Thought it was lost

I am so thrilled to know that The Sphere still lives as a memorial. I thought it was

Iris Self-Portrait oil on canvas  click image to enlarge

lost. As an artist living in an office (not loft) two blocks from the World Trade Center, I took my two babies to the plaza to play. In 1979 and 1981, Brendan and Andrew each learned to walk there. They spent many hours playing in the black granite fountain that was the pedestal for The Sphere. The boys much preferred the World Trade Center Plaza to playing in Battery Park.

Reading of the little guy

I must tell you of my reading of the little guy. To me the little guy is us, the artist,

Emerald acrylic on canvas  click image to enlarge

having to move to the will of our muse, the great and overpowering female that is our artistic desire. Yes she is cool, optimistic and imperturbable as every artistic impulse is, just as we, on several occasions, are not. He has no hands because it is not he or we who are the doers but merely the followers of what must be done, the puppets of our overwhelming creative spirit. I almost always feel very small beside my need to create.

Statue of Liberty

In 2000, I splurged and flew to New York for the opening of a small group show

Liberty Lighting the Way Pencil and digital color  click image to enlarge

where some of my work was being exhibited. The show was nice but the most memorable event was visiting the Statue of Liberty. I had never before seen it in person. I walked from the subway and as I rounded the corner, she emerged. It was as if I was seeing her for the first time. I took the ferry over to Liberty Island. I went to the highest point on the base, just before you go up the stairs, and there I stayed the entire day and even returned for most of the next day, sitting mesmerized by this magnificent piece of art and monument. I took pencil and paper and sat there sketching, looking straight up. I just could not tear myself away. She is one of the most amazing works of art I've ever seen.

Alexandre Eiffel's super structure

Glad you're enjoying the electric buzz of my old hometown, New York City. You mentioned The Statue of Liberty and Bartholdi's design of the base structure. Perhaps what many people don't know is that the super structure of The Statue of Liberty was designed by Alexandre Eiffel, the man who designed The Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower was built for the International Exhibition of Paris of 1889 commemorating the centenary of the French Revolution. It was almost torn down in 1909, but was saved because of its antenna. In 1910 it became part of the International Time Service, then French radio, and in 1957 French television.

Eiffel was a master of elegantly constructed wrought-iron lattices, which formed the basis of his bridge constructions and led to his project for the Eiffel Tower. He was mainly recognized as a great engineer and bridge builder. It was Eiffel's design and construction system (manageable small iron pieces bolted together to form ridged structures) that lead to his building many bridges in the remote mountain regions of South America and the invention of what many of us older people played with as children, the Erector Set toy.

Stunningly, after 9/11 and France's refusal to join Bush's madness in Iraq, a Pennsylvania state Legislature tried to pass a bill banning French wine sales in the State Liquor Stores - still a controlled substance here. Pennsylvania is the single largest consumer of French wines. I wrote the Legislature and asked if they wouldn't like to send The Statue of Liberty back, too. Naturally, I take full credit for the bill's defeat!

Large wildlife bronzes

I have always admired great statues, bronze being one of my favorites due to the details that they can achieve. Of course I'm more inspired by those of wildlife and size. I just wanted to mention that some of the largest wildlife bronzes can be found in front of the Cabela's Sporting Goods retail stores. Sculptors… keep up the great work!

Inspired in NYC

My favorite bronze is a Henry Moore at the Art Gallery of Ontario. It is the warmest touchiest bronze in the world. Of course I also love Rodin's and Edgar Degas' figures and I marvel at the statuary on University Ave. and Queen's Park every now and then. First there was Paris, then there was New York and that's how I experienced art appreciation. In 2 1/2 days I saw the entire Picasso retrospective (1000 pieces) at the MoMA, the Whitney museum (Edward Hopper retrospective), the Frick collection, the Gugghenheim, and part of the Met. Also attended three plays, and walked through Soho. I love New York. Working as a designer at the time, and studying art, I found it absolutely inspiring. Don't think I could live there though - too frenetic for me.

America the prize

This letter inspired me to feel that America was the prize for the pilgrims searching for a new world of hope and dreams. The land of the brave and the free even from the onset of their journey to this new land. As Matisse said, "One day America will have painters, because of its breathtaking beauty." He was in New York when inspired to say those words. I love America!

Painting the memory

I started painting feelings, emotions and the type of paintings I would buy if I had

When Morning Comes oil on canvas  click image to enlarge

the money, instead of "things" once I stopped using photographs, and pictures I collected over the years. Now I collect experiences, like the beautiful sunsets or fog, when I am in a car and I don't have a camera, so I have to stop to absorb the wonder and the scene, and then go home and paint that "wow" feeling. Without a photograph, I can only paint the memory, and I keep layering thin glazes, until I'm satisfied. I can accomplish this in 4 glazes, or it may take 12-14. I don't care. I start with a blank canvas, decide on the basic colors I want to use, and go from there. No sketches, no planned structure, just what I have learned over time. I paint thinly, so that I can always add, and don't worry about whether it turns out or not. I have gessoed masonite boards cut in various sizes and have probably 50 at my disposal at any time. Or I work on canvas. If a painting doesn't work, I put it aside for a while where I can look at it, and start another 3-4. I don't expect every painting to work out. I keep my duds in a box. Sometimes, you just have to give up on a painting, and start a fresh one.

Painterly Advice

This is in response to Erla Daly and Laury Ravenstein: Erla, you may be trying too

Facets of a Mind mixed media - diptych  click image to enlarge

hard. Time painting is never wasted even if does not come out the way you want. You learn something every time. And Laury, you are wrong... all your work looks like the same artist painted it. It is just different subject matter. Line up all your paintings and find the one or parts of them that you feel the best about. Then answer why that appeals to you. What do you want to say with your art? What inspires you to paint in the first place? When our skills become natural to the point we do not have to struggle, we can freely let go and paint from within. When you feel every painting has to count, you put a lot of pressure on yourself. We are naturally influenced by instructors and others we are around while learning. But we learn the methods that are useful to us and discard the rest and emerge with our own style and personal creative works. You can be professional even if you paint in a primitive style because it is what you do and art is your career.

When I was learning to paint I tried to reproduce what I saw and make it as real as possible. Every so often I would have an idea and paint something that my husband called "weird". It was from my mind, symbolic, and abstracted. Then I would set it aside and get back to the "real" painting. After 10 years I was in galleries and selling well but was getting bored with the traditional work. When you have done 400 landscapes and 400 still lifes, etc. you want a change. So I stepped back and realized my true art was the weird stuff so I started producing more of it. I talked one of my galleries into a showing of this work and it was a disaster. The collectors of my traditional work did not like me going in a new direction. So I decided to sign the new work with my maiden name of Dickinson and it solved the problem. I still do both types of work because I am still inspired when I see the misty morning light come through the trees or reflections in water, silver, and glass. When I am painting reality I get the ideas for the abstract work. So we can make anything work. Good luck.

Drawing essential

When people ask me what I do, I tell them I am an artist. "Oh. You paint?" is the

de Chirico Munch pen and ink  click image to enlarge

usual response. "No" I say, "I draw". This is usually followed by a look of complete perplexity as if the response has caused some kind of discombobulation inside their mind. It would be nice to return to painting which I have not done for some 20 years, but now I am content to draw. I draw all the time. It is both a search and a necessity for me. I draw with pen & ink. Simple. No?

I live in Brooklyn NY. My apartment is small; money has been a strain in these Bush years, so the reality of affording a studio where I could paint is unrealistic. My wife, who is now my rep and very supportive, suggested a while back that in lieu of painting, why not set up my drawing desk in the living room so I can do my work. I have been working daily for over a year and we are now in the midst of putting up our own show of these drawings. It is very exciting.

Drawing for me is essential. And I believe it should be essential for every artist, or at least painters and sculptors. It is something I have done since I was a child. I learned a great deal under Burt Hasen at my days in the School of Visual arts, but it is only now as I enter my 50th year that I am willing to let my drawings stand on their own. After a life of graphic design and art direction, this is the most satisfying and difficult work I have ever done. And I am just getting started.

I would love to hear other people's thoughts on this subject. Does every artist working in 2 dimensions need to paint? Where do we see the "Art of Drawing" fitting in to modern art? I would love to have an exchange on this.

Burton Silverman, from Sight and Insight, the Art of Burton Silverman

"I am stuck with my passion for the objective world, for the constantly shifting shades of meaning to the events of my life, to the states of being of the people I paint, and to the persistent need to get it right. I am wedded to who I am. I continue to make paintings of people and their moments in our time because I am of that time; out of that I hope to make pictures that are timeless. I love an art which allows me to document my place in this mix and I trust the people who love to see it. I love the fact that this art might somehow affect the way people see, and thus open a window on the world. And I love the fact that there are more and more young people out there who still want to make a flat two-dimensional surface come alive with three dimensional magic. This is my past and my future. It has its own logic and finally, its own sense of fulfillment."

Burton's book is available from Amazon.com

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