Category Archives: Artists Interviews

Artist Websites, Artists Interviews

Monochrome Images: Argentinian Photographic Artist Jose Luis Gambande

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Orleans 2, photograph by Jose Luis Gambande

Although photographic artist Jose Luis Gambande chooses the subjects for his monochrome photographs on his weekly walks in cities he visits–last month he made a huge quantity of photographs on a trip to Spain and France–he does not consider himself a Street Photographer. “Usually I walk and shoot in the city once a week,” says Jose, “I take buildings and cityscapes because I like to register those things that are permanent–always there– around us. I am not a Street Photographer in the sense of taking the city movement, or the street dynamic life. I like the steady things in the city, the landscape of the permanent.”

Paris #2, photograph by Jose Luis Gambande

Jose Luis Gambande, enjoys working in digital monochrome, treating each black and white photograph like a unique thing–a unique opportunity to make each image something special.

A LA OFICINA, photograph by Jose Luis Gambande

He also loves the discovery process on the streets of cities and during post-processing of this images, stating that — “Frequently, when I begin processing an image taking off colors I discover a new shadow, a new light, a new bright that was never seen when taking the photo.”

 

 

BARRIO, photograph by Jose Luis Gambande

 

Jose Luis Gambande was born in Argentina 58 years ago. “I am an electrical engineering and work as that for my living,” says Jose, who is married and has two sons. He recalls how,in his childhood he studied fine arts and enjoyed painting–first, with brushes and paints and lastly digital painting using inkscape software.

 

CARRERA, photograph by Jose Luis Gambande

 

Always intrigued by photography but never thought he could make it, Jose only began making photographs six months ago. “I began shooting just for curiosity and found it likes me,” says Jose.

ARBOL, photograph by Jose Luis Gambande

As Jose says of his image making philosophy– “By the way, my knowledge of photography techniques is yet very limited. I like to take a good shot (with a good composition) and then make some digital operations (as little as possible) turning the image to a higher level of complexity and impact. I use an image editor. I don’t like to give a “message” with my photos, only an aesthetical representation, and maybe discover a new thing or a new view in a well-known place.”

ESTUDIO 17312, photograph by Jose Luis Gambande

 

Jose Luis Gambande offers Limited Edition prints directly from his website here. He is also available for assignments.

Jose has open edition prints available in his Saatchi Online portfolio: https://www.saatchiart.com/gambande
Follow Jose on Instagram here and on Facebook here.

SILLAS Y MESAS, photograph by Jose Luis Gambande

Artists Interviews

Revitalization of Rhopography in the Oil Paintings of PJ Mills

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Watermelon and Christmas lights, oil painting on canvas, 51 x 64, PJ Mills

 

The oil paintings of Miami, Florida based artist PJ Mills present everyday objects such as a toy, spiritual items, food, and personal possessions of the artist, all realistically rendered in still life scenes.  The artwork objects may be contextually placed in a still life setting or within more ambiguous spaces. At first glance this subject matter may seem to have little importance— yet these paintings make viewers take another look at these ordinary items perhaps previously taken for granted. As the artist PJ Mills says,” These paintings focus on those personal possessions that I find curiously engaging.”  And we agree–there is a substantial presence in each of these images. Some of the canvases are as large as 51 x 64 inches and as small as 12 x 12 inches, with each study holding its own as an artwork.

Paper Crane, oil painting on canvas, 48 x 48, PJ Mills

 

Steak, oil painting on canvas, 18 x 18, PJ Mills

 

PJ Mills is art historically connected to the practice of painters of the past in that his painterly examination may represent or symbolize the artist’s ideas or the items may have metaphorical implications. Still life painting of such common everyday objects is often referred to art historically as “rhopography.”  According to The English Oxford Dictionary  the art historical definition of rhopography, is a depiction of subject matter considered insignificant or trivial, as still life, the domestic interior, animals, insects and the like.

 

Rabbit’s Foot and Communion Hosts, oil painting on canvas, 48 x 48, PJ Mills

 

Pinned Beetle, oil painting on canvas, 12 x 12 inches, PJ Mills

 

PJ Mills subjects of interest for his paintings may include the contemporary, such as Polaroid photos, as well as objects present through time such as things that maintain religious or supernatural characteristics– divining rods, masks, or spiritual fetish articles. The artist is also very aware of how a simple juxtaposition of two or more objects will express far more complex meanings.   The juxtaposition of objects arranged by visual artists is similar to how many poets lay down verse. It is not the words per se that contain the power, but the unknown image that arises from what was created by the juxtaposition. Defined as the “imago ignota,” it is the combination of words which elevate them beyond the language of the obvious. “I contend that this holds true for images, as well,” says the artist.

 

Polaroids, oil painting on canvas, 48 x 48, PJ Mills

 

“In the last few years,” says PJ Mills, ” I have started to isolate and focus on personal effects that relate specifically to personal consumption and identity. A woman’s compact may be an aid for the adjustment of lipstick but also holds the secrets of her self-absorption snapped shut in the tidy compartment of her purse. Risque and subjective photographs (Polaroids) may be titillating, they are also quite personal and speak of privacy as well. Jewel like insects, the tiny treasures of boyhood fascination or even the food we eat raise questions of adult obsession with consumerism. Issues of identity and consumerism all stem directly and indirectly from strange as well as obvious places in our lives. These visual investigations of isolated objects and/or juxtapositions of personal effects, represent the seemingly obvious. But also the often enigmatic, and yet always metaphorically pregnant meanings.”

 

Clown & Thorns, oil painting on canvas, 51 x 64, PJ Mills

 

“My approach to painting is highly personal and intuitive. During the creative process I try to think as little as possible about this work and let the subjects surface from my subconscious. The result is quite suggestive by its contents and symbolically loaded with historical references. This material develops from entirely personal experiences and through obsessions I have with objects and my musing regarding the human condition as it relates to identity issues. The personal subjectivity of this work is not a grand philosophical statement. It is instead more closely related to a genre sensibility characteristic of the mundane used as metaphors for larger ideas.”

 

Monster, oil painting on canvas, 48 x 48, PJ Mills

 

“Common Still life painting that was popular in the 17th century Dutch and Flemish often contained hidden allegories such as the Christian Passion, Resurrection or the transience of things in life. They were little paintings with big ideas. The paintings during this time that concerned themselves with life, death and transient events between were often referred to as “Vanitas” paintings. Not in the sense of vainness or conceit; “Vanitas” often a latin term used to describe a notion of evanescence of earthly possessions and the life linked to the work. The meanings in these paintings were conveyed by the use of objects, mostly familiar and everyday items and were given a symbolic connotation. My paintings are similar in the sense that they isolate a particular object or group of objects containing a history of symbolic references. Within the body of my work, historical reference and symbolic references are typically ignored and the object is valued for purely personal reasons. The result often has an element of cognitive dissonance if not absurdity to the reasons behind its selection. I find the confusion intriguing.”

Then the brilliant artist PJ Mills simply sums up his work by stating– “I depart from seventeenth century concepts and slip in contemporary wackiness.”

 

Captive Bolt Pistol & Toy, oil painting, 48 x 48, PJ Mills

 

PJ Mills received his MFA degree in painting from Cornell University and has exhibited in numerous US art galleries. You can view more paintings on the artist’s website here.

Follow the artist PJ Mills on Instagram here.

Visit PJ Mills’ Facebook page here.

 

Wishbone, oil painting on canvas, 12 x 12, PJ Mills

Artists Interviews

Jane Robinson, Abstract Painter

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G
“Inspired by early jazz music and influenced by the abstract movement of the fifties, my artwork reflects the movement, rhythm, instruments and ‘colour’ of the music and art.”  Jane Robinson is an accomplish contemporary, abstract painter whose work has been sold globally to collectors, Universities and businesses.  Jane also teaches workshops in abstract painting and writes a blog about discovering your unique creativity, Art Epicurean.com

 

View more paintings on Jane Robinson’s Website:  http://www.JaneRobinsonAbstractArt.com
Artists Interviews

Kathryn Arnold — Poetic Mark-Making On Canvas

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Each Imprisoned Flutter Extends Delicately to the Horizon, Mallarme,Oil on Stretched Canvas, 54 w x 66h, Kathryn Arnold

Each Imprisoned Flutter Extends Delicately to the Horizon, Mallarme,
Oil on Stretched Canvas, 54 w x 66 h, Kathryn Arnold

Kathryn Arnold works in her studio in San Francisco. It is a large space with a skywell that keeps track of the time. Her work contains two intertwining veins. One is filled with large, colorful oils on canvas. The other vein includes drawings that are black and white mixed media works on paper. Both display the density and layered mark-making that points to artistic process and content.

Kathryn Arnold’s Artist Statement: 

“The paintings are a result of intuitive nonobjective processes and contain my search for visual “magic.” The sense of touch and chaotic energy of color and marks play an important role in building up layers that function to create an encompassing, enveloping field and bewildering space. The grid at times becomes a reference point and the intrinsic relating of parts form poetry; an interplay between subjective and objective realities.”

Kathryn Arnold has an MFA degree, exhibits nationally in galleries, universities and art centers, and is a recipient of several fellowships, grants and awards, including an NEA Regional Fellowship. Kathryn’s work is included in numerous public and private collections.

View the artist’s extensive portfolio of paintings on the her website http://www.kathrynarnold.com/

 

Artists Interviews

Why Do Artists Work in Series?

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Many art lovers recognize the work of an artist by artistic style or the recurring themes that the artist continues to explore. Some may even refer to these things as part of the artist’s brand. More often you will hear the term series used by artists. Many artists who do work in series that explore variations of composition, repeating pattern, recurring design elements, signature color palette or technique, will say that they feel fortunate to have a series going. This is what every artist hopes will develop as they work in their studio.

Artworks in series have become a standard of art-making practice among successful artists–so much so that many gallerist and art collectors expect to see artists’ work available in one or more ongoing series.

New York City artist Barbara Rachko describes working in a series as feeling natural and authentic to her.  She shares some perceptive insights– “working in series mimics the… gradual way that our lives unfold, the way we slowly evolve and change over the years.”  She describes how every paintings that she works on has a lesson to teach.  Once completed she can look at each finished piece and see how her ideas have progressed a step or two further. 

Big Wow, Barbara Ratchko

Big Wow, Barbara Rachko

Intruder, Barbara Ratchko

Intruder, Barbara Rachko

Quartet, Barbara Ratchko

Quartet, Barbara Rachko

Visit Barbara Rachko’s website to view more images of her work– www.barbararachko.com  

Read more on why Barbara Rachko works in series, on her blog Colored Dust, at:  www.barbararachkoscoloreddust.com

In Barbara Rachko’s Domestic Threats series of pastel-on-sandpaper paintings, the artist uses Mexican folk art—masks, carved wooden animals, papier mâché figures, and toys—in a lively blend of reality and fantasy. 

Other blog articles on this artist:

Dolls, Masks, Zombies, Devils, Skulls and Day of the Dead Skeletons in the Pastel Paintings of Barbara Rachko

Artists Interviews

Artist Agent X

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Vega Inspection, Agent X

Agent X is currently showing several of his works in an exhibition at the SoHo Gallery for Digital Art, New York City and is a featured artist at ArtLA. In 2011, he was a Semi-Finalist in the New York Art Marathon, and featured in several art publications and positively reviewed in Arte Fuse and The Grid. View more work below and on the artist’s www.agentxart.com, in his See.me portfolio , and in this PDF of Available works.

Smokin, Agent X

Influenced by artists such as Takashi Murakami, Romare Bearden, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Robert Rauschenberg, Agent X creates experimental, multimedia collages, paintings, and 2D artwork. His work is an amalgamation of diverse cultures, past, present and future, and his signature collage street intellectualism is a commentary on the urban experience. The phenomena of pop culture, technology, fashion, music, politics, and race are central to his practice of designing experimental works.

Bullseye Horizons, Agent X

Agent X’s work is influenced by pop culture from the 1920’s to the present. This inspiration led him to create multimedia works incorporating iconic imagery from genre magazines from the past eighty years. By adding paint and other nontraditional and found materials, Agent X creates unique surfaces that transcend any particular era.

Hands, Agent X

Rollercoaster, Agent X

Ice Cream, Agent X

Artists Interviews, Promotions

How To Expand Your Artist News into Multi Blog Posts and Interactions: The Leslie Parke Print Project

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Branches, © Leslie Parke

When Leslie Parke realized that her oil paintings on linen canvas of highly detailed kitchen and dining treasures, trees, and trash–yes trash that she turns into stunningly beautiful images–would be perfect for prints, she took on a new project to turn one her paintings into a print edition using traditional printmaking techniques. She also turned the project into multiple opportunities to expand her blog posts, newsletter communications, and interactions with her readers and followers by gaining their feedback along the way–all of which she titled The Print Project.

Janet’s Shelf, © Leslie Parke

Crystal and Porcelain, Oil on Linen, 46 x 48 In, © Leslie Parke, 2010

The overall goal of Leslie’s The Print Project writings …” was to help my readers learn something about printmaking, understand the process and history a little, and to give them a context in which to gauge what I was doing. The general public is not aware of the work and expense that goes into making a print. The better informed the collector is the better collector they become. They have more confidence and can talk about their purchases.”

When Leslie Parke decided to write these The Print Project blog posts and newsletters, she felt she had something to talk about. “I am an experienced artist, but have very limited experience with printmaking. Here was a chance for me to share the experience as I, too, made discoveries about the medium. My thought was, I would give my contacts a heads up that this is what I was doing, then when they saw The Print Project in the heading of my email newsletters they could take a look or not depending on their interest.”

What Leslie discovered is that non-artists are just as fascinated with the printmaking processes as artists. Leslie’s idea was to use her blog and newsletters to allow others to see the development of her printmaking process as it unfolded in real time. “For those seriously interested, on my blog I gave them background into ways that other artists used prints,” Leslie said. “Some of my contacts are collectors, some are artists and others are just interested observers.  My thought was the more informed they were the more confident they would feel when looking at my work. They would know how it evolved and all the work that went into creating it. I cannot report whether or not this will make a difference in the number of pieces collected.  But whenever I run into someone who receives the newsletter, they engage with me right away about the project. ”

To start off The Print Project, Leslie’s first blog post was on selecting one of her paintings to turn into a print. In her newsletter she asked–“Is there a painting of mine you would like to see re-imagined in print? I was thinking of working with the tree paintings, but I would be interested in what you think. Drop me a line if you have a suggestions.” Later she would turn her request for feedback into a full newsletter (copied below).

Another of her blog posts was on Creating Four Color Lithographic Plates, complete with a YouTube video showing the materials and methods she used to create the layers necessary for her four color lithograph.

Leslie wrote blog posts on the history of printmaking–from ancient times to the original Pop art era–writing about Hokusai, Monet and Roy Lichtenstein prints which incorporate art images, another post on the prints of Matisse, one on the prints of Joseph Raffael and Bonnard, and another on the printmaking of Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler–-all artists she admires and identifies with in some way.

She also blogged on a contemporary example of an artist creating prints in our present time: The Print Project: Shepard Fairey — Harmony & Discord: A Layered approach to prints, that also contains a fascinating video of Shepard Fairey at work inside Pace Editions in New York City.

To update the progress of her printmaking, Leslie sent out a newsletter–The Print Project: Off to the Printers.

Then to encourage interactions and gain feedback, Leslie sent this newsletter to her mailing list:

LESLIE PARKE LOGO
Dear Marie
Here are the first proofs that Tim Sheesley, the Master Printer, sent me. So far, there are three versions of the print. In one of them he used very high saturation colors (bright colors). In another I suggested four colors based on the paints I used in the original painting. That resulted in the print with more muted colors. He then made a print on black paper just to suggest other ways I could interpret the print.These are not the final prints. I will be traveling out to Tim’s studio in Otego to make the final prints. I will be playing with both the color and the paper. At this stage, I would be very interested to know if you have a preference between the bright and the muted color. Feel free to share your thoughts. You have followed this process to this point. I would love to know your preferences.Thank you for coming on this journey with me. Leslie

Almond Tree Bright
Almond Tree Bright
Almond Tree Muted
Almond Tree Muted
Almond Tree on Black
Almond Tree on Black
Detail – Almond Tree Muted
detail bright
Detail – Almond Tree Bright
Leslie then allowed for plenty of time to receive responses before sending for follow-up newsletter:
LESLIE PARKE LOGO
Dear Marie,This has been a wild month with three shows, two of which were at exactly the same time. With the studio nearly empty I am happy to be settling down to work.But first, I wanted to get back to you about your input on the print. Thank you, Marie, for taking the time to review and comment on the print proofs. Your response helped me re-conceive the project and because of your insights I chose to redraw the plates from scratch and make totally new color configurations. For the last month I worked on the plates at a drawing table in front of a window in my studio.

new print plate
One of the plates as I worked at it on my desk with light pouring through the window.

Several friends said they wanted to see all three prints in a suite. They suggested using seasonal colors in a grouping.

Monet-bridgeMonet-2

One friend went so far as to send me some jpgs of Monet’s Japanese Bridge where the color changed according to the season. That made me think of other paintings by Monet where the color changed depending on the time of day. I turned to Monet’sRouen Cathedral for inspiration, perhaps also because Roy Lichtenstein had already made an interesting interpretation of these paintings in print.

monet-lichtenstein

The new plates are finished and soon I will travel to Corridor Press to work on the proofs with Tim Sheesley.

I can’t wait to show you the results. As soon as they are done, Marie, I will invite you to the studio for champagne and a sneak preview before I post them online.

Again many thanks for your input,

Leslie
 
Leslie Parke, a painter from upstate New York, is a recipient of the Esther and Adolph Gottlieb Grant for Individual Support, the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest grant as artist- in-residence at the Claude Monet Foundation in Giverny, France, and the George Sugarman Foundation Grant, among others. Her exhibits include the Williams College Museum of Art, the Museum of the Southwest, Midland, Texas, the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, the Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin, and the Museo de Arte Moderno in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Parke has a BA and MA from Bennington College. Her work is in numerous corporate and private collections.
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This Print Project story continues to unfold as Leslie works in her studio on her print plates.

http://leslieparke.com
http://leslieparke.com/blog/


Art Blogs, Artist news, Artists Interviews

Dolls, Masks, Zombies, Devils, Skulls and Day of the Dead Skeletons in the Pastel Paintings of Barbara Rachko

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The Space Between, Barbara Rachko

To say that her pastel paintings are skillful is truly an understatement! New York City artist Barbara Rachko has perfected her artistic style working from her large collection of Mexican and Guatemalan folk art – masks, carved wooden animals, papier mâché figures, and toys – to create pastel paintings that combine reality and fantasy and depict personal narratives.

If you are wondering how this artist achieves such fine detail and a photographic quality in her pastel paintings, you can find out more about her techniques by following her blog appropriately named Colored Dust. The artist also share a lot about her art-making on her Facebook page, which you can Like to follow her there.

The multi-talented Barbara is a gifted photographic artist as well, and currently represented by the New York City art gallery HP Garcia.

The Sovereign, Barbara Rachko

False Friends, Barbara Rachko

 

Paranoia, Barbara Rachko

Effigy, Barbara Rachko

Artists Interviews

New Paintings by San Francisco Bay Area Artist Marian Yap

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Today we are featuring two paintings in Haiku Threads, a new series by Marian Yap, a San Francisco Bay Area artist. 
Marian says: “The green one is titled Celadon, the red one is titled Cinnabar.  Celadon green and cinnabar red are colors that appear frequently in Chinese fine arts, architecture, furniture, ceramics and textiles.  My work is generally abstract and I paint on canvas and paper.  I also do printmaking– primarily monotypes.  Let me know if you would like more information. Thanks, and keep up the good work!”

View more of Marian’s color abstractions on her website www.marianyap.com and on her blog marianyap.wordpress.com 

Cinnabar 2, acrylic/mixed media on 24″ x 24″ gallery wrapped canvas by Marian Yap

Artists Interviews

Artist Video: Progression From Representational to Abstract Mixed Media and Assemblage Work

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Widely acclaimed for both abstract and figurative paintings, Dennis Hare has exhibited in numerous shows, including Allan Stone Gallery, New York, Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, the Bolinas Art Museum, the University Gallery, University of the South, TN. In this documentary, Hare describes his progression from representational painting to abstract assemblage and mixed media work.

Artists Interviews

Kathy Blankley Roman’s Expressive Abstractions on Canvas, Paper and Board

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Kathy Blankley Roman has a background in illustration and calligraphy, then began painting expressively since 2010. In late 2011 she began exhibiting her paintings, was a winner  in 7th Annual Emerging Artist Winter Exhibit at Morhpo Gallery in Chicago. “I was one of the winners, and will be featured there in a group exhibit in October 2012. Behind me: scent of pine through the woodsong, fog, Shakin’ it Up BeLow, and Edges.”  Kathy Blankley Roman

Kathy recently had her art featured in an ebook titled, Walk into Abstraction-Vol. 4, and will be curating and participating in an all encaustic exhibit in August 2012.

Kathy Blankley Roman’s paintings explore the process of emergence and dissipation and the interactions (polarity) of opposing elements: eg. angular vs. curvilinear, geometric vs. organic, using an earthy palette. Building up her paintings in layers, using acrylics and various dry media on different surfaces – various papers, canvas, board – first making marks or scribbles, then painting over, repeating this process many times – acting and reacting to the marks, she works with what emerges from her impulses of the moment,  going through many transformations. The artist has experimented with adding collage to her paintings, process painting without brushes, digital painting, and encaustic,often combining any number of these processes into one painting. Lately, she has experimented with adding more color into her artwork while maintaining the warm earthy tones. “I found that the layering and immediacy of the process translates easily to encaustic, a relatively new medium for me,” she says.

Confluence, Kathy Blankley Roman, 12 x12 inches, acrylics, charcoal on canvas.

Epiphany, Kathy Blankley Roman, 16 x 20 inches, acrylics, charcoal, graphite on canvas.

Hummer, Kathy Blankley Roman, 12 x 12 inches, acrylics, graphite, charcoal on canvas.

Under/Over the series, Kathy Blankley Roman, Encaustic and mixed media on cradled birch 8 x 8 inches each 

Kathy Blankley Roman

K.B.RomanArt@gmail.com

https://facebook.com/KBRomanArt

http://www.flickr.com/photos/KBRomanArt

Artists Interviews

‘drawing a breath’, glyphs and signs — the art of Susan Spaniol

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Secret Garden, Susan Spaniol

“Drawing is my preferred modality because—like ‘drawing a breath’—it is a natural act driven by impulses we cannot fully control. My most recent works explore mark-making through ‘glyphs’—ancient forms of writing that whose meanings remain mysteries.  I translate the unique character of ancient human ‘signs’ through scratches, scribbles, or tracks deeply rooted in my soma and psyche.”  Susan Spaniol

Enigma, mixed media, Susan Spaniol

Cunieform, mixed media, Susan Spaniol

Allegro, Susan Spaniol

Equinox, Susan Spaniol

Wave Particle, Susan Spaniol

The artist Susan Spaniol lives in West Hartford, CT, USA and teaches at Springfield College.  Visit her website to view many more artworks:  www.susanspaniol.com

Artists Interviews

Contemporary Abstract Paintings of Cyre de TOGGENBURG

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Cyre de TOGGENBURG pursues freedom in his abstract art.

Sans titre, 130 x 97 cm, Cyre de TOGGENBURG

Cyre de TOGGENBURG began his search for freedom in the colors of Turner, after viewing Turner’s paintings at Tate Modern. “He is for me the beginning of abstraction,” said Cyre.

Bell's arrogance, Cyre de Toggenburg

For years, the artist kept this sentence written on his studio wall: Not concerning yourself with the result of an action favors the acquisition of the mastery.

Let's talk about you, Cyre de Toggenburg

 “There was a long period of de-constructing the learning and domestication of my ego,” the artist said.

Outland, Cyre de Toggenburg

“To experience at first hand the sense of abstraction I looked to understand the art of Zen. The technique of Zen archery has been crucial to my understanding.

The released arrow follows a trajectory. It does not worry about the target (“Not concerning yourself with the result of an action”). The target is just one step on its path. The arrow is free.”

Social VIH, Cyre de Toggenburg

“If I do not paint with my body, (no rhythm, no movement), if I do not paint with my emotions (I feel nothing, I’m not trying to express emotions, or even to be felt), if I do not paint with my mind (I do not build it with knowledge, intentions for composition, form, balance, state of the art …).

Nonetheless I paint!

So with what do I paint?

Who paints?

I am free like the arrow.

My artistic object is to reach the observer in his spirituality.

My thought process is to invoke the sacred dimension as part of each of us, regardless of whether we subscribe to an institutional affiliation or not.”

Cyre de Toggenburg

http://www.cyredetoggenburg.com/


Artists Interviews

All-Over Realism: the Paintings of Leslie Parke

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Leslie Parke in her studio.

American painter Leslie Parke paints abstract compositions from the real life subject matter of gold trimmed China dishes and recycled disposables.

Recycled Paper Sasebo Japan, oil painting on canvas by Leslie Parke

One day, on a walk with a friend in Sasebo, Japan, she passed a recycling center stacked with bales of recycled paper. “The image of their surface was striking to me,” said Leslie Parke, “ like a Harnett trompe l’oeil painting, and the structure of the bales made me think of Don Judd’s boxes.”  For Leslie, the bales contained the history of painting– “[they] carried everything from Lichtenstein’s cartoon paintings, to Jackson Pollock’s all-over composition,” the artist stated.

Compacted, oil painting on canvas by Leslie Parke

Later, on a trip to Maine, Leslie discovered bales of crushed cans at another recycling center. The shiny metal and circular lids suggested new visual elements for her canvases– circles, folds, bands, and also reflected light.

Recycled Bottle, oil painting on canvas by Leslie Parke

Much like Monet’s Water Lily paintings and Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings, Leslie Parke paints her images cropped, close in, with no visible horizon line. She enjoys painting in oil on linen or canvas as large as 60 x 70 inches.

Plates in the River, oil painting on canvas by Leslie Parke

One day, after giving a party, she began painting piles of her Grandfather’s gold trimmed English porcelain.

Cascade, oil painting on canvas by Leslie Parke

“Up-close these works painted in oil on linen or canvas, seem to be merely flecks of paint, … but from a distance appear photo-realistic,” Leslie Parke describes in her artist statement.

China Heap, oil painting on canvas by Leslie Parke

Leslie Parke is the recipient of several prestigious foundation support grants. She was also an artist-in-residence at the Claude Monet Foundation in Giverny, France.

She has exhibited widely, including  several exhibitions in museums in both North and South America. Parke has a BA and MA from Bennington College.  Her work is in numerous corporate and private collections.

View more images of her amazing artwork on her website: www.leslieparke.com

Artists Interviews

A Wonderful New Artist Testimonial for Artist Marketing Resources

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I worked with William Montgomery  August and September 2011. He had a family emergency and had to take some time off. We resumed working together recently. Here is what he wrote about my efforts:

Testimonial from William Montgomery

“Before working with Marie Kazalia I had tried working with a few consultants costing thousands of dollars with absolutely no results. Of course I tried marketing my work personally as well, with no results either. Last Fall 2011 Marie was able to introduce me to a company in the UK who licensed 15 of my images for print on Canvas and archival paper. They are Art Consultants working globally. A week ago she was able to get me a deal with a New York company which licensed eleven of my latest pieces for distribution on canvas in two sizes in Australia, Italy and the US and they are working to establish a company in Great Britain as well. I modified the files so that I am able to continue marketing the originals without competition. She has sent out a little over 100 letters of introduction to art consultants and interior design companies here in the US and other countries. We have an interview coming out shortly  in My Spotlight Gallery blog. I know Marie works very hard at this for me because I find emails at all hours of the early morning to late evening with questions, check this or that, what do you think, etc. We maintain very close contact online and we are now starting to converse on the phone occasionally which really helps to clarify any issues at hand. All in all, I have found Marie to be extremely knowledgeable and is building new alliances all the time. She excels at web networking, so if you need marketing assistance I highly recommend her company.”

Working with William has been a great pleasure. I have watched  confidence in his artworks grow daily. You may view over 2000 original artworks on the artist’s website: http://www.abstractfineart.com ranging from 1993 to the present.

Marie Kazalia

Artist Marketing Resources

Artists Interviews

Aletta de Wal Interviews Fine Arts Professional Robert Patrick

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A spoof of the MGM logo from the Chuck Jones-p...

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Robert Patrick’s long professional career includes positions with Interior Designers, as an art consultant, with fine art print publishers, and as an exhibition curator of cartoon art by Chuck Jones.

Mr. Patrick was interviewed by Aletta de Wal of Artist Career Training, you can read or listen to part one here: http://ht.ly/9uknp.