my american odyssey
DESCRIPTION
Colley Whisson found a trail of inspiration on his visit to USA. Featuring 11 works of tjhe Australian artist.TRANSCRIPT
AUSTRALIA
COLLEY WHISSON FOUND A TRAIL OF INSPIRATION ON HIS VISIT TO USA
My American 0dysseyn most occasions l've started my US trips by landing inLos Angeles; my recent trip was of this nature - startingout with a heart filled with optimism and a head fullof
ambition. I headed off in my trusty rental car for the coasiline.After spending the day around Santa Monica I then moved ontoLaguna Beach. Depending on the local surrounds, I only stay inthe one place for no more than 2 to 5 days.
My most productive moments come when l,m walking around,compared to driving a vehicle. Walking around is like seeing thelandscape in slow motion and it gives me the best opportunity tovisualize and analyze the scene and to formulate my resp0nse.Feeling fully recovered from my international flight, I had a shortflight to Tucson for a 4 day workshop at the Tucson Art Academy.0n many occasions when l'm teaching I don't get to see a greatdeal of the outside world. So I take every moment I have to soakup as much of the local atmosphere as possible. I was justbeginning the teachrng phase of my travels - my next stop wasAustin, Texas. After picking up s0me art materials it was onto theworkshop venue and time to set up for my 3 day workshop.
The light in Texas is very similar to the light quality in Australia- unfortunately I was only in Austin for a few days, so l,ll have towait until next time before I will get the chance to truly investigatethe local scenery. My next destination was Ailanta for a workshopat Binders Art Store. Even though I get enormous pleasure fromconducting the workshops, eventually my adventurous mind turns
Warmed hy the Sun Tucson, llSA,7 x 6,,Ihe first version of this scene was completedas a demonstration painting for my class. I washappy with my initial resp0nse, but just beforegoing to sleep that night it dawned on me thata figure in the mid-distance would enhance thescene n0 end. This painting is a result of a quickimpression and some enlightened reflection.
Santa Monica Dreaming, USA, g x 12,'I wanted to get offto a good start with this tripso I was relieved to stumble across this scene,
which has a magnif icent foreground, middistance and distance. The one compositional
element I needed to be cautious of was thestrong diagonal line so I made sure to break it
up as often as possible.
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Melting Snow tolorado, 10 x 7"I found this scene 0n the way back to Denverrsometimes looking for great subject matterrequires patience and perseverance. I wasdetermined to get just the right angle for thiscomposition, so I waded into the icy cold water.My feet were frozen in seconds but it was wellworth the effort.
fhe Reading Room, USA,11 x g"I arrived in Atlanta fairly exhausted from therecent teaching assignments. I was staying withan artist friend; up0n arrrving at his residencehe gave me the guided tour of his house andI spotted this little subject to photograph.IVy favourite part of this painting was thelamp and all of it's wonderful patterns.
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Tomorrow's Child, 10 x 12"With all the trips that l've ever made I deliberately search for the widestvariety of subject matter possible. I tend to fatigue fairly quickly if l'm inthe same area for too long, I need to be prepared to cover plenty of miles
in the car and get plenty of blisters on my feet.
Majestic Morn, 10 x 8
Different subjects have different degrees of accuracyrequired. I have never attempted to paint chickens from life.
I prefer to do plenty of drawings and get the compositionsorted out and save the oil painting for the stuCio. Ihe most
c0mm0n problem with photographing chickens is that they
don't stay still for long enough or go to where I want them togo. The best trick I have found is to throw out some feed to
entice them to stay in the one sPot,
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Afternoon Light, Nashville - US/,8 x 11"There are certain subjects that I prefer to leave until l'm back in the studio, so I made sure to capture this scene with my 35mm Canon digital sketchbookWith the benefit of hindsight and time, I decided to add a small figure in the mid-distance to improve the focal point.
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to getting out to paint, sketch and photograph. While in AtlantaI had the opportunity to catch up with a few artist friends for a day ofpainting. The weather was glorious and a great day was had by oneand all. l'm always grateful for the generous spirit of my fellow artistfriends when they show me around all of their favourite spots. lt cansave days, weeks, even months of trying to {ind those special places
that have taken years to find. So l'll forever be eternally grateful fortheir generosity.
Next, I travelled by rental car to Nashville for a workshop and a
meeting with a gallery owner. lt's a bit under 5 hours drive and onceI started to enterTennessee it's quite noticeable how much the colorsand terrain has changed from Atlanta. Many times when I travel to a
new destination, there is an air of uncertainty as to what I mayencounter. My only knowledge of Nashville was that my favouritesinger- songwriter, Roy 0rbison, lived there for many years. With allthis swirling in my mind it was time to get back to workshop mode.I made it safely to Leipers Creek Gallery to c0mmence the workshop.0nce again, I had the great privilege of meeting and teaching anothergroup of dedicated artists. I felt as though I had stumbled onto a
painting paradise; I took every opportunity to explore and immersemyself in the local landscape and culture.
Next, I flew into Denver, Colorado to catch up with an artist friendfor a few days of painting and photographing. After being picked up
from the airport we headed west from Denver to Colorado Springswhere we were based. Even though Colorado is quite dry, what I loveis the light intensity and I was pleasantly surprised by the variety ofsubject matter - valley scenes, vineyards, street scenes and snowyrivers scenes. Unfortunately, I managed to pick up a stomach bugwhich had me confined to bed for 24 hours. 0nce the worst hadpassed, we were able to continue with our outdoor exploration.Before I knew it, my time was up in Colorado.
I was off to San Francisc0; even though I had been to San
Francisco twice before, it's great to get back after a four year absence.When l'm travelling I like to keep a keen eye on what the weather is
doing. The weather report for San Francisco didn't look promising so
as s00n as I landed, I headed out to make the most of my stay. I wasdetermined to look for something new; I had painted the cable carsand street scenes 0n my previous visits. Making sure that I kept anopen mind, I stumbled upon a few new ideas and concepts before theday was complete. The next few days were highlighted by rain andmore rain. My body was actually looking forward to a break and also
I had some paperwork to update. Due to the weather conditions I waslooking forward to getting back to Los Angeles. With only a few daysleft, lwas able to catch up with a few artist friends and with a littleluck I was able to find a couple of new interior scenes. Before I knewit my 40 day trip was over and it was time to return home...to paint!
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Style and Grace, t/Sr4, 8 x 6"Being invited into an artlst friend's home or studio is always a treat.Even though I don't deliberately go out of my way to find subjects to paint,I guess it's an occupational hazard. Most times it's a matter of being in theright place at the right time and being open-minded to any possibilities.
A Qarden Scene, USA, 8 x 5"0ne of my strongest instincts when searching for subject matter tophotograph is to head for high ground. When I'm in the field, it's like l'mon the hunt, l'm relentless. With the weather starting to turn for the worse,I need to get active and be patient. Sometimes I only get a glimpse ofsunlight and with this scene that's all I got.
The Atlanta Scarecrow, 7 x 7"With most of my workshops I like to do a quick
plein-air demonstration or a small still life sketch in
the classroom. To keep the still life exercise fresh,many times I simply grab something that may be
laying around in the classroom on this occasionI got lucky because I found a small scarecrow
decoration left over from Halloween celebrations.
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USA Workshops &Exhibitions 2013
APRIT
Tucson Art AcademyContact: Christine SvagrikEmail, [email protected]
Dallas Art GroupContact: Becky ParksEmail, [email protected]
MAY
lmpressionist Painting in 0ils - AustinContact: Qiang HuangEmail: [email protected]
Ihe Art School at Binders - AtlantaContact: Jacob GunterEmail' [email protected]
leiper's Creek Gallery - Franklin, TN
Contact: Lisa FoxEmail' [email protected]
Pomeraug 0utdoor Painters -ConnecticutContact: Ellie BoydEmail: [email protected]
For more information go towww.colleywhisson.com
The Embrace, USA,11 x7"Notice how the two figures together have created an interesting triangular shape. With the lamp
and the yellow cushioned chair in the background I feel that I have a marvellous arrangement of
shapes worthy of painting. The outfit that ihe main figure is wearing is made up mostly of Cadmium
Red Scarlet and varying amounis of Ultramarine Blue.
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