Tag Archives: Wayne Thiebaud

Highs and Lows

If there is one word I feel best represents the month of January, it is “possibility”.
There’s much to be said for the mental high that comes with metaphorically flipping to a fresh page during the first weeks of each new year, don’t you agree?

In order to set that stage I’ve learned that, even though my to-do list in December is always overflowing, making time during the last month of the year to both reassess the past 12 months and to formulate a game plan for the next 12, pays off in spades come January. The resulting sense of a clear head is a treasured gift to myself.

Admittedly, it’s a bit of a regimented chore but, as one of my artistic heroes, painter Wayne Thiebaud, is quoted as saying: “Discipline is not a restriction but an aid to freedom”. I’ve come to realize that wisdom applies to all aspects of an art practice.

Hanger Diptych ©1986 Elizabeth Fram, Pastel on paper, 28 x 16.5 x 28 inches The images in this post reach pretty far back, which is obvious from the sketchy photos. In 1985-86 I began working with pastels, loving them as a source of saturated color. Having just moved out west, I soon discovered the work of Wayne Thiebaud and it became a huge inspiration, as is clearly evidenced in these ancient pieces.

Having put in the necessary work before the holidays, I can now move forward with a ready-made framework to lean upon that takes the guesswork out of where I’m headed in 2022. My mind is now freer and more receptive to the conceptual connections that are the meat of any creative practice…hence the feeling of possibility.

On a low note though, I was saddened to learn that Thiebaud died on December 25th at 101. It was his vibrant use of color that first grabbed me almost four decades ago, but my love affair with his work has remained constant ever since. As I’ve evolved as an artist, so have the lessons I’ve picked up from his work. Most recently I have been appreciating him for being, as his NYTimes obituary so aptly noted, “a virtuoso of the everyday and its deep, subtle symbolism”, — a subject that cuts close to my own artistic objectives.

I am envious of the students at UC Davis who had the opportunity to learn directly from him. Everything I’ve read and heard portrays him as a very generous teacher as well as a truly nice guy. It seems he worked through the highs and lows of his long career by always remaining true to himself and to his love of his work.
RIP Mr. Thiebaud, and thank you for your gifts which will continue to benefit us all.

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Two last notes before you go:

I’m so pleased to announce I now have a web shop up and running on my website. Please stop by and browse!
For now, the shop includes only the stitched-watercolor House & Garden series from this last summer, but I will be adding more pieces to it as the year progresses and time allows. That said, pretty much all my work is for sale if it hasn’t already sold, so please don’t hesitate to inquire if you’re interested in a piece you don’t see in the shop. Thank you!

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And finally, check out Glen Martin Taylor’s brilliant work. I know I’ll never look at a teacup or placesetting in quite the same way. @glenmartintaylor on Instagram.

Golden Gate Art, Part 1

I didn’t realize it at the time, but the back-end advantage to the relatively nomadic life my husband and I lived during our first decade of marriage is that we now have a handful of very special places (and people) to revisit across the country.

Untitled (Neapolitan Pie) ©Wayne Thiebaud, ca.1990, Pastel and graphite on paper

Untitled (Two Ice Cream Scoops on Plate) ©Wayne Thiebaud, ca. 1985, Watercolor and graphite on paper

Over the years, my artistic sensibilities were unquestionably influenced by the various places we’ve lived, as well as by many of the artists who are iconic to those locales. At one point or another I’ve called Maine, Washington, Virginia, California, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Vermont home, and I’ve collected my fair share of artistic heroes along the way.

Untitled (Bakery Case) ©Wayne Thiebaud, ca.1963, Felt-tip pen on paper

Untitled (Bakery Case with Wedding Cake) ©Wayne Thiebaud, ca. 1963, Felt-tip pen on paper In 1962 Thiebaud stated, “At present, I am painting still lifes take from window displays, store counters, supermarket shelves, and mass-produced items from manufacturing concerns in America.” Responding to the postwar manufacturing boom, commercial developments such as the Nut Tree along U.S. Route 80 offered unprecedented visual experiences surrounding the ritual of food, including seductive confectionary cases like those seen here. Although a wedding cake seems to promise fulfillment, the lack of human presence evokes a sense of emptiness.

Wayne Thiebaud is right up there at the top of my list, so I have been looking forward to seeing the current exhibit of his drawings and paintings at San Francisco MoMA for months. It was a thrill to finally get there last week.

©Wayne Thiebaud, Untitled sketches, Ink on paper

©Wayne Thiebaud, Untitled Sketches, Ink on paper

Pairing Thibaud’s work with the companion exhibit “Artist’s Choice” (pieces from the Museum’s collection that Thiebaud hand-selected himself) rounded out the experience beautifully. Each painting in this concurrent exhibit is tagged with Thiebaud’s notations, providing not only a window into his thought process in choosing a particular piece, but presumably identifying various factors that contribute to the way he approaches his own work as well. They are words of wisdom from a teacher I wish I had had.

Orange Sweater Elmer Bischoff ©1955, Oil on canvas Thiebaud notes: “You can almost feel, since it’s a library, that it’s a very quiet place. Beautiful light coming in from several directions. There is a nice color relationship between the green and the little tiny bit of orange shadow over her sweater. But it’s also a very good geometric abstraction: the way those horizontals and verticals work and that terrific angle. This is really beautiful — the way this pattern of light coming down from the top and across in a nice L-shape forms one illumination.”

Jockey James Weeks ©1962, Tempera on Board Thiebaud: “Isn’t that sweet? This marvelous intuitive placement where this little white structure holds the whole thing beautifully centered. His paintings are normally big – or the ones I knew him for. He went back East at one point, back to Boston. But he was here, it seems to me, with some power and some effect.”

Scéne due rue (Street Scene) Pablo Picasso ©1900, Oil on Canvas Note: Picasso reused a canvas for this painting. Just beneath the surface is a cancan scene. Thiebaud: “Well, he sure settled that down. His mother must’ve been overseeing it. He’s such a strange fellow but this feels so authentic and so real. I’ve had a long, long association with it. I think I made some drawings of it.”

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And while it’s fun to return to old haunts when going back to a former home, the lure of discovering something new can be even more enticing. With a bit of pre-trip research, I discovered the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design, a non-profit organization devoted to preserving and promoting the traditions of hand embroidery and bringing a modern creativity to an ancient art form.

Lucy and Annalee of the SF School of Needlework and Design

Conveniently located on the north side of Union Square, I was warmly welcomed by Program Director, Lucy Barter and Director of Community Engagement, Annalee Levin, who shared the wide scope of what SF SNAD offers: classes, lectures, exhibitions, an extensive library, a shop with supplies, and free weekly stitch-ins that are open to all). It’s an enviable resource; be sure to check their events calendar and stop in the next time you’re in the Bay Area.

SNAD’s library contains over 3000 titles, including an antiquarian collection.

And, if you are an embroiderer, consider contributing to their ongoing “World’s Longest Band Sampler Project”. Full information on their website.

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Lastly, a hearty thanks to those of you who have been hanging in with me (and the octopus) for the past weeks. Thousands of stitches later, it’s finally finished.
Here’s a taste of how far we’ve come.

January 8, 2019, in process, Silk thread on raw silk

And now, I’m ready to move on.
More from San Francisco next week.

Repetitio mater studiorum est

“Repetition is the mother of all learning”

The past couple of weeks I’ve been painting glasses of water.

I’m interested in the distortion of the cloth’s pattern seen through the water, and the challenge of capturing the effect of light on both the glass and the liquid.

Having a repetitive subject like this to sink my teeth into is probably one of the best ways for me to learn and to grow (think scales on the piano). But in order to maintain interest it’s just as important that there is sufficient variety and an adequately steep challenge.

I’m finding enough similarity between subjects that I am starting to sense a recurring order and structure with each new sketch, while the variables of pattern and color between them (as well as the desire for improvement) is the substance that is keeping me thoroughly engaged.

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I searched a few of my heroes to see what they did with the subject

Mark Adams, Black Water Jar, 1982. Aquatint, 16.25 x 16.75, Teaberry Press, Edition of 30

David Hockney, Postcard of Richard Wagner with Glass of Water, 1973. Etching, 8.5 x 6.1, Edition of 100

Wayne Thiebaud, Drink, 1999-2002. Oil on panel, 26.6 x 29.8cm

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Check out Marc Taro Holmes answer to the question: “When practicing drawing, do you recommended drawing the same thing till it becomes perfect or drawing different things every day?”

Also – if you are relatively local, I just noticed that Marc will be giving the workshop “Still Life in Watercolor” on December 2nd at the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe.