Artist Interview :: William Turner

Get to know a Copley artist! Currently on display in the New Members Show is William Turner's humorous and thoughtful painting  "Hermes and the Infant Dionysos." Recently, the Co|So staff interviewed one of our newest members about this work and his artistic career. 

William Turner, Hermes and The Infant Dionysus, 40 x 30, oil on canvas.

1.       Who is your greatest influence?

Many contemporary artists have influenced me over the years, but mainly all art that evokes an emotion without offending is what I like best.   Sometimes it is the technique, other times the use of color, application or subject matter.  As in music, a good song stays in my head, while others drift away.

2.       Tell us about your work in the New Members’ Show 2013.
For many years I have chosen to paint machinery as metaphors for humans.  In search of rusted machinery I have taken many sketches, notes and photographs of these as I find them throughout New England.  The massive Sterling dump truck in this painting is one of them.  It had on its hood a rusted toy Tonka truck.
     It was a five years later when working on a series inspired by mythology and classical art that I remembered this truck.  To refine my notes I went back to the location where I had seen it, hoping it hadn’t been sold or destroyed.  There it sat with the Tonka still on its hood.   It brought to mind the Greek statue of Hermes and the Infant Dionysos with which I am very familiar.  As Hermes was charged to care for the infant, so too this massive Sterling has bonded with this little replica on its hood.  



3.       When did you realize you wanted to be an artist?

4.    How would you characterize the arc of your career? 

My career in art has been one of intermission.  My mother was a fine artist and at a young age taught me the basics of drawing which I used to great advantage during my years in junior and high school.  However, there was what seemed an insurmountable drawback to pursuing a career in art at that time.  I was dyslexic.  Dyslexia was not diagnosed or even talked about during those years.   I didn’t have the grades needed or the accommodations which are available today to go to college.  After serving in Vietnam I returned home to start a career working with machinery and vehicle restoration but always drew or painted in my spare time.     

5.       Did you attend an art school? 

It wasn’t until mid-life that I decided to train professionally and attended the Manchester Community College where  I studied design and commercial illustration.  This gave me the confidence to try attending a four-year college.  I enrolled in New Hampshire Institute of Art in Manchester and enjoyed my experience working in different art venues.  I chose to concentrate on painting and graduated in 2006 with a BFA in painting.   These years have been the most challenging but most rewarding of my life since I can combine my love of machinery and art.  I continue to take courses that will encourage me to explore new and various ways to express my art.

Stephanie Danforth: Amalgation

Nestled in the Copley Society’s Red Room is a solo exhibition by mixed media artist Stephanie Danforth. She works in a variety of media, including oil, gold leaf, metal and paper to create highly detailed compositions. The show comprises two distinct series: precisely painted over life-sized  fruit and vegetables, and cut-out metal angels overtop simple yet elegant patterned backgrounds. 

Integrity, 18 x18, oil, etched metal and gold leaf on panel

The paintings of juicy, luscious vegetation stem from her devotion to her garden.  Danforth chooses to paint all of her fruit larger than life, as she enjoys pushing the limits of the form. Each object is blown-up, made to be as big as they can be, and invite the viewer to examine the common object as something more. especially in the roundness of the cherries that she has painted multiple times. Danforth's hyper-realist cherries, as seen in Life Is... explores the saturation of the color and the bulbous form of the fruit. A recurring theme in her work, cherries appeal to her in both form and color, as she claims that if she "could be one color, (she) would be red."

Life Is...., 18 x18, oil and gold leaf on panel

As much as Stephanie enjoys the process of creating her art, she loves that it also allows her to change lives. In 2000, Danforth embarked on a safari to Kenya that dramatically changed the course of her life.  During her trip she visited a village school, and was greatly affected by the children and their educational needs. After her trip she made a vow that any money she made from her art would go to helping those children, and she donates all of the proceeds from her sold works to the school. The welfare of children has always been a large part of her life, as she had worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner for nearly twenty-five years before returning to painting full time.

French Radishes, 36 x 24, oil and collage on panel

Similar to her life, Danforth takes risks with her art, and she refuses to be repetitive. While the subject matter stays relatively the same, each work carries its own personality and style.Stop by the Copley Society of Art to see this charming and unique exhibtion by a fascinating artist. Amalgamation will be on display in the Red Room gallery until November 8th. 

View Stephanie Danforth's Artist Talk Video

Co|So Exhibitions :: Oana Lauric - Reflective Radiance

The Copley Society of Art is pleased to announce a solo show by artist member Oana Lauric, entitled Reflective Radiance.  A native of Romania, Lauric spent a decade in Paris where she studied and worked as an architect before moving to Boston.  In 2001 she gave up architecture to pursue her passion of painting full-time.  Lauric states, “working as an artist gives me the creative freedom I desired, while my architectural background, as well as personal experiences and the places I’ve lived, inform my art.”

Corso, 42 x 42, acrylic

Lauric’s careful use of abstracted architecture as a visual tool is prominent in her work.  In Corso, she frames the scene with buildings that border the figures, and draw the eye in and towards the road ahead.  The quiet street comes alive with the illusion of movement, as sparkling lights blur and faces rush past.   The glow from the store windows illuminate the street, while towering buildings wrap around the viewer, pushing him further into the space.

Parisians I, 42 x 42, acrylic

In Parisians I, Lauric once again utilizes a background of architecture to make the work more dynamic.  Instead of drawing the eye back into the scene, like Corso, the buildings create a barrier and force the viewer into the foreground, which is presided by a well-lit corner café. The contrast of lights from the café against the dark of the street and night sky, propels the viewer into the bustle of the corner eatery. Lauric invites the viewer to participate in her work, to become part of the unfolding metropolis.

The Paramount, 24 x 24, acrylic

Unlike the majority of the exhibition, The Paramount gives the viewer a fresh perspective on the city via a bird's eye view. The viewer becomes not an active participant in the life of the city, but a voyeur able to experience the world detached and from above. The familiar details of office buildings and sky scrapers are abstracted into lines and blocks of color, distorting the typical cityscape.  The illumination from the sun turns the otherwise cold blue steel into a varying collection of reds and yellows.
 

Lauric's metropolis is thriving, offering a vivid and dynamic escape into the cosmopolitan space. While her streets are filled with movement, the edifices frame and stabilize the scene, inviting the viewer into the space. Lauric will be present at the Copley Society to talk about her work on Saturday, October 27^th from 1:00 – 3:00 pm.  Reflective Radiance will be on view until November8^th.

Co|So Exhibitions :: Summer Members’ Show "New England Perceived"

Co|So’s summer exhibition New England Perceived, features work by a selected group of artist members that explore and celebrate New England.  Juried by Jonathan Fairbanks, (Director of the Fuller Craft Museum and former curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) the show includes a wide variety of media, including oil, pastel, watercolor, graphite, photography and wood carving. The works are tied together through their evocation of the spirit of New England in the summer months and beyond.

Perfect Pairing by Ann Trainor Domingue depicts the iconic New England lobster meal.  Sun pours in through an adjacent window, gently illuminating the feast of lobster and white wine. Domingue’s prominent use of reds and blues produces a contrast in temperature, creating the impression of cool shade at the end of a hot summer’s day.  The overall effect is the feeling of leisure and relaxation, two ideals that are synonymous with summer in New England.

Steven Simpson’s The Other Side of the Tracks is the 2^nd place prize winner of the Summer Members’ Show: New England Perceived. This work depicts a view from the Charles River with the Boston University Bridge in the foreground and the Boston cityscape receding into the background. A B.U. sailboat shares the focus of the painting with the bridge as other boats are shown behind it on the water. The Other Side of the Tracks is a common image for many during the summer as they walk or run along Memorial Drive and look across the River to Boston. 

Claudia Kaufman’s Jar of Limons is an innovative and refreshing take on fruit still lifes. Assorted lemons and limes are packed within a traditional mason jar, presumably to garnish a summer dish or drink. One cannot help but imagine the tart citrus flavor of these fruits when observing the saturated green and yellow pulp. The dark background highlights the subject and creates the focal point of the hyper-realist depiction of the mason jar and its ripened contents. Jar of Limons is a stunning display of Kaufman’s talent as a still life painter, and is a perfect summer work.

With thirty-six works in all, New England Perceived presents a diverse array of artists and styles and is sure to feel as much like summer as lively Newbury Street outside.  New England Perceived will be on view through August 22, 2012. Stop by the gallery for a taste of summer in Boston!