August Artist X: Karen Scharer

Artist X for August is revealed to be Karen Scharer. Karen is a self-taught painter who has transitioned her work over the past few decades from representational watercolor landscapes to acrylic and then oil abstracts. Her work is soft, simple, stunning. She is a great fit for many of my corporate clients who seek to create soothing, sophisticated spaces. And, to top it off, she could not be more hospitable and friendly. I treasured my mid-summer visit to her stunning Estes Park home and studio.
Here is a link to her website: http://www.scharerfineart.com.
And I will end the month with a few more of her pieces...

Mantra Monday

The life of an artist is not always easy, and I have found through my dealings with professional working artists that the ones who are successful possess similar business and organizational skills to people who are successful in business in all fields. Accepting the call to create art is one thing....accepting a call to make a living creating art can be another entirely. So I love the button that August Artist X keeps beside her easel, a mantra to keep the juices flowing:

Here is another mantra from one of my favorite masters, Henri Matisse:

Benefits of Bartering

Most artists' homes are adorned with a combination of their own work a scattering of pieces made by others. Of course artists love art and fundamentally believe in supporting the artistic community, but here is the secret: most rarely actually purchase anything. They rely on the age old bartering system.

August Artist X has an interesting story of how she acquired the friendly bronze moose that stands at attention in her front drive. A few years ago she was heading to the same art fair as its artist, Jim Budish, and the two made arrangements to share a truck. When the shipment arrived, however, all was not safe and sound....seems that one of his friendly bronze beasts had impaled one of her canvases en route. Horror! Jim did his best to make it right, but when the repair was not 100% he sent this critter to comfort:

Jim Budish images and contact information

Plein Air a Plenty

This month I have been giving you tidbits about the interior studio used by my August Artist X, adjacent to her lovely home outside of Estes Park. For the past week, however, she has been in nature's studio. Right now she is taking advantage of our final breaths of summer right as a participant in the Plein Air Rockies event sponsored by the Cultural Arts Council of Estes Park: http://www.estesarts.com/PleinAir/
Here is a triptych piece that she did during a previous show, mixing her characteristic abstract style with some elements of nature:

I look forward to seeing and sharing what she produces this year!

Creating Composition and Color

Artist X for August does not approach each piece with a specific idea or composition in mind, rather she picks a palette and lets the composition intuitively evolve. She says: "I work spontaneously, interacting with each painting to coax it into a piece that I can recognize as my work - hopefully, my better work."

But even that palette can change. Case in point: she had been working on a piece that just was not feeling quite right. Then she brought some sunflowers into the studio. Voila!

 

Mixing up Mediums

Almost all artists that I have met evolve their style and medium over the years, and August’s Artist X is no exception. During my tour of her home and studio I saw a large assortment of her work spanning the 25 years she has been painting. Early pieces were traditional watercolors of traditional subjects: flowers, meadows, etc. They were nice but safe, predictable. I was very grateful that her work has evolved. As time went on she moved into acrylic and eventually, after spending a concentrated a fellowship with the artist Jeffrey Keith, her current media of choice and mastery, oil.

Jeffrey Keith is a prominent Denver-based abstract artist. One of his pieces hangs prominently and brilliantly in the lounge area of the new downtown Four Seasons EDGE restaurant bar. Other monumental works are in the lobby of the 1900 16th Street, a 2009 high-rise in Denver. Although Artist X has a style that is uniquely her own, Keith's influence is very evident in most of the pieces she creates today. Here are a few of his works and a link to his website:

Stolen from the Kitchen

A couple of months ago I shared the sculptor Mark Castator's other use for his iron wok: he uses it to create the round forms of his circular Moons of Jupiter pieces. My Artist X for August also steals from the place where she cooks. A lot of her technique lies in her layering of paint and, in some cases, subsequent scraping. Art supply stores sell spatula-like tools for this purpose, but as she knows, the same rubber that we use to scrape chocolate chunk cookies does an awesome job of scraping oil paints. Here is a shot of her supply:

Here is a close-up of the effect of the use of these tools:

Must Have Mosaics

One of my first impressions of the home of my artist for August was this striking mosaic table in her sitting room:

Mosaics seem so modern to me, but I recall from my semester long seminar on the art of Pompeii during my third year of college that they are some of the most ancient forms. The city, buried under the ash of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, featured some exquisite examples of the technique. My favorite was this piece, "Cave Canem", which my 6th grade Latin teacher will be pleased to know I can still traslate: Beware of Dog!

Want to get a mosaic table of your own? Here's a good site: http://newmexicomosaics.com

Peruvian Mosaic Breakfast Table

Chillin on a dirt road...

If you are not a country music fan you might not recognize the "dirt road" reference  (I never was until going to school in the south). This current hit was playing in my car as I recently drove out to visit my Artist X for August. It was quite appropriate: she lives wayyyy out there in the wilds somewhere near Estes Park. You take some paved roads around windy paths and then have several miles on unkept dirty, dustry roads to reach her sanctuary. Luckily it was a sunny Friday afternoon, and as I reached her home and studio there was no where else in the world I wanted to be. Below is a shot of the lake directly across from her house. I look forward to sharing her tidbits with you as the month goes on.

July's Artist X: Marie Gibbons

My apologies, readers, for the delay in announcing the identity of my featured artist for July. As I mentioned in my last post, I headed down to Santa Fe for a long weekend, and I have been blissfully disconnected to the internet. Stay tuned for updates from that trip, as I found some incredible new talent and came back to the office with some wicked pieces on consignment. I am hoping that my clients like them as much as I do!

Just for fun and because it was AMAZING, here is a picture of some wild horses I saw on the ride back:

Now, without further ado, the identity of July's Artist X is the talented Marie Gibbons. Here is a link to her site:  http://www.mariegibbons.com . Be sure to check it out both for her original art pieces as well as the line-up of ever changing classes she offers in her Tennyson Street Space.

Stop by her studio this Friday (First Friday!) between 6-9 to make your own clay owl - just $10 for workshop time, materials, and firing.