TENDER AND BLUE: THREE PORTRAITS
How can an artist capture the essence of a period or movement from history? Do the technical facets of color, composition, subject, and light make any style replicable or does the passage of time and the development of new philosophy, technologies and ways of life prevent contemporary artists from fully understanding the complexities of historical painting? Does a painting have a different value and contribution to modern interpretation when revealed to be originally traded as a means for food and survival: under poverty’s callused thumb. I ask these questions not in avoidance but in caution, for their answer like most of visual art is subjective.
18" X 24" OIL ON CANVAS
The three great pillars of truth: SEX, BEAUTY, AND LOVE, but not in the Hallmark Christmas sense. This painting and this story take the traditional renaissance views of the great truths and dimly twists them into modern associations. Sex. People give it, share it, fear it, and steal it. Beauty. Subjective in nature, for the period, focused on a subject’s finesse and virtuosity, as well as the emotions visible to the story told. The aptly titled Tender & Blue: Portrait 1 painting tells the young heroin’s painful and desperate story of physical, arguably yet uncertain, sexual abuse at the hands of what can only be assumed a once trusted confidant. In the painting a young woman sits, centered, reaching towards two opposing hands. Her body and clothes appear engulfed in the space’s dark shadow — lit only by a window’s light. The angles and lines of the floor, corner, and window that lead directly to her and the minimal setting with limited cool colors distinguish her as the only focal point — attesting to the importance of her story and message. The movement and reaching for the helping hands, while appearing as the source of relief, distracts from the back lighting pulling her desperate gaze towards a new, unseen benefactor. Using 15th Century colors, composition, and technique, this painting utilizes the movement and sensuality of a young, beautiful, woman as a sense of advertising. However, disparate from the historical philosophical intentions, this painting advertises the fragility yet strength and stride of abuse victims toward change, a modern topic unseen in the Renaissance, as a means of advocacy and illumination to commonly and irresponsibly ignored topics. Essentially, Tender & Blue is the visual embodiment of the tension between a victim’s desire to escape and the possibility of doing so.
18" X 24" OIL ON CANVAS
The impressionists captured emotion and movement like no other historical period, but why? Why did Claude Monet and his compatriots completely reject the Salon's norms in pursuit of something new? Plein air? Monet and the impressionists foresaw a shift in what art could do - tell a story. In the case of Tender & Blue: Portrait 2, a beautiful young woman in contemporary attire lays sprawled across a rocky setting with soft greenery in the background. Most peculiar about the painting is the positioning of her body. Has she fallen and incurred injury? Has she willingly chosen such an uncomfortable position to rest? With the slight hint of her eyes visible, is the subject alive or dead? As it relates to the collection's overall philosophy, this painting should invoke questions, and, hopefully, these questions lead to bigger ones relating to humanity's responsibility to protect each other. What does this painting say about who you are as a person? Are there people in your lives that you overlook?
***THIRD PORTRAIT TO COME SOON...***
MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTION
24" X 36" OIL ON CANVAS
24" X 36" BRUSH WITH LINSEED STAND OIL
18" X 24" PALETTE KNIFE WITH PURIFIED LINSEED OIL
9" X 12" PALETTE KNIFE WITH PURE OIL PAINT
24" X 36" PALETTE KNIFE WITH LINSEED STAND OIL
5" X 7" PALETTE KNIFE WITH DRYING LINSEED OIL
9" X 12" PALETTE KNIFE WITH PURIFIED LINSEED OIL
5" X 7" PALETTE KNIFE WITH PURE OIL PAINT
