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Choosing a Painting: Decorative Art vs. Fine Art

4/12/2018

Jason Horejs of Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ recently wrote a blog post about Decorative Art vs Fine Art. There was an interesting discussion of how they differ. Check out his blog and read how he defines the two.
I began thinking about my own paintings because I know that a buyer may purchase one of my paintings to decorate a specific room or spot in their home. And, I understand and appreciate that. But, I also hope that is not the only reason they chose the painting.
Recently a buyer brought an amazing and beautiful artwork that they had purchased back to the gallery because it did not fit in their space. I say if you love the work.....find a space.
Don't choose a painting just because it matches your duvet, or it goes with the colors in your bathroom, or it looks great over your couch. Choose it because you have fallen in love with it and can't live without it. Choose it because it helps you to see, understand and appreciate the world in which we live in a new and profound way. Choose it because the artist has taken a mundane subject and elevated it to a thing of beauty and wonder. Choose it because it brings back a memory of a special person, place, or event in your life. Choose it because you appreciate the artist's insight and amazing skill. And it can also look great over your couch!
Any of those reasons would make me feel as though I had accomplish my goal. As Jason says, "art is in the eye of the beholder". Choose what you love.

Light-filled Hydrangea, 12" x 12"

Strawberry Tart Supreme

1/5/2018

For my Fabulous Forgeries entry in this year's exhibition at The Artists Gallery in Virginia Beach, I chose Audrey Flack's Strawberry Tart Supreme. When I was teaching high school, this painting was one of my students' favorites. I like to choose a woman artist for my entry and since Audrey Flack works from photographed still life objects on a large format, she was perfect for me to copy. My painting is only 18" x 18", but the original by Audrey Flack is 54" x 60 1/4".....huge!
Audrey Flack is an American painter and sculptor, born May 30, 1931. She is a Photo-realist painter and was one of the first painters to use the projection of a photograph as an aid to painting. Her paintings, although realistic, also carry a sociopolitical message. Other paintings of hers that my students' loved to talk about and interpret are Royal Flush and Marilyn.
Strawberry Tart Supreme is monumental in size and when we behold the original, we are overwhelmed by the luscious desserts. The viewer salivates over the gleaming surfaces of sugary glazes and fluffy icings. And then, the after effect of so much sugar can make us quesy and a little sick........seductive and repulsive at the same time.
If you want to see the orginial, it is located in Oberlin, OH at The Allan Memorial Art Museum on the campus of Oberlin College.
The exhibition at The Artists Gallery runs the month of January and the Opening Reception is Friday, January 12th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Hope to see you there.

Wedding Bouquets

8/22/2017

I have written before about painting wedding bouquets for friends, friends of family, and sometimes as a commissioned work. I love doing it and I always hope that the paintings will be a wonderful, lasting memory for the bride and groom. I have a dear friend who remarried after the sudden and unexpected loss of her husband. It was a heartbreaking event that will take years to mend. Happily, she found someone to share her abundant life with and remarried. Her new husband is an avid and experienced gardener who grows many beautiful flowers and plants. Their wedding reception was decorated with these beautiful amaryllises from their garden. My gift to them was this painting. It can not compare to the real thing, but hopefulllly these painted ones will be a lasting and year round memory of their happy day and new life together.

This is Nolin

1/30/2017

This is Nolin. It is a painting of my precious grandson, Nolin Thomas Hofler, created for the exhibit, "Seeing Red", at my co-op gallery in Virginia Beach. Nolin is two years old and has beautiful red curly hair that is not really red, but orange, or some may call him a ginger, or carrot top. According to Wikipedia, only 1- 2 % of the population has red hair, so he is pretty special. Red hair is also associated with light skin color, light eyes, and sensitivity to the sun. A common belief is that redheads have fiery tempers. Now, I won't say that Nolin has a fiery temper, but he does have his moments when things just don't go as he had planned. After all, he is two years old.
The Opening for the exhibit, "Seeing Red", is this Friday at The Artists Gallery, 608 Norfolk Avenue, in Virginia Beach, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Hope to see you there.

Influences

10/19/2016

I so enjoyed painting the ornamental cabbage. I have had the photograph that I worked from for many years and for some reason it just became what I had to paint. I love the three dimensional effect and the movement in the leaves, the contrast of light and dark, and the variation of colors in the finished painting.

As I was finishing the painting, I happened to glance at a Van Gogh calendar that was in my studio and hanging beside my work table. It had been there for several months, as I was a little behind on flipping to the current month. I was surprised by the similarity of color, as well as, Van Gogh's use of movement created by the undulating lines and brushstrokes. I know that without realizing it at the time, that painting had seeped into my sub-conscious and I believe influenced by painting.

Above is my painting of the cabbage and below is the painting, entitled The Olive Trees, Saint Remy, painted by Van Gogh 1889. This was one year before Van Gogh's death. He was hospitalized at Saint Remy and only allowed short supervised walks around the grounds. These walks led to paintings of the olive trees and cypresses.

Influences come from many places and at different times in our lives. What are you influenced by in your creation of art?

Nightly Routine

9/18/2016

I thought that when I retired, I would have so much time to devote to painting. Instead, I have found that my time gets taken up by many other things.......grandchildren, gallery business, church activities, and house and garden duties. So, I have ended up painting at night, just like when I was working full time. The day's chores and activities are complete and I can concentrate on just painting.
This is my set-up. I have several lights including a pole lamp with daylight bulbs on the right side of my canvas, a professional artist''s daylight easel lamp, and a small desk lamp that I use on the left side of my painting area. My studio is not very large, so that amount of light mimics daylight as best I can. So, if you have a small space and only the nighttime to paint, it can be done. It is important to have a designated area for painting and to have it set up all the time so that you can just walk in and paint for a few minutes or for hours.

Doll Painting

8/2/2016

The Art Co-op that I belong to was recently asked to create an artwork in response to Virginia Beach MOCA's current exhibit, Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose. My painting, along with approximately 30 artworks will be on display at Towne Pavilion II in Virginia Beach from August 5th to November 19th. The Opening Reception on August 5th is from 5 to 7 p.m. and is free to the public.

I was inspired by the artists who used children and child-like images to convey their message to the viewer. I was particularly impressed with Ron English’s painting, Combat Rising. He used the image of a child in his painting to make a statement about our society I was also influenced by the work of Mark Ryden who used images of children to express deep meaning in his work.

In my painting, Oh, Baby, I have chosen a doll as an image to make a statement about the abuse and exploitation of children. I read an article a number of years ago about workers at a refuse and recycling plant who found the body of an abandoned baby while sorting the trash. The child’s body was headed toward the shredder when one of the workers spotted the child. She said it looked like a doll.

After reading that article, discarded dolls from the Thrift store have become an allegorical subject in my paintings. They are used to portray moral and political issues dealing with children.

Color, Light, and Form

5/30/2016

Marbles have become a favorite subject of mine for nostalgic reasons and also for their surface properties. They display beautiful swirling colors, reflecting shiny highlights and elongated oblique shadows.

The earliest marbles were made of stone or clay. There have been many found in archeological sites from Rome and Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to other parts of the ancient world. Glass marbles were first made by the Venetians. But, it was not until 1846 when a German glassblower invented marble scissors that they were mass produced. In the United States, the first mass produced marbles were made in Akron, Ohio by S. C. Dyke. Today, marbles span in size from 1/3 inch to over 12 inches in width.

Marbles made by hand are much sought after as collector's items and are increasingly scarce. I love them because of their aesthetic beauty and variety. They are spherical works of glass art and as a subject for painting, they allow me to transform my canvas into a surface of light, color, and form.

Finishing a Painting

4/28/2016

"Wow...it has been longer than I thought since I have written my blog. I promised to post the finished painting and so here it is, finally finished.....I think!

I had a friend give me one more critique last night. So, now it is signed and almost dry. I plan to show it in The Artists Gallery's "Palette of Spring" Exhibition , opening on Friday, May 6th.

It often takes me a long time to really know if a painting is finished. I like to keep it around for several months to just look at it and evaluate it before putting it in an exhibition. And even when a painting does go into an exhibition, I evaluate it again because paintings can look very different out of the studio and in a new setting.

Is a painting ever really finished? Da Vinci carried his around for years.

Beginnings

3/10/2016

My favorite part of the painting process is not the finished artwork, but the very beginning sketch. A simple line drawing can create a beautiful and sensitive feeling of form and structure. This all important sketch is the very rudimentary beginnings of a great painting. Sketchbooks belonging to Picasso, Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, and many contemporary artists are filled with simple line drawings.

My paintings begin with a tinted canvas, usually orange or pink. I then divide the canvas into four sections and transfer my sketch onto the canvas using a brush and thinned oil paint. Using a brush instead of a pencil creates a more expressive and spontaneous quality in the drawing.

Line does not just define the image but it divides the picture plane into interesting positive and negative space and leads the viewer's eye in and around the composition. It is the most basic of elements, yet, it can convey feeling, create rhythm and movement, and express visual and verbal concepts. I can only hope that the lines in my beginning drawing will do all of that! The finished painting will come next. I am sure that there will be many changes along the way.

Kay Hofler

I am a retired art teacher and now a full time professional artist who loves to paint and share my paintings with family, friends art lovers and patrons.

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