The Art Portfolio of Darla Yancho » Paintings

Under the skin

Darla — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:50:43 +0000

Saw Santana in concert last night. What would it be like as a visual artist to be painting the same thing as one painted 30 years ago, like Carlos playing Oyez Como Va or Black Magic Woman over and over again because the listener gets transported to a pleasant moment back in time. Music can take you on an emotional journey for an hour or two and leave you amazed and feeling what was expressed by the musicians. What about a work of visual art?

For a brief moment last night, I felt inferior as a visual artist vis a vis the musical art form. I’m often moved by extraordinary works of music and occasionally literature. I thought for a second that rarely does a painting make a lasting impression on me but then I smiled, remembering. There are actually many that have/and still do. Just about any Van Gogh will bring tears, Monet brings peaceful breathing, DeKooning and Rothko bring a well of emotion from somewhere I didn’t know existed. And so on with powerful images that can take you on a journey, just like a piece of music.

But that’s the real beauty of art work; there is no one single solution. Every work is filtered through the artist’s own experiences, knowledge and talent.

And it can all get under your skin.

I think I’ll work on eyes

Darla — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:14:51 +0000

Monet painted many subjects again and again, but every one of his series paintings is different, whether it’s a painting of a water lily or a hay stack.

In 1890 Monet wrote a letter to an art critic about his hay stacks series, saying: “I’m hard at it, working stubbornly on a series of different effects, but at this time of year the sun sets so fast that it’s impossible to keep up with it … the further I get, the more I see that a lot of work has to be done in order to render what I’m looking for: ‘instantaneity’, the ‘envelope’ above all, the same light spread over everything… I’m increasingly obsessed by the need to render what I experience, and I’m praying that I’ll have a few more good years left to me because I think I may make some progress in that direction…”

There is still a lot of work that has to be done in order to render what’s in my head, too. I’ve got something with eyes, windows to the soul. Either I leave them off altogether or I have the effective of the eyes staring directly into you. I’m making some progress…

On being the bridge

Darla — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:54:50 +0000

Maxi in sumi ink

To paraphrase Longfellow: Max had stood on that bridge and gazed on that wave and sky…. And it was then he decided to be the bridge. And thus, like magic, Max was!

Symbolic and metaphorical bridge phrases:

Build a bridge and get over it.
Never cross the bridge before you come to it.
Bridging two worlds.
But which is the stone that supports the bridge?
I like songs that have lots of different parts in them: an intro, an outro and a bridge.

Max and Papa in charcoal

A couple expressions just for art:
Good composition is like a suspension bridge – each line adds strength and takes none away.
Seek the bridge that leans from the visible to the invisible through reality.

Love is the bridge!

And my favorite because it is Max:

Go to the truth beyond the mind. Love is the bridge.

Thanks for the inspiration, Max!

July Post BD

Darla — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:05:19 +0000

Based off charcoal figure studies. Gentry with summertime hair, she says. Objective was work the yellow with blue, the feel of summertime. Figurative, impressionistic. Why am I feeling like I must categorize this piece?

Art is not easily amenable to any definition. Usually, artworks are divided into either representational or abstract. Abstract to me is a portrayal–in however altered or distorted a form–things perceived in the visible world. The term figurative art has been used as meaning non-abstract, thus representational.

I guess that’s what this is. Not altered or distorted, but representational of a girl in summertime, non-abstract.

There. Do I feel better being able to tick an art definition box?

Inhale, exhale

Darla — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 01:16:02 +0000

Having taken sanctuary in the shadows for the past few months, I have gotten alot of work done in the studio. I’ve been working alot on figures, some days just making a bunch of mistakes and ending up with some good work. Learning and working to deny that fearful perfection monster. So, I’m posting again now, even soon to be facebooking again. Everyone needs a social media break from time to time. This has been my time for a sabbatical.