Goya, Picasso Speak from Courage

       Have you ever gotten lost in your favorite art museum or art gallery going from painting to painting ooing and awing and the next piece before you is a light switch? Our first reaction usually is wow what is this cool art piece? We quickly come out of our euphoria and hide a little laugh. The moment of seeing the “real world” is that moment, that sweet moment, wishing we could always see our world with that feeling.

       Now how do we get this “light switch as art” feeling in our daily lives? We could visit as much of the art that we can take in but that might be too much of a good thing. Artists prepare for the mysterious trip into their creative place each in their own way. If the artist is apprehensive and doubtful, their work will show it, but if they plunge in bravely with confidence it too will sparkle and speak to the courage it took to present the soul of the artist to the world. Picasso created some of his best art during the occupation of Paris and Goya told his stories through his creative art during the inquisition.   

       We like to think the lives of artists are courageous and confident, but in a careful reading about the lives of those well-known and remembered creators we learn they come in all backgrounds and levels of influences in their lives. In Goya’s The Third of May 1808, to help the world to experience his pain and passion, we are thrust before the firing squad. Picasso takes us to the bombing of a modern day city to experience his pain in his massive work Guernica.
       Remember the “light switch as art?” We are sensitized by our personal experiences and the times we live in. Our personal life, our circle of family and friends and beyond all blend with the events of the world we live in. Hopefully we feel the enrichment of life the artists have presented to us, the viewer. The artist’s goal is to help us see the world a little clearer and more intense so we can make a better place to live on this big blue marble slipping through space. 

The Third of May 1808 by Francisco de Goya

Enjoy this art summer, 
Joel  www.joelellisart.com 

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

Perseverance 22x27 acrylic on canvas  Joel F Ellis

Jan van Eyck Was Here, What's in a Signature

Cool of the Dunes  20x24 oil on canvas

       Signatures - we all use our personal identification every day. Artists, too, have the special identification mark we use to make things legal and official. Think back to our first checking account when we had to sign the bank paper work. We learned to practice the name over and over until we got something that looked presentable and official. The artist has the same issues to consider, our official ID and one that says, “I am the creator of this work of art.” In the beginning we do wonder, should the signature be a squiggle or a bunch of letters from our name?

       One of the first detected signatures was placed on the room’s back wall of Jan van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait. It said “Jan van Eyck was here. 1434.” (Source: Secret Lives of Great Artists, Elizabeth Lunday )

       As we stroll passed the paintings on the walls of our favorite art gallery or museum take time to look at the artist’s name, is it big and bold or small and hard to find. There is a purpose for the personal ID. The artist is saying to the world “my work is finished and ready for its own life.”  Sometimes it is on the bottom right or in the painting texture of the images. The date completed can be near the inscription as well. Some artists like to put this information on the back of the support or on the stretcher bars for stretched canvas. 

When one of my favorite paintings, Cooling of the Dunes, was awarded Best in Show the judge discussed light and shadows, complementary  colors, then added that he liked the signature within the paint of the dune's edge.

Morning Fog 18x24 Signature in the painted right corner. Original sold, giclee available
Giclee uses exact matching pigments in a digital capture to reproduce from the original work.  

     Collectors of art do want to have that signature as well as the art itself. We all know the famous names and their personal note to us. Don’t we all hope to find that famous signature waiting for us in grandma’s attic?  So as an artist I pledge to sign all my work and hope my creative attempts may get into that attic of dreams just waiting to be researched in the online indexes of artists’ signatures.

       PS   Let’s not forget all the artists facing that cave wall thousands of years ago hoping to be remembered for their artistic expression and wisdom. They too left their name or even better their hand print on their communication to the futures viewers. Thanks to the cave painters and petroglyph artists in our past for showing us the way. 

Enjoy the views of original art,

Joel

www.Joelellisart.com  

Lellow 24x24 acrylic on canvas, signature left corner up the side

       

Joel preparing signature on Lellow