Tom McGrath, at Orlando Museum of Art and Sue Scott Gallery

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Tom McGrath was a treasure waiting to be found at the Orlando Museum of Art in Orlando, FL. I’d never heard of Tom McGrath; my husband had never heard of Tom McGrath. But there it was. A stunning Tom McGrath painting in the main entry area of the Orlando Museum of Art. I’ve really lucked out recently visiting Florida’s smaller and less well known museums. First there was Steven Assael at the Naples Museum of Art in Naples, FL, then Jenny Saville at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, FL and, most recently Tom McGrath at the Orlando Museum of Art.

I’m frequently curious about how someone like Tom McGrath finds his way into museums. Sue Scott who owns Sue Scott Gallery graciously answered my question.

“I was curator at the OMA at the time — they have a group called Acquisition Trust that acquires works for the museum. The AT, working with me, had decided to focus its resources on younger, emerging artists. I saw work by Tom McGrath at his second show at Zach Feuer and was completely blown away by his paintings, I think that was in 2004. They were all sold, but I was able to meet with Tom and over the course of the next few months, we acquired the work from his studio. It was the first museum to acquire his work, now he’s in eleven museums, including the Met! I kept up a relationship with Tom, and years later when I opened a gallery in New York, Tom McGrath became one of the artists I represented.”

One of the changes that I’ve noticed in America over several decades is the dispersion of art in all its varied forms throughout the country. Although the major cities continue to have the largest and most diverse art collections with the most recognizable names, small museums in cities across the land are very likely to exhibit really fine, exciting work like Tom McGrath’s “Wreck 2,” the one we saw in Orlando. I am especially appreciative of museums which choose to purchase works of contemporary American artists of the highest quality rather secondary works of brand name artists.

My husband and I recently found ourselves in Orlando with an open morning. As is our wont, we set out in search of art. Did we expect to find Tom Mc Grath? No. Was Tom McGrath announced in any literature about art in the area? Not that I could find. But there he was. Tom McGrath. It was a satisfying discovery.

My husband had been wandering through the featured exhibit–which I also enjoyed–but after some time, he realized I hadn’t moved from the Tom McGrath painting.”What is it?” he asked, but not because he’s a dunderhead.I am an abstract artist.He is a lover of abstract art and a  sophisticated viewer of it. But he recognized that the lusciously applied paint was about to resolve itself into a nameable image and it took a minute for that to happen. Then he recognized the car but the car quickly dissolved into landscape which returned to pure and beautiful paint applied in a fascinating array of methods. It’s a gorgeous painting!

As it happens, Tom is having a solo show at his NYC gallery, the Sue Scott Gallery Several of his works, including this beauty. The web site also announces: Tom McGrath opening May 29th and running through June 11th.

Sue Scott Gallery provided the images used in this blog. The gallery graciously and promptly answered my inquiries.  They certainly left me with a desire to visit not only to see the current show featuring Tom McGrath, but also to see what else they’re about.

A painting of mine, called “Copper Cascade” which is pictured below has been accepted into a national show at The Painting Centerlocated in Chelsea on West 27th. St. It seems like a perfect opportunity to pay a visit to Sue’s gallery. I’m looking forward to it.

Be Yourself

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“Be Yourself. Just Be Yourself.” I can’t paint like anyone else. God knows I try. Jessie Morgan is someone I know and like.  And yet I find myself pathetically  jealous of her. I saw this painting of hers recently. It’s called Shimmer 1111.  I drooled over it and immediately dissolved into a pool of longing. “Be yourself,” my long-dead mother’s voice commanded, “be yourself!” “But I want to paint like she does,” I whined. “Be yourself,” she repeated, “be yourself!” It reminded me how often I heard this dictum when I was a teenager. If I complained about not knowing how to act, how to get a boy to ask me to the prom, how to get the girls to stop whispering behind my back, how to be popular, she’d advise, “be yourself.” Back then I didn’t know who “myself” was. Now I do. I know who I am and I know exactly what “be yourself” means.

However, sometimes it seems like a very good idea to paint like someone else, Jessie Morgan, maybe or someone really famous whose work I like, Sean Scully,  or Richard Diebenkorn, or perhaps I should give up abstraction altogether and seek to become a fabulous figure painter like Jenny Saville or Steven Assael. Why should, “be yourself” apply to my art? After all nowadays “be yourself” is routinely abandoned by scads of people taking on avatars which they apparently find pretty exciting. So I tucked my guide to Be Yourself safely in the closet and went on a shopping spree. At the hardware store I bought patching plaster, squeegees, scrapers and sponges; at the art supply store I bought rice paper, breyers, and water based inks and paints, just because I always work in oils. In my studio, I began experimenting on small boards, pieces   of canvas. I dripped, squeegeed, scraped. I sanded. I swirled and rubbed. I was in a thrill of discovery, a new Helen Shulman was going to emerge any moment! My galleries were going to be stunned! My jealousy would evaporate! I’d be free!

Everyone knows just where this story is going. “Be yourself” which sounded dull, boring, annoying, began to chant softly but with greater and greater allure. “Be yourself, be yourself, be yourself.” It is not my style to experiment carefully on small samples. It’s not my style to plan things out ahead of time. “Be yourself” to me means jumping in, making tons of mistakes, redoing, undoing, redoing. It means trying new techniques right on a big panel. It’s not efficient, perhaps, but the “be yourself” is then recognizable.

I don’t know exactly how Jessie works, but I do know I love her results. Here’s another from her Shimmer series. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that Jessie understands the “Be Yourself” dictum. Though, I also suppose it’s reasonable to assume that, like most artists I know, she too, at times questions whether “Be Yourself” is always so terrific. Most of us wonder from time to time whether “Be Yourself” couldn’t just as well  be replaced with “Be Someone You’d Like to Be.” But, it doesn’t matter. In the end we each seem to put our own stamp on our work. No matter how hard I try, how many resolutions I make, how many starts and restarts, I still come back to me. Regardless. After all my purchases, all my efforts I painted a “Shulman.” Mom’s voice prevailed. “Be Yourself, Helen.” I guess it just happens. Below is my four panel painting called “On the Edge of Someday.”

There is a postscript to this story, however. I do learn things by making stabs at what I think are other’s techniques. My paintings are altered a bit. I look more carefully at the works I respond to. This morning I was again wondering why I don’t seem to be able to work the way I imagine Jessie works–with deliberative calm and methodical results. Why do I think tomorrow may be different?

 

 

Include? Omit? Include? Omit?

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Juried Art Show

call for entry = excitement and dismay. Okay, a

Juried Art Show

means an opportunity, but to make a good presentation decisions have to be made. Selecting works for a Juried Art Show is akin to deciding what to wear to a fancy dress ball. What will make me look good? What will fit? What will attract the right kind of attention. I want to apply to The Painting Center’s Juried Art Show. I want to present well. The lists of possibilities accumulate like those stacks of tried on and discarded outfits. And I can’t even ask my husband if my paintings make me look fat!

The

Juried Art Show

that is prompting today’s flurry of uncomfortable but optimistic activity is offered by The Painting Center, a non-profit exhibition space which is, in their words: Dedicated to promoting under-served artists and promoting creative dialogue rather than commercial profit,. . . . Although not the only Juried Art Show they’ll host this year, this one which has been dubbed , Natural/Constructed Spaces appeals to me. Again, I have used their words to describe what they’re looking for: For Natural/Constructed Spaces we invite representational and abstract painters to submit work that considers all aspects– natural, constructed, deconstructed– of rural/urban/suburban environments in the 21st century. More about the Juried Art Show open call  can be learned here where there is also a link to download the application form.

I learned about The Painting Center’s Juried Art Show from Galen Cheney, a fellow artist and friend who is the co-curator. Galen and I have been in more than one Juried Art Show together and she is going to be a good judge for the Painting Center’s Juried Art Show, but because I know her work, the tension of decision making for this show is heightened.
Galen’s paintings are wild, full of energy, exuberance,

 

angst, drama, city sounds. They insist you stand up!  speak up! participate!

 

 

Mine are country quiet. They invite you to sit down, be still, take a deep breath, drop your shoulders, contemplate.

 

 

 

 

 

So, my debate is over this painting . It’s called RECALCULATING.

It’s 36 inches by 96 inches. It’s a little out of my normal path and I wonder is it right for a Juried Art Show submission. Should works I send to a Juried Art Show just be recognizable Shulman’s? Do I regard this Juried Art Show differently because it’s in a unique exhibition space? Should I always be consistent? If I send in work to one Juried Art Show should it be equally suitable for any other Juried Art Show? I haven’t a clue. I guess we all just figure it out the best we can. I’ve submitted other works to one Juried Art Show or that and I’ve never chosen RECALCULATING before. Each time I say to myself, this is a Juried Art Show. Any Juried Art Show has to represent your body of work. Sending an off shoot to one Juried Art Show while maintaining consistency with others may not make sense. But this time I said, let me stop thinking of this as a Juried Art Show and let me think of it simply as an opportunity to show this painting. And, so, here goes. The forms are filled out, the envelope addressed to Juried Art Show, The Painting Center, NYC. RECALCULATING is on the CD properly labeled Juried Art Show Natural Constructed Spaces. And fingers are crossed.

Lastly, let us have some empathy for the judges. Here’s an interesting article by someone who served for a Juried Art Show

West Collects–an opportunity for artists

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West Collects sent out a call for entries. They announced their interest in looking at art far and wide and said since West Collects cannot travel every byway in the country–or the world, they decided to run an online West Collects competition. It is free to enter. Thankfully West Collects also made entry easy. By looking at the images which have been submitted so far and which are displayed on West Collects web site, thousands of artists have responded.

THE DEADLINE IS APRIL 1st.

Yes, I imagine the chances of being noticed let alone of being accepted are next to nothing. But, I figure withno submission to West Collects the chances of being chosen by West Collects are completely nothing. So, I sent in images and if I compare them to last year’s winners I can easily feel foolish, but I’m still encouraging everyone I know to send it their jpgs, write their statements, submit their resume’s. Let West Collects make West Collects decisions. They said they’d like to see what’s out there and I know there is a lot of wonderful art that would have to other way to be brought to their attention. So, fellow artists, why not enter?

I used to buy lottery tickets. I figured it was a great entertainment bargain. For a dollar or two I could have hours of fabulous day dreaming. Usually I imagined buying art. I thought I’d travel all over the country with my husband exploring little towns as well as major cities, visiting studios and local shows. I fantasized about the collection I would build. West Collects seems to be doing just that, but they expanded their search by using the tools available now. And, so, even though I know it’s completely wacky, I can dream about their choosing me, or if not me maybe a friend of mine.

But West Collects has done something else. By showing the work of those who have submitted, they’ve allowed all of us to see more of what’s out there. Browsing the West Collects site is just plain fun, rewarding and inspiring. I thought for sure I’d dislike most of it, but the opposite is true! There’s a lot that catches my eye and my imaginings have changed, from the ridiculous thought of being accepted to the totally fun thought of “what would I choose” if the $300,000 West Collects has said they plan to spend were in my pocket. The decision isn’t easy.

AVA’s Auction

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AVA’s Auction begins March 24th with early previews

. The gallery will be open 11-5 including Sunday March 25th. It ends with a fabulous party and final bidding on Saturday March 31st from 5:30 to 7:30. Each year

people buzz about the AVA’s Auction.

I hear it all the time: “Are you going to  AVA’s Auction?” “Did you hear Gerald Auten has given a fabulous piece this year?” “You know last year I got a wonderful Elizabeth Mayor at AVA’s Auction!” and even, “Hey, guess what? I got a new outfit just for AVA’s Auction–how cool is that?”

Personally,

I’m really looking forward to AVA’s Auction this year

. My friend and fellow artist, Sheryl Trainor has been raving about it forever. She talks about the energy in the room and the excitement as the time to bid draws to a close and people dash about to make sure they can get what they have their hearts set on. Up until now, although I’ve regularly donated work, I’ve been unable to attend. I suppose I should disclose that my absence is caused by my spending the winters in Florida with my husband. I realize this may prompt little sympathy. So for years I’ve missed the Upper Valley’s Spring-heralding event–AVA’s Auction. . But this year I’m returning early and being able to attend the auction determined the date.

I’ve been asking Margaret Jacobs AVA’s Exhibitions Co-Ordinator for special sneak AVA Auction previews. Everything she sends prompts more and more enthusiasm–though there was plenty to begin with.
I’ve just received jpegs of this work by Elizabeth (Lili) Mayor which is a woodcut, cut and sewn, 18″ x 18″

This acrylic on paper, 22″ x 22″ by Colleen Randall

And this mixed media sculpture, 16″ x 16″ x 26″ by Dave Laro

It gives me great pleasure that works I submitted in previous years have been purchased either by art lovers new to me or by people who’ve collected my work before. I’m sure this is the same for others who participate in AVA’s Auction.
My piece this year is oil on panel and is 32″ x 24″

AVA Gallery Silent Auction

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AVA Gallery Silent Auction is being held this year on Sat. March 31st., 5:30-7:30, 11 Bank St., Lebanon, NH. AVA Gallery Silent Auction early bidding is being held 11-5 each day March 24th through the 31st with final bidding at the party on the 31st. AVA Gallery Silent Auction is an event to look forward to!  AVA Gallery Silent Auction heralds the advent of spring and the energy that brings with it. It attracts art lovers, buyers ready to feast their eyes on excellent art and enhance their collections.

This year, as in all other years, the gallery is chock-a-block with wonderful art donated by regional artists. Sally Wellborn has donated an acrylic painting which is 2′ x 3′

Enrico Riley’s contribution is oil on jute on panel and is 24″ x 25″

Additionally this work  which employs  acrylic and cut paper, 33″ x 25.5″ by Julie Puttgen will be on display.

Many other area favorites are also participating including, for example, Sheryl Trainor who is a print maker and a member of AVA’s distinguished board.

The painting I chose to donate this year to the AVA Gallery Silent Auction is “Fringe Element,” an oil painting on panel which is 32″ x 24″.

Like many other Upper Valley artists, I have given a piece of art each year for many years. I donate art to other causes as well, but the AVA Gallery Silent Auction is among the most important to me. By donating work I am able to contribute significantly more to AVA’s coffers that I could otherwise do. It makes me feel fantastic! People who’ve bought my work at the auction have been so positive about it and have let me know. Since, like all of us, I thrive on praise, this is pretty satisfying. I am proud to be able to say “I’m part of the AVA Gallery Silent Auction.

Helen Shulman

Boston Art and Design Exhibition March 15-18 2012

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Boston Art and Design (AD 20/21) is having it’s fifth annual exhibition at the Cyclorama, 539 Tremont St. Boston MA. It opens March 15th and runs through March 18th.  Boston Art and Design is throwing a gala Thursday evening with all proceeds benefiting the Boston Architectural College.

This year’s Boston Art and Design exhibitors include several well known Boston galleries as well as others from around the country and Alain Amiand from France.

Kobalt Gallery, will be featuring my painting, “In a Sigh of Thunder” which is 48″ x 64″, oil on four panels. It is one of a series influenced by Martin Johnson Heade’s seascapes.

 

The Boston Art and Design–AD 20/21– is known for it’s high quality, diverse, esthetically pleasing exhibition. Among many outstanding works of art, the work of Jacob Kulin of Kulin Modern struck me as particularly interesting. This beauty is called simply, “Aspen”(no. 35) It is made of  Wood, Steel, Silver Leaf over Aluminum and is 11′ wide x 4′ high x 8″ deep.

How Can You Continue to Paint?

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“How can you continue to paint after you’ve seen Steven Assael?”

My friend and I had just left at Steven Assael exhibit at the Naples Museum of Art in Naples, FL. “Don’t you just want to stop painting,” she continued. “I mean, Steven Assael! Does it get any better? Helen, tell me you can top that,” she challenged. “Steven Assael, I’m in love! No, I’m in awe,”

she dropped her voice reverentially and whispered once more, “STEVEN ASSAEL!”

I was startled by the notion that seeing great art would prompt me to clean my brushes for the last time, give my supplies away and, finally turn my attention to the long neglected duties of dusting and writing thank you notes. Seeing great art makes me eager to return to my studio.

My art is abstract. It emerges as I work. It starts in one direction and ends in another. It appears to me that Steven Assael starts with an idea, a feeling, a concept and grows it through masterful craftsmanship into a powerful painting. I can stand gazing at a Steven Assael painting for a very long time. I am thrilled by his technique, his palette, his subject matter. Perhaps it’s corny to say so, but it makes my juices flow.

When I go to a show of work that strikes me as dull, poorly done or uninspired, I get depressed.  I don’t want to return to the studio. I think, “why am I painting.” It doesn’t really make sense. It seems like seeing bad art would make me want to show I can do better and great art make me feel I should pack it in. But that’s not the case. When I saw the work of Steven Assael, I was inspired. It took my breath away and renewed my resolve to be the best artist I can possibly be.

Fortunately for those living in south west Florida–or those needing an excuse to visit–Steven Assael is teaching a four day workshop in Ft. Myers.  Here are the details:

4-Days Oil Painting March 6,7,8,9, 2012

Time: 9:30 am to 4:30 pm (1 hr. lunch flexible)

Place/Location: Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2439 McGregor Blvd. Ft Myers, FL 33901

(next to the Edison Estate)

Contact:  Renate M Reuter, tel: 239-481-2081, e-mail: nadi@nadifineart.com, www.portraitandfigure.org

This is a 4-day Oil Painting Workshop satisfying the needs and special requests of participants’ incl:

Total Portraits – head to full size , skin tones and various material texture on models – old/young, face, hands, feet, special features, more.

The Wikipedia article on Steven Assael says:

Steven Assael (born 1957) is an American painter recognized nationally as one of the leading representational figurative artists of his generation. His portrayal of the human image is empathetic, ennobling, and psychologically penetrating. Assael’s figure compositions synthesize the characteristics of the past masters with a selective eye for the present, suffusing elements of naturalism and romanticism to blend contemporary techniques with those of the past.

 

I’m sure I’ll continue to do my own abstract paintings, but I’m also sure Steven Assael has a lot to teach me as well as artists who work realistically.

Influenced by Martin Johnson Heade?

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Martin Johnson Heade influences my work.

If he also influences you, I would like to hear from you.. An important American painter, Martin Johnson Heade was often associated with the Hudson River painters, but Theodore Stebbins, art historian and curator of American Art at the Harvard University art museums wrote, “If the paintings of the shore as well as the more conventional compositions…might lead one to think of Martin Johnson Heade as a Hudson River School painter, the [marsh scenes] make it clear that he was not.” (reference from Wikipedia)
It appears to me that a

wide variety of painters have been influenced by Martin Johnson Heade whose exquisite paintings

have thrilled viewers for more than one hundred years.

Boston artist Gail Boyjianconfirmed her love of

Martin Johnson Heade.

Gail exclaimed over the exquisite hummingbirds Martin Johnson Heade painted. The first painting of Gail’s that I saw was in the collection of Bill and Nancy Osgood. It was a small beautifully painted scene with a Chaffinch, a bird common in Europe. In the misty background are two tiny military helicopters coming over the horizon. I found the painting beautiful and disturbing. It was quiet but packed a punch. I loved it and it made me look more seriously at Martin Johnson Heade and his range of subjects.

As a painter of abstractionsI have been most influenced by Martin Johnson Heade’s seascapes and marsh scenes and in particular “Thunder Storm on Narraganset Bay.” It has been the foundation for a series of paintings I’ve done over the last several years.

Several of these including “On the Edge of the Known” which is above,  ”In a Sigh of Thunder” currently in Kobalt Gallery in Provincetown, “Believing is Seeing” currently in West Branch Gallery in Stowe, VT and “Getting Away from the Got There” which is in Pryor Fine Arts in Atlanta 

It appears there may be paintings by Martin Johnson Heade that haven’t yet been found. At least Wikipedia reports some wonderful discoveries–people who found Martin Johnson Heade paintings in garage sales, purchased them for a song and sold them for a full length opera. I guess we should all be on the alert. Works by Martin Johnson Heade are treasures in more than one sense of the word!

Again, if one of many of us influenced by Martin Johnson Heade, I’d love to hear how he’s effected your art practice.

How to Make Yourself Crazy Using Jenny Saville

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Yesterday I saw Jenny Saville’s first American Museum solo show at the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach. It showed an artist with impeccable drawing skills, an artist who handles paint magnificently, an artist who has something to say and says it with power and dignity and who while creating disturbing images makes them stunningly beautiful. I felt absolutely elated and sated.

 

That was Sunday. Monday morning discouragement began rumbling. I lamented not painting like Jenny, not drawing like Jenny not thinking like Jenny, not being as successful as Jenny, not having as powerful a message, not following my instincts when I was young, not going to art school, not studying enough, not being smart enough.

 

I know of no artist (nor person) who doesn’t get into these ugly eddies. After a number of hours, my stomach distracted me. I realized I was hungry. Very hungry.

What a relief.

 

There are a lot of good articles on and by Jenny Saville. This is one I liked.

 

 

“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken”

Oscar Wilde

 

 

Jenny Saville Youtube

Jenny Saville Images