Catherine Stock's Blog, page 3

Paring down

I seem to be slowing down on book illustration, portraits, landscapes and teaching.

Painting the human form is what I want to focus on now, so after someone came to look intently at pictures in my gallery three times last week yet left empty handed in the end, it was extremely gratifying when the next day, someone else came in and immediately bought this picture.

2013 Summer stage (workshop) impressions

The ubiquitous pear (apparently galleries are packed with 'em.) After morning exercises executing The Wash, watermelons are the order of the afternoon. Radishes make good subjects to practice skinny tails using drawing gum, and kitchen wrap textured leaves. Helena sits down to a well earned lunch. Everyone is famished after the morning's exercises so a good lunch is essential. If students tighten up too much on our "Morandi day",  I make them close their eyes while I set up some objects. They then have three minutes to paint. Nothing like a little time pressure to get the creative juices flowing fast.

Some pictures from my show last month

A couple of pictures I put in the life drawing show in Rignac last month.

I asked Pascale Demolin, who has revitalised Rignac with her little café, staging music concerts, games, dances, cooking classes and games (even a mock written driving test- quelle horreur!), to open the show and she did a wonderful job. Short and sweet:
Je suis très honorée d’inaugurer cette nouvelle exposition des peintres de Rignac.
Même s’ils n’y vivent pas forcément, les 7 peintres présents aujourd’hui y passent tous au moins quelques heures par semaine devant un modèle vivant et c’est le fruit de ces nombreuses heures de travail qui vous sont offertes ce soir.
Patricia LAROUSSE-GUIRBAL,
Clare HARRIES,
René LAURENSOU,
Bernadette MELINARD,
Sophie RAYNAUD,
Catherine STOCK
et Dany WATTIER 

le Duc de Lévis disait « Le chant est à la parole ce que la peinture est au dessin ». Force est de constater que nos artistes Rignacquois chantent très bien mais font très bien parler leurs crayons également.

Beaucoup de techniques sont présentes dans cette exposition . Certains artistes ont leur préférée quand d’autres papillonnent de l’une à l’autre : de l’aquarelle, de la peinture à l’huile, du crayon, de la peinture sur liège, de la gouache…
La plupart des peintures et dessins présentées ici sont le fruit de ces séances de pose et même si le modèle est le même, l’inspiration et les techniques de chaque artiste sont différentes. La gouache très stylisée d’un peintre donnera une émotion toute autre que l’aquarelle détaillée par une autre artiste. C’est toute la magie de cet art si difficile qu’est la peinture. Un modèle c’est 7 peintures ou dessins très différents. 

Et quand Alain dit que La peinture est une cérémonie en solitude, on peut aisément les imaginer seuls mais à 7, concentrés sur le même modèle à retoucher ici un coude, là un pied ou une épaule. Chaque peintre présent ici possède son style et c’est là une preuve de la singularité de son travail personnel et qui fait de lui un artiste à part entière.

Pierre Auguste Renoir disait que la peinture s’apprenait dans les musées, elle s’apprend aussi à Rignac grâce à l’énergie créatrice de ces amoureux de la peinture.

Je vous invite maintenant à admirer ces tableaux en compagnie de leur auteur car comme disait Picasso : un tableau ne vit que par celui qui le regarde. 

C’est le meilleur remerciement que l’on puisse rendre à ces 7 peintres.

Apres l'Hiver, le Printemps

My lovely friend and "neighbour" Judith Lit, who lives in both New York and the Dordogne, invited us to the French premier of her first documentary feature film, Après l'Hiver, Le Printemps (After the Winter, the Spring) last week.

Judith grew up in Pennsylvania where she witnessed the slow dissolution of her grandparents' farm as a little girl, and saw parallel struggles in the lives and vocations of her rural French neighbours around Montignac, the town made famous by the nearby Lascaux caves.

The film includes many scenes where Judith is able to sensitively draw her subjects out into talking about their lives in moving detail. It's a stunningly beautiful film to watch, accompanied by a gentle and evocative soundtrack.

The film has already gleaned recognition and garnered a few awards at film festivals in the US. Look out for it.

Impromptu jazz evening

We are taking advantage of some beautiful weather with beautiful walks, gardening, bicycle riding,  picnics and swimming at the moment.

Last night lovely Australian house guests joined up with local friends for supper in the garden and a fabulous impromptu jazz concert.

"Summertime" was featured and got a round of applause when Pim put down his sax to do a very impressive rendition of Satchmo.

I am looking particularly blowsy after Aqua Gym and a beer or two...

Les Caminols de Gramat

Here is a photo of my rambling club, Les Caminols de Gramat, from earlier in the spring. Caminol translates as a small path. We walk 8-12 kilometers every Monday and Friday afternoon, rain or shine.

I am on the right. Thabo, my pooch, is hidden behind one of the walkers with a hind leg protruding.  I was chucked out of my last rambling club because the leader, a retired riot control policeman, found Thabo too rambunctious, though I suspect it was me he found a bit hard to control. Anyway, this is a great group and they love dogs.

The stone hut is a cazal, a shepherd's hut that dots the causse, the plateau which is an ancient seabed. There are beautiful fossils in many of the stones, even the stones used to build houses.

Here is another photo from another day, near Floirac.

Inspiré par les modèles

 We had a really terrific attendance for our opening last night, in spite of inclement weather. (Rain and cold continue, less than a month from midsummer's night eve...) It's very heartening to us artists to have so much support from friends, family and the community.
 Pascale, who runs the café, made an absolutely delicious iced berry sangria and a great speech. The group brought an assortment of cheeses, little sausages with mustard, hummus, pizzas and quiche which went down well (and quickly) and I rounded up stragglers to bring them home for burritos with trimmings and flan around the fire. A fabulous evening.

Home stretch

Our annual group life drawing exhibition opens on Friday, and I am not sure what I will be putting in the show yet.

Last night one of our favourite models was able to pose for us after a bit of an absence, and I was quite pleased with my evening efforts. Several members of the group sometimes tease me about the emphasis I put on hands, and I suppose they have a point.

I stretched my paper before class and sometimes used a flat brush, which really improves my technique.

I don't travel to the States anymore to execute portraits, and I think it was a good decision. I need to paint freely now just for myself, without worrying about satisfying a client. Apparently even John Singer Sargent battled with his patrons on a regular basis.

First summer lunch on the terrace

Skies cleared and sun warmed us for our first lunch chez good friend Tony. I contributed strawberry shortcake.  Can summer really be on its way?

Winter rains

The chilly winter rains have been endless this year, but occasionally when the sun breaks through the ground, my rambling club is able to pull on our wellies and venture into the countryside which is lush, green and beautiful. Here are some snaps from Monday afternoon.