 

Sketch/Watercolor 

Beautiful stained glass windows are staples in most of Gaudi's buildings; the most well known are from his La Sagrada Familia. This church is so massive in scale that 90 years after his death, it is still not finished, making it the longest construction project in history.

Junelle chose these 2 windows for us:

Look at the beauty of these windows. You can see the Christian influences: the groupings of threes (reflecting the Trinity), the cross, the colors of the rainbow (signifying God's promise), etc. 

Here is my interpretation on 4x6 watercolor paper:

Mosaic 

Gaudi's most famous use of Mosaics is in Park Guell. 

There are Mosaic benches twining everywhere: 

And the famous lizards:

I chose to use a sun mosaic:

More specifically, the top left section: 

Here is my sun:

The words come from something Junelle said in one of her "journal" entries. She was asking questions of Gaudi and his heart for God and she asked him if his mosaic were his way of saying that God sees beauty in our brokenness. 

The process of making a mosaic was long and painstaking. There were moments of feeling relaxed and moments of "OMG!!! Will I EVER be done!?" (those usually happened after I looked at the time! LOL) 

It took me about 5 hours to complete this 8x10 canvas panel. 

Abstract Painting 

Lastly, Junelle asked us to consider looking at the La Sagrada Familia a different way. Rather than trying to "duplicate" it, we were going to look at it in an abstract way, focusing on the shapes and tones, rather than specifics. 

Here is the frontal view of the basilica that we used for inspiration: 

Isn't it MAGNIFICENT?!

I have to say...this was really hard for me. It was difficult wrapping my brain around the concept of being abstract instead of literal. 

Since I was out of my element, I let Junelle "hold my hand" and followed her ideas rather than going out on my own. Once I got a little more comfortable I ventured out on my own a little, but didn't stray too far! LOL 

There was something really freeing about doing this painting. My brain tends to be a planner (and a perfectionist!) so I had to let go of some of my hangups in order to just sling paint on a canvas. 

What I Learned

This week was deeply thought provoking for me. 

A few things I took away:

(1) Take note of nature. I recently did a piece for Earth Day and used the quote: "Nature is the Art of God." Gaudi truly took that to heart. He believed that his art/architecture was his gift back to God and what better way than to mimic what God had created? (Huh...kind of like we are doing in this class...Gaudi was studying under the Master of God.) 

(2) Think beyond other "painters." When I first saw that we were focusing on an architect, I was like "what a I going to do with that?" Once we delved in though, Junelle was able to breakdown the art of his architecture to small "bite-able" pieces so that is was not so overwhelming. Yes...we looked at projects as a whole, but then she focused on smaller things like a couple of stained glass windows, an iron gate, a window and so on. 

(3) Ask "Why?" even if you will never get the answers. During her time preparing for this class, Junelle kept an un-official journal where she just wrote her thoughts on Gaudi, his projects and of herself. Questions, like "Did you liken mosaics to how God sees the beauty in our brokenness?" and "What words would I inscribe into my art if I were Gaudi?" (the spires on La Sagranda Familia have mosaics of words like "hosanna.") I need to delve BELOW the surface and the technique...there are reasons an artist does what an artist does. Meet the person....you'll have a better understanding of the art. 

(4) Let go of your hangups!! I preachin' to myself! Although Gaudi made beautiful buildings, there is very little known of his process and little to no sketches or art work. However, I would find it hard to believe that his wastebasket wasn't overflowing with crumpled pieces of discarded ideas and sketches. HE MADE BEAUTIFUL THINGS, but he didn't get there on the first try. I need to let go of the need for perfection. If a canvas doesn't "turn out" right...who cares? That's what gesso is made for. I can cover it up, start over and no one ever has to know, BUT I learned what NOT to do, so it's still a win. 

Learning More 

I can't leave you today without sharing some links:

* Junelle Jacobson...my loving sister in Christ and teacher of this beautiful subject. Her blog is called: Yes and Amen. There you can find out more information about her classes, workshops, etsy shop and more. 

* Studying Under the Masters...there is still time to join this class. It is available for 2 years, so if you can't now, I highly recommend making the time soon. And even though they are doing an artist a week, I am choosing instead to take it at my own pace and ENJOY the process, instead of just getting it done. You can sign up at Jeanne Oliver's Ning Site. 

* Gaudi Eye Candy...when you have time search the web for pictures of Gaudi's work. You will be inspired by it and once you do the math and realize he did all this by hand at the turn of the century...you will fall in love with this determined man. Here is a link to a Google search for Gaudi images to get you started: Antonio Gaudi. 

I hope you can tell from all this typing (thanks for hanging in this long!) how excited I am to be continuing on the road of "Studying Under the Masters." I am being stretched creatively and moving my thinking from passively looking at art to delving deeper, beyond technique and subject to the whys of the art. 

Until next time...remember to make your art intentional...not an afterthought. 

XOXO,

KERI

Studying Under the Maters-Week 1 Update 2-Matisse

Hello Lifers!

I wanted to give a quick little update on my "Studying with the Masters: Becoming an Apprentice" class.

I am still in week one, even though week 6 just posted, and I am OK with that. I feel like if I tried to push to do a week of videos in a week, then I would be missing out on a lot of personal growth. (1 section of videos was 2 videos an hour each...definitely don't have that much time "free" in one day! LOL) So...I'm taking my time. 

As you know, this Week 1 has been all about Matisse and we were asked to "copy" his 1901 masterpiece "La Coiffure."

Here is the original painting of Matisse's wife:

Here are a few step-by-steps of my progress:

First we were asked to do a charcoal sketch. 

Then came the first layer, starting with the darker values. (NOTE: Matisse worked in oils on canvas, but I chose to work with acrylics on watercolor paper.)

Next came the first layers of the flesh tones.

Then...I got frustrated with the skin tones, so I decided to tackle all the color surrounding her body. 

Without having a "Matisse Manual" that says "mix 2 parts this and 3 parts that with healthy dose of titanium white" it was very difficult to figure out that colors he used. It also took looking a little deeper because if you look at the original, there are grays and blues and greens along with the yellows and pink of normal flesh tones. 

Ready for MY finished "La Coiffure?"

All in all...I am very happy with it. Jeanne Oliver made a good point during the last video...we could all spend hours and hours playing with our paintings, trying to get them "just right," but then we would be falling in to the trap of trying to make an exact copy, instead of just learning from the process.

For me, being able to look at it and see that it is NOT perfect and be OK with that...well...that is a HUGE mental accomplishment for someone who tends to lean towards the perfectionist side of things. 

As you can tell, I am learning so much about myself and my art through this class and it's only WEEK 1!

There is more to come on my journey and I hope you will continue to take the ride with me.

Until next time friends...choose to make your art intentional..not an afterthought. 

XOXO,

KERI

Studying Under the Masters: Week 1- Matisse

Hello Lifers!

As many of you know my One Little Word for 2014 is CHOOSE and one of my BIGGEST choices this year is to spend more time and  money on knowledge and less on stuff.

My first step towards that has been starting an online course called

 "Studying Under the Masters: Becoming an Apprentice." 

It is a 9 week course developed by Jeanne Oliver where she brings together herself and 8 other modern day arts and asks the question: What can we learn from great artists of the past if we sat at their feet and learned by doing what they did? That's the way people learned for centuries...they would be chosen as an apprentice and spend YEARS doing grunt work just for the opportunity to be around a master painter and gleam knowledge and skills from him/her. 

Week 1 is with Jeanne Oliver herself and she chose Matisse.

 I am only about 2/3 of the way through week 1, but already I am learning so much, about Matisse and about myself. This week is making me look at art differently...yes...I can say I do or don't like art, but why do I feel the way I feel? Am I seeing beyond the basics of the picture (it's a portrait, it's a landscape, it's a still-life, etc) and breathing in the COMPOSITION of it (the brushstrokes, the patterns, the medium, the white space, etc.) 

One of our "assignments" this week was to look at Matisse paintings and start seeing the patterns he used (he LOVED mixing Patterns!) We were to use a black pen and watercolors to do quick sketches of patterns that stuck out to us in some of his paintings. 

Here are 4 of my favorite paintings and patterns:

I couldn't find the name and date for this painting, but obviously I like it enough to use 2 patterns from it.

I loved the boldness of the white and red striped tablecloth and obviously Matisse liked it too...he was known for reusing props and I saw this tablecloth in at least 10 other paintings. 

I loved the elegant, gold scroll work on the wall. I like how it was such a contrast to the bolder and less-serious pattern of the striped tablecloth. 

This is "The Window" from 1916. I was immediately drawn to the flooring pattern...I guess chevron has been around for a while, huh?

I liked how some of the "chevrons" were broken. I think it says a lot for an artist letting go of the need for perfection. It was accidental, but this ended up with an ombre effect on the aqua color!

This is my favorite of the ones I am sharing today. The bold colors and patterns speak to me. It's called "Interior with Egyptian Curtain" from 1948 and it is an oil on canvas.

This window is my favorite part. I love that you know it is these big, beautiful branches outside this tropical oasis, but they are not so defined that it feels like your looking at real leaves. It keeps that feeling of fantasy. 

Isn't it great that all three of these are so different? During my search for patterns, I came across 2 other paintings I wanted to share because..again...they are so different from the ones with all of the big, bold patterns and scenes.

This one is called "Open Window Etretat" from 1920. The only real pattern is the small one on the curtain. It is serene and uncluttered. 

I couldn't find the name and date on this piece, but note how it is COMPLETELY devoid of patterns, people or props. It is simply an open door, giving the viewer hope that that open door can  lead anywhere...to anything...to anyone. 

I wanted to share a few things that Jeanne pointed out about Matisse that really hit home with me:

(1) Matisse was an insecure artist. Oh thank goodness...it's not just me! He struggled just like every other artist to find himself and his style. which lead to...

(2) Matisse was ALWAYS trying new things. If you look at his body of work, you would think the guy had multiple personality disorder. No...he wasn't crazy...he just knew that he always needed to keep growing as an artist and that as an artist...he would never truly "find" himself permanently..that art was a journey. 

(3) Matisse believed that nothing was permenant and it was OK to repeat. He might have 5 different versions of the same scene, with small changes like the medium or a color or a small movement of a prop. And these are just the changes that are documented. There were probably thousands of changes made because the chose NOT to get too attached to things and knew it was OK to paint over whatever he wasn't happy with until he was. 

So there you go...that is my Matisse journey (so far.)

I can't wait to share more with you over the coming weeks.

And if you would like to join me on this journey, you can check out Jeanne's website: Jeanne Oliver Designs for more information and to register. 

Until next time...make your art intentional...not an afterthought. 

XOXO,

KERI