Post Graduation Doings in Boston and the North Shore

We took a couple days after graduation to relax in Artist Son's familiar surroundings, allowing us to take another step into his college life and experience. On Sunday, we attended his church in Salem,  After lunch we drove to Gloucester to drop off his belongings at his part-of-the-summer residence and visit some art galleries along the bay.

Wharf and gallery poses

We celebrated Artist Son's birthday by going into Boston to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, a beautiful residence and personal art collection which became a museum at the bequest of arts patron, Isabella Stewart Gardner.

Beautiful gardens and architecture as well as beautiful art. It was a wonderful way to spend the day.

Notice the arc of light which follows the lines of Rembrant's left shoulder, up to the tip of the feather in his cap.

This work by Raphael was my personal favorite. The upward gaze of the monk's imperfect eyes and the rich red of his robe drew me into the painting again and again.

I liked this sketch, also by Raphael, noting particularly the balance of his composition and use of reds.

Artist Son chose an Italian restaurant for his birthday dinner, and his friend and mentor joined us for the celebration. 

A delicious carrot birthday cake was prepared by his friend.

A couple of scenes from Salem's harbor, taken just before heading to the airport. We were headed to Boise where we would be reunited with Active Son and his Bride To Be, and to prepare for their upcoming wedding--these were celebratory days for our family!

Strange Encounters~Senior Exhibition

Artist Son's senior exhibition, opened two weeks before we arrived for graduation. His friend took this picture of him on the opening day. Artist's Son's exhibition included seven works in oil on canvas, and they were hung in the small gallery of the Gordon's Barrington Center for the Arts. Thankfully, the senior exhibitions were still on display when we arrived in Wenham to celebrate Artist's Son Graduation.

Before entering the gallery, we picked up a copy of Artist Son's artist Statement:

Strange Encounters

This series explores the tension between humans and animals. Wild animals wander in a typically human landscape, that of the city. I want to paint animals in city-scapes because I am struck by their wildness within a structured, contained environment. 

The animals and humans pass by each other, confront each other, and sometimes inhabit their own separate spheres. Each enters, leaves, or stands uncomfortably on the border between connected spaces.

The soldier figure appears callous, but may or may not have a capacity for empathy. This raises questions of human brutality toward the 'other', whether human or animal. When soldiers dominate a city, it is usually a sign the city is no longer safe. It's an aggressive presence, but still human.

Space and light also become  characters on this stage and contribute to the suspense. As one wanders through the maze, there is no telling who, or what, is around the corner.

Entering the gallery, I immediately felt the calmness and serenity of the space, which seemed a result of an ideal marriage of space and art. Below are the seven works which made up this exhibition.

Never Together, Always Together

Confrontation

A Lonely Shadow

Entry

Wanderer

Into the Daylight

Elephant Musing

I waited for a family member to verbalize the question that I knew someone would ask, "What does it mean?" I had approached works of art in a similar way. And based on what I had learned from discussing art with Artist Son, I anticipated his response: "What do you see?" As the mom, perhaps I saw things that other's might miss, perceived influences from Artist Son's childhood: colors, lines, and shadows common to Jordanian landscapes, the use of wild animals, which have long fascinated Artist Son, and the imaginary worlds that he created with them.

Slow looking yields further perception and the delight that comes with recognition. Narratives with themes of ambiguity, tension, and relationship began to emerge. The role of passageways. Color; immediately delightful, but why? Beautiful tints (color mixed with white) of color masterfully expressing shadows, light, and emotion. Layers.My eye is not trained enough to know how Artist Son painted all the layers of paint and glazes, but I could appreciate the exquisite result. The paintings called us to look again and again.

After viewing Artist Son's exhibition, he gave us a tour of his studio and we were treated to a behind the scenes look at how he had created his pieces.

Artist's Son's studio space

The models

Demonstrating a painting set-up

The palate

Painting set-up for Wanderer, with the green tints

Artist Son also gave us a tour of the printmaking room and explained the process that he had learned and practiced in making prints. 

A lot of yet uncollected student work was still out on the work tables, including some prints that Artist Son had made.

Looking at this print, I couldn't help but think of a book from Artist Son's childhood, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase,

What's next for Artist Son? Until we were on our way to the airport headed to Boston, that was still being decided. Though Artist Son was leaning toward taking a year off to work on his art and apply to more MFA (Master of Fine Arts) programs, he made an eleventh hour decision to accept a very good scholarship offer to study with the acclaimed Houston painter, Michael Roque Collins at Houston Baptist University this fall.

For those who are interested, here is a short (four minutes) video about Michael Collins, Artist in Residence and director of HBU's MFA Program.



And another from a Houston arts television program. The spotlight on Michael Collins and HBU happen during the first segment/first nine minutes.



 Just days after the eleventh hour decision to go directly to grad school, Artist Son received an eleventh hour offer of a scholarshiped summer artist residency program at New York Academy of Art. That was a sweet and unexpected graduation (and birthday) gift!

Artist Son is presently enjoying his residency at NYAA, creating art and soaking up beauty and inspiration from the various museums and galleries throughout the city. You can follow him on Instagram at andrewmanningart.

Artist in Residence

Life slows down in the cold month of January, like molasses, making it the perfect time to welcome Artist Son home for a visit. Fresh from a two-and-a-half week European art gallery tour, and with six weeks before his semester abroad in Italy, Artist Son settled in to read, write, and create.

Our concrete and stone home is "cool" in the winter, and during the coldest days we do most of our living in the family room. Below is Artist Son's first improvised studio space. He later expanded to my larger sewing table, which we brought in and set up next to my computer.

Artist Son spent much of his artful time exploring the process of illustration by taking story boards to sketches to finals.

(photo credit, Tayta)

Dear Husband has long wanted to improve the appearance of the grafitted school wall just opposite our home, and so Artist's Son's visit was the perfect time for him to commission a mural project.  He and Artist Son discussed possible designs, Artist Son sketched it out, and Dear Husband purchased the paint.

The before picture, taken from our drive-way: Artist Son is prepping the walls with some sanding and sweeping.

Dear Husband helped apply the base coat and paint some of the broad strokes of the design. School children stopped by regularly to watch and ask questions--and make comments, suggestions and critiques!

This was Artist Son's first mural project and he enjoyed the large scale painting, a whole body experience as he described it, and interacting with the passers-by.

We now  have a much nicer view in front of our house, and Dear Husband and Artist Son both received comments of appreciation from neighbors. Hundreds of people pass by this mural every day, and so far it has only received a few minor marks and scratches. One friend said that was a sign of respect and appreciation for Artist Son's work. We have no illusions that it will last forever but for now we are enjoying the view.

What is the Function of Art? ~and a "Music Heals Us" Project Update

This article, The Trueness of Beauty, by George Anderson, has me thinking (again) about beauty, art, and in particular about Lauren and Danny's music project planned for this summer. Anderson asks the question:

"What is the function of art?"

His answer:

"It's to heal. And such also is the function of love."

Anderson acknowledges that form and function can't be separated, however looking at the approach of art, he feels, can help us to identify what has gone wrong when art and love aren't working. 

He also asks:

"So how should we talk to each other?"

Art and love as healing, and healing in relationship with other--that's what I'm thinking about. I look forward to seeing how Lauren and Danny will have a chance to embody these ideas through their music this summer.

Project Update:  John (Active Son) has signed on as the project manager and will be accompanying Lauren and Danny to the West Bank this summer.

John had already made plans to be in Jordan this summer for an internship, and is glad to join with his sister in this project for part of the summer. I'm glad too, and I think his strengths in the areas of  logistics and service will contribute to the goals and vision of the project in a significant way. 

Danny, Lauren, and John have a little over a week to finish raising the necessary funds for their project. Many thanks to those of you who have contributed. If you haven't already, you can read more about their project on their Kickstarter page.

Fine Art~ Michelangelo Caravaggio

Before we made our trip to London's National Gallery in December, Artist Son asked his art teacher for advice as to how he should approach a gallery trip. She advised him to pick a few pieces that he especially liked, study them, and try to sketch them.

Artist Son's imagination was captured by the beautiful realism of Michelangelo Caravaggio's work, and he spent more time gazing at his Supper at Emmaus (based on Luke 24) than he did any other painting in the gallery. He began a sketch, but it was hard to work on as there was a near constant stream of viewers moving before this famous painting.

Supper at Emmaus
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
1601
The National Gallery

Does it remind you of another famous painting? DiVinci's The Last Supper perhaps? It did, me: Jesus in the center, eyes on him, breaking of bread, dramatic hand gestures. A striking difference, however, is the way in which Caravaggio's scene comes alive as he has so brilliantly captured the recognition of Christ. Here is another analysis of the painting that I enjoyed.

A short artist sketch on Caravaggio, by Artist Son

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio stands out in history as a revolutionary artist because of his uncompromising quest for truth. Caravaggio can be classified as a naturalist because he aims to present not an idealized or beautified picture of the world, but rather to depict the world as it really is. Caravaggio was not afraid of ugliness, but neither was he abrasive enough to praise it for its own sake. Instead, his intention was to faithfully copy nature , whether the viewer thought it ugly or beautiful.

Caravaggio’s works center around religious themes and events. The style with which he portrayed those holy events was without precedent and his contemporaries were often repulsed by their “unconventionality”. Yet, none of his critics’ remarks so much as moved him. He worked tirelessly to remove the barrier of time dividing the ancient events from the present and used every means he could to make the holy events come alive. He often used his friends and acquaintances, common lay-people as models. He rarely worked off sketches but preferred to work in an organic fashion – finding the shapes and forms with paint. Perhaps this method removed the stiffness or flatness of his figures and enhanced the impression of a believable three dimensional world. At any rate, this method allowed him to produce work after work in rapid succession, much quicker than many other artists. Also, instead of manipulating light to suffuse his scene with a pleasant glow as the classical painters did, he treated it with honesty, often fostering sharp contrast between light and shadow. All this he did to create dramatic representations that would arrest his viewers with their boldness and lifelike quality.

And a few more words on Caravaggio's realism, from Artist Son, lifted from a persuasive speech he gave against sentimentalism in art and using Caravaggio's painting, Doubting Thomas as an example:

Doubting Thomas

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
1602-1603
Sanssouci, Potsdam

Artists of the past can provide present day artists with examples of how this* is done. Caravaggio, a Catholic artist who lived a very dark and pained existence knew firsthand the potency of evil. His work shows that. In the painting above, the viewer is boldly confronted with a disturbing image: doubting Thomas having his finger thrust into the wound in Christ’s side. In fact, by the graphic portrayal of light, the huge proportions of the figures when compared to the frame, and the intensity and concentration in the moment, the viewer finds himself a part of the scene. We cringe when we look at Thomas’ finger sticking into Christ’s side. We feel the flesh. What’s more, we can’t ignore it because Christ is firmly clasping our wrist and leading our finger into his side. This is a painting that reveals the unveiled effects of sin.

*Thesis: Knowing that “sentimentalism resents evil instead of fighting it” (Douglas Wilson) the church should make an effort to encourage art that demonstrates evil as real and dangerous, and must be actively fought against, not ignored.

Art Gallery Trip~The National Gallery of London

For a few years now I've dreamed of taking Artist Son to a significant art gallery of Western art. Unfortunately, there aren't any in the Middle East and we don't have much of a chance to visit renowned galleries even when we are stateside, being from Idaho as we are--though we were treated to an excellent exhibition of James Audubon paintings at the Boise Art Museum last year.

Then one late night this fall, I realized that my seemingly fanciful dreams could become a reality and within the week our gallery trip was planned and booked: Until now it has been expensive to fly from Jordan to just about anywhere, with flights to London costing around $600, but last year Easy Jet entered the market with a flight from Amman to London at very good prices, depending. It turns out that early December, when we wanted to travel, was one of the good times to fly and I was able to purchase both our tickets for a total of $340! Some of our dearest friends live near London and were willing to host us, and the National Gallery offers free admission, so our trip expenses were minimal. My friend even made sack lunches for us every day!

But how could we go to London and visit only the National Gallery? With over 2300 masterpieces on exhibit, we didn't even wonder. So short was our time (three full days in London proper) and so narrow our focus, we didn't even consider visiting the National Portrait Gallery a couple blocks away or the Leonardo DiVinci exhibition on display at the National Gallery, for which we would have had to purchase advance tickets and que up in the cold early morning. No regrets. Not one.

My favorite Art Nerd in front of the National Gallery

If ever I wondered if Artist Son was made to appreciate and create art, I wonder no more. He seemed to relish everything about looking at and wondering at artful masterpieces for three full days. His favorite part was the free walking tours and other lectures offered by art historians of the gallery. Twice a day, a one-hour walking tour was offered in which five to six works of art were explained and explored. We learned so much. We also enjoyed such lectures as a 45-minute lunch-time lecture on a Raphael altarpiece.

A contraband photo of Artist Son viewing Joseph Mallord William Turner's Ulysses deriding Polyphemus

Toward the end of our first day at the gallery we happened upon a once-a-month workshop in which an artist described Sir Thomas Lawrence's portrait of Queen Charlotte and then instructed a group of artists (amateurs and professionals?) on how to render it in charcoal.

Portrait of Queen Charlotte by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1789, London),
The National Gallery, London

When the drawing session was over, the artists were instructed to put their sketches on the floor in the front of the group so that all could gather round to see what had been created. Coming a little late to the session, Artist's Son's drawing was less complete than some of the others, but proud and loyal mother that I am, I examined it carefully to find its goodness. A women who was studying the art work carefully pointed at Artist Son's drawing and inquired, "Who did this one?" Not a peep from Artist Son. She asked a second time, adding "This one, right here, is really good." Still no word from Artist Son so I felt compelled to point him out, "He's the artist." Oh, and I had to add, "He's my son."

So went our wonder-full, beauty-full days at the National Gallery. We didn't get to view every painting, many paintings we longed to study more closely, but a few paintings we visited each day, letting their beauty and awesomeness soak into us. (I've been toying with idea of doing a Fine Arts Friday but for my knowledge of how inconsistent I can be. Maybe a Fine Arts Whenever. Stay tuned.)

While in London, we really did just hang out at the National Gallery, but one night after the gallery closed, we walked few blocks down near the bridge over the Thames and took a few "I Was There" pictures:

Artist Son in front of Big Ben

Artist Son in front of Westminster Abbey

The perfect finale to our gallery trip was seeing a brilliant production of Les Miserables. Artist Son was skeptical when we took our seats in the very last row of the theater, truly the nosebleed section. I had purchased the tickets that morning, requesting the best bargain seats. Even though the tickets were for the last row, the ticket agent guaranteed that they were a good buy for the money and that we would be able to see 100% of the stage. After the show began, Artist Son's doubts quickly vanished and he was visibly awestruck and moved when the show was over. Guess what soundtrack he listens to now while he is working on his art?