Illustratus

Isn't English a wonderful language? We have absorbed so many words, from so many other languages and cultures - rich layers of meaning can be uncovered with even a brief look through a dictionary.

My dictionary, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate (11th ed.), tells me that the English word "illustrate" is descended from the Latin "illustratus", meaning "to purify, make bright". One of the English definitions given is "to show clearly".

An "illustrator", then, might show something clearly - might even purify an image, or make it bright.

All these definitions apply to Kevin Guile of Prismic Illustrations.

Based in Saranac Lake, Kevin creates radiant images in black ink. He employs a stippling technique to illumine subtle variations in shade, form, and expression. Whether in portaiture, animal studies, or still life, his work reveals the spirit of the subject.

Remember value? (Click here to read a previous post on the subject.) Value, in art, refers to the lightness or darkness of something - the light and shadow of a three dimensional object, for example, or of sun filtering through garden leaves: the shadows are of a dark value, while the highlights are a light value.

Skillful use of value results in a well-structured image, whether it be color or monotone - an example of this would be the photography of Mark Kurtz, of which I have previously written. (Click here to read that earlier post.)

Naturally, however, a monotone work relies even more heavily on value relationships (which is a good reason to create an initial thumbnail value sketch even when you plan the final work to be in color). A piece with poor value relationships can sometimes overcome this, to a certain extent, with splashy color.

But an artist working in black and white only - an illustrator using only white board, black ink, and small dots - must develop a deep understanding of value to create lifelike imagery. Such an understanding has Kevin.

He works both from life and from photographs, and his creations glow. He also works on commission - to celebrate a relationship, record a child's growth, or memorialize a loved one who has passed on, his portraits make magnificent gifts.

Imagery is, after all, a universal language. Kevin's pictures speak directly to the soul.

Imaginary Chains

You know, I can't drive.

Oh, sure, I can start a car, guide it down the street, and go where I need to go, but that's not really driving. I have a friend who drives the Franklin County bus, and he brings crowds of people to work and home again every day - that's real driving.

I could never do that. I'm not talented that way. You just have to be born with the right talent to be able to drive, really.


. . . Does this sound ridiculous?

In fact, I believe that if I wanted to drive a bus, I could learn how to do so. I have the physical capacity: my vision is fine (with corrective lenses), my arms and legs work, I have adequate reflexes and the capacity to think.

I do not, however, have the desire. I actually don't like driving for long periods of time, and I think to do so professionally would make me unhappy.

But isn't it absurd for me to state that there is only one legitimate form of driving and that, because I have not learned it, therefore I cannot drive?

Translate this, now, to art.

So MANY people say to me that they cannot create art, because they do not have the talent, or because what they make is different from what other people make.

Poppycock!

Desire: there is another matter. If you do not wish to create art, there is no reason to do so - and you are not a lesser human because of it. You just find other ways to be creative.

But, if you DO wish to create art, and believe you cannot because you don't have talent - or because your efforts don't look like some one else's - well, then you are binding yourself with imaginary chains.

Henry Ford made an insightful observation when he said:

"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right."

Making art, like so much else in life, is mostly a matter of technique and practice. Never underestimate the value of practice. So much can be learned and understood through simple repetition: why else would a musician play scales? Why else should an actor rehearse?

Henry Ford also is credited with another observation I like:

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.

I find that creating art is a constant process of learning new things - and of never quite reaching the goal. There is always room for improvement, and always opportunity to learn. It is scary, but it is also invigorating.

I urge anyone who reads this, and who wishes to make art, to loose the imaginary chains, gather courage, and try.

(For more exhortations of this sort, read my previous posts on the subject, here:)

http://northcountrypublicradio.org/blogs/artthrob/2008/10/you-can-do-it.html

http://northcountrypublicradio.org/blogs/artthrob/2008/11/learning-and-progression.html

http://northcountrypublicradio.org/blogs/artthrob/2008/11/rx-art.html

http://northcountrypublicradio.org/blogs/artthrob/2008/11/creativity-begins-at-home.html

Invitation

The other day, a friend stopped by my shop and I invited her to make an Artist Trading Card (ATC), which people often do here. (Click these links to learn more about ATC's and to read my previous posts on the subject.)

She protested that she can't even draw stick figures, to which I replied, "That's okay - you don't have to draw anything!" I offered her the box of cut-outs I keep for the purpose, and a glue stick. Soon she was designing a small card with collage.

A short while later she gave me her completed card, and in return I gave her one I had made.

This is the whole idea of ATC's: to give, to share, to swap, freely!

So I issue an open invitation to any who read this blog. Make an Artist Trading Card, send it to me, and I will send you one I've made! If you happen to be in Saranac Lake, you can always stop by my shop, Borealis Color, on Main Street across from the big brick Town Hall with the clock tower. Or, drop an ATC in the postal mail and send it to:

Susan Olsen

Borealis Color

52-B Main St

Saranac Lake NY 12983

Remember the ground rules: any medium is fine, any subject is okay, but the card must be 2.5" x 3.5" - or 68 mm x 94 mm. And of course, so that I can send you one in return, be sure to put your name and postal address on the back.

I envision this as a fun activity for a family gathered at holiday time. I have written previously about ideas for being creative with people you enjoy, and this is another way. Also, don't limit the sharing to you & me: why not give all your loved ones a small card you've made? I suspect they will treasure it.

Growing Art

Change is inevitable.

Look at a newborn, compared to a toddler; consider the toddler alongside a teenager.

Those of us past the age of such dramatic developmental growth still change in one way or another; and while the body continues to mature, a mind open to to quests and experiments can grow in vital, energizing ways.

Some time ago I wrote about Lee Ann Sporn, a scientist and artist, whose powers of observation and interpretation remind me of the great Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus. I included an image of one of Lee Ann's botanical watercolors, a study of springtime trillia.

How artists can change and grow! Reproduced above is one of Lee Ann's recent works!

One obvious difference is a change in media: Lee Ann adventurously broke away from watercolor and began working in acrylic. However, acrylic is enough like watercolor that, had she chosen, she could have continued in the precise, carefully observed style of her earlier pieces.

Instead, look at what she has been doing! Without sacrificing a strong sense of realism, her work is now much more emotional, more expressive. The sweeping strokes of color, the dynamic energy, the freedom of line - these remind me much more of the Group of Seven than of any scientific illustration!

Although this is but a copy of a photo of a painting, you can still see how Lee Ann has layered her colors - in the lower left side, the grain of the canvas is yet visible, revealing the burnt sienna undercoat. This is a technique for imparting warmth and depth to a painting, espoused by the multi-media artist and teacher Meg Bernstein. In fact, Lee Ann just spent a semester in Meg's Acrylic Painting Class at Paul Smiths College (where Lee Ann herself teaches science).

To paraphrase, with suitable apologies to Shakespeare: "What a piece of work is a human! How noble in reason - how infinite in faculty!"

For just as the infant synthesizes perception into thought and language, so as adults can we learn new forms of expression. Lee Ann's latest work is every bit as expressive as her earlier pieces - but she is learning, and using, a whole new language!

Open Eyes

One of the many things I love about parenthood is the chance to read books with my kids. Many of the stories my boys & I have shared were ones I loved in childhood, such as the Narnia and Little House series. Others have been new to me - as a kid, I never got around to The Dark is Rising, for example - and of course, books like the Harry Potter & Eragon series are new altogether.

My son Evan and I are currently discovering, together, a book which has much to say about art. Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliett (Scholastic, 2004), features two twelve year old kids with open minds and eyes for detail. The plot centers around an art theft, but also involves mathematical and historical puzzles.

Early in the book, one character prods the others to think about this quote from Picasso:

"Art is a lie, but a lie that tells the truth" (Okay, this is a paraphrase, but the idea remains).

This prompts Calder, one of the main characters, to wonder,

"Was it that art wasn't exactly the real world, but it said something real?" (p. 36)

Further in the story, Calder thinks more about these matters:

"Art, for him, was -- something puzzling. Yes. Something that gave his mind a new idea to spin around. Something that gave him a fresh way of seeing things each time he looked at it." (p. 51)

A couple of chapters later, Calder is looking at a book about the paintings of Jan Vermeer, and has these observations:

"The pictures made you feel as though you were peeking in at someone elses' private moment. The light that came from outside made ordinary objects seem important: a quill pen, a pitcher with milk, an earring . . . " (p 74)

After reading this, I went online to look at more of Vermeer's paintings, which I had never before studied. The image above is a 1668 painting titled "The Geographer", which figures in this book.

I have not yet finished the book - Evan and I are only up to Chapter 10 out of 24. But, what has already struck me is the way the author represents her characters thinking about art. I confess, I don't usually give any work of art - historical or contemporary - as much open observation as the kids in this book do. And the point is -




They're right!!



This is how we all should approach art - and life! Not just works of the Great Masters, but any art, and anything that "gives your mind a new idea to spin around". As I have previously written, great art can enable us to see the familiar in new ways. But first, we must be looking!

What I find critical, in life as well as in art, is to open my mind as far as possible to what I am being shown. The kids in this book look at the artworks without deciding ahead of time what they will see - they merely observe, absorb, and only then do they decide what they think about it.

I am not saying there is no place for judgement - of course there is: judgement is ultimately essential to understanding. But - here's the hard part - it is important to listen to what you are being told - to look at what you are being shown - FULLY, before making that judgement.

And how difficult this is! Thankfully, children and their books can bring us back to understanding the importance of an untainted mind, and open eyes.

Winter Treat

Have you ever gazed upon an Adirondack lake, on a windy summer's day, and seen how the deep, cool darks cavort under the sun-sparkled surface? It's a visual oxymoron which generates powerful tension.

The exuberant painting above, titled "Blossoms", captures that electric energy. Saranac Lake artist Margo Nagle (who is also my mother) uses luxuriant acrylic paint to describe flowers growing at the edge of a windy Adirondack lake. My photo does not do justice to the nuanced color and complex texture of the original. But I hope you can see how the warm pinks of the blossoms are echoed in flecks of the darkening water, while the leaves twist and dance in the fresh air.

This piece is part of the 28th Annual Paint and Palette Society Winter Show currently hanging in the Cantwell Room of the Saranac Lake Free Library. The show includes thirty-four pieces by eight local artists (myself included) in a range of media. Watercolor, oil paint, and soft pastel are showcased in addition to acrylic; Louise Plosilla also paints with enamel on copper, and Jane Harris uses a technique called tinsel art, with which I was previously unfamiliar.

The Paint and Palette Society is a small group of Saranac Lake artists who have met regularly to learn and paint together since 1955. This current exhibition features a wide variety of subject matter and of style. There are still lifes reminiscent of the Dutch Masters, landscapes both rural and urban, pieces bordering on the abstract, and more.

If you have previously seen Paint and Palette shows, you know what a treat they are. If you are unfamiliar with the group, you owe it to yourself to become acquainted. This show hangs through January 4th.

Art with a Purpose!

Adirondack waterways are amongst the great natural treasures of the Northeast. Some of my best memories are of hours spent paddling across clear lakes, or along meandering rivers, exploring the wonders of our waterlife.

At water level, the world is so primal.

It can also be disorienting: even familiar places, when seen for the first time from a kayak or canoe, look totally foreign.

Fortunately, a local artist and paddling professional, Dave Cilley, has produced an incredible resource to help those of us who have not memorized every rivulet and carry. His new book, Adirondack Paddler's Guide, is a treasure trove of information, and also an impressive work of art.

Dave drew, by hand, in painstaking detail, each exhaustive map featured in the book. Have you ever noticed the elegance with which nature carves her channels? Dave's illustrations capture this languid grace, while translating it into meaningful, contextual charts.

For example, Map #2 is "Middle Branch St. Regis River - Santa Clara Flow and Four Mile Road to Santa Clara". The waterway itself snakes with blue pliancy up the page, while small brown icons indicate campsites, green bushes depict marshy spots, and red striations reveal carries. Also, roads, tracks, and foot trails are drawn with precision.

There is even a map of the Paul Smiths College campus, detailing the most direct foot path from Lower St. Regis Lake to Church Pond! And if, on your way, you need to stop at the campus store, or visit the post office, these are clearly marked!

He has made his book extremely user-friendly, printing it on sturdy paper. Its coiled plastic binding - impervious to water - allows it to lie flat. I can imagine keeping it open on the floor of a kayak, for reference.

Several years ago, Dave also produced the Adirondack Paddler's Map, which is an excellent, one-sheet, front-n-back guide to the northern and western canoe areas. (Most thoughtfully, the map is printed on a water proof material - I can't count the maps I have accidentally splashed and ruined over the years!)

The book retails for $28.95; the map is $16.95 - or, you can buy the two together for $44.95, packaged in a water-tight bag! For more information, or to purchase, you can contact Dave Cilley at his business, St. Regis Canoe Outfitters, in Saranac Lake, at (518) 891-1838. Or, to be 21st-century about it, click this link for his website: http://www.canoeoutfitters.com/.