Wonder Women Wednesday #5

    

Alma Thomas (1891- 1978) 

Alma Thomas was an artist inspired by her natural environment.  Her paintings are full of vibrant colors and strong brushstrokes.  Besides painting professionally, Thomas taught art in the Washington, D.C. schools (yay for art teachers)! Thomas went to Howard University in Washington, D.C. for undergrad and Columbia Teacher’s College for her M.F.A.  It was at the age of 55 that Thomas took an abstract painting class and switched from realism to abstract painting focusing on geometric patterns.  In 1972 Alma Thomas became the first female African American artist to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.

The Eclipse, 1970

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama chose two paintings by Alma Thomas for the White House after President Obama’s first election.  More details in the article below.

http://adobeairstream.com/art/alma-thomas-garden-seen-from-space-at-aaron-payne-fine-art/

Wonder Women Wednesday #4

       

Beatriz Milhazes,  b.1960 in Rio de Janeiro

This week I chose Beatriz Milhazes because her art is colorful, upbeat and wonderful!   She uses a combination of painting and collage to create some of her pieces.  Beatriz also creates wonderful installation works as well.  Her art can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museo Naional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim.  To find out about the artist in her own words and get a feel for the inspiration surrounding her studio please check out the You Tube video below.  

Wonder Women Wednesday #3

Blue and Black, 1951-1953

oil on canvas

Lee Krasner (1908-1984) is an American artist who was born to Russian Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York.  She studied art at the Women's Art School of the Cooper Union, Art Students League, National Academy of Design and the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts.  It took some time for Lee to find her own voice through art due to the fact that she was also nurturing the career of Jackson Pollock, her husband.

Upon Jackson's death Lee continued to grow as an artist, changing her style of art and exhibiting widely.  It is artists like Lee Krasner who have helped pave the way for other female artists.  In 1972 Lee picketed with others at the Museum of Modern Art due to the lack of representation of female artists.  In 1978 she was the only female artist included in Abstract Expressionism: The Formative Years held by the Whitney Museum of American Art.

"Survivor. Yes, I think that's what counts in the end. But I didn't need The Feminine Mystique to get me off the ground... Let me say the women's revolution is the only real revolution of our time."

Check out the following link for a bit more information on Lee Krasner.
http://www.biography.com/people/lee-krasner-37447/videos/lee-krasner-mini-biography-2175974030

So What is a Monoprint?

When selling my work I often have to explain what a printmaker does, what printmaking is, what a monoprint is and the difference between a hand pulled print and a photocopy.

Monoprints or monotypes are original artworks created through a printmaking process.  Each print is unique.  They may be similar but will never be exactly alike because they cannot be duplicated. Monoprints are more painterly than other types of printmaking processes. A monoprint can be created many different ways. To create a monoprint a smooth non-absorbent plate is directly painted upon with a media then transferred onto paper through pressure resulting in a original print.

Prints can be created with a dry plate or wet plate.  A dry plate transfers is where the image is created upon the plate and allowed to dry before being transferred to a dampened paper. Wet plate transfers are done straight from the plate while the inks are still wet onto the waiting paper.

Transfer techniques vary depending on the method being used. But not all require a table top press. Good results can be achieved with a variety of tools such as hands, spoons, barren or rolling pins.

The attached video shows the process for a wet plate transfer on a Geli plate.  You can create wonderful monoprints without a press.  You can print on the same sheet more than once, it is a wonderful way to print for all ages and abilities!  Enjoy!

Wonder Women Wednesday #2

   

Sharecropper, 1952

printed 1970

Elizabeth Catlett (1915- 2012) - one of my very favorite artists!  She wanted to be an artist at a time when there were not many female African American artists as role models.  She was a sculptor and printmaker concerned with the civil rights struggle and the plight of African American and Mexican women.  Her work reflects her concern for gender, racial and social equality.

Many of her works feature strong women.  The first Catlett print I saw as a young art student was Sharecropper at the Art Institute of Chicago.  The weathered woman is strong like so many older African American women I encountered as a young girl.

Sharecropper was printed at the Taller de Grafica Popular (People's Graphic Arts Workshop) a studio using art to promote social change.  This spirit of activism inspired her to create art that celebrated the hard work of African American women such as Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth.  She believed southern women continued to keep their dignity in the face of extreme discrimination and adversity.

For more info on Elizabeth Catlett check out  http://www.printeresting.org/2012/04/23/elizabeth-catlett-1915-2012/  and http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/04/local/la-me-elizabeth-catlett-20120404

Wonder Women Wednesday #1

  

Ruth Asawa

On most Wednesdays I will take the time to share information about a female artist.  If you are asking yourself why, then please name ten female visual artists........I hope you will enjoy these musings and share in the conversation.

     Today's artist is Ruth Asawa, a wonderful American sculptor. She works mainly in wire and is nationally recognized.  Besides being an artist she is also an education and arts activist. 

     At 16, Ruth and her family were interned on the West Coast with other individuals of Japanese ancestry.  http://www.ruthasawa.com notes that the internment was Ruth's first step on a journey to a world of art that profoundly changed who she was and what she thought was possible in life. In 1994, when she was 68 years old, she reflected on the experience: "I hold no hostilities for what happened; I blame no one. Sometimes good comes through adversity. I would not be who I am today had it not been for the Internment, and I like who I am."