In July it’s all about plein air at Troika Gallery in downtown Easton. The gallery will present “From Study to Studio,” a featured exhibit during the month of July, and three free talks during Plein Air–Easton! (July 15-21).
“From Study to Studio” will feature the works of five selected Troika Gallery artists, Jorge Alberto, Kevin Fitzgerald, David Buckley Good, Kirk McBride, and Carol Lee Thompson. This exhibit will educate the art-loving public on one way that many old masters and contemporary artists create a painting by first making a small “study” painting either in the field or in the studio, and then working from that image to create a larger, more finished studio painting. Each study and its studio painting will on view in this fascinating exhibit.
“From Study to Studio” runs from July 13 to September 4.
Troika Gallery will present three free talks as part of the 9th Annual Plein Air–Easton! Competition & Arts Festival (July 15-21)
July 19, 3-4pm
Professional Development Seminar with Attorney Susan Chaires & Gigi O’Connell
The Artist’s Toolkit for Copyright Protection and Social Media Marketing
This seminar, presented by intellectual property lawyer Susan Chaires with Gigi O’Connell of The Henker Group, will discuss key features of copyright protection that every artist should know about, and then move on to the latest options and tools offered by social media to market art work. Participants will be encouraged to share experiences. Chaires is a Washington based intellectual property lawyer with a wide range of experience in copyright law as affecting artists and protection of artists’ rights. O’Connell is a PR assistant with The Henker Group, an Easton based full service PR and marketing firm that represents clients throughout the U.S. in developing their business, marketing, and PR strategies. O’Connell has particular experience in marketing through social media.
July 20, 2pm
Troika Artist, Kirk McBride
Using Field Sketches to Create Studio Paintings
Kirk McBride will give a visual presentation and talk about how artists work from small field studies—plein air paintings, pencil sketches, detailed oil paintings— to later create larger, finished pieces in the studio. He will show examples and discuss how famous artists in history, such as Edgar Payne, have worked from their original ideas and concepts to final works. “I will talk about how to work things out in a smaller painting before committing to the finished painting. Some artists are very confident. They jump right in, working fast and loose; while others work more slowly and tightly, or anywhere in between.”
McBride compares study paintings to calisthenics. “It’s like doing the push-ups and sit-ups of composition, making color notes that a photograph is not going to accurately depict, capturing the feeling and color of the day. Plein air sketches help get the feel of the scene, working up compositions that are a step beyond photos, sketches, and color notes. It’s about remembrance and putting it all together to see if one can come up with something even more expressive than what originally caught the eye.”
For “Afternoon in Sedona” (pictured), McBride worked for two afternoons to make the study painting. Contrary to most studies, back in the studio, he felt the study painting was over-worked, so he simplified the forms in the final version.
July 20, 4pm
John Ebersberger
Powerpoint Visual Presentation with Q&A
Lineage of Color Exploration: from Monet to Hawthorne to Henry Hensche and Beyond
Join artist John Ebersberger as he discusses the “grand lineage” of color exploration from Claude Monet to Charles Hawthorne to Henry Hensche and beyond in a special visual presentation. Ebersberger was a student of Henry Hensche in the 1980s during the last ten years of Hensche’s life. This presentation shows how Hensche developed a method of color perception made popular by French impressionists, most notably, Claude Monet. Ebersberger will discuss the lineage of color exploration, tracing color understanding from Monet via Charles Hawthorn. Hawthorne founded the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown, MA in 1899. The school grew into one of the largest art colonies in the world. Ebersberger’s presentation will go a step further into history to William Merritt Chase at his Long Island outdoor painting school where the lessons of the French Impressionists were first brought to American shores. Ebersberger seeks to relate his experiences of studying with Hensche and demystify the use of color in painting. “Henry used to say, ‘Talent is plentiful, but character is rare.’ The development of color perception takes a lifetime of study. Are you going to wrestle with the commercial prospects of being an artist or take it seriously enough to work hard and devote the time, patience, analysis, and study required to push ahead representational art?”
This presentation will appeal to artists, collectors, historians, and the general public. Ebersberger will augment his Powerpoint presentation with actual paintings by Hensche. Camille Przewodek, a colorist from California, will be Ebersberger’s special guest.
Troika Gallery is located at 9 S. Harrison St. in downtown Easton. Troika Gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 5:30pm. The gallery will be open on Sunday, July 21 during the Plein Air–Easton! weekend. For more information, call 410.770.9190 or visit www.troikagallery.com.
In photo: The 12 x16 “study” painting (bottom) of “Afternoon in Sedona” by Kirk McBride alongside the 24 x 48 final painting.