Showing Work



Learning the Gold-leafing process

For the last couple of weeks I have been super busy. I am getting ready to show paintings I completed over the last two months.

I have found a wood-shop to cut the wood panels, glued the painted canvases on panels (it worked better to paint on unstretched canvas and avoid the weight of the stretchers while painting plein-air), researched and found a frame shop to build raw frames and figured out materials and process for finishing them. I bought paint, wax, gold-leaf, steel wool and aging finish for the gold. I took pictures of the venue to figure out placement of the artwork and decided on frame finishes. For a couple of weeks I worked every day to make finishing touches on the paintings and completed one last large painting that is going to anchor the show. The frame finishing job was a multistep process and took a long time, 17 frames are no joke (thanks to Joe for the know-how and special thanks to Steffen for all the help along the way)! 

All the preparations started two Fridays ago when I met with a friend at a potential venue - a lovely local cafe. I had a lot of work on my hands, tuition for the Academy was due and I needed to make something happen. After showing a few paintings and asking my friend to talk to the owner, I had a deal. So there I had a couple of weeks to put together a show out of the piles of painted canvases all over the apartment.

All finished and ready to be shown



Putting together a show is a rather mechanical, dry process.But the routine of it let me reflect on the work that has been done, appreciate the progress made and think about what this body of work has to say to the viewer. To me the viewing of the work is as much a part of the artwork as its creation. An American Philosopher, John Dewey, who wrote a lot about experience and art, suggested that "art as production and perception and appreciation as enjoyment sustain to each other". I certainly agree that the appreciation of the artwork sustains its production. Whether the work sells or not, the audience appreciating the work makes the artist keep painting. It makes for a dialogue with the audience, creates a complete the circle of art, from nature to painter, painter to audience, audience back to painter and nature.

What an amazing feeling it is, going through the preparations and setting the art free from its production into its next phase, the viewing. From a pile of painted canvases, now framed and soon to be shown, emerges art.

Dates for the show are to be confirmed, please check in for the invitation to the opening reception.

Painting a Portrait

Over the summer I have been working on a portrait of my cousin, Tatyana. This is a family commission; aunts, cousins and my parents all wanting a painting to commemorate my cousin who died in her forties while trying to save a little girl picked up by river current. She left behind two children and a husband and many people who loved and admired her for her gentle character, love for life and courage.

I am used to painting from life, this painting presented a new and interesting challenge because the colors, the pose and the person - all had to be reconstructed from bleached out pictures of the 80's. First I studied some portraits by my favorite portrait painter, John Singer Sargent. I looked at the poses, similar profiles and his flesh colors. I asked my parents to find as many photos as they could so I could better understand the specifics of her face, how square was her jaw, what shape was her chin, what color eyes, what was her body type. Some pictures pulled from a video and their memories did help some. Then I had a someone help me with Photoshop to combine several images and perform some color manipulation to help me visualize what I might be painting. Then I had to sit on that image for a few days, feel out what was off and then I realized it was the composition. I went back to reviewing images of masters. I realized that the person needs to breath in the portrait, for me, good space in the background can bring in a more natural feeling. More background, more body, less tight of a crop than what we see in the professional photo studio pictures makes the portrait look more like a person in an environment, a person who we can relate to, and not a subject in a set.

The pose was difficult to construct so I decided to recreate lighting conditions of the source photo and pose of the head and use my own body as the model. Having considered the wardrobe of the 90's I picked out the clothes and had some help taking the pictures. Two heads are always better then one!

I started painting and there was a person taking shape on canvas. This is a delightful feeling, creating. And when it goes well, I must say - it feels almost godly - to create a person on canvas. I painted off and on for weeks, with many challenges to resolve. I felt quite frustrated at times. I had to make the body hers, not mine, but yet not destroy the anatomical soundness of figure. I had to see the colors of live flesh, not the bleached out photo. I had to correctly cover up a toothy smile and all the while painting the person I once knew. I was also using a fairly new to me palette, having painted just one portrait with this set of colors: Lead White, Roman Ochre, Vermillion and Ivory Black. Flesh tones did present a difficulty when most what I painted color-wise was based on guessing. Then there was the character, the person in the body: Tatyana had a mischievous, playful side to her and I wanted to portray that too. Have I succeeded? I hope that I painted her, Tatyana Davydova as our family and I have known her. I hope I have done her justice. To you, lovely Tatyana.

 Portrait of Tatyana, Oil on Linen, 18"x24"

Dating Florence

I met her in June 2001. Hot, beautiful, capricious. I loved her from the first sight, since that first morning when the only common language we spoke was the language of possibilities. As amazing as she was, I had to leave her after just 2 months, going back to the real life, so to speak. Long time has passed and through windy trails of life, turns and changes, passions and expectations, in my recurring dreams, I always had known that we will see each other again. In October 2010, it finally happened. She was cold then, perhaps she was angry that it took me so long. She cried buckets for months and I did not know if that would ever end. Then she turned to ice; soon she was a new kind of gorgeous in the Christmas glow and then, little by little she warmed up. There, she loved me again, my Florence. As spring came I started planning painting trips outside with every warm day promising a beautiful picture. Between the demand of school and spending long hours inside and running back home to see my family after, our painting dates were sparse. But I savored every cloud, every sunrise and sunset I happened to catch. I carried them in my memory thinking of mixing cadmium red, lemon yellow and French ultramarine to capture the sky set against the roofline.

Now in the summer, I am head over heals over Florence. I have been out there most every day enjoying her beauty, capturing her character, delighting in her lines, memorizing her colors, amazed by the thick atmospheric sunsets, moonscapes over Arno and promises of the new morning. My love for the city is spilled over on canvas, where again and again I delight in her beautiful mystique.

I love this city; wherever I must go when my training is finished, I know this will always be a place to come visit again. To me it’s a magnet for culture, taste and beauty. Florence, the “cradle of the Renaissance”, is where prospective was invented by Filippo Brunelleschi. In Florence Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci created masterpieces, Dante wrote, Galileo grew up, John Singer Sargent born, generations of artists trained, transformed, and inspired. Now, finally this is the place where classical tradition is being reborn and I am thrilled and joyful to be a part of it. Florence is a muse.

These are just a few of my paintings that I have completed in the last couple of months with many more to come. About a dozen of Florence scenes will be available in my upcoming art show at Baldobar, a local favorite café near Santa Croce. If you are in Florence, stay tuned for the date of the opening reception and come see beautiful Florence through my eyes.

"Evening Shadows from Oltrarno", 11.75"x10" Oil on Canvas

"Ponte Vecchio Sunset", 11.75"x7" Oil on Canvas

"Buona Cera, Florence", 11.75"x10" Oil on Canvas

Extreme Painting Day 5

This is my 5^th day painting in the field. Today I am tired, still hot from yesterday. I procrastinated by walking around the property and looking for location. Then I found a fig tree. It was an abandoned, overgrown, picked by birds, guarded by the nettle, happy to see me tree. I think it did not mind me taking a few figs, and as for me, sometimes nothing hits the spot better than unexpected fruit. I ate every one I could reach without getting stung all over by the nettle and scratched by the wild blackberry thorns. Delicious!

By foot scouting did not work this time, so off we went by car, taking turns on roads we did not travel before. Small country roads turned to dirt roads, narrow steep secret pathways, but the sporty Alpha Romeo could handle. She got parked in the shade and I went around to pick the best vista. The trees on the side of the road casted beautiful long shadows and I liked how they travelled across the field. I picked a spot under a tree and for the first time in the Extreme Painting Adventure had to sit down. I sat in the airy shade of the oak tree and decided that I liked the view of the wild flowers in this field set against the distant hills. In the meanwhile ants took a liking to my palette cups. It must have been the sweet smell of walnut oil, which still seems strange because right beside it was smelly turpentine. I blew the ants away and carried on. 30 minutes into painting, the shadows have moved away and here I was in the open sun – again. I could not move because the composition figured out and I was on my way. So I stayed. Good thing I had my hat. When I finished, both of my hips were asleep and my hair soaked under the hot hat. Time for siesta!

This was the last evening in Salustri, and I had to visit my favorite field. The remembrance of haystacks in the setting sun made dizzy and I just had to do it again. In the field the colors were glamorous. Poggi del Sasso, the little village on top of the hill was bathed in the setting sun. I turned the easel where I could see both and there was my last composition. That night, mosquitoes had me for dinner. But the feeling of the calm sleepy field, the smell of wild mint, colors of a departing day left me grateful. Thank you, earth.

"In the Tuscan Field" 9"x11.75" Oil on Canvas

"Sassy Haystacks" 7.5"x11.75" Oil on Canvas

Extreme Painting Day 4

On the way to Salustri I saw a banner – in Italian – “Maremma, the land of the mountains and the sea”. The mountains were lovely and they were hard to miss as they were all around, but what about the sea? With the help of really poor internet connection we learned about Calla Violina, a sandy/rocky beach in the Tyrrhenian sea accessible by a long private dirt road. Supposedly, when one walks on the sand of Calla Violina beach, she heard violins playing, hence the name. Sounded perfect, since August guarantees overcrowded beaches with all the hot Italians having fled the cities. The dirt road we found easily but then quickly learned that at the end of it exists a private parking lot which was at the moment full. Cars drove there and turned back around and the frustrated beach goers parked the cars right there at the entry of the road. So did we, if the locals can do it, why not us?

That added 2 km walk to the trip, ok we can do it. We walked in the open sun to the lot and once there we saw a sea. A sea of cars that was! The whole Maremma must have parked there. So much for a secluded beach at the end of a dirt road, sigh. We walked another 2 km to the beach through the windy trails of a pine forest. Beach access was a steep stairway chopped through the hill. The beach was wild, I mean without the umbrellas and chairs, but it was packed. So with all the painting things in hand – and melting by now – we climbed through the rocks onto a nice rocky bay with most people out of sight.

Already sunburned, I knew that I would need sunscreen. But after the swim in the beautiful Tyrrhenian sea, I felt cool and fearless. I decided that I would just turn the other cheek (butt cheek that is) – to the sun. So with the burnt shoulder facing away from the sun I set up to paint. For a long time I watched mischievous little boys sitting on the rock digging in the water. Perhaps it was the sea anemone or the seaweed that they were after. But while I was painting firm ground for them to sit on, their mother yelled them out of the rocks. I lost my models. It was lovely to paint there, cooling sea two steps away. After a couple of hours, I remembered the long way it took to get there and packed up.

The long climb up, dehydrating walk back, and as we started approaching the cars parked outside the parking lot, a surprise – a parking ticket! There went 40 Euros; how frustrating to walk extra kilometers in the sun and then pay for it dearly. Next time, park in designated places!

After the hot day, walking and painting in the sun, the car ride back, I was overheated. Spent the rest of the day in the shower and bed, I needed a break. In my dreams, the violins were playing.

Rocks of Calla Violina, Oil on Canvas, 8"x11.75"

Extreme Painting Day 3

Day 3 of painting started with scouting the painting location by foot. That meant that after finding the perfect spot we had to go back to the house to get the painting gear. Walking back and fourth through Tuscan fields gets pretty hot and by the time we got back with the supplies I was toasted. And we haven’t even started painting yet! We inspected the spot and the most comfortable place seemed to be under an olive tree in the shade. But I don’t do comfortable! The scene worked much better for me from the open hillside. And that’s where I wanted to set up.

Then I noticed a pile of white feathers. We tracked the pile downhill to see if we would find a carcass but the feathers got larger as if the eating happened where I saw the original pile. What kind of wild animal should I be afraid of? Are there wolves? Wolves I don’t know, but as I found out later, ‘cinghiale’ {cheen-gee-AH-lay} definitely roam around. These are wild Tuscan boars, mostly vegetarian creatures who would not eat me but are certainly capable of hurting people with their huge tusks. I am grateful that I found out this bit of information over a glass of wine later, at the tasting of Salustri’s own wine and olive oil as well as sausage and prosciutto. Since I am vegetarian I was not into the cold cuts, but I learned that the meats was a local specialty made from cinghiale hunted right there behind the edge of the vineyard of Salustri (where we painted).

The spot we chose had a wonderful view of the hills with a vineyard in the foreground. Beautiful view, but what’s that smell? The little round poos were all over, there was no fence and no seeming reason for any domestic animals to come there, the poo has remained a mystery. Perhaps it was the sheep that we heard bleating into the night. On the painting hill, the flies were plentiful; sharp thorny desert looking plants and hot rocks were hard to avoid. Once I set up the easel in the dusty red soil I immediately felt the heat of the earth. I felt that my feet were cooking! And after a few hours in wide open sun I was cooking all over. This was guaranteed first sunburn, and yes, when I finished the painting I was red - on on my left side.

After dinner, I was dying to get back to the haystack field. A car commercial-like super fast car ride through twirly-whirly Tuscan roads screamed “do not attempt, performed by professional driver”. 10  minutes later I was ready to be sick but I held it in and looked over at the clouds. The pinks and purples against the brilliant sunset greens were magnificent. I enjoyed every stroke. After the grand finale of sunset colors I was ready for rest.

Day 4 to be posted tomorrow (I will try).

Edge of the Vinyard, Oil on Canvas, 8"x11.75"

Sunset in the Haystacks, Oil on Canvas 6"x11.75"

Artwork available for purchase at Nuovoclassico.com

Extreme Painting Day 2

Extreme Painting Day 2

The second day started up slowly but by around noon we were on the way to the new painting place. I have always been fascinated by haystacks, having observed them over 10 years ago when I used to fly home (in Crimea) from the U.S. through Europe during college summer breaks. Landing in Italy, Germany and France always presented most breathtaking views of the countryside and the haystacks forever stay in my memory. From the air, they look like beads scattered across the land. In the sunset, the colors are most delicious pinks, ochres and purples with the long shadows tracing the topography of the field. 

This day was hot, and still much too far from sunset, but I had a lot of painting to do and no time to waste. So I stripped down to the bare essentials, stole a hat (why did I forget mine?!) and set up to paint. I thought about perspective rules and seeing how to place the haystacks so that they give a good perception of depth and relate well to the road. But after 3 hours of heat and glaring sky with not a sip of shade I just had to bring it all together and put in the burned up grass and other details. Thank you, haystacks! I was thoroughly hot, sticky, bug bitten and itchy, but the field was so beautiful, I knew I would be back for more some other day.

Having regrouped at Salustri, I put an ambitious dinner in the oven (veggie lasagna) and ran out to the terrace for a quick painting session. I have noticed this house on the next hill over; left side of the hill was making perfect contact with the setting sun as its light yellow walls were glowing pinkish-yellowish against muddy sunset sky. It indeed looked like a perfect Tuscan scene, but the colors of sunset (my real passion in landscapes), so fast to fade, can only be captured with lightening speed. I quickly painted the sky, placed the pink pearly clouds-all-in-the-row and put down the color relationships of the house planes (the difference being the plane facing light, away from light and the ones in between). After painting in the green hills that the house set on, I realized that the vividness of color, the magic of the sun play on the house has gone as the sun has fallen into the horizon. But with the color captured, I just had to shape up the building and there it was finished! Soon, there came the moon. While expecting its grand appearance I quickly painted the sky and the distant hills with the road in the foreground. We sat and waited.. and waited… where was the moon, it was just there yesterday?

As I sat there with a loaded brush, we saw the sky starting to light up over the hill, and majestically - the moon rose. I have never seen a moonrise before, with the smoky Tuscan hills and mysterious early night sky, the orange moon was gorgeous. As I have tinted my moon color it was mostly out of the hills. I adjusted the tone of the sky and put in the moonlit road. Gorgeous moon, thank you too.

Dinner was ready.

Day 3 to be published tomorrow.

 

Road in the Haystacks, 11.75"x8" Oil on Canvas

Pearl Clouds of Tuscany, 11.75"x4" Oil on Canvas



Tuscan Moonrise, 11.75"x4" Oil on Canvas

Paintings are available for purchase at Nuovoclassico.com