In May of 2021, I was awarded the Munn Fellowship which will allow me to live and paint as artist-in-residence for 3 months at Claude Monet's estate in Giverny, France. Words cannot express how thankful I am to have been chosen for this prestigious award. It has really helped to fuel my passion and made me think deeply about my own work and career.
I leave in two days for this residency and I'm filled with all sorts of emotions. I'm very excited and nervous at the same time. This will also be the longest I've ever been away from home for one period of time. I've only been to Europe one time previously when I went to Spain in 2018. But this trip is different because it's not a vacation and I'm going to be working very hard to create paintings. Although I love painting with all my heart, it is still a job and I take it very seriously. Of course I can't paint 24/7 so I also want to spend some time exploring Giverny and Paris. I've been generously given some recommendations of things to do in Paris so that's going to be fun to do in my downtime. The culture, museums, food, language and people are all things that I look forward to experiencing. I am also planning to do a lot of writing and maybe turn it into a published memoir or book once I'm back. My Summer in Giverny.. haha To my family, friends, students and everyone who has wished me well: THANK YOU!! Your support has meant so much to me. I feel like I have a whole team of people rooting for me here in the US. I really want to make everyone proud of me and to share my experience as much as I can. With that being said, I'll be sharing updates, writing and photos on this BLOG. I'll post frequently so please stay tuned. Au revoir pour le moment! 🇫🇷
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As a Studio Ghibli fan, I really enjoy all the art books and extra materials that the studio has available. A series of books that I'm very fond of are the storyboard collections. This storyboard collection is from The Wind Rises, which is one of my favorite Ghibli films. For anyone unfamiliar with the animation process: the director (in this case, Hayao Miyazaki) drew these storyboards in preparation for the film. The storyboards are the basis for the movie and it shows the major scenes and shots. It also includes camera instructions and additional notes to show the movement and backgrounds. Although the storyboards are a functional part of the film making process, they inspire me as a painter for purely artistic reasons. Something to keep in mind for anyone looking to purchase these books is that the storyboards are all in Japanese; Although I don't know Japanese, I'm interested in the beautiful artwork. This storyboard collection is especially nice because it's mostly painted with watercolor. The book comes in a textured paper slipcase which is sturdy and keeps the book and pamphlet together. Every part of this book makes me really happy. Hayao Miyazaki is one of my favorite artists and his artwork and films inspire me a lot. It's amazing to me that he draws all these beautiful scenes from his imagination with such clarity. I'm sure that he uses references for certain things like the planes and some scenery, but the design and composition of each shot is magical. The other thing I love about his drawings is his line work. Miyazaki sums up a whole scene with a few lines. Sargent is another artist who had the ability to simplify a whole scene with simple lines. I also see many parallels between these storyboards and the croquis (thumbnail sketches) of many 19th century artists. Bouguereau himself would do these sort of sketches in preparation for his large oil paintings. Flipping through these storyboards really feels like watching the movie again but in a manga format. Miyazaki's artistry, imagination and storytelling ability all combine to create these great images. He's truly a master and I look forward to his next film which he's working on now. Check out the pictures and video below. I love the action and animation of these three shots belowAnyone looking for more info about these storyboard books should check out this video: I spotted this cool backhoe while riding home from the store so I walked back with my supplies and painted it. I enjoy painting machinery and vehicles like this because I like painting the different textures and shapes of them. The wheels and metal also reminded me of the times that I've painted my motorcycle.
I'm going to try and scout out more interesting things like this to paint. I learned a lot by doing it and by pushing my boundaries with new subject matter. I just started a new book and it's a very interesting one. It's called No Heaven for Gunga Din by Ali Mirdrekvandi Gunga Din. The book has an introduction written by a man named John Hemming who knew the mysterious author of the story. I just started reading the story so I don't know how it is yet, but there was a line in the introduction by Hemming which made me think. "He (Gunga Din) held as it were the mirror up to Nature, being so natural, so close to Nature himself--not to the truth of fact, the truth of reason, the truth of the head, but to the truth of the imagination and of the heart, the vision of the child." This quote reminds me a lot of what I want to achieve with my own paintings. I am a representational painter, but I don't want to just record "the truth of fact". I want my paintings to achieve this childlike vision of the world around me. I'm always thinking about the ecology or interrelatedness of things and it's beautiful to come across writing that relates to my own work. |
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