The Best Kind of Painting Website!
Check out Larry Groff's exceptional 'Painting Perceptions' blog
(above: a Stooshinoff acrylic on panel)
A number of years ago I was lucky enough to be interviewed for Larry Groff’s blog, Painting Perceptions. It’s still one of the favorite interviews I’ve taken part in, and I’m including a link here:
Harry Stooshinoff with Larry Groff
“I am prolific and I do not wish to die with 10,000 paintings under my bed!” Ha…so true!…and the interview explains the context of that statement.
Sometimes when I look at my hundreds of images on my Pinterest page, I’m surprised by pieces that I’ve forgotten about. Hmmm…did I paint that? I should try that way again. I leave behind so many ways of working. I don’t exhaust them, I just move on. I’m always happiest when making something, and if a day goes by without a picture being painted, there’s some regret and a sense of missed opportunity.
There are so many great things on Larry Groff’s blog. He showcases artists that I think are important talents and he draws out the best of their teaching and professional wisdom.
The best thing to do would be to simply read through and look at every artist he has there, but in this newsletter I’ll highlight just a few of my favorites that he’s interviewed or featured in some way.
Ken Kewley on Larry Groff's Blog
I love how Kewley explores his world with his pared down method of composing with shape and color. A lot of the things I see by him are from a number of years back and I wish I’d see more pieces from the recent past as well. He’s also a wonderful teacher who gives popular workshops. I’ve seen student work from his teaching sessions and it’s so clear that students are learning a great deal.
“Knowing how to paint may not be good. This is not heart surgery. It is better when things have to be figured out each time. Getting lost is not dangerous in painting.”
“Quick sketches can be just as finished as paintings.
Limits make things otherwise impossible, possible.”
“Paint large areas quickly and unconsciously as much as possible. Never consciously paint them. Let nuances happen.”
(above: Ken Kewley. Do a google search on him and you’ll see many images spanning decades)
Larry Groff includes a video of John Thornton interviewing Elizabeth Geiger about a new direction and her working process. It’s a really good video showcasing some very juicy paintings.
John Thornton and Elizabeth Geiger, on Larry Groff's blog
John Dubrow’s early images seem vastly different to what he’s doing these days. The painting palette/table seems similar though, but I think he’s gone more extreme with that as well. I find Dubrow’s very recent images fascinating. I think I see those on FB and Instagram.
(above: Dubrow’s painting table and an earlier canvas)
(above: a more recent Dubrow. I like the mysterious quality of these paintings which seems to come mostly from the crusty, heavy, repeated layering of paint, and the sense of correction and searching).
John Dubrow with Xico Greenwald on Larry Groff’s blog
Stanley Lewis with Larry Groff
Lewis’ work looks like nobody else’s and I love his practical approach. When he needs more room in the picture he glues on more paper or canvas. There is a wonderful workmanlike intensity to all he does. It’s about looking and finding with no artificial finish. The paintings are rich, dense, and beautiful.
I’m always charmed and pleasantly surprised when I see work by Brian Rego. The environments he creates seem both eerie and enchanting, like a vivid childhood memory that pops into your mind and makes you stop what you were doing. The works are wonderfully constructed even though the paint looks like it was mixed with muddy water and dragged in with a broken broom! :) Really good works always have such unexpected qualities that fit perfectly with the overall intention.
The above Rego images are from his own website, but the Groff page has some good interview questions and answers.
So this gives you a very small taste of what’s on Larry Groff’s blog. There is a whole lot more there…..great in-depth, richly illustrated interviews, with artists who have made significant contributions. Larry’s thoughtful interviews really do expand our understanding and appreciation of the works and lives under discussion. Take your own tour and see if you can find some new favorites or gain deeper insight into painters you’ve already encountered and know to some degree.
I continue to make lots of small plein air pieces from the front seat of my car this summer, in both acrylic and gouache, as well as studio pieces when it just gets too hot to venture out. More encaustic pieces will also be made by the pond this summer and I’ll start those in the next few days.
As usual, see new work at my 2 online sites:
Thanks Harry for this generous dive of inspiration!
Lovelovelove.