Greetings from Philadelphia - Page 4

Chris Saper · 03-18-2004, 06:00 PM

Dear Garth,

A belated but warm welcome, you are such an appreciated addition to the Forum.

I see that there is a great deal of wonderful information in your welcome thread - particularly in the sculpture and photography topics. I would like to invite you to begin a new thread, perhaps in the Techniques area, for the scupture information, since it is likely to be helpful to many members, and they might not think to look here for the topic.

I look forward to getting to know you and your work,

Jim Riley · 03-18-2004, 08:18 PM

Garth,

Let me add my welcome to the Forum.

I worked in the Allentown area for a while and had an opportunity to visit the de Vinci horse project sometime in the early 90's during an open house. It was very impressive. Perhaps our paths crossed at that time. I would love to see the fininished work.

I also use digital information for my work and often build my compositions in photoshop. Especially when working with young children.

Good Luck!

Garth Herrick · 03-18-2004, 10:37 PM

Chris and Jim, Thankyou!

Jim, I would like to think our paths have crossed, but if they have not, perhaps they will. I am frequently in Reading, which is half way to your studio.

What year did you visit Capt. Dent"s Dome (Leonardo da Vinci's Horse, Inc.)? I finished there in May, 1991, but it had been my home and studio for three years, as I sculpted the Horse. I really felt like I was time travelling to the 15th century in there. There were over 800 small Italian bronze figurines on display, and tidbits and scraps of such painters as Manet and Cezanne on the walls (for those who were never there, the "Dome" was a scaled down Roman Pantheon, with an oculus at the top as the only source of natural light). All of it is gone now, save the shell of the Dome.

The Horse I sculpted mainly survives in photographs now. Here's a pic from May, 1991 when (imho) it looked it's best:

Garth

Garth Herrick · 03-19-2004, 01:13 AM

I realized I was only introducing sculpture in most this thread, so here are three paintings on birch panels in oil:

1. Apotheosis of the Chunnel, 36" x 72"

2. The Guardian, 48" x 34"

3. First Knock, 11" x 7"

Garth

Leslie Ficcaglia · 03-19-2004, 09:43 AM

Your work is lovely, Garth! Both technique and concepts are fascinating and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work. Are the children in the last three paintings yours? I always feel freer to be experimental in my noncommissioned work using family or friends as subjects.

Also nice to see someone from my area. I'm about an hour south of Philadelphia in southern NJ.

Welcome to the forum!

Garth Herrick · 03-19-2004, 11:54 AM

Dear Leslie,

Hi neighbor! Thank you very much.

These three paintings were not commissions, so yes, I felt freer to be experimental, and these are not my children. I have a daughter and I need to paint her again, hopefully soon.

Painting 1's reference photo goes back 23 years. I have always been drawn to the play of light in this image, and I am currently working on a new interpretation of this image for a show next month. I am not sure about the strange cut-out shapes anymore, so this time its a rectangle.

Painting 2 depicts very distant 10th cousins living in remote hills bordering Kentucky and Tennessee; in fact they don't know which state they live in! The house seems to straddle the border. I shot the reference in 1991 as a stereo set of slides, and then constructed a stereo slide viewer to work from.

Painting 3 was a neighbor 23 years ago who actually hid after knocking at the door, and I made him re-stage this for a photo reference.

Note: The 3 paintings are now in a different order than in Leslie's quote below. This is because I fixed the color saturation and reloaded them.

Garth

Leslie Ficcaglia · 03-19-2004, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garth Herrick

Dear Leslie,

Hi neighbor! Thank you very much.

These three paintings were not commissions, so yes, I felt freer to be experimental, and these are not my children. I have a daughter and I need to paint her again, hopefully soon.

Painting 1 was a neighbor 23 years ago who actually hid after knocking at the door, and I made him re-stage this for a photo reference.

Painting 2's reference photo also goes back 23 years. I have always been drawn to the play of light in this image, and I am currently working on a new interpretation of this image for a show next month. I am not sure about the strange cut-out shapes anymore, so this time its a rectangle.

Painting 3 depicts very distant 10th cousins living in remote hills bordering Kentucky and Tennessee; in fact they don't know which state they live in! The house seems to straddle the border. I shot the reference in 1991 as a stereo set of slides, and then constructed a stereo slide viewer to work from.

Garth

Garth, I only noticed the "strange cut-out shapes" when you mentioned them - possibly a drawback of this cyber medium. I think they work well, though. And I somehow knew that Painting 3 depicted Appalachia; how neat!

And how does one trace cousinship to the tenth power, anyway?

Garth Herrick · 03-19-2004, 12:29 PM

Well Leslie, they may be eighth cousins. Their name is Scott, they settled there in 1800, building a log cabin (still standing but used as a barn in 1991), and Reuben Scott left for Indiana in 1820, which eventually led to me.

Here is the stereo reference. I have reversed the images so you just have to cross your eyes until you form a third image between the first two, and that will be Stereo!

Chris Kolupski · 03-20-2004, 11:49 AM

Garth -cool stereo trick. I can't imagine painting like that for too long though! I like your 3 non-commission paintings very much. They each have interesting compositions and points of view.

Reading about your Philadelphia location awoke me from my usual lurking status. I am wondering: have you studied with Nelson Shanks at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts or at Incaminati? If so, how was the experience?

Garth Herrick · 03-20-2004, 12:43 PM

Hi Chris: No, I have not studied with Nelson Shanks, but he has had a couple of free demontrations over the years that I was able to see with the crowds of admirers. One was at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts about 6 years ago.

He is worth watching, but a man of few words, so during the demo some other portrait painters and I got bored and looked at the museum galleries, and returned just in time for the last strokes of the eye lashes! It was interesing how he can make a commanding alla-prima portrait so clean and direct in just a couple of hours in front of six hundred people. His direct approach mostly began with two values in the face: a shadow mass tone and a light mass worked up aganst it. He kept the colors fairly warm and rich, and the nose began as a red triangle that was later worked into. Every feature was masterfully reduced to a couple of very deft strokes. He managed to keep all parts of the painting developing simultaneously, which I suppose is one of his secrets of success.

I visited his Studio Incamminati during an open-house, and it is a beehive of amazing talent and student productivity. Everybody uses exactly the same prescribed pallette, and most of the paintings are vibrant technicolor figure studies.

I was fortunate to be a guest of Nelson Shanks at his fabulous riverside villa, one evening in 1990 as I tagged along with Capt. Dent of Leonardo da Vinci's Horse. Shanks invited us to see his latest 15th century limewood sculpture aquisition. He has a collection of art to die for!

I am pretty sure Nelson Shanks does not remember me, but we both have mayor's portraits hanging together in City Hall.

Garth