January 28, 2015 We love the watercolors of Prendergast, Demuth, Burchfield and Hopper but when I see a smoke plume rising from a chimney or burn pile in autumn or reflections in a mud puddle, I think of Ted Kautzky. He may have lacked subtlety or evidence of years in Paris but he defined a macho-deep response to simple and beautiful effects of light.
Cool Duchamp may have launched a million interesting works of art during the past 100 years but let’s take a breather from ironic erudition and return to nature for a breath of fresh air. Nature is not a square. there is a colossal cornucopia of raw material to fuel inspiration. You, the artist, may have done apprentice work drawing trees and barns but there is more to be learned out of doors. Don’t deny yourself the richness of a new phase of looking closely at the wonder of a bosque of trees, a flower, animals at the zoo.
Take a stack of rice paper and a Flair pen to draw animals, 30 seconds per species and see what happens. share your wealth. Note to galleries - open your minds and exhibit space to the new take on nature - straight-no chaser.
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