Antoni Gaudí

Blog 24

La Sagrada Familia

This coming Sunday, Canadians celebrate their dads on Father’s Day. In Germany, Father’s Day is always celebrated on Ascension Day. This is the day, Jesus ascends into Heaven. It is the Thursday forty days after Easter. Ascension Day is a federal holiday in Germany.

As I have only done some small sketches of my father so far, I figured I will write about my favourite artist. You probably expected a blog about one of the painters I featured in one of my “Painting Like Famous Artists” workshops but my favourite artist is an architect, like my father. An architect who died on June 10, which is the same day my dad was born less than a decade later. I am talking about Antoni Gaudí i Cornet ( 25 June 1852 – 10 June 1926), a Spanish Catalan architect from Reus.

Gaudí's work was influenced by his three passions in life: architecture, nature, and religion. Under the influence of neo-Gothic art and Oriental techniques, Gaudí became part of the “modernisme” movement with his organic works inspired by nature.

Casa Batlló

To him, originality meant returning to the origins. He used geometric forms from nature like curves, parabolas, and hyperbolas. All elements were balanced and did not need supports. In Gaudí’s opinion, an artist’s task is to create works full of life and harmony. He looked for inspiration in nature to recreate movement and colour in the elements of his buildings. 

He used brick, stone, bright ceramic tiles, stained glass, carpentry, and floral or reptilian metalwork to create this colourful harmony. By recycling pieces of ceramic tiles as well as broken cups and plates discarded by several Spanish manufacturers he was far ahead of his time. He also used building materials according to the climate making it possible to ventilate a building without opening windows. He used movable walls, garbage chutes, and underground parking.

La Sagrada Familia

Most of Gaudí's works are located in Barcelona, including the still unfinished cathedral “La Sagrada Familia”. Several of Gaudí’s buildings have been granted World Heritage status by UNESCO: the Park Güell, the Palau Güell and the Casa Milà, the Nativity facade, the crypt and the apse of the Sagrada Família, the Casa Vicens and the Casa Batlló in Barcelona, together with the crypt of the Colònia Güell in Santa Coloma de Cervelló. His work continues to stand out because of Gaudí’s vision and his contribution to architecture.

La Sagrada Familia

When I learned about Gaudí in school I was fascinated by the forms and colours. I always had a certain aversion to the block shape of houses and rooms. Gaudí’s round shapes, his use of colour and different materials evoked my curiosity. I even wrote a big essay about him and his buildings. I was lucky to have seen some of his buildings when I visited Barcelona as a teenager. I was excited to see the Casa Batlló and the Casa Milà but I was in awe when I saw the cathedral “La Sagrada Familia”. The vision he had for this building is so much bigger than one person can execute. Recently, I saw an interesting documentation about the building called “Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation” on Netflix.

Casa Milà

As a painter, I can certainly relate to Gaudí’s search to depict life’s beauty and harmony in his works. This feeling is certainly reflected in my artist statement:

Whenever I look around me I am amazed by the beauty of nature, its ever changing colours and movement. With my paintings I try to interpret this beauty to prevent it from fading - like a moment frozen in time.

I enjoy painting outside while breathing in the fresh air, listening to the sounds of nature at different times of the year and spending time with like-minded artists. The Canadian landscape offers not only diversity but also big challenges to the artists when wind, rain, snow, and extreme temperatures make plein air painting difficult. It also inspires to work with whatever nature offers.

In my studio I try to recreate the feeling. Even when I paint something else but landscapes, I try to remember the way I felt about the subject and to catch and share this passion.

Do you like Gaudí’s style or do you prefer clear lines and sleek facades?

Alex Colville

On the Lookout, my Colville inspired acrylic painting showing my daughter

Blog 23

Last week, I mentioned to you that June is a prime month for weddings and told you the story behind the portrait I did of my husband and I on our wedding day. Remembering the moment, made me think about a Canadian painter and his 70 year marriage to to his university sweetheart Rhoda. I am talking about Alex Colville whose paintings are currently installed at the national Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. This is the largest show of his work ever put together. It contains many works from private collectors. The exhibition runs until September 7, 2015.

Rhoda Wright and Alex Colville met at Mount Allison University where they both studied art. At first, she was not too impressed with him but then they found out that they had much to talk about. What started out as a friendship turned into a deep love that grew with the years they spent together. Rhoda was not only Alex’ wife and mother of their four children, she also was his primary model and muse.

While it is clear that Rhoda was the model for most of his female characters, she did not feel very comfortable about being nude in many of the paintings according to an interview with Anne Kitz, the couple’s only daughter. However, she could not stand the idea of other women posing nude for her husband.

Many of his paintings explore the relationship between women and men. Colville often painted himself next to his wife. You get a glimpse into their relationship but he still manages to give the viewer the feeling that the people in the image are generic, it could be any other couple in the Colvilles’ spot as the people often turn their back or look away from the viewer.

Rhoda loved nature and was an avid athlete, a fact Alex Colville documented in his paintings. He painted her in all stages of life. You can feel the love and respect he had for his wife. Even though her body gets old and loses shape, she still is beautiful in his eyes and he manages to capture this in his paintings.

The exhibition is definitely a must-see for any art lovers, whether you are a fan of Alex Colville or not. I do not like his painting style and except for “Woman with Terrier” could not imagine acquiring one if his paintings for myself but I admire his compositional skills and cannot resist the pull of his art. Going through the exhibition, I feel like experiencing a big love confession from Alex Colville to his wife, giving us a view into their life and the intimacy of their relationship over the seven decades.

However, this is only one aspect of the exhibition. Not all the paintings show his love for his wife and the life they share together with their animals in their quiet neighbourhood. There are also paintings which leave you rather uncomfortable, where the air is filled with the suspense of what has happened or will happen, images which deal with the subject of power, trust, and mortality. They give you a feeling of watching a Hitchcock movie when the music gets dramatic and you know something bad is going to happen. Your imagination goes wild, and the excitement rises.

With his art, Alex Colville manages successfully to show both the dark side and mystery of life as well as its beauty and joy.

It is very interesting and inspiring that Alex Colville considers all ordinary things important enough as a subject for painting. I have to remember this during our next outing when we are looking for the “perfect” spot to paint. Often, we spend a lot of time searching for this spot. When you are in nature, you experience an information overload. However, often painting a simple scene has a much stronger impact than getting lost in the big picture.

One of the appeals of Alex Colville’s paintings is that he paints situations everyone can recognize. I can relate to his paintings because he paints what he loves and respects, and what captures his interest. I have been asked a couple of times why I do not paint what the audience is looking for, and I have always answered that I can only paint what attracts me and what I love because every painting contains also a part of me. I can only put energy in my paintings if they reflect my true self. This is something I always tell me students. It is wonderful to admire your neighbour’s art but everyone is different and that is why everyone’s art should be different. Similarities are possible, especially if you spent a lot of time painting together because you definitely influence each other but if you look carefully, you will feel the different energy depending on the painter’s personality.

Have you seen the exhibition already? If so, what was your impression? If not, are you planning to go? Why? Please feel free to leave a comment, either on my blog site or on my Facebook or Google+ page.

Wedding Day

Blog 22

When I set up my yearly schedule of posts I always check for holidays or other special events to create blogs that have some reference to those days. June is usually a very busy month with graduations, year-end celebrations, Father's Day, the end of the school year, the beginning of the holiday season. and lots of weddings. Did you know that June and August are the most popular wedding day months? As I have neither painted a graduation event or a portrait of my father or grandfathers, I decided to write about my own wedding portrait, actually a double portrait of my husband and I.

When I came to Canada in the spring of 1995, I entered the country as a tourist. My husband had lived in Canada since he was 10 years old. When we met in Germany, he wanted me to come with him to Canada. We became engaged, I left my job and rented out my apartment to explore the country he was raving about. We took the time to drive all the way from Toronto to Vancouver and back, and visited the Muskoka area. When he was offered a job in Ottawa, we decided to get married to make it easier for me to become a landed immigrant.

The acrylic portrait I did in 1996 was from a photo taken on our wedding day in Mississauga when we were posing for pictures on our tandem bike. As you can see from the photo of the painting, our first wedding day was not in the summer but in the fall. We were married in a small civil service with just our immediate family. My sister was my maid of honour and a friend from university was my husband's best man.

In Germany, you have to get married during a civil ceremony at the local registry office to make the marriage legal. If the couple wishes to celebrate a religious wedding, they will have a second ceremony at church, usually the next day but sometimes even months later. More and more couples opt only for the civil ceremony that is usually held with a few close relatives and friends as witnesses. Instead of the church wedding they decide to have a big wedding party at a community hall or hotel.

As I wanted to have a wedding with my relatives and friends, we had a religious celebration the next year in June in our local church in Germany, followed by a reception at a hotel. It was a beautiful wedding, but I never got the chance to paint another wedding portrait.

Even though the wedding portrait I did was done in my early painting days and has a couple of shortcomings, it always brings back the memories and the joy I felt that day. It was done with lots of love and the best I could do at that time.

What is the moment in your life that you would have liked to have preserved in a painting? Do you have pictures of this precious moment? It would be wonderful if you would share this moment with me.

Emily Carr

source: Library and Archives Canada

Blog 21

Today, I would like to tell you more about Canadian artist and author Emily Carr (born on December 13, 1871 and died on March 2, 1945). I saw some of her works for the first time at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg during my first visit to Canada in December 1994.

I had not heard of the Group of Seven or Emily Carr before, and therefore did not know about their importance for the Canadian art history. While I liked some of Emily Carr's paintings, I did not know what to make of others. I admired the visual interpretation of the the life of the Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast, but I have always been fascinated with her later forest scenes.

Over the years, I learned more about the famous Group of Seven and Emily Carr. As a plein air artist, I always look to improve my techniques to be able to capture the essence of a scene. I came across a Emily Carr weekend workshop with one of my favourite instructors, Andrea Mossop, and was intrigued by the workshop description:

“Eccentric, solitary, mystical, Emily Carr gave authentic voice to the experience of listening to the trees. The vibrations of life in nature fill Carr’s intense verdant paintings of British Columbia in simplified forms and rich greens. Following her into this interior world, you will learn her painting techniques, choice of colour and gestural brushwork.”

The goal of the workshop was to learn how to simplify the landscape, and to mix and use different greens in the painting effectively. It was exactly what I was looking for.

However, I learned so much more than just some of her techniques. I can relate to her struggles but also her joy of being part of nature and admire her not only for her painting but also for her writing. Her work is an important contribution to the Canadian art history.

My painting "Emily's Tree, Doncaster Park, Ste.- Adèle", inspired by Emily Carr

Carr's father had encouraged her artistic education, but it was only after her parents' deaths, that Carr pursued her art seriously. Life was not easy for Emily Carr. After attending the San Francisco Art Institute from 1890 to 1892, she continued her studies in England in 1899, but her poor health forced her to enter a sanatorium in 1902.

A trip to Alaska with her sister Alice increased her interest in the life of the First Nations. However, she felt she needed further art instruction, and returned to England and continued to France in 1910. She spent a lot of time plein air painting with John Duncan Fergusson, Harry Phelan Gibb and Frances Hodgkins. She was also influenced by painters like Henri Matisse and André Derain, and started using non-naturalistic colours in her paintings to increase the freshness and strength of her works.

I can relate to the frustration she felt, when an exhibition of her works done from sketches of her visits to the First Nations People, was rather disappointing. She hardly painted for the next 15 years until she met members of the Group of Seven at the exhibition on West Coast aboriginal art at the National Gallery in 1927. Carr got inspired to paint again. Lawren Harris supported and influenced her the most during the following years.

I am sure all artists have had moments when they ask themselves why they continue painting if nobody wants to buy their works. I certainly have had such moments after an unsuccessful show. Luckily, I have friends who remind me of the fact that we paint because we will be unhappy when we do not express ourselves in our art. We do not paint for success, although it would still be nice to be appreciated. We paint because we feel the need to do so.

Another big influence for Emily Carr was the American artist Mark Tobey who encouraged her to concentrate on drawing and observing the forms of nature. During this time, Carr produced some of her best charcoal and watercolour sketches.

I can also say that I have had mentors who have helped me to grow. Today, my painting buddies often fulfill this task but sometimes the inspiration and support comes from people outside the art scene who give me new ideas and opportunities for projects.

In the 1930s, Carr purchased a caravan to be as close to nature as possible. At this point she primarily painted with oil paints. It was Carr's desire to introduce movement, and texture into her work with visible brushstrokes and by moving her whole body to express her emotions.. The thinned oil made it easier for her to introduce light and air into her work.

While I love my moments in nature and enjoy the painting trips with several painting groups, I could not imagine giving up my life in comfort. Running water, electricity, heat, the closeness of shops as well as cultural institutions are very important to me. I am also a very social person and cherish my strong relationships with family and friends.

I will never paint like Emily Carr, and for me that has never been the purpose of any of the workshops I have taken. Instead I try to take whatever works for me and use it when I paint. Just experimenting with a looser brushstroke and mixing many different greens with few colours was an important exercise. The most important message from Emily Carr is however to be present in my painting.

Once you start painting, feel the motion as if you are in the trees, the sky, the ground. Paint very loosely, moving your whole body, and do not paint outlines.

What is your favourite female painter? Did she influence your vision of the world around you? I would like to hear from you, so please leave a comment.