Portugal

I spent April visiting Portugal for the first time, seeing and tasting why so many friends rave about the country.  I'll mention only two visual highlights here.  The Belem district of Lisbon has many famous sites, but my favorite was not in guidebooks because it's so new.  The Museum of Contemporary Art opened in October 2023 in the massive Cultural Center of Belem, built in 1992 for Portugal's term hosting the Presidency of the EU.  The museum hosts a huge collection of 20th-century art, with room for large exhibits of current art.  It's a must-see.

The city of Aviero, 160 miles north of Lisbon, is most famous for its network of canals and canal boats.  I was most taken by its public artwork. Here are two examples of the creativity visible throughout the central area.

Juror's Invitational Show at Fuller Gallery

This Friday 29 March (6-7:30pm), the Leonor R. Fuller Gallery in Olympia WA (in the Minnaert Center for the Arts, 2011 Mottman Rd. SW) will host an opening reception for its annual Juror's Invitational show.  Artists who won awards in last fall's juried show will present more of their work in this well-designed gallery.  I'll be presenting a new body of work, paintings using oil and cold wax.  This medium provides rich, matte, textured surfaces to enjoy.  The show runs through April 26, open M-F 12-6pm.

What a sprint!

After my vision stabilized from January's cataract surgeries, I focused entirely on planning, painting, and documenting new work.  Among them, two large (48"x 60") pieces:  Aqua Dream 1 and Aqua Dream 2.  The tilted backgrounds are acrylic, the biomorphic figures are in oil.  These figures have messages to convey!

In addition to biomorphism, I've continued working in my rectilinear vein, Influenced by Russian Suprematism and International Constructivism.  These movements continue to speak strongly to me.  See Turning (acrylic on canvas) and Dynamo (oil on canvas), each 48"x 36".

These paintings (along with 20 others) will become part of the rental program managed by Ryan James Fine Arts in Kirkland WA.  After they hang in a client's offices for the rest of the year, they'll be available for purchase.

Art is communication

Art of any discipline is communication:

• from the artist’s background, desires, and image-ination, filtered through

• the medium of words, notes, paint, clay – and the artist’s technical ability, to

• the reader, listener, or viewer – but filtered by their backgrounds, hopes, and knowledge.

Thus, arts of any sort are only completed when read, heard, or viewed. That’s one reason why galleries, museums, concerts, and readings are important: They help complete the communication for which art is produced.

However, the audience’s interpretation is aided by – but doesn’t require -- understanding the artist’s background, desires, and imagery. A poem, dance, composition, or painting must be able to speak for itself. But we usually get more of the communication if we understand the origins of the dance form, the conventions of the musical form, the methods, intent, and symbolism of the visual artist.

At a gallery reception or an artist’s talk, you have the opportunity to learn about artists’ background, desires, and imagery.

So please – in the midst of talking with each other, identify a work that captures you, find the artist, and learn more about their motivations. Take the time to come to an artist talk, or listen to a discussion about producing and presenting paintings, sculptures, plays, poems, novels, music.