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"Choosy Mothers Chose Jif", And Who Makes Authority?

by Cooper on 4/29/2010 9:51:48 AMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa, on a fine Thursday, April 29th.

Today we are going to talk about authority. More specifically, we'll talk about what makes it.

Yesterday's conversation started with toast, of the burnt variety, someone wasn't paying attention to the details. Peanut butter toast is the headliner today, possibly because I just consumed a piece. While my slice of bread was languishing between the heater coils of my counter top machinery I happened to read the label of the peanut butter jar. Immediately my mind brought forth their advertising slogan, "Choosy Mothers Choose Jif". (to give equal time, do I need to mention that "Skippy is the peanutiest"?) What makes either of them the peanut butter authority?

As you can clearly see

that brings us to our subject of the day! We've got several varieties:

1. authority by power: bigger, tougher, meaner, I can tell you what to do, and enforce that you believe me
2. authority by purchase: lots of money, can buy the opinion, and everybody believes it because there's lots of money involved (forgive me for typing this word on my blogspace, but think "lobbyist")
3. authority by talent/skill: you are so blooming good at what you do, that no one wants to even contest that you are not the authoratative expert
4. authority by volume: the majority rules, in bad form it could be the lynch mob, in positive form we call it the common good
5. authority be election: everybody loves you and they want you to have it
6. authority by knowledge: know it all, way more than you, I can belittle you about your lack of knowledge while I overwhelm you with the mass of mine
7. authority by experience: you've seen it all and done it all, and everyone else wants to take the short cut, so they ask you

When we look at 2 + 2 = 4, most of us will agree, the math teacher can be an authority. Is it one of the few places in the world where authority is based on fact rather than opinion? If you put two apples with two apples, you really do end up with four apples. In contrast, when we've got a painting hanging in a prestigous place, and the critic lauds it as the best ever, and calls the creator "the next big thing" don't you just want to ask "who made you the authority, Mr. Critic?" [Robert Genn's newsletter from yesterday was about "the next big thing" and you should go read it.] Is it really the best painting ever? Why doesn't anyone holler out "prove it!"?

A little time spent in blog-land can yield up quite a few misappointed authorities. Not so long ago, I read a fellow artist's post on the subject of "how to varnish a painting". I wondered where his authority came from. He obviously hadn't read the label on the back of a jar of Golden. (For you non-painters, Golden is a producer of quality art products, including varnish) Yet, if someone googled "how to varnish a painting", aforementioned fellow artist was going to be there, ready to tell you how to do it, and wrong. Whoa, am I calling myself the authority on truthful blog writing? This could really get sticky.

By now, I suppose a few of you are beginning to wonder if I grew up in the "challenge the authorities" 60's and 70's, and yes, yes I did. Let me quickly state that I firmly believe authority can be good, and we need the good kind. However! I think as artists, we need to constantly remind ourselves that authority is so often just an opinion. Be it the opinion bought with money, OR the opinion of someone with great talent and skills. So fellow artist, when the person in charge says "nope, we don't want your painting in our show", that means it's NOT time to heave that painting toward the nearest dumpster, rather it's time to go find a different authority. After all, it almost always is, just an opinion.

Later, Cooper

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Toast, And Paying Attention To Detail

by Cooper on 4/28/2010 9:29:03 AM1 Comment

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa, on a bee-you-tiful Wednesday, April 28th.

I just got back from the morning run---yup---survived yet another one. I was on the homeward bound side of the distance, which means the south end of Chestnut Street. There, amidst the blooming trees smells, was another very distinctive odor: burnt toast. Someone wasn't paying attention to the details, and either the toast didn't pop, or the setting got bumped up---doesn't matter, the result was burnt toast. Somebody wasn't paying attention.

Not paying attention can mess up other things too. Take a painting for instance. You knew I was going to say that, right? :) I would like to point out that burnt toast and a poorly composed painting have some things in common.

1. Lack of attention to detail= poor results.
2. Dismay when you realize what you've done
3. Decision required = live with the mess as is, or clean it up?

I promote that paying attention to details in the rules of composing a painting is pretty much mandatory. Google will tell you a bunch of places to read all those rules, one of my favorites being a blog written by Diane Mize. Basically they all talk about dividing up the space of the canvas and where you put what. Sounds simple, eh? And I would love to say that all the rules of good composition are so firmly planted in my brain, that I don't even have to think, just act. Nope. 'Taint so.

I have been painting away on a large canvas, and decided that yesterday was a good day to take a break from it. I had a photo reference that had been holding on the back burner for a while---it seemed like a good time to pull it out. I'd already spent quite a bit of time with this photo, sketching from it, messing with it on my photo program---I knew how I wanted it to happen. But just for the heck of it, I did the paper cutout "compositional" trick, big paper cutouts resembling the subject matter. I stuck them on the canvas just like I knew they were going to go, and oooops. Why hadn't I seen that before? That lovely (not!) diagonal line running corner to corner right smack dab across the canvas? Now that's a compositional rule lodged in the back of my brain: never cut a canvas in half, especially corner to corner, with a line.

Where was my attention to detail? The toast almost got burnt! Hey, wait---did you see that word "almost"? Maybe I just lucked out, or maybe that was stored away knowledge that nudged me to try one more "compositional experiment" before committing to paint on canvas? Maybe I'm actually getting there, you know, that place of higher knowledge achieved through the school of experience?

Think about the toast. If you don't pay attention to detail and burn the toast, then you've got to decide, do I go ahead and eat it or make another piece? And what about that lingering smell? How long is that going to hang around? And who might see the burnt toast and know that I wasn't paying attention to the details? May I point out to you that paint and canvas are really more of a committment than a piece of bread turned into toast? I suggest that paying attention to the details of a good composition before putting paint on the canvas will make for a happier day. And painting.

Thanks for stopping by.
Later, Cooper

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Beach Wear

by Cooper on 4/27/2010 6:07:33 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa, where the sun still shines in the studio windows with lovable brilliance.

And I have a painting to show off. Don't you just love it when people are perfect models and they don't even know it?

Beach Wear, an acrylic painting on a 20 x 20 inch canvas. Available in the portfolio, but I still need to put the varnish layer on. I promise to get to that soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Later, Cooper

Hmmm....did you guess that they are sitting on a bench with a view of west Lake Okoboji?

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Run

by Cooper on 4/26/2010 9:05:40 AMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa, on this fine Monday morning. It's a little gray, a little soggy, but gives us comparison value for those brilliantly sunny days. Kind of like a value scale that most artists tend to bear in mind---it's easier to tell if a dark is dark enough in a composition, if you've got a light to compare it to. And vice versa.

But that's not why we're here this morning. As I type and consume liquids, my physical self is saying, "whew, we made it again". The morning run. All two bloomin' miles of it. And I know, I know. Two miles is a paltry sum of distance. But at this point in time, it's where I'm at. But hey, we're not here to talk distance either, we're here to talk about continuity, of distance.

Way back when the youngest Cooper was a junior high school student, he entered a phase of life where digital/video screen zombie-itis was trying to take over his life. As parents in charge, my spouse and I decided Cooper-the-younger should participate in the junior high track program. Please be advised, this type of drastic action is not for the faint of heart. Of course, Cooper-the-younger protested with a great deal of seriousness. Being 37 (count'em 37) years older than young Cooper, a logical (albeit slightly idiotic) tactic was: If a "thirty-seven-year-your-senior" mother can run, surely you can too. And so we both ran.

"And how did it all turn out?" you ask? When the younger Cooper was sixteen, he sold his X-box so he could buy a snow board. We consider that triumph over screen-zombie-itis. He has gone on to more exciting forms of motion, but I still run. I can do it, if I just keep at it. I had thought sixty years of age would be a good stopping point. It's far enough off in the future, to not worry about, but still gave me comfort that I don't need to do this forever. But then, I happened to catch a news photo.

Iowa has a senator in Washington by the name of Chuck Grassley. 76 years old. The news photo showed him on his morning run around Washington. Dios mio. No stopping?

Now let's translate that to painting. After all, painting is what we do around here. If I didn't steadily work at it, what would happen? Would I be able to paint this year, skip the next two years and then start in again? I think it's a little like running, if I ever got off schedule, what would be the impetus to get me started again? I think I'll just keep on running. And painting.

Ha! And as I look over at the easel, the canvas currently in progress there is of people lounging on the dock beside Lake Okoboji. Yes, I said lounging. What a perfect contrast to thoughts about running. I think it's time to go sling some more paint at it. Thanks for stopping by.

Later, Cooper

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A Date

by Cooper on 4/21/2010 3:26:22 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, where we have yet another fabulous spring day happening.

And speaking of happening, we've scheduled the opening for my exhibit at the WineBar Art Gallery in Arnolds Park, Iowa. The date circled on the calendar is May 28th. I promise official invitations in the near future---that is, assuming you are one of the lucky people on my newsletter mailing list. And if you're not yet there, you should go click the link at the upper left "Cooper Studio Newsletter SignUp. It's pretty darn easy, I promise you.

When Deidre (WineBarGallery proprietor) and I talked about this exhibit last summer, she thought it would be cool to have everyday Arnolds Park on the canvases. I jokingly added, "just not the Queen". In my head, at least, it stuck---Arnolds Park, But Not The Queen. Not familiar with the Iowa Great Lakes, and wondering who on earth is the "Queen"? Well, not who, but WHAT. The Queen would be one of those double-decker excursion boats that takes groups of people out and about on Lake Okoboji. It's been on Lake Okoboji forever (that might be an exaggeration) but it absolutely is The Most Painted Boat Ever. Every artist in Iowa has painted it. That also might be an exaggeration. In fact we've already alluded to me not painting it. Wow. What if I am missing my great opportunity here, with my stubbornness at full flare? Nah. Not likely. But I do have two new paintings to show you, that will both be in the exhibit:

Lake Friends, an acrylic painting on a 30 x 30 inch canvas. And,

Helping Summer Drift By At The Lake, also an acrylic painting, this one is on one of those spiffy little 12 x 12 inch canvases.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a lovely rest of the day!

Later, Cooper

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Any Truth To The Rumor?

by Cooper on 4/14/2010 10:33:29 PMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa, where we are frustrated. With a grrrrrrrrr.

I am looking at a canvas as I type this note. It's a 40 x 40 inch canvas, and it's got a beautiful painting on it. I am so pleased with it. I wish I could show it to you. "Well, just take a picture and post it" you say. Grrrrr again, I have tried. And tried. And tried some more.

Is there any truth to the rumor that it is harder to photograph a larger canvas, and if yes, then why on earth why?

The painting has lots of yellows and lots of whites, but the camera seems to be enforcing a new rule that I can't have both of them at the same time. If you happened to be over at my portfolio page earlier, you'd have seen the version where I edited to try and get both---what a disaster that was. Then I edited to try and get the whites correct. Yes, I used both my photo program, and then later tried picnik on our host website. That result was up for a while, but I was so annoyed that those warm yellows were missing, that I took that photo off. So now, I've edited to get the yellows back in, didn't get them as sunny as they actually are on the canvas, but it makes me feel better. And I will probably spend time again tomorrow on the same issue. Dios Mio.

Many moons ago, in the days of 35mm Pentax's and real film, I painted batik paintings. The photo-color issues there were a constant struggle. A caring soul at University Camera in Iowa City, Iowa, finally took pity on me and tried to help. We actually talked with someone at Kodak, amazing, that, eh? Here's the rule it finally boiled down to: if the painting has more green, use the green film box---Fuji. If the painting has more yellow, use the yellow film box---Kodak. The colors used in batik are fiber reactive dyes, and they reacted funny in the camera as well.

Is it always really that simple and we just make it difficult? Am I overlooking something as obvious as green box/yellow box in my efforts to photograph this painting? Update at eleven, I guess.

Later, Cooper

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Location, Location, Location

by Cooper on 4/13/2010 11:36:20 AMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper Studio, Jefferson, Iowa, on a superb morning. Yes, it is. It is also catch-up morning, let me explain.

My husband needed to be in Minneapolis (yes, the Minnesota one) for work related stuff on Monday. It only made sense to go up a day early and enjoy the city a little, right? And THAT only made sense if I went along :) So, we did, and we did. We had a delightful Sunday afternoon and evening, and then Monday was pretty much me exploring the city. I had checked online to find a few galleries I could go see. Surely you expected that? :)

Nicollet Avenue is one of the mains through downtown Minneapolis, lots of interesting shops, restaurants, the whole works. And one art gallery. Whew, location, location, location, they've got it. At 10:05, I walked in their front door, hoping for great things. Nope, didn't happen. It was clean, well-arranged, well-lit and over-run with one exhibit: Dr Seuss. Not only did I not "get it", but no one tried to help me with that. Oh sure, Dr. Seuss is fun, but what was it doing there? I walked out without a clue.

Ok, now for a bit of a geography lesson. Minneapolis's longest street is named Hennepin, and so it goes from one neighborhood to the next. The other gallery on my list was in the "uptown" neighborhood---also home to the Metris Uptown Artfair which I'm sure many of you have heard of. My destination was Vern Carver and Beard Gallery. I thought the name made them sound a little snobby, but they were open on Mondays so worth a try. Oh, let's back up to that geography lesson: while the downtown Nicollet neighborhood seems to be a more upscale place to be, "uptown" seems a little bedraggled and worn. So I walked into Vern Carver and Beard Gallery, wondering why a place that sounded snobby was in a tired section of town. I guess that means I walked in not expecting much. Dang. Wrong again. I got lots. They were a little disorganized, some amazing paintings sitting on the floor, leaning on the wall. Paintings wrapped up waiting to be sent out, paintings wrapped up looking like they were waiting to be unwrapped and added into the busyness of the gallery. But there was art life happening there, and it was a very interesting place to visit.

My husband's business of the day was north on Hennepin, across one of the bridges that spans the Mississippi as it goes through town. I got there a few minutes early, and as I waited, lo and behold, there was another gallery, right across the street. Now, we've talked about neighborhoods and locations. This neighborhood wasn't posh by any means. Maybe eclectic would be a good definition? The shops were small, most of them tucked into old buildings that could use some restoration work. Quite a few vacancies. But hey, it was an art gallery, I had nothing better to do than walk across the street and check it out, and so I did. "Artistic Indulgances" is closed on Mondays. Dang, I hate when that happens. I suppose I am glad that some little store front security camera did not alert the local officials when someone mashes their nose to the window to better see inside, because I did. I had more fun "window shopping" there than I had with the whole visit at the gallery downtown.

And the moral of the story is: the people who say "location, location, location" as the answer to all things marketing need to back it up with CONTENT. It's marvelous to score that perfect location, but you'd best put something in it that makes it worth going to.

One more thing, speaking of worth-going-to in downtown Minneapolis, here's a good one for you next time you're there: The Local, on 931 Nicollet Ave. The service was excellent, the food even better, and they had a locally-built brew, Summit Brewing Company, quite tasty. And of course, I shouldn't leave you without a picture of their location. Location, location, location, isn't that how this all started?

Later, Cooper

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The Why

by Cooper on 4/9/2010 9:55:35 AM1 Comment

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa. It's one of those kind of days where there's no middle of the road. It will either be productive to the max, or absolutely a nothing-accomplished kind of day. Surely you know what I'm talking about here: such perfect, crystal clear, sunshiny kind of weather---it fills you with all kinds of energy, or it makes you want to go find a comfy lawn chair and soak it all in. There are no options in between. I am going to shoot for the energy laden route.

But before I commence with the energy, I have a tidbit I'd like to pass on. About "the why"---why we paint what we do. I was reading Robert Genn's twice weekly newsletter this morning, which included a letter from Charles Philip Brooks, titled "letter to the student of painting". Isn't it great when someone puts into words something you have been trying to say forever? "Ha!" you say, "there it is, exactly what I mean!" On occasion, people quiz me, or plain-out just look at me quizzically (!) when I, or my work make reference to life drawing. I paint people, it's what I am compelled to do. But. I am also compelled to learn to do it the very best I can. Creation is too beautiful a thing to muck up with a poor reaction/rendition. But listen to how this guy Brooks says it, with so much greater eloquence:

The threefold responsibility of the artist is: to creation, to individual talent, and to humanity. For creation – the whole of nature – we must cultivate prayerful awe. This is our source of work and our refuge as well. We should seek harmony with nature.

I think it's fair to paraphrase his "cultivate" with my line "always the student", and that, right on the heels of life drawing group meeting last night. Wow---now you are expecting a great drawing as proof of my study, right? Good study did happen at last night's group, perfection did not. In fact, completion did not happen either. Dare I say the building blocks are all there, and correctly placed as well? Possibly I can finish up some of the volumes without the model. We shall see.

Thanks for stopping by.

Later, Cooper

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Eyes, Nope

by Cooper on 4/7/2010 10:30:21 AMComment on this

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa. I have determined today's discussion will focus on body parts. This is NOT because I skipped my morning run today. Do I have an excuse and is it valid? Yes. It's cold, gray, and the wind is blowing 739 miles per hour. Or there abouts. If it was only gray and cold, I'd have covered it, but the wind, that's just insulting. And besides, the next two mornings are supposed to be fabulous, according to Jeriann on Channel 13. Catch up time then.

You might have noticed that title up there, "Eyes, Nope" But, yup, everybody has a couple. There's a phrase that mentions eyes are the window to the soul, and I guess that's pretty important But let's put them in the context of a painting. After all, that is what we do around here. I haven't been able to find a way to focus a painting on a figure's eyes, without making it resemble a portrait. And in my opinion, that makes the viewer try to figure out what the person is about, and not even notice the story being told by the figure in the setting. We'll blame this problem on Mrs Hyland then. She's the elementary school teacher who taught me to love a story through the adventure of a good book. And so I continue to think about the story.

So if the eyes are the windows to the soul, then what tells the story? Opinion? Hands down, it's the hands. And look, I found a whole page of hand phrases, interesting, eh?

Hand Phrases

The hands of time                           Hand me that bottle         Hands up
A bird in the hand                          Hand-le with care             Hand over your money
Second hand Rose                          Un-hand me                     The touch of a hand
First hand information                  Hands down                      Give me a hand

The hand that rocks the cradle     Hands across the water     Wash your hands
Helping hands                               All hands on board             Hands off
Helping hands                              All hands on deck                A backhanded compliment
Time on my hands                        Hands on                             Hand in hand
Dishwater hands                          Clap your hands                  Melts in your mouth, not in your hands

One hand scratches the other      Hand-some                          One hand washes the other
Hand it over                                 Hand in marraige               Handy man
Raise your hand                           A handout                           Hand me downs
Hand-el, the music                      Shake hands                        Use your hand

Hands across America                One handed                         I want to hold your haaaaaaaaaaand
Whole world in His hands           Don't let the right hand know what the left is doing
Handful                                       Underhanded                      Handmade
Hand in hand                              A handful of silver              Lend a hand

A mother's hand                         Handlebar mustache           Heart in hand
The hand of God                        Winning hand                      Clean hands & a pure heart
If thy right hand offend thee      In good hands                      Cold hand of death
Idle hands                                   Lilly white hands                 Nature's sweet cunning hand
Cash in your hand                      Deal a hand                         Bite the hand that feeds you
Hand of justice                           Hat in hand

           Contributions submitted by the members of the "Beyond Tags" E-group

I try to keep a study project going around here as well. February was hand study month. I must have been having a good time with that, because March became hand study month as well. That launched me into a painting with hands, front and center. A photo you ask? But of course, but you'll have to make do with a little HP pic version, as the good camera seems to have gone away to college again.

We are still working on this one, but it's beginning to live up to it's predetermined name: smells like summer. Oh, and if you are the person who made that list of hand phrases up above, you forgot one---hand jive. :) Thanks for stopping by, and have a lovely day.

Later, Cooper

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Official Up

by Cooper on 4/5/2010 3:02:52 PM1 Comment

Greetings,

Welcome to the Cooper studio, Jefferson, Iowa. We are re-grouping after one of those kind of weekends.

But. I am pleased to announce there is a solo exhibit of 34 paintings officially up at the Clear Lake Art Center. And they are mine. Amazed, aren't you? So am I! The paintings all deal with living on the sunny side, optimisim, no worries---all that good stuff.

The Clear Lake Art Center, which you might have guessed, is located in Clear Lake (Iowa) is a unique building all on it's own. Here, let me give you a visual:

Prior to 2005, the building was a US Bank facility. A couple of grants allowed it to be turned into the excellent art center it is today. The lighting in the exhibit space is especially wonderful. The town of Clear Lake, Iowa is a funky main street town where the main street runs right down to the shore of the lake, which this perfect little resort town is named for.

I think this painting illustrates the attitude, and don't forget to read the title :)

No Worries, acrylic painting on canvas, 16 x 24 inches, currently hanging at, you guessed it, the Clear Lake Art Center.

Later, Cooper

Oh, and yes, you should stop in and see the exhibit. You'll enjoy it, I'm sure.

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