CJH Abstract Art Newsletter, Issue 3

8/9/2019 CJH Abstract Art Newsletter, Issue 3

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Issue 3October 23, 2009

Abstract Expressionism: Willem

de Kooning

Willem de Kooning (1904 – 1997) wasa heavy hitter in the abstractexpressionist movement.

He was born in the Netherlands andstudied for eight years at theRotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and

Techniques. He was apprenticed as ayouth to a commercial art anddecorating firm. In 1926, at the age

of 32, he sailed for the U.S. He settled

in New York in 1927 and supportedhimself as a commercial artist, housepainter and carpenter.

In 1935 he spent a year on the FederalArt Project of the Works Progress

Administration and was able, for the

first time, to devote himself exclusively to painting.

He taught at Black Mountain College inNC and the Yale School of Art in 1950-

1951.

Despite his perserverance, de Kooninghad a legendary inability to “finish” apainting, to make it a state of polished

perfection.

He spent months creating Excavation,

de Kooning’s attempt to create an all-

inclusive masterpiece.

Excavation, 1950.

The most popular and widely discussed

paintings by de Kooning were his “Woman” series. His violent images of

women revealed tensions in hismarriage and the paintings exposedfears of this domineering mother, who

had terrified him as a child.

Woman I , 1950-1952.

By the end of the 1980s, he wasstricken with Alzheimer’s disease andstopped painting.



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Featured Artist: Adija Wolf,

Asheville, NC

I met Adija, interestingly enough,

through craigslist. She had postedsome of her work and I was compelledto send her a message with the typical

“I love your work, and if I could afford

it, I would buy it!” She was happy toreceive the email, and we startedcommunicating. I have had the

pleasure of speaking with her and

meeting up for coffee on severaloccasions. She is a fascinating person

to talk to, to hear her philosophy of

life, and her freedom from the weightof focusing on possessions. She istruly a free spirit. Her works consist of

abstracts as well as realistic portrayals

of landscapes and figures.

I think her web site says it best:

“Adija was born in Philadelphia in1951. She attended The Miquon

School, a very alternative education

for the 1950's, and one that, she feels,taught her that everything is a form of art and that art has no required form.

Her passion for children and for thecreative process inspire the childlike

creations that often are her art. To be

like a child, creating from a place of innocence and without judgment, isher artistic goal.

Adija is a writer, a musician, a FengShui designer, and a peace activist.

She has worked in research and design

in the craft and art industries, andcontinues to study art process as she

teaches it to children.

All of life is an art form; as we are thecreators of it all.

‘My paintings create me. Painting ismy practice, my way of contributing tothe collective imagination.

I rarely have a plan for a painting but

rather each stroke directs the next. Ipractice placing my eyes on my heart

and begin paintings with words and

images of gratitude and peace firstpainted onto the canvas and then the journey begins. I often begin a

landscape and then "work away from

the image" as an inner landscapepaints itself over the canvas.

When children look at an "abstract"

painting, they immediately see the"horse" or the "face" without having to

first see through the abstraction. As

one young student said to me,"Sure, Iknow what abstract art is, it's the stuff you have to squint at in order to see

what it is!" My passion for working

with our children stems from mydesire to participate in the world that

sees love and peace without having to

first see through the abstraction.’"

The following is called “Possibilities”,

and is my favorite work. She was kind

enough to give me a giclee print of it.

In addition to her painting, she also

creates “Sacred Space Angels”. These



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magnificent works are are all

individually created from textiles and jewelry gathered from women. We

made a trade and I now have one in

my house:

It is hanging on the wall and appears

to be in flight.

I highly recommend that you check

out her web site at

www.adijawolf.com.

What I’ve Been Up to Lately:

Not a whole lot. I have been doing

more experiments with tempera paintand heavy paper stock. I just haven’t

had the “bug” to paint lately. That

concerns me a little, but I guess I willgo through phases. Part of it is that

my studio is in the garage, and it has

been cold lately. Not really muchincentive to go out there. Here’s acouple of recent tempera works:

Totem, October 2009

Then I decided to change theorientation, and I like that better:

[Glare in the middle.]

http://www.adijawolf.com/

http://www.adijawolf.com/



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Untitled I , October 2009

Untitled II , October 2009

For me, tempera is basically a way topractice without committing to a

canvas. Not to mention that I made a

makeshift studio in my kitchen:

That’s what happens when you have a

small house and use the extrabedrooms as offices. It is working so

far, no real messes yet, except when Istepped in paint and left tracks all overthe kitchen floor. I keep worrying thatmy dog will step in it. That would be a

mess.

Well, enough out of me for now. Hope

you enjoyed this issue.

Celeste J. [email protected]

www.cjhabstracts.com

http://celestejheery.wordpress.com/

http://c/Users/Celeste/Desktop/Newsletter/[email protected]

http://www.cjhabstracts.com/



http://www.cjhabstracts.com/

http://c/Users/Celeste/Desktop/Newsletter/[email protected]

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CJH Abstract Art Newsletter, Issue 3