Monday, January 5, 2015

30 in January 2015 Pink Forest Oil Pastel

Oil Pastel, 5x7"
SOLD (Thank  you!)

I have just completed reading Wolf Kahn's book Pastels and immediately turned around and started reading it again.  I love his work, and I really appreciated getting insight into his views on the artistic process.  I want to highly recommend this book to my artist friends, no matter what your medium.

Here are a few quotes I found deeply meaningful:

"The practice of art should have an effect not only on the public, but even more importantly on the artist himself, by enlarging his sphere of freedom." (p. 16, paragraph 2)

"The moment you know how to do certain things, you should by rights stop doing them.  You would be ceasing to search and starting to perform."  (p. 18, paragraph 1)

Points to ponder...

And, as we are in the midst of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge, how about this reminder from Wolf Kahn (also from Pastel, p. 25 paragraph 2):

"The artist must beware of trading places, even momentarily, with his public.  He follows mental pathways in which audience-conscious esthetic judgments such as 'interest' have no place.  The intimacy of his personal relationship to the work at hand has to remain inviolate."

Watchers, I think that is another way of saying "Paint Like Nobody's Watching."   In his profound way, Wolf Kahn is telling us what to focus on while painting (the creation of the image) and what not to focus on while painting ("will it be good enough for my blog?  good enough for Leslie's blog?  good enough for DPW?").

Paint Like Nobody's Watching, friends....and as always, I do thank you for Watching!

21 comments:

Sue Marrazzo Fine Art said...

Excellent COLORS!

Diana Johnson's blog said...

The colors are wonderful in your painting and I enjoyed reading your post!

Meredith Adler said...

Thanks so much, Diana, and I hope some of my readers will go over and see your beautiful landscape!

Darlene said...

Your painting is just gorgeous! Thanks for the info on the book.

carol edan said...

I love this one... the texture and the color palette .. everything about it.... it just SINGS!!!!Will look at the book.....

EA said...

OMG..I LOVE THIS!!!!

Unknown said...

I love watching all your paintings Meredith.It brightens up my mornings.

Meredith Adler said...

Thank you SO much, everyone. What a wonderful feeling to make it to lunch hour and open up all these lovely comments. You guys are making MY day, Jennifer!

Jerry Stocks said...

You should have named this "A Profusion of Pink". I love it.

Unknown said...


The pinks have such variety and the light at the end of the path glows!

Kahn's are my favorite books (and artists) as well. He's represented by the Jerald Mehlberg Gallery in Charlotte, so everyone once in a while there's an original there to be seen.

Meredith Adler said...

Thank you, Jerry! Your compliment means a lot...

And thank you, Laurel...if you ever hear of an exhibit in Charlotte, maybe we can go see it together!!

Tammie Dickerson said...

Wonderful color harmony! Your painting sparkles with energy! I have never tried oil pastels - even though I have a couple of sets - maybe I should give them a try!

Sharon L. Graves said...

got my fav colors here and it spoke to me. I just purchased it. Send it on.

Kathy Elliott Art said...

I also love Wolf Kahn and your work definitely reminds me of him! Beaurtiful work!

Susan Garriques said...

Hi Meredith! Just now catching up on the 30-in-30. Enjoyed reading your blog and seeing your work. Good job. Also - love the name of your blog. Great thought!!

Meredith Adler said...

Sharon!! You are a hoot and a half! Thank you so much for your purchase, and I will send it, with love...

Tammie, the oil pastels are really fun, and I hope you try them and let me know if you do so I can take a peek! Thanks for visiting.

Susan, thanks so much for visiting and for your comment, I am off to see your blog...

Jules said...

WOW! Think everybody has said it before me. Stunning work , great colour palette and love the immediacy of this one. Well done Meredith!

Meredith Adler said...

Oh, thanks, Jules! Very nice to hear you kind comment...

Fay Terry said...

Wow, Meredith! This is gorgeous and thanks for including the information about the Wolf Kahn book.

StefB said...

Hey Mer,

It seems this one has struck a cord. I love it too! I find myself hoping you'll go to bigger paintings in this genre one day.

Stefanie

Midnitecreations - Renu said...

This is so pretty. I really love the colors. So soothing

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...