Pearl

©2011 Bethany Vanderputten

A new level for the truly transcendent recording artist.

Winged Victory

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt, Sold.

Summertime and a Cup of Tea

One of my most favourite painters is the woman impressionist Mary Cassatt.

My mom has a print of this painting which I've adored since childhood. It is called "Summertime". I enjoy the work because of the beautiful reflective quality of the water that echoes the mood of the ladies in the boat. I enjoy the textural brushwork, the repetition of the birds with variation in their style, the graphic nature of the boat coming into the frame, as well as the distance created by fuzzy trees at the shoreline and the more indistinct ducks. I also love how there is created the sense of strong outdoor light with a shadow under the younger girls hat. There is a real sense of the moment in this painting which I think makes it fresh even over a hundred years since it was created.



Another painting of hers which I saw in exhibit here in San Francisco last year, is "The Cup of Tea 2". Again I love the textural brushstrokes that get smaller in detail and more dainty as you look closer at the tea cup and her fingers placed so precisely. I love the sense of depth you get with the gestural flowers and the atmospheric brushwork beyond. I also enjoy her use of unexpected colors, like the strong red on the edges of her dress and at the edge of her nose. It's interesting even how the blues in the flowers behind are echoed in the blues on her glove. This piece utilizes the concept of overlapping in a small space to obtain depth. The edge of the chair is in front of the woman who is in front of the flower stand.

Michael Dudash

I love this painting entitled "Mary M" by inspirational artist Michael Dudash. See more and buy prints on his Imagekind page here.

Kerne Erickson

I recently bought a set of postcards painted by this artist. I was reluctant to send them as I fell in love with their retro look and soft colors featuring various travel destinations in Hawaii. Then I realized that Erickson does other images I've seen too... like this San Francisco image:



I may have to purchase some larger prints... love, love, love!

Razzauti, Roman and Rahab

So I wandered through a couple galleries in Lahaina while I relaxed on Spring Break... I really enjoyed the work of Andrea Razzauti. I'm inspired by his refined drawings and beautiful colours. His work is on display in the Lahaina Galleries (there's a sister one here in San Francisco). This is his "In Toscana".

I also enjoyed another artist's work on display next door at Sargents and was inspired by his story: Roman Czerwinski.

Now back to my thesis! Here's a couple of conceptual thumbnails for my book which is in progress...

Inspiration

I can't stop looking at impressionists lately, especially Mary Cassatt. I love the energetic brush strokes and unexpected uses of colour. Today I'm studying this beautiful painting by Claude Monet from 1875, "Woman with Parasol":