Art Cafe: This Sunday, June 7

Tell Me a Story: Narrative in Art

Sunday, June 7

11am -1pm

$15

At my home studio in Eastlake

Email me to reserve your spot

The desire to hear and to tell stories is fundamentally human, which perhaps accounts for the persistence of narrative art despite periods when it has been unfashionable. What does 'narrative' mean in a visual context? Are 'narrative' and 'abstract' mutually exclusive? Let's look at a range of work from Greek sculpture to tapestries, cartoons to color field, history paintings to contemporary art - and see if we can stretch and redefine what it means to tell a story in a visual medium. I suspect surprises await us. 

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Join me for this informal discussion in my studio with a view. Refreshments provided. You don't need to know a thing about the topic, or about art - just be interested in listening, trying ideas, and eating tasty snacks. Your friends are welcome, too.

Please bring any books, postcards, objects that you feel might relate to our topic. All ideas and contributions are appreciated.

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Image:

A Bigger Splash

David Hockney

1967

Acrylic on canvas

242.5 x 243.9 cm (95 1/2 x 96 in)

Beckmann

Max Beckmann's Germanic view of a Mediterranean landscape is a stage between acts. If we wait a moment longer, gazing toward the sea, will one of his society ladies stalk pensively into the frame from the right? 

If she did she'd disrupt a composition so finely balanced, so cleverly assymetrical, it takes a second to register that the path we are peering down is exactly center. Is it a landscape for composition's sake? Or the uneasy paradise of a worldly skeptic? Those spiky palms, those gigantic buds in the foreground...do I dare sit in that chair and turn my back on those shadows?

I often show my somewhat battered postcard of this picture in my drawing and painting classes. I probably got it on my last visit to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, but I didn't remember the painting being there. And so on my visit last weekend, when I came around the corner and there it was, I jumped and had to look elsewhere before I could compose myself enough to return to it. 

When I finally turned my full attention to the picture, how marvelous! Up close, the unworried brushstrokes; the sensuous yellow on yellow, canvas showing through, on the path through the trees; the black that simultaneously defines flat shapes and imparts dimension - all the rewards of seeing the real thing, live and in person - of feeling, come to think of it, like the woman about to walk into the picture.

Julia Hensley

iPhone photo

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Painting:

Max Beckmann

Landschaft, Cannes (Landscape, Cannes)

1934

oil on canvas

Rauschenberg

My SFMoMA journal, continued...

Julia Hensley
iPhone photos
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Painting:
Robert Rauschenberg
Collection (formerly Untitled)
1954
Painting | oil, paper, fabric, wood, and metal on canvas

Diebenkorn

Julia Hensley

iPhone photos

Diebenkorn DETAILS

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Painting:

Richard Diebenkorn

Berkeley #57

1955

Painting | oil on canvas

Guston

Julia Hensley

iPhone photos

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Painting:

Philip Guston

For M.

1955

oil on canvas

76 3/8 in. x 72 1/4 in.

Guston and Giacometti

Julia Hensley

iPhone photo

Giacometti & Guston

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Sculpture:

Alberto Giacometti 

Tête (Trois quarts et profil) (Buste de Diego)

(Head [Three-Quarters Profile] [Bust of Diego])
1957

bronze

23 7/8 in. x 9 3/4 in. x 6 3/8 in.

Painting:

Philip Guston

For M.

1955

oil on canvas

76 3/8 in. x 72 1/4 in.

Stella

I had a wonderful visit to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art last weekend. Here is Frank Stella, reflected in the polished granite stripes in the stairwell of Mario Botta's 1995 building.

Julia Hensley

iPhone photo

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Painting:

Frank Stella

Khurasan Gate(Variation ) I

1969

polymer and fluorescent polymer on canvas

96 1/4 in. x 285 1/2 in. x 3 1/8 in

Speaking of flowers...

Drawing Flowers in Color class starts June. Join me for this exploration of aquarelle pencils and crayons and add a new dimension to your enjoyment of flowers and plants. 

Flowers flowers flowers

Announcing Buds and Blooms , a garden celebration in Federal Way this weekend.

Student Lillian Yeh helps to organize it. 

According to the brochure, there are lush spring gardens in Federal Way, a Farmer's Market, and an urban wetland and wildlife refuge. The event features a grand tour of these, with presentations by gardening celebrities, workshops, live music, art exhibits, food booths and activities for kids.

Bring Mom. Bring the kids. Happy Mother's Day!

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Image:

Pierre August Renoir

Spring Flowers, 1864

Oil on canvas

51 1/8 x 38 5/8 inches

Robert Yoder

Tonight I attended the guest speaker portion of the third in fellow instructor, Doug Parry's excellent Fine Art Symposium series at Pratt. The subject of the Symposium is Narrative in Contemporary Art, and the speaker was Robert Yoder. Yoder made a name for himself with his rigorous abstract road-sign constructions; his recent collages exhibit a simultaneous freedom and precision, with a playful quality that draws you in.

While Yoder's images aren't necessarily directly narrative, it's fun to construct a story based on the title and the picture. We talked about how the subject is influenced in large measure by what the viewer brings to it.

I think Narrative in a broader sense is a splendid idea for our next Art Cafe topic, don't you?

Stay tuned!

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Image:

Robert Yoder

Breaker, 2006

Collage - vinyl, collage on paper

8 x 8 inches

Froelick Gallery

Collages by Becky Brooks

Part of 4Cats Art Cafe is sharing the work of my students and friends. While Becky studies drawing and painting with me, she also has enjoyed many collage classes with Ricky Wolfe. Here is one of Becky's recent pieces that caught my eye.

See more here. 

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Image:
Scarlet Honeymoon
9.5  x 9.5"

Championing art and craft in Issaquah

Here are some images from Becky Brooks's Flying House Art and Craft Sale. By all accounts it was a warm and wonderful event, with wave after wave of people coming in the door and every corner of Becky and husband Jeff's charming 50's modern house ("with the butterfly roof") stuffed with art and crafts of all kinds. Three cheers to Becky for her enterprising drive to grow and support the arts community in Issaquah. Her event provided an intimate venue for sixteen artists and craftspeople to show their work this year.

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Image:

Jeff Youngstrom

Anna Thormahlen Jenkins performing for art sale patrons. 

Kissing (George) in the park

Now playing in Seattle at the 5th Avenue Theater: Sunday in the Park with George (music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine), the musical inspired by George Seurat's great painting, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte".

Sunday in the Park with George
April 21-June 10
5th Avenue Theatre
Seattle

Student and friend, Diane Schebel, passed the word:
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"Mike heard about an upcoming musical called Sunday in the Park with George as a colleague has a small role. He says it is the best production he's ever been involved with.

The show will be at the 5th Ave Theater beginning April 21st for about 3 weeks. If anyone puts the word Facebook in the discount code section when checking out, you'll get $25.00 off each ticket! We managed to get great seats for the first night and the discount code made it very reasonable.

Here is the link...
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Back from her night at the 5th Avenue, Diane raved about the show, particularly the visuals involving computer graphics.

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(Leonard Bernstein called his friend Sondheim's show "brilliant, deeply conceived, canny, magisterial, and by far the most personal statement I've heard from you thus far. Bravo.").*

Photo:
Hugh Panera as Georges Seurat with Billie Wildrick as Dot

"unless your picture goes wrong, it will be no good" - Picasso

Going to New York in the next month or so? Catch Picasso's late Mosqueteros series  at Gagosian Gallery - it sounds like a great, museum-caliber show with less fanfare. Here's the New York Times review.

PABLO PICASSO

MOSQUETEROS

MARCH 26 - JUNE 6, 2009

Gagosian Gallery
522 West 21st Street
New York, NY 10011
Tel 212.741.1717 

Fax 212.741.0006

Mon-Sat 10-6

Installation View

Gagosian Gallery

4th Annual Flying House Art & Craft Sale

This flower ring by Gillian Theis is one of many lovely pieces to be found at the sale of art and crafts that Becky Brooks hosts next weekend. 

In addition to Gillian and Becky (mixed-media collage), friends, students and artists, Kathy Brazeau (felted bowls), Sue Danielson (paintings and prints), and Terry Peart (paintings) will all be displaying work. Sounds like a great place to enjoy an afternoon, spend a few dollars and come away with something unique and wonderful.

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4th Annual

Flying House Art & Craft Sale
270 NE Birch Street, Issaquah, WA

Saturday, April 25, 11am to 5pm
Sunday, April 26, 11am to 5pm

Featuring over 12 talented local artists
with original artwork:

Mixed media -- Textiles -- Jewelry

Paper-cuttings -- Handmade soaps and lotions
Cards -- Pottery -- Felted wares -- And more!
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Come to the sale you’ve been hearing about and experience a feast for your senses! The nooks and crannies of Flying House will be filled with another extraordinary assortment of quality items. Find unique gifts for the special people in your life or for yourself. We hope to see you! - Becky

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Sally Shintaffer has a show

Faith Hanna sent this review of classmate Sally's show of photographs in West Seattle. The show sounds well worth a trip across the way, and Sally's Mixed Greens blog is inspiring and well-written. 

Sally's small show is delightful. Sally and her colleague Poppy have arranged their very nice photos around the walls of a comfy coffee house. The arrangements are done with intention similar to Julia throwing down her postcards. I enjoyed picking out themes of color, line, and light.

For opening night, the food was great, proving that these artistic foodies can really cook. For those of you interested in further info, here's the description from their blog:
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What Feeds Us

In our show, we have single images and collage-like groupings exploring the sensual character of food and offering perspective beyond the plate. While there’s an emphasis on whole foods in season, through this collaboration we’re taking a more personal look at what sustains us.

Our photos are printed on environmentally-friendly art paper made with mulberry fiber and printed with archival inks.
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The show will be up for the month of April at:

C & P Coffee Company

5612 California Ave SW 

in West Seattle

They’re open 

M-F 6:30AM - 8:00PM

Sat & Sun 7AM - 8PM

more birthday fun

And, since it's still my birthday, I am posting my painting inspired by the Matisse. Henri's painting is a view from his studio on the Quai Saint Michel. Mine is a view up Lake City Way.

Image:

Julia Hensley

Consolidated Carpet

Oil on Canvas; 30" x 48"

2003

Collection of Michael, Gretchen, and Simon Matisse 

Happy birthday to me...

Since it's my birthday and this is my blog, I get to post one of my favorite paintings. It makes my heart sing. Enjoy.

For a high-resolution image (showing entirely different color than the one above), and a full catalog of Matisse's work, visit the Henri Matisse official website.

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Image:
View of Notre Dame

Henri Matisse

Paris, quai Saint-Michel, spring 1914

Oil on canvas, 58 x 37 1/8" (147.3 x 94.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art, NYC

Music sketch

A playful drawing from Vermeer's time by Leonart Bramer.

(That must be a cat on the lower left, but it does look a bit like a seal).

Musicians in an Interior (detail)
Leonaert Bramer
c. 1660, 37.2 x 46.3 cm., Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

From this website, which has some wonderful samples to listen to of music played on instruments of the same era.

Juan Gris

Image:

Juan Gris
The Violin
1916
Oil on three-ply panel, 116.5 x 73 cm (45 3/4 x 28 3/4 in)
Kunstmuseum, Basel