Showing posts with label narrative art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label narrative art. Show all posts

Artists as Storytellers

By Judy Feldman | www.wildemeyer.com

What stimulates the artistic mind to pick up a brush and create a painting, or to produce a beautiful object, or, for that matter, to write a compelling novel? Sometimes we see something that triggers our imagination – whether it’s a beautiful landscape, a bowl of perfect fruit, colors that turn us on, or a story that we’ve overheard.

Airing Out
Ka Fisher
Some artists use many of these stimuli to create their work. Painters can tell the story of what they’ve been thinking about through narrative art. These storytellers don’t use words; they use images and color to inform the viewer.

Ka Fisher’s paintings, which have a lovely, Impressionist style, tell stories about Native Americans – their land and the things they do during their daily lives. She told me that she often visits places like Chinle, Kayenta and Canyon de Chelly for her inspiration. At the Hubbell Trading post, she has taken a “listening tour,” where she overhears conversations among customers.

“I get many ideas from the people I meet as well as places I visit,” Ka said. “In the Town of Tubac, they have open wood structures that are used for events to give shade. They also have the same type of structures on the Navajo reservation.” Ka took this vision and developed a story in her large painting entitled “Airing Out,” where rugs are hung to air, and horses walk between them. “I wanted the narrative to be happy and fun, so I added many animals in the foreground,” she said.

Dreamboat Annie Cruisin'
Ka Fisher
Another painting, “Dreamboat Annie Cruisin’,” combines stories that relate to the Navajo way of life and Ka’s own history. “Here, I’m mixing memory and imagery,” she said. “The vintage cars are embedded in my mind from childhood.” Ka sets the scene in the mountain foothills, where Navajo display their rugs in and among a vintage car show. That may not actually have happened, but it’s Ka’s story to tell! The bright colors of the rugs and the cars create a lively, appealing scene.

Sometimes memories can play a role in narrative painting. In Ka Fisher’s case, she spent her childhood summers in Canada by a river near two Indian villages. The scenes she paints incorporate some of that landscape, along with the Southwest she has adopted as her current home.
My Market
Linda Carter Holman
Over in California, artist Linda Carter Holman tells painted stories about her vision of life. Many of the elements in her paintings have special meanings for her. In her painting entitled “My Market,” she created a scene that’s “how it would be if I had a market.” She said that the sunflower over one woman’s head is symbolic of the sun, which she couldn’t show because of the awning overhead. The lovebird in the cage is another favorite image, as is the goldfish in the bowl under the table on the right side. “Goldfish represent the miracle of discovering the world to me,” she said. Above the goldfish bowl, there is a jug with a small ladder leaning against it. Linda said that image also tells a story of self-discovery.

Lotus
Linda Carter Holman
Even though Linda uses a strong color palette, her painting is serene. The four women in the painting seem to be enjoying themselves as they walk through the market. They are soft-bodied figures, since Linda thinks that curves are more relaxing. You see curved shapes throughout the painting, which is filled in every spot with an image, because, as she says “every inch of our lives is filled with something.”

Her painting entitled “Lotus” tells a different story. It seems more mysterious to me. The solitary figure has her back to the viewer, so we don’t really know what she’s thinking. When I commented to Linda that things didn’t seem to be in scale, she replied that she was just creating a composition – a visual story – which unfolded in that way. “I just painted a moment in this woman’s life.” I asked about the umbrellas, and she said that they symbolize being prepared (that’s more necessary in Northern California than here in Arizona). She chose the image of the lotus because “it comes from the mud and becomes something, just as a person evolves.”


Treats
Judy Feldman
After speaking with these two artists, I started thinking about my own paintings. Do I tell a story, too? I actually think I do, since many of my paintings are about places I’d like to be – cozy settings, with colorful furniture, and, usually, a contented dog. “Treats” is a good example of a typical story I tell. The open book, the slippers and the tea and cupcakes all indicate that a person will soon be coming back into the room. The dog shares its owner’s good life, with treats for him on the table.

Cote D'Azur
Judy Feldman
Another painting, “Afternoon at the Cote D’Azur,” is inspired by a visit to the South of France. Here, again, my story is of an inviting place, with a table set for a possible romantic dinner, observed by the family’s dog and cat.

We all have stories. Some of us are fortunate to be able to tell them visually. But, even if you can’t paint or write, it’s important to share your stories with others. And, don’t forget to embellish them a little!


You can see more art by Judy Feldman, Linda Carter Holman and Ka Fisher at Wilde Meyer Gallery.

Myths, Truth & Western Characters

Thom Ross | Doc Holiday
Doc Holiday 40"x30"
Thom Ross | Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp 40"x30"
Myths and truth are the narratives that run through the distinctive paintings by Thom Ross. In his art, Thom paints famous Western characters in a distinctive way that tells a more complex story than the traditional historical myths we have come to know. “I’m a storyteller who paints,” he says.

Some of Thom's most well know  paintings is his ongoing series of works about the Gunfight at O.K. Corral.  Here is a bit of background on the Gunfight at O.K. Corral from Wikipedia:
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States and which is generally regarded as the most famous gunfight in the history of the American Old West. The gunfight, believed to have lasted only about thirty seconds, was fought between the outlaw Cowboys Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury and his brother Frank McLaury, and the opposing lawmen Virgil Earp and his brothers Morgan and Wyatt Earp, aided by Doc Holliday acting as a temporary deputy of Virgil. Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight unharmed, but Ike's brother Billy Clanton, along with both McLaurys, were killed. Lawmen Holliday and Morgan and Virgil Earp were wounded. Only Wyatt Earp came through the fight unharmed. The fight has come to represent a time in American history when the frontier was open range for outlaws opposed by law enforcement that was spread thin over vast territories, leaving some areas unprotected.

Thom Ross | Clanton Gang Crossing Allen Street
Clanton Gang Crossing Allen Street 18"x18" giclee print

And here are a couple from our image archives.  Some, Thom painted many years ago:

Thom Ross | Gunfight at OK Corral
The Gunfight at OK Corral  oil on canvas 48"x72"  2009

Waiting in the Corral, oil on canvas 48"x48" 2005
Midnight Tombstone Quartet 2005
Billy Clanton, 2001
Virgil Earp, 2001


Tom McLaury is Dead, 2001
Billy Clanton's Last Shot, 2001




The Storyteller & The Dream Maker

The Dream Maker by Andrea Peterson
What stimulates the artistic mind to pick up a brush and create a painting, or to produce a beautiful object, or, for that matter, to write a compelling novel? Sometimes we see something that triggers our imagination – whether it’s a beautiful landscape, a bowl of perfect fruit, colors that turn us on, or a story that we’ve overheard.

Some artists use many of these stimuli to create their work. Painters can tell the story of what they’ve been thinking about through narrative art. These storytellers don’t use words; they use images and color to inform the viewer.

Ka Fisher’s paintings, which have a lovely, Impressionist style, tell stories about Native Americans – their land and the things they do during their daily lives. She told me that she often visits places like Chinle, Kayenta and Canyon de Chelly for her inspiration. At the Hubbell Trading post, she has taken a “listening tour,” where she overhears conversations among customers.

Escape Plan by Ka Fisher

Billy Blue Hat Rides by Ka Fisher
“I get many ideas from the people I meet and the stories I hear,” Ka said. For example, I heard about animals that tend to get away such as problem sheep. That provided me with the idea for ‘Escape Plan,’  which depicts a woman herder and a border collie keeping watch over sheep that seem to have another idea about where they want to go.”
Boots and Fetish
by Ka Fisher

Another painting, “Come to Say Hello,” was inspired by a moment when Ka was at a ranch in Taos eating donuts and some horses approached her. “I think they wanted a taste,” she said. “That was a moment I remembered and decided to share in this painting.” Although her references are accurate, Ka’s color palette is very imaginative, as you can see in her paintings.

Come to Say Hello by Ka Fisher
Sometimes memories can play a role in narrative painting. In Ka Fisher’s case, she spent her childhood summers in Canada by a river near two Indian villages. The scenes she paints incorporate some of that landscape, along with the Southwest she has adopted as her current home.

Andrea Peterson’s paintings are based on ancient mythology, lost legends and a time when nature was full of mystery. She, too, tells stories about cultures, often referring to eastern traditions and symbolism. Andrea’s paintings seem to be inspired by thoughts of figures wandering through mystical lands.

Phoenix and the Tiger by Andrea Peterson
Field of Piece by Andrea Peterson
For example, in “Phoenix and the Tiger,” she uses popular yin/yang symbols. The white tiger is a rare animal, and a powerful representation of strength, or yang. The girl has the tattoo of the Phoenix bird, a feminine, or yin, symbol of rebirth. Although this painting is highly imaginative, Andrea told me that the background is actually a depiction of an actual Chinese landscape called "Tiger Leaping Gorge."
My Bonnie by Andrea Peterson

In her painting entitled “Field of Piece,” we see a young woman with windblown hair cradling a lamb. The landscape that surrounds her is clearly one of the artist’s imaginations, and we wonder about the story that she is telling us here.

Her newest painting, entitled "Spirit World," is inspired by the annual Chinese lantern festival where many lanterns are released the first full moon of the New Year.

Spirit World celebrates positive relationships between people, ancestors, nature and the higher beings that were believed to be responsible for bringing or returning the light each year,” Andrea said. “The large size of this painting gives the viewer the sense of not just looking at a peaceful scene, but the feeling of being within the painting themselves,” she explained.

Spirit World by Andrea Peterson
As you can see, narrative art depicts subjects that are dear to an artist’s heart. In my next blog post, I’m going to look at paintings by Thom Ross. His stories are all about famous Western characters and the myths that follow them. Should be interesting!