Category: General

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Studio b.’s New Location

Those of you following my work know that I have been attending the weekly figure drawing sessions at Studio b.  On Easter Sunday, 2012, the owner, Colleen Duffley, has just posted the design for the new venue, which will be constructed out of re-purposed shipping containers, true to the b’s intent, to be creative with immediately available resources.  It will be located in Watersound, Florida, which is on Scenic Highway 30A, approximately 2½ miles west of the previous location.  The temporary location, where we are having the figure drawing sessions, is in Watersound North, which is on North Watersound Parkway, 1 block north of US 98.  Below is a sketch of the new venue.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150719620424660&set=a.89768744659.80226.53523929659&type=1&theater

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Time Warp — Where’ve I Been?

What a whirlwind my life has been for the past month or so.  In my “day-job,” I own and manage a service business which supports the local tourist industry.  Here in Northwest Florida, that translates to being incredibly busy for the 5 weeks of high school and college spring breaks, when families vacation here, and then from late May to mid-August, again coinciding with school summer vacations.  Many companies here begin hiring for the season in February, and as everyone gears up for the onslaught of tourists, seasonal high-wage jobs attract employees away from the more moderately paid year-round jobs such as my company offers.  Consequently, even though I guarantee 40 hours a week through-out the whole winter season, I sometimes lose employees to higher-paying jobs in the spring.  So far this year I’ve lost 2, which is 15% of my staff.  Losing even one employee is unsettling, with the rest of the staff making up the difference in the workload while a new employee is being trained.  I’ve been busier than usual with other activities as well.  My efforts at maintaining inner peace by meditation, working out, and a healthy lifestyle, are taxed by stress, and I think my art reflects that.

All that is introduction to my confession that I wasn’t as focused at the most recent session of figure drawing at Studio b. as I would like to have been.  The group of artists was energized, and there was a lot of activity downstairs below our drawing studio, as Colleen Duffley, owner of Studio b., coordinated the packing for transport to the new location.  Even with all of that going on, she came upstairs to serve us whatever we wanted to drink.  So the environment was supportive, but nevertheless, I struggled with my drawings.

We ran through the usual warm-up gestures and worked our way up to 20- or 30-minute poses by the end of the 2½ hours.  Following are some of my efforts.

   
 

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot

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Studio b. presents Light Impressions in Telluride, Colorado

Studio b. was the primary sponsor at the TEDx simulcast presentation in Telluride, Colorado last week.  I had the pleasure of accompanying owner Colleen Duffley and her assistant Garrett Griffis, for the installation of Light Impressions and for  TEDx-Telluride at the Michael Palm Theater.  In the unscripted interview below, Colleen explains the concept of Studio b. and the motivation and production of the Light Impressions exhibit to videographer Sue Rostvold.

While in Telluride, I visited most of the art galleries.  I particularly enjoyed the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art where I thought the graphite drawings and mixed media drawings by Bernie Fuchs are even more sensitive than his beautiful paintings, and Christian Burchard‘s sliced wood sculptures are so very interesting, and at Lustre Gallery, Steve & Katia Pflipsen’s glass and metal works are amazing.  But I have to say the most inspiring work is at Stronghouse Studios, where I met artist Elaine Fischer (except we talked about her issues as a County Commissioner of  San Miguel County instead of her art).  At Stronghouse I saw some of Judy Haas‘ amazing fractals, which have a faceted filter overlay such that they change to a different image as you pass by them.  And Sasha took me across the street to the Stronghouse Gallery, an eclectic collection of incredibly interesting and remarkably affordable art, fabric arts in particular.  My favorite works overall were at the Ah Haa School for the Arts, a series of paintings by Corinne Scheman depicting various interpretations and representations of Stonehenge.  Her works illustrated an excellent command of color.

I did no sketching myself, last week, instead using my camera to try to capture some of the winter wonderland of Telluride.  Here are a few examples.

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Refilling the Well – 30A Songwriters Festival

As an artist, I think I produce better work when I round out my life by attending art events, where I can appreciate the work of other artists.  Such is this week, the week of the annual 30A Songwriters Festival.  More than 120 singer/songwriters are performing at 40 venues up and down Scenic Highway 30A, which is the road following the coast of the county where I live.  The event is produced by the local arts association, the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (Florida).  This year marks the third annual production, which takes place on MLK weekend every year.

When I was a about 8 years old, my Mom made me take piano lessons for 3 years.  I hated them, but my sister was taking lessons.  I tried to do everything she did, baton twirling, gymnastics, swimming, you name it, even though she was always better than me.  I was a good sport at most things, but it was hard to find joy in practicing the piano.  I think the only thing I disliked more was doing the dishes for our family of 6.  I can’t sing either — you can ask anybody and they will confirm that as fact.  I never learned any instrument, and in fact I can barely play the radio.

But I am absolutely transported when I watch a live musical performance, especially when the artist emotes.  So I take in all that I can stay awake for, at the 30A Songwriters Festival.  Some of the people are big names, others are known only in the industry, and yet others are new, budding artists, some known only locally:  Shawn Mullins, Joan Osborne, Sam Bush, Tommy Tolton, Amy Ray, Kelsey Anna, Dannica Lowery, Larkin Poe, Jeep Rosenberg, Suzi Ragsdale, Jim Lauderdale and many many others.

I posted a video of Nikolas Metaxas‘s vocal talent on YouTube for your awe and amazement.  Below are some of the artists who performed at Hibiscus the first night of the festival.

Adron Dannica Lowery Lara Herscovitch
Alicia McGovern Suzi Ragsdale Ben Friedman

 

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Artist’s Statement

I have added an Artist’s Statement to my Bio page.  I will be exhibiting a few pieces of my work in the  A+Art Committee member exhibit at Okaloosa Walton State College next spring.  The committee functions under the umbrella of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (Florida), selecting artists and organizing shows in the lobby area of the South Walton OWSC business office about 4 or 5 times a year.  This year was our first year, and we decided to avoid any appearance of self-promotion this first year.  But several members of the committee are accomplished artists, so we decided to have a show of committee members’ works for a couple of months next year.

Following is my Artist’s Statement, at least for today, 11/14/11.  No doubt it will evolve.

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Joan Vienot – Artist’s Statement

The greatest pleasure for me as an artist is the capture of the present moment, a little piece of Now.  The challenge is greatest when the subject is the human figure, where the length of a pose is limited by the live model’s ability to remain motionless for any duration. Very little time is available for retractions or corrections, so my marks on the paper have to be certain and authoritative.  Every pose is a challenge of my mastery.  Similarly, plein air painting requires intense focus and present moment awareness in order to execute a scene before the light changes radically.  In both cases, the subject must be portrayed in fairly general terms, with only enough detail to lend unique identity and a bit of atmosphere.  I rarely do anything more than minimal correcting, or perhaps heightening of contrast, when I get back to my studio, preferring to let my interpretation of the moment stand on its own.  My approach might result in what some may call mistakes in proportion or perspective, but I think accuracy should be subordinate to my effort to convey the essence of the subject in a short amount of time.

When time is so fleeting that I could never capture something in either dry or wet media, then I resort to my camera to produce a photograph, which of course records the quintessential moment in time.

My favorite subject for drawing is the human figure.  People’s lives and experiences create lines on their faces and sags on their bodies, and their posture bears witness to their youth or to their years.  The nude figure in particular, with the façade of clothing removed, reveals the essence of a person’s physical existence and might even hint at her spirit.  Most of my figure drawings are of females simply because most of the models I’ve had opportunity to draw are female.  My figure drawings are very simply my personal expression of the beauty and complexity of the human form and my efforts toward mastery of that expression.
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Showing Some of My Work

I have participated in two recent showings of my work – one local at the Bayou Arts Center, the new home of the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County, and one with international exposure, at Studio b.  At Studio b., probably 75 of my drawings were displayed, informally.  At Bayou Arts, CAA Board members art will be exhibited until sometime in December.  These are the pieces I am exhibiting there, including drawings, photography, and encaustic:

And this past weekend I entered 3 drawings in an international juried competition, Au Natural: The Nude in the 21st Century.  On November 30, 2011, they’ll let me know whether any of my pieces were accepted.  Below are the pieces I submitted.  They are drawn in the style I am having fun with right now, using graphite on toned paper, with white nupastel for the highlights.

Most of my images are available for purchase.  Contact me if you are interested. — Joan Vienot