Inspired by the Hunt

15th Century Playing Cards at the Cloisters/MET museum

The Met Cloisters has a set of 15^th century playing cards that are in mint condition.  The cards have four suits, a king, queen, knave and ten pip cards with symbols rather than numbers.  The symbols are hunting horns, dog collars, hound tethers and game nooses since the theme is hunting.

I was inspired by the Franco-Flemish style figures wearing extravagant Burgundian court costumes.  It’s not really known what games were played with these cards but there was a lot of gambling during that time period.  The cards at the Cloisters probably were never used because they are in perfect condition but playing cards was popular during that time period.  The religious leaders of the time would often confiscate the cards in an attempt to curb the gambling and encourage good behavior.

I had been thinking of a recent presentation at a local art guild on ATCs (Artist Trading Cards).  ATCs are not the same as playing cards – they are not “played” but they are exchanged and have such unique and individual art that gives them value.  I’ve participated in ATC swaps in the past and find the small 2 ½ “x 3 1/2” format inviting and achievable.  I know several local artists that create large batches of ATCs for swapping at summertime art events. 

Maybe  you would like to try your hand at making 52 playing cards or ATCs or even just one or two ATCs?  I’d love for readers to share what they create here.  Here are some online resources for making your own ATCs.

E Munch inspired ATCs by Katie Turner

Gustav Klimt inspired ATC by Katie Turner

Harvest Moon themed ATC by Katie Turner

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Artist-Trading-Cards

https://www.strathmoreartist.com/cards-atc

ATC Swap 2024

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/475513

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Book Sculptures

Modern pop-up books are even more inspirational than the beautiful old ones of long ago!  I found several pop-up books in the library that really inspired me and I think you will agree that these are just amazing.

The history of interactive and pop-up books includes animated books, tunnel books, volvelles (rotating parts), Harlequinades and turn-up books. These are first seen in 1240 with Chronica Majora, a book created by a Benedictine Monk, Matthew Paris to help calculate holy days.  I’ve included links below to read more about the history.

The books I’m sharing here are more for adult audiences than children and feature some creative paper engineering.  Hokusai Pop-ups by Courtney Watson McCarthy has a sprawling dragon, the big wave, an Asian style mountain waterfall and more.  Tiaras of Dreams, Dreaming of Tiaras, Chaumet, Paris features beautiful 3-D scenes as if you were looking at a stage or movie set.  The costumes and ornamentation are elaborate and specific to each time period.  The third book The Christmas Alphabet by Robert Sabuda features Christmas themed paper pop-ups such as a candlestick, icicles, holiday house, doves, reindeer, poinsettia, carolers, a snowflake and more.  Each pop-up is done in all white with a few having color highlights.

I find it inspirational to explore
different kinds of art and these unique books of paper sculptures offer lots to
observe.  I hope you are able to check
out a new or old pop-up book for inspiration today.  Please share your experience with me below.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop-up_book

https://blogs.loc.gov/preservation/2023/10/pop-up-books/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/magic-movable-pop-up-books

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Art Shows in Progress

If you are in upstate New York and would like to view some beautiful art, I recommend checking out two shows that Central New York Watercolor Society has going on right now. In full disclosure, I have a single painting in each show, but there are plenty of paintings by many different artists at each gallery to see. There is something for everyone’s tastes. Information is below.

Bountiful Approval, watercolor, 16×20, by Katie Turner

2024 CNYWS All Member Exhibition:

March 15-April 28, 2024

Art in the Atrium Gallery, 201 East Washington St., Syracuse, NY

Hours: Fri 12-8 Sat 12-6 Sun 12-6 For more info: cnyarts.org/art-in-atrium (315) 435-2155

Riverside, watercolor 23×30, by Katie Turner

2024 CNYWS Signature Show

March 23-May 25, 2024

View Arts Center, 3273 State Rte 28, Old Forge, NY 13420

Hours: Mon-Sat. 10-4 Admission $10 For more info: Viewarts.org (315) 369-6411

Hoffmann’s Hedgehog

“Hedgehog”, Katie Turner, watercolor after Hans Hoffmann

Hans Hoffmann was a German painter during the Renaissance.  He specialized in watercolor and gouache nature studies but also painted religious pieces in oil and also portraits.  This Hans Hoffmann (with two “f”s) is a different artist than the Hans Hofmann, the German born American painter who died in New York in 1966 at the age of 85.

“A Hare in the Forest”, by Hans Hoffmann

According to Oxford Art Online, Hoffmann was appointed as a court painter in 1584 for the Holy Roman Emperor in Prague.  That is when he really developed his work, creating a large art collection.  Hoffmann was an imitator of Albrecht Durer’s works and some of his paintings have been mistakenly attributed to him.

Hans Hoffmann sketch of squirrel

I’m inspired by his animal and insect nature studies.  Artists of that time rarely painted from nature so that makes these pieces even more unique.  The hedgehog is my favorite piece but his “A Hare in the Forest” is not far behind. 

Have you discovered a Hans Hoffmann Renaissance animal favorite?  Do you have a certain animal you like to reference for sketches or paintings?

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/337138

The World of Animals Created by Hans Hoffmann

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The Inlander

“Fires of Spring in Big Woods”, Katie Turner, Watercolor after Charles Burchfield.

I revisited several books about artist Charles Burchfield recently and found some inspiration.  Burchfield was described as having three distinct periods in his artistic career.  The 1^st period was early mature work that focused on nature – sometimes realistically, sometimes decorative and sometimes fantasy with self-expression.  The 2^nd period he focused on farms, villages and cities of the mid-west.  Rarely painting people, he focused on the houses, factories and streets.  He continued to paint nature as well but it was secondary.

After a while he moved from sober cityscapes and began experimenting.  He took some of his early watercolors and pasted paper around the edges so he could expand them and develop compositions further.  He wasn’t really happy with the results but this led into his 3^rd period.

During this period he was now interested in a more personal and emotional interpretation of nature resulting in more powerful expressionist landscapes.

He became passionate in interpreting nature with imagination and stated, “This romantic land of the imagination, the mysterious North that has haunted me as a boy – it does not really exist, but how did it come into being? And is it possible I will someday wander through it as a spirit?”

His watercolors express his response to the Western New York landscape.  While I was reading, I found the black and white plates of his paintings extremely helpful to see his value designs.  Some designs are so unusual; I thought maybe that is why these pieces are so special?

Some interesting facts I came across in my reading:  Burchfield considered himself an “inlander in spirit” not preferring to paint the ocean.  He found a hay or wheatfield more interesting than the ocean.  He complained that he never learned to draw, despite him going to art school and having life figure drawing class. There is not even one nude drawing by him.  Experts believe he destroyed them because there are several clothed model drawings that were saved.

Burchfield is an inspiring artist to me.  His watercolors are a unique interpretation of nature.

Please share your comments below.

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Drawings by Georges Seurat

“Tree Trunks Reflected in the Water”, Georges Seurat 1883-84

This week I found several books in the library on Georges Pierre Seurat, the French post-impressionist artist.  Many of us have seen his painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” with women and their parasols, children and pets playing while men lounge in the summer shade along the water.  It’s a soft, beautifully inviting piece of art.

Seurat is known for coming up with the technique known as pointillism.  He also had interesting ways of using conte crayons to draw on a rough surface paper.  His drawings inspire me.  They vibrate using a flow of short blurred strokes carving out contours of the subject.  The way he used the conte crayon was different and almost looks like pointillism with little dots left in the grooves of the rough paper.  Check out the sketches I’ve included in this blog post.

Have you tried pointillism? Please share your comments below.

“Horseman on a Road”, Georges Seurat 1883

“View through the Balcony Railing”, Georges Seurat 1883

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10 Ways to Practice Creativity

Watercolor sketch by Katie Turner

Making things, writing, crafting, collaging, and painting involves so much more than just the process.  There are so many things you can do to cultivate your creative thoughts beforehand that will help sustain you throughout the creative process.

Here are some ideas:

1. Challenge yourself to make something every week or every day.  Set up your workspace so you can breeze right in and start right away. 
2. New experiences are one way to stir your creativity. Try something new – take a class to learn French, or learn how to roller-skate, fly a kite, etc.  Anything that helps you to shake things up.  To see ordinary things in an unusual way gives you a unique view and stirs the imagination.
3. Bring nature into your space by collecting rocks or branches, dried flowers, pictures, etc.  Find the things in nature that inspire you and keep them around you while creating.
4. Find the “exciting” parts of your own work.  Make a copy of your own work and really zero in on the highlight.  Focusing on the parts that you really like about your work and let that be a springboard for the next work.
5. Surround yourself with books or sketchbooks that inspire you.  This is not to copy but for you to use as inspiration to begin your next piece of work.
6. Work in a series – some artists and writers participate in 30 day challenges, 365 challenges or do collaborations as a way to gain new aspects into their own art or writing.  Working like this will teach you how to reach a goal yet be flexible.
7. Make an art date with a friend.  Drawing, sewing, writing, creating together and with tea, coffee or something stronger, is a great way to spark your inspiration.  If you don’t have available friends, check out your local Urban Sketchers group or Open Figure Drawing Group or if you are snowbound or otherwise, remember zoom/Facetime is a great option.
8. Give yourself some time to play with some unusual tools.  Sometimes the freedom of play will give you new ideas or help you to release tensions and expectations.
9. Give up those projects.  There is nothing as discouraging as looking at a long list of projects that are overdue and not feeling an ounce of inspiration.  I know it can be sad but there comes a time when that project or great idea just won’t happen.  Maybe it’s time to move forward and let those old ideas fall to the back so you can free up your mental space. It’s not possible to do everything, so choose those that most excite you.
10. Go for a walk.  We’ve all heard this one before and I know the weather might not be great but you could take a short walk, a long drive in the car or visit some place that you haven’t been before.  Try to challenge yourself to a treasure hunt – for example, find all the shades of pink you saw on your walk and incorporate in your artwork or list all the pets you see on the walk and create different characters based off them for your next piece of writing.

Finally, document your journey in your sketchbook or journal.  Keep track of the things that inspire you, colors, images, words and be sure to use a combination of writing and art – it tends to play off of each other.

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Stamping in Watercolor

Jungle Birds, watercolor, Katie Turner 2024

A huge part of being an artist, for me, is experimenting.  Today I explored using some of my own carved rubber stamps with watercolor.

I am not the first to use stamps in fine art and won’t be the last.  Andy Warhol used handmade rubber stamps to create repeated patterns and symbols in his commercial work and paintings. Paul Klee combined stamping, glazing, impasto with watercolor, pen and ink for many of his works of art. 

Stamps allow me to explore repetition, pattern, texture and placement, design and the effect of positive and negative space.  Using stamps with watercolor allows me even more room to experiment with its unpredictability, texture and color mixing.  I hope you will give it a try and create some fun art using stamps.

I’ve carved a ton of stamps over the years and rubber is by far the easiest way to quickly create your own carved image.  You can carve a simple eraser to start or purchase speedball rubber supplies in any art store or online.  Carving your own design, motif, or symbol can be a lot of fun.

Here are some things to think about as you create your art:

1. Are you drawn to creating natural patterns, man-made patterns, abstract patterns, irregular, organic, structural, decorative, etc?
2. How many times do you have to repeat an image before it becomes a pattern?
3. What kinds of texture can you make using the flat image of the stamp?
4. Have you tried using unusual things for stamping imprints, such as shoes, vegetables, plants, cups, etc?
5. How does layering the stamped image change the art?

I’d love to hear from you, please share below.

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Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was a prolific street artist with no formal training, had more than 2000 paintings, sculptures and mixed media works and an unknown amount of notebooks.

The book I’m writing about today, authored by Christopher D. Stackhouse, Franklin Sirmans and Henry Louis Gates Jr., was originally published in 2015.

Basquiat was best known for figurative works that integrated text and image with language being the medium that consistently appears in his art.

His notebooks show us how he recorded his engagement with life in NYC and the world.  They contain handwritten poems, lists, symbols, observations, drawings that seem to be the images he used in many of his later artworks.  The notebooks can be a starting point for examining Basquiat’s unique talent.

I can see that he was inspired by children’s drawings, comics, pop-art, advertising, historical art from African, Greek and Roman culture as well.

The thing to understand about Basquiat’s art was that he was breaking rules and his work aimed to undermine social hierarchies, pointing out racial inequalities.  It wasn’t received well by the art establishment of the time.

The book has an introductory essay by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. that considers Basquiat in context to African American history and American culture which I found informative.

As an artist I can appreciate the power of words, list making, symbolism and seeing his thought process and use of notes to develop his perspective.  I don’t see a lot of self-consciousness in his drawing or notes but an exploration of thoughts and ideas.  These drawings are not sketches for larger works or paintings but the exploration of his ideas.

When I think of my own art making process, I don’t make use of a lot of text or words within my art yet I do add text, thoughts or commentary in my own working notebooks or sketchbooks.  I can see how it might benefit me to take more time in exploring thoughts in my notebooks and sketchbooks as a way to clarify the message or direction of my own artwork.

Have you read this book or ever seen this artist’s works? Do you use text in your art or as part of your artistic exploration process? If you are a writer, do you use pictures or symbols to develop your new ideas? Feel free to share with me below.

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Multimedia Pioneer: Laurie Anderson

Inspiration can come from anywhere.  This week I want to take a moment to share a multimedia virtual reality piece by Laurie Anderson.  I was intrigued by the floating letters.  Please read on about this artist.

(*originally from NYTimes May 26, 2017) As a storyteller and performer, Ms. Anderson imagined a museum of her work might resemble a radio broadcasting station. That inspired the design of her glasswalled gallery, now to be her home away from her New York home. When she’s not in residency, you can listen to her recordings with headphones. Another gallery features her expressionistic charcoal drawings of her dog Lolabelle and visions of the Tibetan afterlife.
In a black-box gallery, white graffiti and drawings are scrawled across every plane of the room. There you can put on a virtual reality headset and lift off, tunneling through unfolding rooms with walls of her words. Drawings come to life and may turn into galaxies as Ms. Anderson’s voice fills your head with stories.

Virtual reality “does what I’ve always wanted to do as an artist from the time I’ve started, which is a kind of disembodiment,” Ms. Anderson said.  A second virtual experience puts you onto an airplane that peacefully disintegrates midair. As you drift through the heavens, reach for the floating Buddha or the copy of “Crime and Punishment” to trigger more storytelling. “It’s magic,” Ms. Anderson said. “You get to feel completely free.”

“The best thing in Ms. Anderson’s show is “The Chalkroom,” a gallery covered in raw, white-on-black graffiti that expands into a haunting multichambered journey if you use its virtual reality component; her indelible voice on audio serves as the guide. It establishes Ms. Anderson as one of the artists VR was invented for.” – New York Times

Video Chalkroom by Laurie Anderson, multimedia artist.

More on her work here:  https://laurieanderson.com/?portfolio=chalkroom

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Arms All Around, Chinese Ink, K.Turner