Akiko Hoshino

Last month I attended, at the invitation of my friend Bob Palevitz, the award ceremony and reception for Allied Artists 97th Annual Exhibition. The event was held at the National Arts Club. Not only was the artwork outstanding, the turnout was huge. My mom came too.

Just after the prizes were handed out, Bob told me that one of the awardees, a gifted young pastelist named Akiko Hoshino, had died just weeks earlier after being struck by a car while crossing the street. Akiko fought for her life in the hospital for a few days after the accident, but eventually succumbed to her very serious injuries. What an unbelievable tragedy. I couldn’t even speak when Bob told me this.

This is the piece for which Akiko was posthumously awarded the Silver Medal of Honor at the Allied Artists ceremony, and you can see why. It was a real standout. This elegant, sensitive pastel work is titled Be Alive:

I did not know Akiko, unfortunately. I wish I did. She studied at the Art Students League where I used to work but not anymore. But two good friends of mine knew her well – Dan Gheno and fellow pastelist Sam Goodsell who became a mentor to her. I just got off the phone with Sam, and he told me that he had gone to see Akiko in the hospital when she was near death. What a terrible, terrible thing. She was so young, full of talent and promise.

Wait for the Right Moment – The Hibernated, by Akiko Hoshino:

In addition to her meticulous technical skill with pastel which is a difficult medium, I am most moved by the spiritual, life-affirming quality of Akiko’s work. In an age when many up and coming artists feel like they must resort to shock value, cynicism, and harsh, disturbing images to get attention, Akiko Hoshino celebrated the substance of beauty and light and the inherent vitality of the figure. She said, “If my work wasn’t making me happy, how could I expect it to make anyone else happy? . . . I want to paint my feelings, but I don’t want to paint them in a dark way.” Beautifully stated, Akiko.

You can see more images of Akiko’s work on her website, Akiko Hoshino.

Here is a condolence page for Akiko from the Pastel Society of America with a lovely photo of her.

Akiko’s words that I quoted above are taken from the excellent profile of her that appeared in the July issue of Pastel Journal. Read the article in its entirety to learn more about this young woman’s journey from Japan to the United States, from a seeking student to an artist who found her voice. You will be inspired.

Deepest condolences to Akiko’s family. May she rest in peace.

安らかに眠る

Snowpocalypse

Ok, with a show of hands, who’s snowed in? :raises hand: It was a doozy, wasn’t it? I am super lucky in that I don’t have to work today, which means I don’t have to make the difficult trek into Manhattan. Instead, I can stay holed up in my house in Queens, toasty, cozy, and warm

Georgia O’Keeffe, Bare Tree Trunks With Snow, 1946:

Since this morning, I have seen neither hide nor hair of my two cats (they’re ferals) and I’m worried. I know what you’re all thinking – don’t worry about cats. They’re smart, resourceful, and blessed with exceptional survival skills. Yet even though I”m aware of all that, I still worry. I was outside earlier shoveling out little paths, calling out “Prince? Jackson? Come on out babies!”. But no sign of them yet. The issue with this blizzard is the intense drift. The blustery wind is blowing wildly and forming huge dunes of snow. But a cat can’t get buried, right? Is that even possible? They know to seek higher ground, I hope. Where are my little boys? What if they’re trapped!!

This dove has been chillin’ out on the telephone wire behind my house. Maybe he knows where Prince and Jackson are? Speak bird!

I have to pull myself out of this missing cat panic mode. How about “Music Monday”? We’re all familiar with Antonio Vivaldi’s famous composition “The Four Seasons”. The “Spring” section, or “La Primavera”, is probably the most recognizable. But the “Winter” section is wonderful too. So for the snowpocalypse of 2010, here’s Vivaldi’s “L’inverno”, Concerto for Violin and Strings in F minor. WINTER has officially arrived . . .

Buon Natale

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house . . . . Claudia is wrapping presents and can’t find the Scotch tape!

So Christmas has almost arrived and it doesn’t look like it will be a white one in NY. The only place it’s snowing is on here on the blog! My family will gather at Mom’s house tomorrow and we’re all looking forward to it, especially my niece

I have a Christmas image for this blog post that I hope you all enjoy. Giorgio Vasari is well-known mainly as the first art historian/biographer and for writing the seminal book The Lives of the Artists. Vasari was also an architect, painter, and good friend and admirer of the powerful Medici clan. The guy who coined the term “Renaissance” was himself a true Renaissance man.

Although painting brought Vasari less success than his other endeavors, I thought this work The Nativity With the Adoration of the Shepherds from 1571 was quite impressive.

Peace, joy, and blessings to each and every one of you. Have a wonderful weekend, and may love fill your hearts, now and forever . . .

See you soon!

Claudia

All-Nighter

Lunar eclipse, 2:45 AM, seen from Queens, NY. My photo:

She was a beauty. To my readers, with love

Happy Solstice everyone . . .

Christmas Time is Here

Hi everyone! I have emerged from my Sunday cocoon, rested and ready to jump back into action. I’m going gift shopping shortly, but first a Christmas video for “Music Monday”

When we were kids, my brother and I loved the Peanuts Gang. What kid didn’t? Peanuts rules!! In addition to the great animation and the cute, memorable characters (I was a Linus girl), Peanuts had excellent music! I’m sure none of you have forgotten the groovy, upbeat theme song composed by Vince Guaraldi. I looked forward to watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” every year. I still watch it as an adult!

The song “Christmas Time is Here” is the musical highlight of the Peanuts Christmas special. I can sometimes relate to Charlie Brown’s feelings in this video clip. But he learns, as we all do. The song is sweet and touching and the Peanuts characters are too cute for words. Thank you Charles Schultz.

When this video ends, click on the “Christmas Dance” for some smooth moves from the Peanuts kids. A smile is guaranteed!

Zonked

I’m wondering which brand of exhaustion is worse. The “art modeling” brand which comes from a busy work schedule and hours of posing, or the non-art modeling “holiday activities” brand, which involves shopping, Christmas parties, and volunteering. I’m beginning to think that the latter is more draining. Lately it’s been kicking my ass worse than art modeling.

But it’s all rewarding, wonderful goings-on and I assure you I’m not complaining. Well maybe I am complaining just a little bit about the transit system which has been screwing me lately. Last night, the 1 train subway traveled uptown at an infuriating snail’s pace and it took literally 30 minutes to get from Penn Plaza to 86th Street. That’s insane. And today, an M4 bus blew right past me as I was waiting at the bus stop on Fifth Avenue. I kid you not. The driver saw me standing there and just kept on driving!  What am I, chopped liver? Thanks MTA

Anyway, my brother and sister-in-law threw a fantastic holiday party at their apartment last night. So festive and spirited. I had a great time! I was all dressed up and looking pretty, and I indulged in a few glasses of red wine. I got home late and then had to be up bright and early this morning (not too hungover thank god!) to help out at the Yorkville Common Pantry. All the volunteers worked really, really hard. No breaks, no goofing off. We packed hundreds of bags and handed them out to the needy families who started picking up their groceries around 10 AM.

So now I’m just beat. I don’t want to move, I don’t want to walk. I just want to lay around, do nothing, and recharge for the upcoming week and  another round of holiday madness!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend my friends. I’ll see you on Monday. Until then, I’m out!

zzzzzzzzz

James McNeill Whistler’s The Arabian, circa 1892:

Raphael – Master Draftsman

Of the great giants of Italian Renaissance art – Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, etc – it would be pretty foolish to choose a favorite or the “best”, as they were all gifted masters who took Western art to awe-inspiring heights. But I will go ahead and be foolish (it won’t be the first time!) and pick a favorite. Raphael is my guy. I am planted firmly in his camp. In fact, I have a bit of an obsession with him.

I should warn you that no credible, intelligent, or respectable explanation of my Raphael obsession is forthcoming. None whatsoever. Rather, my love for the “Prince of Painters” is based on shallow and frivolous reasons. First of all, Raphael was one of the first artists to use female models for his female figures. What a novel idea! But really, it was common practice of the day to use men as models for all figures, male and female. Michelangelo was a glaring example of that absurd practice. So in my opinion, Raphael deserves huge props for breaking that custom. That scores major points in my book. But as a female artist’s model  I guess I’m a little biased.

Raphael is also an appealing figure as a individual. Unlike the grouchy, temperamental Michelangelo, Raphael is said to have been very charming, outgoing, youthful, and handsome. His exploits and womanizing ways add to his reputation which I have blogged about in the past. This is another stupid reason for my Raphael obsession. So yeah, I admit it. If I had been one Raphael’s models I would have gone to bed with him too

Lastly, Raphael was left-handed, another cool thing about him! And another weird obsession of mine that I blogged about. Ok, I think I’ve done enough internal linking to my own posts. Now it’s just getting obnoxious

Raphael has been singled out from the group by people much more credible and serious than me, and for much more substantial reasons than mere Casanova sex appeal. Many art historians have praised Raphael’s art for its exceptional balance and elegance, its graceful aesthetic appeal, and his avoidance of the excesses to which his rival Michelangelo was sometimes prone. He is also considered one of the finest draftsmen who has ever lived.

I originally intended for this post to be about Raphael’s stunning Vatican fresco, The Parnassus. But I became so caught up looking at images of his drawings that I decided to post them instead. We’ll examine the Parnassus another time.

They say that the truest examples of an artist’s skill, technique, and ability are seen not in their paintings but in their drawings. I’m inclined to believe that. Drawings are the bare bones of the artistic process. In them you can see the artist’s hand at work, their practice, their methods, and their visual thought process. Drawings are also more intimate. Looking at them makes you feel close to the artist in a way.

These are all studies and sketches, variously in chalk, pen and ink. I’m not even going to add commentary because there’s no need. With regard  to forms, lines, volume, technique, etc, the drawings speak for themselves. My personal favorite is the last one.

Let’s Tumble!

Hey gang. My new blog on Tumblr is up and running. Yay! I hope you all check it out. I had trouble getting the widget to work last night so it’s not linked in my sidebar yet. I’ll try to fix it later today. But in the meantime, here’s the link:

Meanderings

Posting is really easy to do on Tumblr. Sources of text, images, etc are automatically included which is terrific. I’m still getting used to it, though, as it’s quite different from WordPress. If you scroll down to the bottom you’ll see the “About” page and a “Submit” page. That’s right. I’ve opened the blog up to reader submissions, a feature that I hope Museworthy readers especially will participate in. Since Tumblr is primarily a microblogging platform I thought I’d keep posts to images, photos, quotes, audio, and some text of course. Like I said previously, my discussion, writing, art modeling, and personal sharing will stay on Museworthy as always.

The fun of Tumblr, from what I can tell, seems to be its randomness. Many of the bloggers are posting things frequently and indiscriminately, probably because it’s so ridiculously easy to post and re-blog. But I think it’s great. Now it may take a while to build community over there, but as long as the Museworthy community follows and enjoys that’s fine with me. So let’s see where Tumblr takes us!

Word of Mouth

Hellooo everybody! Just a quick post that might be of interest to local Museworthy readers. I’ve been hearing really good things about two exhibitions currently on display at two of our major museums. The first is a show at the Guggenheim called “Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy, and Germany, 1918 – 1936″. An instructor at FIT raved about it and strongly encouraged me to check it out. I haven’t yet but I definitely will soon, especially since I have some free days over the next couple of weeks.

The next one is at the Met and it’s called “Man, Myth, and Sensual Pleasures: Jan Gossart’s Renaissance”. Now I don’t know anything about this Flemish painter Gossart, but any art exhibit with the phrase “sensual pleasures” in the title sounds good to me

The last word of mouth involves my own mouth. Yes, I’m off to the dentist in a little while for my first of two appointments. Waaah! I didn’t even attempt to find a dentist-related work of art to include in this post. Instead I have Pierre Bonnard’s Nude With Black Stockings, from 1900. The way I figure it is if I show up at the dentist’s office like this, he will be kind and gentle with me. Good strategy, right? Hey, I have black thigh-high stockings so why not?

Imagine . . .

John Lennon once referred to New York City as “Rome”. He was right. It is Rome. You can interpret that comparison however you choose.

Our city has “adopted” millions of people from all walks of life, John Lennon famously among them. His love for New York is well-known but what’s always amazed me is that Lennon praised this place at a time when the city was, arguably, at its worst – the 1970s. I remember it all too well. It was during that period that New York earned its reputation as a polluted, unruly, gritty, crime-ridden place. I’d argue that point if I could but I can’t. It was like that.

But on the other hand, the city was affordable back then for many, many more people than it is now. It was also not run by authoritarian killjoy mayors like Guiliani and Bloomberg who put the needs of millionaires, tourists, and commercialism above those of artists, musicians, and the native working class. Patti Smith described it well when she criticized Mayor Bloomberg’s reinvention of New York as a “shopping center” and a “hip new suburbia”, and predicted that “One day, all the people who have driven out the artists and have only these fancy condos left are going to turn around and say, ‘Why do I live here?’”. Although I basically agree with her in that pre-gentrification New York was indeed a place like no other, I also think not everything about New York back then should be romanticized. I for one do not miss the litter and filth. It was a fucking toilet.

This week, on Wednesday the 8th, marks thirty years since John Lennon was shot and murdered at the Dakota apartment building, where he lived with his wife Yoko Ono and their five year-old son Sean. The city he extolled for its freedom, energy, and laissez-faire attitude, where the people didn’t treat him like a celebrity or harass him other than to call out “Hi John!”, as he walked the streets like every other New Yorker, is the same city in which he was, tragically, ironically, vulnerable. Living in “Rome” comes with its own set of risks.

As the city of Dallas carries the shame of Kennedy’s assassination, New York City carries the shame of John Lennon’s murder. One of our most famous and beloved residents, John Lennon loved and appreciated New York when it kind of sucked. He could have lived anywhere, yet he chose a dangerous, decaying, bankrupt city. Forgive us, John, for not keeping you safe.

Enjoy this video for “Music Monday”. The psychopathic dickwad Mark David Chapman appears at :51, when John was signing an autograph for him, just hours before Chapman shot him:

“Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.”   – John Lennon

Still Life

You know that you’ve reached a state of complete and utter boredom when you spend 20 minutes out of your day setting up fruit and photographing it for no reason whatsoever. My art modeling schedule has slowed down considerably. Most people would use this free time to get a head start on holiday shopping, do house chores, or something even remotely productive. But not me. I stare at the fruit in my kitchen basket, arrange them on top of a cabinet, get out my Nikon D5000, and take pictures. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I have lazy, idle tendencies. Yes, I can goof off, procrastinate, and waste time with the best of them!

I call this “Study of Apples and Pears”. So what do you think? Would Cezanne be impressed?

That’s a Red Delicious apple, a Golden Delicious apple, a Bartlett pear, a Granny Smith apple, and a Bosc pear. Thrilling!! Fascinating!! The Golden, by the way, is no longer with us. He met his demise after this photo was taken. I needed a snack after such hard work!

Keeping the Quickies

I remember something that happened at one of my very first art modeling jobs. It was an evening drawing class years ago at the Art Students League. Still a new model trying to prove herself, I was enthusiastic, energetic, and rarin’ to go. I had just completed a set of 20 one minute poses and they were quite good if I do say so myself! I was very pleased with my expressiveness, exuberance, and creativity.

Then came a five minute break. As I belted my robe, I saw an artist tear off from his drawing pad the sheet of his one minute sketches. He then, to my horror, crumpled it up and threw it in the garbage!!! I didn’t say it out loud, but I thought, “HEY!!! What are you doing??? Those are my quick poses on there!!!! Are you crazy? How dare you!! Jerk.”

It was then that I started to realize that artists and models regard the short poses very differently. To artists they are merely warm-ups to loosen the hand and prepare for longer poses later in the session. Lasting for just one, two, or maybe five minutes, they are brief, trivial, and apparently disposable  It’s as if anything under 20 minutes doesn’t even count as far as artists are concerned. Some artists simply detest short poses and won’t even do them at all. But to models, the quick poses are our blood, sweat, and tears. Our moment to shine and show off. We have to be alert, imaginative, and on top of our game for the entire set. And unlike long poses we can’t just space out and drift off in a daydream as we hold one continuous pose. We have to “change”, “change”, “change”, one after another after another, on the spur-of-the-moment, with barely any time to plan the next one. The results on the page are as abstract and spontaneous as they are on the platform. And that is what’s so cool about them in my opinion.

A good model mixes it up during the quick sets. Diversity is key. I make a conscious effort to vary the angles, present different forms and shapes, alternate between vertical and horizontal, forward bends and backward bends. We are using our entire body and showing the group who we are, what we can do, and transmitting our energy, spirit, and dedication across the room. I’ve done quick poses with a head cold, a sprained ankle, a pulled abdominal, and even in the recovery stage of the flu. Under those circumstances, doing fast poses is real work. Real, honest-to-goodness WORK.

Here is a page of my quick poses sketched by Bob Palevitz at Spring Studio just the other day. I admired them during a break and Bob, awesome guy that he is, gave them to me

Another page from Bob. I believe these were two minute poses. Look at these little beauties. Now do these belong in a garbage can? I think not!

Some artists save everything, and that’s great. But to the artists who would otherwise throw away their quick practice sketches I suggest offering them to the model. You’d be surprised how many will accept! Remember, that’s our movement on the page. Our gestures, our stamina, our vitality and vigor. I have a collection of sketches I’ve accumulated over the years and I will never throw them out.

These fast sketches were done by Elliott Lloyd at Figureworks Gallery last Saturday and he also generously let me take them home. Some day, when I’m 80 years old, arthritic, brittle, and hunched over, I will look at these drawings and remember fondly the days when I was fit and flexible, and could extend my body like that (see pose on right) and crouch on my toes with my heels off the ground (see pose on left). Then I’ll probably burst into tears as I lament the loss of my physical agility!

More sketches by Elliott that will comfort me in my old age and remind me of my art modeling “glory days”. Up on my toes, leaning on my elbow, twisting and gesturing. Do you see now the value in these drawings for the models? They record our movement for posterity. (This didn’t photograph well but I tried to adjust it in iPhoto so you can see the lines clearer. It’s a very light sketch in real life)

A few more from Bob Palevitz. Again, they’re lovely. Not quite quick poses, but three fives. So keep in mind that models don’t consider the short poses “lesser” than the long poses. If anything, they are “our show”- when we are calling the shots on the artists instead of the artists calling the shots on us, i.e. “setting up” a long three hour pose. With the quickies, you will take what we give you and you will like it! I will always love the quick poses. Those minutes are mine