Margret E Short Fine Arts Blog

Dutch Treats

Well, the catalogue for the Dutch Exhibit arrived from Dayton yesterday, and it is splendid! There are in total 90 works of art of which only a dozen or so are not paintings. In 1992 I visited the Rijksmuseum, but I must say many pieces shown here are unfamiliar. Too many years have passed since viewing them. There will be many choices for selecting the final 10, and it will be difficult because they are all beautiful. A breathtaking portrait of Saskia is already tempting. The range of color in the paintings is stunning, so opportunities are endless for full exploration in this area.

One of the best features of a book like this is the bibliography. This one is a wealth of resources. Listed is: Framing in the Golden Age: Picture and Frame in 17th Century Holland. I already found it on Amazon but it costs $175.00...whew!...I'll have to think about this one. But I will need decide on framing soon. Fortunately, several of the listed books are in my personal library.

The supplies for my demo fit into two boxes; one for the painting materials and one for the three paintings. They will have to go out priority mail this afternoon in order to arrive in Dayton in a timely manner. And now for inventory of dry pigments. There are many in my supplies but I must see which are suitable for this project.

"The Golden Age"

The Golden Age, 12 x12 oil on linen.

The Golden Age Completed

The Golden Age, 12 by 12, oil on linen. Well, here is the final lap....done...ready to frame and ship to Dayton. As you can see from this image, the painting morphed slightly from the first stage of the composition shown in the first 2 canvases. The background looked a little too vacant so I added a shiny brass Turkish teapot and the lace doily changed shape a little. Shiny things and lace are maybe my 2 favorite subjects to paint.

My liason at the Dayton Museum has been extrememly helpful and has offered to provide many of the supplies I will need for my demo; easels, tables, turps and other things not allowed on airplanes. When I talked to her Friday afternoon, she raved about the Dutch exhibit which officially begins today. Check out the information on their web site, www.daytonartinstitute.org.

Another terrific person who has helped me plan this journal is Alyson Stanfield from www.artbizcoach.com. I am very grateful that I engaged her services as a career coach in late July. She is a wealth of ideas and has given me tips heretofore untried.

And now...on to my packing.

More Grisaille Magic

Grisaille Magic

This project is taking on a life of its own. Good progress today! After a visit to Lawrence Gallery, they have enthusiastically agreed to show my body of work as an exhibit next May along with the opening of the Dutch Exhibit at the Portland Museum.

Also, I have worked out the logistics of the demo in Dayton. To expedite matters I remembered a favorite painting I did several months ago. I decided to use this older painting as a base for the composition of the new demo. My plan is: do 3 paintings, same size, same subject. Leave the first one in a rough lay-in grisaille (shades of gray), take the second one to a middle range of completion, and totally finish the third.

The third one will be framed and on display while I work on the second during the demo. I will have to ship all the paintings ahead along with my paint supplies because of airline restrictions...but I will worry about that later. On to number 3.

Chiaroscuro...Lights and Darks

Throughout this past spring and summer I began contacting the Dayton Art Institute to inquire about dates, catalogues, and accomodations. To my delight, not only am I going to Dayton to preview the Rijksmuseum Exhibit, but I have been invited to do a presentation to demonstrate my style of painting which is the Dutch technique of chiaroscuro. My web site: www.margretshort.com will illustrate the dramatic counterbalance of light and dark which is used to convey both mystery and drama. We leave for Dayton next month, but first I must think of a good way to present a demonstration that will clearly show how I work on a painting and how it progresses. Maybe three or four stages on different canvases will work!

Discriminating Palette

Several months ago when I first learned about this Dutch exhibit, my first thought was "how splendid that it is coming to the United States"......then, I thought, "3 cities?".......AND "Portland is one of them!!!" I will be able to go many times during the 3 months of the exhibit because Portland is where I live. As time went on I began to think about it in a different way. Why not really take advantage of these masterpieces and do something completely Out of the Paintbox!

At heart I am nothing but a Mad Scientist, madly cooking up smelly concoctions, or wildly smooshing dry pigment and linseed oil into paint. So my plan.....soon to be project....became a perfect way to spend a winter.

In a nutshell, my project has become this. I propose to examine the Dutch masterpieces, select 10 of the ones I like best, then research each individual painting's color palette. I will be able to determine fairly closely what pigments were used because of what was available during the 17th Century. Then comes the real work. Over this next winter, my plan is to paint 10 paintings in my personal style using my subject matter, based on the color palettes of these works of art from the Rijksmuseum. And I must use only the pigments (which I will hand grind) that were available at that time. A daunting challenge. First, I must go to Dayton where the exhibit begins September 24th.