Triad of Influence
Grateful for a Triad of Influence
For the last couple of years, I have been keenly aware and super appreciative of what I now think of as a Triad of Influence.
For about two and a half years I have been working almost exclusively in abstraction with an oil painting medium I have come to love like no other. I am known to many as a materials junky, and I know that I will use other media in my day, but there is something about cold wax/mixed media and its endless willingness to be coerced into all kinds of surfaces and textures that keeps me coming back. There have been three distinct, but also very interrelated, influences on the paintings I find myself making today. This triad of influence includes two great painters and teachers, the phenomenon of facebook and my trips to Italy in the summer. I dedicate this humble gesture of gratitude to all of these great pleasures in my life!
Through an interesting convergence of events, I met two artists a couple of years ago who to this day continue to inspire me.
I met Tad Spurgeon via the wonders of the web in the fall of 2009. We have stayed connected all this time in myriad ways including an endless trail of (mostly) art related emails back and forth, me editing the very first drafts of his now legendary book on materials – called the Living Craft: A Painter’s Process, and his stellar dedication to researching and experimenting with and then sharing his deep passion for making materials. Tad has become a once in a lifetime type of connection with a fellow painter, and I owe a lot to his perseverance with not only his depth of knowledge about painting and its materials but also his amazing willingness to share his findings with other artists. For a true treasure trove of painting information, check out his fantastic website that is a work of art in itself.
Here is the testimonial I wrote about Tad’s book.
“I am eternally grateful to the alignment of the stars leading me to Tad Spurgeon. I have spent decades painting and teaching art at the university level. Tad’s intellectual depth, sprightly wit, inspired research, and generosity of spirit in sharing his knowledge with fellow painters has greatly enhanced my artistic processes like a fortuitous gift from the muses. ‘The Living Craft’ offers a unique and brilliant treatise on everything imaginable related to oil painting. It is a modern day masterpiece and an absolute must read for an integrated studio practice that embraces a deep and personal connection to materials and making.”
I met Rebecca Crowell in 2011 when I drove to Osseo to take her famous and much loved cold wax workshop in a spacious studio at the end of an icy spring. She was another wonderful catalyst that greatly changed my life! I had been dabbling off and on in (hot wax) encaustic for a number of years. Although my background was way more in the realm of painterly realism (with some little glimmers of my love of abstraction to come…) I did work abstractly when making encaustic paintings. At least in my hands, encaustic wanted to be abstract and I let it have its way. So, my trek towards more abstract work had begun years back, but somehow meeting Rebecca completely accelerated that excursion in ways I would have never imagined! Just like Tad, Rebecca embodies the best of what I call ‘generosity of spirit’ in all realms and I totally treasure our friendship. Rebecca has quite the following and an expansive web presence and if you are not already familiar with this acclaimed master of cold wax, you will find tons of information written by and about Rebecca on materials and other fascinating artistic content at these websites:
http://rebeccacrowellart.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaCrowell.Art
Secondly, I can say, without any reservation, and endless daily concrete examples of a virtual realm impacting the physical world, that facebook has also changed my life! I absolutely love connecting with fellow artists from all over the world everyday. My love of research and obsessive nature has linked into this digital space with a passion I would have never dreamed possible. This year alone, facebook has directly opened doors to new terrain for me having: three group drawing shows in Ireland (and one coming in Malaysia, and then Berlin in fall), an exhibition with twenty nine other artists in New York City, two new wonderful galleries in the south (Thomas Deans Fine Art in Atlanta and Atelier Gallery in Charleston), painting sales, and endless inspirational hours of researching amazing art being made all over the planet. I love that for many of us, there is merely a few keyboard clicks between what’s being made in our studios and happening in our lives and what is posted on our facebook walls. I greatly appreciate the new and ongoing friendships, artistic connections, virtual studio visits, art opportunities, the abundant stream of heartfelt comments and insightful feedback. I thank you All!
https://www.facebook.com/allison.b.cooke
Lastly, but perhaps with the most visceral and conceptual resonance impacting my days in the studio, I want acknowledge how grateful I am to the universe (and everyone involved) going back to Florence to teach and travel every summer. What an artistic adventure that has changed my life and art in endless ways!
This year marks the seventh in a row teaching at the world-class Santa Reparta International School of Art! I adore the people that run this school and its like returning to beloved family every summer.
Here is an excerpt from a recent artist statement about the influence of Italy on my work:
Traces and vestiges that reveal the constancy of change fascinate me. The original ideas for my abstract paintings might come from faded frescoes, worn walls, gestural marks, or the random patinas that evolve as a myriad of elements alter surfaces. There is an endless story embedded in residual fragments that commemorate the passage of time. I want to suggest evocative dreamlike spaces that hold feeling and a sense of history.
Everyday, I experience an abundant palimpsest of imagery. In the span of one day, I see remnants of color in the architecture, decorative patterns, figurative elements, and sun parched graffiti sprawled walls juxtaposed with world-class art treasures. These experiences, intertwined with memory and invention, continue to feed my studio processes when I return home. My paintings celebrate the interplay of past and present, imagined and tangible, that which is lost and what remains.
There are, of course, endless other people and events that weave together the artistic life that I feel so blessed to be living (my amazing husband Bobby, dear family, other treasured friends and two wonderful cats, Fleece and Lilly, to name a few…) But this particular post is dedicated to my Triad of Influence, and to all of you that are part of this ever-expanding sphere! For you, I am eternally grateful!