Gelena Pavlenko: Capturing Floral Beauty

 

So many friends are proudly posting photos of their flowers that it seemed a perfect art subject for June "...bustin' out all over." (Thank you, Rodgers & Hammerstein) This meant finding an artist whose paintings bring a sense of awe in capturing flowers in all their glory. The perfect artist is Gelena Pavlenko (1969-)

 

 

Pavlenko was born in Kyiv,Ukraine and attended the Ukrainian Art Academy. Her inspiration for becoming an artist was nurtured by the beauty she saw in nature. 

Using oil paints on canvas, she creates flowers at the height of their glory; capturing a permanent moment in time for all to enjoy. 

 

 

Pavlenko's art is in the permanent collection of several museums, including New York, where she now resides with her husband and son. 

 

 

While this blog limits her works to the subject of flowers, she also paints beautiful landscapes and what she categorizes as "Spiritual" (allegorical) paintings.

Fidelia Bridges: Once Famous Pre-Raphaelite Painter

 

 

 

In this hectic holiday time, it's good to feel a peaceful calm by looking at the small beauties of nature - especially when the eye can fall on what is (unfortunately) referred to as "negative space." It gives the eyes and the mind a sense of well being. Such an artist, who recreated that environment in her paintings was Fidelia Bridges (1834-1923).

 

 

Once again, we rediscover a woman artist who was renown in her time and who made a living at her art, but whose name has almost disappeared in our time. 

 

 If it wasn't for her art, her life would be a mirror of life for women as written by Jane Austen. She and her 3 siblings were orphaned by the loss of both parents. Her oldest sibling, Eliza, supported the other three by working as a school teacher - one of the few professions considered respectable for women.

 

 

 

Fidelia was sickly and spent time in her room drawing. When she was well enough to find work, she was a nanny to a wealthy family. Meanwhile, she pursued her growing interest in oil paintings. 

 

Through her employer, she met a renown painter of pre-Raphaelite nature art. His style not only influenced Bridges, but he sold some of her paintings to his patrons.It was the recognition from this patron of her art that led to support from her employer into creating a studio in the top floor of their house.They even provided the funds to send her to Italy for further training. 

 

 

By age 34, her reputation as a specialist nature painter led to membership in the American Watercolor Society - the first woman to be invited to join. Her circle of patrons included Mark Twain.

In later years, she lived in a hillside cottage overlooking meadows and a stream. There, she continued to paint, but rarely exhibit, enjoying her quiet rural setting and using the scenery for inspiration. (She was named in the book titled: "Notable American Women: 1607-1950") 

 

Édouard Cortès:The Parisian Poet of Painting

Édouard Cortès (1882-1969) was a post-Impressionist painter. Exhibiting just after the Impressionists, the public and art critics were more accepting of this form of painting. After his graduation from the École des Beaux-Artsin Paris, Cortès received recognition at his first exhibition. However, that's not to say that life was  a series of artistic accolades for Cortès.

You see, Cortès' was a pacifist. As with the Impressionist who went to jail or fled for their criticism of the industrial system, Cortès felt the cold grasp of World War I. Even though he was 32 years old and had a family, he was compelled to fight in the infantry. He was injured in battle, but refused the highest French recognition -

Légion d'Honneur.

This man of peace wanted nothing more than to paint the beautiful scenes around him. His most famous and desirable paintings are of Paris. He painted Paris in all seasons. With the exception of the transportation and the fashion, these still show Paris in all its glory. Enjoy this exceptional painter and Paris. (click on image to enlarge)

Thinking 2012...

Have you heard the expression, "Time seems to go faster as you get older?" Yeah, me, too. I could scarcely imagine that 2012 was over and what had I accomplished? What did I learn? How did it go?

BLOG: My first art blog was in April, 2009. Since then, 172 pages have been posted and those pages have been viewed over 94,000 times. According to Google, the top 3 viewed were:
(1) "Magritte: Son of Man" (archive: March, 2012) with 5,450 views,
(2) "Do-Ho Suh: Part 2" (Oct., 2010), 3560 views - although I have a personal preference for "Do-Ho Suh: The Coat" (May, 2010)
 (3) "Monsieur Monet" (June, 2010) with 3151 views.

Interesting that Magritte gained so many viewers in less than one year. I wonder if he's required reading in art classes.

EXHIBITS: "Progressions" was exhibited twice during the year and various individual pieces were included in other shows.

ART: In the "Access: Greek Isles" 4 new pieces were added - there are now 16 in the series.One piece is almost finished and 4 more are in progress. (You can see the finished works at: http://www.r-atencio.com/gallery/landscapes/access_greece.html

For the "Walkers, Waders and Wondrous" (birds) series, I held a contest to name a piece made with ceramic tiles. The winning title chosen by a panel of interested friends was: "Wind Dancer."

A little Parula was completed for a commission. (All of the finished birds can be seen at: http://www.r-atencio.com/gallery/birds/waders.html

I took an art workshop from Rogene Manas on paper clay. From it, I made a delightful cat/bird birthday gift for a friend.

My confidence to work with paper clay on canvas increased with 9 small birds. The sculpting is finished and I'll paint them as soon as they're dry enough. (On the right is a large clay tile of another bird in progress).

ANNEX:  "Atencio Annex" was named to distinguish items made for reproductions of fine art designs. To the mix of glass cutting boards/trays, mugs, recipe markers, and note cards, there are 4 new coaster designs. You can view all on Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/AtencioAnnex

This posting has been a fun exercise. Sometimes I think that I should work faster and create more, but this look back makes me feel that everything is happening just as it should. Try this exercise and you, too, might be happily surprised. Oh, and let me know what you discovered. Happy New Year! R. Atencio

Why Not Just Take a Photo?

Before photography, hyperrealism was important because people wanted records of events, possessions, and ceremonies.There was only one way to accomplish that goal - hire an artist. (17th Century Flemish paintings)

Since photography came into its own in the late 1800s, artists were free to paint in more abstract manners. The movement that comes to mind as exemplifying this freedom was Impressionism.

Yet, today, there are certain artists who paint works that are referred to as "photorealism." They are so technically masterful that often the question arises, "Is that a photo or a painting?"

There have been several recent articles written about visual artists who paint photorealistically (hyperrealism). The thrust of these articles is to ask the question, "What's the point? "

Those who disagree that photography has replaced hyperrealistic painting insist that a photograph cannot capture what the hand of a painter can do - greater depth of field, understanding of nature, combinations of real and imagined.

Below are the works of three well-known photorealistic painters. The question is: Where do you think? Would it be just as well to take a photo? (click on image to enlarge)
Roberto Bernardi: (Oils)

Steve Mills: (Oils)

Eric Christensen: (Watercolor)

(He also has a video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?disv=RNKk9G-Yzjk)

Sargent: The Painter Who Did It ALL

When I first visited the museum's exhibit of John Singer Sargent's (1856-1925) works, I anticipated the works would be excellent Edwardian-era portraits of the pretty (and rich) people. What really happened bowled me over so completely I had to come back for a second tour of the exhibit. I couldn't get enough of Sargent's body of work.

Sargent had mastery of all the paint media of his time - oil, watercolor, pencil and charcoal. He was also the master of any subject - people, architecture, animals, seascapes and landscapes. His best known art showed only a little of what he accomplished in his life: 900 oil paintings and over 2000 water colors, a countless number of charcoals and many murals.

Art was such a compulsion for him that while he was visiting and camping in America he painted finished water color paintings of the camp and surroundings!

Here are a few of his watercolor paintings:(click images to enlarge)





Sargent's reputation as a formal portraitist doesn't consider works such as these:






Sargent grew tired of the time it took to complete a formal oil portrait and chose to work in charcoal.





So, what do you think? Did you already know about Sargent's vast talent?