"Colleen" by Iris Scott

Media: oil on canvas

Dimensions: 28”x 28”

Date: 2012

 Iris Scott is a 28 year old American painter. She graduated from Washington State University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in 2009, and has been traveling the world and painting since. Scott developed a unique painting method- finger-painting with surgical gloves on her hands while living in Taiwan. Her paintings are inspired by her travels through Taiwan, Thailand, Nicaragua, and other parts of the world.

 The artist statement that Iris wrote for this paintings is as follows:“Stress is not my friend, I avoid it all costs. On the rare occasion that something comes up that truly shakes me I try hard to find my way to the studio. Smooshing colorful oils from a tube and smearing them on a white canvas with your fingertips is, by no surprise, a soothing pass time. “Colleen” is one of the only paintings which I can recall being made under such circumstances. This might explain the intensely bright “happy” colors I reached for that day.”

 This particular piece was created by Iris Scott during a period of stress. As Scott herself said, making this painted was a calming exercise. While painting, Iris Scott puts the oil paints directly on her fingers, and then uses all her fingers to spread the paint.

 Colleen is a spellbound autumn moment. Colleen walks down an idyllic path lined with deciduous trees and autumn leaves swirling around. This art piece shows the extent of the artist’s imagination.

"Landscape with Two Figures, Éragny, Autumn" by Camille Pissarro

Media: oil on linen on board

Dimensions: 10.75”x 8.5”

Date: 1902

 Camille Pissarro is known as the “Father of Impressionism.” He was the oldest of the French Impressionistic group, and mentored many other artists including Paul Cézanne and Paul Gaugin. For most of his life, Pissarro faced severe criticism for his innovative work, but today his works and style are recognized. Most of his paintings are outdoor, or en-plein-air.

 “Camille Pissarro has been a revolutionary through the revitalized working methods with which he has endowed painting,” wrote art critic Octave Mirbeau.

 Pissarro painted many pictures of the landscape, peasants, and buildings of Éragny. This is one of many that Camille Pissarro completed in his life.

 I chose this painting because of its peaceful atmosphere. The two figures wander the garden, surrounded by nature. The painting is an impression of the scene, without minute details, with more of a dreamlike intent.

"City Dance" by Pierre Auguste Renoir

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 70.9”x 35.4”

Date: 1883

 Pierre Auguste Renoir was another French Impressionist artist. He was born in 1841 as the son of a working-class family. As a boy he painted designs on the china in a porcelain factory. He began studying art in Paris and eventually gained fame and recognition as an Impressionist artist. Renoir died in 1919 at his home in France.

 “The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself and carry you away. It is the means by which the artist conveys his passion. It is the current which he puts forth, which sweeps you along in his passion”

 Renoir painted City Dance and Country Dance as twin pieces. The first is sophisticated, with the elegance of city dancers in a ball room. Country Dance is more loose and disorganized, with a discarded hat and a table full of dirty dishes. But the composition of each is almost identical, with the two pairs of dancers in the same position as if dancing the same song.

 In City Dance, the lady seems to float in the arms of the gentleman as they dance. This dance, like the ballet of Edgar Degas, has a dreamlike quality. Dancing in each other’s arms is perhaps the fulfillment of the lady and gentleman’s dreams as well.

Study for "Thoughts" by Robert Hagan

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 24”x24”

Date: 2011

 Robert Hagan is a native of Australia. He taught himself to paint, a process he describes as “the most frustrating period ever.” He has experimented in a wide variety of subjects, including beach, equestrian, western, romantic, and portrait painting, in the Impressionist style. Hagan has written several books on painting and appeared on a few televisions shows, most notably hosting his own show, the Splash of Color. Today Robert Hagan’s paintings are sold internationally.

 “In this one I really did push the color and seem to have got away with it...or did I? Lot of jump in there and proportionally the figure is less than in the previous two. That may have been a mistake. It may have let the color out of the bag. . . But I really DID explore the colors in a stream didn't I? And maybe that’s what it should have been! That’s the fun in fooling around with colors...," said Robert Hagan.

 This particular piece of art is a sketch, a study for another piece. As Robert Hagan stated, he was experimenting with color in this sketch, trying to get it just right for the finished product.

 In this painting, the focus is on the girl as she looks into the water. Like in our dreams, when we see and the thing we see and remember most is in clearer focus, the girl has the most detail. The surrounding vegetation and water are blurred and out of focus, merely an impression without every detail.

"When Dreams Come True" by Leonid Afremov

Media: Oil on Canvas

Dimensions: 30”x40”

Date: 2013

 Leonid Afremov is a modern impressionistic artist. He was born in the Soviet Union and lived there until he was 35. He then lived in Israel for 12 years and Florida for 8 and now resides in Mexico. His true success came when he started selling his paintings on eBay instead of through galleries. Afremov has developed his own distinct technique with a palette knife and oils and bright colorful style.

 Leonid Afremov said, “Kids know how to dream. Adults almost don’t. Grownups want to own many things but as soon as they get one, they start to dream about having another one. Kids can dream just for fun and it will be hard to find any grownup, which can be as happy as a kid. The kid happiness is like a Vulcan. The Vulcan of joy, laugh, emotions, screams, noises, sun and brightness. In one second the kid can dive into a fountain of smiles and fun and it can jump around you until it gets tired.

Let’s dream more like kids. This painting is full of children laugh, joy and happiness. When the magic road in the fairy forest leads the hero to his dream, the whole world stops for a while, letting the full taste of the fulfilled dream is filling every corner of the dreamer`s heart. The then whole Universe sings along.

The dreams are coming true. Let’s dream. Probably the more we will be dreaming, the faster our dreams will be fulfilled. Dream on and follow your dreams."

 This particular painting is a recreation of the first When Dreams Come True. Each of Afremov’s recreations is 100% hand painted by him with oil paints and a palette knife, just like the original. Each recreation is also slightly different than the first because of the difference in knife strokes, and so is one of a kind.

 This painting is the culmination of the exhibit. Leonid Afremov portrays a dream come true, a couple in love walking off toward the horizon holding hands. Dreams Come True inspires us to believe in dreams and believe that dreams can be fulfilled.

Conclusion

What I learned is that the process of organizing an exhibition is not an easy one. Although it may sound easy to find ten pieces of art that fit under one theme, it requires a tremendous amount of research to find connecting art pieces and all the information about them. There are many paintings online that may fit a theme, but many of them do not have even the basic information such as title and date.

The easiest part was finding potential painting that might work with the theme. There were many prospective choices, but further investigation knocked many paintings out of the running. The most challenging part was to actually choose individual paintings that connected with the theme. It was also difficult to describe my thoughts on how each piece of art connects to the theme and actually get what I mean across.

Curators have a difficult job. Organizing an exhibition of various works that are all unique and bring a different thing to the exhibition and yet all connect to the same theme is very challenging. Curators would have to be very knowledgeable about art in general and good at arranging art to be successful.

Many works of art have a connecting thread, but it is not always the most obvious thing about the painting. Many connections are more subtle. Finding these connections and then gathering the art pieces into an exhibition takes a tremendous amount of work.