LIVING on the slopes of the Moelwyns not far from Porthmadog, David Grosvenor is not short of breathtaking scenery.
What’s surprising is that until recently he rarely painted the mountains, preferring instead to produce summery watercolour paintings of flowers.
His latest exhibition, at Cardiff’s Albany Gallery this month, reflects a bold change of direction: there are some flower paintings but the majority of the work depicts the mountains of North Wales, executed in oils.
Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that he has managed to retain many of the fans who originally fell in love with his brighter, floral artwork.
Since changing his style he has had a number of sell-out shows in North Wales, and many of his buyers have collected his work for many years.
“I was very fortunate to take them with me,” he says. “A lot of people have told me, ‘I normally only like watercolours but I like your oils’.
“I wonder if it’s because I bring something of how I paint in watercolour into the oil paintings.”
The son of a missionary, David spent part of his childhood in Madagascar and studied English Literature and Art at Exeter University, where oil was his chosen medium.
His first career was as an illustrator and graphic designer in London but in 1991 he moved to Wales in order to focus on his painting.
His use of watercolour sprang from his background in illustration, and in Wales he found that it suited the summer months, when flowers were blooming in the garden and the light was bright.
Oils gradually emerged as a way to paint through the darker winter months.
“In the winter the light doesn’t suit watercolours,” he says.
“With watercolour you can get really lovely light bright colours because the paint is transparent and the paper shines through; it suits the sunny summer days. Oil isn’t like that; it’s dense, it’s opaque and when you start to mix the colours you’re much more likely to get more sombre colours. I think it suits moodier subjects.”
Nothing could be moodier than a mountain but David admits that he initially found them “a bit frightening” as a subject.
It was only as time went by and he started to walk their paths that he began getting to grips with them on canvas.
“I’m painting far more of the mountains now than I’ve ever tackled in the past – the textural quality of oil suits their ruggedness,” he says.
“I’ve started to walk more and when I get up there I find it completely energising. I wish I could take big canvases with me to work on.
“There’s a feeling about being up in the mountains looking over the edge of a crag that’s almost spooky, so the initial fear I had was probably not just about painting them but also going to some of those places as well.”
A string of wet, gloomy summers strengthened his resolve to paint mountain scenes, which are typically completed in the studio shortly after a mountain walk, while the colours and feelings are still fresh in his mind. Familiarity with his subject is vital.
“It’s rather like portrait painting,” he says.
“If you don’t know somebody and you’re asked to paint a portrait from a photograph, that painting cannot possibly depict that person because you’ve got no idea of their personality.
“It’s the same with mountains and flowers. I love gardening and growing the flowers that I paint. I think that kind of intimacy with your subject is important and that’s probably why I didn’t paint the mountains when I first moved here; I wasn’t intimate enough with them.”
His change of subject matter has gone hand in hand with a switch from brushes to palette knife.
“To start with I didn’t get on with them but I kept persisting and then stumbled across one particular shape of knife which is bliss to paint with, it just suits the way that I work.
“It’s shaped like a chisel and it completely changed my way of working.
“I think the biggest step forward I made in oil painting coincided with the finding of that knife. It has tiny corners so you can work in relatively small detail, but you’ve also got about two inches of blade itself so you can be quite expansive with it, painting not just with the wrist but with the whole arm.
“It’s made a huge difference to the way that I work and the satisfaction that I get from doing it.”
Satisfaction also comes from exhibiting his work at the Albany Gallery.
“Filling up cupboards and rooms with paintings would be quite a fruitless exercise but being able to get lovely feedback from people who’ve bought the paintings is really rewarding.
“I’m very fortunate that I do something I enjoy and can give pleasure to other people through that – I can’t tell you how lucky I feel.”
2012年2月1日星期三
Eager artists get painting lesson at APL
A handful of lucky youth got the chance to put paint brush to canvas this past weekend when local painter Lorne Peterson taught a classroom full of eager artists the fine art of oil painting at the Airdrie Public Library.
The class, which ran from 1 to 2:30 pm, was part of the library’s ongoing Art in the Library program which encourages artists from all mediums and disciplines to share their skills and talents with youth in the community through the teaching of hands-on seminars and workshops. Classes are open to children ages 9 to 12 years of age and cost a total of $3 for supplies.
“I really enjoy teaching art to children because all of my four children, since the age of six, have won first prize in art,” said Peterson. “My 13-year-old daughter was actually accepted into the Calgary Stampede Art Auction and sold her painting for $600 to a collector from Idaho and my eldest daughter was selling numerous pencil portrait sketches to her place of employment when she was only 17.”
Though his own love of painting didn’t take root as early as those of his children and students, Peterson has managed to make up for lost time by creating gorgeous paintings that incorporate his love of tall ships, western landscapes and personal portraits.
“I first began oil painting at about 18-years-old,” noted Peterson. “I applied to attend the Nova Scotia College of Art and the school suggested I attend a life class. Not knowing any better I attended the class, which turned out to be a bad decision. I then [enrolled] in a graphic arts class.”
Not satisfied with what he was learning in the classroom, Peterson decided to take his studies to the library where he began reading books about 15th century art and artists. Self-taught, he began to dabble in various mediums, including photography, but eventually settled on oils.
“I paint in oils mainly because of the special effects I can achieve and also the durability
of the finished picture,” explained Peterson. “Great paintings from the past and notable contemporary art are all in oils.”
Though the process of painting a picture can take up to 60 hours to complete, Peterson never tires of the process and remains inspired by the world around him.
“I have always enjoyed learning,” he explained. “Upon leaving school I was a machinist, a marine engineer, an artist, and from there a design draftsman. Art of course is certainly my favourite because it is artistic and painting is capturing light, similar to photography.”
The class, which ran from 1 to 2:30 pm, was part of the library’s ongoing Art in the Library program which encourages artists from all mediums and disciplines to share their skills and talents with youth in the community through the teaching of hands-on seminars and workshops. Classes are open to children ages 9 to 12 years of age and cost a total of $3 for supplies.
“I really enjoy teaching art to children because all of my four children, since the age of six, have won first prize in art,” said Peterson. “My 13-year-old daughter was actually accepted into the Calgary Stampede Art Auction and sold her painting for $600 to a collector from Idaho and my eldest daughter was selling numerous pencil portrait sketches to her place of employment when she was only 17.”
Though his own love of painting didn’t take root as early as those of his children and students, Peterson has managed to make up for lost time by creating gorgeous paintings that incorporate his love of tall ships, western landscapes and personal portraits.
“I first began oil painting at about 18-years-old,” noted Peterson. “I applied to attend the Nova Scotia College of Art and the school suggested I attend a life class. Not knowing any better I attended the class, which turned out to be a bad decision. I then [enrolled] in a graphic arts class.”
Not satisfied with what he was learning in the classroom, Peterson decided to take his studies to the library where he began reading books about 15th century art and artists. Self-taught, he began to dabble in various mediums, including photography, but eventually settled on oils.
“I paint in oils mainly because of the special effects I can achieve and also the durability
of the finished picture,” explained Peterson. “Great paintings from the past and notable contemporary art are all in oils.”
Though the process of painting a picture can take up to 60 hours to complete, Peterson never tires of the process and remains inspired by the world around him.
“I have always enjoyed learning,” he explained. “Upon leaving school I was a machinist, a marine engineer, an artist, and from there a design draftsman. Art of course is certainly my favourite because it is artistic and painting is capturing light, similar to photography.”
2011年11月23日星期三
AVAM covers fertile ground
Going around the exhibit at the American Visionary Art Museum is a thematically circular exercise. That's because this show is true to its title: "All Things Round: Galaxies, Eyeballs and Karma."
As in most of its previous, long-running, museum-filling exhibits, some of the artworks in the current show closely adhere to the overall theme and others barely relate to it at all. In any event, there are so many neat things on display that your eyes will be wide-open circles as you explore the offerings.
Among the artists working with conventional mediums and formats, Tennessee artist Paul Lancaster exemplifies how painters traditionally have relied upon circular forms in their compositions. His 1987 oil painting "Night Bathers" depicts five female nudes resting beside a natural pool at night.
Not only is the moon an illuminated circle at the top of the composition, but this quasi-surreal scene includes small white orbs sprinkled throughout the vegetation. The resulting landscape has a fairyland quality to it. And, of course, the women themselves have rounded forms that make them seem right at home in this setting.
Lancaster's 1998 oil painting "Madonna and Child" similarly emphasizes rounded forms in everything from Mary's face to the halo behind her. Indeed, the backing vegetation and the landscape itself are made up of curving shapes.
Another artist who seems to be on the same curvy wavelength is Stephanie Lucas. This French artist's 2011 acrylic painting "Mother" is an intricately detailed composition in which numerous figures are surrounded by such lush plant life that they verge on completely merging into it.
Although you'll find some straight lines in this painting, more often you'll encounter organic swirls that symbolically emit natural energy.
Among the exhibit's artists circling around the overall topic in more unconventional ways, one of the most interesting examples is Texas artist Grace Bashara Greene. Her "The Button Lady" (circa 1994) is an actual antique dress form whose feminine shape has been covered with buttons of various sizes and colors. This "button lady" also supports spools of thread. She's basically all circles and cylindrical shapes.
The women in the paintings by Lancaster and Lucas literally are shown in natural states, while this altered dress form speaks to venerable domestic arts. In both cases, rounded forms have emotional associations with female identity.
Just as the world itself is round, this exhibit demonstrates how various cultures around the world share an interest in circular imagery and, arguably, circular thinking. There is, for instance, an exhibited Mayan stone sphere made sometime between 400 and 600 AD. This sphere is related to the cyclical time found in the Mayan calendar.
The exhibit also contains an assortment of mandala-themed artwork by several artists. These works serve as a reminder that the word "mandala" itself is derived from the Sanskrit word for "circle."
On our own continent, the Native American artist Shawn Ware's "Dream Catcher" is a 2001 sculptural assemblage made from a wagon wheel, horseshoes and leather. Painted red, yellow and black, this wall-hanging object is a rawhide web designed to catch one's thoughts.
Also circling around topics with spiritual or, in any case, esoteric associations, an English married couple, Karen and Steve Alexander, have photographs and related texts documenting the mysterious crop circles that suddenly appear in wheat fields.
If your thoughts are being encouraged to make universal linkages between otherwise disparate cultures, you won't be surprised to see that the exhibit includes a book by Carl Jung. It's that kind of show.
As in most of its previous, long-running, museum-filling exhibits, some of the artworks in the current show closely adhere to the overall theme and others barely relate to it at all. In any event, there are so many neat things on display that your eyes will be wide-open circles as you explore the offerings.
Among the artists working with conventional mediums and formats, Tennessee artist Paul Lancaster exemplifies how painters traditionally have relied upon circular forms in their compositions. His 1987 oil painting "Night Bathers" depicts five female nudes resting beside a natural pool at night.
Not only is the moon an illuminated circle at the top of the composition, but this quasi-surreal scene includes small white orbs sprinkled throughout the vegetation. The resulting landscape has a fairyland quality to it. And, of course, the women themselves have rounded forms that make them seem right at home in this setting.
Lancaster's 1998 oil painting "Madonna and Child" similarly emphasizes rounded forms in everything from Mary's face to the halo behind her. Indeed, the backing vegetation and the landscape itself are made up of curving shapes.
Another artist who seems to be on the same curvy wavelength is Stephanie Lucas. This French artist's 2011 acrylic painting "Mother" is an intricately detailed composition in which numerous figures are surrounded by such lush plant life that they verge on completely merging into it.
Although you'll find some straight lines in this painting, more often you'll encounter organic swirls that symbolically emit natural energy.
Among the exhibit's artists circling around the overall topic in more unconventional ways, one of the most interesting examples is Texas artist Grace Bashara Greene. Her "The Button Lady" (circa 1994) is an actual antique dress form whose feminine shape has been covered with buttons of various sizes and colors. This "button lady" also supports spools of thread. She's basically all circles and cylindrical shapes.
The women in the paintings by Lancaster and Lucas literally are shown in natural states, while this altered dress form speaks to venerable domestic arts. In both cases, rounded forms have emotional associations with female identity.
Just as the world itself is round, this exhibit demonstrates how various cultures around the world share an interest in circular imagery and, arguably, circular thinking. There is, for instance, an exhibited Mayan stone sphere made sometime between 400 and 600 AD. This sphere is related to the cyclical time found in the Mayan calendar.
The exhibit also contains an assortment of mandala-themed artwork by several artists. These works serve as a reminder that the word "mandala" itself is derived from the Sanskrit word for "circle."
On our own continent, the Native American artist Shawn Ware's "Dream Catcher" is a 2001 sculptural assemblage made from a wagon wheel, horseshoes and leather. Painted red, yellow and black, this wall-hanging object is a rawhide web designed to catch one's thoughts.
Also circling around topics with spiritual or, in any case, esoteric associations, an English married couple, Karen and Steve Alexander, have photographs and related texts documenting the mysterious crop circles that suddenly appear in wheat fields.
If your thoughts are being encouraged to make universal linkages between otherwise disparate cultures, you won't be surprised to see that the exhibit includes a book by Carl Jung. It's that kind of show.
2011年8月25日星期四
Fastest Growing Companies for Second Consecutive Year
The nine-year-old company specializes in home décor with the most comprehensive selection of hand painted reproduction oil paintings, frames, and ceramic art tiles to choose from in the online oil painting industry. overstockArt.com also ranked 33rd out of the 204 companies representing the retail sector. The company’s three year growth rate of 368 percent was one of the largest contributing factors to its high ranking. This is the second year in a row the overstockArt.com’s first appearance on the prestigious list.
“We are incredibly honored to be recognized among the nation’s elite private companies,” said Sasson. “overstockArt.com’s growth is directly attributable to the talent and commitment of our team, the high quality of our art and the degree of confidence customers have as they shop with us.”
As an Inc. 5000 honoree, overstockArt.com shares a prestigious pedigree with such notable alumni as Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Jamba Juice, Timberland, Visa, Clif Bar, Patagonia, Oracle, and scores of other powerhouses.
The 2011 Inc. 5000 list measures revenue growth from 2007 through 2010. More than seven million businesses applied for selection. Winners are awarded a listing with other leading companies , a feature in the September 2011 issue of the magazine, and an invitation to an honoree ceremony.
“We are incredibly honored to be recognized among the nation’s elite private companies,” said Sasson. “overstockArt.com’s growth is directly attributable to the talent and commitment of our team, the high quality of our art and the degree of confidence customers have as they shop with us.”
As an Inc. 5000 honoree, overstockArt.com shares a prestigious pedigree with such notable alumni as Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Jamba Juice, Timberland, Visa, Clif Bar, Patagonia, Oracle, and scores of other powerhouses.
The 2011 Inc. 5000 list measures revenue growth from 2007 through 2010. More than seven million businesses applied for selection. Winners are awarded a listing with other leading companies , a feature in the September 2011 issue of the magazine, and an invitation to an honoree ceremony.
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