Skew the Masters

Manet's Secret

  Inspired by:  Edouard Manet, Berthe Morisot with Violets, 1872

Oh. My.  Now here’s a love triangle for you.  Berthe Morisot was the model here and amazing Impressionist painter “She paints like a savage,” one critic said of her.

Eadourd Manet, the scandalous artist (one of my favorites!) but only always proper gentleman, painted the beautiful Morisot more often than any model.  Most believe the two were in love.  The married Manet convinces her to marry his brother and never paints her again.

In my version, a secret scenerio emerges. 

She wore a long, scant frock and her yellow hair was tucked tightly under a hat.

But her eyes were fixed on me.

Did she recognize me and my Secret?”

Louie in Disarray

 Inspired by Hyacinthe  Rigaud, The Portrait of Louis XIV (1701)

I often look to the Masters to understand how they construct an artwork.  This can only enhance my own paintings while paying homage to my favorite painters or paintings.  Not only a student of the artist, I try to allow my own expression to come through while staying true, in spirit, to the original.

This painting of Louis XIV, “The Sun King,” is fantastically over the top, just like its subject who not only reigned as absolute monarch of France from the Palace of Versailles, but was the inventor of the high heel. You’re welcome.

 The painting is lush, regal, patterned and dramatic.  Love it!

While painting , a secret scenerio to emerged. 

“When he stood up, his wig was greatly disarranged.

“Pardon Me,” He spoke slowly,

 “but I danced all night

with Uncommon brilliance.

“I felt I owed it to them.”

“You know,”  He laughed, “L’etat, c’est moi.”

Beyond the Garden Walls: Emerald Orchard

Inspired by:  Gustave Klimt The Pear Tree  1903

This “skew” is the result of a convergence.

            Working as an artist-in-residence at a chemotherapy center, I observed and considered the marks made by both patients and caretakers. After they completed the work, we would reflect upon those marks.  Themes of chaos, randomness and accidents recurred. However, amid this apparent randomness there seemed to emerge a sort of order and harmony.

            Around the same time, it seems the works of Gustave Klimt, whose works are often comprised of small, mosaic-like shapes kept crossing my path, culminating in a visit to the Harvard Museum of Art where Klimt’s “The Pear Tree” hangs and pulls the viewer into a magical and (for me) healing place!