# 51 - A Painter's Click

                                                              Entree de Douvres

                                                                    Vieux Luc

                                                                Coquelicots a Tierceville  

Fellow Art Lovers:

It’s interesting how real progress can come when it’s not at all expected, and when viewed after the fact, like a Sunday-morning quarterback, it can seem like the most natural event in the world.

That happened to me about five days ago, and – surprisingly – it had to do with painting.

I’ve always done a lot of sketching, because it’s a pleasure, it’s useful in planning paintings, and it comes very naturally to me.  Recently, here in Normandy, I’ve started giving hosts original sketches of some of the scenes I love when we’re invited to their homes for lunch or dinner. I find this more personal than a bottle of wine or a bouquet of flowers. 

Recently, looking at a number of dinners coming up, I decided to do maybe four or five sketches of some of my favorite places in Normandy, just to prepare for the coming dinners. Then, perhaps the next afternoon, I picked a spot to paint and set up my material.

Then something clicked.  I swear, my brush just started flying over the canvas, first in dark tones, and then gradually in lighter and lighter tones for the highlights of trees and fields and clouds and sky. Then, almost automatically, I brightened the colors and filled in important areas of highlight and reflection.

What had happened? First of all, I’ve been painting a lot here recently, and my strokes have become more and more confident. But more important, perhaps, I think I picked up for painting some of the gestures I make for sketching – with all of their speed and ease. The result was the painting, ”Entrée de Douvres.” Then, the next day, the same thing happened with the painting, “Vieux Luc.” It just seemed to right and natural.

I’m not going to go on forever about my pursuit of freedom, because I talk a lot about that, and you’re probably getting a little tired of it. All I will do is present three of the paintings I’ve done recently for you to judge for yourselves.

As I mentioned in my last blog posting, I’m only bringing back a few of the paintings I’ve done here in Normandy, because I’m planning to have an exhibit here. So, if you’re struck by anything I’ve shown in my last few blog postings, please let me know.

You’ll be able to see a few new Normandy paintings if you e-mail me or when you visit my studio during POST (Philadelphia Open Studio Tours) on Oct. 25 and 26.  

Thanks for listening, and thanks for your time. As always, I’d love to hear your comments.

Best,

Bill

#50 - Reaching a Milestone in France

                                                       Tailleville Field I

Reviers River 

                                                               Coquelicots Amblie I

                                                                 Crepon Field 

Fellow Art Lovers:  

One of my favorite streets in Paris is rue de Seine, which has about 30 art galleries and – along other things – a smattering of cafes and restaurants. One afternoon, while visiting one of the galleries there, I talked with an artist whose landscape style I really liked, it’s honest, direct and a pleasure to look at. Just like many people in other professions, we exchanged business cards. The following day, I received a message from her. She told me that she really liked my latest urban landscapes, which – she said – “brush up against the abstract.”

Of course, everyone likes compliments, but for me her comment was very perceptive. Yes, in pushing my painting forward toward more freedom, I have been moving just a bit closer to the abstract. And I found her way of expressing that idea appealing, using the French word “frôler.”

And her comments got me thinking about how this approach really suits me. It’s consistent with my character, my painting style and my goals for my painting, and it’s helping me move forward. This approach, and my knowledge of it while I’m painting, imposes a certain discipline on me, while at the same time gives me a certain license. That approach reminds me that I have the responsibility to express an idea in the most forceful way, while I can remind myself that, yes, that bit of canvas belongs to me, and I can do what I want. And that’s all consistent with my goals for painting, as well as writing: I want to tell a story, get a certain idea across to the viewer, and give the viewer pleasure in looking at my work. 

A lot of this comes naturally to me, that is without a lot of thinking. But more and more, I’m still a very emotional painter; I can get totally involved in my painting and feel kind of a painter’s high. But, in contrast to the past, even while I’m painting, I do get involved in a reasonable amount of reflection. It’s not just all gut and adrenaline.

Now, if it’s of interest to you, it’s up to you to judge. I’m showing you just four paintings of perhaps the 13 I’ve done so far here in Normandy. I believe they show a kind of progress, from representational to letting the brush take off and brush up against the abstract.  

Just a few comments on these paintings (Please remember: Just click on the image to double its size):

1.     One of the first paintings I did on arriving here in Normandy, this is a field near Tailleville. It looks like a lot of fields here in its simple beauty, and I tried to show that straight-forward beauty to the viewer in a slightly realistic style.

2.     This is a beautiful scene in the village of Reviers where the river Seulles passes under some foliage. I tried to make the foliage in the background slightly abstract, while showing the foreground clearer and more realistic.

3.     In a farmer’s field in Amblie, I just couldn’t resist this scene, because we have the field itself, a great sky and the scattering of the bright cloquelicots in the lush foliage. I just let my hand go on its own, and this is the result.

4.     This scene in Crepon was splendid. I went back to more realism because I wanted to capture the bulls, the open field, the sky and foliage in the foreground.

I’m going to keep working and see what I come up with.

If you’re attracted to any of these paintings, please let me know. I will be bringing back just a few of the works I’ve done here, because I plan on exhibiting here in France. Also, if you have any desires, like “I’d love a painting with cows,” please let me know. I do take strong suggestions for paintings.

Thanks for listening and for your support.

Best,

Bill

 

# 42 - Back in the U. S. A.

                 "Luc en peinture celebrates 20 years this weekend"

                              "Courgettes de Luc"

 
                 "The Chapel in Amblie"

              "Beach Scene in Saint Aubin-sur-Mer"

Fellow Art Lovers:

Well, I’m back in the U.S.A., and I have a lot to tell you.  But this time I don’t have any stories about hours and hours of painting and soul-searching in France. This time there are more stories about feeling good about being a grandfather and participating to a great event in France.  

I don’t know if I ever mentioned an event called Luc en Peinture, a painting competition carried out a few villages down the coast from the village where we stay in Normandy during the summer. Basically, artists have from 9 in the morning to 6 in the evening on a Saturday to produce a painting, with the general theme Luc, which gives each painter a lot of leeway. The event just celebrated its 20^th anniversary, and I’ve been participating in it for seven or eight years. While the main event is painting, the event also includes an artists’ dinner Saturday in the evening, and an exhibit, auction and prizes on the following Sunday.

This year, I was a big winner, even though I did not win an official prize. Producing a valid painting in one day is a big challenge, and I enjoy the excitement. The artists’ dinner is always raucous fun, and I love meeting other artists and sharing ideas with them. I felt great this year because our two granddaughters participated in the children’s section, and they were thrilled when their paintings were purchased during the auction. And, just the day before the event, a friend told me that I was featured in an article about Luc en Peinture in Ouest France, the newspaper with the highest circulation in France. I didn’t believe it until I actually saw it.

If you want to know more about Luc en Peinture, you can access the Luc-sur-Mer website (www.luc-sur-mer.fr) or send an e-mail to the dynamic person in charge of it, Fabienne Curet. (curet.fabienne@wanadoo.fr).  If you have any questions, I’d love to share what I know.

In addition to being a grandfather, I did visit a lot of art exhibits and galleries in Paris, and I have a lot of ideas for my future painting. I think I’ve mentioned to you before how I incorporate new ideas into my painting; I leave it up to my subconscious. And, I did actually paint a bit, which you can see from the photos above. The painting entitled “Courgettes de Luc,” was my entry in Luc en Peinture. In case you’re wondering, the produce store where I was painting, and you see a bit of the storefront and the sign, had squash from Luc on sale. 

As always, I’d love to hear from you, if you have any comments.

Thanks for your support,

William Kosman