"Posturing"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I've been to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art twice.  Both times, I stop at this portrait of Anne Page, by Dennis Miller Bunker, and soak it in longer than most paintings at the museum.  It's restrained, low in key, fairly neutral in color - no frills, just elegant.

Dennis Bunker is an artist you don't hear too much about.  He was born in New York City in 1861, an innovator of American Impressionism, hung out with some of the most famous painters of that time - John Singer Sargent, Wilmer Dewing, William Merritt Chase to name a few.  His circle of friends was crucial as an artist but none as beneficial as Isabella Stewart Gardner, a valuable patron of artists.  There is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, established in 1903, which owns some of the most outstanding works of art in this country.

A friend of Bunker's set up a date with Anne Page and the artist, thinking they'd make a good couple.  Bunker was smitten from the first encounter, wrote to his friend "She seems to have the same charm that some of your other friends have. I mean your female friends. I am quite at a loss when I try to define it and I begin to think it a bit out of my line. I don’t know that I am entirely comfortable in the presence of such natures, they seem too fine for me.”  

Bunker wrote Anne poems and long letters and eventually had her sit for the portrait you see above.  Although the two never formed a romantic relationship, they remained friends throughout his short life.  Bunker fell ill, just two months after he married, and died of meningitis at the age of 29.

"Tender Loving Care"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

It's high time I featured a woman artist - the very recognizable Mary Cassatt.  

Cassatt was American, born in Pennsylvania in the mid-1800's, in a well-to-do banking family.  She was one of seven children who were raised with high education, traveling and living in Europe for an extended period, all the while learning French, art and music.  She was around 11 years old when she first saw the great French artists like Corot and Ingres among others.

Her family objected to her becoming a professional artist - regardless, she began studying art and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philly - being one of the few women students in a male dominant environment.  It wasn't easy for women at that time to be taken seriously so she moved to Paris at the age of 22, with her mother, and began more formative studies.

She returned to Pennsylvania for a while, tried to capture attention in several galleries, but was discouraged over and over until the Archbishop of Pittsburgh commissioned her to paint copies of the Italian artist, Correggio, and all expenses paid to travel back to Europe - which she happily accepted.

Cassatt continued her stay in Europe - suffered the same setbacks a woman had to deal with until her big break when Edgar Degas invited her to show her works with a group who called themselves The Impressionists.  For years, she blossomed as an artist and relished their cause and notoriety.

I find the most interesting part of her life was in her later years,  at around 66 years old, Cassatt traveled to Egypt, followed by a crisis of creativity (haven't we all felt that at one time) - so impressed with 'the strength of this Art' that it almost defeated her.  She suffered from cataracts, crippling arthritis and diabetes but kept on painting but was forced to stop painting at the age of 70, as she was almost blind.  She then took up the cause of women's suffrage, contributing to the movement by showing and selling her paintings.

Cassatt is best known for her depictions of women's daily lives and their closeness to their children - as seen in 'The Child's Bath' (featured in my painting) which hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"Zen Time"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

A couple of weeks back, I was refreshing my memory about William Merritt Chase (for this post) and came across 'The Ten' - a revered group of artists that included Chase.  I jotted down several names that I was familiar with and love their work, one of which is John Henry Twachtman.

I always stop in my tracks when I come across Twachtman's paintings, very much like another member of The Ten, Willard Metcalf - they both painted landscapes that are so calming, so still, so very Zen.  I especially love their snow scenes.  They painted loose, painterly, seemingly quick - most likely they were outdoors painting plein-air.

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Twachtman's 'Arques-la-Bataille' hangs in front of a bench for all the right reasons.  The scene is calm, the color palette is soothing and low-key - a good painting to get lost in.

Twachtman was an American artist, from Cincinnati - traveled and studied abroad with fellow artists and discovered like-minded painters who took on the Impressionistic style of the times, which was in the mid-to-end of the 1800's.

It's also my moment of Zen to paint these images - taking rich greens and blues and lavenders and greying them down a notch.  It made for a mellow day of painting.

"Waterproof"

9 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

The Monets are the most popular gallery in the Art Institute of Chicago. The museum made a smart change and moved them all into a larger room, with a few other Impressionists' works. It's important with Impressionism - to be able to view the scene from a 5 to 10 feet distance from the canvas. More importantly, to be able to hone in on the thousands of brushstrokes that it took to get there. This woman, seemingly taking a long lunchbreak, was enjoying Monet's 'Iris'.

Please click here for a larger view.

"We Still Have Paris"

12 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

Several months ago, I accepted an invitation to be a part of a Summer Collection Show, created by the Morris & Whiteside Galleries, located in Hilton Head, South Carolina. It was an offer I couldn't refuse - their gallery reps some of my favorite painters - Steven Scott Young, Michelle Torez, Kim English, Dan McCaw, Milt Kobayashi, Joseph Lorusso, Ken Auster to name a few. I cannot express how proud I am to be hung on the same wall with those artists whom I've admired for so long.

This painting was featured in their beautiful catalog - and I'm proud to say it sold shortly after the catalog landed in the mailboxes of the gallery's collectors. Done from a recent trip to Chicago, it portrays a young couple in front of Caillebotte's enormous and famous painting 'Rainy Day, Paris Street'.

For a larger view, please click here.

"A Coat of Pink"

12 x 11"
oil on masonite
sold

A young woman in the French Impressionists gallery of the Art Institute - seemingly being eyed by Alfred Sisley, who was painted by Renoir. Speaking of coats of color, I'm currently having six rooms painted in my house and they're all different colors - and invariably, the painter keeps asking 'is this what you wanted?' as he slaps on the first brushstroke. 'yep, it's exactly what I picked', I say. My boyfriend had to confirm that 'she's an artist, what can I say'. A good excuse for almost anything weird. And no, it's not pink.