Thursday, January 21, 2010

Teaching art is a non linear process. Even though I write up a syllabus I find when I get into my class that the students guide the direction that the class will go in. My portrait/figure class this morning at the DeCordova Museum School was changed by the feedback of my students. After all, the students are the ones that need the guidance and when I hear a need to develop or explore certain issues that are important, I am on it. We did our 10- 2 minute gestures which is great for a warm up but I noticed the desire to hold onto the form with line. Which can at times limit the ability to create mass. There was a question about enlarging the head and running it off the page and how to develop the concept of features on the head and needing to build mass. That is when we jumped into charkole (brand of charcoal), erasing out the form and drawing it back in. This is where the eraser becomes a drawing tool and not just for getting rid of information. I did not tell my students the length of the pose for fear they would lock into their drawings. And the freshness of seeing the whole drawing would leave the room for the sake of trying to achieve "a pretty drawing'. The exploration of drawing and the experience of gesture needs to happen throughout the artwork....start to finish. It's so exciting to see growth with my students in a 3 hour session.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Please don't forget to view my web site at: pottleart.com.
At last I have a minute to update my blog. There are so many things to keep up with these days. I am on facebook, linkedIn, email and this blog. I teach at two places: DeCordova Museum School and the Corwin Russell School and I do private lessons out of my studio or in student's studios. I need time to paint!!! AS always. Here is a 38X38 inch painting of a pot. Sometimes the most straight forward subject matter can be the most interesting. I made it interesting by focusing on all the reflections on the surface. I love the challenge to get the reflections to wrap around the surface.

My latest paintings which I will post once I get photos of these, are an abundance of glasses, another dress painting, (another in a series) and 3 fried eggs. Believe it or not the last painting I dreamt about and had to do a painting of this. It's funny how my brain works. The painting is 36X36 and I loved all the blisters and brown crust that I had to paint to create an illusion of three fried eggs. Subject matter is everywhere!!! Just look around.


And finally an announcement:
Is Proud to Announce the Addition of Jill Pottle to our Roster of New England's Finest Artists
Canvas Fine Arts Group represents some of the most exciting, emerging and established artists in New England. Please stay tuned to future Canvas Fine Arts Group e-mails to be the first to know about shows featuring these fantastic talents. Suzanne@canvasfineartsgroup.com