Matthew Kirkpatrick (author) and Nicola Mason (publisher)
Greetings <<First Name>>,
Hope you're doing well. I had a fantastic spring season, which included two excellent workshops, one in Florida and one in North Carolina. Also, I recently received some very good news my entry was selected for the 102nd National Watercolor Society Open International Exhibition at the NWS Gallery in San Pedro, California, September 1, 2022 to November 11, 2022. In addition, I had another painting accepted in the San Diego Watercolor Society 42nd International Exhibition, October 2 to October 31 at the SDWS Gallery in San Diego. You can see the two paintings below under Recent Paintings.
Perhaps you are wondering about the book cover and photo above. This novel is a must read if you have the slightest interest in art, and even if you don't. You can click on either of the two images above for more information, but I'm going to share with you how I became aware of this novel. I'm always interested in matters pertaining to art, most specifically the fine art of painting. I am a constant observer of other painters work, whether it's online, in a museum, in a gallery, in books or videos. I probably spend as much time studying other painters lives and work as I do working on my own paintings. My life is pretty much centered around painting, and I teach painting locally and nationally.
After a couple of reschedules and finally knowing for sure I would be teaching at the 2022 Kanuga Watermedia Workshop in Montreat, North Carolina, several students let me know ahead of time they would be taking my class. One of those students is Georgia Mason. Georgia is an excellent painter and has been a friend on social media for some time. I was excited to know she would be there. Georgia also mentioned to me her daughter Nicola would be in the class as well.
I think it was on the second or third day of the workshop when I was getting better acquainted with students and learning more about their personal lives, likes, dislikes and so on, Nicola shared with me that she was a publisher. She talked about Acre Books and what they published. There was a particular novel she mentioned, which was about some strange curator and the art museum where he was employed, but with my non-multitasking brain being in teaching-painting mode it was too much to assimilate.
Shortly after my return from Montreat I received a couple emails from Nicola regarding the workshop. This is one of them:
"I thank you again for your encouragement and thoughtfulness. My purpose in this email is twofold, however. My husband, a writer and college professor (of creative writing) is the fiction editor of a literary journal I founded at the University of Cincinnati in 2003. The Cincinnati Review publishes some of the best short fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, and playwriting in the country (she boasts modestly)---and each issue features a visual artist. My spouse---Michael Griffith---is as much a fan of your work as I am, and it's his turn to choose a featured artist. He'd love that artist to be you..."
Nicola also sent me a copy of The Ambrose J. and Vivian T. Seagrave Museum of 20th Century Art. In her words she thought the book might resonate with my sensibility. When I was almost finished reading it, I couldn't help myself. I sent her the following email:
"Thank you for the novel. I'm about three quarters through it but felt compelled to correspond now. I love it. I'm literally "LOL". It has taken me back to my youth (relatively speaking) at Northern Arizona University where one of my favorite classes was Great Issues in Comparative Literature. The professor was a young dude from the University of California, Berkeley. Remember, this is the late 60's. One of the papers I wrote for the class compared the writings of Jonathon Swift and the artists/writers of Zap Comix, an underground comic strip publisher in Berkley, California. The professor was very familiar with Zap Comix and lauded my choice for the paper. I can't remember what the hell I wrote but I do remember how much I enjoyed reading Gulliver's Travels and other works like A Modest Proposal. I became a fan of satire in its various forms from then on. The title cards and descriptions from the novel fit right in here. The interwoven thoughts of the old woman adds paradoxical relief to the curator's ludicrous title card comments and his obsession with Iris Babbitt.
I'm enjoying the read so much I dove head first into a Matthew Kirkpatrick rabbit hole, finding the corresponding exhibition at the Reed Gallery on City Beat and Acre Books. I've only found six actual paintings with the title cards on acre-books. Is there an online source for the entire exhibit, piece by piece? I would love to see it if there is. You probably spoke of all this during our time in Montreat, but I'm apparently not a good listener or note-taker. For that I apologize. Kudos to you for bringing this fictitious museum and exhibit to life. I find it fascinating."
And indeed I do find it fascinating when multiple art forms are combined in such a unique way as they are here. I've seen combinations of music, dance and painting, but never fiction and painting in this manner, partly truth and partly fiction. I encourage you to read this Novel and you will understand my enthusiasm. The corresponding real exhibition based on the title cards in the novel was on display at the Reed Gallery, which is in the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, but cut short by COVID-19. The artists invited to participate in that exhibition created works based on the title cards in the book. You can view six interpretations of title cards in the novel by real artists here: https://acre-books.com/2019/12/03/selections-from-the-seagrave-museum-part-1/
I highly recommend the novel The Ambrose J. and Vivian T. Seagrave Museum of 20th Century Art by Matthew Kirkpatrick.
Nicola Mason
Good Times At Montreat
My students at Montreat (some missed the photo shoot).
A view of Lake Susan at Montreat and Mark Mehaffey's plein air class.
Montreat is such a beautiful area for a workshop. Three years ago I was approached by Chris and Barbara Hutchinson to teach at Kanuga Watermedia Workshops. I was scheduled for 2020 but we all know what happened in 2020. So, it was put off for a year, and then another. Finally in 2022 it happened but not without switching location from Kanuga to Montreat, and changing leadership to Cheap Joe's but keeping the Kanuga Watermedia Workshops name. Chris and Barbara were still there and played a major part, but Meghann Miller was in charge and she was superlative. I had such a good time teaching and making new friends there, I'm still getting down from the high. If you ever have the chance to partake in any capacity, don't miss it.
The Instructors at Montreat
The last demo for my class at Montreat (overhead mirror image).
My favorite spot for a cigar and coffee.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The evening routine.
View from my room.
Art Center Sarasota
Workshop
At Art Center, Sarasota with Jane Harris, Education Director.
I taught my Intuitive Painting with Ink, Watercolor and Gouache Workshop in Sarasota, Florida on the 14th, 15th and 16th of March at Art Center Sarasota in downtown Sarasota. The Center has roots going back to 1926 when the The Sarasota Art Association was established. There are four galleries within the facility and four outstanding exhibitions concurrent with my stay, including Philomena Marano: Sign & Wonders, Osa Atoe: The Sea is Alive in Me, Susan Sidebottom: A Place in The Sun and the Annual Members Juried Show. They have a policy set forth in the annual members show where no one gets rejected. Every member gets a piece in the show. For that exhibit they are sort of forced to hang it salon style. There was a lot of outstanding work.
Classroom (student view) had two large screens, kinda cool.
Classroom (my view) at the Art Center.
Student work in progress during the workshop.
Student work in progress during the workshop.
Student work in progress during the workshop.
Student work in progress during the workshop.
Student work in progress during the workshop.
Exhibits On Display While Teaching At Art Center Sarasota
Philomena Marano: Signs & Wonders
(all of this is cut paper)
Osa Atoe: The Sea is Alive in Me
Susan Sidebottom: A Place in The Sun
Art Center Sarasota Annual Members Juried Show,
1st place winner: Mary Grandpre, What She Said, 2022
Art Center Sarasota Annual Members Juried Show
Art Center Sarasota Annual Members Juried Show
Art Center Sarasota Annual Members Juried Show
Recent Paintings
Windowpane No.76 - 15 X 15 inches - Ink, Watercolor and Gouache on Paper
Windowpane No.75 - 15 X 15 inches - Ink, Watercolor and Gouache on Paper
Accepted into the National Watercolor Society 102nd International Open Exhibition
Windowpane No.72 - 15 X 15 inches - Ink, Watercolor and Gouache on Paper
Accepted into the San Diego Watercolor Society 42nd International Ehibition
Windowpane No.73 - 15 X 15 inches - Ink, Watercolor and Gouache on Paper
Windowpane No.74 - 15 X 15 inches - Ink, Watercolor and Gouache on Paper
A Visit to the
Phoenix Art Museum
In March of 2020, right when COVID-19 was making its debut, I sold a painting to good friend and fellow painter Valerie McMullen. There was a slight issue because the painting would be tied up in an exhibition jury process until later in the year. By the time I was able to deliver the painting, we decided it best to wait until the virus calmed down. Two years later we met at the Phoenix Art Museum for lunch and took a look around at what was hanging on the walls. These images are a small sampling of the work we saw.
Richard Diebenkorn (American, 1922 - 1993)
Women by a Window
oil on canvas
Wayne Thiebaud (American, 1920 - 1921)
Four Ice Cream Cones
Wayne Thiebaud (American, 1920 - 1921)
Four Ice Cream Cones (detail)
Shara Hughes (American, born 1981)
Narnia
William T. Wiley (American, 1937 - 2021)
Modern Ark - After Brueghel
Enrique Chagoya (Mexican, born 1953, active United States)
General Merchandise (The Holy Family)
Mercancia General [La Sagrada Familia]
Joan Brown (American, 1938 - 1990)
Noel on a Pony with Cloud
Upcoming Exhibitions
102nd National Watercolor Society International Open Exhibition
NWS Gallery, San Pedro, California
September 1 - November 6, 2022
42nd San Diego Watercolor Society International Exhibition
SDWS Gallery, San Diego, California
October 2 - October 31, 2022
Intuitive Sketches
These sketches are created with ink, watercolor and gouache. They are roughly 8 X 8 inches square on a 12 X 9 inch sheet in a Canson 140 lb. Watercolor or 90 lb. Mixed Media sketchbook, signed and dated right below the square as depicted in the image below. If you would like one please contact me at stan.kurth@gmail.com or reply to this newsletter. At the time this newsletter was sent all of those shown here were available. ($60 shipped anywhere in the continental U.S.)
If you're interested in learning the intuitive process I use to create these sketches my only online workshop to date is available. In the workshop there is a start-to-finish painting demonstration of my intuitive process for these sketches. You can also download the supply list and two documents with descriptions of the elements and principles of design. The workshop shouldn't take more than a day to complete, but you can take as much time as you like. You can enroll in the workshop here: https://learn.watermediaworkshops.com
8 X 8 inches square on a 12 X 9 inch Canson Watercolor Sketchbook page
3.1.2022
3.2.2022
3.8.2022
3.11.2022
3.19.2022
3.23.2022
4.3.2022
4.5.2022
4.6.2022
4.9.2022
4.10.2022
4.12.2022
4.13.2022
4.13.2022A
4.25.2022
4.27.2022
4.29.2022
5.1.2022
5.5.2022
5.7.2022
5.8.2022
5.9.2022
5.11.2022
5.16.2022
5.17.2022
5.18.2022
5.21.2022
5.23.2022
5.31.2022
6.2.2022
6.3.2022
Workshops
"Like a researcher in his laboratory, I am the first spectator of the suggestions drawn from the materials. I unleash their expressive possibilities, even if I do not have a very clear idea of what I am going to do. As I go along with my work I formulate my thought, and from this struggle between what I want and the reality of the material - from this tension - is born an equilibrium." - Antoni Tapies
Franciscan Life Process Center - July 13 - 16, 2022
Ink, Watercolor and Gouache
Lowell, Michigan Registration
Chicago Workshop - September 26 - 25, 2022
Ink, Watercolor and Gouache
INGRID ORIGINALS INC. Studio
Chicago, Illinois Registration
Alabama Art Colony - September 30 - October 4, 2022
Intuitive Painting
Children's Harbor, Lake Martin, Alabama Registration
Scottsdale Artists School - December 1 - 3, 2022
Intuitive Painting
Scottsdale, Arizona Registration (looks like they haven't posted it yet)
Tubac School of Fine Art - January 13 - 15, 2023
Intuitive Painting with Ink, Watercolor and Gouache
Tubac, Arizona Registration
Coachella Watercolor Society - January 24 - 27, 2023
Intuitive Painting with Ink, Watercolor and Gouache
Palm Desert, California Registration
Gold Coast Watercolor Society - March 21 - 23, 2023
Intuitive Painting with Ink, Watercolor and Gouache
Palm Desert, California Registration
Intuitive Painting with
Ink, Watercolor and Gouache
This workshop is designed to help all levels of students paint intuitively, starting without preconceived notions or outcome. There will be no preliminary planning or drawing. Process will dictate direction as students use ink, watercolor and gouache to implement elements and principles of design. Instruction will start with random ink marks, then color using a mixture of watercolor, gouache and titanium white gouache to create a library of design elements. There will be regular comments and evaluation of work in progress concerning relationships between elements and principles. It is entirely possible finished work may be representational, but the goal is work which is compositionally pleasing and aligned with the artist's personal aesthetic.
Freedom in Watermedia
The Freedom in Watermedia Workshop is designed to help all levels of students paint intuitively, starting without preconceived notions or outcome. There will be no preliminary planning or drawing. Process will dictate direction as students use a variety of techniques to implement elements and principles of design. Instruction will start with random mark making and color application, working transparent to opaque creating a library of design elements using a variety of mark making tools, watercolor, gesso and acrylic. There will be regular comments and evaluation of work in progress concerning relationships between elements and principles. It is entirely possible finished work may be representational, but the goal is work which is compositionally pleasing and aligned with the artist's personal aesthetic.
Mixed Media/Collage on Canvas
Participants in the Mix It Up on Canvas workshop will create mixed media/collage paintings on canvas using an intuitive process, starting with no preconceived notions or outcome. Process will dictate direction as students use a variety of techniques to implement elements and principles of design. Instruction will start with semi-arbitrary application of collage materials in combination with acrylic, gesso, acrylic mediums and assorted mark-making tools. There will be regular comments and evaluation of work in progress concerning relationships between elements and principles. It is entirely possible finished work may be representational, but the goal is work which is compositionally pleasing and aligned with the artist's personal aesthetic.
If you or your group would like to sponsor a workshop in your area and would like more information about workshop costs, please reply to this email or inquire here.
