John Murray classes week of February 3, 2014

The week of the figure.

This week is all about the figure in the studio:
Monday classes:
two performance artists, Regina Parkinson and Beth Liebowitz will visit both Monday classes and interact with artists.
All classes are welcome to come and participate, they will arrive at 11 am and work with artists until 2:30 pm.
Think Yves Kline with a feminist mind:

Wednesday (Feb. 5) classes will have a model all day.

Bring plenty of canvases and paper.

Saturday February 8 is my Winter Figure/Landscape workshop!

GREAT WEEK TO DEVELOP YOUR FIGURE WORK .

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.  JOhn

John Murray classes week of January 27, 2014

Art making , mark making week.
My friend and coworker, Bill St George called me the other day to tell me about an article
in the December issue of Vanity Fair called "Who is the worlds greatest living artist?".
Among those ambitious and talented people was Richard Serra.
The above picture of Serra making one of his signature black oil stick drawings answered a question that has long puzzled me: how did he do it?...get that impasto, thick, incredibly rich, black circle without a sense of filling in...without the gesture of the hand.
The Vanity Fair photo shows how:
he cut a semi-circular wooden shape with a handle attached to ease picking it up and moving it, and ground, mashed, squashed  the oil stick into the paper with his feet with the wooden semi circle defining and controlling the edge. The photo also shows some of these finished drawings on the wall behind the smiling, dancing artist.
Great postmodern art requires extreme originality.
let's see what we can come up with in our own art next week.
I mean in terms of approach/process.
See you next week. John.

John Murray classes week of January 20, 2014

No classes on Monday the 20th...Martin Luther King day.

For Wednesday the 22nd., please continue with your personal approaches to painting.

Dr. King was one of my heroes, even though I usually suspect religious people, his amazing courage in the face of almost certain death was truly inspiring to me as a young man.

See you Wednesday.
John.

John Murray classes week of January 13, 2014

January Thaw Project

Next week try a painting/assemblage/drawing/print or sculpture that considers the return to warmth after the last few weeks of freezing weather.

Any media. Any form.

But also try and remember:

"Art is an investigation into its own possibilities"

See you next week, John.  

John Murray classes week of January 6, 2014

Welcome to my Winter 2014 (!) term classes.
I believe that the form/material  that you choose to explore is all you really need for content.
But since we're stuck here in New England in January let's look around and find a little inspiration in the
bleakness we inhabit.
Take a look at Cy Twombley's paintings and sculpture.
Look up Andy Goldsworthy's snowball/stick drawing.
I took the above picture on a walk in a field near my house on a very cold day.
Is there a personal image there?
I don't know until the materials get involved.
Please bring material to work with to the first class.
See you next week, John.

John Murray classes week of December 9, 2013

Last week's Solstice work was strong, so let's continue on that theme next week.

It is also the last week of the term, so if you have any work that you want to share or have critiqued , please bring it to class.

I enjoyed working with everyone this term and hope you found the class a positive and challenging experience.

The winter term starts January 6, 2014(!).

See you next week, John.

John Murray classes December 2 and 4, 2013

Who is this man?

Find out next week when Dan Elias visits my classes at lunch break Monday and Wednesday...
Stick around after morning class or come a little early for the afternoon class and meet our new director, ask him questions and offer suggestions for his consideration for NAC.
 
In terms of an assignment try thinking visually about the WINTER SOLSTICE and its attendant phenonena in regard to the bleak landscape, the clear cold nights, and the turning of the planet away from the Sun.
See you next week. John