Art Core Newsletter Aug/Sept Online Now

The Art Core Aug/Sept newsletter edition is now online  And it’s still FREE

The feature Interview is with Louise P Sloane whose work focuses on geometric forms, grids, repetitive motifs and lushly layered color with a fascination with mark making as a fundamental principal

A article by  Jeremy Fitz  on Robert Raushenberg an American Collage Artist


‘What is Art’ by Liam Huston of www.theopening.us   The answer may surprise you!

‘Woven Art as an Art Form’ by Judith Schwartz  Although associated primarily with fabric and two-dimensional swaths of cloth, weaving as a medium provides a large range of possibilities for sculpture.

“An Incredible American Collage Artist Named Robert Raushenberg ” by Jeremy Fitz

And a Quick Look at the amazing work of  Astrid Fitzgerald 

 

 

 

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Where Art Begins, A Visual Language

I believe that everyone wants to express some inner mood or feeling through a visual language that others can understand. Rembrandt, aside from all his other incredible work, expressed his inner exploration through self portraits. Dozens of these works span his lifetime, giving expression to a visual language that speaks about each separate period in his life. Other artists froze moments in humanity creating not just a picture of a time but a feeling. Still others stripped the image bare and gave us pure emotion, movement, texture or color and let us decide what we are seeing. Sculptors have presented us with ideals of the human form. Others have created assemblages that move us to examine our own beliefs. Others create environments where we can let our own ideas run amuck. So I guess where I’m going with this very scaled down anthology of the history of art is that ART BEGINS EVERYWHERE.

And visual thinking is at the core of it all. I know some people will jump up and ask about all those other senses. But think about it. In fact let’s take the time to explore a simple idea that will become one of the most complicated examples I can present.

In your mind picture a house.  Did you picture a suburban ranch with three bedrooms, an apartment in a crowded city, a hut in an open landscape or the mansion of your dreams. Was the feeling happy, sad, disgust, envy or maybe even a sense of longing?  Take the time and listen to the sounds around your imagined house. Be aware of what’s going on around the house. Can you smell cooking or a new mowed lawn or the accumulation of garbage along the side of the house? When we perceive an object, in this case a house, we are conscious of it through all our senses but we know it through a variety of cues and associations related to our visual language. The more developed the language the deeper the meaning of the object. If we picture garbage we can smell it, if we see an empty room we sense its lack of life.

It is in our ability to go beyond our growth in this visual awareness past the limits of our sensory impressions and definitions that will allow us to know where art begins.

I will continue this exploration in future installments

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Where Art Begins

How Not to Define Art

This is the first in a series of dialogues explaining how to look at art.

Normally you would expect that a dialogue on how to look at art would begin with a definition of art. It would probably go on from there to explain how you should think so you could rationally accept that definition.

But you already know what art is and what you believe it is not! In fact contained in that statement alone are all the elements anyone needs to have an understanding of the visual arts. All of our feelings, ideas, insights and experiences are brought into focus in the first few seconds of looking at a piece of art. So, this instant visual experience encompasses our entire range of thought, feeling and observation. We sense the power behind the object. Whether it is ritual, physical or spiritual, we have a sense of the creative energy that transcends its physical presence. So that in an instant the object is replaced with what is behind its creation. Simply, good or bad, representative or abstract, it moves us in a special way.

The arts provide a communication that is basic to the human spirit. As of late some have a tendency to believe only a class of people with an inherent talent can produce these objects. Some even have gone so far as to say they shouldn’t bother trying to create art or even experience the art that already exists.  They see art as being isolated from the day to day experiences of modern people, stagnating in galleries and museums. But I think the truth of this is that people are confusing the name of the artist and the art’s location location with the basic truth of the art.

Art can inspire, anger, humiliate and delight separately and all at once. It can be used to communicate the knowledge of a society or record the legacy of a society. So truly no matter how you begin to look at art you are looking into the core of our being as humans.

In future installments I will continue this exploration into “Where Art Begins”

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Water Mixable Oil Color Painting

This past month I have been working in a new medium, water mixable oil paints. I know what you’re thinking, water and oil don’t mix. And they shouldn’t. But they do. The major difference is in the modification of the linseed oil and the safflower oil that the colors are made from which allows them to mix and clean up with water. Think about it. Now if you are sensitive or just don’t want to be exposed to solvents and if the area you work in is confined, like a spare room or a garage, you have an oil painting option. They have the same buttery consistency as traditional oils. And as with traditional oils I have found the drying time to touch to be 2-12 days depending on the colors.

 

Assorted Set of 12 Assorted Set of 12 

This set contains 11 colors in 20 ml (.68 oz) tubes, including Cadmium Red Deep Hue, Vermilion Hue, Lemon Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Light Hue, Cadmium Green Light Hue, Cadmium Green Hue, Ultramarine Light, Cobalt Blue Hue, Burnt Sienna, and Ivory Black. The set also includes a 50 ml (1.69 oz) tube of Permanent White.


Here is some information as to the relationship of colors to drying time. Remember they are approximates. As with traditional oils you should still wait 6 to 12 months before varnishing

Fast Drying (2 days) Prussian Blue, Umbers
Medium Drying (5 days) Cadmium Hues, Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Siennas,Iron oxides,  ochres, Titanium and Zinc White, Lamp and Ivory Black, French Ultramine
Slow Drying ( more than 5 days) Cadmiums, Permanent Rose, Permanent Alizarin Crimsom

 

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2011 ARTCORE NEWSLETTER

ARTCORE Summer Issue online now
In this issue…
Artists and Art History.
Juan Gris – The Intellectual Cubist Painter & Sculptor From Spain
By Annette Labedzki
Art Appreciation 101
By Marianne Navarro
Artists Ask Questions About Art Marketing
By Aletta De Wal
Free Art Books, downloads, art contests, answers to your questions,
and a whole lot more.
Read ARTCORE for FREE at http://donaldkolberg.com/art_core.htm

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