painting

The Warrior – New Painting & Thoughts

August 6, 2015 By Michelle Hendry

Warrior, 16×20, acrylic

Disaster. That about sums up the third of Bert Seabourn’s summer classes for this artist. (not pictured here) Last night was our first foray into abstraction – the kind of abstraction that is done by intuitively placing colour and form around a canvas. Cue the horror film music.

I already suspected I had an issue with intuitive painting, but this experience confirmed that I’m not good at painting without some kind of idea in my head. Sitting down in front of an empty canvas and pushing colour around at random was a similar experience to listening to fingernails run down a chalkboard. I need to start with something. I ended up with a humiliating field of mud spread evenly across my canvas from scraping away multiple unsuccessful attempts. If dung beetles were art collectors, I’d be a star. I was completely psyched out. I left that class in frustration. Trying new things can teach you as much about yourself as about your skills.

It was made all the more difficult to swallow because I did accomplish a style busting portrait of the Warrior (above) for class just the week previous – a real step forward into something very different for me. We were given a small (5″), very pixelated photocopy of an Indian warrior. In spite of the terrible reproduction and a violet colour cast across the entire picture, he was haunting to look at. It turns out the image was of a highly realistic painting by Mark Rohrig. (See the photo of the reference below).

I had no idea of the source most of the time I was working on the Warrior. I just went off in my own direction using the image for the general features and began to do something I never do – break up brush strokes and not blend the shadows on the face. It was very exciting.

I’m not altogether comfortable with using art or photography that is not either my own(best) or in the public domain(ok for photo reference). Unless the new work ends up very different or is educational/non-profit (fair use) like this one, it isn’t a good idea to use copyrighted work. I believe that if you plan to sell that work later, it is best make sure there can be no confusing the reference and the painting. I may be too rigid in my interpretation, but better safe now than sorry later.

Some may say I did a totally different style of work here from the original, but I am not convinced that it is different enough. So, this one will never be for sale, however I did learn a lot from it. I will definitely try again, possibly with a historical image. Bert makes up his own faces. Apparently, so does Mark Rohrig. Perhaps, someday, I’ll be able to do the same, but I imagine that will come only after many, many faces.

Real learning is in trying on everything you can. I’m going to attempt another abstract, of course. In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you think.

A.Y. Jackson at Work

July 28, 2015 By Michelle Hendry

Canadian Landscape by Radford Crawley, National Film Board of Canada

I have been following Canadian History Magazine since I finished the research for my upcoming book on the abandoned house series. Today, they posted this video from Canada’s National Film Board. Watching this video was like discovering buried treasure or a lost art horde; a horde containing the artistic process of a national treasure – A.Y. Jackson.

For many of us, the only way to try to understand the artist behind early 20th century work is to pore over their paintings hanging on museum and gallery walls or read their biographies. Those who studied in classes and workshops with the likes of Carmichael, Varley, Lismer and Jackson are mostly in their 70’s and 80’s or long gone, leaving subsequent generations to piece fragmented ideas together like in a game of broken telephone. The thought that their process would be preserved on film or video was far from the ubiquitous idea that it is today.

Except sometimes we get lucky.

This 1941 film is a documentary that follows A.Y. Jackson to Killarney and Quebec. It records canoe trips, the creation of sketches on bare birch panels to the studio paintings being created at the famous Studio Building.

If you are interested in art and the Canadian Group of Seven, you must watch this amazing and rare glimpse into the inspiration and process of one of our most iconic painters.

More documentaries on other members can be found on the NFB blog here.

Enjoy!

School’s Out for Summer

June 3, 2015 By Michelle Hendry

I have been painting with Cherokee artist Bert Seabourn for a year now. I had not ever before attempted to paint a face. I did my first painted portrait last Fall. This is a sketch from my last class.

It was drawn from a historic photograph. We have done a few of these and the expressions varied widely. I cannot imagine the emotions these men must have felt as they watched their way of life disappear under plows and railway tracks.

Classes are done for a couple months and I’m back in the studio. Severe weather season is done and the Oklahoma Summer heat is moving in, making staying there easy. My Canadian blood just won’t thin past a certain point!

So there is more to come.

I’ve dragged some larger canvases into the studio. An expressionist friend of mine and I are doing paintings of the same photograph from her garden. It should be fun to see how different they are. She’ll keep me on track! So, we’ll see what happens. It might be time to finish that self portrait too…

Art Openings

Bert is having an opening this Friday at JRB at the Elms in the Paseo district this Friday, June 5th. He recently shared an old photo of himself and Bonnie (his wife) with Gerald and Betty Ford and a gorgeous painting. The painting is now in the President Ford Library collection in Ann Arbor, MI. Bert has work in collections all over the world.

A classmate of mine, Joan Frimberger, is a fine equine artist and she will be showing at Paseo this Friday as well.

“First Friday” is a big event in the Paseo Arts District every month and if you’re in the OKC area this Friday, do check it out.

Next weekend, June 12-13, is the opening of the “Prix de West“, one of the largest exhibitions of Western Art. For those outside Oklahoma, all of the paintings are viewable on the website.

Throwback Thursday ~ Waiting

March 19, 2015 By Michelle Hendry

A vanishing rainstorm left a brisk, penetrating breeze in its wake. The brick house sat blind with its windows shattered or entirely absent, allowing the wind to wander through its rooms unrestrained. A gust moved a loose door, tapping and knocking on its broken jamb. The walls whispered and wailed as the air pushed through the lathe left exposed like an untended wound. The sharp roughness of peeling paint broke off in my hands and when the wind subsided, the house breathed its musty breath over me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought I’d post a throwback to 2010.

Every once in a while, something grabs you and holds on. I made several paintings of this house between 2009 and 2014. The place had an incredible story behind it and was central in the lives of one man and one family. Over the course of the Echoes series, I kept coming back to this house. The place had a mood that changed with the weather and offered up a new vision with every visit.

The prose was written in 2011 in a creative writing workshop with the incredibly talented poet, Catherine Graham. Her workshop opened up a whole new passion for me that added another level level to what I now do. The paintings and this excerpt are now a part of my book “Once Imagined” . As soon as my immigration status allows, I plan to resume seeking publication.

Recognizing our passion isn’t always easy. It takes being open to life and surrounding ourselves with the right people along the way. When we find it, we usually discover it was always there. Is there something that grabbed ahold of you and didn’t let go? What are you passionate about?