Cornell Fine Arts Museum

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I don’t always have time to finish a sketch.This sketch was done with a student of the Cornell Fine Arts Museum on the Rollin’s College campus. The goal of the lesson was to fit as much of the building on the page as possible along with the much smaller jeep and motorcycle parked out front. We didn’t go in so I am not sure what is on exhibit. I haven’t been inside the museum since long before the start of the pandemic.

My student lost interest in the building long before the sketch was complete. Since my idea of a complete sketch included color and value, it tends to take longer that a student just using a pencil. I got enough of the sketch done of that there are 3 values, namely black, mid tones and the white of the paper. Since time was limited much more of the paper is left white to save time.

After this sketch was “complete” we wandered behind the museum where a crowd of maskless woman were having an animated conversation, I assume about art. We set up on the lawn lakeside and sketch a gazebo across the way. That sketch was also incomplete but a good lesson on how to quickly block in elements of a scene.

Culture Pop! Not Your Typical Art Opening.

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I went to the Maitland Art Center (231 E Packwood Ave, Maitland, Florida) to sketch at Culture Pop. The evening featured the opening of “Contemporary and Historic Landscapes,” with works by Bruce Marsh, Dawn Roe and pieces on loan from the Cornell Fine Arts Museum. In addition to being among the first to see new exhibitions, guests also enjoy live music, poetry readings, complimentary food & cash bar with fine wines, craft beer and more.

Activities on the campus grounds included open artist studios and a pop-up exhibit by one of the A&H’s Artists-in-Action, Martha Lent. I decided to sketch The Actomatics, who had set up their band equipment on what used to be an abandoned shuffleboard court. They had a string of white Christmas Light strung across the top of all the instruments and it made for a magical display. Shadow, who was on the keyboards, introduced herself. There was unfortunately very few people in the audience. Besides myself there were only three other people seated in the folding chairs. That didn’t hinder the spirits of Shadow, Rick an of Shadow, John and Rick however. They performed a magnificent set of all original tunes. As a true artist, you don’t always need an audience. Some birds sing for the pure joy of singing. I sketch and write, not knowing if a word is heard, or a sketch seen.

Several times, I was offered complimentary appetizers from Creations Catering and Events. The server was a young woman who is an artist herself. She was very curious about the Wacom tablet I was using to sketch. She is excited about the new Apple iPad Pro that came out and she is hoping it might find its way under her tree this Christmas.

In the Mayan Courtyard, there were literary readings by the DIY MFA Readers: Danielle Kessinger, Misty Watkins and Karen Price. I didn’t make it over that way to sketch. As I left, I did get a chance to see Martha Lent’s large colorful paintings, as she took the art off the walls and loaded it into her car. I admire her large bold works which make me wish that I was working so large.

Dana Schutz

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Critically acclaimed artist Dana Schutz will be Master Artist-in-Residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach, Florida from February 17 to March 9, 2014. She talked about her artistic process on February 27th during her visit to the Cornell Fine Arts Museum (1000 Holt Avenue, Winter Park, Fl.) 

Dana’s work suggests tradition while simultaneously presenting innovative compositions. The artist explains, “My paintings are loosely based on meta narratives. The pictures float in and out of pictorial genres. Still life’s become personified, portraits become events, and landscapes become constructions. I embrace the area between which the subject is composed and decomposing, formed and formless, inanimate and alive.” New York-based critic John Yau stated, “This is what Schutz does so well—she asks questions that challenge the answers given by others. More importantly, she asks her questions by folding them into the painting.” 
The appearance of Dana Schutz was made possible by the Atlantic Center for the Arts Master Artist in-Residence Outreach Program and United Arts of Central Florida.

Dana’s work blew me away. The classical paintings on the museum walls seemed shocked and surprised by Dana’s work on the screen. The image I sketched on the screen answered the question, “What would someone look like if they ate their own face?”  Dana works large with all her colors pre-mixed. While in school she painted portraits of the men she imagined would be right for her friends. A bright landscape sprouted body parts which people then devoured. Her imagined world is believable yet abstract with the light and color intensity dialed way up. I wish I could have seen some of her work in person. The paint looks luscious and thickly applied. There is a vibrancy and directness to her work that I admire. I left the talk inspired. What a surprise to discover another artists vision with self effacing humor and warmth.

Ghosts of Brutality

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On February 11th, artist John Hitchcock gave a talk about his artistic process at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum (1000 Holt Avenue, Winter Park, Fl). A whole room in the Cornell is filled with an installation he did called “Ghosts of Brutality“. Cut out screen prints on paper and felt created a complex mosaic on the walls and floor. Military helicopters dropped bombs while tanks roamed the base boards. Severed heads of bison, deer and donkeys floated in space among the bombs. John isn’t strict about the placement of each print in the installation. Students and staff helped with the installation so they were very much a part of the artistic process.

Before John’s talk, a movie clip played of Indians dancing in their full regalia.  John grew up in Western Oklahoma in a Comanche reservation across from a US Military base. As a child he grew up with artillery training always in the background. His first drawings were to help his grandmother prepare intricate bead work. He did a series of circular prints that showed bison with a target symbol. He was very proud that one of these later sported a bullet hole.

John prints a massive amount of work for his installations, often recruiting students to help in the process. On a trip to Venice, he left a print at every historic place he went. The prints left behind were like bread crumbs of his travels. John’s work addresses war, assimilation and imperialism.

A doctor found a large malignant growth that threatened John’s life. At this time, when faced with death, John began to sketch obsessively every day. He would post each days sketch on his Facebook page. I wholeheartedly identify with his obsession. He also began to incorporate more color in his work.  The threat of death caused him to bloom.

Mark your calendar! Ghosts of Brutality is up through April 13th. Admission to the museum is now free, thanks to the Bressemer trust, so you have no excuse not to go.

Dialogues with Collectors Series

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I went to the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, (Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave Winter Park FL) on Tuesday March 19 at 7pm for the free Cornell Fine Art Museum’s, Dialogues with Collectors Series. This series of dialogue will expand on the collecting theme of the museum’s 35th anniversary exhibitions by opening a conversation about why, what and how people collect, and the role of the collecting instinct as a vital part of preserving our history. Roberta Green Ahmanson, a philanthropist and the current chair of the board of the Museum of Biblical Art, (MOBIA), New York City, spoke about her private collection of biblical art and the Ahmanson family collecting legacy.

Roberta pointed out that her husband came from a family of collectors, but as a young boy, he lived in a bedroom upstairs from a Rembrandt. His father kept the house the perfect temperature and humidity to preserve the painting. Unfortunately that made the place intolerable for his son’s bedroom.  Roberta and her husband met because of their shared faith. She began collecting artwork that affirmed that faith. She doesn’t tolerate Sunday School biblical illustration. She looks for subtle messages in contemporary artists work as well as old historical pieces.

It was encouraging to know that there are people out there today who are passionate about collecting art. Perhaps the daily struggle to keep creating will one day reap some small reward. Admission the the museum is free all this year to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the institution. I suppose that is a reward in itself to Central Florida. Also Roberta’s talk is available on UTube, should you be interested.

Pisa Pizza

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I had intended to do a sketch of a film maker’s panel discussion as part of the Global Peace Film Festival at the Cornell Fine Art Museum on Rollins College. When I entered the museum however, the receptionist didn’t know anything about a panel discussion. She said that a film would be shown and she directed me towards a table behind me. On the table was an admission price of $8 which I didn’t know about. The receptionist then shouted at me, “I don’t think you are allowed in with that artists stool!” She started to call security and I just turned to her and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not going in.” I didn’t feel like fighting to get the sketch.

On the drive home, I decided to stop at Pisa Pizza (7058 West Colonial Drive, Orlando). For me this hole in the wall establishment is where I go when I’m craving the comfort of a steaming hot slice of cheese pizza. There was only two other people in the joint, seated over by the Push Bus Plush Toy Claw Machine.  Periodically the claw would drop and the machine would let out a loud mechanical wheeze. Talking heads on the TV discussed politics. A circular mirror distorted the room.

Half way into the sketch, The Lion King started up on the TV behind me. My heart still swells with pride during the opening sequence. When Simba tucked his head under his dead fathers paw, I wanted to shout out, “I worked on that scene.” The guy that was flipping pizza dough when I walked in, was now lounging in the seat behind me, chuckling as he watched the film. My sketch formed as I listened to a very dear and familiar story. Someday I’ll find my way on the path unwinding.

How to Look at Renaissance Art

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Karen Love Blumenthal invited me to attend a fun interactive talk about how to look at Renaissance Art at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum on the Rollins College Campus. The workshop was conducted by her husband Arthur Blumenthal the Director Emeritus of the museum. He began his talk by outlining the five steps that are needed to truly look at a work of art.
1. Become fully present and put aside your opinions. Usually when we enter a gallery, we immediately say, “Oh, I like this painting or I can’t stand that painting.” He insisted we curb such opinions until we fully studied the art.
2. Move into the objects “Looking Space” and move around the object while looking. At this point the first impression can be stated.
3. Determine the medium used.
4. Observe and describe the art in meticulous detail offering subject matter, composition, the light source. It is important to describe the art as if no one else had ever seen it.
5. Restate or sum up the main points or total impact.
The 20 or so patrons were then split up into groups and each group was assigned a Renaissance work of art to study. One person from each group was then given the task of describing the art using the five rules of observation. It was fascinating listening to people describe the art. Each person brought their own viewpoints and background into the process. One man truly didn’t like the portrait he was asked to discuss but in the end, Arthur let him know it was a rare Tintoretto portrait and probably the most valuable painting in the collection. It was good that such information did not distort the patrons’ view.
Lunch served at a long table in the front gallery. The scene was reminiscent of Leonardo DaVinci’s Last Supper. The man seated next to me let me know that he spends the five summer months out of each year living on an island in Maine. When we got back to the Renaissance gallery, he had to describe a complex painting of Noah’s Arc. He described the chaotic collection of animals and when he backed up, he was able to see the overall flow of the piece. Arthur went on to describe the umber under painting which was allowed to show through in spots.

Renaissance came from the Italian word rinascita meaning “Rebirth.” This rebirth came about as ancient Roman and Greek statues were being discovered. Michelangelo sculpted amazing forgeries early in his career. There was an astonishing confluence of artistic genius in that era. There was also powerful banking families like the Medici who appreciated and paid for art. Ahhh… Those were the days. Of course there was also the plague, inquisition and plenty of wars, but that is a small price to pay.