Last week I was asked “what artists have my influenced your work?” I’m pretty sure the person meant what artists do I try to imitate or copy when I’m working on a piece of my own. Years ago this would have been the case. As a young artist, I was very much influenced by the work of famous artists, and, indeed, I did try to copy their work. Take for example Claude Monet. I loved the colors and brush strokes he used in his water lily paintings. Those purples! Greens! Blues! I was mesmerized by these paintings when I saw them at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
I went back into my studio and tried to capture Monet’s style, his palette, his talent. I tried to channel Monet himself! Enclosed is my attempt at this imitation. Looking at it now, I can see the essence of the style that would eventually become my own-patches of color, environmentally inspired imagery, and the large-scale format.
These days, when I think of what artists influence me, it isn’t their work so much as the lives they lived, or the concepts behind their work. Two ideas I will explore in my next entries.
November 15-16, from 10-5 (Sat.) and 11:00-4:00 on Sunday
48 Prospect St. Topsfield, MA
Come celebrate the completion of six large-scale birch trees paintings, commissioned by the state of New Hampshire.
