Seventeen in Art Basel

Xavier Cortada created 17 drawings on carbon paper, as a metaphor for the impact (or "carbon footprint”) that humans have had on these species, even across the boundaries of protected nature preserves. Cortada's original drawings of the seventeen species -- including the Wood Stork, the Key Largo Rat, and the Smalltooth Sawfish-- will be on display at his studio.  

For Art Basel seventeen local artists were invited to reinterpret Xavier Cortada's "80.15 W" carbon paper drawings.

The seventeen invitees are: Vince Herrera, Ernesto Kunde, Alex Yanes, Sean Ritchwood, Diana Contreras, Eleazar Delgado, BMD, Anthony Burks, TMNK, Kid, Courtney Rutter, Clay Frye, Yoko Sigiura, Sri Prabha, Alexandra Seda, and me. 

I was lucky enough to get the Piping Plover as my subject, the little bird at the beach that seems to have a love-hate relationship with the tides. Below is my interpretation and it will be for sale at the exposition.

 

The Openings Reception was tonight on December 1 at  the Gallery at Cortada Studio

104 SW 9th Street, Ground level | Eastside, Suite B, Miami, FL

Darkness in Pompano Beach

Last night I received the confirmation that my 3 entries are juried into the group show "Darkness" at the Rossetti Fine Art Gallery in Pompano Beach. 

Pretty Pretty Flower

Artists were encouraged to enter works with dark themes and imagery. In other words for the artists to tap into their darker side. I chose to stay with one of my favorite subjects - children - and painted 3 fictional portraits (12" x 12"), using ink, charcoal and 4 colours of Acrylics (White, Red, Grey and Payne's Grey). I did not feel that full colour would do justice to the subjects and chose to stick with a limited palette.

I was aiming for a slightly subtle level of darkness and I was surprised that it was actually hard to restrain myself from going into a"SAW" kind of blood filled darkness, while setting up the portraits.

I am really pleased with the result and of course that I am juried in. The exposition will be open for public October 24th and the opening reception will take place on Thursday 27th from 8 pm - 10 pm at Rossetti Fine Art Gallery in Pompano Beach.

5 MINUTES OF FAME

5 MINUTES OF FAME, a series that is part of MOCA by Moonlight programming, allows local artists to explain how and why they create their art.

Guess what? I am presenting my work on April 14, 2001.



I feel I have still a millions things to do and my stage fright is creeping up with each day passing. I get nervous just thinking I will do a presentation (yes actual talking) about my work in front of a group of people.

Yes, This painting by Edvard Munch really captures my mood : WHOAAAA!

Am I a "Yes" or a "No"?

I remember the first time I was at the Academy of Art. It was 3 weeks before classes would start. I and more than 80 other people had to display our work in a large room. Everybody was told up front that only 22 people would be accepted that year.

I was early and got myself a good spot with good light.
While I was setting up the table, three teachers passed by the tables and I heard one say ”No… no… no… yes… no…no…”
My Stomach turned; I didn’t dare to look at them to see if I was a “yes” or a “no”. I wanted so badly to be accepted into the Academy. I swallowed my tears - yes I was that nervous - and pretended not to notice them.

Once the teachers had left the room, I turned around and I looked at the panic stricken faces of 5 other candidates. One asked “Does anybody know who is the yes, because I was too scared to turn around to see if I am a no…”
At that point I realized I was not the only scared one, we all were and we all wanted to be accepted. I think that realization hit everybody at that point because we all started to laugh (nervously of course) as neither one of us knew who was the yes.

To make a long story short: we finished our tables, we went out for a drink (we had still two hours to kill before the Academy members would go in to make their decisions) and all six of us waited for each other to see who was a yes. We all were nervous when one of us entered the room to hear the decision. We all cheered when one would come out with the acceptance paper and at the end of the evening all six of us were a Yes.

Circus is fun!

Circus is an inspiring theme to paint and I had a lot of fun working on my painting.

Last night the opening of the "Circus Circus" group show at the Windisch-Hunt was also fun.
A large number of people came to the show which was filled with creations of more than 20 artists, each with their own interpretation of the theme.


And the evening was fun because...




There were acrobats...



And Acrobats...



And more Acrobats...



And good friends to see your latest work!

CIRCUS CIRCUS

The Gallery Windisch-Hunt Fine Arts in Coconut Grove had another great idea for a show: "Circus Circus".


And this is my entry for this show: "Hoops".



The show will start on February 6, 2010 at 7 pm and will continue throughout the month of February.

Come down to the Gallery to see my painting and many more Circus related work at the
Windisch-Hunt
2911 Grand Avenue
Coconut Grove, FL 33133

ART BAZAAR DECEMBER 5, 2009

And a few more paintings that will be for sale at the Art Bazaar, including a Brown Pelican as I will support the Pelican Harbor Seabird Station with every sale I make.

Hope to see you there!

And sometimes...

In a previous blog I mentioned the fact that I was going to have a exposition in a restaurant in Coconut Grove in Florida. That was suppose to be in June. Luckily, and I mean that, I was given some more time to be able to create work that is up to par to what I want to show.

I am not the kind of artist that produces a painting per day like your average Plein-Air painter who is forced to paint this fast because of the limited time Mother Nature gives him/her to work on a painting.

Normally I set up a painting quite quickly and with set-up I mean the initial sketch on canvas and the underpainting in two or three colours. I use underpainting because in this way I can block the larger schapes on the canvas without "losing" myself into details at this stage. Also because the colours in the underpainting will deepen the final colours. Nothing is definite in this stage, as I start to observe it. Is the composition the way I want it to be, do I need to change or add anything to make it "work"? In this phase of my work it is very easy to change anything if I want to.

My next step is to work on the background and a little bit on the subject itself. Again I will not go into the fine details but I work on the colours and shapes. I work on the balance between the background and the subject . The background is very important to me because I want the background to enhance the subject - no matter if it is a nude or a pair of apples - not to overpower the subject neither to just let it be a colourfull filler of canvas. This is the part where I look at my painting for hours at a time without actual painting.
This frustrates my partner a lot as to him I am doing nothing and often he remarks: "I thought you were going to paint today..." "I am." is my reply and I see him thinking "Whatever, next time I will stare at the dishes and tell you that I am cleaning them."

In the third stage I am working on the little details and finalizing the painting.

So what are we talking about time wise? I normally work about 2 to 3 weeks on a painting (which includes drying time as I work with oils). Because I know that it takes me time, I usually work at two paintings at the time - not more because of limited space.

And sometimes ... I paint one in a day, from start to finish, like I did yesterday. In less then 8 hours from start to finish I painted Pullo, my red cat, out on the porch.

Just to contradict everything I said before. Oh well, that is life!

Summer Salon 2009

Last night was the festive opening of the Summer Salon Exhibition at the Windisch-Hunt Gallery in Coconut Grove, Florida. It was a very special evening full of different forms of art... not just paintings but also poetry from Jerry Wade and Jonathan Rose, life music by Zip Robertson and a fashion show with Handbags from Debra Cortese and Ceramic Jewelry by Jennifer Trujillo.

A portion of ALL sales from this show will be donated to NEAT STUFF (http://www.neatstuffhelpskids.org/). This is a non-profit organization that provides free brand new clothing, shoes, accessories and gifts to meet some of the basic needs of abused, neglected and other children in distress, allowing them to dress with pride and dignity, inspiring their self worth.

It is a wonderful show and more so because the body of work within the Summer Salon is so diverse and covers a wide range of styles and subjects. Yet our curator, Cucui Beguiristain, managed together with Annamaria Windisch-Hunt to make it all coherent.

The Summer Salon is showing untill the end of June and worth a visit.

I submitted three paintings for this show :

"After Ten", Oils and Acrylics on canvas, 10" x 14"

Some people were wondering who my model was for this painting....

"Getting Ready", Oils on Canvas, 12" x 12"

"A Last Look", Oils on Canvas, 10" x 14"

But now a more personal note...

I always get nervous before an opening and this evening was no exception. I guess this is my version of stage fright, not that I am afraid to forget which painting is mine - like actors are afraid to forget their lines, but the knot in my stomach feels just as real.

But I had wonderful support from my partner (he is truly the wind beneath my wings), my friends and everybody else. And with such support the knot shrinks quickly enough for me to enjoy every bit of the evening.

And for this: Thank You.

Fresh from the Fridge

When I knew I would have a solo at the Focaccia Rustica in Coconut Grove, I also realised that this would not be the place to hang nudes. It is after all a family restaurant. And this implied that I had to come up with a new body of work. To be honest, I went blank at first. For days I stared at two empty canvases and all that came to mind were nudes.

One afternoon my partner asked me why I didn't start painting and I replied: " Paint what? I have no other subject on my mind than nudes."

He suggested to go out and look around the house, to see if anything would inspire me. But I am not a plein air artist - ok, I never tried it and the large amount of hungry, bloodsucking mosquitoes outside doesn't make it very inviting for me to try a landscape out there.


Then he said to me: "Why don't you look in the kitchen, maybe there is something in there that will give you ideas."

And so I did, not that I am normally so obedient, but I was blank and he tried to help me. I opened the fridge... nothing yet, no celestial flash of inspiration. Then I opened the vegetable drawer in the fridge and I saw a variety of fruits and vegetables, each with their own colours and shapes... and there it was... my source of inspiration: Fresh from the Fridge.


I know it will be a great show, ....if I can save my models from being eaten.

A new painting: Summer

Last week I finished this oil painting. Actually the female nude is done in oils and the background is mostly done in acrylics.

It is not a massive painting, not by the subject and certainly not by size (10" x 10" - 25 cm x 25 cm).

Alas this photo does not show how beautifully the golden background and all the other colours highlight the female nude.

So here it is... a confession! I am not good at taking great shots of my own paintings and it frustrates me. Ok, my little digital camera - which is older than 5 years - might be partly to blame, but I know somebody who takes wonderful shots no matter what camera is in his hands.

I am able to take some wonderful shots of other subjects, just not of my paintings.

And that is one of the reasons why I keep my "focus" on painting!