Pop Goes the Artist!

Apparently there’s a very large Dada exhibit going on at the National Gallery of Art right now.  I’m not a big fan of Dada myself, but I’ll probably wander through it while I’m at the NGA for the Cezanne exhibit, which I’m very excited about.  The reason I mention it is that there was a great feature about it on the Washington Post’s website this morning: Learning the Unruly ABCs of Dada.  It’s a very well-designed overview of some of the important themes and artists of the brief Dada movement, along with examples of some of the artworks on display at the exhibit.  It’s worth checking out.  (You may have to register on the website, but it’s free, takes about two minutes, and generates no spam.  Worth doing.)

It’s probably going to be another two or three weeks before I can make it to the Cezanne exhibit at the NGA, since I’m spending my spring break (starts Friday!) in Paris with the University Honors Program, but once I’ve been I’ll definitely make a report.  Speaking of Paris, I’m hoping that the trip will generate a fresh supply of reference photos and inspiration, particularly for pencil drawings.  (My goal is to use up the last four sheets in my Bristol pad before the end of the school year.)  While in Paris, we’ll also be making two trips to the Louvre and one to the Musee d’Orsay (home of a bunch of Impressionist works), although I fear our experience in the Louvre will mainly be limited to the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and various other over-exposed popular destinations.  On the other hand, we’ll have at least one free afternoon in which I intend to find my way back there.

Long story short, this could be my last update for awhile, but expect a few more once I get back.

Finally finished the two calligraphy projects I’ve been thinking about/planning for at least a month. I went home to my paints this weekend and in an astonishing burst of inspiration and productivity, produced not one, but two finished pieces.

This is the piece I did for my church’s silent auction later this month. “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” is actually a very long prayer, so I just picked the verse that most people have heard before. It has a nice symmetry about it as well. My inspiration for this piece was straight out of the book of Kells, which I consider the pinnacle of monastic manuscript achievement. (I’m not kidding. It’s amazing. I have the whole thing on CD-ROM.) I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out, although I think I could have done a better job with the alignment of the text on the right side and with making the letters more Celtic. On the whole, however, I think it was a success and I’m particularly fond of the capital C. It’s double-matted in a lovely tan with black, which looks much better than it sounds. (watercolor and ink on watercolor paper, 10×8″)

This is the piece I did for my old middle school. I know I had originally decided on the Anima Christi, which is a beautiful prayer, but it’s very long and I just wouldn’t have had time to do it justice. I think this works just as well though, considering that “Thy kingdom come” may as well be the school’s mantra. When I went there, we had to write “TKC” (for “thy kingdom come”) at the top of all of our papers, and as far as I know that hasn’t changed, so this will (hopefully) be a hit. On a more technical note, I have no idea why the image is tinged slightly blue on the right side–a quirk of the scanner, I guess, but in real life the paper is heavy cream-colored pastel paper. My inspiration for this was purely medieval, in particular this incredible collection of pages from some medieval book. Click a page at random and you won’t be disappointed; they’re all pretty impressive. (Thank you, Columbia University.) This one has a double mat of red and gold, which looks pretty rockin’, I must say. (ink and acrylic gouache, 5×8″)

I’ll be eager to find out how much each of these goes for, the second one in particular. If these are a hit, I’ll probably do something with a literary, rather than religious, twist for the big library fundraiser next year. We shall see.

This is my latest drawing, (tentatively) finished less than an hour ago. My inspiration for this was a photo I took at one of the missions (San Jose?) in San Antonio, a detail of a stone archway around a chapel door. With the exception of the cherub’s face (which I’ll probably go back and rework), I’m very pleased with the way this turned out. All that relief work gave me a fit–all artwork goes through an ugly stage, but those bits stayed in the ugly stage for a very long time. Since this drawing is small it went pretty fast–I just started it last night. It felt nice to actually make some artwork after spending so much time just thinking about it. (”Stone Angel” pencil on Bristol, 4×6″)

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While roaming WetCanvas!, I stumbled across an artist’s website featuring a really neat mixed media concept–pop art paintings and collages on old records. Check it out here. I think it’s a great concept and many of the pieces are a whole lot of fun. My particular favorite is “Bad Day 2.” If I had more money, I’d buy 3 or 4 because I think they’d look cool in a group on my wall, but alas! I am a poor college student, even if I am finally employed. But putting the state of my wallet aside, it’s a unique and well-executed idea. I just wish I’d thought of it.