Returning to the studio after some period of neglect is just like an athlete returning to training after being sedentary. Gestural strokes are hard: my forearm is weak and my endurance for more than 2 or 3 hours at the studio is pathetic. But, I just have to work through that and get myself back in shape. My brain knows how to do things but the coordination and muscle memory are a little slow to cooperate. Even though I can not paint every day (as I would like) I do find that I am always looking at the world as a painter and that store of information becomes a resource when I am back behind the easel. Light, shadow, color, shapes – how these things can be built up in paint is always on my mind.

Maybe that’s why being a web designer is generally unsatisfying to me  - there is nothing real, it is all flat. Art may be an “illusion” but design I find very analytical – and, probably most significantly, design is always created for a particular audience. It has to be tailored to their needs and expectations. With painting, it only matters what I think (and the artist must be completely honest with themselves because we will often try to be lazy and get by on what comes more easily).

The difference between painting and design is not that one is work – they are both “work”. I don’t paint for fun or leisure or to “express” myself. Self-expression without intent is meaningless (witness the plethora of personal blogs, hobbists encouraged by friends/family to exhibit in cafes, to write poetry and create photo-albums on Flickr). Good and thoughtful design is an essential part of painting. It is the structure that allows for the communication of the Big Idea. But, design by itself is not necessarily “art”.

I know all creative activities are supposed to be “art” these days: cooking (culinary artist), crafting, design and architecture (which now have their own exhibit halls in art museums). But, they just aren’t. Art is a spiritual thing – it is more than the sum of its parts. It is not always efficient or useful – but it is always moving, thought-provoking and very real.

You know how if you have to go to a party or wedding and you look in your closet to find it is stocked with nothing but euro track suits and pajamas…? I kinda felt like that when a friend from Cooper Union (Collegiate connections not a myth? Alright!) invited myself and some former alums to exhibit with him in Amsterdam this Summer and I realized I have absolutely nothing to show (that can be mailed)!

I guess I have to make new art…

Fresh from the studio: Yellow House, 10.5 x 14.5in, watercolor/arches

Completed today!!! Damen Sunset, watercolor/arches, 10.5 x 14.5

Having never traveled past Canada, this is very exciting. I have read of the World and seen it on TV – very glad that at least my art will get to experience it and come back with some grit and debris from the Old World. Or, old world money. Thank you Leo Kogan for thinking of us and creating this exhibit and opportunity.

You can view Leo’s work at: http://www.leokogan.com/ and discover just what is happening in visual art today…

Here’s how it happened…

I had taken the photo for this painting around 2008 but didn’t have the space to work on it at home. Once I started working in a studio again (at the Cornelia Arts Building) I could finally attempt it. You can see that once I got past the first stage of blocking in stuff – the painting dissipated into a labored and convoluted mess.

I realized that since I couldn’t work in long stretches at the studio this picture could only be done in sections. Sometimes paintings are fluid and happen easily – other times – they are like this.

I see now that for paintings this complicated a grid (on the photo and the canvas) would have been a good idea. Also, an oil ground – and some color. As Marion Kryczka says, “White (as a painting background) is oppressive.”

See the final work at the Cornelia Open House, Friday, May 13th, from 6-10pm!

We are located at 1800 W. Cornelia Avenue, just a few blocks South of the Addison Brown Line. www.corneliaartsbuilding.com

In progress for the past year but I am aiming to complete Wabash Morning (nicknamed “The Monstrosity” because it is taking so long to complete) before the big day:

Wabash, morning street scene, approx. 44 x 60", oil/canvas

The Cornelia Arts Building is just 2 blocks South of the Addison Brown Line on Ravenswood/Cornelia. Parking is also available. Get Directions »

The Idea

Self-portrait with an eye towards future improvements, oil/canvas, © 2004/5 Emily Rapport

As a painter, making a self-portrait is both a critical and creative exercise. The self-portrait allows the artist to get back to painting basics, explore new techniques or psychological aspects of the self, and (if its any good) come out with a painting that clearly exhibits Myself as a Painter. Technology has democratized the art of the self-portrait, providing the means of production and distribution, so that any one of us can now participate in creating images of ourselves for public consumption. The representation of our Public Selves is proof of our place in the world, a momentary document of how we see ourselves or how we wish to be seen. Through this process, conscious or not, we are establishing and monitoring the verity of our existence.

I will be beginning a series of  portrait paintings based on Facebook profile pics (And I will start with those submissions I received so long ago!). With users consent I will acquire the informal, momentary and insubstantial digital images and reinterpret them as oil portraits.  The goal is to have 20 – 30 complete by October 2011 for a display during Chicago Artists’ Month.

Tech Specs

All portraits will be 24 x 24″.  I am interested in any profile pic that is a picture of you. Photos or images of cartoons or other things that are not really you … are less interesting.

What happens with the paintings?

The collection of paintings will (naturally) be posted and tagged in a Facebook photo album on my profile, probably shown somewhere in Chicago and possibly put into a catalog or some other self-published print item. Participants receive a hi-resolution digital image of their portrait painting and are welcome to post it on their site or profile, print it out or utilize it for any personal/non-commercial endeavor. You will have first dibs on your original portrait painting with a discount for participating.

How to become immortalized:

• Comment on this post and send me a link to your FB profile.
• Like my page on Facebook and like/comment the post there.
• Contact me to participate.

More in-depth thinking about portraiture:
Vicki’s ideas about the meaning and impact of portraiture are the impetus for this project. Check out Vicki Schneider’s blog to read about her observations of the Portrait. http://vschneider.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/heres-looking-at-you/

The Fine Print

Submitting an image or link signifies your intent to grant me the right to create derivative works (a painting and reproductions of that painting) based on your profile picture. All rights belong to the artist.

Wabash/Adams, in progress

I started this painting a year ago … and then things (life) happened and I never found time to get myself to the studio. It has some issues that made returning to it an unpleasant task. Layers of the older painting are totally dry now so reworking is impossible and some of the drawing was completely wrong (one of the benefits of returning to an abandoned work, flaws are seen with extreme clarity) – but it was a good idea and it deserves another college try…

The geometry and layers are important in these urban, architectural scenes. Everything is right on the surface, the planes of the building, the lines of the el track stairway and the crowd all impede your vision and progress. The spaces between things, those slivers of sky and light, need to feel like, well, spaces where you can look up and breathe.

Addison Rooftops, oil/canvas, © 2011 Emily Rapport

Making time for the studio a success! Much better than complaining about not having time to paint. Check out the posts below to see how this painting progressed. Also, finally figured out that I had my exposure setting way too low on my camera and that was why everything was so dark! Will re-shoot next week…

In progress

Roof-tops below the Addison El

When I am painting these scenes, there is always a story being told. Its a loose story, it doesn’t have to be the same one for the viewer, but somehow – the painting has to come to life. All the pipes, ducts and buildings are characters. Every thing relates or interacts with every other thing. I can’t draw in a very technical way and it tends not to interest me to try. I like the sketchy quality that comes from scrubbing the paint on roughly and letting some white show through or of drawing with the paint. And – I also like to work quickly so I can get it done and start something new.

The next painting is always a continuation of the story. It starts in a different place – but you’ll see passages or scenes show up again or places where the painting wasn’t quite resolved is handled in a different way.