cjh abstracts newsletter, issue 3

Issue 3

Abstract Expressionism: Willem de Kooning

Willem de Kooning (1904 – 1997) was a heavy hitter in the abstract expressionist movement.

He was born in the Netherlands and studied for eight years at the Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and Techniques. He was apprenticed as a youth to a commercial art and decorating firm. In 1926, at the age of 32, he sailed for the U.S. He settled in New York in 1927 and supported himself as a commercial artist, house painter and carpenter.

In 1935 he spent a year on the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration and was able, for the first time, to devote himself exclusively to painting.

He taught at Black Mountain College in NC and the Yale School of Art in 1950-1951.

Despite his perserverance, de Kooning had a legendary inability to “finish” a painting, to make it a state of polished perfection.

He spent months creating Excavation, de Kooning’s attempt to create an all-inclusive masterpiece.

The most popular and widely discussed paintings by de Kooning were his “Woman” series. His violent images of women revealed tensions in his marriage and the paintings exposed fears of this domineering mother, who had terrified him as a child.

By the end of the 1980s, he was stricken with Alzheimer’s disease and stopped painting.

Featured Artist: Adija Wolf, Asheville, NC

I met Adija, interestingly enough, through craigslist. She had posted some of her work and I was compelled to send her a message with the typical “I love your work, and if I could afford it, I would buy it!” She was happy to receive the email, and we started communicating. I have had the pleasure of speaking with her and meeting up for coffee on several occasions. She is a fascinating person to talk to, to hear her philosophy of life, and her freedom from the weight of focusing on possessions. She is truly a free spirit. Her works consist of abstracts as well as realistic portrayals of landscapes and figures.

I think her web site says it best:

“Adija was born in Philadelphia in 1951. She attended The Miquon School, a very alternative education for the 1950’s, and one that, she feels, taught her that everything is a form of art and that art has no required form.

Her passion for children and for the creative process inspire the childlike creations that often are her art. To be like a child, creating from a place of innocence and without judgment, is her artistic goal.

Adija is a writer, a musician, a Feng Shui designer, and a peace activist. She has worked in research and design in the craft and art industries, and continues to study art process as she teaches it to children.

All of life is an art form; as we are the creators of it all.

‘My paintings create me. Painting is my practice, my way of contributing to the collective imagination.

I rarely have a plan for a painting but rather each stroke directs the next. I practice placing my eyes on my heart and begin paintings with words and images of gratitude and peace first painted onto the canvas and then the journey begins. I often begin a landscape and then “work away from the image” as an inner landscape paints itself over the canvas.

When children look at an “abstract” painting, they immediately see the “horse” or the “face” without having to first see through the abstraction. As one young student said to me,”Sure, I know what abstract art is, it’s the stuff you have to squint at in order to see what it is!” My passion for working with our children stems from my desire to participate in the world that sees love and peace without having to first see through the abstraction.’”

In addition to her painting, she also creates “Sacred Space Angels”. These magnificent works are are all individually created from textiles and jewelry gathered from women. We made a trade and I now have one in my house.

It is hanging on the wall and appears to be in flight.

I highly recommend that you check out her web site at http://www.adijawolf.com.

What I’ve Been Up to Lately:

Not a whole lot. I have been doing more experiments with tempera paint and heavy paper stock. For me, tempera is basically a way to practice without committing to a canvas. Not to mention that I made a makeshift studio in my kitchen.I just haven’t had the “bug” to paint lately. That concerns me a little, but I guess I will go through phases. Part of it is that my studio is in the garage, and it has been cold lately. Not really much incentive to go out there.

That’s what happens when you have a small house and use the extra bedrooms as offices. It is working so far, no real messes yet, except when I stepped in paint and left tracks all over the kitchen floor. I keep worrying that my dog will step in it. That would be a mess.

Well, enough out of me for now. Hope you enjoyed this issue.