Matera, Abstraction, and How Long Does It Take

In the book "Art Students League Of New York On Painting," painter Mary Beth McKenzie offers a couple of interesting quotes.  Concerning how long it takes to learn how to paint, she quotes painter Robert Philipp, who "often said, 'The first fifty years are the hardest.'"  I can only wholeheartedly agree.

She also writes "Every good representational painting has to be a good abstract painting."  I've often said myself to anybody who would listen that all painting is abstract.

The accompanying painting is another view of Matera, Italy.  11x14 oil on panel.

Town of Stone

Matera, Italy, called the town of stone.  11x14 Oil on panel.

Matera

A view of Matera, a town in the south of Italy. 11x14 oil on panel.

Path of the Gods

A view of distant Capri from the Path of the Gods on the Amalfi Coast, another in the series of souvenir/postcard paintings. 6x8 oil on panel.

Matera

A studio painting done in the last couple days while it was raining: it depicts a surreal view of Matera, a town in southern Italy.  In Matera, people lived in caves until quite recently.  When I was there I saw an exhibition of paintings by Carlo  Levi, who wrote Christ Stopped at Eboli, a book worth reading just to find out what he meant by the title.  He was a sort of an Italian Alice Neel, painting fascinating portraits that capture the sitters' personalities.  12x12 oil on panel.

Third Tropea

Tropea, Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea.  11x14 oil on canvas.

Suggestive Tropea

Another view of Tropea, a town in Calabria, Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea.  This painting is a 12x12 oil on canvas.  I love to do paintings that suggest more than they define.

Tropea Sky and Sea

The town of Tropea on the west coast of Southern Italy is located on cliffs facing the Tyrrhenian Sea.  You can look down a street and just see the sky and sea vanishing into each other.  12x12 oil on canvas.

Constantly Looking in Napoli

You might be walking on a main boulevard in Naples, and constantly looking into every little side alleyway that you pass because that's where all the people are coming from or going, and there's so much noise and activity there in those narrow lanes.  Banners are hanging.  Signboards are all over the place.  All kinds of stuff is for sale.  This drawing is an 8x10 pen and ink, with ink wash, and pastel.

Napoli Painting

A Napoli painting showing a narrow street shared by vehicles and people: a 12x12 oil on panel.

Napoli 10

The tenth drawing in the Napoli series: a 9x12 pen and ink, ink wash, with pastel on bristol paper.

Catania

When I arrived in Catania, I went out to look at the mountain, Mount Etna.  It was smoking lightly.  Looming.  I wonder if the residents no longer see the mountain.  It's there like something in life that no one can escape, but after a while you live your life.  But for the first time viewer like me, it's so overwhelming.  This painting is a 12x16 oil on panel.

Colorful Side Street

Colorful Napoli side street.  8x10 pen and ink, ink wash, and pastel on bristol paper.

Napoli Beckons

Napoli beckons: an 8x10 view down an alley with car windshields reflecting the sky that is several stories above and not visible.  Pen and ink, ink wash, and pastel on bristol paper.

Time Will Tell

Somebody told me that they didn't think they could respond as well to my Napoli drawings as with some of my other work, until they looked at them.  Yes, they are about Napoli the city, but to me they also are a means to experiment.  I start them in different ways, never sure where to begin and where to end.  I already sense an insight I didn't have before about painting.  Time will tell.  This one is 8x10 inches, done with pen and ink, ink wash, and pastel, not necessarily in that order.

New and Old

An 8x10 Napoli drawing of old and new: venerable buildings and people on their iphones.

Napoli Intensity

In this drawing I tried to capture the intensity of walking up or down the narrow streets of Napoli.  These streets are often too small for cars, though that doesn't stop some drivers from trying to get through, but motorbikes are everywhere, so one has to be alert.  If you are alert, there is so much to see.   Of course, people are everywhere too.  8x10 ink, ink wash, and pastel.

Another Napoli Drawing

This drawing captures what walking the streets of Napoli is like.  Neapolitans prefer to hang out their wet laundry from balconies and windows, which explains why the buildings are so high with windows and balconies.  The narrow streets are apparently based upon the original Greek layout, and fortunately, the Neapolitans do not believe in replacing old buildings with new ones.  The result is an intense, visually exciting city.  This drawing is 9x12 with ink, ink wash, and touches of pastel.

Napoli Drawing

A 10x8 drawing, made of ink, ink wash and touches of pastel, of a narrow street in Napoli, Italy.  I was told not to use the word Naples, but Napoli instead.  In Napoli, the streets are narrow and the buildings high, creating canyons of light and shadow filled with people and hanging laundry.  I plan on doing a series of drawings to ease my way into painting, which I haven't done for a couple weeks.

Simple Venetian

Another Venetian painting, 18x20 oil on canvas like the previous one.  I am trying to paint easily and simply, and it seems to be working.