Wednesday, August 25, 2010

The Artist's Journey: Where I've Been and Where I'm Going

The Italian Garden, oil, 1984-85, Janis Hauser (aka Jan Blencowe) 


Elizabeth Park Rose Garden, watercolor, 2009, Jan Blencowe


Miss Florence's Garden, acrylic, 2010, Jan Blencowe

It's very interesting having a daughter who is pursuing art. Watching her at 16, find her way, gain skills and begin to recognize her unique signature style is enriching for me. (You can see her most recent painting here). Yesterday I dragged some of my old paintings down from the attic for her to see.

This caused me to take stock of where I started and where I am currently on the artist's journey.

The first painting above was done just after I graduated from college with my BFA. As you can see I was working in a much different style. Back then color was very important to me as was an acknowledgment of the flat surface of the canvas ( think Cezanne and the post-impressionists) so the perspective is intentionally skewed and while the shapes do have volume they are flattened and somewhat abstracted rather than being meticulously modeled. It has a kind of Alice in Wonderland feel to it.Yet, when you look at the next watercolor and pen sketch done en plein air in 2009 I think you can still see my unique signature and I think you could surmise that the same artist painted both. 

The last painting done this year has much more sophistication, subtlety and realism, qualities which I have been pursuing and developing for at least the last ten years in my work. My heavy handedness and my proclivity to flatten, abstract and stylize are things that I do naturally that I have worked hard to refine. Not obliterate mind you, just control and bring to a level of masterful refinement. That's work. I think it helps me create better paintings but it's work and I think that's why I really, really enjoy my watercolor sketchbook. That venue allows me to cut loose and work freely in a flowing, natural way. 

"Not that we can't do more than one thing, but one of the things we should let ourselves do is what comes naturally and easily" ~Julia Cameron

Those watercolors and to some extent my other field works are the bones that I develop my more finished paintings on top of, literally. Very often the early stages of my paintings, especially plein air, look a lot more like my work form 1985 and the watercolor sketch from 2009 but I go on in subsequent layers to bring about the refinement. 

But why continue to work and refine a painting? I feel better about my finished paintings when I do. I think it's because that process of controlling, refining and bringing some deep calm out of what started as something more visceral, chaotic and raw is a metaphor for my life. I've spent many years developing an inner life of peace and calm that is very satisfying and protective despite the challenges of life. Those early painting from when I was 22, the sketches and the early stages of my paintings capture my enthusiastic experience of life but my finished paintings communicate my contemplation of life and the wisdom I've gained from that. Make sense? It doesn't always make sense to me either LOL  But there you have it that's the best explanation I can give you at present.

Looking back brings up the question of where I go from here. ?????  Not sure but I have to think that through now that I've taken a look back, and so the journey continues.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Art Show in Niantic, Connecticut

Bauer Farm Barns, 8x10, acrylic, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2009

August Sunset, 8x10, acrylc, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2009

These are two of the paintings I will exhibit in an up coming show at the Main Street Gallery in Niantic, CT. 

This is going to be a wonderful show featuring 5 extraordinary women artists working in a variety of traditional media and subject matter. 

Artists

Nan Iselin
Jane White

The other fantastic thing about this exhibit is that the gallery is housed in the Arthur Murray Dance Studio and there will be complimentary dance lessons following the opening!! 

It's going to be a great evening if you're in the neighborhood why not join us! If you love art, music and dance why not plan a special trip!

Opening Reception Thursday September 2nd, 2010 7-9pm
Gallery on Main in the Arthur Murray Dance Studio
287 Main Street
Niantic, CT 06370

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum teams up with Rockwell Galleries

River Valley View, 16x20 oval, acrylic on canvas, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2010



I am happy to announce that I am part of this wonderful new landscape show In Between.


The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, in cooperation with Rockwell Galleries, will exhibit works by nine artists and over 25 landscape paintings ranging from classic realism to representational, and paintings “in between” the two parameters.

In Between, Sept. 11 - Nov. 13, 2010, opening reception, Thurs. Sept. 23, 5-7 p.m. Part of the proceeds will benefit the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum. Artists will include Betty Ball, Jan Blencowe, Maya Boreen, Roger Hendricks, Gail Ingis-Claus, Will McCarthy, Mary Morant, Jill Nichols, and Karl Soderlund


Rockwell Art Galleries has six gallery locations in Fairfield County, CT: 1630 Post Rd., Fairfield; 9 Burtis Ave., New Canaan; 470 Main St., Ridgefield; 890 High Ridge Rd., Stamford; 15 Myrtle Ave., Sconset Square, Westport; and 379 Danbury Rd, Wilton. In addition to original fine art, all Rockwell galleries offer custom framing, installation services and in-home and corporate art advisory services. To see the full roster of Rockwell artists, visit www.rockwellartgalleries.com.



For those who have already viewed the Mansion and are solely interested in the art exhibit, viewing hours are 12 to 4 p.m. Wed.-Sun. Admission is free.

During the season, full tours at the mansion are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for children and young adults ages 8-18. Children under 8 are admitted free. Tour hours are 12- 4 p.m., Wed.-Sun. Tours are on the hour, and the last tour is at 3 pm. For information on educational programs, events and rentals, call 203-838-9799  203-838-9799  or e-mail info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com







Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Protect your Art, Money and Health

Gifts from the Sea, 24x30, acrylic on linen, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2010
View in a sample frame on my website 

Hi Folks, Ariane from smARTist has done it again with another super-duper bundle of business help for artists at 50% off. Some of you might be interested in this so I though I'd pass it along and show you my new seascape Gifts from the Sea. Enjoy!

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There are details in this material that can save you not just heartache (over one clause in a contract), or deep stress over the loss of artwork (because you didn’t know about the statue of limitations for registering a copyright), but also saves you the money you earn by applying smart tax strategies.
 
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Monday, August 16, 2010

New House New Studio




This is the beginnings of our new house, something I've waited 20 years for!



The left section (in the pic below)is a 3 car garage and the space above it with the palladium window will be my studio.



I am looking forward to teaching in the new studio, hosting workshops and open studio events for purchasing my work.

I envision the studio as a workspace, gallery and gathering place for artists round table discussions.

We're hoping to be in by the end of October or early November.

I'll keep you posted!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Art Does Not Have to Match your Sofa!

End of the Marsh, 20x24, acrylic on panel, Jan Blencowe



Art Does Not Have to Match your Sofa!

I want to know where it says
“The art you put in your home has to match your sofa.”
First of all, art is not meant to decorate your home,
art is meant to decorate your soul.

It is the signature of every civilization that ever left its mark on the earth.
It breaks all the rules and shakes off the dust of everyday life.

With a power like that who cares if it matches your sofa?
Let it match your soul!

Robert Lyn Nelson a fellow artist on Twitter posted this gem last week. He found it on a calendar, so neither of us knows who to attribute it to, but its words are so true that I thought they were worth passing along to you.


Available through Raiford Gallery, 1169 Canton St, Roswell, GA 770-645-6197


Thursday, August 12, 2010

Stony Creek Gallery, Jan Blencowe, Silent Auction, Save the Sound

Stony Creek Gallery
Silent Auction 
This Sunday, Aug. 15th
Preview 5-6pm
Bidding ends at 6pm
*rain or shine*


Easy from Meigs Point by Jan Blencowe

Featuring Scenes of the Connecticut Shoreline by over 40 artists!

Portion of Proceeds donated to CT Fund for the Environment Save the Sound

STONY CREEK GALLERY
152 Thimble Islands Rd * Stony Creek / Branford CT * 203.208.1990

 x56 off I-95, Next to Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A Poetic Landscape Photo


Isn't this just a stunning scene? The huge seashell sculptures give this a wonderland feel, a visual poem. Enjoy!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Being a Regionalist Painter


McKinney Marsh Morning, 8x10, field study en plein air, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2010

Last week end we had a gorgeous day with relatively low humidity which made for a fantastic day of plein air painting at the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge, Salt Marsh Unit, Westbrook, CT

There was a lovely softness about the light that morning and it took me a while to build up enough layers of paint to convey that feeling through shimmery veils of translucent color. I really love acrylics for that kind of flexibility to be able to use the paint really thinned down like a watercolor wash, over thicker more opaque layers of paint. That technique allows for very subtle nuances to be created which is good because Nature herself is filled with subtle nuance.

Right now I'm reading a book I picked up over the week end, an autobiography of  Andrew Wyeth

Amazon has the paperback edition

I have long liked Wyeth's work but it is only recently, after studying a lot of Winslow Homer's work, especially his watercolors that I gained a deeper appreciation for Wyeth's work. I don't really know that there is any particular connection between Homer and Wyeth, except that for whatever reason one led me to the other.

Wyeth is known as a regionalist, famous for painting his home state of Pennsylvania. In this way he has a connection to another artist I recently read about Harry Leith- Ross who also painted the Pennsylvania landscape. 

I think that I am probably also a regionalist painter, finding my inspiration in the salt marshes, coast line and fields close to my home. I added to my permanent blog pages, an article titled The Connecticut Landscape, which explains my regionalist leanings,  you can find it by clicking the tab at the top with that title.  

It's interesting that Regionalism as an art movement came about during the Great Depression and that we are currently in a time of great economic recession, if not depression and I am feeling moved to paint my own home surroundings and create paintings that convey a mood of gentle peace and reassurance. 

Here's a blurb from Wiki that gives a good introduction...

Regionalism is an American realist modern art movement that was popular during the 1930s. The artistic focus was from artists who shunned city life, and rapidly developing technological advances, to create scenes of rural life. Regionalist style was at its height from 1930 to 1935, and is best-known through the so-called "Regionalist Triumvirate" of Grant Wood in Iowa, Thomas Hart Benton in Missouri, and John Steuart Curry in Kansas. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Regionalist art was widely appreciated for its reassuring images of the American heartland.


Artists respond to what is going on outside and inside of them, in society and in their hearts. While I don't consciously eschew modern life and technology you will notice that I rarely include images of modern life in my paintings. I tend to edit out cars, buildings, cell phone towers etc. in favor of a purer, idealized landscape.  Am I a reactionary? Possibly! It is an intentional choice I make when painting but it is not a conscious reaction to our technologically saturated society. 

Are my quiet, calming landscapes in response to the turbulent times we live in. Possibly! But again they are not thought out and planned for that reason, the paintings happen as they happen

In a more specific way, I am trying to establish my reputation as a Connecticut/ New England painter, in short a regionalist, in a broad sense of the term. Lately I have been reevaluating my business plan and have decided to concentrate my efforts closer to home. I am currently searching out well established galleries in CT, RI and Cape Cod that would be a good fit for my poetic landscapes.

So if anyone out there has a gallery recommendation for me please send me an email with your suggestion!                       



Monday, August 09, 2010

Recent Sketching Adventures

Black Crowned Night Heron, pencil sketch w/ toned wash Jan Blencowe, copyright 2010


Barn Owl, pencil sketch w/ toned wash, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2010


On a hot and humid summer day it's great to get in out of the heat at the Yale Peabody Natural History Museum. These are my two favorite sketches (above) from my visit there last Wednesday. I sat on my small stool sketchbook on my lap in the midst of droves of summer camp kids and vacationing families and hopefully inspired a few budding artists.

Sleeping Amur Tigers, pen and toned wash, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2010

Yesterday I took a trip top the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, CT to do some sketching. Sketching live animals is always challenging, you would not believe how many times these sleepy tigers stretched and moved!!

Sleepy Barn Owls, pen and toned wash, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2010

The sleepy Barn Owls were my best subjects! The hardly moved at all! The monkeys were the worst and that sketchbook page was so bad it got filed under "G" (in the garbage!)

On Friday I took a day of creative and spiritual renewal at The Mercy Center and started my morning off with these little watercolors...

Mercy by the Sea, pen and watercolor, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2010

Reaching Pine, pen and watercolor, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2010

Our Lady of Mercy by the Sea, pen and watercolor, Jan Blencowe, 2010

Finally, after a busy week I found myself on Sunday evening at the Friendship Garden at Hammonasset...

Evening at the Friendship Garden, pen and watercolor, Jan Blencowe, copyright 2010