More Recent Awards

I just learned that my portrait Nan Talking received an Honorable Mention from the Portrait Society of America in their 2007 Members Only Competition, entitled "Taking it Outside: The Figure in an Outdoor Environment." Among others, Garth Herrick and John Ennis, also received Honorable Mentions!

The Juror, Edward Jonas, says the following: "The criteria {for judging] are . . . based on drawing, composition, color, light, and use of pictorial space. . . .artists needed to show special sensitivity and attention to temperature and light source. Often challenging for artists is the need to adjust their palette to compellingly and accurately capture direct light, ambient light and the overall temperature of light in color and atmospheric effects."

For some reason I don't see too many awards of any kind placed on portraits of middle-aged or older women. It's a different story with portraits of older men, especially if they are "characters" in some way--if they have a long, flowing beard, for instance. But unfortunately women can't grow beards (at least we aren't supposed to).

In this portrait of Nan, I tried to capture visually her accent, which is mostly German and maybe slightly British. That was the motivation behind this, and also showing the liveliness and character of her features in the bright sunlight.

On another note, The Duet, the painting below, received a Top 100 Award from the ARC, excellent and very unexpected news! For a review of the ARC show, click here.

Butler Insitute Award

A few weeks ago I attended the reception of the Allied Artists of America Exhibition in New York. It was held at the National Arts Club, a former private mansion on Gramercy Park in Manhattan. For a Victorian house buff like me, just seeing the interior of the building was a treat: lavish woodwork, sumptuous wall coverings, huge plate glass windows, and generous rooms. I was in Victorian heaven.

I felt very honored to receive the Butler Institute of American Art Award for my painting The Duet. An exciting moment for me, though there were many prizes given away, and mine was a minor one compared to quite a few. Here I am next to my painting.

Allied Artists of America Exhibition

My painting "The Duet" is my first figurative work ever to be accepted into a juried show, and I'm very excited about it. Here are the details of the show:

ALLIED ARTISTS OF AMERICA 94th ANNUAL EXHIBITION

National Arts Club,
15 Gramercy Park South,
New York, NY

Reception and Awards Ceremony on
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9th, 2007, at 1:00 p.m.

Gallery hours are Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10-12 p.m. & 3-5 p.m.; Tuesday 2-5 p,.m.
Saturday and Sunday: must call ahead.

Portrait demo

In conjunction with the portrait show, Garth Herrick and I did a two-hour demonstration at the Wayne Art Center. The event was well-received; I think we had about 40 onlookers who asked interesting questions and kept things lively. I painted a lovely 12-year-old girl while Garth painted the chairman of the Board. Here we are with the results after the two hours were up.

Portrait show opening reception

Twelve artists ended up participating in the exhibit, and here is a group shot of most of them (L to R); Catherine Prescott, Addie Cooper, John Ennis, Ellen Cooper, Nancy Bea Miller, me, Garth Herrick, Ernie Norcia, Jennifer Frudakis, and Glenn Harrington. Missing from the photo are Rachel Constantine and Jimm Scannell. The opening reception went very well, and we had a nice review in the Main Line Times.

Portraiture seems to be at the center of a major clash in the art world these days. On one extreme there are those who defend the Modern and Contemporary art movements and categorically despise any art that hints of traditional methods or subjects. On the other extreme are artists whose work is strongly reminiscent of the past and who despise Modern and Contemporary art. Critics like Blake Gopnick of the Washington Post have made some accurate criticisms of traditional portraiture, yet seem unable to distinguish between the more subtle differences between artists, labeling it all as schlocky. Part of the reason portraiture is taking the heat is that, for a long time, it existed as a reactionary enclave of the art world. The main avant-garde art scene did not recognize realism, and especially portraiture and figurative painting, until very recently. You may read this and think, "Alex is not an art historian--she doesn't know what she is talking about," and that is okay with me. I only have an undergraduate degree in art history. But I've been observing and experiencing big changes in the art world recently, and this is my opinion. Personally, I appreciate both contemporary and traditional art. I consider my own work to be somewhere in the middle; maybe "contemporary realism" would be the most accurate description. Why should we dismiss an expressionistic figure by saying the artist obviously painted like that because he/she didn't know how to draw? Why should we dismiss a realistic portrait that shows great skill, expression and soul because it is not painted in a cool style? I will be interested to see what the press says about portraiture in the next few years. Will it be ignored? Villified? Praised? What styles will be considered "true art" or "commercial" and why? This show is only a minor one compared to the Mancini show or the Cecilia Beaux show, but I hope it will raise some questions about these issues.

Portraiture: A Philadelphia Tradition

I'm delighted to announce that the Wayne Art Center will be hosting a group portrait show! It will run from October 24 through November 16. This area is home to such a lot of talented portrait painters and it is wonderful that the Wayne Art Center thought to offer a venue in which to showcase their work.

The participating artists are: Rachel Constantine, Addie Cooper, Ellen Cooper, John Ennis, Jennifer Frudakis, Bill Hanson, Glenn Harrington, Garth Herrick, Nancy Bea Miller, Ernie Norcia, Catherine Prescott, Jimm Scannell, and myself.

The opening reception will be on Sunday, October 28, from 3-5 p.m.

There will be a group portrait demo on Thursday, November 1, at 7:00 p.m.

There will be an informal artists' gallery talk on Thursday, November 8, at 12:30 p.m. Lunch will be served.

We have such a long and venerable tradition of portraiture in Philadelphia that includes Charles Wilson Peale, Cecilia Beaux, Mary Cassatt, Thomas Eakins, and Alice Kent Stoddard. Even John Singer Sargent can be included in this list because his parents were from Philadelphia. More recently we have Andrew Wyeth, Jamie Wyeth, Bo Bartlett, and Nelson Shanks. And that's just off the top of my head, so please excuse me if I missed some important artists. I'm hoping that this kind of show will happen again before long, and that we will be able to include more artists next time.

Landscape Workshop coming up in October

I thought I'd better get a head start and let people know about my one-day landscape workshop. We'll be enjoying and painting the fall foliage at a location outside Philadelphia.

VALUE AND COLOR MASSING IN LANDSCAPE PAINTING

Friday, October 19 (raindate Saturday, October 20)
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Observing landscape while working outside is a great way to push your skills to the next level. Working in oils, we will begin with small, quick oil sketches in order to establish major areas of light, shadow, color and value. We will then develop two paintings, one in morning light and one in afternoon light. Basic knowledge of oil painting is required. Participants need to bring all materials and a box lunch.

For details, or to sign up, contact the Wayne Art Center at:

info@wayneart.org

Hope to see you there--plus, you'll get to see me wearing this very fashionable hat.