Inspired by: Alan E. Cober

Illustration from The Dark is Rising

Lately I have been working more in pen & ink, sketching and doodling than in painting and Alan E. Cober is one of those artists who I've been looking to for inspiration in terms of the many possibilities open to the medium. I was introduced to him through his fantastic illustrations for Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising, but his creations extend far beyond his work for books (he also illustrated Beowulf). His unique style bridges the enforced gaps that occurred between fine art and illustration and he was an advocate for the acceptance of these new values in illustration. Much more detail can be read on him at the society of illustrators page.

Gallery Visit

I was recently able to visit the McMichael Collection of Art which features a permanent collection of many works from Tom Thompson, the Group of Seven, and their contemporaries, Inuit and first Nations artists, as well as changing exhibitions from other Canadian artists.
Formerly the home of Robert and Signe McMichael, the buildings have expanded to house over 5000 works of art. Their private art collection was dedicated to the works of Canadian artists, especially those who were inspired by the beauty of the natural landscape.




As their mass of paintings accumulated through purchases and donations, their private gallery received hundreds of visitors and the McMichaels eventually decided to donate their entire collection, as well as their home and land, to the province of Ontario. The gallery has continued to grow and is now also home to the cemetery where the McMichaels and six of the Group of Seven are buried.

I love the location of the gallery. Surrounded by forest, it is reminiscent of the scenery that inspired the artists within.

The exhibitions I saw included "Fashionality: Dress and Identity in Canadian Art" which had some beautiful and interesting works-some that I loved were by Nicole Dextras, who's pieces in the show are based around transience and environmental sustainability within fashion.  I also loved the encaustic paintings by Jacques Payette, they had a beautiful ethereal and romantic quality which I find fits in greatly with encaustic. Something about the texture and light qualities of beeswax.

McMichael gallery is definitely worth a visit and I look forward to seeing their next exhibition!

Picasso

"I paint the way some people write an autobiography. The paintings, finished or not, are the pages from my diary." So said Pablo Picasso, and after having seen an exhibition that spans most of his career, I can testify that his life was evidently as interesting as his art.

The exhibition I saw at the AGO was a collection of numerous paintings, sketches and sculptures that Picasso had kept for himself, works that would continue to inspire him over the course of a 70 year career.

Two Women Running on the Beach (The Race)
1922

Although Picasso is most famous for his invention and pioneering of Cubism along with Georges Braque, he experimented in virtually every style and medium of the time. From realism to abstraction in his painting along with sculpture, collage, and drawing, Picasso mastered it all and radically changed modern art.

Figures on the Seashore, 1931

Of course Picasso is a staple in any art history class as he was a major innovator in the art world, inventing new styles that completely changed modern art. But seeing these pieces in the flesh is a completely different experience then that of viewing small scale reproduction. The same images are shown again and again in art history texts in an effort to reinforce the importance of the artist, almost excessively so. Seeing a show comprised entirely of his works makes you realize why Picasso is so emphasized in the first place.

Portrait of Dora Maar, 1937

What I love about Picasso is the fact that he didn't confine himself in his art. His style constantly changed significantly as he explored many different ideas and techniques. He painted, collaged and sculpted, experimented, invented and ultimately became known as one of the most renowned artists of the 20th century.

Seeing these works also drove home the fact that it is not simply their exposure that makes Picasso's works powerful. As Picasso said, these paintings are an autobiography of himself. They reveal the unique vision of the artist in a way that draws you into the work to become one with the painting, and ultimately the story.