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Joan Brancale
James Coe
Mark Chester
Maryalice Eizenberg
Stephanie Foster
Lynne Foy
Frank Gardner
Garry Gilmartin
Marc Hanson
Jeff Jamison
Joyce Johnson, sculptor
Peter Kalill
Cate Hunter Kashem
Kim Kettler
Kely Knowles
Marc Kundmann
Barney Levitt
Carol Maguire
Jonathan McPhillips
David Mesite
Mary L. Moquin
John Murphy
Colin Page
Elizabeth Pratt
Cynthia Reid
Amy Sanders
Paul Schulenburg
Julie Snyder
Cleber Stecei
Olivier Suire Verley
Eric Emile Walker
Cammie Watson
Sarah J. Webber
Robert Wisner
Courting the Figure, Addison Art Gallery
Oil Painters of America, Addison Art Gallery
Inspired by the National Seashore
Creative Convergence
 

About Art - AddisonArtGallery

 

Mixed Media    Monoprints    Oil Painting     Pastels    Watercolors     

Displaying Art       Protecting Your Collection

 

COLLAGRAPHS AND MIXED MEDIA
by Mary Moquin

Mary Moquin - Collagraphs
 
Cool Tranquility    
Collagraph, oil, pastel, wax on panel
by Mary Moquin
 
The use of mixed media exploded in the early twentieth century when artists sought to break from the restraints of practices instilled by academic art. Artists such as Picasso and Braque were the first to incorporate collage elements into their work that were not previously thought of as art materials. Along with other artists around the world, I continue to break from the boundaries and limitations that restrict our mode of expression to one medium. We integrate and incorporate whichever methods and materials best express our unique experience of the world. We are limited only by our imagination.

Mixed media paintings use many different materials, both the traditional and the unexpected, to create the final painting. The materials used are as varied as the artists who employ them. Often, the juxtaposition of the materials' qualities lend to the uniqueness of the final work. In my own work, I combine traditional drawing materials with traditional painting materials. Mixed media helps to break down formal divisions within art. For example, I use charcoal, chalk, oil pastels and grease pencils.

I continually search for ways to create a unique mark that embodies both intuition and intent, a natural mark that does not look controlled or contrived. My marks are allowed to be beautiful marks, searching marks, sensitive marks, and marks that coalesce into something more interesting and closer to my original inspiration. I use palette knives, brushes, credit cards, and baking spatulas to manipulate oil paint and cold wax into a creation beyond the literal representation of my subject matter and closer to my remembered experience. The beauty of my marks and media layer to create a palpable, contemplative visual experience.

Many of my smaller studies begin as hand-pulled collagraphs created by placing texture-rich materials on cardboard, inking the surface, and feeding the the inked material and cardboard through an etching press where the texture is inked onto a piece of paper. Once the paper is mounted to a panel, the resulting impressions become the foundation onto which I can begin to apply layers of paint, wax, charcoal, chalk, and so on. Each individual collagraph then becomes a puzzle with which I become enthralled: a little jewel of sensitive color relationships.

Mixed media engages the viewer much like any other traditional painting; however, the intermixing of media requires the artist's skill and foresight to add an additional layer of complexity and subtlety to the painting.

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EGG TEMPERA PAINTINGS
Egg tempera is a medium that has been used since medieval days and was preferred by many early Renaissance painters. Affording an unsurpassed luminosity and the finest details, this medium offers effects not available by other methods.

Within seconds egg tempera feels dry.  However, true drying or setting may take a year or more. As it dries, it forms an unusually hard, waterproof, elastic skin considered more resiliant than oil color.
 

On Tempera Painting
“. . . it calls for strong discipline, clear thinking, and an accurate observance of  the rules of craftsmanship”
Max Doerner

“. . . in the long run is as tough and permanent — if not more so — than oil”
Robert Vickery

Robert Wisner Wellfleet
by Robert Wisner
For more information, please consult The Materials Of The Artist And Their Uses In Painting by Max Doerner (1949, Harcourt Bruce & Company) and New Techniques In Egg Tempera by Robert Vickery and Diane Cochrane (1973, Watson~Guptill Publications).
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ENCAUSTIC PAINTING

When the binder for pigment is wax, it is known as encaustic painting. Encaustic painting was practiced by the Greeks as far back as the 5th century B.C. The encaustic technique was also used in the 19th Century to solve the problem of dampness faced by mural painters in northern climates. The 20th Century brought a major, renewed interest in this technique.

Wax is considered as durable as oil and tempera and, as an excellent preservative, was used by the Greeks to weatherproof ships.

Additional information can be found at encaustic.com.

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GICLÉE PRINTING
   
John Murphy
Night at the Land Ho!  Giclée on Paper
by John Murphy

The giclée process uses environmentally safe, water-soluble dyes and works by translating a digitized original from any source into a high-speed stream of microscopic color droplets. Prints appear smooth and continuous in colors and tone because the original droplets are comparatively the size of a human red blood cell.The giclée process allows reproductions to be printed on a variety of surfaces such as premium archival watercolor paper. Giclée prints also allow the artist the versatility of controlling color relationships. The rich saturation of color is comparable to dye transfer and has a velvety surface reminiscent of either mezzotint or sheet-fed gravure.

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MONOPRINTS
by Kim Victoria Kettler

Kim Kettler

A Taste for Life by Kim Kettler

For me, the process of making a monoprint involves the best of painting with the best of printmaking. Basically, one paints an image on a plate, (in my case, with specialized water-based inks), aligns the plate on paper, and runs the plate through a printing press, thereby transferring the image from plate to paper. It is a MONOprint because only one image can be made; though “ghost images” can be pulled from a second passing of the plate through the press, they are much much lighter in color, and bear little resemblance to the first print. The painting stage can take hours or not, and it is possible to run the same paper through the press several times, building up a unique image with several passes.

The magical part is in the transfer from plate to paper. Details such as brushstroke lines and distinct edges between colors are diminished, and the result is a certain freedom between artistic control and pure chance. This is how a monoprint succeeds best in my work: when intuition plays with intention, making the piece more like an improv than a strict exercise in form and color.

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OIL PAINTINGS
Oil paints have been widely used since the fifteenth century and have become the standard for easel painting. The range of oil paints and surfaces available offer painters great flexibility for a variety of different techniques. This range of options continues to expand.

Oil paints can be used on a number of wood, Masonite, glass, paper, metal and canvas surfaces. Canvas is used most frequently. Cotton canvas is quite durable and the least expensive of the regularly used canvases. 

While some artists prefer linen over canvas for its texture and permanence, cotton, polyester and jute are all widely accepted surfaces.
 

Marc Hanson
 
Oil on Linen:
“ What makes linen so attractive to painters is its strength and its beauty... it never looks as mechanical or evenly woven as other fabrics.” 
Bill Creevy

Osealia
Oil on linen panel
by Marc Hanson
 
For more information, please consult The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques by Ralph Mayer (1985, Viking) and The Oil Painting Book by Bill Creevy (1994, Watson~Guptill Publications).
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PASTELS

Amy Sanders  
Solitude    Pastel
by Amy Sanders
 

Pastel is a dry medium in a stick form, consisting of powdered pigments held together with a minimal amount of a binder (usually gum tragacanth). Pigments used in making pastels are the same pigments that are ground for use in making oil and watercolor paints. Painting with pastels, therefore, is as close as one can get to painting with pure pigment.

Traditionally used in the 18th century for painting royal portraiture, the soft pastel medium can trace its roots back to prehistoric cave paintings. In and out of style in the last four centuries, pastels are now enjoying a modern-day resurgence of popularity, due to their intense colors, permanence and “immediate” handling.

Pastels are the most permanent artists’ medium, if properly created and protected. Pastels should be done on an archival surface which is free of acid, and should be framed under glass, preferably with a spacer between the glass and the surface of the painting. As the pigments are the same as those used in oil paintings, you should expect the same level of resistance to fading.

Caring for your pastel: You only need to know a few things about caring for your pastel.

  • When transporting, lay a pastel glass side up, never glass-side down!
  • When not hanging, store a pastel glass side up or upright, never glass-side down!
  • When shipping, leave the job to professionals, who know how to pack and ship pastels specifically. If uncertain of who to contact in your area for shipping, contact a local pastel association. Its members likely can supply you with a reputable, knowledgeable shipper in your area.
  • If reframing, be sure to leave a spacer between the pastel’s surface and the glass or mat. If a mat is used, use an acid-free mat. Plexiglass instead of glass is an option to lower weight and make shipping easier, but static generated by Plexiglass can be a problem.

Your pastel has been created and framed for maximum protection and permanence. It has been created on an acid-free and/or archival surface. The pastels used are the finest in light-fastness currently available on the market (equivalent to oils in light-fastness). It is currently framed with an acid free backing (and mat, if it has one). It is also framed with glass.

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WATERCOLORS
by Ann Trainor Dominingue

  Ann Trainor Domingue
Beyond Pleasant Bay    Watercolor
by Elizabeth Pratt

Watercolor has long been considered a very difficult medium to master. The freshness of brushstrokes as well as watery, seemingly uncontrolled effects are the hallmarks of this versatile medium. Curiously it still retains a lesser status among other painting mediums despite the difficulty factor. The affordability of watercolors can make it possible for a novice collector to step into the world of art collecting. Experienced and novice collectors will find real value in watercolors as they demonstrate an artist’s ability to draw, design, and work with color and texture as proficiently as in classic mediums such as oils. Watercolor painting styles vary greatly from delicate pastel color schemes to those that echo the masters such as Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth, to contemporary abstract styles.
Watercolor is composed of two key elements, first a gum arabic binder—a clear liquid that dissolves in water, and second, pigment—mineral-based or synthetic-based colors. Watercolor is available in a wide range of transparent or opaque paints. Paints come in tubes, cakes or pans, watercolor pencils or solid color sticks. Opaque watercolor or gouache (pronounced gwash) contains a chalk-like substance that will cover over transparent watercolors and are available in tubes or pans. Transparent and opaque watercolors can be combined to create a multitude of layered effects on paper or other synthetic surfaces such as Yupo paper—a polystyrene sheet. Improvements in paint quality have dramatically decreased the fading of watercolors due to ultraviolet light. New developments include an archival coating that offers UV protection from paint fading and allows watercolors to be displayed without glass or plexi.

Watercolor is primarily painted on paper prepared with sizing which gives the paper body and, depending on the brand, also provides a variety of distinctive absorption qualities. Paper qualities are a very personal decision for an artist. Paper is available in smooth (hot press—allows paintbrushes and watercolor to glide across the surface), cold-pressed (with texture—allows some of the pigment to settle into the crevices), and rough (with coarse texture—allows even more pigment to settle into the paper texture). High quality paper will stand various scraping and mark-making techniques.

Paintbrushes used for traditional watercolor techniques are primarily made of natural bristles—very soft so as not to scrape the paper surface. Combination bristles of synthetic and natural hairs are also a good choice. Sable brushes are historically a long-lasting choice although expensive.

Watercolor can be used to produce very detailed imagery as in the contemporary works of Andrew Wyeth, Charles Reid, Robert Wade and John Salminem, and historic artists such as Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, John Constable in England—an early adopter of watercolor, John James Audubon an American—used watercolor to enhance engravings of flora and fauna, and John Singer Sargeant used watercolor for beautiful figurative works. Abstract watercolor styles are also very popular because of the free-flowing nature of this versatile medium.

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Addison Art Gallery ADDISON ART GALLERY, Fine Art Gallery in Cape Cod, Orleans, MA
Phone: 508.255.6200 • 43 Route 28, PO Box 2756, Orleans, MA 02653 eMail: art@addisonart.com
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