The Master Artist: Unlike other Twentieth & Twenty-First Century careers few visual artists become accomplished Masters of Art until their later years. These artists are not an exception, but a rule, and are following the natural growth process of all gifted artists. The greatest artists do not retire!  Art-Work is a lifetime of effort and endeavor.
Henri Matisse:  80’s; Claude Monet:  80’s; Pablo Picasso: 90’s; Salvadore Dali:  90’s.

At Otis [Art Institute] there was an ongoing controversy, instigated by a few students in my Renaissance Art class, that happened whenever the professor dared to mention Jesus, Mary, or one of the apostles in a historical painting. They insisted that Otis was a government-supported school and that saying religious names in the classroom was against the separation of church and state.

One day, Charles White, Chairman of the Drawing Department, recommended that I paint the west wall of the main classroom building as my graduate thesis project. It took me months to get the signatures of all of the members of the LA County Board of Supervisors. I was planning to paint 3 people in white lab coats, representing research and the pursuit of knowledge.

A year later, after a short interview, an LA Times reporter asked, “What do you call it?”
I answered, “The Holy Trinity with the Virgin.”  He wadded up his notes and started over.  His story caused quite a stir and people who had never seen the mural called for its destruction.  But, the mural was just a painting of some people in white lab coats.

The woman on the left, however, was Jan Clayton, the idyllic and chaste mother, without a husband, in the original “Lassie” TV series of the mid-50’s.  She was my Virgin Mary.
On the far right was Billy Gray, son on the popular “Father Knows Best” TV series of the late-50’s.  He was the son of the father who knows best, the perfect model for Jesus.  Between the two was my crowning achievement.  No one had ever seen his face and lived.  Clayton Moore, TV’s Lone Ranger, was God the Father, painted purely in grays, because he was flesh only in Christ.  The iconography was true American culture and classical theology.  A space between the Father and the Son was for the Holy Spirit.

Otis has moved to Westchester but the mural is still on the old site. My intent now is to paint my former mentor, Charles White himself, a few feet away, overlooking Wilshire Boulevard from the south wall of the Otis Gallery, casting a great shadow to the west.  That is as it should be.  The original Otis Art Institute is officially now the Charles White Elementary School.
- Kent Twitchell

Artist Features

Musings of an Artist:
What’s a senior, the last year in high school or college?  The word aged is taboo in our youth worshiping culture, yet age only denotes the number of years one has inhabited the planet.  I’m such an elder, which means I have a history of living and of developing my art as I live through phases in career change, marriage, raising a family, losses, and successes….I see that my artist colleagues are stretching their visions, enlarging and developing their scopes of interest. How inspiring are [Henri] Matisse and [Claude] Monet as they left their legacy with art done in spite of infirmities.
- Mildred Kouzel

Beauty Beyond Tragedy:
The Scream by the Norwegian artist Edward Munch (1863-1944) is considered to be the first painting ever to express a Neurosis.  Yet, his painting style contains an incredible beauty within the expression of an overwhelming experience. Munch’s paintings have a presence that speaks to me. My World War II memory painting, The Sound, is a universal statement about war, speaking of the real world and the real tragedy that effects all of us.  There is beauty beyond tragedy that effects me when I look at, or create a painting of this nature. .  An artist friend looked at one of my painting’s and didn’t initially respond. 

Two years later, after originally seeing the work, she exclaimed, “You know, that’s a beautiful painting.” The first thing that effects me when I look at a painting is the color; then the movement in the brushstroke in relationship to form and shape; then how it all comes together as a whole.  Occasionally, I will see a painting where all of these elements come together simultaneously but many times it takes several viewings to perceive the work. One professor said to me, “If you like something right off, beware, let it sit awhile; and then look at it again.”  Look at the art. Look at the artist’s expression and execution, color, line and form.  Lastly, look at the content.
 - Thea Robertshaw

A Glimpse of Brazil:
Arlete Soares, photographer and publisher, invited me to conduct Public Art workshops for the homeless street children of Bahia. For one month I was transported into a magical world filled with the rich folk culture of *Umbanda/Candomble and *Orisha deities. Each day after working with the children I sat somewhere in the city and made collages using artifacts collected such as candy wrappers, ticket stubs, business cards, photos and local newspapers to make a multi-media collage book.  In contrast to the colorful festive mood of the “Brazil” series, the underlying social and economic conditions I encountered were shocking.  Large families intentionally abandoned their unwanted children at Carnival, forcing them to live on the street or beach to beg or steal from tourists.  Despite all the serious conditions that existed I found an inspiring passion for life.  There was nonstop music everywhere, soccer madness, vivid buildings in pastel colors and unique restaurants.  One day at the end of the trip Arlete said to me, “Bahia is magical.  You are blessed as the Orishas opened all doors for you and your art in a grand style.” *Umbanda/Candomble: Yoruba African spirit worship blending with Catholism, Hinduism and Buddhism.  Orishas: African demi-gods.
- Gayle Salmon Gale

The Romantic Spirit:
Buildings are more than functional shelters; they are the means by which architects communicate their visions.  Buildings are the bridges that architects construct between themselves and their viewers.  Perhaps no American architect connects to people so clearly as does Frank Lloyd Wright through his buildings.  Wright invites us into a dialogue about the way Romantic ideas fuel the spirit of human potential.  He conceived an architecture that appealed to the human craving for beauty…[by] how the foundation engages the ground, where the roof meets the sky, the placement of trees and foliage – all of these environmental factors were as significant to him as the structures themselves.  His work is evidence that designs from the past can be timeless and inspire subsequent generations to work against a dislocation from nature.  Growing up in Chicago I was surrounded by a legacy of impressive architecture, but the houses of Frank Lloyd Wright made an especially deep impression.  The essential beauty of his work was evident immediately, yet it was the feelings I experienced while watching his buildings interact with their environments that initiated my interest in his ideas.  My quest in creating art based on the work of Frank Lloyd Wright is not only to communicate my personal reactions to his designs, but also to expand the discussions inherent in the original work.  Through photography I reveal how his architecture can force us to think and feel about the harmony between nature and humanity.  This is the Romantic Spirit that originally touched me in the buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright.
- Carol Bishop
Look for artists Mark Steven Greenfield and Matthew Thomas soon to be seen on artbridgesgallery.com
* - "The Romantic Spirit" by Carol Bishop may be found on Amazon.com

Ways & Means:
The Collector & the Artist

Art Collections and The Collector
“Art collecting has a long history, and most of the world’s art museums grew out of great collections formed by royalty, the aristocracy, or the wealthy.” However, in the 20th and 21st century, art collecting has become increasingly more financially accessible to most citizens. Many individuals are directly handling their financial accounts or working through a financial advisor. They’ve learned the importance of diversifying their holdings to include stocks and bonds, property and artwork.  “The volume and scope of art collecting have continued to expand … resulting in ever-higher prices for works of art.”  For example, the 2006 Spring market’s vitality for contemporary art reached $432 million in sales.

The arts are the visual life-spring to which all artists aspire to attain. Viewers complete the creative life circle by seeing and feeling the truth of artwork through their own realities. The artist is considered a master-artist upon reaching a personal level of performance that is both connected and constant.

Exhibits, Lectures & Events

Go to the calendar category at http://blog.artbridgesgallery.com

State & Federal Legislation

California Resale Royalties Act (CA Civil Code S986)
“…provides the creator of “fine art” the right to receive a royalty upon the resale of his or her creations.” In part, the statute reads:  (a) Whenever a work of fine art is sold and the seller resides in California or the sale takes place in California, the seller or the seller’s agent shall pay to the artist of such a work of fine art or to such artist’s agent 5 percent of the amount of such sale.  For additional information: http://ivanhoffman.com/crra.htm

California Art Preservation Act (CA Civil Code S987)
In part, the statute reads (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the physical alteration or destruction of an expression of the artist’s personality, is detrimental to the artist’s reputation, and artists therefore have an interest in protecting their works of fine art against any alteration or destruction; that there is also a pubic interest in preserving the integrity of cultural and artistic creations.  The term, “Fine Art” includes Public Art forms.  http://www.sfartscommission.org/pubart/about_us/policies_guidelines/capa.htm

Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA-17 U.S.C.)
Vara Federal Legislation grants artists two new rights: the right to claim authorship of a work created by the artist [attribution]; and the right to deny authorship of a work not the artist’s own [integrity].  “The right of integrity concerns the artist’s right to prevent or to recover damages for the intentional distortion, mutilation, modification, or destruction of his work.  The revolutionary aspect of VARA is that the artist retains these rights throughout his lifetime, even when the original work to be protected is no longer in his possession.”  http://www.studiolo.org/CIP/VARA/CIP-VARA.htm

Artist Deduction Legislation (Rep. John Lewis, Chief Sponsor)
Legislation has been introduced to give artists equal treatment to collectors when they donate their artwork to a collecting or educational institution. “Currently, a collector may take a tax deduction for the fair-market value of the work, but creators may deduct only their basic value- essentially the cost of materials such as paint and canvas. The Senate has approved identical legislation for the past several years, but the House has failed to follow suit.” -Americans for the Arts Monthly Wire-March 2007-   For more information: Andy Finch, Sr. Director of Government Affairs, afinch@artsusa.org.

The Questioner

Do you, as the reader, believe you have the ultimate answer to the unknowable? Answers to questions that have eluded some of our greatest thinkers? A panel of artists and art historians will read your answers. The 25 words or less answer(s) considered to be the most insightful will be included in the October newsletter.