Hopper Studio 2012 Residency Part 2

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Many people find the paintings of Edward Hopper hauntingly attractive. Naturally there's enormous curiosity about Edward Hopper and where he worked. Here are some photos my wife and I took while up at the South Truro studio last week.  Hopper designed the place himself and had it built in 1934 (using fund his wife Jo inherited). 

I'll be showing more of these new photos over the next few blog posts.

Above is the studio last week first thing in the morning with the just-risen sun blasting on its east wall. This is the north end of the studio with its signature 10' tall north window. The painting room of the studio is big and fills the entire north half of the building. On the exterior wall that's in the sunlight, the two smaller windows on the right open onto the painting room.



Here's the inside of the painting room again showing the first rays of sun hitting the far wall. That's Cape Cod Bay in the distance. The dutch door at the left was the inspiration for Hopper's pivotal oil Rooms by the Sea now in Yale's art museum. At the far left is the doorway to the studio's small bedroom.




Above is a 7 x 14" vine charcoal drawing I did of that corner of the painting room once both of the doors swung open.





While the ceilings in the rest of the studio are surprisingly low given Hopper's six and a half foot stature, the ceiling in the painting room soars overhead. It makes for a genuinely inspirational space.  





This is swinging the camera over to the right from the last photo's view to now look due west.






 

Here is Hopper's easel caught in the early sunlight with the big north window opening up a view looking northwest. Hopper's easel itself was good and solid but nothing fancy- the same model is available from any major art supply store. Obviously the magic was in what Hopper brought to the easel. On the horizon at the right is the tiny thin strip of land that is Provincetown.

Below the photo shows Hopper's studio easel at the right and my own portable French easel at the left. I drew the vine charcoal I showed in an above photo standing at the left easel. 


Shortly I'll be posting a larger collection of new photos we took up in the Hopper studio on my website
on their own "Hopper Studio Photos" page. The number of photos will gradually grow over the next few weeks.

In Other News: 

The Delaware Art Museum's Centennial Juried Exhibition celebrating ten decades of the Museum's existence in Wilmington opens with a ticketed preview party Friday Oct. 19 from 5-7 p.m. John Ravenal, the Contemporary Curator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond, selected work from 97 artists for the show. My piece The Song of All Days, oil on panel, 36 x 72" I've been told has a wonderful spot in the show with a wall of its own.













If you're in the area please come by and say hello, and enjoy the exhibition.

The Museum asked three of the artists included in the Centennial show to teach as part of their Regional Concepts series of short workshops. That Sunday afternoon, Oct. 21. from 1 to 5 I'm teaching the first offering.

I will teach a landscape painting and drawing workshop that's open to artists from all levels of experience. 

We'll start with a look at some of my own drawings and oil paintings and see a few examples by landscape masters of the past. As the Delaware Art Museum has some great pieces by Winslow Homer, John Sloan, Andrew Wyeth, Charles Burchfield, and of course our old friend Edward Hopper, I think I'll use them as good examples. Then we'll head outside to do some small landscapes of our own. Fortunately the Museum's Education Wing has big windows with good views in case the weather turns against us. 

If any readers of this blog want to participate and would like some extra feedback on some of their other paintings, sign up and bring them along. I'd be happy to look at them with you.

Upcoming:

New York Solo Exhibit: George Billis Gallery Dec. 11 - Jan. 19, 2013. Opening reception Thursday Dec. 13, 6-8 p.m.

Baltimore Solo Exhibit,  Katz Gallery, Friends School of Baltimore, Jan. 2 - Feb.18, 2013

Exhibit of Paintings of Hopper's Interiors: Nyack and S. Truro: Isalos Gallery, Stonington, ME
Aug. 2013



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