It’s time. I’ve been pretending to work since school finished a month ago. And yes, I’ve bought the supplies I need for my next project(s) and made some sketches, but my brain just wasn’t ready to start. However tomorrow is June first and I promised myself that I would be really up and running, up and at ’em, nose to the grindstone (insert your own cliche here) before month’s end.
I was thinking yesterday about teaching art, which I hope to do someday, and I made up an exercise for my (imaginary class). I would make all of my students (it’s a large class because I am a very popular teacher) stand in a circle around me. And I would spin dramatically, throw out an accusatory finger at someone, and say, “Who is your favorite artist and why?”
If you did that to me, I’m pretty sure that I would say Wayne Thiebaud. Some artists I won’t cross town to see, but for Wayne Thiebaud I would go anywhere. It’s his color, his combination of reality and fantasy, his amazing brushstrokes, and the way my heart stops for a moment when I see those landscapes (I call it an artgasm, but sadly I didn’t make that up). So I’m posting some of my favorites here, as inspiration.
And I’m off to the studio, after a quick trip to buy my lottery tickets: Powerball, Lotto, and Megamillions. SO many of my friends are rooting for me to win, but don’t buy tickets themselves. They are clearly smarter than I.
Thank you Susan Stephenson (a wonderful teacher) for introducing me to Wayne Thiebaud. By the time you read this I’ll be painting. But my question to you is, “Who is your favorite artist and why?”
Because I’m in general ignorant about the art world, my favorite artists are the wonderful book illustrators of yore: Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, whoever illustrated Winnie-the-Pooh (the author?) whoever illustrated Alice in Wonderland? etc. Oh dear, I’m forgetting what I once knew and I want to get back to reading so I’m not going to look them up right now
We are truly a book family, aren’t we? I like your choices. Illustrators are artists, too.
Frosting-like paint. Yum.
I KNOW! His paintings look delicious!