Revisiting Childhood Part Three

Revisiting Childhood --Part Three

-Mind of Science, Eye of God (2000)

As I have been exploring the works of contemporary artists who have mined the riches of their childhood memories to discover the influences these remembrances have upon their current creations I must mention the encaustic paintings of Chicago Artist Dan Addington. His “Heroes & Villains I and II” in oil paint, tar, and encaustic wax on panel is also collaged with comic book pages. The artist explains his powerfully graphic, moving, sensual, and tactile paintings thus:

“They are scenes from a mythology of heroes peculiar to Mid-Twentieth Century American boyhood, learned monthly, an issue at a time. Stories to be studied, page-by-page. Scenes to be played out in backyards and on garage rooftops. Volumes of rare apocrypha offer up old secrets and hidden truths. Illuminated manuscripts of venerated pulp texts lie scattered about the floor and bed. Inspired narratives of action, adventure and justice swell up and swirl about while sacred hymns of gunfighter ballads pour from the speakers of a tiny Sears & Roebuck turntable. When, as a child, I first found and read the old illustrated pulp westerns and adventure books that my dad had bought and read when he was young, it was the first time I truly understood that he was once so much like me – that through time and memory we shared the same mythology. The thin cord between our generations was pulled tight.”

In Dan Addington’s paintings, figures are dark, mysterious, bold and heroic in gesture, as well they might be, considering the subject matter and emotional resonance they must have had for the artist as a child. He is clearly exploring some deep psychological territory that makes use of abundant symbols of heroism and struggles for power that our culture has to offer. In addition, they suggest a meditative exploration of twilight moods mingled with something else. The large angelic figures in other works are equally metaphysical, and mysterious. Addington has acquired a style and media that work well together with his subject matter of memory and dream.

This mix of media and collaged materials got me thinking about the possibilities of alternative ways of painting, inspiring me to do a bit of experimenting myself.

Lets see if I can manage to post some of Dan Addington’s inspiring images…otherwise...Looking into his website one finds clues to the meanings of some powerful paintings:

http://danaddington.com/art/index.html

Revisiting Childhood Part Two

C. Dawn Davis
Portrait of a Young Saltimbanque
oil on panel
36 x 26 inches

C. Dawn Davis

Garden of Grace

oil on panel

16 x 16 inches

Zoe Starr & the Princess Pups
oil on canvas
28 x 28 inches

C. Dawn Davis

Harlequin Baby

oil on panel

14 x 11 inches

Further Revisits to Childhood

“ To be an artist is to never fully relinquish childhood.” – Pablo Picasso

Following-up on my previous blog about the experience of childhood artmaking and how it informs artists’ present art, I want to mention three other artists whose remembrances of childhood have influenced their work. Their creative output can be seen in on-line galleries, and in some cases at Atlanta-Area gallery spaces.

The painter, C. Dawn Davis who currently has work at the Matre Gallery in Atlanta, (http://www.matregallery.com/davis/paintings/) frequently represents child-like figures in her oil paintings. These personages appear in unusual costumes and theatrical settings. Ms. Davis has written of the persistence of childhood memory as it reappears in her work:

“If you are someone who can read another language well enough, then you know the feeling of understanding in head and heart of what is being said, but find it impossible to give another the exact translation. You are thinking in the other language. So it is with my paintings. The same elements reappear – figures posed in costumes and masks accompanied by birds or monkeys in spaces undefined except by color and geometry. I do realize…that these ideas are grounded in remembered reality. As a child, I saw an organ grinder and his monkey and have been haunted for years by the sadness of his wizened little face and the way he looked at me when I gave him my dime. I don’t always know what I’m trying to say when I start a painting and many times the outcome is just as mysterious to me as it may be to the viewer. Our childhood memories follow us wherever we go. They collect themselves and are presented again and again whether or not we are fluent in their language.”

Perusing Ms. Davis’ website evidences a continued interest in images that well up from the past: http://www.cdawndavis.com/. Here, then, are a few examples of her work:

Let me introduce two other artists whose work is similarly evocative and worth viewing as a stimulus to examining one’s own memories of childhood. Possibly such recollections will initiate an analysis of how such memories can infuse one’s artistic life. I recommend a little research into their work for anyone who wishes to plumb the depths of a seemingly inexhaustible spring of creative inspiration…memories of childhood.

Working often in oil on a large scale, Mark Dylan Hyde paints images that are surreal in their dreamlike juxtaposition of unusual combinations of objects. “Relics of a Rainy Afternoon,” (2001) is a visual visit to a remembered attic of antiquated bits and pieces, the sticky memories that remain attached to an adult artist. Mr. Hyde wrote quite eloquently of childhood memory as it informs and influences his art:

“We can never revisit childhood, not in the sense of a returning to or a recreation of one’s past. We can return to childhood only in memory, and our ability to remember childhood, although a wonderful gift, is also an elusive one. We watch our children and try to remember our own lives. Our most precious possessions are those things, like photographs and portraits, which facilitate lucid memory. We know there can be no turning back the clocks. Inherent in memory is a strong sense of nostalgia, a longing for that which has been lost, for that which is irretrievable. To remember the past is to gaze through a window blurred with leftover rain or obscured by sunlight. We are left with fragments of sensation, with half-glimpses and veiled intimations. These paintings are meditations on memory. They attempt to capture the intangible half-glimpses of memory and hold them still. It is small and commonplace, the quiet and empty, illuminated for an instance, imbued with mystery by an ebbing afternoon light, that triggers memory. I work with the residues of memory; with long-forgotten photographs, keepsakes that weren’t kept, tattered pages from a diary that went unwritten, the relics of memory. The memories of childhood are temporal; tidal pools of stranded impressions, water held in a cupped hand. They can become a haunting presence in the painter or poet. The ghost of one’s childhood dwells within the soul of the artist. We could not relinquish it even if we wanted to. It is always there. It is an anachronistic appendage that was never fully shed, and whether consciously, or unconsciously, it suffuses in us an inviolate sense of wonder, essential to all creativity. But we cannot go to it. It must come to us. The memories of childhood are whispers, the voices of ghosts. It is the whispering of these ghosts of childhood that evokes memory and informs these paintings.”

Hyde’s website is worth a view to see examples of the art he alludes to in his statement:

http://www.markdylanhyde.com/ T h e G r e e n C r o w S t u d i o

Art-making in Childhood As a Form of Human Connection.

I witness students in my elementary art classes who are new to the school and who are often new to this country, arriving with little language proficiency, but who use their artwork to demonstrate to their peers that they have capabilities and talent, value and intelligence. The generous spirit of the other students who recognize a new student’s efforts and reach out to their new classmate moves me. Just this week, an immigrant child from China won the admiration of her peers by rapidly and proficiently completing a drawing of a lion, our school mascot. Everyone was making a portrait of a lion for the Art Tile Fundraiser for our new Fieldhouse. As this particular student entered and demonstrated her skills, she made new connections to her classmates, possibly building new friendships through the use of a visual language. This is a quality of art production that has strong and lasting social implications for a person in a strange new environment. Here is a story of just such an individual who, now as an adult is reminded of such an experience.

Childhood Revisited.

In the Fall of 2002, I saw an art show at the Aliya Gallery which was a nine-artist group exhibition titled “Childhood Revisited.” The curator described the premise of the show as:

“Childhood is something that we all share, for better or worse. The experiences of childhood can define who we will be as adults. I have invited this group of nine artists to reconsider their early formative experiences and create works of art that reflect their memories of this time. This exhibition promises to be a rare glimpse into the minds of visual artists.”

I found much of the work engaging and I was particularly enlightened by the text that accompanied the artwork, which the individual artists wrote to explain their creations. The written passages added an extra dimension to the work, describing the memories that motivated the imagery, whether distinct and graphic memories, or of an overall mood of the artist’s childhood.

The work of one artist I found especially emotion and thought provoking, that of the Vietnamese born Duy Huynh (pronounced yee wun). In his painting “Chalkboard Child,” he painted himself as a child on a chalkboard green canvas with many repetitions of scrawled chalk-like lettering, “I will not draw in class, I will not draw in class.” There we witnessed a situation depicted where Duy’s incessant drawing may have been a refugee boy’s way of coping with the strange newness of an adopted land and it’s educational institutions. As the artist wrote:

“I received my first art commission in the third grade – an eight and a half by eleven inch pencil drawing of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was paid two dollars and chocolate milk for a week. It was around this time that I started drawing, and consequently began building friendships with some classmates who would normally not acknowledge me before. For a nine-year-old refugee from Vietnam who spoke very little English, this was monumental. I soon realized that I could use art as a means of dealing with the overwhelming sense of displacement experienced throughout my childhood.”

You may view this painting by clicking on the thumbnail image found on the artist's website amongst images on his fifth gallery page titled, "Origamic Dream" http://www.duyhuynh.com/

Another one of this artist’s work was equally wrenching and powerfully graphic, depicting an environment of destruction and loss. The painting is of two individuals climbing into a tree as floodwaters rise – “The Flood.” Duy Huynh’s paintings have been described as poetic and contemplative, which symbolically reflect geographical and cultural displacement. I would refer you to his recent work at the Matre Gallery, on Bennett Street in Atlanta, GA: http://www.matregallery.com/huynh/, and to his own website: http://www.duyhuynh.com/ to see examples of his paintings. I am including several images below…and here you can see some persistent themes of motion and emotion in figures that portray the triumph of the human spirit as journeys are undertaken and destinations are reached.

Art experiences help to heal a lonely or fearful child.

The artwork was one way I also found my place in an elementary school community when I moved to a new township in Ohio as an eight-year-old child. I was shy and uncertain and unsure of how to make friends. However, I drew constantly and soon had my classmates asking me to make funny drawings of people. My caricatures often included word=play as well, such as “Jimmy Vanetti all covered with spaghetti.” A decade ago, I rediscovered many of these drawings when I cleared out my parents’ house after their deaths and the sale of the family home. I can relate to the profound and lasting experiences of making art as a child that were so seminal to Duy Huynh's development as an artist. The act of communicating through one’s art can help an unsettled child find a sense of belonging, a human connection in a new environment…a source of solace. I believe childhood memories can be a rich source of imagery, worth revisiting for any artist.

Here are links to some of Duy Huynh's paintings:

http://www.matregallery.com/huynh/single-gallery/4261822 "Crane Wife"

http://www.matregallery.com/huynh/single-gallery/1424124 "Embarkment"

http://www.matregallery.com/huynh/single-gallery/3849705 "All Is Transient"

A DIGITAL SKETCHBOOK FOR THE ARTIST - SOME EXPLORATIONS

With the goal of improving my artistic skills that I might better teach art, this is a relating of what I can explain of the rabbit trails in the art of portraiture and art education I have been pursuing lately. The Watercolor Portraiture class I was excited about taking was canceled, so I found an alternative, Printmaking. Some topics I have recently explored, noted, or doodled in a dedicated a.r.t.s.APS sketchbook are:

• Printmaking, tools and techniques, since I am enrolled in a printmaking course at the Chastain Art Center this winter term and have found a new passion for this medium. A description of the course: INTAGLIO PRINTMAKING/ Kathy Garrou
  This course will introduce the participant to the exciting and varied world of printmaking: original art on paper. This session we will explore Intaglio techniques, starting with drypoint and engraving. Using copper, zinc, or plexiglass plates, a drawing is cut into the material. After inking, the plate is then run through the press and an impression is made. We will also work with an exciting new technique, Solar Plate, an etching method that does not involve using toxic chemicals and acids. Beginners are welcome, as well as those with experience; each student will receive individual attention at his or her level.
• The Artist’s Sketchbook as a tool, using a recent holiday purchase, Sketchbook for the Artist, by Sarah Simblet, artist, writer, educator. I would recommend this insightful, stimulating, and beautiful book to any artist wanting to enrich their use of the sketchbook. Described as: · A comprehensive reference for novices and students reveals the techniques used by master artists and demonstrates through a series of "drawing class" exercises how to approach a wide range of subjects, from portraits to still life, using a variety of techniques.
• The portraiture and printmaking work of Chuck Close, whose work was featured several years ago at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, exhibition catalogue.
• The digital portraitist now featured in an exhibition at the High, Robert Weingarten, "The Portrait Unbound," who poses the question, "Can you express a person's being and character photographically without showing them?"
• In addition, I also recently purchased Simblet’s Anatomy for Artists, which is a photographic anatomy book that focuses on what an artist needs to know in order to understand how the human body works, rather than making one learn the anatomical name for each body part. It is very accessible, written by an artist for artists, with sumptuous and inspiring artistic photos that include tracing paper overlays which superimpose underlying bones on photos, published by Dorling-Kindersly
• Perusing books of anatomy, faces, of portraiture leads one in many directions. I am eager to experiment in several media. In addition to intaglio printmaking using acrylic plates, I have a mind to try making portraits with various stamps. Chuck Close did a self-portrait using his fingertips and a stamp pad. Sounds intriguing and a double meaning of leaving one's trace/image.
• The 4' x 4' portrait of a man pictured above that I am currently working on plays with altering proportion and extends portraiture by depicting the face with surrounding objects. One of the associated portrait objects is photographed here as modeled by my ancient hound. (Media gesso and litho-crayon on 1/4" masonite board).

Some of the Really Big Questions

Last night I was pleasantly surprised to hear on our public radio a remarkable program about emotions that exactly coincided with my recent readings about the necessity of EQ and Empathy in Daniel Pink's book, A Whole New Mind.

The Really Big Questions SoundVision's The Really Big Questions is hosted by NPR's Lynn Neary and will air on public radio stations around the country. In Atlanta on WABE, 90.1 FM. I've attached the link, you might want to give the program a listen: http://www.trbq.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=16&Itemid=43 Here is a description of the radio program: What are emotions? | Print | E-mail “In the modern world where computers are capable of calculating faster and more accurately than any person, we like to believe our emotions, not our analytic abilities, make us human." Those are the words of Boston University scholar Charles Lindholm. "Accordingly," Lindholm writes, " we say that people who are cerebral and unemotional are 'inhuman' and 'heartless.' We want our friends and lovers to be compassionate and ardent, not rational and calculating. For the same reason, our leaders never portray themselves as logically minded technocrats, but as empathetic individuals who 'feel our pain.'" But, if emotion is what makes us human, does the masking of emotion make one less human? What does it mean when a society's collective emotional response results in genocide? Are they less human, or more? NPR's Lynn Neary discusses these, and other questions with some of the greatest thinkers of our time. What are emotions and how do they shape our worldview?

Artistic Inspirations

1.) Reflect on your individual creative process. What are the sources or influences on the art that you produce? What is the goal or purpose of your art, and why do you produce it? What are the unique cognitive skills that you employ, and how do they help you achieve your creative goal? Cite specific examples and provide clear evidence for your statements.

Starting this class work has been described by one of my colleagues as a journey, one entered with some trepidation and shaky self-esteem. I haven’t taken an academic class in a long while and I wonder if I can keep-up with the assignments and master new technology like weblogs. Everyone needs to figure out their own path. I'm still on my own personal journey as an art teacher. It’s been 7 years now, in 5 public schools and I am struggling with many issues such as providing students authentic art experiences while trying to integrate my teaching into the rest of the school’s curriculum. I very much want to grow as a teacher and as an artist, making a significant contribution to my students’ lives through the visual arts, giving them opportunities to learn about themselves and the world around them. Additionally, helping them envision their futures with the valuable insights the arts can bring.
The inspiration of much of the art that I have created or envision creating is portraiture. I am fascinated by faces and the unique personality that they reflect. A Christmas gift to my “Artist-Self” was the book, The Artist’s Complete Guide to DRAWING THE HEAD, by William Maughan, (whose website is: www.EaselPainter.com). Note his "Books" tab and the cover of his publication to give you some idea of his skills. I am inspired by such mastery of describing the human form through chiaroscuro drawing.
Although I have not specifically studied portraiture, I am drawn to the wonderful, magical effect when an artist succeeds in making a believable representation of a person, capturing something of their essence, spirit, and soul. Success in the work comes from great skill and deep seeing. Previously, I have studied Life Drawing in several courses with the legendary Atlanta figurative and fantasy draughtsman and printmaker, Ben Smith, (whose website is: www.BenSmithArt.com)*. I have been fortunate to be a collector of some of his work through the generosity of my wife’s cousin, the late Judith Alexander. Studying his work yields fresh insights and delights. His style mixes an awesome technique in all manner of media with a fertile, playful, and fantastical imagination. An example is his “Mechanical Fortune-teller” (2004), which can be found on his "New Woodblock Prints" page.
My favorite personal artwork reflects these influences, focusing on the human form. It also incorporates my fascination with puppetry, dance, masks, and the circus arts. Serendipitously, I have found a portrait painting art class at the Chastain Art Center that begins January 14th. Knowing that a class is a necessary discipline for my creating art, even though I teach art as a job, I have looked around for art classes to enroll in since October. What I found should be a good adjunct to this a.r.t.s.APS Professional Development course. I anticipate that dedicating 3-4 hours of studio time each Thursday evening would help me materialize my fascination with faces. The goal is to help me surpass myself, and to liberate my creativity, so I can help students in doing the same themselves. Painting portraits will be a stretch for me, since I have little experience. The course’s instructor is Marie Matthews, a notable Georgia watercolorist, and long-time student of Ben Smith. Her course is, “Painting Heads in Any Medium”. The Course Description: “Explore the excitement and challenge of drawing and painting the head in the medium of your choice. Working from a live model, participants will learn specific techniques for rendering heads and faces that are solid, convincing, and alive. The course will begin with rendering the head in black and white, and color will be introduced as the quarter progresses. This course will include a combination of exercises and live demonstrations. Drawing experience is a prerequisite for this intermediate level course.” Her website is: http://mmatthews.com/. An example of her work is “Edward” (2005) on her "Portraits" page.
So…I enter this New Year, this new decade, resolved to learn, practice, and produce art. The plans and experiences proposed in the months ahead will demand no less than a serious commitment to these goals.

First Reflections 11/14/09

1.) Reflect on your individual creative process. What are the sources or influences on the art that you produce? What is the goal or purpose of your art, and why do you produce it? What are the unique cognitive skills that you employ, and how do they help you achieve your creative goal? Cite specific examples and provide clear evidence for your statements.

2.) Reflect on your personal aesthetics. What are the sources or influences on your own aesthetic thought? What are the cognitive and affective strategies that you personally use to understand a work of music, art, or performance at the deepest possible level? How do you make meaning by aesthetically engaging a work of art, music, or performance? Cite specific examples that provide clear evidence for your statements.

Stimulated and inspired by my cohort’s sharing their artwork, I have a mind swimming with Ideas and a clarity of how I need to go home and pull out and photograph all of my work past and present. Presently most of the work, really near 100% is the daily drawing I do for my elementary school art students.

However, I love I come by “making” honestly since both of my parents were makers. My dad with wood, through furniture making, and my mother through her painting of objects, primarily antiques. They were recyclers, re-makers, returners-to-usefulness-artisans. There was not a strict division of art nor craft—they just worked with care on anything that was their current project. There was a great appreciation for the finely crafted object, of wood, basketry, painted furniture, glass, painted metal, ceramic…whatever material, a deep appreciation for the care and patience obvious within the created thing.