May 2013 - Ann Hart Marquis

When a person or a family buys one of my paintings they seem to be satisfied with the image that I created. Just before my exhibit at the Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico this year, however, a family from Massachusetts bought Boat House. Unlike many of my collectors, they were very curious about my process and the thoughts that lead me to paint it. The questions went like this.

What drew you to paint it? During the summer of 2011, I attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). While there, I went on an architectural boat tour. I did some sketches of various things along the river and some were turned into paintings in Chicago. I didn’t do anything with the boat houses while I was in Chicago. I started working on Boat House after going back and looking at some old sketches in the fall 2012. I was into doing abstract landscapes at the time, so I didn’t want to do a city scene, but I liked one sketch that I had. So I took an old boat house, probably built in the 1940’s and revisualized it out of the city, all by itself near a body of water. I had no particular body of water in my mind. Most of the painting is representational. The colors in the painting are somewhat representative of my particular palette.

So let’s say that I started it in November, 2012. I rarely keep track of what I do to my paintings because sometimes I work on them more than once and add various layers of paint. I did a very rough sketch on the canvas and just started painting and adding a few more touches or layers of paint. I actually may not have finished Boat House until January, 2013.

What are the names of the colors you used? This is tough. I usually start with 3 or 4 colors (frequently called hues by painters) once I have a piece in mind. I almost always use tints (white added), tones (white and black added) or shades (black + color). I also frequently add the complement of a particular color to lessen the intensity. I mix many of my colors and rarely use paint right out of the tube. So first, I chose phthalo green, yellow ochre, cadmium red light and cobalt blue. The river water is layers of yellow ochre, phthalo green, and cobalt blue. When I put cobalt blue on top of phthalo green, the cobalt blue took on a violet glow. The left side of the house is alizarin crimson and the right is cadmium red light. The sky is cerulean blue and the ocean, lake, (body of water), is cobalt blue. I think you may be able to see most of these colors in the rocks of the right. As you can see I didn’t stay with my original palette

Where did you paint Boat House? In my studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Thank you Dotty and Dave for asking.

Friday Night News

I usually do not expose myself to the “news” on a regular basis. On Friday, May 10, 2013, I did. That night during a 15 second segment, I heard that the carbon dioxide level had gone to 400 parts per million (ppm), the highest number for CO2 levels in recorded history. Out loud I said, “350!” I have a fair understanding of what that 350 means. That evening as I thought more about what I had heard, I wondered who I know realizes what the number signifies.

350ppm is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. It is the number that is linked to sustaining healthy life on our planet. It is the number linked with sustaining the planet. If we don’t reduce the number, it is predicted that it will continue to rise 2ppm per year. What does it mean, I wondered if in 10 years the number is 420?

Time In My Studio

Since I don’t see the world rushing toward environmental health, I am concerned. I am an artist. It is easy for me to go into my studio and spend my time creating. Creating is a wonderful way to not have enough time to think about what I don’t want to think about. I do believe that my work brings people a sense of peace, an awareness of the beauty of nature and how fragile it is. That is one of the reasons why I paint.

So what do I do about 350, 400, 420? First I will finish this post, and then I will go and paint a little. I will think about more ways to be proactive. I also think that soon I may make a list and call it my Inspiration List (as in the drawing of air into the lungs). What is it that I now “want to do with my one wild and precious life?”

Do you understand what 400 ppm implies?

Go to 350.org and find out.