WRAPPING UP THE AMARYLLIS (part III)

STAGE I

Amaryllis ( in progress)

James Aponovich

Don't touch it! It's finished!

STAGE II

Amaryllis / grisaille ( in progress)

James Aponovich

STAGE III

In The Night Studio, The Amaryllis
James Aponovich
oil on canvas, 20" x 12"


Complete (well, maybe)


First of all, I must apologize to anyone tuning in to this blog expecting an explanation on how to store an Amaryllis bulb until next year. Unfortunately, I don't have the foggiest idea, but it probably has something to do with newspaper and a dark, dry , cool place. No, this is about a journey of a painting. At this point it is done. Its relative success or failure is not for me to determine, it is only
 time to move on.


A NARRATIVE WITHOUT LANGUAGE

The Magic Shelf

(detail)
James Aponovich

(detail)
James Aponovich



Coming up......Florence





{week 26}


Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE FOOD ISSUE... Mid Winter Edition

WHAT!  LOBSTER AGAIN?

Lobster
James Aponovich
oil on panel, 10" x 8"


THE ELEGANT FIRESIDE DINNER
(or if you must, brunch)

The last time we encountered lobster ( blog post #6), it was stuffed into a hot dog roll, fun and delicious but definitely not elegant. It is my opinion that lobster meat does not lend itself to diverse
 preparations, ( unlike say, chicken), although they do refer to a small lobster as a "chicken lobster." The meat tends to toughen with prolonged cooking, so if you want to avoid the 'dunk in the butter' thing, there is......


BUERRE BLANC

White butter sauce, usually made with white wine, vinegar, shallots and of course butter. Since no drink goes better with lobster than Champagne (or Prosecco) and Meyer lemons are ripening in the atrium....This just might work. So combine-

1 small glass of Champagne or Prosecco
2 Tbs. lemon juice and some zest
2 Tbs. shallot, finely diced
2 Tbs. cream
Lots of Butter


Bring some champagne, lemon juice and shallot to a simmer and reduce to not much at all. Add the cream and zest and reduce some more, then add the butter until glossy and irresistible....salt, pepper. Done!

" Lobster Fired Over Cold is some wicked good"
                         - Basil Ladd, Bucks Harbor, Maine

A Downeast expression that some call 'Lazy Man's Lobster' But it is just lobster meat taken out of the shell and finished in a saute pan with butter, enhancing the lobster taste.



HOW TO SERVE

You could serve the meat by putting it back into the lobster carcass, but I find that a bit gross
( plus you can't eat he shell), so I turn to
 Elizabeth and ask," could you bake some profiteroles?
Please?"

Lobster and Cream Puff Pastry Shells (profiteroles)


Baseball size profiteroles are perfect, but nobody minds puff pastry shells from the supermarket.

Now, put a little buerre blanc sauce into the shell, stuff as much lobster as you can, then drizzle more sauce on top, pour a glass of bubbly, sit by a roaring fire, and as they say Downeast....
"Finest Kind! "




{week 25}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE GREEK CHORUS*

* A term used by Boston Globe Art Critic, Cate McQuaid, in describing a similar

painting in an exhibition of mine at Clark Gallery in 2013.

Still Life with Amaryllis (in progress)
James Aponovich
oil on canvas, 20" x 12"


There are those who would say, with some justification, "It's finished, don't touch it."
Perhaps they would be right, but there is something in artists that keeps wanting to push things further, to weave a more complex tapestry. "Less is More," not withstanding, I feel that more is needed  in this painting, so for the background, I have decided to fill it up with objects from the studio, my old warhorses.Since I have already determined the value gradient, all I have to do is choose the right objects that will complete the composition....Easy?....Not really. Remember it's a chorus, no off notes. There is a lot to control here, so at this point I turn to a very old technique....


GRISAILLE

The Flemaille Panel, 1420
Robert Campin (Flemish)


Grisaille is a monochromatic painting, usually grey. It allows the artist to concentrate only with value to create form ( color can quickly get out of hand). Since I had already established the overall values of the background ( darker to lighter), I had to make sure that when all the objects are painted, the total sum of the values would remain the same overall, it's complicated. But, how do I space the background for the objects?


TWO SQUARES OVERLAPPING

By overlapping two squares based on the width of the rectangle, I arrive at two important horizontal lines. These help in establishing the spacing of the shelves that will create the bookcase.


THE MEMBERS OF THE CHORUS

Still Life with Amaryllis ( in progress)
James Aponovich
oil on panel, 20" x 12"


Next up....Let's color up!




{week 24}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

WINTER LIGHT

VITA BREVIS

Q. I am outraged! I have been following your pet 'project' for awhile and all I am seeing are insipid pictures of flowers, candy, sticky notes and now a pineapple swan ! Hello! Wake up! Wht aren't you addressing the urgent social issues of economic inequality, our stagnant political structure,pervasive racial prejudice and racism's by-products, world hunger and disease?

                                                                                 - Alyssa M., Cambridge, MA

A. I thought I was.

ARS LONGAS

Calla Lily

James Aponovich
From the Sketchbook, pencil on paper


" Flowers are very hard to paint, much harder than faces or landscapes."
                                                             -Alex Katz, Pop Artist


THE UNCOMMON CORE

When Beth and I were asked to write an e-book for the California school system entitled, How To Read A Painting, I knew that we had our work cut out for us. The book was directed at the seventh grade. I once taught the seventh grade and in fact I was once a seventh grader myself. I knew it as a difficult transitional time in life. The clarity of the childhood vision was clouded over by the way things were 'suppose' to be. It soon became apparent what we were saying to them applies to adults as well. We were trying to explain how to not just look but to see and then see deeper. To wit, may I introduce........



THE AMARYLLIS

I usually paint flowers in the summer or fall when they are in bloom in our garden. The Amaryllis is an exception, it must be painted in winter light.

In my studio


I found an old, exhausted canvas lying around the studio that just had a light wash of a garden scene sketched on it, I knew that it was going nowhere so I covered it in an Iron Oxide ( black) giving me a dark ground. The shape of the canvas seemed appropriate, it's the Golden Section, more or less.

I began painting the flowers all prima, directly onto the dark ground, no room fro error. I had marked where the pot was to be and a small section of the table.


DIALECTIC / DIALOGUE

I have said before that when I use a cloth in a painting, it is to balance what is happening in the other parts, by texture, form and color. Because I had no room below the table to establish the cloth, I placed it on top of the table, in back of the pot, in what I call "the sleeping cat position." ( I once painted a sleeping cat into a still life ).

 I chose a brocade fabric with colors, if combined, would result in the same color of the flowers. I hesitate from calling it 'salmon', it doesn't seem right to use the color of the raw flesh of a fish to describe a petal of a flower....or maybe it does.

Amaryllis Flowers ( detail)
James Aponovich

The flowers are what you look at first, they are the stars, the lead singer. The cloth is there for support, the back up singers. I need to bring the eye up and down to both. I could paint water drop on the stem, but before I do that I've established a value gradation in the background, lighter at the bottom, darker at the top, nine values in all.

Amaryllis ( in progress)
James Aponovich

Now, to keep the lower part interesting, I've used some artistic 'smoke and mirrors'. The left side of the cloth is lighter against the background while the right side is darker against the same background, also before I paint the flower pot, the left side of the cloth is darker against the pot while the right side is lighter. There is a constant manipulation of value to keep the eye moving. but maybe the painting is a bit boring and uninspired. Perhaps its time to bring in......
The Greek Chorus

To Be Continued.


{week 23}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

THE FOOD CRAFTERS ISSUE

PINEAPPLES

ANANAS ( A Pattern Pineapple)

Ana Aponovich

watercolor, 20" x 28"

"Don't play with your food!"

                                                   -Eve ( as told to Cain and Able)

Italians love fruit, strawberries, cherries, figs, blood oranges....you name it. But, I would say that they harbor a particular  fondness for two: watermelon (cocomero) in summer and pineapple ( ananas) the rest of the year. Dessert is often a perfectly ripe piece of fruit to balance the complexity of a meal. Other desserts tend to be simple and not overly sweet. What complicated desserts there are usually have trickled down from France. However, there is one indigenous dish that stands alone.....

" The best tiramisu in the world."

                                  -Aldous Huxley

Think Tiramisu ( trans. 'pick me up') and it may elicit a yawn from you and in general for good reason.

Without a doubt, it has been overused and butchered here in the states......

....tiramisu cupcakes.....tiramisu coffee?

However, there is one restaurant in Italy whose Tiramisu reigns supreme, at Befico family
 owned ( since 1959)  Ristorante Masolino in Panicale. While Bruna and Sonia cook, and Andrea pours wine, Stefania rules the dessert menu. Torta di Nonna, Crema Caramella, Biscotti and her tour  de force Tiramisu compliment one of the best Italian meals you can get.

Bruna, Stefania & Sonia in the kitchen

Stefania

Masolino's Restaurant, Panicale

But, we are here for for fruit, so lets leave Panicle and return to Tuscany and the 

walled city of Borgo Sansepolcro.

Journal Page: Sansepolcro

James Aponovich

Yeah, we were on the Piero Trail ( blog post 21) and spent the night at what I think is the only hotel within the walls, Albergo Fiorentino. For dining, there is the attractive Ristorante Fiorentino in the hotel presided over by the gregarious owner. To start, I ordered the usual affitasi ( mixed local cured meats and cheeses) , but then I saw the most amazing antipasto pass by me for the next table.

THE PINEAPPLE SWAN

"I'll have what they're having."

They serve the swan two ways, for antipasto, various salamis are placed between the pineapple slices, and for the dolci course it is served without meat but instead with whipped cream ( panna). Anyway they showed me how to make one and when we returned home and hosted a dinner party, I made one with salami and was curious to see how it would be received.

It was like kids at a birthday party....within minutes...gone!

(week 22)

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

CASTING A LONGER SHADOW (part III)

The Sevigalla Madonna
Piero della Francesca
Urbino, Italy

For awhile it was quite fashionable while touring Tuscany to engage in cultural pursuits,judging from the lines to see Michelangelo's David ( a.k.a. Naked White Guy), I guess it's still sort of true. If you belong to a certain 'set' and are more adventurous, you embark o the"Piero Trail", seeking out frescos by Piero della Francesca, in situ. They cannot come to a museum near you, so you must go to where they were painted. After all you must do something between that last caffe doppio in the morning and your first sip of Chianti Riserva in the evening. It becomes somewhat of a life list game.......How many Piero's have you seen?

Federico da Montefeltro 
Battista Sforza
Piero della Francesca
Uffizi, Florence

As an introduction, the trail begins in Florence at the Uffizi. Federico and Battista from Urbino sit in the middle of the room, husband and wife in profile in front of an imaginary landscape. They are paintings on panel and critically many feel these are lesser works, charming, as they say. But, to me they are splendid, there is an instant clarity of form and a real sense that these figures sit in air ( sfumato). Piero manages to paint atmosphere in front, around and in back of the figures. He paints the invisible. This was a big deal at the time when the Renaissance was abandoning gothic flatness. Take a quick look around and then onto the first stop.....


AREZZO, CHURCH OF SAN FRANCESCO

Legend of the True Cross ( detail)
Piero della Francesco
Church of San Francesco, Arezzo


Leave Florence and head east on the Autostrata ( S1) and you will soon arrive at Arezzo, a gritty thug town. The city was heavily bombed by the Allies during World War II, so much of its presumed charm has been lost. Make your way to the Church of San Franceso, walk past it and try to find the          
ticket office ( Bigletteria) and hope that its open. Return to the church and you'll see the fresco cycle of The Legend of the True Cross. Don't forget your binoculars, you'll need them. O.K. Next stop.....


SAN SEPOLCRO, MUSEO CIVICO

The Resurrection
Piero della Francesca
Museo Civico, San Sepolcro

As you drive east from Arezzo, the landscape changes, more resembling northern New England. You emerge to a large plain, Anghiari is to the north and further east is Borgo San Sepolcro, the birthplace of Piero himself. Here you will see The Resurrection, a painting that Aldous Huxley
 referred to as, " The greatest picture in the World." ( I wonder what Trevor F. would think of that!).....
Onward!


MONTERCHI

Madonna del Prato
Piero della Francesca

Quick! grab a bite at a Tavola Calda, no time to sit, we still must 'do' Urbino, but first we have a pregnant Madonna to visit.
I don't know ..... you know how far Urbino is? Anyway, it's almost 'Happy Hour' back at the villa and we do have reservations for dinner at Cibreo.... well...maybe next time.
Siamo Stanchi!  ( we're tired!)

The spirit is willing
but
the flesh is weak

Madonna and Child with Four Saints
Piero della Francesca
Clark Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Don't fret! Back here in the U.S.A. you can find a handful of Piero's, Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, and right here at nearby Williamstown, MA.  This is why we came here, to the Clark.  It is what is called an easel painting and it probably hung on a wall to the right of a window.
 How do we know?........ The angel is casting a shadow.



~~~~~~~~~~

Il Duomo and Campanile,  Florence (in progress)
James Aponovich


"This is insane, this is insane."
                                                -Tom B., appliance repairman

He might be correct. More on this later.




{week 21}
Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

Casting A Long Shadow (part II)

CASTING A LONG SHADOW

(part II)

Il Duomo ( in progress)

James Aponovich

pencil on panel, 12" x 17"

To: Aponovich 43

Re: Piano Criticism

Ref # : Blog #19

Q.  I am troubled by your last posting concerning Renzo Piano's stunning completion of the Fogg Museum at Harvard. Renzo has managed ( brilliantly) to unite the Crimson Trinity of The Busch-Reisinger and The Sackler Collections into the original (faded) Fogg to create an ethereal, unified masterpiece. I have admired his achievements at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston as well as The Pierpont Morgan here in New York. He is truly a genius of our age and he has my imprimatur.
    To my surprise, I have discovered that your work is in the collections of quite a few museums, or as you so glibly refer to them as"zoos." You are not a critic and have not had any such training. Should't you just stick to your dabbling and leave the critical analysis to professionals?           
                                                                               -Trevor F., Manhattan

A.   I seem to recall that once upon a time, many, many years ago, Apollodorus of Damascus and Hadrian had a similar conversation, it led to unpleasantries. So, all right, lets leave Renzo The Magnificent behind, but allow me one more shot. This time with a guy from The Land of the Rising Sun in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts at...

                                                     

THE STERLING and FRANCINE CLARK INSTITUTE

If you drive west from Peterborough along The Mohawk Trail ( Route 2) you will eventually come to Williamstown, Massachusetts, the home of the Clark Institute ( Museum). Again, we with with our friends, Bob and Sylvia. Williamstown seems to be a serene New England college town and was endowed with a considerable personal art collection that was amassed during the early part of the Twentieth Century by the Clark's ( Singer sewing machine fortune). 

The original building is some fifty years old and starting to show it's age ( who's not?). So the Trustees raised a whole bunch of money and commissioned the Japanese Architect Tadao Ando to transform it and thusly us. The problem is............

After you park your car, it is not evident where in the world the entrance is... maybe it's a Japanese thing. What you do see are 'art mark' walls of granite extending in various directions, although, by following one I did manage to find a bathroom. After some exploring, we finally entered the admissions building, a large airy space with glass walls that contained one desk, the admission desk and the architects gift shop. Stairs led down to 'the special exhibitions space', ubiquitous cafe and bookshop. To me I felt like I was in the basement, which I was.

BETTER LIGHT CONTROL I THOUGHT

or

MAYBE JUST AN AFTERTHOUGHT 

The Weight of Water

But, step outside to the utter tranquility. Two enormous but shallow pools reflect one another and are harmoniously set into the landscape ( Landscape Architect, Reed Hilderbrand), rounded stones cover the bottom, the sky is reflected on the surface, talk about 'in situ'! Sylvia mentioned that the people on the far side looked like figures in an architectural drawing......I replied,"Believe me, they are."

It all makes you almost forget why you are here........the art!

Coming up next week:

The Outside May Be Pretty

But

It's Whats Inside That Counts.

{week 20}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich