Following the Light

Speaking for this artist, I always have someone, something challenging me. For the last 5 years I have been chasing the “light”. A good friend and mentor of mine, Sue Bown suggested that I study under Kim English. If you are not familiar with his work, I suggest that you google him. He is an accomplished artist of “the light”. I found a workshop that he was presenting up in Colorado at Marty Brens “Art in the Mountains”. That workshop (6 intensive days)  was well worth the cost and effort. I was exhausted, but came away from Pueblo with a years’ worth of lessons to absorb. Most recently I have been taking an on-line course with Colley Whisson, an Australian Artist from the Tuscan Art Academy.

Over the past 50 years, I have slowly grown and evolved.  I like so many, am currently a devotee of Jacquin Sorrolla, John Singer Sargent and Anders Zorn.   They are the “light’ Masters.

When I went to Sam Houston to study art back in the 60s I was schooled in the Impressionists’ and Post Impressionists’ style. I couldn’t get enough of Van Gogh, Matisse & Monet. Later I discovered the female greats of that era: Berthe Morisot & Mary Cassatt. I would like to give my art instructors the benefit of the doubt that they weren’t being chauvinists, but I fear that was indeed the case. Never-the-less I was totally immersed in the impressionist and post impressionist study of light, plein air painting, & use of color. Their work was considered outrageous, sloppy, not suitable for any decent gallery or salon of the time. Maybe that is why I was so attracted to them. I was hooked though, and for the next 40 years, I emulated their style. I went to museums, bought books featuring their works, and when I talked of art, I use one of them as an example.

My current challenge is to drag my interpretation of the impressionists and post impressionists into my interpretation of the real masters of the “light” Sorrolla, Zorn & Sargent. I am just as excited about the works of Sorrolla, Zorn & Sargent as I was  about Van Gogh, Matisse & Monet.

When I sit down and look at my work, I try to channel the critical eye of one of these masters. What would they have done?  How would they have handled that light, that color, that composition?

I hope that you enjoy this journey with me.

Susan