June Artist of the Month Meet Nancy Levin

June Artist of the Month

Meet Nancy Levin

 

Artist Nancy Levin grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and “while the other girls went to ballet, (her) mother took her to the MFA.” She created art in any form whenever possible. She took all the art classes offered at Newton South High, and after pursuing other more practical studies, she graduated as a Studio Arts Major from the University of Vermont. After college, Levin enjoyed a career in graphic design but then, looking for a new challenge, she obtained a Master’s Degree in Business. She also became a BCG-Certified Genealogist® and has published journal articles and written chapters for reference-books in her field.

Finding success outside of graphic design, Levin missed making art and started taking watercolor classes at the Danforth Museum School with Nan Rumpf. She began falling in love with watercolor. Since then, she has taken classes at New Art Center, Newton Continuing Education Program, Concord Art, and Elm Bank. Gary Tucker and, more recently, Martha Wakefield have been other impactful teachers. While continuing to learn, Levin became an active member of numerous artist societies including the WSA, Newton Art Association, Newton Watercolor Society, New England Watercolor Society, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, Needham Art Association, and Natick Art Association. Art continues to take her on a journey; “I am falling into wherever I am going. I’m having a delightful time.”

 

Village Farmer, Belarus

Levin also participates in workshops whenever possible. Probably most influential in her recent life have been numerous plein air workshops with David Dewey in Owls Head, Maine and online through Zoom. Under his auspices, Levin has met interesting and encouraging artists, who help her to “free (her) visual voice and become more open/looser in (her) work.” She has developed a supportive network of fellow artists: “I’m in an exciting place: I’m working with a group of people who are as comfortable to me as a pair of soft and worn slippers.” Boosted by the warmth of her peers, she has become more confident in her work. The artist has exhibited at both Newton and Natick Open Studios.

 

Levin reflects, “I’m allowed to look at all possibilities now…when the paint starts flying, the colors come out” and she chooses a direction to follow. One day she decided to paint a line of yellow school buses seen through the trees. The painting turned into a simple landscape where bright shapes displaced the buses and the trees disappeared. Levin realizes, “It worked as what I was trying to say was all about color.” She continues to paint “with exuberance and for the most part outside the lines.”

Truchas

 

May Artist of the Month – Meet Mark Richards

May Artist of the Month

Meet Mark Richards

Artist Mark Richards describes himself as an “Artist Adventurer,” whose escapades began at age 11. He won his first award for painting at 13 and is grateful that art has always played a major role in his life. Richards pursues art to “find universal truths: both aesthetically and spiritually.” He likes to think of his art as part of the greater good. He paints “from life, from memory and from emotion” and seeks to evoke emotion from the viewer.

Inspired by his grandmother, Richards grew up in Toledo, Ohio, went to Ohio State where he trained as an American Realist and graduated from University of California Santa Barbara with a degree in Sculpture. His career was in professional photography which allowed him to pursue art in the workplace. Now retired, he is enjoying the evolution of his painting. He considers his greatest strength to be his color fluency or tonalism. His style has morphed from realism to abstraction and sometimes back again. “I believe that all art is composed of abstractions of color forms, and all abstraction comes from nature.” He has spent the last 5 years pursuing abstraction.

His abstractions have an emphasis on color exploration and “ask the viewer to explore different emotions and meanings.” Richards refers to his works as “Color Seasons’: “ephemeral images…that suit the temporary nature of the motifs from nature with long freely applied sweeps of thick paint coursing across each canvas; colors surging forward and back.” These vibrant paintings will be on display at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in their show titled Flow.

Because his work is primarily color based, Richards is able to bounce between abstraction and realism. He always uses oil as his medium but often will thin the oil so that it behaves almost like watercolor do a quick study or underpainting. He enjoys plein air painting and often can be found painting at the MFA. He has recently been working on The Dead Christ with Angels in the Renaissance Gallery at the MFA. Other artists that he admires are Neil Welliver, Charles Sheeler, Louise Nevelson and Marsden Hartley.

Richards has always been intrigued by the history of European Art and Buddhist Iconography. In addition to painting, he creates wood sculptures inspired by Northwest Coast Indian Art. His sculptures are “totems: a memory stick” of important events and emotions, related to family, nature, the meaning of life.

“Truths are revealed when you make art. The more you practice the more truths are revealed. These truths are both spiritual and artistic; in art the basic elements are revealed.” Landscape painting, Richards believes, is the “artists’ expression of self within the context of the natural environment. He refers to these abstract landscapes as “magical landscapes; color being the key tool to unlock the magic.”

 

Instagram@MarkRichards7892

Favorite Art Books

Needless to say in our fast paced world we have become accustomed to looking at images and videos on phones and tablets, often coming through quickly on a social media feed…it can all become a blur. A book can slow it all down.

Whether you are looking for inspiration, a little art history or some technical advice there is no shortage of art books. Thank goodness for the second hand book market, the quest of finding a copy of a highly coveted book no longer in print can be thrilling too. There are lots of books out there, old and new, some have endured decades while others are new with up to date information about materials, inviting new ideas. So what better source of book recommendations than from fellow artists…

Want to add your book suggestions, email them to wsaartists@gmail.com

Robert Savage:

A Studio of Her Own, Women Artists in Boston 1870-1940 Erica Hirshler

Edward Hopper: An Intimate Biography, By Gail Levin

Yale Nicholls:

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

“Splash” books, edited by Rachel Wolf, North Light Books….. there are over 20 of them!  Best modern watercolors in the world!

Also——“Weatherbeaten-Winslow Homer in Maine”, Yale University Press, Thomas A. Denenberg, editor.

Donna Ticchi:

Art as Therapy (2013) Alain de Botton and John Armstrong

The Art of Rivalry:  Four Friendships, Betrayals, and Breakthroughs in Modern Art (2017),  Sebastian Smee

Strapless:  John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X (2004) , Deborah Davis

Jess Caruso:

The Art Spirit, Robert Henri

Nancy Treves

Color and Light- A Guide for the Realist Painter, James Gurney 

Kathe Kollwitz – A Survey of Her Works 1867-1945

Art and Fear – David Bayles and Ted Orland

Art of the Still Life – Todd Casey

 

 

 

 

 

April Artist of the Month – Meet David Holt

April Artist of the Month 

Meet David Holt

Unlike many artists, David Holt has never taken a lesson. As a child he drew all the time. As an adult he decided to add color to his drawings and began oil painting. When Holt was working, art was a hobby, a way of relaxing, and he often painted at night while listening to music, in a spare bedroom which he made into a studio.

Looking for a less cumbersome medium, Holt tried his hand at watercolor. “Many people warned me that watercolor was very difficult to master but I developed my own technique and I love the convenience.” Holt’s process begins with a detailed freehand drawing; “This is the most difficult part; when I start to add color, things begin to flow. I use vibrant colors and I am able to achieve the photorealism that I love.” Viewers are often surprised to find out that his paintings are watercolor for this reason.

As far as subject matter, Holt is looking for anything that sparks his interest. “When I finish a painting, I’m always thinking, ‘what’s next?’” He enjoys different types of landscapes, cityscapes and still life. He often focuses on iconic spots in Boston, Plymouth, Cape Cod and other places where he travels or sometimes imagines from compilations of photographs. Because his drawings are so comprehensive, he does most of his work in the studio from photographs. He uses illustration board rather than watercolor paper.

Although Holt has not had formal training, he has always subscribed to art publications and has studied the work of fellow artists. He has become a member of many art organizations: he is currently an exhibiting member of the Cape Cod Art Center, New England Watercolor Society, American Watercolor Society, Plymouth Center for the Arts, North River Arts Society and Hull Artists. Although it sometimes gets confusing, he faithfully exhibits at all of them and has won several awards. Finding himself in the company of the most accomplished Boston artists, he has also exhibited at the Annual Juried Show of the Guild of Boston Artists. 

So, what is next for Holt? He has been asked to teach at the Cape Cod Center for the Arts. He is looking forward to the next challenge and passing on the techniques he has developed to other artists. (Perhaps most special is mentoring his grandson who is sharing in this artist’s passion.) (Another) of the greatest rewards for Holt comes from the positive feedback of his viewers. He enjoys the ability to “capture a time and place, an object or any subject that (he) finds interesting and transforming that image into a vibrant painting or drawing.”

March Artist of the Month – Meet Phyllis Paster

March 

Artist of the Month

Meet Phyllis Paster

Watercolor artist Phyllis Paster grew up in Albany, New York and attended a private school in the countryside through 12th grade. When she was not outdoors gazing at the rolling hills, during down time, she could usually be found in the art room; “I was always very interested in art as a child; I would paint, sculpt or carve balsa wood boxes. But I never touched watercolor. I did not understand how you could have any control on wet paper.” She also fondly remembers, “My father owned a jewelry store and my works of art were always taped behind the cash register for the customers to view”.

Paster went on to college and attained a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education at Boston University. After teaching sixth grade for one year, she embarked on her long career in health care including Children’s Hospital in Boston, a start-up HMO in Wellesley, and medical group management. In 2001, she put her skills to work in a different direction and launched her own organizing business, It’s About Time. She works mainly with the elderly and her goal is to help this population maintain independence. A genealogy researcher as well, she enjoys listening to rich stories about their individual lives and researching their family trees.

In 1991, Paster was feeling the call to focus again on her love of art. She began taking courses at The DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and was fortunate to find teacher and mentor Dudty Fletcher who taught figure classes. As she recollects, “I was introduced to watercolor and I was smitten. I just love the immediacy of it. You know right away if it is working or not.” Marjorie Glick and Marilyn Swift are other great influencers on her watercolor technique. She has taken workshops in Europe and throughout the US and has spent a great deal of time doing plein air painting in Gloucester.

This artist continues on her lifelong watercolor journey and writes eloquently about her experience: “Each time I approach a new painting I hope to capture the image as well as my feelings about the subject. My goal is to become one with the pigment and to mix with the water on the paper. I delight as the wonder of the pigment, the water and the paper unfold before me.” Frederick Franck’s words from his book The Zen of Seeing have special meaning for Paster: “When I am seeing/drawing, I take hold of the thing, until it fills my total capacity for experience. Once I have this taken possession of a hill, a body, a face, I let go, let it free again, as if releasing a butterfly. Yet it remains mine forever.”

Paster also has been creating alcohol ink tiles which satisfies her passion for spontaneous results with more exciting and vibrant colors. These are sold along with notecards on her Etsy site, The ArtPhylStudio. She also creates gelli plate acrylic monoprints. She has been an exhibiting member of the WSA since 2004 and participates with a fellow artist in Celebrate Newton the annual juried crafts show.

Watercolor remains magical and mysterious to Paster. She wrote a lovely piece called “Recipe For A Watercolor:”

~Select a piece of watercolor paper and decide on a subject to paint

~Summon one of the Watercolor Muses like Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent or Maurice Prendergast for Inspiration

~Fill a brush with water and pigment and paint a few dabs of light color here and there on the paper. Then paint away!

~Enjoy the spontaneity and magic of the watercolor paint on the paper

~Each surprise is a unique opportunity to improvise and take advantage of the characteristics of the watercolor

~When the painting is finished, add a white mat to frame the picture and step back to take in the whole painting while munching on a chocolate chip cookie. Make last minute adjustments as needed but don’t overwork the painting!

~Enjoy the new painting and the cookies.