Summer Course

As promised some impressions of the FAA summer course I was teaching during the month of July with the wonderful Hege Haugen. Though it was incredibly hot in Florence, the students were really excited and motivated. On a daily base we were working with the live model and starting with a series of preparatory studies, we soon turned to the larger scale painting

To show how many possibilities you have in painting or subjects related to painting we held some small demonstrations along the course on stretching canvas, preparing the ground, grinding paints and making frames

Jordan Sokol organized a summer-show that was held in the main studio in Via delle Casine with some beautiful works on display

Instructors Tanvi Pathare and Hywel Pratley:

But to be honest, we also had quite some fun during these weeks. Here is our model Stefano explaining the students the pose and what to remember while not moving (which is definitely not an easy task...!)

All in all a great month and I had the pleasure to meet some really wonderful people

Via Luna: Open studio at the FAA Sculpture Department

Speaking of Open-studio events, I of course won't forget to mention the Open House of the Sculpture Department. It has been one of the highlights in the Florence Academy school calendar for years now and as expected also this time was great fun. Robert Bodem, Director of the Sculpture Department managed once again to set up this wonderful event in an relaxed and creative atmosphere. Visitors enjoyed the big buffet organized by the students, Tuscan wines and lots of artworks on display and Via Luna turned into a little hot spot that evening in the center of Florence.

Students have been working hard during the year and ended up with a more than convincing result. A large variety of different projects were shown and it was interesting to get an insight into the working progress. Starting with little "bozzetti", sketches in clay, students develop their ideas and composition that lead up to portraits, torso and figure studies and as final task a life size sculpture:

4th year student Chippie Kennedy (standing next to her life size sculpture with Program Directors Per Elof Nilsson Ricklund and Jordan Sokol) in her working space:

I just loved the little gesture studies as well as the fact that her life size figure has a special twist by holding a dead rabbit. Very impressive works (as usual) by instructor Eran Webber, it is always a pleasure seeing his studio and what he is working on:

Also my department, the Drawing in Sculpture, took part in the event and had some works on display:

Also here the range varied from quick 25-minute sketches and studies of anatomical features over portraiture to 5-week long pose drawings.

I would really like to thank my students and fellow teachers for an amazing year, lots of joy and fantastic results! Looking forward to October ; )

Charles H. Cecil Open Studio

Just before the official end of the school year, Charles Cecil has opened the doors of his school to the public. Over the weekend, to not interrupt the normal school schedule, one could visit the school's facilities, based in the heart of San Frediano district in Florence. A special feature of the studio is that it is located in the former church of San Raffaello Archangelo which also hosts the Romanelli collection of casts:

A demonstration on the use of the sight-size method in portraiture has been given by instructor Nicholas Beer and one of the advanced students:

Charles Cecil also opened the doors to his private studio and gave an interesting discourse on the subject and meaning of his paintings. Technical explanations as well as intellectual reflections found their place in the discussion, which turned out to be quite inspiring. Here some impressions of his studio:

Last but not least the painting Charles has been working on for the past years, very elaborate and well executed:

All in all an interesting afternoon and though the three american schools rooted in the realistic and naturalistic tradition here in Florence are always in a (healthy) competition with each other it is nice and stimulating to have an exchange

May Part III: Exhibitions "Still lives" and "Sommerimpressionen"

With great pleasure I participated in two exhibitions held in my home country: "Still lives" (19th April - 30th Mai 2012) and "Sommerimpressionen" (22nd May - 30th June 2012). Both shows were organized by the Salve-Art Gallery in Leipzig.

The paintings I was invited to show were "First Spring", "Chit-chat'n", and "Summer Breakfast":

Here the two paintings who titled the shows: "Bloody Mary II" by Jura Bedic and "Birthday Party" by Alexandr Mukhodemeev-Boyarov

It was an honor to me to be included in a still-life show together with Jura Bedic, who has taught me so much on this subject when I was a student. Amongst the artists participating were also my dear friends and colleagues Elisabeth Andersson, Melissa Franklin-Sanchez, Sofia Alethe Romarck, Froydis Aarseth and Tasha Walle.

Leipzig is well-known as one of the cities in Germany, that is very beautiful and rich in culture and history. Richard Wagner, Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy have spent part of their life here and have influenced the city's importance in music significantly. The Opera and the "Gewandhaus" are famous. Also many philosophers as for example Friedrich Nietzsche or poets and writers as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe have lived here. Wonderful location!

May Part II: Bye-Bye old studio

A lot of things where happening throughout May, including moving my studio. I have been working for the past 2 years at the Artspace studios here in Florence, which now unfortunately have closed their doors. Good news is that the place will be most likely turned into a very similar working environment.

Here some impressions on how my studio looked like:

My favorite corner to relax, with my big shelf full of still life objects, books on art and a lot of inspiration surrounded by some of my paintings. On top a sculpture by my friend Eran Webber that he gave to me very generously

The corner where I would usually set up my models and how it would look like after a 4 hour session. This is by the way one of the paintings I am currently working on though I have finished working with the model. I like using friends or people I know as models because I feel it gives more depth to the painting so in this case my florentine friend Margherita dedicated her time to me:

Opposite to my model corner I had set up for still lives, even in this picture you can see the flow of light falling in from the skylight

The last painting I did in my old studio. I finished just a few days before the inside walls, that had subdivided the space into individual working spaces, were taken down.

So a big bye-bye to my "second home" and a big thank you to my friends Ramiro Sanchez, Melissa Sanchez, Hunter Eddy and Evelyn McFarlane for having me in their community of painters, sculptors, photographers and restorers!

May Part I: The 6th Alumni show of the Florence Academy of Art

May has been a very busy month, so I will post the latest news and everything that has happened in parts.

Let's start with the first event that has taken place at the beginning of the month:

The Alumni show of the Florence Academy of Art was hold as usual at the Corsini Family Stables, a beautiful location here in Florence, which enchants with its elegance and rustic charme. Luckily the weather-god meant well with us at both openings, Patron's Preview as well as the Public Opening, and after having visited the exhibition the crowd of artist's and art followers could gather in the surrounding gardens and discuss the works. It was a very impressive show and projects were ambitious in many aspects, not only in size and technique but also in terms of subject matter and showing a profound artist's vision. One could also see that we as artist's, being trained at the same school, are having a common language to express ourselves, but the show illustrated a very rich range of variety of style and how each and every draftsman, painter and sculptor takes it his own, personal direction.

Here some impressions:

Two of my favorites (though there was many really great paintings, those two I could connect with on a more personal level) are "L'inverno" by Maureen Hyde and "Where We Rest" by Sofia A. Romark:

Finally myself, who participated with "La Farfalla - Something's rising, something's falling""Mushrooms & Rosehips"and "Pesto alla Genovese"

To see the entire show please follow the link:

http://www.florenceacademyexhibition.com/#

"Americans in Florence"

A new and very exciting exhibition is taking place in Florence these days. "Americans in Florence" had its opening date on the 3rd of March and will be going on until the 15th of July. It's illustrating the strong bond between the "Old World" and the "New Continent" that has been existing for centuries, also in terms of an artistic exchange. Many american painters came to Europe to study the Old Masters and visit the Academies. Vice versa they brought a fresh perspective on art which influenced european artists strongly as well. On display in Palazzo Strozzi is a wide and exclusive selection of works, including Whistler, Sargent, Duveneck, Tarbell, Merritt Chase, Dewing and on the european side Boldini, Boecklin among many others. Opening hours is every day from 9.00 - 20.00 A wonderful show that can't be missed and a sign that Florence has more to offer than not only the Renaissance

"The end of a day"

Also this painting was done in Monte Carlo. A little bit later in the day, after working on "Cap D'Ail" (see post below) I would walk along the little path towards the city, turn around and face the beautiful sunset at the Cote D'Azur. And even at this hour, while everything else was bathed in a golden shimmer, the sea still remained incredibly blue, with little yellow and orange sparkles along the wave ridge.

"Cap D'Ail"

This painting I did in 2010, when I was visiting Monte Carlo the first time. I stayed a little bit outside the center in Cap D'Ail, on the border to France. It was the perfect working-holiday. During the day I could relax while in the morning and in the evening when it was less hot and the light was smoother I could go out and paint. The landscape there is just fascinating, the sea is blue and powerful and surrounded by steep cliffs and mountains, the air is clear and the colors pure. And yes, the light really is amazing there! South of France is famous for it and I never quite believed it until I got there. It is overwhelming... Exploring the area I discovered a small path going along the coast, where I could paint quietly. Such a delight, listening to the sound of the waves rolling in and smelling the fresh sea air while painting!

International Art Fair Stuttgart-Sindelfingen

The International Artfair is happening from the 13th to the 15th of January in Stuttgart-Sindelfingen. It's one of the places where my painting "Summer Breakfast" will be on display (see post below) in context with the 11th International "Syrlin-Kunstpreis" competition 2012.