Lessons From Caravaggio

The Entombment

(Detail)

1602-1603

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

"The artist is not a special kind of person.

Every person is a special kind of artist."

Eric Gill

1882-1940

"What I can say- and what I have observed in the process of painting- is that once finished, a picture becomes autonomous, and then belongs as much to the spectator as to its author."

Corinne Vonaesch

Process- both a noun and a verb. Our final lecture before Christmas Break looked into the life of Michelangel Merisi da Caravaggio, a man skilled in the process of oil painting. He was also filled with passion for his craft. Process and passion... our key discussion words in art. Now the Art Room is silent, brushes are stilled,

and Mechal's oil painting is curing. 

Here are a few recent pieces from Trinity artists:

Emma Stojancic

Serigraph

Andrew Trump

Serigraph

Sara Cazorla

Serigraph

Sebastian Bienert

Serigraph

Mechal Harward

Oil on Canvas

Eric Loytty

Manipulated Photograph

Jack Higdon

Manipulated Photograph

John Chirchirillo

Manipulated Photograph

R J Villoresi

Manipulated Photograph

Mike Guin

Manipulated Photograph

Cyanotype

from Pinhole Camera

Cyanotype
from Pinhole Camera

Cyanotype
from Pinhole Camera

Cyanotype
from Pinhole Camera



And finally,
this year's Photo Class Poster

For a Hi-Res file you can have a poster printed from
email me:
mcarter@trinityprep.com

The Final Week of Class

"Nevertheless, in the short term, art schools are successful if they guide young artists into the right production processes for them: this match between talent (creative intelligence and skills) and old and new mediums is what gradually helps them to achieve their unique voice. In the long term, I believe that artistic success should be defined as the ability to sustain art making for a lifetime, whether within the profit or non-profit sectors, remaining part of the conversation about the destiny of the country, the culture, and global citizenship."

Ernesto Pujol,  Art School- Propositions for the 21st Century

"Art is the only discipline where execution brings life!"

Michael R. Carter

     So, here we are... days away from graduation. And with the final days come final projects. Here is a year-end offering...

Serigraph

Allison Meyer

Acrylic

Andrew Williams

CiCiVille

by CiCi

Ink and Watercolor

Madeline Keller

Styro Print

Madeline Keller

Acrylic on Canvas

Menelik Cannady

Graphite

Menelik Cannady

Marker

Rachel Levi

Serigraph

Riley O'Neil

Lady of the Nebula

Oil on Panel

Samuel Carter

Ink
Will Vogel

Marker

Sara Ofenloch

Watercolor

Tori Barbee

Watercolor
Tori Barbee

Watercolor

Rylee Breed

Digital Photo

Rylee Breed

Assemblage
Molley Tyler

Assemblage

Molley Tyler

Assemblage

Molley Tyler

Assemblage

Molley Tyler

The Art Room

     This week Mechal Harward finished a serigraph series she donated to Hazon, a Jewish environmental organization. Here is the final print-

Serigraph
Mechal Harward

     Finally, a video from Emma Carter-

The Last Lecture

The Annunciation

A comparison between the Ustyug Annunciation, 12th Century and Edward Knippers Annunciation, 21st Century

     At the beginning of this week's lecture, I announced, "Today is the last art history lecture for the school year." The announcement was met with mixed reviews. The lecture: Contemporary Art, beginning with Damien Hirst, concluding with Banksy. 

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living

Damien Hirst

Graffiti Removal Hotline

Banksy

     Our series began last August with cave art in France and ended Thursday with building art in England- full circle. it seems... there is something about walls that cry, "Paint me!"

Resting during a still-life drawing

     This week, Allison Meyer finished her Serigraph (Screen Print). It is always a joy to see a new piece of art come together. Allison, who loves to bake, chose cupcakes as the subject matter for her latest print. First she baked and iced the cupcakes.

     Next, Allison arranged and photographed the cupcakes (with a little help from her friends). After transferring the drawing to her screen, she began the arduous process of pulling and blocking- one color at a time.

Twelve States

     Naming a new piece is always important. Initially Allison titled the print, Tower of Cupcakes. After realizing she pulled thirteen colors, she decided on the title, Baker's Dozen.

Baker's Dozen

Serigraph

Allison Meyer

     Allison's next print should be equally amazing (and delicious).

The Risk Takers

"The true purpose of painting is to represent objects as they really are, that is to say differently from the way we see them. It tends always to give us their sensible essence, their presence, this is why the image it forms does not resemble their appearance..."

Jacques Riviere

1886-1925

I am familiar with excuses. I teach High School. Excuses come in all shapes and sizes. They are, of course, the stock and trade of the arsenal known as 'teenage vocabulary'; a proliferation of verbage large enough to choke every classroom in America. Sometimes the excuse frustrates me, sometimes the excuse makes me laugh, but the excuse that stops me in my tracks is the one I have heard the most often and it is this- "I can't do art!" Now that is an excuse I can deal with because I can help the student peel the untruth from the reason. Yes, art is risky business. Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, said, "A creator takes risks, a consumer lives in safety."

Here is a selection of recent pieces from 'risk takers' who, at one time or another, said, "I can't do art!"

Chris doing research for his next print

Variation On A Theme

Serigraph

Christopher Shreve

4 Cans

Serigraph

Alli Meyer

On Time

Cyanotype

Davis Martinec

Untitled

Watercolor

Madeline Keller

Cyanotype
Madeline Keller

Encaustic Photograph
Mechal Harward

Encaustic
Shell McCain


PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Jack and the shirt he printed






Little Black Umbrella
by Claire Mintich


two little women
standing in a field
hiding from something
under a little black umbrella


a white dress
a blue sky
tall green grass
and a little black umbrella


dignified little women
a slow and steady breeze
warm and bright sunshine
with a little black umbrella


a pompous looking woman
an arrogant little frown
back straight and waist thing
holding a black umbrella


shadows move
clouds roll by
time moves slow
there's a little black umbrella


(inspired by Claude Monet's, "The Walk, Woman with a Parasol")

1875
Claude Monet


A parting thought from Johnny Cash
The young girl dancing to the latest beat

Has found new ways to move her feet

The young man speaking in the city square

Is trying to tell somebody that he cares

Yeah, the ones that you're calling wild

Are going to be the leaders in a little while

This old world's wakin' to a new born day

And I solemnly swear that it'll be their way

You better help the voice of youth find

"What is truth?"