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GOOSE BUMPS
What does it take to bring goose bumps to my arms? How about yours?
Much of this last year I’ve had physical difficulty painting. Let’s just say I spent more than an occasional afternoon on the couch wallowing in negativity because I couldn’t put in the time at the easel, much less, do my hair. LOL
Last month, I went under the knife for rotator cuff surgery with a frozen shoulder complication. One of the great things that came from this forced time off was reconnecting with my original visual influencers. (yes, that’s an actual word in the dictionary now) I found myself scrolling through old files of cataloged favorite paintings and artists from all genres.
The Early California Impressionists of the 20th Century were my OG’s in the beginning. Not to be confused with the French Impressionists. We, as a culture, are more familiar with French Impressionism. Monet, Renoir, and Pissarro, recognizable names for school kids and the public alike. I had been exposed to the French Impressionists over the years, but never really “felt” a connection.
Back in 2000, I saw the Native Grandeur- Preserving California’s Vanishing Landscapes exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California and for the first time had to sit down and catch my breath.
You know, when your heart skips a beat and you feel like you can’t stand on your feet.
The paintings ranged from the grandeur of William Keith, to the color filled canvas’s of the Early California Impressionists to the more modern take on the landscape by Emil Kosa Jr. My painting hero’s quickly became William Ritschell, Edgar Payne, Percy Gray, Franz Bischoff. The combination of seeing these incredible paintings of my California in paint and learning to paint plein air is what sent me down the path I am on today.
When I saw the painting below, Sycamore in Autumn by Edgar Payne in the exhibition...
Edgar Payne, Sycamore in Autumn, Orange County Park 1917
GOOSE BUMPS!
I had to sit down or I would have fallen on my ass.
What captured my attention was the underlying tonal power that cemented the design of the California impressionists' color-saturated paintings. Influences from the East and West combined to establish a visual tale in paint that continues to excite me to this day.
Tonality in painting is the dark light relationship an image is created with. The power of tone conveys strength, mood, place in time and leaves much to consider for the observer.
A DIP INTO TONALISM
The leading tonalists of the late 19th and 20th Century are George Inness, Albert Pinkham Ryder, John Twachtman, James McNeill Whistler, L. Birge Harrison. Here is a perfect quote describing the tonal approach by one of the OG’s of Tonalism:
"As light fades and the shadows deepen, all petty and exacting details vanish, everything trivial disappears, and I see things as they are in great strong masses: the buttons are lost, but the sitter remains…the shadow is lost, but the picture remains.” -James A. McNeill Whistler
There is a weight, like a thick blanket, that calms my nerves when in front of a great tonalist painting. The heaviness, causes me to breath deeper, exhale slowly. My blood pressure lowers and a sense of melancholy lingers.
One of my favorite tonal paintings is Arques-la-Bataille, by John Henry Twachtman.
Arques-la-Bataille, John Henry Twachtman 1885 Oil on Canvas
I stood in front of this painting at The Metropolitan Museum of Art for almost an hour. The balance of formal design, flatting of shapes, similar to a Japanese Woodblock print, and the subtle color relationships speak to my soul. This piece has inspired several works of mine through the years.
Since way back in the prehistoric ages, I mean when I started painting from life, there has been a tonalist thread running through my work. My first inkling of the power of tone (also called values) was in 2001 when painting outside with my friend and teacher at the time, Brigitte Curt. I had started with an under-painting, after it dried I was about to begin applying color when she came up behind me and said,
"STOP! Trust me, you are finished. Start another painting because this is a powerful painting that speaks to the future of your work."
I wasn't sure at the time what she meant, but I stopped and started another. I brought the piece home and set it aside not sure what to do with it. Ode to Percy Gray, (below left) was that piece.
The second time I realized the power of tone/values was in 2003 when I had a plein air piece, Winter Sunrise at the Palo Alto Baylands, (below right) accepted into the Napa Valley Museum Plein Air Biennial. I came upon a couple of women discussing my painting. I overheard one say that it reminded her of a George Inness tonalist painting. Needless to say, I quickly became great friends with her!
To this day Tonalism inspires and continues to influence my work. The revered tonalists of the 20th Century laid the groundwork for the current resurgence of the tonalist movement. I am honored and grateful to be included as one of the members of
The American Tonalist Society
Founded by D. Elienne Basa, Daniel Ambrose and Mary Erickson in 2016.
I've had two pieces accepted into the Shades of Gray ll exhibition at the Salmagundi Club, New York, April 28- May 7, 2023.
I want to leave you with a few more amazing tonalist pieces that raise the hair on my arms. These works are quiet yet powerful. They infuse in me a desire to work harder, to get better, to get my ass in the studio!
Let me know what makes you hold your breath and give you goose bumps!
GOOSE BUMPS!
Emil Carlsen, Night, Old Windham, 1904
Emil Carlsen, The Heavens are Telling, 1918
Birge Harrison, Bryan Park at Evening, New York, 1908
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Kim Fancher Lordier Studio (650) 270-8352 [email protected]
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