Darkness to light through love and inspiration

Article: Darkness to light through love and inspiration.
http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/theatre-arts/darkness-to-light-through-love-and-inspiration-for-artist-richard-hearns-34311426.html

Above a link to a recent feature/article and interview by Hilary Adam White which appeared in the Sunday Independent newspaper on December 27th.

Happy New Year to all my friends and family around the world.
Wishing you a joyful,  peace filled, creative and prosperous New Year 2016.
- Richard and Boo Hearns

Rembrandt's Bed

Rembrandt's Bed, 2015 - oil on canvas panel.

Wishing you all a cozy, joyful, festive and peace-filled Christmas.

Yours In Paint,
Richard Hearns.

Adoration

Adoration, 2015 - oil on panel

Private Collection, Ireland.

‪#‎oilpainting‬ ‪#‎stilllife‬ ‪#‎realism‬ ‪#‎richardhearns‬ ‪#‎studio‬ ‪#‎art‬

Two Works Old and New

'The Painters Lunch' and 'Lead White'.
oil on panel - 12x9

contact, info@richardhearns.com for pricing.

A Basic Precept

For the longest time now I'd been meaning to post an image of this Monet painting that I encountered for the first time at The Fogg Museum on the grounds of Harvard University, Cambridge MA in October of this year.

On seeing this painting, which I feel is one of Monet's finest little works, something fundamental occurred to me. Other then being an expression of his influences, namely Eugene Delacroix's romantic large flower paintings and the other impressionists' interpretations like Manet's studies of the Spanish, Dutch and French still life traditions, particularly his copies and emulations of the works of Jean-Siméon Chardin, whom I love - this small unassuming painting illustrates something wonderful.

That is, that on seeing this piece it reenforced in me the basic precept that fundamentally a picture or painting first and foremost should be an expression of its materials! It seems a basic enough idea and quite an obvious one you might say, but there exists so much work out there in the world that does not measure up to this basic need. An oil painting should be 'painted' and an expression of the medium. The subject matter is secondary to this basic idea. This point is clearly stated in any masterpieces which transcend and elevate even the most basic subjects. It's my believe that the statement is made through the way the paint is applied. How the artist understands and uses his chosen medium is of utmost importance.

I believe the evident lack of this basic precept in many works is largely due to the painters misunderstanding and seeming lack of empathy for his primary concern - the stuff of paint itself.

Claude Monet's - Red Mullets, c.1870
Oil on canvas

#monet #eugenedelacroix #chardin #oilpainting #stilllife #impressionism #realism #richardhearns #studio #harvard #thefoggmuseum

Supper for Hecate

The ancient Greeks and Egyptians were known to leave Garlic outdoors to evoke the deities.

I created this simple composition in Valencia, Spain earlier this year as I scoured a kitchen late one evening simply looking for subjects or objects in order to 'keep my hands moving'. 

Hecate, the ancient Greek Goddess was associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, light, the moon, magic, and a knowledge of herbs, poisonous plants, and sorcery among other things!
The origin of the name Hecate is not known, but suggested sources include the word in ancient Greek for 'will' and from some obscure texts including Ovid's Metamorphosis: "she that operates from afar", "she that removes or drives off", and "the far reaching one" - which all kind of sounds like how Garlic operates doesn't it!?  - What with it's pungent smell, and how in regards to more recent folklore and myth it's been used to ward off sinister spirits. 

The Greeks left offerings of garlic at village and town crossroads to appease this Goddess.
Hecate is often depicted as a three formed figure - omni present and manifold in her mystic nature.

I like the idea of 'crossroads', metaphorical crossroads that is. How often in our lives are we faced with a decision to make? A defined juncture? A new leaping off point into a vastly uncharted place. Don't some of us wish for this excitement each day and to be brave enough to leap out into the unknown freely!? But as human beings we also have a tendency to pine after the familiar. 

I'm confident that in many ways the process of making or creating draws us in and presents for us new junctures and crossroads daily - allowing the opportunity to investigate, build faith through our efforts and expand further to ever uncharted places through our chosen medium.

Supper for Hecate, 2015  - oil on panel - 12"x12"
Composition with Garlic Bulbs and Basket.

#art #oil #painting #stilllife #realism #richardhearns #fineart #studio

On the Pavement.

Leaf, 2015 - oil on panel - 12"x12"

Buoy

Often times due to my enthusiasm and admitted lack of patience I plunge ahead and post an image or even exhibit a painting before it's 'complete'! It's actually this precise act that at times leads me to want to take the painting back into my studio to work on again. 

I'm convinced seeing paintings in different environments helps one to evaluate the work anew and am sure this is the case for very many painters. In fact I've heard many artists including the renowned Frank Auerbach and Anselm Keifer admit the same when it comes to their practice so I'm sure it's all part of the process. At the same time I find it's vitality important not to brud over a piece. It's such a delicate balancing act!

On getting home after my exhibits and travel in the US this year I saw a 'way in' to a number of pieces and decided to give them more time - seeing if I might be able to improve and add further resonance to the works. It's  a curious relationship! 

It can be a curse reworking images and you must be careful, but as I mature I'm finding I have more patience and want more time in many cases to spend with my paintings and bring them to where I want them to be.

Buoy, 2015 - oil on panel 12"x12"

#art #painting #stilllife #richardhearns #studio #frankauerbach #anselmkeifer 

Buoy

Often times due to my enthusiasm and admitted lack of patience I plunge ahead and post an image or even exhibit a painting before it's complete. It's actually this precise act that at times leads me to want to take the painting back into my studio to work on again. I'm convinced seeing the my paintings in different environments helps one to evaluate the work anew. And am sure this is the case for many painters.

The painting below was one of the paintings that featured at one of three private collector viewings organised in New York City this October. On getting the piece home I once more saw a 'way in' and decided to give it another go seeing if I might be able to improve the piece. I'm satisfied that I could and did in this case. It can be a curse reworking images but as I mature I'm finding I have more patience and more time in many cases to spend with my paintings and bring them to where I want them to be.

This painting of a Bouy, with it's ...... contains many of the attributes I find appealing in a painting.

Buoy - oil on panel 12"x12"

Pencils and Postcard

Pencils and Postcard - oil on linen - 12"x9"
Private Collection, Maine ME.

This Still Life painting depicts my jar of my colouring pencils and a postcard reproduction of Sorolla's painting 'Alberca del Alcazar de Sevilla' from the Museo Sorolla in Madrid.  Myself and Boo first visited Madrid in 2009 on our honeymoon and then again a year or so later when I had the chance to visit Joaquín Sorolla's home which is now a Museum. Sorrolla's painting of an archway and pond struck me as I was made aware that this painting, along with an array of other pieces painted in his home garden were some of the last works the artist created.

For ten years leading up to these pieces Sorrolla had been inundated with a huge mural like commission for the Hispanic Society building in New York City and an array of commissioned portraits. Some say that this grand commission for the Hispanic Society headquarters very nearly killed the artist both physically and artistically. I've seen that mural in Harlem and think it is one of the most incredible accomplishments in the history of representational painting. That being said it is necessarily stylised and staged in it's depiction of the many different regional cultural aspects of Spain but it also shows the breath of Sorrolla's knowledge with regards to composition, brush handling, problem solving and colour etc. It's an incredible feat of accomplishment.

All the same, I really enjoyed spending time with his quieter garden scenes and sketches as they struck me as 'the real Sorolla' and I'm sure provided him with an oasis of sorts at this time in his later years. 

My painting entitled ' Pencils and Postcard' is lite by north light which filters in all diffused through a side window in my kitchen. I hoped this softness would echo that quietness and stillness in those works of Sorolla. 

In this work I applied a harmonic pythagorean grid or the armature of the rectangle to aid me in the placement of the various objects at the outset of the painting, allowing two pencils at far left and right to run in exact correlation with two of the major diagonals.

I hope you like it.

- Richard Hearns