Surf Drawing Classes--Update class 4 & 5
I have been updating my first post on the drawing class, which is located on Sept. 29th, 2013 but thought that perhaps someone might be interested to see the new material up-front too.
Class Four: 10-10-13
We
began with our prayer (we always do!) then I read the page I handed out
on Georgia O'Keefe (I actually only read the high points since it was a
little long and we didn't have time for every line.) and looked at the
color print of the color print of Purple Petunia and discussed it. Then
we did our warm-up drawing exercises. During our very first class I
had the class answer a lot of questions regarding what we could do
during the class; and one question was whether or not they would want to
draw with paper taped up on the wall; and they had unanimously said
"yes!". Dd and I bought a big roll of brown butchers paper at Lowe's
and some masking tape and put up 16 large pieces around the room for
each student to have a station. The students could use pencil, or black
Sharpie, or black drawing pens. They had a BLAST!!!! So much so, that
we are going to do it again this week.
Georgia
O’Keefe
One of
America’s most well known female artists was born on November 15, 1887 to Ida
and Frank O’Keefe. She was the eldest of
five girls in a family of seven children.
Her father was a successful farmer in Wisconsin. She grew up working on the farm; learning to
sew, cook, tend the vegetable garden, building her own doll house and spending
hours creating make-believe worlds. Her mother thought all her children should go
to college and learn a profession to work outside the home.
Georgia
knew
by the age of 10 that she was an artist.
She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from
1905-1906. She attended the Art Students
League in New York City under William Merritt Chase. Chase had a
tremendous influence on her. He taught the “plen air” method of
painting,
and often taught his students in outdoor classes. Chase said to be
“artistic in every
way”. To him, the process of painting
was more important than the final work.
He made his students paint eight or ten pictures one on top of the other
until the canvas became too thick with paint.
He insisted that his students should paint a new picture every day and
experiment with painting the same things in different ways. These
lessons I’ve just mentioned of Chase’s
are very much lessons that O’Keefe took to use herself! When studying
O’Keefe, you can clearly see
how influential Chase was to her foundation.
So, that is
Georgia’s education---why is she so famous that we are talking about her? Well, I think if we were to walk up to
someone on the street and ask “Who is Georgia O’Keefe?” they would say
something about her being the lady that paints enormous paintings of flowers;
and they would be right. No one had ever
painted flowers this way before; and LOTS of people had been painting flowers
for a very long time!!!! She changed the
way people looked at flowers, and the way they painted flowers. She found her OWN way; her very own unique
style. But, first she started out doing
the basics just like everyone else. Georgia won her first prize for a
still-life of a rabbit in a class under Chase, and it looks so perfectly
perfect…(and kind of boring too) but eventually she kept drawing (with
charcoals mostly) and one thing lead to another and her work got attention in
New York City in 1916 when she was 29 years old. Alfred Stieglitz was a well known
photographer and art gallery owner was so impressed with her drawings that he
put her drawings up in his gallery….and the rest, they say, is history! I only have one page to tell you about her,
so I won’t go into all the details of Georgia and Steiglitz…but they fell in
love and married; but most importantly, he encouraged her to focus on her
artwork instead of teaching art (which is what she had been doing). O’Keefe thought that the purpose of art is to
show a thought or feeling, and that parts of a painting must work together in
harmony. She remained independent from
shifting art trends and stayed true to her own vision, which was based on
finding the essential, abstract forms in nature.
Last class
we learned about Caravaggio, and how it seemed like he took a spotlight to his
figures in his paintings—to force us to focus on what he wanted us to focus
on…Well, O’Keefe doesn’t use a spotlight; she uses a MAGNIGFYING GLASS! She makes us see her subject matter how she
wants us to see it—her way! I’ve found a
few quotes from her—so she can tell you about herself! I thought this might be better than me trying
to do it. Last facts first though: She
painted and sculpted and worked all her life; making some two thousand pieces
of art until she died at age 98!!! She
is easily considered one of America’s most famous artists.
“Nobody sees
a flower, really, it is so small. We
haven’t the time-and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.” “If I could paint the flower exactly as I see
it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small. So I said to myself- I’ll paint what I see-
what the flower is to me, but I’ll paint it big, and they will be surprised
into taking time to look at it-I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to
see what I see of flowers.”
“I hate
flowers- I paint them because they’re cheaper than models and they don’t move!” “I found I could say things with color and
shapes that I couldn’t say any other way-things I had no words for.”
This Week:
Class Five: 10-17-13
Magdalena
Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderon—a.k.a.-Frida
Kahlo
Our painting is: Self-Portrait 1 –
1940 or Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace & Hummingbird 16” x 24”
Was
born in
Coyoacan, a small town on the outskirts
of Mexico City, on July 6, 1907. She
died at the age of 47, on July 13, 1954. In 1910 (she was 3 years old)
the Mexico
Revolution began and was a major influence throughout her life. Her
mother would usher her and her siblings back
inside their home each time the revolutionary shots were fired in the
streets
where they lived. To complicate her
childhood further; she contracted polio at the age of six. Polio left
her right leg thinner than her
left leg; so she wore paints or colorful, long skirts. Finally, at age
18 she was in a major
accident between the bus she was riding in and a trolley car. Some of
the riders died in the accident;
Frida suffered many injuries: broken spinal column, broken collarbone,
broken
ribs, broken pelvis, eleven fractures in her right leg, a crushed and
dislocated right foot, dislocated shoulder, iron handrail pierced her
abdomen
and her uterus which compromised her reproductive capacity. She spent 3
months in a body cast; had 35
operations—mainly on her back, right leg, or right foot. Understanding
the extent of her injuries, the amount of pain she was constantly in,
the amount of time she spent alone in
hospitals or in bed is very critical to getting her perspective of her
unique
and painful life. It was all this pain,
and all this “brokenness” that caused her to become the artist that she
became. She needed a way to express
herself and painting was a perfect outlet for her.
Unlike
Georgia O’Keefe; Frida didn’t know as a child that she wanted to be an artist. She doesn’t have thousands of paintings to
her credit—or art school degrees. She
was a very curious child –always bringing home plants, rocks, insects, and
small animals to study. She was
particularly bright and was admitted to the National Prepatory School of Mexico
being one of only thirty-five girls admitted (quite an honor!). Her father was a professional photographer
and an amateur artist, who was curious about all kinds of things. He taught her about photography; and this
portal is how Frida’s paintings look----like photographs of herself!
What makes
Frida so special? **Frida painted her real feelings in a way that had never been seen
before.** Frida painted about 143 paintings; which 55 were self-portraits;
it is the self-portraits that showed all the pain, agony, love, joy, sadness,
loneliness, and passion she possessed.
Right after the accident, during her recovery time, Frida began painting
while being laid up in her hospital bed.
She had to learn how to deal with being in pain and being bored. She turned into one of the most popular
Mexican artists of all time as a result; being the first Mexican artist to
exhibit her own work at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Like with Georgia O’Keefe; Frida was married
to a famous artist, and I could spend my whole page talking about him-Diego Rivera
(a cubist painter and muralist – one of Mexico’s most famous artists also); but
I don’t have time. They had a very rocky
relationship with many up’s and down’s; which gave Frida fuel in which to paint
more paintings about her love and devastation regarding Diego.
Now for some
quotes from Frida for you to hear about her, from her:
“I paint
self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know
best.”
“My
paintings carry with them the messages of pain.”
“I never
painted my dreams, I painted my own reality.”
“Painting completes my life.”
I had huge
sorrow (paraphrase mine)….”but it learned to swim and now I am overwhelmed by
decency and proper behavior.”
“Taking in one’s
sorrow means risking that sorrow to eat you up from the inside.”
“They
thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn’t.
I never painted dreams. I painted
my own reality.”
“I am not
sick. I am broken. But I am happy to be alive as long as I can
paint.”
I hope you
all are interested in learning more about Frida Kahlo and will learn more about
her and her artwork!!
