Paul Brandwein at Axom
South Avenue, Rochester, New York
In the South Wedge, I relaxed on a sofa at Axom to listen to Paul Brandwein speak about the development of his art. There was a fine group of some of his small abstract paintings on view at the time I visited in early November. The people who attended the talk had questions to ask and we found out a lot about how his art stems from experiments he made over many years working with ceramics to create attractive surface textures. During his talk, Paul passed around some sample sheets that looked like leopard spots on paper.
How did he get those spots to show up like that? Maybe a little alcohol in the acrylic paint to disperse the pigment; then let it all dry.. Then, where did he get his ideas for these paintings? Well, we got to look through pages of his sketchbooks, and there we could see the development of forms - and all they would need is some colors to make them more distinctive! Some of the forms might remind one of a certain cactus or maybe a sea creature!
I really enjoy hearing the artist talk about the work we see in the gallery. There are many things we can learn about a process which normally goes on in the studio and which might take years to develop.
Later in November at The Memorial Art Gallery I went to see the new exhibition of paintings on loan from the Worcester Art Museum, which I will write about later. On the day I visited the MAG, I went into the Auditorium to hear my friend Jim Mott give his talk about his devotion to painting the scenes outdoors that he finds in his many expeditions around the country.
Jim Mott being interviewed at
The Memorial Art Gallery
I wrote about Jim Mott's Itinerant Artist Project for American Artist Magazine almost twenty years ago.
He would say that he could travel around the country and make small scale paintings of scenes and then a few days later move on to a new spot. His itinerary would include overnight stays with people he had just met and as a way of saying thank you, he would make a small painting for them in exchange for his overnight stay at their home.
At the Memorial Art Gallery, we got to look through samples from his many years painting scenes from the places he visited. Jim is a big fan of nature, and especially birds! I imagine he has quite a life list!
He mentioned at his talk at MAG, that he had a very deep interest in bird watching and he used my father's illustrations from his guide book, "Birds of North America" that Golden Books published so many years ago! I actually worked on revisions to that book with my Dad, back in the 1970s...
Since this blog post is about artists talking, I need to mention that an online magazine has just published an interview with me in their digital magazine called: Magnate View. You can read about a bit of my background in this piece, so here is a link: https://magnateview.com/a-lifelong-journey-in-art-education-and-innovation-an-interview-with-alan-singer-a-renowned-professor-from-the-rochester-institute-of-technology/
