Works on Paper: an invitational group exhibition

Installation views from Works on Paper; an invitational group exhibition at Lancaster Galleries, Lancaster, PA October 2009

E-mail and At the Door

Street Lights, 2009


E-mail, 2009

Ben and me in front of At the Door

New Drawings Included in Works on Paper Exhibition

During the month of October 2009 three new drawings will be included in the Works On Paper: Selected Artists exhibition at Lancaster Galleries, Lancaster, PA. An artists reception will be held Friday October 2, 5-9pm.

E-mail, 2009, Conte crayon on laid paper, 13 x 14 inches, copyright M.Allen

At the Door, 2009

Featured Artwork... A New Drawing!

At the Door, 2009, charcoal and Conte crayon on paper, 48x30 inches,copyrightMAllen.

From the Sketchbook: Street Lights and Headlights in Morning Fog

Sketch for Street Lights, graphite on paper

A few years ago when I was still teaching in the university system I would often emphasize the importance of keeping a sketchbook; something I never did. I decided I would practice what I preach. So I do my best at keeping diligent notes and sketches of ideas. As I move onto new sketchbooks and new works I thought it would be interesting to share the beginnings and progression of my ideas as they appear in my sketchbooks.

Sketch for Headlights in Morning Fog, graphite on paper

Drawing From the Masters

My family and I had the opportunity to visit the Reading Public Museum in June. I was familiar with their collection and its surprisingly stunning assortment of 19th century American and European painters. I was also aware that there were a number of fantastic paintings in storage that have not been hung the galleries for many years. With the guidance of their new Curator of Art, Scott Schweigert, the museum put together a fantastic show of old favorites and some "new" works seeing the light of the galleries after a much extended stay in the closet. That morning we gathered our things and I remembered to grab my pocket sketch book(I have been trying to be more faithful in keeping it with on my trips to the museums). This prompted my son to do the same. Fantastic!! As I took notes from Ryder and Inness he drew from everything(this is an exaggeration, but not really!) Fantastic!!
My son and I drawing from a wonderful Albert Pinkham Ryder nocturne (top) and from a splendid late Inness(bottom).

New Painting at Somerville Manning Gallery

A Sudden Summer Storm, 2008, Oil on Canvas, 34 x 36 inches, copyright M. Allen

Methods and Materials Workshop: Dutch Light

The completed Vermeer and Rembrandt copies.
(Images coming soon)

This post is a few weeks late but, better late than never. The first Methods and Materials Workshop finished in May. Once the underpaintings were completed the glazing began. For both copies we used a variation of a northern glaze that likely would have been used by Rembrandt and Vermeer. For comparison sake I made available and used Gamblin's Galkyd Medium#1. Both the Vermeer and the Rembrandt were glazed using contemporary tube paints that mimic the colorants that would have been available in the 17th century. I only had a few colors from their respective palettes; Williamsburg Vermillion, Michael Harding Naples Yellow Light, Williamsburg Italian Raw Sienna (this darker version seems to mimic the iron oxide colorant that would have been used by both), and Winsor&Newton Carmine (W&N needs to bring this back on the market). The remaining colors were contempoary standards such as Utrecht Ultramarine Blue (nearly identical to Lapis Lazuli on the spectrum), Utrecht Mars Black Ivory, Gamblin Flake White Replacement, Williamsburg Cadmium Lemon and Medium Yellow (how I wish I had some Lead Tin Yellow). The Vermeer was a systematic layering of color directly from the tube or mixed with a small amount of black. The Rembrandt was a series of layers applied and scraped and applied again. The Vermeer is fairly evenly coated with paint. The Rembrant, however, is heavily layered in lit areas such as the face, clothing, and jewelry and thin (mostly underpainting) around the bust of Homer. I believe the workshop was a success and I thank the Art Association of Harrisburg for hosting and the participants for their eagerness and excellent questions.

I am proud to announce that in January 2010 the Art Association will be hosting the second Methods and Materials Workshop which will be called The Epic American Landscape and will focus on the practices of the Hudson River School painters . Brush off those plein air paintings and join us for some Epic studio work.

Methods and Materials Workshop: Dutch Light--Progress Report

The Vermeer underpainting and the Rembrandt underpainting.

For the purpose of bridging the 17th century and the 21st century both underpaintings are idealized versions of how Rembrandt and Vermeer would have likely painted. The Vermeer is a series of white veils placed over the ground building an "airy" light with a limited range of contrast. The Rembrandt is a series of transparent and semi-transparent layers of white, black, and an oxide which produces the glaring contrast that is often found in Rembrandt paintings.

The studies are being produced on Claessens Pre-primed Belgian linen from Utrecht. A warm gray ground was applied to the canvas followed by the respective underpaintings. The underpaintings are being completed with Gamblin's Flake White Replacement, Williamsburg's Italian Raw Sienna, and Utrecht's Mars Black-Ivory. Though I am impressed with Gamblin's white( a Titanium and Zinc mixture), it does not have the same translucency of a real lead white. Williamsburg's Italian Raw Sienna is simply one of my favorite colors. It is too yellow for a Rembrandt imprematura but seems to be working well. The Utrecht black's semi transparency has been surprising nice to work with. These are nearly complete and ready for glazing.

Methods and Materials Workshop: Dutch Light

The Methods and Materials Workshop series will begin April 18 at the Art Association of Harrisburg. The first workshop in the series will focus on the painting methods of Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn. I created this series to provide a bridge from master methods and materials to the materials available to the contemporary painter.

During the course of the four-day workshop I will present a method comparsion of the soft light of Vermeer versus the explosive light of Rembrandt. In this short session the students will have an opportunity to produce their own copy of Vermeer's Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, ca. 1662 or Rembrandt's Aristotle with the Bust of Homer, 1653. Both paintings are held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

I am currently working on two future workshops:

Sketch to Epic: Transforming plein air Sketches to Studio Masterpieces
Rubens: Three-Chalk Drawings to Oil Sketches to Masterpieces.

Transforming the Commonplace

Here is another trip down memory lane. This is Evening Wildcat installed on the right at the Susquehanna Art Museum in 2003 as part of Transforming the Commonplace: Masters of Contemporary Realism.

Fallen Tree on the Susquehanna Installed

Fallen Tree on the Susquehanna is now installed in its temporary home at the John & Kathryn Zimmerman Center for Heritage at Historic Pleasant Garden in Wrightsville, PA.

(Benjamin and me with Fallen Tree at the John & Kathryn Zimmerman Center for Heritage at Historic Pleasant Garden.)

2006 Installation at Artists' House Gallery

Today I was tripping down memory lane and thought I would share.

(Ben and me in 2006 at my exhibition at Artists' House Gallery in Philadelphia.)

In Progress

I have been enjoying the ability to explore and revisit aspects of my commonplace. These days, everything seems to be in progress.

(working on location with Ben overseeing the progress.)

In Memory of Andrew Wyeth

Winter 1946, 1946
Tempera on composition board, 31 3/8 x 48 in.
Collection of North Carolina Museum of Art


I am saddened to learn of the passing of Andrew Wyeth. Wyeth epitomizes the painters personal path. He always painted what he felt he must. He never strayed because his work was criticized and never narrowed his vision to suit his popularity. He painted from his experience and he painted what he felt was important. The art world has lost one of its best examples. Thank goodness we have his art. Visit the Brandywine River Museum to learn more about the Wyeth Legacy.

Studio Rock::Scissors::Paper

My wife and I are very proud to announce the launch of a new blog showcasing the art, music, and crafts of our son. I guess you could surmise that my son would find an interest in art. He has endured countless artist receptions in his four years and to our pleasure works a room with much more elegance than his happily reclusive parents. He has also witnessed the renovation of the room that is now the studio, the stages of a painting from stretching canvas to the final picture varnish, building and fitting the picture frames, sketching all around the house ( in and out), and trucks ( one of his favorite subjects) coming to pick up work. When he first showed interest in drawing I made a conscious effort not to guide or train him. His earliest efforts show someone exploring the tools ( crayons, pencils, markers). Slowly he began to evolve into his current mode of interpreting his daily routine and things he likes...imagine that. From his weekly trips to story time at the public library he has a growing assortment of crafts. In a house of music lovers, admittedly Classic rock to Indie rock, our son has developed a thirst for all things rock and roll. From Brick House to Hangin' Tree he rocks the house whenever he can. Again, he seems to have a natural ability to produce sounds that are melodic and don't render splitting headaches.


(left: Ben, Dad has been at work, wax crayon on paper,2008- right:Ben rocking the house)

New Work At Lancaster Galleries

Street Lights, 2008, oil on canvas mounted to panel, 10 1/2 x 10 inches, copyright M.Allen

Four new works, two drawings and two paintings, will be part of Lancaster Galleries' Annual Small Works Exhibit. The exhibition opens Friday December 5 as part of Lancaster City's First Friday. An artist reception will be held from 5-9pm. The exhibition will continue through December.

Fallen Tree on the Susquehanna Acquired for Visions of the Susquehanna River Art Collection

Fallen Tree on the Susquehanna, 2006, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, copyright M.Allen

Fallen Tree on the Susquehanna, which toured with Visions of the Susquehanna, has now found a home thanks to the Lancaster-York Heritage Region. The collection brings together several pieces from the touring exhibition and creates the first ever permanent collection of artwork based on the Susquehanna River. The collection will be on view in the John & Kathryn Zimmerman Heritage Center at Historic Pleasant Garden until the Susquehanna Gateway Visitor Education Center is built.

Neighborhood and Industry, 2006

Neighborhood and Industry, 2006, charcoal and graphite on paper, 48 x30 1/2 inches, copyright M.Allen

Exhibited :
2006: Imaging Industry: Pennsylvania Coal and Steel, Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA

The Phenomenon of Weather and the Ever-Changing Commonplace

Orange Buoy at Long Level, 2006, oil on paper, 14 x 12, copyright M.Allen

Raining at Long Level, 2004, oil on canvas mounted to panel, 7 x 7 1/2, copyright M.Allen

The subject that seems banal is in reality quite interesting when truly observed because it is always in flux.

The commonplace may be organized with its regular known objects; the common things that are passed by without second thought or glance. In reality, light and atmosphere change the commonplace constantly.

Weather, rather than the place, is often the primary subject of my work. Weather and time of day are the reasons why I tend to work from the same place for, in some cases, years.

I am simply enamored by the the most basic aspects of the commonplace.

JMW Turner Exhibition

Peace Burial at Sea,
Oil on Canvas
Collection of the Tate

See This Exhibit.

I recently had the opportunity to view the JMW Turner exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is the final stop for this touring exhibition that runs through September 21, 2008. This is a must visit for any painter or person who has any appreciation for painting. I have always been an admirer of Turner, especially the later works and the watercolors. However, I did not expect the impact these works would have on me and my view of the history of painting. The exhibit is set up so you move through Turner's timeline. The first rooms are his academic pleasing paintings while the rooms that follow move closer and closer to true painting and his exploration of color, space, and air. His explorations in his later works truly lay all of the options on the table for any painter. He layered impasto and glazes with both brush and knife carving out huge amounts of space, air, and emotion. I did not fully realize the true genius of Turner until I left the exhibition and walked into the European paintings wing. Many of the paintings from Turner's time period paled in comparison; dull and flat. Walking into the Robert Lehman wing I viewed a special exhibition of monumental Hudson River School landscapes. It was here that I moved Turner out of the landscape tradition file and put him in his own category, by himself. The Hudson River painters are some of my favorite painters, but it was instantly clear that the pursuit of painting was very different for the two "schools". A difference I was not ready to question especially in regard to my own work and my own pursuit.

Also note the masterful watercolors and their relationship to the late paintings. The so-called unfinished works are finished (sorry curators). These may not be finished in the terms of time but are resolved in the manner of a painter wrestling with mark and color.

Places and Everything in Place

A Machine in the Garden, 2006
oil on canvas, 48 x 54 inches. Copyright M. Allen

Places are made up of elements confined in a defined space. These elements are ever changing due the changing light, the weather, a passerby, etc. These slight alterations to the commonplace may seem banal or trivial but create endless possibilities for a painter. I prefer to paint active places. Though this is not always immediately obvious. In A Machine in the Garden, 2006, the space is obviously active. A seemingly normal neighborhood is greeted by a freight train racing through the street. To someone who is not accustomed to freight trains racing through their town's streets this might seem alarming. However, the gentleman (self-portrait) mowing his yard is so accustomed to the event that he simply goes about his business. I am sure the yard mower was not even noticed by the train engineer. This split-second relationship goes unrecognized because it is a common ooccurrence in their commonplace but, nontheless helps define the place. These banal moments are what I am continually drawn to. They are full of life and life being lived.

Glass of Iced Tea: Half Drunk, 2006

Glass of Iced Tea: Half Drunk, 2006

oil on paper, 11 x 9 inches. copyright M. Allen

Available at Lancaster Galleries

Have an iced tea in honor of the heat returning to PA.

Like Breath on Glass: Whistler, Inness, and the Art of Painting Softly

See This Exhibit.

Though I have not and probably will not make it to Massachusetts to personally view this exhibit, I highly recommend it to those of you who will be in the Williamstown, MA area. Whislter and Inness are two of my "art fathers". Their emphasis on atmosphere, mood, and mystery is also my emphasis. The exhibit includes several of my favorite Whistler(nocturnes) and Inness(Hazy Morning, Montclair) paintings.

Like Breath on Glass: Whistler, Inness, and the Art of Painting Softly
June 22 through October 19, 2008

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA

Visions of the Susquehanna Opens at the Roberson Museum and Science Center

Fallen Tree on the Susquehanna, 2006, Oil on Canvas, 48 x 36 inches.

copyright M.Allen

Visions of the Susquehanna: 250 Years of Paintings by American Masters opens at the Roberson Museum and Science Center in Binghamton, NY on May 15, 2008. This is the final stop on the 2 year touring exhibition. The exhibition runs through August 30, 2008.

Thunderstorm Warning Until 6pm, 2003

Thunderstorm Warning Until 6pm, 2003, Charcoal, Graphite, and Conte Crayon on Paper, 48 x 35 inches. Private Collection. Copyright M.Allen

Exhibited at:

2005: “Picturing Pennsylvania: Architecture in the State Landscape”,
Governor’s Residence, Harrisburg, PA
2004: “Member’s Juried Exhibit”, DCCA, Wilmington, DE, Director’s Award

Publications:

Hutton, Molly S., “Between One Thing and Another: The Middle Moments
of Michael Allen”, The Gettysburg Review, Spring 2007, pgs.78-80 (illus.).

Hann, Cristopher, “Emerging Artist: Michael Allen Explores a Multi-Medium
Approach to Realism”, Art&Antiques Magazine, October 2005, pg 140-145