Day 12 - After David Noter - Exercise Inspired by Catherine Kehoe

Still Life after David De Noter

oil on panel

8x10

Today I painted with Shannon Celia and Wendy Gordin.  So much fun!!  We are all part of the Monday Morning Painters (the MMPs) and this particular morning I brought in an exercise for us to do.   This exercise was inspired by some paintings I had seen of Catherine Kehoe's where she used the work of old masters as a source to fiercely observe and translate the visible, turn objects into simple shapes of color to arrive at the essential.  Translating this image into as Catherine called it "intuitive geometry".

She shared this work in her excellent artist talk last Sunday and since I missed out on the workshop that followed I thought "Why not just paint something inspired by what she does and learn from that as if I were in the workshop?"  I am always on a search to get better at simplifying what I see and this seemed like a perfect way to practice that.

So I found a still life online similar in style to what she had used.

Here is a cropped version of that original painting that I worked from!  "Still Life of Flowers, Asparagus and Lobster" was painted by David Emile Joseph de Noter [Belgian Painter, 1818-1892]

There are always things I'm not perfectly happy with..?!...but this exercise helped me see just how simple you can go with shapes and still have it read.  It was also great practice in seeing - and breaking a complex object into simple flat shapes.  And next time I'll work on going even farther!

If you visit Catherine Kehoe's website, you can see Marine plant still life after Anne Vallayer-Coster :-) and what I was trying to achieve.

Day 5 of 30 - "Finding My Strength"

Preliminary study - Finding My Strength

6x12"
Oil on gessoed board

 

My friend Daggi Wallace and I went to hear a talk and see a slideshow with Catherine Kehoe yesterday and it got me really excited to get into the studio today.   Her work has been on my radar for a while and I love the way she simplifies and relates shapes from observation of the fragmented nature of the visible.   In her ongoing exploration and observation of the  world, she has created a very distinct personal style and visual language all her own. 

SP in orange 2010 oil on board 6"x4"   

Catherine Kehoe

What I took to heart from her talk is the importance of following our own preferences...It seems like it's something I'm reminded of over and over.  That, as an artist I need to focus on pursuing what I'm obsessed with.   I can be inspired by others work, but my journey will be unique to me.  There's no one "right way to Paint" - what a concept..?...;)

So even though I've heard it before, I guess I needed to hear it again.  And feel validated in the pursuit of going forward with "my own thing.  Trusting that I will get to where I want -  even when I sort of wish I painted like anyone but me:))).

Catherine shared some great quotes...and I apologize for not having all the sources!

...Eliminate the unnecessary so the necessary can speak.

Art is the organization of shapes.

The secret to being a bore is to tell everything (Voltaire)

Question to ask:

How much can I leave out?

Check out her great website:

http://www.powersofobservation.com/