Turner revisited

Monday night's PBS program, based on Simon Schama's The Power of Art, explored the dark side of some of Turner's paintings, which are generally recognized for their luminous light and expressive color and brushwork. In the painting "The Slave Ship" Turner has used his amazing skill with color and light to compel the viewer to take a closer look. As your eyes take in the glory of the light and the power of the mighty waves, you suddenly become aware of the horror of the scene. More than 130 ill or dying slaves being carried from Africa to north America have been thrown to the sharks and their agony is horribly depicted in the foreground. The actual event took place many years before and England had already taken action against the slave trade, but Turner's painting raised public awareness of the enormity of slavery, which still existed in many places in the world, including the United States. Schama described The Slave Ship as the most important painting of the nineteenth century, certainly a work that illustrates the power of art. I've seen the painting several times and it's awesome.

The Power of Art last night

I watched the two episodes of the PBS show that were broadcast last night. On the whole, I prefer the book. The first, on van Gogh, was beautifully filmed and I loved the closeups of juicy mounds of wet paint being attacked by a brush. But there was a little too much of wind blowing in the wheatfields and shadows in unknown places and the actor playing Vincent tended to mumble his words (or maybe that's my hearing). I didn't get any of the passion of van Gogh. Schama as narrator of his own book was fairly good, but a little arch at times (and maybe that's just my perception). The Picasso segment was very informative on the history of the Guernica painting and I enjoyed seeing various stages of that great work. But again, a little too much TV art with bullfights and mysterious shadowy profiles of an actor puffing a cigarette or cigar and presumed to be Picasso. Both episodes were really quite beautiful, but I guess I expected something a little different. I'll watch the remaining programs in a different frame of mind.

Check out Charley Parker's blog on the Power of Art broadcast. He has images and links to other information about the program.

The Power of Art on PBS

This eight-week series is based on a book I reviewed several months ago. I enjoyed The Power of Art by Simon Schama very much and I'm looking forward to the series. The first program on van Gogh airs in my area tomorrow night, (Monday, June 18) at 9:00 p.m. est. The second episode, on Picasso, immediately follows at 10:00 p.m. I believe the remaining programs are one hour. Check your local listings on the PBS website. You can request to be notified of upcoming Power of Art broadcasts.

What I found intriguing about the book was its coverage of the political influence and social, cultural and business aspects of the various artists. It will be interesting to see how all this is played out on TV.

The Power of Art

Simon Schama's The Power of Art is a weighty tome that my son gave me for Christmas. It's heavy reading, but only in the actual poundage. Schama begins with the rascally Caravaggio and his sublime paintings, working in the backstory of the artist's checkered political and personal life as he paints monumental artworks, many of which include his own portrait as a villain or a victim. The powerful stories of seven more great artists--Bernini, Rembrandt, David, Turner, van Gogh, Picasso, Rothko--all have a twist, which Schama works into the historical timeline in vivid, compelling narration. The book is lavishly illustrated with high quality images that show great detail. I'm working my way back and forth between gentle Emily Carr and these remarkable giants. Fascinating reading.

Faces of concentration

My Calgary "Exploring Art and Creativity" workshop was one of the most enjoyable I've ever taught. Right from the start, when each of the 23 students introduced herself and told why she was taking the workshop, they seemed to be of a single mind about their desire to be more creative and their dedication to their art. It felt good to be part of this community of artists.

All of them entered into the spirit of the creativity activities with enthusiasm and appeared to enjoy the fun and the serious parts equally. They embraced collage and monotype wholeheartedly and shared their experiences with new materials--and their materials--freely. The critiques were illuminating; every piece was unique and personal to the artist who made it.

The group included teachers, artists, an engineer, an accountant, stay-at-home moms, a university administrator, a census taker, a couple of bookmakers (read: "makers of handmade books"), an author and photographer, an art materials dealer, just to name a few. At times the room was as still as a library and sometimes laughter and conversation bounced off the walls. I thought one group was goofing off and found they were deep in conversation about setting creative goals.

On Saturday we lunched at a funky restaurant where they prepared a delicious meal in spite of a power outage. We ate by candlelight. Our tables were in a loft decorated with Victorian frippery and art deco objects under an embossed tin ceiling. Lunch began with clinking glasses in a toast. Some got a little giddy over setting their cell phones so they wouldn't ring during class, hence a silly joke circulated about their "vibrators." We returned to class and had a productive afternoon.

I've experienced many memorable workshops over twenty years, and this was one of the best. Kudos to my Canadian friends, eh?

The transformative power of art

Imagine being a parent of a mentally disabled son, one who can speak and move but is somewhat unable to relate to the world about him or to achieve skills normal to children his age. As a devoted parent, you would take every opportunity to find activities to interest your child, hoping to kindle a spark that might brighten his life and alleviate the pain you feel for him. This was the life of Mary Pearce, whose son Bryan was afflicted with phenylketonuria (PKU), a genetic disorder that causes chemical imbalances that may result in brain damage. Babies today are tested for PKU at birth and given special diets if they test positive for the disease, but when Bryan was born in 1929, no such tests existed. When he was a boy his mother discovered that he seemed to enjoy painting objects in watercolor and had rather a gift for it. An artist friend agreed to tutor him. Eventually, in 1953 he was accepted into Leonard Fuller's St. Ives School of Painting in Cornwall, England. Bryan blossomed as a naive painter of the landscape and seascape around St. Ives and rendered still life subjects, as well. >In time his work attracted notice and he was invited to exhibit in galleries. At first he didn't understand that these opportunities meant he could become self-supporting. Eventually he became proud that his art gave him a degree of independence. Instead of languishing in an institution, Bryan Pearce has lived a fulfilling life because of art. His work is prized by collectors all over the world. Bryan's inspiring story is told movingly in The Miracle of Bryan Pearce by C. J. Stevens.

J.M.W. Turner and the Power of Art

I missed last week's episode in Simon Schama's Power of Art series on PBS, but I won't miss tonight, when Turner is featured. He's in my top ten of favorite artists. Charley Parker writes about the program and the artist on his Lines and Colors blog today. Thanks, Charley.

Continuing saga of the Little Artist

Things got worse before they got better. Problem: power outage at 12:20 a.m. How to entertain a wheezing three-year-old while waiting for the "power-man" to fix the lights. Solution: flashlight games on the ceiling and walls of the bedroom. Then a "nest" in the big bed, surrounded by pillows and blankets, nestled next to sleep-deprived Gammy. Greatly improved today, after new medicine prescribed by the doctor. She's coloring ladybugs, but that's the only art that's going on here right now. I'm isolated from my home computer and art stuff, so can't get my last minute tasks done for the book. It's a little frustrating, but basically the Little Artist is getting better and that's what matters. Earlier I found she had arranged all her teddy bears in a circle. She said it was a "bear ceremony."

You can't always tell a book by its cover

A blog reader sent me an image (at right)that is apparently the UK cover of the book The Power of Art, which I mentioned in a previous blog. The one I reviewed (left) is sold in the US. It would be interesting to know what was behind the decision to have different covers, don't you think?

Caravaggio on the Power of Art tonight

Read what Charley Parker has to say today about Caravaggio on Lines and Colors. I'll be interested to see which of Caravaggio's many personalities is revealed in the PBS show tonight (Monday). This artist's paintings have always seemed larger than life to me and apparently that was what he himself was like.

Artists sharing themselves

This was an amazing afternoon. Last week I was invited to a luncheon to be held today. I was told to bring a painting to show to the other artists attending. I had no idea who would be there, except that several of my watercolor students mentioned they would be coming. There were around twenty artists, nearly half of whom were my students. Some I had never met before, others I knew only slightly. The site was a lovely historic home filled with wonderful antiques and authentic historical artwork. Even the luncheon had its historic roots--pumpkin soup for starters. Fire in the fireplace, the house filled with conversation and laughter.

After coffee we were asked to show our artwork and say a few words about ourselves. Skill levels ranged from relatively new painters to highly skilled professionals in different media, but each artist was warmly received and accepted by the group. There was no sense of competition or one-up-manship. We felt comfortable and "safe" with each other. We asked questions, shared techniques, told stories on ourselves like old friends. We talked about how we started to paint and what inspires us. It was awesome. Some came as strangers and departed as friends. I've always felt that art has a unifying power but I've never seen it displayed in quite this way. It was an amazing afternoon.