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Libraries, Good Ones

by Cooper on 6/11/2009 9:58:48 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio on a beautiful June evening in Spencer, Iowa.

On the previous post, I spoke of the pleasures :) of time spent in Iowa City, Iowa. This evening, let's add one more paragraph to that broad subject! Let's talk libraries. Some of you have heard me say that "when I get old and senile, and my kids take away my car keys for safety's sake, I want to live within walking distance of a really great library"!

---Could be that Iowa City should be on my list of target destinations. I currently live four-some hours distant from Iowa City, and I am a cardcarryingpatron of the Iowa City Public Library anyway. When I stopped by last weekend for an art book-fix, we discovered that my card needed "updating"--the last address they had for me was Brooklyn, Iowa, distance 50 miles. I held my breath and waited for the librarian to ask "where on earth is Spencer, and how far away is it" but I lucked out. She just blinked and typed it in.

Did I mention that I got two excellent books? Pierre-Auguste Renoir by Susan Rayfield and Renoir by Walter Pach. I am spending my sketching time working from images in the books, so see, there's another good reason.

However, I digress. I think I started this post with the intention of doing a top ten list of favorite libraries that have great collections of art books, but at this point, my list isn't that large. I can give you my top three, in no specific order :) Yes, the Iowa City Public Library makes the cut, and the second is even more distant, but equally amazing in their collection of art books. That would be the public library in Longmont, Colorado. I am fairly confident they both have art book collections that would keep me busy from here to eternity. Number three hails from Storm Lake, Iowa and is housed in the architectural finery of Buena Vista University. I recommend the "visitor" card at this fine facility, the (ahem) cost of getting a student card there is substantial :)

If you are an Iowegian (yes, that's slang for living in Iowa) do you know about the State Of Iowa Library Silo system? It's an interlibrary loan system, and a massive resource if you have just a little bit of patience. The above "Silo" link will get you to the catalog, and then your just take your findings to your local library and they order them in for you. Here's where it gets a little tricky though---some local libraries just order them in and some make you pay to order them in. Heavy sigh. My local library would be of the latter group.

And hey, do you want to know what I painted today? This is a painting blog you'll remember! I am working on a nice, big, outdoor cafe scene. It's got a ways to go. I am going to have to lock myself into the studio tomorrow. I am six hours shy of my 20 hour week!

Later, Cooper

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Thoughts On Readying For The Economic Upswing, And Painting To Match The Sofa

by cooper on 3/5/2009 3:27:34 PMComment on this

Greetings,

I am into a book, Vincent By Himself, edited by Bruce Bernard. Technically, it's written by VanGogh, as it's really a compilation of his letters, interspersed with his paintings. In one of his many letters to brother Theo, I found a gem of a paragraph, which I'd like to share with you. But first I would like to set it in present day context, because it really seemed to me as current today as it must have been when he wrote it.

There have been many blogs written lately by artists planning to stay home from shows this summer, work on their art, hone up on their skills, study, maybe even create a new body of work, written as constructive, positive-outlook letters, by artists whose paintings aren't selling well in the current economy. Situations assessed, plans made for moving forward. Here's the paragraph:

"As to the the money value of my work, I do not pretend to anything less than that it would greatly astonish me if in time my work did not become just as saleable as that of others. (somebody's paintings aren't selling?) Of course I cannot tell whether that will happen now or later, but I think the surest way, which cannot fail, is to work from nature faithfully and energetically. (study?) Sooner or later feeling and love for nature meet a response from people who are interested in art. (prepare for the time when people are ready to buy art?) It is the painter's duty to be entirely absorbed by nature and to use all his intelligence to express sentiment in his work so that it becomes intelligible to other people. In my opinion working for the market is not exactly the right way: on the contrary, it means fooling art lovers. The true painters have not done this-"

I love how he added in that 'not working for the market' phrase in a letter regarding paintings not selling. Do you suppose by that we can assume he really didn't care what the decorator colors were for the coming season? Ha! No painting to match the sofa concerns at the VanGogh studio, I would say.

But for those of you artists out there, working hard to prepare for the time when people will buy your paintings, I say "way to go!" It would seem to be an exceedingly good time to progress your skills. And about Vincent's remarks as to the ideals of a true painter, he's probably just as right now as he was then. Don't just paint to get by, paint to get THERE.

Later, Cooper

oh wait, do you need some color for this post? But of course. I vote for: