ARTISTS STATEMENT

1/20/2007

MMy first drawings were copies of cartoon characters. Early on, as early as I remember, I would plant myself in our living room, in front of our television, and reproduce the on-screen antics with pencil and pad. I sketched everything that caught my eye, everything from the chrome on the family car to the California mountains. “It is good,” writes Pablo Neruda, “at certain hours of the day and night, to look closely at the world of objects at rest.” But for me like Neruda, just looking was not enough. The world of everyday objects was more than a heap of things—every object was a prospective subject, and wherever there were teapots or chairs or fire hydrants, there was my pencil, busy on the page.

Growing up in Southern California exposed me to more than everyday objects, it exposed me to the beauties of the natural world—blue mountains, rolling hills, ocean whitecaps, buds of spring—and I savored them all. I remember wandering into an orange grove. The oranges were bursting with color, each round but imperfect, imperfect but unique, all awaiting their pick. I wanted to squeeze them, and to paint them, because I knew my charcoals and pastels would no longer suffice. Shapes of oranges and pears, raindrops splashing in street puddles, light shining through windows and reflecting on mirrors, all these marvels provoked me to look for a more fitting medium, and I found it in oil paints: smooth, velvety and versatile.

I resolved to master oils. Before I could afford classes, I visited local galleries, getting as close as I could to detect different methods of application. I took some classes here and there at nearby colleges, paying the bills by modeling and commercial acting. But I wanted more paint in my life, and more sights to paint, so I scrimped and saved and ventured to France with a group of unknown artists. “Any place covered, any sheltered room,” writes Michelangelo, “Whatever any solid circumscribes, / Preserves the night as long as day’s alive, / Against the sun playing its glittering game.” In any place covered, any sheltered room, wherever the sun was playing its glittering game, I would drop my easel and paint till sundown. I virtually lived at the Louvre, that is, until I moved on to England to meet more artists, learn from them, and take in the street scenes; then to Holland, to study the Dutch masters. I returned to the States and kept busy, applying all I had learned abroad. I then became a mother, a job I cherish, even above painting. Raising two boys will slow anybody’s brushes, and now that they are older, I’m back to painting—full time.

My paintings are currently shown at Galerie Gabrie in Pasadena, California, Twinhouse Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia and Joseph Gierek Fine Art in Tulsa,Oklahoma. I will be in a museum show this year and some of my work is published by Winn Devon, and sold worldwide.

Artists I follow are Mark Lague, Laura Robb, and Karen Sharer. I love Cassat, Sargeant, and Luttichuys. My loving husband David is a true inspiration. I’ve always believed that one who has been gifted should utilize her gifts to their fullest potential, those gifts that the Creator has so generously bestowed. As we explore art, we give back a mere reflection of what we have received, and I do so daily with a grateful brush.

Connie Bryson

BE YOURSELF

11/02/06

As an artist I can say I am happy painting what I paint. For years I, like many others, wanted to always please everyone. There is nothing wrong with that in most cases, but it can significantly effect your career as an artist.

Take oil painter, Howard Rogers, who seems to be in his element with art of cowboys and horses. He knows what he is good at and continues down that road. I’m certain that he loves his work and wouldn’t want to get too far off the path of his style of painting.

Robert Harper does landscapes. He is very traditional so if we saw an oil painting he painted of abstract we wouldn’t recognize it as his work. Staying with one style and format is a good thing for many, especially if you do well with that style. But, it would be great to see artists experimenting, at least for fun, with other subject matters and mediums. For instance you may paint only with oils, but underneath all that talent is another flair for pencil or pastel. You may only draw with pencil or pen and ink and yet your work could find a whole new look with oil as you loosen up your detail and flow with the paint.

The artist, Ryan Wurmser, is exceptionally good with portraits. He has a way of portraying people’s very thoughts on canvas. Perhaps he does many other subjects as well. I would love to see a painting of a street full of taxis or stacked apples by Ryan Wurmser.

I almost enjoy viewing Karen Scharer’s ‘High Stakes’ as much as I do Julene Baker’s ‘Happy Together’. Here are totally different styles both exploding with colors and beauty. Karen chose fall colors with various greens and similar brush strokes to make a pleasant image. Julene chose bright colors to portray Iris’s with a tantalizing burst of sunlight showing through. Both artists show beauty and comfort in two completely different styles.

When I first started drawing and painting it was with pencil, pastel and acrylic mediums. I couldn’t imagine painting with oils. Now, I paint only with oils, but remind myself to play around with different mediums for fun. Every time an artist changes their theme a little no doubt they come back as a stronger artist. Variations add to an artist’s portfolio.

Oil painter, Stavast, does extreme detail. The painting, “And Now Light Dances”, is truly a work of art. But, I would guess that this artist gets looser with art at times and goes back to the detail.

There are many artists who paint still life and landscapes. I would think they like to go back and forth for variety. It would be interesting to go into artist’s homes and see what is on their walls. I remember knowing an artist who painted horses. When I visited her home their was only abstract (painted by her) on her walls. I asked her why she never submitted those works. Her answer was that she was well known for her horses and painted the abstract for pleasure. That was a good answer and I admired her for that.

I love the works of Solano. His use of lights and shadows are beautiful and highlight the subject matter, which is usually Southwest motif. I love the sunlight shining on the backs of the animals and the way he creates movement in his images. It would be strange to see his next new work of a pink rose in a hand painted vase, but he probably paints other subjects for fun and growth.

Today I would like to encourage my readers to paint or collect the things you love, but to have fun with other subjects as well.

ARTISTS I LIKE

10/21/06

There are millions of artists in this world. I love to see new works by many of them. I have subscriptions to a few art magazines so that I can enjoy the artist’s styles and changes. My favorite art magazine is ‘SouthwestArt Magazine’. The articles are interesting and they choose different styles to feature monthly.

Oil paintings on canvas are my favorite medium. One of my favorite artists is Tom Swimm. He has a show starting today, October 21, 2006, at the Pacific Edge Gallery in Laguna Beach. This has also been one of my very favorite galleries in California as well.

Tom paints mostly oil on canvas. I enjoy ‘Sparkling Reflections’ which is an oil painting of three boats docked in the water. It is very simple and yet very detailed as well. He makes this image interesting by placing the boats center and the dock on the right of the canvas leaving the water on the left on it’s own and bleeding off the edges of the canvas. His composition is lovely because it leaves you complacent on the boats that are the eye catcher in the painting. I enjoy his blues of the water and the ripples. The seats and the oars are similar colors of the dock so that brings it all together.

Another painting of Tom Swimm, ‘Harbor Daybreak’, is in direct contrast to ‘Sparkling Reflections’. Tom covers the canvas all across with the background homes at the docks. This time, he has more of the water in the front of the painting with lovely reflections of the posts fading into a golden cast off the morning sunlight. This oil painting is far busier than ‘Sparkling Reflections’ with the use of several larger boats with sails and ladders which keep in the frame of the canvas. The trees behind the village homes fade in the morning mist. This painting would look beautiful in a chunky gold frame hung on a white wall in a contemporary décor.

Tom’s oil painting, ‘Lights of Laguna’, reminds me of a visit my husband and I took to Laguna a year ago. The sky had luminous clouds hanging under a deep royal blue sky. We sat on the terrace of our hotel and enjoyed the sky at sundown. The unique aspect of this painting is the contrast of the lights in the city and the car lights against the yet dim light of the sky. This painting would be great in an office because it would inspire people on Fridays to plan a get away for the weekend.

A painter that I’m sure you have heard of by now, who is becoming well known nationally is Mark Lague. His oil paintings are displayed at the ‘Waterhouse Gallery’. His work is unique because of his brush strokes. I like the way he paints in squares and blends them together to make the image come real the farther you step away from it. He is a real city lover with his oil paintings ranging from taxis in Time Square to dimly lit restaurants and sunny sidewalk cafes. I’m excited about his looseness, and yet his detail all in one image. I always look forward to seeing something new from Mark Lague.

LIGHTS, DARKS AND SHADOWS

FROM CONNIE’S CORNER

I decided that my art style is best in Still Life Realism, so this is what I studied. All of my artwork is original and from photographs that I take. I set up my still life images on a table in my back yard. I always find the morning light soft and friendly. With a pitcher of fresh lemonade on the table, I placed a knife from my kitchen and a lemon cut in half beside it. I then put a slice of lemon in the lemonade and placed a whole lemon on the lower right of the layout. With a little tweaking, I became happy with the composition. With my digital camera, I took a photo of the still life setting at an unusual angle on my tiptoes to get an exciting look.

I painted the image and found that it was the best still life I had ever done in realism. Being pleased, I then sent it to my rep’s for critiques and got all positive and complementary remarks.

From the morning light, the shadows were soft grays that blended well with the creamy yellow in the pitcher. The skylight reflected on the knife, which brought it to gentle brilliance. Some of my critiques liked the knife the best in the painting. The glass of the pitcher had many interesting reflections and yet was subtle. The way the light shone on the whole lemon took on a life of it’s own. The handle from the pitcher made it’s shadow on that lemon which emphasized the light coming through between the handle and the glass of the base of the pitcher. The lemon cut in half was unique in the way that it’s front was darker and the edges of the peel were highlighted.

I was so happy with this composition and end result of the painting that I got busy. Off to the market to get many fruits and vegetables. It was fun arranging each new setting outdoors. Using different plates and serving platters from my home, I arranged different groups of produce onto them and used different times of the day for different lighting. It was entertaining to watch the changes. The reflections of the produce and with some flowers were brilliant in the sterling, glass or plates. With some arrangements, I let the table itself be the base.

I used a crystal dish holding different types of nectarines. The shadows were amazing. They were a design of there own and very harsh. I used grays mixed with whites to pick up the exact colors. The sunrays hitting the crystal brought out greens and baby blues along with illuminations that became glowing white lights.

The thing that I am learning about realism is that it becomes very alive with outdoor lighting. I have now done four paintings with the outdoor lighting. I am going to continue to study lights, darks and shadows. This has always been something I love to paint the most.

I encourage my readers to explore various angles and daytime lighting to use in their painting. The thing that I love about painting is that we will never learn it all or master all there is to explore.