John Singer Sargent and I

John Singer Sargent and I. I've been a fan of the Edwardian painter, Sargent, for a very long time.   As a teenager I loved his paintings in the National Portrait Gallery in London and bought a postcard of the portrait of Lady Agnew of Lochnaw which I studied intently when I was at art college and kept for decades. One of my favourite paintings in the world is his "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" of 2 little girls at twighlight with lanterns in a garden, which I visit at the Tate Britain like an old friend every time I am back in London.  There is no other artist with whom I develop relationships with their paintings in the same way. After thinking about it for some years, this week I finally started a project to learn more directly from his paintings by making student copies.   Firstly I read all kinds of material about him, from historical articles to 'how to' artist blogs.  I read about his life story and his methods as an artist. I was very surprised to find out that I had some things in common with him.  He was born to American parents in Italy and grew up in Europe, studying in Paris and was multilingual, as am I.  He was also a very gifted musician, and after a particularly bad review considered giving up painting to be a musician.  In my early days as a painter I actually did stop painting to be a professional musician after a portrait commission went badly. My copy of Sargent's masterpiece I picked these 2 paintings, the self portrait for the skin tones and the expressive brushstrokes, and the portrait of Lady Agnew just because I've loved it for such a long time. Matching my colour mixing and brushstrokes to the originals was so much harder than I imagined.  My own painting habits kept reasserting themselves as a default and it felt like being constantly interrupted.  Comparing my own skill in comparison to this great master was very hard on the ego, seeing myself fall short over and over again. I could feel my brain having to work harder and in new ways, new neural pathways forming in my head and felt dazed and exhausted after each session. I am enjoying having these paintings in my house and feel a strong sense of accomplishment from this project.  I'm curious to see how this will affect my painting in the coming weeks and months.

landscapes

Saturday 18th July 2009 - Genevieve

The Saturday Portrait Group and this week the model was Genevieve. I particularly liked her dramatic colouring and her bold jewellery.

Genevieve - oil on canvas - 14 x 11" -$595

Saturday 11th July 2009 - Rosa

Rosa is the daughter of a friend, rapidly turning into a young woman.

Rosa - 16 x 12" - oil on canvas - SOLD

Tuesday 30th June 2009 - Hollyhocks at Caffe Tazza

Jane and I walked around looking for the perfect painting spot for the wonderful hollyhocks that are blooming all over Taos but ended up in our favourite spot at the Caffe Tazza - the other places were either too close to traffic or too exposed - easy to get sunburn this time of year at this altitude. I finished this one off later in the studio.

Hollyhocks at Caffe Tazza - 8 x 10" - oil on canvas panel - $395

Monday 29th June 2009 - Lush Green in the Gorge

A big group of painters got together at an overlook of the gorge I hadn't been to before. Clarence Medina, Kemper Coley, Michelle Chrisman, Sheila O'Malley along with my regular painting buddies Shari Kestenbaum-Ubeschell and Jane Grover.

The gorge looked so green after all the rain we've been having. I found a shady spot by a tree but packed up earlier than I might have when nasty biting insects appeared - my goodness those bites were itchy in the following days!

Here is a photo of the lovely Shari that I took that day



Lush Green in the Gorge - 8 x 10" - oil on canvas panel - $395

Friday 26th June 2009 - Hollyhocks at Caffe Tazza

I love "hollyhock season" here in Taos, they are such glorious flowers.

Hollyhocks at Caffe Tazza - 16 x 12" - oil on canvas panel - $750

Thursday 25th June 2009 - Aspen Summer

I went looking for gallery representation in Aspen last week while I was there for the Jazz festival, a couple of galleries have shown interest, so watch this space for news on that one. I took a photograph up the main street to capture the shadows of the trees over the grassy summer ski runs behind the Victorian style shops, a great scene.

Aspen Summer - 8 x 10" = oil on canvas panel - $395

Friday 29th May 2009 - Bent Street Bench

I met up with Jane and Shari and another painting buddy, Michelle Chrisman, at Bent Street where the flowers were looking lovely.

Bent Street Bench - 12 x 16" - oil on canvas - $750

Wedensday 27th May 2009 - Melissa's Group

I painted this one in one session at Melissa's group. You can see the finished painting further up the blog.

The Twist - 12 x 16" - oil on canvas panel - unfinished

Friday 8th May 2009 - Gorge

On duty in the gallery and worked on this one during the day. Shari showed Jane and I this spot on the gorge north of Hondo, some way down a dirt road that you wouldn't find unless you were really looking for it. We took photos that day but it was too windy to paint.

After doing those big views on tiny canvasses, it was nice to spread out on this larger canvas. As the day wore on I realised that the cold I've been trying to kick for weeks really hadn't gone and I felt really quite ill and spent the whole weekend resting. I look forward to working on this one some more when I'm fully recovered.

Gorge Tree - 24 x30 - oil on canvas - unfinished.

Thursday 7th May 2009 - Ray's group

I painted these two about 18 months ago, pictures I liked but, with all I've learned, I felt could be just that bit better. I took them into Ray's group and worked on them some more. Ray, a big fan of bright colour, especially orange, urged me to lay in the bright orange of the adobe buildings behind the truck. I tried it (I can always paint over it!) and I really liked it.



Taos Truck - 12 x 12" - oil on canvas - $575
The Church at Ranchos - 12 x 12" - oil on canvas - $575

Thursday 30th April 2009

I continued my theme of painting massive scale views onto ever smaller canvasses, this is a gorge scene on an 8 x 10" canvas panel. Good fun!

Trees in the Crack - oil on canvas panel - 8 x 10" - $295

Thursday 9th April 2009 - Ray's

I painted this one over about 3 sessions. It's a new size of canvas for me, 10 x 30" which seemed quite extreme when it was blank but as soon as the drawing of the gorge went in it made complete sense.

Wide Gorge - 10 x 30" - oil on canvas - $975

Thursday 5th March - Farmyard Strut

One of my fellow workshoppers at Ray's group had brought in a photo of this cockerel and a number of paintings had been done from it. It looked like such fun that I wanted to have a go as well and I think it turned out very well.

Farmyard Strut - oil on canvas - 12 x 12" - $575

I painted Nobel's sister, Robin last year in a painting I called "waiting to dance" in ceremonial attire with the Pueblo painted in the background. Nobel was a wonderful model and a very nice young man.



The Tiwa Blanket - 12 x 16" - oil on canvas - $750

Thursday 26th February 2009 - Ray's

I took a quiet week painting, I think I overdid it a bit last week. I finished off this painting of Taos Mountain in warm late afternoon light and worked on this painting of a Plains Indian from a photograph, I haven't decided if it's finished or not yet.



Late Afternoon Taos Mountain - 12 x 12" - oil on canvas panel - $425
Plains Indian - 16 x 12" - oil on canvas - $575

Saturday 21st February 2009

I went to the usual Saturday group but I am not happy with the painting I did and don't want to share it! I felt very tired as I was painting and decided that I probably had already painted enough this week. Time to relax and do other things and come back to my painting fresh next week.

Thanks for all the interest in my clearance page. I am happy to report that I have made some sales but there are still some really great paintings left on the page so hurry if you want to take advantage of these ridiculously low prices. Here are a few of the paintings....

www.elizabethjose.com

Wednesday 18th February 2009 - Marisol

What a shock to walk into the studio on Wednesday and see Marisol, who used to have dread-locked hair almost to her waist with a short crop. I partly chose this angle for the novelty of seeing the back of her neck!

Marisol - 16 x 12" - oil on canvas - $750

Tuesday 17th February 2009 - wine still life

Later in the year we have an event called "The Toast of Taos" which promotes local wine growers and local artists. Every year they run a painting competition for the image they use on the publicity. I decided to enter this year for the first time.

I was on duty in the gallery on Tuesday and set up this still life to work from. I chose a romantic theme, a New mexico "champagne" called Gruet (yum!) and flutes and a red rose that was still lovely left over from Valentine's Day.