Art Blog - Carole Huber

Interesting how a change in the weather can influence the mood of a painting. After a week of rain a perfectly sunny, glorious Saturday morning heightened my awareness of the depth of shadows beneath a row of trees. My enthusiasm for the dance of light before me lead me to this interpretation developing a blue theme. I think this painting communicates the joy this day inspired. Pierre Bonnard said "Art will never be able to exist without nature." For many people landscape painting is the only expression of the relation of art to nature. But, of course, nature is as much the subject of abstract art as representational art. Representational landscape painters use abstraction to create images that a viewer will accept as transcriptions of a natural scene… Continue reading… 0 comments

I had a feeling that moving out of doors was definitely changing how I approach an abstract painting. I saw a distinct difference between what I had done before and what was happening in my most recent paintings. My friend, Jeffrey Boys, who is a real art historian, reminded me that we tend to forget that abstract paintings were once of two very distinct varieties: Abstract Expressionist and Abstract Impressionist. The latter term was coined by Elaine de Kooning to distinguish this type of painting from the action painting of the Abstract Expressionist movement. I have found forms growing more fluid and my brush strokes more reflective of my emotional state… Continue reading… 0 comments

Painting a large canvas, as this one is, is a different kind of experience. My teacher, Eo Omwake, tells me every inch of the canvas must be beautiful. To maintain interest in every square inch of a large canvas requires a great deal of seeing and reseeing. This is my favorite kind of painting. Quick studies on a river bank or in a pretty meadow are fun, but to me a large abstract is really a universe for a painter to inhabit. To connect to a viewer, an abstract must be totally honest and deeply felt. There is no familiar scene or even familiar detail from the external world for the viewer to grab onto. The only connection between the artwork and the viewer is the truth of human feelings. Though I am not religious, I am spiritual. I believe humans all share the same spirit… Continue reading… 0 comments

The Chris White Gallery, N. 701 Shipley St., Wilmington, De Celebrating Women in the Arts, Opening reception, Friday, May 4, 6 - 9 p.m. Diane Feisel, Carole Huber, Maria Keane, Rowena Macleod, Maria Mineos, Julia Stratton,Ulana Zalakewycz, and other guests… Continue reading… 0 comments

The Shipley Lofts Arts Center began in 1977 as a dream visionary folks seeking to revitalize downtown Wilmington DE by recognizing the growth of interest in the arts that accompanied the progress of the Delaware College of art and design. 701 Shipley was built in 1918 as a furniture building. The first two floors were showrooms and the upper three floors were warehouse space. The building later was used for various commercial operations including as a department store for Sears, Roebuck & Company. In 2007, it was placed on the National Historic Register. Today its upper floors are lived in by artists as the building houses lofts and a gallery on the first floor to show not only the work of residents but also other local artists… Continue reading… 0 comments

To me there is nothing like painting horses. They have so much personality. I remember one beautiful little red filly who would stand patiently in front of me just a few feet away waiting for me to paint her. Horses combine tremendous power and grace. It is small wonder that Degas was famous for painting both ballerinas and horses… Continue reading… 0 comments

I felt very alive and content on my first day of painting out of doors since last fall. In Delaware, our weather has been quite changeable as is typical of Spring in the Mid-Atlantic, though warmer than usual. This sunny afternoon was all that could be hoped for in mid April. Warm enough to invite my friend to have an ice cream at the University dairy after painting together. The colors in this painting are vibrant reflecting my mood. The whole experience put me in mind of e e cummings' poem in Just- by: e.e… Continue reading… 0 comments

I have recently begun to let myself go with color in painting abstractly. My paintings have always been expressive and colorful, but I am really enjoying the liberty of not being tied to reproducing a subject. Let me add "an external subject." I am finding that my subjects now range from my joy at finding myself out of doors on a beautiful day to working though a difficult emotional moment… Continue reading… 2 comments

Seeing It All and Making It Your Own Many things come together to make a painter's work uniquely his. When I first started going out to paint, I would drive around all day looking for the subject, some one-of-a-kind, memorable vista. Now I know that what makes a painting memorable is not so much the subject but rather looking at it with Emerson's transparent eyeball. I have seen wonderful paintings of chicken coops, shoes, a white shirt, a slab of beef hanging in a packing house, and so forth. So I burn less gas these days, and now when I go out, I find great subjects just by opening up to what is available to me. Every artist has his own way of transcribing what he sees. For me, line is a very important element. There are directional lines that guide a viewer's eyes through the painting… Continue reading… 1 comment

Everything Seems So Insistent Leave out anything that distracts from your composition. This is a luxury that painters enjoy over photographers. Once your eye finds the focal point of your painting, everything else must be subsumed. I try to go with my first impression and start to work rapidly on the elements that made me want to paint my subject in the first place. Some painters plan with all sorts of conventional composition formulas in mind, but I find this stultifying. When I was a professor, I couldn't lecture from notes. If I did so, my class became deadly boring. I needed a free exchange of ideas to discover the truth of my lecture. And new truths undoubtedly. When I go out to paint, I try to turn off my thinking processes and paint according to the vigor of my first impression… Continue reading… 0 comments

Green, the Devil's Color Green, the Devil's Favorite Color When you first try to paint out of doors, you_'re apt to be overwhelmed by the life buzzing around your ears. If it is summer, the season when most of us first venture out, and you live in a verdant spot like Delaware, you_'re apt to feel awash in green. A notion of the demonic nature of 'green ' has been around since the Middle Ages, when poets and preachers often made this association. Think of all the demons you_'ve seen represented in green. Any painter will tell you green is the devil_'s color because it is the hardest to control. It also seems to leave the most permanent stain on any article of clothing. You quickly learn that painters have used many methods to exorcise the evil spirit of green… Continue reading… 0 comments