Power of art

When I was in school I bought a book on Albrecht Durer, I like Durer's work and I thought not much more of it than that. I noticed something about this book though, I often looked through it, studying Durer's work and admiring it, eventually I noticed that times when I unhappy etc. and happened to flip through this book, I found my mood would improve by the time I had looked through the book and the images of Durer's work.
Art is powerful, it has the power to make our lives better, or I suppose worse if used incorrectly, art has power.

Update

So I haven't blogged for a while but I'm really excited to announce that my art will be in two shows opening this week.
I am thrilled to again be included in the 29th Annual Spiritual and Religious Art of Utah show at the Springville Museaum of Art. The show opens this Wednesday!
I'm also pleased to be a part of the holiday show at the Utah Arts Festival Gallery! The show opens Thursday night and there will be a gallery stroll Friday from 6-9.
If you have the chance, check out both or either of these show!

A tip for aspiring artists

So something I didn't realize as an art student, was how important it was or would become to have the skills to photograph my own work. As a student it was more about having good representations to make into slides to enter shows etc. and I relied heavily on my dad who's BA is in photography (though that's not what he's done professionally). Technology has evolved (in the five years since I graduated) and I have a website, this blog, and a facebook page for my art and my routine is to photograph my art and get it online for people to see as soon as I can after finishing a piece. Again my dad has been a tech savvy help here, when I got my first digital camera, I've borrowed his tripod, he showed me to the free editing program that I use, he had a more high tech editing program that I've started using more and more, my photographs of my art have come a long way. It's still really tricky, I have a tendency to take my art all the way to the edge of my paper etc. and you can tell if the cropping turns out weird.
Photographing art is tricky and sadly I can't afford to pay a professional (and I hear a good one is hard to find, I've been lucky to have one when I need it) all or even half the time. I wish that I could have taken a class on photographing my work, or that one had even existed. Meanwhile, I'm doing the best I can.

Here's to those who teach art, especially to children, I may not agree with all their ideas or theories but I have come to decide that I just can't do it. I had the opportunity to teach an art project to a few groups of children. I'm sure it's part me and my lack of experience (my projects may have been more than the age groups could handle), but I really love art and I take it very seriously, I also have views that differ from a lot of people. With this project I had come up with these kids, based on some of what I do, it felt a lot like casting pearls before swine. In each class there were a few who went to work and did good with the projects and I suppose it should be worth it just for them, but the rest, it felt like we were wasting their time and mine. It makes me sad to think that that's the world these kids are growing up in.
Here's to the kids that got it though. Bless their hearts.

Watercolor blocks

I would like to thank the person or persons who invented watercolor blocks. I normally use Arches watercolor blocks because I like the paper and because it's wonderful not to have to worry about my paper warping. I've been working on a specific painting and I wanted a different size than the watercolor blocks I normally use.

 I still used Arches paper but I didn't tape it down or stretch it, with a smaller painting you can get away with that but apparently my paper was too big because it's been warping.  A reminder to me and everyone else to tape or stretch larger pieces of paper and a reminder of just how nice it is to have watercolor blocks.

Fresh Paint

So currently there are three places where my art is on view currently (and available for purchase). You can still see my art at the wonderful Lamp Co. and a few more weeks at LunaBerry and you can see a piece of mine and many other lovely pieces at the Loge Gallery until the 27th of September. If you get the chance check any or all of them out! PS Gallery Stroll is this Friday.

Finally a website

I finally got a real website for my art! It's a bit more professional and I'm excited about it. Check it out and see more of my art!

On view

An exciting announcement, there are now two lovely locations to view my art, my art is still in it's mini gallery space and the Lamp Company, and now for about a month, it will be at LunaBerry's local art space. Check it out!

 These are all from my Hex series.

I'm trying to get back on track. I've been working on new pieces, reading art related books and getting back to my master studies as I've stated before. I think I missed last week on master studies but I've got a new one this week.
I think the last few drawings I tried to be really measured and precise but this time I just went for it.

I go back and forth as to whether this is to be able to perfectly replicate the drawing or just to get more practice. I looked through all my drawings and compared them to the original drawing and while I think some are much better than others, somehow the eyes all seem very upset or angry, where as I get a different feeling from the da Vinci sketch. I keep thinking that it might be time to move on to another artist or another sketch but I think I'd like to keep trying to get the eyes better at least. Eyes are a very important part of a portrait, they convey so much, or at least they can.

Museums

I came across this article and it was really interesting. It talks about how people view art in museums, specifically with the influx of cameras, phones, etc. I think some good points are made in the article. I know that while I love going to museums, I am often a quick viewer; I don't generally read the blurb on the side of the piece, I look at the painting and I move along. I also like to take pictures when it's allowed in a museum, a lot of times it's a museum that I won't get to visit very often and with my own pictures I can go back and experience the art again and remember when I was there.

Sometimes it's hard to feel like you can fully enjoy a museum at your leisure. I loved getting to visit the big museums in Italy, but by necessity (there were hoards of people at the Vatican museum the Academia and the Uffizi) a lot of them were a very controlled path through the museum, no doubling back, it wasn't always possible to take as much time with pieces of art as one might wish. (I might also add that I know you're not allowed to take pictures in the Academia and I'm a little shocked when I see so many pictures of the David on social media from inside the museum, I don't blame the guards for being so cranky, no one listens to them).
I have noticed though, that when I am able to return to museums regularly I'm able to really gain better appreciation of the pieces I see, there are still pieces I blow by because I don't care for them (I can be a snob about art) but there are pieces that I come to love more and more with each visit.
Anyway it was a thought provoking article for me.

Kandinsky and a master study

So looking back on the dates of my master studies, I haven't done one since May... it's been a busy summer. Anyway, I decided it was high time that I got back to that. Here's my latest study, still from the same da Vinci study.

Also, I don't know if I've mentioned this but I love back to school (even though I haven't been back to school in years) and it get's me excited to get back on track after perhaps a summer of getting lax. As part of that this year I'm getting back on track with reading (pleasure and educational). I've tried multiple times to read multiple works of Wassily Kandinsky (I even own two) and I've never really been able to get much out of them. I keep trying because they came up a lot in some of my art classes. Anyway I've decided to take another stab at Kandinsky's Point and Line To Plane. I've been going very slowly and really working at making sure I understand what he's saying. So far I've been really intrigued by what I've read. I've really liked the points he's made, so I'm going to share a bit.

"The general viewpoint of our day, that it would be dangerous to "dissect" art since such dissection would inevitably lead to art's abolition, originated in an ignorant under-evaluation of these elements thus laid bare in their primary strength.

Painting and Other Art Expressions

In reference to analytical examinations, the art of painting, strangely enough, assumes a special position among the varrious forms of art expression. Architecture, for example, by its nature closely bound up with utility, consequently requires from its very start a certain degree of scientific capacities. Music, which serves no practical use (with the exception of march and dance music) and which has until now remained abstract, has long developed its theory; perhaps so far it is only one sided but, nevertheless, it is constantly being developed. Thus these two diametrically opposite forms of art expression have a scientific basis about which no one seems to feel offended."

pages 17-18

So what I get out of this (and I could still be getting it wrong) is Kandinsky's saying that visual art lacks theory, that you should be able to pick it apart somewhat, like in music you might be able to say that this is a symphony, it has this movement and that movement, etc. that it's a little ridiculous that you can't really say the same about a lot of art, here's this element of composition, or this part builds to this part. It was over a hundred years ago that he wrote all this but I absolutely agree with him. Even if you want to ignore or break the rules, you've got to know them first. Anyway, those are my thoughts.

Skill versus "expression"

I read this article the other day and it's really been making me think. The article is about "de-skilling" in art education, I'm having a hard time summing up what they mean by de-skilling but the article really does explain it well.
I believe there are lots of fantastic art educators out there, I've been lucky enough to learn with some of them, but there are also lack luster art educators.
My first year of college, studying art there were many class debates on the definition of art, long and heated debates that never got anywhere. It was very discouraging, how many subjects do you know that can't clearly define themselves?
My turning point was a professor who had a clear, simple definition that rang true with me: art is craftsmanship plus inspiration.
Craftsmanship! there we go, a lack of craftsmanship! Or a lack of appreciation for craftsmanship, that's what they mean when they say de-skilling. I had some classes that were so much less about learning the skill of the class, as they were about learning or perfecting art skills, as they were about expressing oneself, I got my only 'c' in college in such a class. (I will admit that I was out of my element in the class and had no previous experience in the medium, but I did put real effort in and completed all my assignments.)
Getting back to topic, while one's style of art may not be academic realism, how could it possibly be a set back to have more knowledge of art and more skills? Picasso, Monet, etc. all studied academic methods before landing upon their various styles.
I don't know if I got this all out in the way I wanted but if nothing else I hope people will read the article and think about the issue.

Words of wisdom from Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci is one on the most famous artists of all time (deservedly so) and he is one of my favorite artists and art heroes. I love da Vinci's art and I love being able to read his writings and thoughts. I have this book called Leonardo da Vinci in His Own Words, which is full of great da Vinci quotes on a variety of subjects. This is some of what da Vinci had to say about art.

"Painting does not have the need for interpreters for different languages as does literature."

"Truly painting is a science, the trueborn child of nature, for painting is born of nature, but to be more correct we should call it the grandchild of nature; since all visible things were brought forth by nature and these her children have given birth to painting. Therefore we may justly speak of it as the grandchild of nature and as related to God."

"Painting is the way to learn to know the maker of all marvelous things."

The doors of paradise.

So a little over three years ago I had the amazing opportunity to go to Italy and it was art nerd heaven, I love the Renaissance. One of the things I was excited to see was The Gates of Paradise beautiful doors with panels sculpted for the baptistry of the Duomo in Florence. They were made by Lorenzo Ghiberti and his son Vittorio.

The original panels have been removed to a museum and replaced by copies but they're still beautiful. The gate keeps the tourists at bay I'm sure but it does block the view.

What a lot of people may not know is that you can also see a replica of the Gates of Paradise at the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. These panels were a ground breaking part of the Renaissance, perspective was used, etc. It was really cool to be able to see them up close and personal and hardly anyone else was around.

Gallery Stroll

I used to try to go to my local gallery stroll all the time ... try is the operative word there. I haven't been for months and I don't know how long it was before the last time. There is the fact that my local stroll isn't a stroll so much as a drive (it's nice when you really can stroll between the galleries) but at any rate, I slack when it comes to getting out, exploring new galleries and seeing local art.
Today I wasn't even thinking about gallery stroll but I happened to be going past one of my favorite galleries, one I'd love to work with some day, during the appointed stroll hours and so I stopped in. I saw some things I loved, some things that were interesting and other things as well. I also learned that the gallery has some new management... I'm not sure that's the right term but at any rate it was good to know and it was really nice to be in the gallery for a bit. I need to get out to gallery stroll more often.

Eight Fold Show

It's been a while and I'm sorry. I've had quite a bit going on and honestly I'm out of the habit of blogging. I'm hoping to make up for that now though. My show just officially closed on the third, unofficially it will still be open for a little while longer. It's been great, from the opening reception and participating in the local art walk, I've gotten to to meet people and share my art with them.
To those who've come to see or tried to come and see the exhibit, a huge thanks, I really appreciate your support. To those who couldn't see it for whatever reason, here's the next best thing.

P.s. This is not the whole exhibit.

The Arts

"The arts are lost only too easily, and it takes a long time and much effort for them to be rediscovered." 

-Albrecht Durer, The Painter's Manual pg 36

So I would like to take a minute and talk about how the great the arts are. I mean no slight to any other fields or studies but the arts give us so much and are often underrated. 

I've been reminded of the power and beauty of the arts. Recently I watched a movie that I would absolutely classify as a work of art, it was so well made and such a beautiful story. I'm reading a book right now that's again, so well crafted, it causes me to think and ponder things as much as it provides enjoyment. I have heard music in live performances that gives me goosebumps because it's so beautiful. There are pieces of visual art that I feel in my soul.

We need the arts, we need these experiences, I think we may need them to be human, or perhaps we need them because we are human. How much better the world could be if we put a little more focus towards beauty. How much war, horror and violence could be avoided by better awareness of beauty. How much better our quality of life could be. The arts and beauty matter.

Happy Birthday Albrecht!

I found out that today is/was Albrecht Durer's birthday, he's one of my favorite artists. I love both his work and his dedication to the arts, he created multiple instruction manuals for different techniques. You can learn a bit more about him here.

Hazards

So something I was taught in college that changed the way I did things and have come to be grateful for, is to be very wary of what kinds of materials I use in my art. There are a lot of toxic and harmful art supplies/materials out there, ones that are commonly used even. There's a sort of stigma about artists being crazy or unstable(Van Gogh being the prime example), things like lead poisoning will do that to you.

It is an unfortunate truth that a lot of pretty colors/pigments come from things that could kill you, heavy metals are a serious factor there (cadmiums, cobalts, etc.). I don't think enough is done to make people aware of that. I myself was blissfully unaware until I was told horror stories of things that had happened to artists my teacher knew (becoming allergic to one's hair, teeth falling out, etc.) and the same teacher was hospitalized at one point from fumes produced by a neighboring artist in his work space. This is serious business and so I want to do my part in spreading the word.

Research your materials before you buy or use them! There are books on the subject and you can usually find an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet ex) that can tell you of any health concerns and how you might properly handle them if you do choose to use them. There's probably more I could or should say about all this but I hope that this will be of some help to someone.

Eight Fold FAQs

So last night was the opening reception for my Eight Fold exhibit. It was really fun to be able to show my work off and talk to people about it. It also gave me insight into what questions people have about my work, that was enlightening, so here for those who see the exhibit when I'm not there, are some FAQs from last night, in the order that I remember them.

Q: Why is the exhibit called Eight Fold?
A: All of the pieces in the series shown in this exhibit are based on the same underlying pattern most of the facets of this pattern and the resulting pieces are eight based.

Q: Where did you get the base pattern/what started you on all this?
A: I went to a workshop given by Dr. Lisa DeLong of the Prince's School of Traditional Arts. She showed us the base pattern.

As for the start of my interest in Islamic art/designs, I can't remember exactly how it all started. I know it was while I was at BYU, almost certainly in classes with Wulf Barsch, through an introduction to Little Wooden Books. I'm not really certain how but here I am.

Q: How do you make everything so uniform and tight?
A: With a compass and a ruler/straight edge. With the question applied to the painted parts, I use watercolor washes, I use multiple brushes in various sizes, I let sections dry before painting around them so that there's no bleeding and when I do go over the lines I do my best to clean it up with some paper towel.

Q: Do you have a favorite?
A: No, there are currently close to sixty of these designs, I have ones that I like better than others, maybe some turned out better or I like the colors better but I don't really have a favorite.

We'll start with that, maybe I'll remember some more. Comment if you've got other questions.

Master Studies

Latest.

I think I took a bit longer on this one. I think parts are better but my gosh it's hard to avoid crazy eyes.

Hagen Haltern

I just found out that Hagen Haltern died in this article. I didn't realize that he'd died. My condolences to his family. I took a class from Hagen at BYU, he was a great guy and I learned a lot from him.

Now Showing

So I've been saying that there are big things coming and it's super exciting.
May 12th through July 3rd the first fifteen paintings in my Eight Fold series will be on view at the Sprague Branch library in Salt Lake.

While that's happening my own mini gallery space is opening up at the Lamp Company. Check it out.

Pro tips and rookie mistakes

So I just delivered fifteen framed paintings for my upcoming show. I had everything ready I just needed to get the eye hooks in and the wire on the frames. I forgot how long it can take to do that by hand. Sufficed to say that I didn't listen to the advice to use a drill for pilot holes right away and wasted hours chipping away at the process when I could have been done well in advance. If you're putting in lots of screw eyes in, have a drill.
Also, I don't know why I always forget this but Michael's they're just never the place to go for anything related to art, always go to Utrecht/Blick!
That is all.

One more, remember that the post office is not open very long on Saturdays.

The progression of an Eight Fold painting

I thought I'd take you through the progression of one of the paintings in the Eight Fold series.
I start off with a design, I draw out the design and to keep track of the design I outline different sections in colored pencil. In this case I tried to keep pretty close to the colored pencil colors but I don't always.

Then I draw out the design on my watercolor block.

Then the colors come.

And the final piece.

LVIII

watercolor

9x9in.

2014

Series: Eight Fold

Master Studies Update

Alright, once again it's time to update the progress of the master studies. You can see the previous posts here and here. I only had one study in the last week, I did however finally take a picture of the image I've been working off.

And here is my latest study.

Side by side like that I feel like I've improved.

Show prep

I've started framing pieces for my upcoming show, it's going pretty well and I'm loving how things have been coming together, how the frames and the mating are working together. I've found myself thinking back to the last time I did this, for my first solo show, I was trying to get pieces finished, scrambling to get things framed... in not very great frames. It's so much different this time, I've had the pieces done for ages, I've got all my frames and I'm working my way through framing them. I'm so excited for it to come together.

IX
watercolor
9x9in
2013
Series: Eight Fold

Master Studies continued

I have one more master study to share, though I have gotten a bit busy with other things. Hopefully I'll have some more in the future.

I tried to size this one more along the lines of the picture I was drawing from. I think on the whole this one might have been better than the others to date but I think there's still plenty of room for improvement.

It's coming!

So about a year ago I applied (I'm not sure that's the right word but I can't think of a better one) for a solo show, and I got that opportunity but the show was set for a year off and it's seemed so far off in the future. Now we're less than a month away from the start of the show and it's starting to feel more and more like a reality.
Today it gets that much more real, the frames arrived and I'm so excited, they weren't what I had originally hoped to get but I'm really excited about them now that I've seen them. I'm excited to make this happen, to have a show that's all my own, it's been a while. I'm excited for everyone who's always saying they want to see my art, here's something they can easily see!
This is happening, more to come!

Pictures of pictures

So there are so many things I've learned and adjusted to in the years since I've graduated, one of those things is to take better pictures of my work and to crop and edit them. I usually use IrfanView and crop the images I take of my pictures. I've recently learned a new trick on a different editing program. I use natural light to take my pictures, sometimes this is great and other times the light is not as great (cloudy days etc.), with this new editing trick (which I haven't actually gotten around to using much yet) it can make the colors more like they are in real life so that's cool.
Before:

 After:

LII

watercolor

18x18in

2014

Series: Eight Fold

It can make a real difference, though sadly I'm not sure if you can really tell with these two. There might be an edit but for now if you can't see it, just trust me that this can be pretty cool.

This post brought to you by the letter O

And O is for Ox gall.

 So Ox gall is something that I use for my watercolors, it was recommended to me by a teacher, to keep the pigments well distributed, I've tried to look back in my archives for pictures of what it can look like if you don't use ox gall I wasn't taking great pictures of things back then either (I've come a long way on many fronts). Ox gall is in fact what it says it is, for more info on the subject google it.
When I use the ox gall I just add a few drops before I add the water to the well I'm using. It lasts forever. This bottle above lasted me for years, I would still be using it if I hadn't dropped it one day, cracked the lid, spilled half and then the cracked lid let it evaporate. Don't do that.

This is the ox gall I'm using now. The first bottle I used was clear, this isn't, I'm not really sure why but it seems to work just as well so yes. Now you know about ox gall. A random art supply.

Master Studies

I love Leonardo da Vinci and his work, he's fantastic, he's left-handed (which I can sympathize with) and just a genius. In the old academy systems the students started by drawing the prints or drawings (etc.) of the masters I've been doing quick studies from one of da Vinci's sketches to follow suit.

I forgot to take a picture of the sketch I've been drawing and I can't find it online so maybe I can do that later.

I've drawn it three times in a week, mostly pretty quick studies.

This was my first attempt, I may have spent more time on this one, I'm not sure.

This was the second, a few days later. It was a much quicker sketch, also the nose is really bad.

This is the one that I did today and it probably was a length of time in between the other two. The nose is even worse but the mouth and eyes might be a bit better.

It's a process. Anyway, here are some other things I've been working on this week. Have a good weekend!

Museums

I've had two museum trips in the last two days, which is awesome...not that I think about it I actually was at a third but it wasn't actually to see art (they're in between exhibits etc. more on that later perhaps). Anyway I really want to encourage anyone who hasn't yet gone to this exhibit, to do so because it's really great. I had the chance to go to a symposium on the exhibit last Friday and it was cool to learn more about the exhibit, the pieces themselves and the artists. Anyway see the exhibit, don't forget to make your reservation and bring your ticket with you.
If you can't make it there then think about downloading the free app that goes along with the exhibit, it'll be almost like you could go...except for the awesome being there part.
Anyway, go and do!

A bit about me

For anyone who's new to this blog, rather who hadn't read my old blog before, here's a little more about me:

Watercolor
2009
9x9in
Series: Rose Windows
photo by David Hawkinson

J M is a native of Utah.  After loving art growing up she studied painting and drawing at Brigham Young University and was fortunate enough to study with noted artist Wulf Barsch.  While at BYU JM was introduced to techniques used by ancient Greek and Renaissance master artists, such as sacred geometry, the golden section and symbolism, all of which have become an integral part of her artwork.  Often JM’s art draws inspiration from the likes of ancient Egyptian art, Classical Greek architecture, masonic art and symbolism, as well as Islamic geometric designs.

Since graduating with her Bachelor of Arts in Visual Art in 2009, JM’s work has been shown nationally in Connecticut and Georgia, and throughout the state of Utah in solo and group exhibitions including at the Springville Museum of Art.

New Art Blog

Hello and welcome to the new and improved art blog for JM Fine art. You can find all posts from the old art blog here. More to come!