The picturesque landscape paintings of Andrew Wyeth and Hale Johnson

Andrew Wyeth, Christina's World, tempera, 1948. Museum of Modern Art.

Andrew Wyeth (1917- 2009) is one of America's greatest Realist painters.  He is most well known for his painting Christina's World.  The woman in the painting is his neighbor who was crippled by polio.  Wyeth was inspired to paint this scene when he saw her one day crawling across an open field. 

Christina's World has always been a very moving piece for me.  The painting captures a gamut of human emotions, from isolation to courage and frustration to hope.  It's a beautiful and realistic painting with a beautiful and very real message of life that resonates with viewers even today. 

I love the attention to details in Wyeth's paintings, so I am naturally drawn to the paintings of contemporary artist Hale Johnson.  There are several striking similarities between the works of Wyeth and Johnson.  In addition to being Realists, both artists feature the rural landscape of New England in their paintings and primarily use a neutral color palette.  I am quite fond of this painting by Hale Johnson:

Hale Johnson, Bucks County Homestead.  The Harrison Gallery.

Here is a comparative look at a few of their works.

Wyeth, Long Limb.

Johnson, Yorkshire Dales

 

Wyeth, Weatherside

Johnson, South Thomaston Farm

The paintings of Wyeth and Johnson have a quality of timelessness.  Without clues of modern day life, it's unclear if the viewer is looking at the present or the past.  Although most of the paintings shown above were created in current times, the muted colors and fine details in the art works resemble the features of vintage photographs.  This connection gives the paintings a sense of historical relevance.

Back to film basics

Last year I bought a Canon A-1 on Craigslist.  After shooting mostly digital photography for two years, I was longing to go back to film.

The A-1 is one of the classic SLR cameras that photography classes still use even today.  When I shoot with it, I definitely feel like I'm using a machine whereas my digital camera is more like a computer. I decided to go with the A-1 because of the older mount system.  I figured I could collect more lenses for a lot less than the current system.  

Although digital photography is convenient, I appreciate the film shooting experience more.  There are no "cancel" buttons and fancy focus screens to aid the artist.  And the images are not "instant," which teaches the photographer the virtue of patience. 

I also love film because I still enjoy using a darkroom.  There's something so exciting about seeing an image show up in the developer. 
In our current home, I haven't been able to setup my darkroom equipment, but this is a goal of mine in the next couple of months.  I look forward to showcasing some of my custom prints in the near future!

A tribute to Maurice Sendak

Many years ago, I was in a kid's store and saw an old poster sitting on the floor with a clearance sticker.  It was In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak.  I have always been a fan of Sendak's illustrative works, so I counted it as fate that I came across the poster.  I took it home that day, and it's been hanging on our walls ever since.

With the release of the movie, Where the Wild Things Are, there has been a renewed appreciation of Sendak's award-winning works.  The website Terrible Yellow Eyes, for example, features art inspired by Sendak's book Where the Wild Things Are. There are nearly 200 works of art from artists around the globe in the Terrible Yellow Eyes collection.  Below is a sampling of some of the pieces on the site. 

Ana Glavan

Miki Sato

Allie Biondi

Lars Henkel

Jayme McGowan

Modern portrait paintings by Katherine Chiu

Illustration is all the rage in the art world right now.  Some of the more popular art shops on Etsy belong to those who are illustrators.  Just recently, I came across the illustrative works of L.A. artist Katherine Chiu.  I love how she combines portraiture with landscape elements in her paintings.  Using soft and playful colors, viewers are drawn into a world that teeters between fantasy and reality.

Most of Chiu's recent works are portrait paintings. You can see a gallery of her art, including custom family portraits, on her website.  Chiu's paintings are also on display at Black Maria Gallery and Nucleus Gallery.  I really like the painting shown above called Base Camp.  It's a 5" x 7" acrylic painting on wood.  The muted color palette and blended brush strokes create such a dream-like forest scene. 

Three new drawings this week

The past couple of weeks have been pretty hectic with the holidays and a few photo shoots.  I've managed to spend some time at my drafting table though and work on some drawings.  I really enjoy working in pen, ink, and marker, but I'm determined to get back to working on larger scale paintings soon.  I'm not one to make New Year resolutions, but I guess you can say it's one of my goals for this year.

Earth Embryo

Fountain

Love Happens

Celebrating the tradition of turning a year older on New Year's Day

Every New Year's Day, my family gets together and eats dduk guk (rice cake soup).  It is believed that by eating one bowl of the soup on the first day of the new year, a year of life is gained.

Dduk guk is one of my favorite Korean soups.  It is definitely comfort food for me.  If you're wondering what the dark, greenish ingredient is in the soup, it's laver (seaweed).  Yum!

Another tradition that we celebrate on New Year's is bowing to parents and elders. Girls get dressed in traditional Korean garbs called hanboks.  The dresses tend to be quite colorful and ornate, and I've never seen two alike in our family.

As children bow to their elders (basically anyone older than them) and give well wishes for the new year, the family members in return reward them with money.  It's a tradition that the young and old look forward to in our family. 

The delicate art of paper cutouts

Seeing that I can barely cut in a straight line with scissors, I'm awed by the craftsmanship of these artists.  I love how the intricacy of paper cutouts can resemble lace- so beautiful!

Bovey Lee, Atomic Jellyfish

Peter Callesen, The Short Distance Between Time and Shadow

Chris Natrop, Landscape Blossom Pop

Nikki McClure, Culture

Artist Liz Saintsing gives vintage accessories new life

I've been a big fan of Liz Saintsing's reclaimed vintage accessory line for the past couple of years.  Based in San Francisco, Liz designs and screenprints images of birds, insects, sea creatures, and flora on vintage bags, belts, and gloves.

Her products are functional works of art.   The attention to detail in each screenprinted design is worth noting, and so is the impeccable condition of the vintage items. Currently, she's working on transferring her images onto lampshades and bedding.  I can't wait to see her new designs!