Robert Ross Studio #7

Posted on by Thor

The Art and History Museums of Maitland (A&H) offers an Artist-in-Action (AIA) program that reflects the spirit of founder J. André Smith’s Research Studio and the current mission of the institution. This program provides non-residential studio space to an established or emerging artist for the professional practice and research of fine art. This program is an exciting opportunity to interact with A&H’s community of artists and art enthusiasts while working in this uniquely rich and historic environment.

A fixture at the institution for many years, the A&H’s acclaimed Artist-in-Action program takes place at the A&H’s historic Maitland Art Center (originally André Smith’s Research Studio). In Smith’s day, famous artists were invited to live and work at the Research Studio in the winter months, including luminaries Milton Avery and Ralston Crawford. In the recent past, a number of very well-known artists occupied the studios in a non-resident capacity, including the late Anita Wooten, Barbara Tiffany, and Ellie Diez-Massaro.

On September 12th I went to visit Robert Ross one of the 2013 Artists in Action. I got to the studio a bit early, so I considered doing a quick study of the Maitland Art Center’s central courtyard.  Unfortunately that sketch was interrupted by a lawn jockey who entered the courtyard with a lawn mower. He isn’t permitted to mow a lawn with anyone within 50 feet of him because flying debris could cause injury. He asked me to leave and I erased what I had started. Robert arrived as I exited the courtyard.

His studio doesn’t have any windows, but the bathroom window lets light in when the door is left open. A large tree branch was hung on one wall and Robert was working on a life sized sketch which was pinned to the wall directly below the branch. He decided to work on a still life with a cup, jar and seed pod. He quickly assembled his field paint easel. A warm spot light was set up to illuminate his scene. Robert’s paintings  have been exhibited in a growing number of venues in Central Florida. He also maintains a studio at McRae Art Studios in Winter Park. He worked quickly on his painting and I tried to maintain the same energy with my sketch by avoiding line in favor of value and color. Robert is a retired graphic designer and he loves the ability to pursue painting full time. He plans to take part in the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival where he can see which pieces sell. He doesn’t want to get caught up in chasing the market. I admire Robert’s work which is a blend between Edward Hopper and Fairfield Porter.  Many of his pieces show lonely, empty spaces between structures.

Recently he has been doing large painting based on sketches from sketchbooks. He likes having control over color and form which he can experiment with not feeling the need to slavishly recreate every detail. Watching him work made me itch to start attacking large canvases myself.

My Truck gets New Tires

Posted on by Thor

For my trip up north, I had to get a head lamp replaced since one had burned out. When I got to the Reed Nissan dealership, there was a long line of cars waiting to get into the repair shop, so I stepped out and walked up to a repair person to see if they had the parts and if so, how long it would take to repair. She was really nice, and had me pull my truck up to a third line which had no cars in it. When she drove my truck back to the shop, she told me that she had experienced a shudder and the truck lurched a bit. She also pointed out how bad the treads looked on my left front tire. I would be driving up into snow, and it was at this point that I decided I would have to get new tires for the trip.
The waiting area of the repair shop had a large plate glass window overlooking the garage where the work is done. In this sketch the mechanics are doing oil changes on the vehicles on the lifts. I never saw my truck, so it must have been in another garage. When the service advisor, Ellie Diaz, came back, she admired what I was working on. She said, “Now that is a nice way to pass the time.” I gave her my card and told her to check out my blog. She asked if I did portraits and I showed her the sketch I had just recently done of Hannah Miller. She wanted to know how much I would charge to do a sketch of her daughters and her. I gave her an affordable price and she seemed pleased, saying, “This would be a nice birthday present for myself.”
My next stop was the four wheel parts off road shop where I got my new tires. At this shop the mechanic was unable to figure out how to get at the spare tire so I had to go back and lower it myself. As I was sitting in the waiting area, I got a text from Hannah. She told me some stranger had asked to shoot a photo of her feet in her hip new shoes. He wanted to brag to friends that he had taken a photo of Cinderella’s sister’s feet. Hannah pointed out that my truck was getting new shoes, so it was a red letter day for shoes.