Studio visits to figurative artists

Nicola Wheston, figurative & landscapes from BC to Mexico

Nicola Wheston has divided her time between British Columbia and sunny Puerto Vallarta, Mexico area for last 10 years. She used to live an hours hike out in the jungle from Yelapa which itself is a good hours bumpy panga boat ride from Puerto Vallarta. Nicola has shown at the Ian Tan Gallery in Vancouver for over ten years, showing both figurative and the landscapes and the gallery has played a big role in her career. Shes painted BC landscapes, especially coastal BC for over 20 years and these paintings have played a far greater role in her art life then the Mexican ones. It was painting coastal temperate rain forest that got her interested in tropical rain forest and it was her hobby bird watching that brought her to Yelapa and lead to her painting in her jungle studio. Her 2008 exhibition Temperate to Tropical at Ian Tans featured paintings from both places.
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Dario Puggioni, studio visit Berlin with dramatic figurative painter

Dario's studio is in a big converted industrial building, a hub for all kinds of creative types. He’s been here in this studio since 2010. Originally from Rome, he relocated to Berlin when the Italian economy and political situation collapsed "with no money for culture or museums". He thought of going to Poland which would have been better value for his money but he was hearing the big "art noise" from Berlin and so he came. He’s been working full-time as an artist for the last two years. Among some of his previous jobs in Berlin was making "very good pizza", something he finds very funny as he'd never been a pizza cook in Italy.
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Bo Bakker, studio visit to portrait painter, Amsterdam

After visiting family in South Africa, we traveled to Utrecht, and then Amsterdam. We climbed the steep, narrow and practically vertical wooden stairs to the tiny Airbnb apartment we will stay for the next three nights, quickly unpacked, got plugged into the internet, caught up with a few things then headed off to meet Bo Bakker in what Google Maps estimated to be a 32 minute commute. Well, of course we got a bit lost, took a few wrong turns but eventually got there. Again three steep (but not so narrow) flights of stairs to reach his apartment. No wonder the Dutch are all so slim.
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Private art collection, Utrecht, Netherlands

After visiting family in South Africa, we spent four nights in Utrecht, Netherlands, staying Airbnb with our host Cees (pronounced Keese). Dennis had originally intended for us to stay for one week in Amsterdam but he had been completely unable to book anything Airbnb for the entire week as there were holidays. Dutch friends of ours suggested that we might also consider Utrecht and we're so glad we did! The old town heart of Utrecht was the perfect size to explore by foot. The bicycle is King here so pedestrians are relegated to the more narrow sidewalks and must be watchful for the multitude of cyclists who claim the wider bicycle lanes. Goodness knows where/how the cars actually travel! And park???? So different from North America where the car is King and many cities were planned and built in the 20th century, not the Middle Ages.
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Brett Williams, studio visit, Cape Town, South Africa

Before recent trip to South Africa, I did an image search for "Cape Town figurative artist." Images of Brett’s work were very close to the top and I found them quite beautiful and exciting. I started to communicate with him through his tumblr site and twitter account as I had not found his actual website. He did not respond right away and when he did, he turned down my request to have a studio visit as he is focusing on his acting career more than his painting skills these days. When I suggested that also makes an interesting story, he relented and accepted to be interviewed. That was lucky for both of us. I met and chatted with several South African artists and galleries here but he was the only real in-depth interview that I had had the time to research and arrange.
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Lee Chapman, gringo painting in Mexican style

On our recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, we visited two figurative artists, Jose Marca and Lee Chapman. Artist Lee Chapman and wife Nancy built their home 12 years ago in the hilltops overlooking Puerto Vallarta and huge Banderas Bay. They've been in Mexico since 1992. Lee barely even goes home to visit and doesn’t miss it at all. Nancy flies home to Chicago every summer and is sometimes stunned to find the weather even hotter in Chicago than Vallarta! After working in the film and advertising industry in Los Angeles in his former life, they decided to give Mexico City a try for one year and loved it! His film industry work dried up after the 1995 Mexican crash and he opened his Puerco Azul (The Blue Pig) Gallery in Marina Vallarta.
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José Marca, studio visit Mexico

José Marca is a small soft-spoken gentleman living in old town Puerto Vallarta Mexico. We visited his gallery and home studio during a time of renovations just before his new show opening February 14, 2015. The show will celebrate the 10 year anniversary of his gallery and also 33 years of being married to his lovely wife Rosario. He has been painting for 40 years. He used to paint in a traditional Mexican style, lots of Fridas, flowers and cats.
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Michael Hermesh, studio visit to sculptor, BC

On our recent road trip to British Columbia's Okanagan wine region, we arrived at our hosts Michael and Carol Hermesh bang on the expected dot of 7 pm in Summerland. Michael Hermesh is one of my figurative artists from FigurativeArtist.org and the only one we will visit on this trip. He works in sculpture mainly but also in drawing and painting. The home studio is spacious and set up to handle up to very large works with an overhead pulley and a large door to the loading area outside. No large sculpture pieces were in the studio on the day we visited but many smaller works were about, in various stages of progress and states of dress and undress.
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Jacquline Hurlbert, studio visit Portland, OR

On our recent trip to the Oregon Coast and Portland, we were able to visit with 3 figurative ceramic artists. I had contacted several of my figurative artists and four were able to have us visit, Sara Swink and Kicki Masthem as we drove into Portland and next day, Jacquline Hurlbert, figurative ceramic sculptor and painter. This was our final studio visit of the trip. It’s wonderful to be connected to this stable of wonderful artists, makes our travels all the more interesting! Jackie has been here in this location for 14 years. She has a BFA in ceramics from Nebraska and an MFA in sculpture and ceramics from California. She has been working in sculptural ceramics since the late 1970s.
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Kicki Masthem, studio visit Portland, OR

On from visiting Sara Swink straight to figurative ceramic sculptor Kicki Masthem just outside of Portland. Five years ago Kicki had a traumatic year. Her husband left her, then died and then she got MS all within a short time frame, probably with all the stress contributing to the onset of MS. After her husband died, she moved four blocks away and bought this charming fixer-upper house. Kicki is a very feisty Swedish woman with lots of talent, humor and spunk. She used to teach drawing and at college but is currently on disability leave dealing with her illness. Sarah Swink's partner Harold Oxley's painting of folded and stacked laundry hangs over her fireplace and the character bunny on the mantle is by Sara Swink herself. We had just come straight from our studio visit with Sara Swink this same afternoon on our trip up to Portland from visiting figurative artist Clint Brown in Corvalis. What a nice art tour!
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Sara Swink, studio visit Portland, OR

On our road trip through Oregon Coast, we stopped overnight at Clint Brown’s to see his fabulous dramatic figurative drawings then headed up to Portland, visiting 2 more figurative artists along the way. Sara Swink's large and well laid out studio is behind her home in a large garden, tidily arranged with large tables for her students and her own figurative ceramic sculpture studio time. She started working with clay as a kid then life got busy. She started back into ceramics again in 1997, into wheel throwing and then hand building with her sculpture mentor Coeleen Kiebert.
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Clint Brown, studio visit Oregon

Thanks to our new best friend, our car navigation system, we found our way through the winding small streets up into the forest beyond Corvallis to the home of figurative artist Clint Brown just in time for cocktail hour. He and his wife Cheryl have a lovely forested property, very tranquil, complete with small stream and pool which used to have some trout until the long legged marauders fished them all out. We took a lovely tray of dips, chips, green beans and grapes down to a little gazebo and got to know each other over a glass (or two) of wine. The first thing I noticed about this gazebo was no screens! How sweet is that! They do have them on their home windows but the garden doesn't need them as not many mosquitoes here. What a treat.
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Rory Coyne & Lauren Levato Coyne, studio visit Chicago

Our final studio visit, and third in one day, brought us nearly right back to where we were staying in Evanston. We arrived just in time for a nice glass of wine (or 2...) at the home and studio of Rory Coyne and his wife, Lauren Levato Coyne. Rory works in a traditional style in oil paints, much larger in scale. With the pets who share the home/studio space, Rory has to keep an eye on his palette and make sure the dogs have not swept up anything colourful with their tails. With Lauren working only in colored pencils, it's easy to know who to point the finger at when a tail sweeps up red paint!
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Ravenswood Atelier, studio visit Chicago

The first thing that hits you when you walk into the Ravenswood Atelier is the inky darkness and the sheer scale of the place. It's enormous! The cavernous space is draped with black cloth and lit carefully by artificial or natural overhead light. Magda was away and the dramatic and long-locked Matthew Almy shared a very generous hour with us, even as he was getting ready for a 6 week teaching stint in Australia. Matthew describes himself as a naturalist as opposed to a realist, giving examples of Titian and Rembrandt as naturalists and David and Michelangelo as realists. After studying at the Florence Academy, the Ravenswood Atelier was setup 7 years ago, accepting serious students into full time training. Students start with lots of drawing and copying and work up, by merit, through the different progressive stages of teaching. Just like professional musicians who expect to study classical violin, as Matthew did for 20 years, he hopes this intense training he will produce artists even better than Rembrandt. A high goal but what a goal to aim for!
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Igor & Marina, studio visit Chicago

On our recent visit to Chicago, we did 3 artist studio visits in one day. Our first of the day took us north to Linden to the home and studio of artist husband and wife team, Igor & Marina, Igor Kozlovsky and Marina Sharapova. They came to America 16 years ago, after Perestroika and tough times in Russia. He was out with some friends (no doubt probably enjoying some vodka) and they urged him to enter a contest for a lottery for an American Green Card. One year later they won it and packed up and moved to America. They started out as interior architects and interior designers with their own company in St. Petersburg for 12 years but the move to America without the reputation or connections and with the language difficulty set them back a bit. After 6 months of doing regular jobs, they started to make good connections, began to do commission paintings. Pretty soon a gallery came calling and they were able to paint full time.
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Joyce Polance, studio visit Chicago

After just a quick bus trip from our earlier visit to Vitruvian Fine Art Studio, we trundled up some great old wooden stairs and Joyce Polance opened her door and studio to us. Jump in my little backpack and come along for a studio visit! She's been in this shared studio space for 8 years and has a great spot right beside the windows. Her works this year are in a place of transition as she's trying out a looser approach. Her earlier works are quite large but she's enjoying working in smaller formats, about 30 x 30 inches as she explores new kinds of mark making and expression. She's also enjoying creating new smaller works in weeks rather than months, such a better way to allow new ideas to bloom and grow.
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Dean Gazeley, studio visit with portrait painter in Mexico

Originally from Comox, BC, Dean has lived in Mexico since 1999. He tried San Miguel de Allende but only stayed one night! He carried on to Guanajuato instead and never left. His 10 year old son used to come and sit at his own little desk in the studio and do art but is now spending more time kicking a soccer ball and playing violin, like his mother who plays oboe in local orchestra. Dean works in portraits and landscapes, in oils. His portraiture work keeps him busy and has most of the next year planned with them. He usually about 10 sittings of 3 hours each. Dean studied with Ted Seth Jacobs in France.
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Toller Cranston, studio visit Mexico

I recently had the great pleasure of travelling with 3 other painting friends to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico where we stayed just 4 doors up from the imaginative figure painter, Toller Cranston. His home is a wonderland and riot of exotica, color and costume! I have been a fan of his artwork since I first saw it in Montreal in the 1970’s. My mother was a friend of his mom’s and apparently my grandmother used to sew fine dresses for her way way back in the mists of time.
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Marina Dieul, studio visit in Montreal

When searching for some good workshops, Marina Dieul found Ted Seth Jacobs in northern France. His Renaissance technique workshops were intensive 6 months sessions and that just did not fit with their young family life here in Quebec. A bit more searching brought up Studio Escalier with teachers Tim Stotz and Michelle Tully, former students of Jacobs who had their own school in a small village near their master and workshops were 3 months long.
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Lina Vandal, studio visit in Montreal

The walls were hung with large canvases nailed flat onto the wall. Lina Vandal works in acrylics and these are the smooshy colorful backgrounds for her current body of work from which faces or bodies will later emerge. She leaves a good 3 inch border to allow for stretching onto wood later and bare wooden stretchers line the hallway like gentlemen callers waiting to pick up their beautiful girlfriends who are still putting on their makeup and getting dressed inside.
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Gianni Guiliano, studio visit in Montreal

Gianni Guiliano is influenced by spaghetti westerns, comics, western music which come together in his paintings. Elements of the advertising world, the Marlboro Man, come together in a deliberately staged and realistic but not quite correct rendition. He likes to keep the audience guessing a bit and spending more time with his images as there are elements that seem like things we're all familiar with and yet something is not quite right. He is not concerned with the correct technical elements, like the rider whose one foot is supported in a stirrup and yet the other one has no stirrup.
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Elaine Despins, studio visit in Montreal

Elaine Despins works with a very intuitive approach, not a conceptual one. In fact she doesn't always quite know what the series is about until it has ended. She just knows she has a deep connection to the work and once she can express in words what she is putting into her paintings, the series is over. It is complete.
She starts with playing around with the actual paint on canvas or watercolour on paper, manipulating the paint and rubbing away the surface like playing with clay in her hands when out of the darkness, out of the blobs emerging before her, a feeling, an connections starts to take shape like seeing meaning in a Rorschach test.
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Kai McCall, studio visit in Montreal

Kai McCall's works have a subtle, wry humour about them, some deadpan humour that comes partially from going through the effort of labouring away in oil paints in the manner of our artist forefathers when there are so many other ways to capture an image today. Having lived abroad and spent time in both North America and Europe, his work juxtaposes some 1950's pinup attitude with old European masters like Tiepolo and Velasquez. Of course Vargas and many of the classic pinup artists were well-steeped in European art history before they branched out to carve their very popular niche.
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