ARTISTS
The art of drawing
Six artists demonstrate a timeless art form Ira Korman Ira Korman is a self-described "accidental artist." The California-based Korman has been
Bonnie Gangelhoff / Southwest Art
01 Feb, 2003
Six artists demonstrate a timeless art form
Ira Korman
Ira Korman is a self-described "accidental artist." The California-based Korman has been drawing since he was a young boy. "But I have always drawn for pleasure," he says. "As a kid I was just as excited when my mom brought home colored pencils for me as [when she brought home] a Rock `em, Sock`em Robot."
Korman studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, but he kept getting pulled back to drawing, a process that increasingly occupied center stage in his artistic career. After a brief foray into pastels 15 years ago, he says, he "threw out the color for good."
Today he favors figures and urban landscapes as his subject matter. In a recent commission he portrayed industrial Los Angeles scenes that included old granaries and cement-mixing plants-a grandscale project he describes as similar to Works Progress Administration commissions of the 1930s. "I have always been attracted to urban landscapes," he says. "I have always loved big dark smokestack images." When it comes to figurative drawings, Korman is likely to depict family and friends, he says.
Korman grew up in New York and New Jersey and moved to the Golden State about a decade ago. Since then he has come to appreciate the state`s breathtaking landscapes as well as works by artists such as William Wendt and Edgar Payne who depicted that scenery in the early 20th century. His drawings are on view in a one-man show at Koplin Gallery in Los Angeles, May 31 through July 5.
Robert Barrett
Robert Barrett is fond of saying that drawing not only develops a skill but also liberates the imagination. "Drawing is the primary means the artist has to communicate his or her thinking," Barrett explains. For two decades he has taught illustration at Brigham Young University in Salt Lake City, UT, and says that recently he`s noticed a groundswell of student interest in the traditional art of putting pen and pencil to paper. These days the interest is so high that he has to turn students away from his classes.
Barrett isn`t sure why the tide is turning towards such a timeless art form, but he theorizes that perhaps students appreciate the reflective nature of drawing amid these turbulent times. Whatever the reason for the current trend, he continues to offer students advice that he has followed throughout his fine-art career. "Draw from life," he tells them. "Working from life you can get the spiritual essence of a person. It helps you interpret, not just render, your subject."
A talented illustrator, Barrett has created drawings for many well-known publishers, including Random House, HarperCollins, and Dell Publishing. The artist has also exhibited his works at the Society of Illustrators in New York City and the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA. Barrett`s drawings are currently on view in a one-man show through February 16 at the Springville Museum of Art in Springville, UT. He is represented by Williams Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT.
Quinn Kayser-Cochran
Give Quinn Kayser-Cochran an atlas and he is a contented man. The son of a geologist, Kayser-Cochran frequently went on assignments with his father, traveling to old mines and ranches throughout the West. During these trips he watched his father create maps and developed a fondness for studying them.
Today the Colorado artist creates black-and-white renderings of old western mining towns as well as New Mexico`s pueblos. "I want to convey a deep and abiding love for the land out here," he says. KayserCochran also has a sense of history and fascination with how gritty industrialization arrived in the West. "It`s not everyone`s favorite subject, but it is an important one," he says. "I want to understand how the area grew, for better or for worse." After all, he adds, Park City, UT, and Breckenridge and Telluride, CO, were mining towns long before they become vacation destinations.
The artist began his college career in pre-med but abandoned those studies after taking his first organic chemistry exam. He served a stint as a political consultant and worked as an administrative aid in the Colorado governor`s office before turning to drawing seriously seven years ago. His ink renderings are rich in detail, and he uses layers of fine lines, washes, splashes of pure ink, and swaths of bare paper to build complex realistic images. He has won numerous awards for his drawings in Colorado and California. Kayser-Corchran is represented by bearing Galleries, Taos, NM; Judith Hale Gallery, Los Olivos, CA; Arts at Georgetown, Georgetown, CO; and Quinn Gallery, Sedona, AZ.
Michael Bergt
For Michael Bergt, drawing is the essence of art-the vehicle that allows him to make great leaps of imagination. "Drawing gets my mind in a state where something creative can happen," the New Mexico-based artist says. At times Bergt, who also paints and sculpts, works with a specific theme in mind. Other times he draws inspiration from whatever moves him. "Something about the way a model stands may inspire me," he says. "But it`s usually a give-and-take that unfolds in my work with some planning and some spontaneity involved."
Bergt explains that he is influenced by the history of art because for him it illustrates a reoccurring theme-that the human condition remains a constant struggle between the ideal and reality. "I love to depict the figure engaged in improbable but not totally impossible tasks," he says.
While his work often deals with irony and satire, he is not afraid to portray beauty for the sake of sheer admiration. Lately he prefers work that suggests a narrative or story line because, as he puts it, "life is a journey." His subject matter usually evokes a timeless quality, which he says is a conscious effort. "My aim is to produce compelling, well-crafted works that acknowledge the history of art and man," he says. "I paint and sculpt from my life and my imagination because art should infuse poetry into the literal."
Bergt`s drawings are on view at John Pence Gallery in San Francisco, CA, March 27 through April 27. He is represented by Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; John Pence Gallery, San Francisco, CA; and J. Cacciola, New York, NY.
Terrill Goseyun
Drawings by Terrill Goseyun often focus on the beauty of Apache traditions. The Arizona artist`s portraits of family and friends are rendered in a very tight and painstakingly meticulous style. "Though I work primarily in black and white, there are a lot of meaningful representations being applied to my figures," Goseyun explains. "The dark represents the history of the persecutions that the Apaches have endured. The transitional grays between the dark and white areas represent the hardships of reservation life. Finally the white represents the present and the future of our children."
Goseyun believes that the power of his work lies in the straightforward photo-realistic representation of his culture. "When people see my work they just can`t believe that something that size and that realistic could be done with a pencil," he says. "I like them to keep that disbelief That`s when I get a smile on my face."
A San Carlos Apache, Goseyun comes from an artistic family dedicated to preserving its Native American heritage. The artist has won numerous awards for his drawings. In 2001, he was presented with the prestigious Fellowship Award by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts. He also won Best of Show in the drawing division at the 2002 Santa Fe Indian Market. His drawings are on view this month at the Western Artists of America`s Branding Iron Show February 21-March 23 at the Tucson Museum of Art in Tucson, AZ. For more information about the artist visit his web site at www.apacheimages.com.
Anne Weary
In 1978 Anne Weary was a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts when she experienced an epiphany that set the course of her future career. She was studying painting and drawing when she journeyed to Yale University in New Haven, CT, to view a show of landscapes by British artists. "That drawing show had a big impact on me, and I began to think, `Why not do a sunset in black and white? I could create the illusion of color in charcoal and pencil."` And so she began to draw in earnest. "It just felt like my medium," she recalls from her home in the Texas Hill Country.
Today her works are intimate, detailed drawings that capture the environment that surrounds her-the trees and critters she adores. "I love trees and animals so much, it`s almost a spiritual thing with me," she explains. "I really want people to see how beautiful a bending tree is or the peak light of noon on a Texas summer day in my drawings."
Weary lives on 300 acres near the woods, surrounded by her favorite things-cypress, sycamore, maple, cedar elms, and oak trees as well as coyotes, horses, and javelinas. Her studio is the great outdoors, she says. In the summer she draws outside. In the winter she puts the heater on in her car and draws on her sketchpad while perched in the driver`s seat. Weary`s drawings are included in collections at the Dallas Museum of Art, the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the El Paso Museum of Art. She is represented by Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX, and Parchman Stremmel Gallery, San Antonio, TX.
ILLUSTRATIONS
UNTITLED (INDUSTRY 2), CHARCOAL ON PAPER, 32 x 49.
MELISSA, PENCIL, 30 x 20.
AUTUMN LIGHT, TAOS PUEBLO, PEN AND INK, 7 x 9.
ROOM WITH A VIEW, COLORED PENCIL ON TONED PAPER, 20 x 14.
THE MUSICIAN AND HIS MESSENGERS, PENCIL, 60 x 40.
TRAIL TO TOP, GRAPHITE, 10 1/4 X 14 3/8.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Feb 2003. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted.
PROQUEST-CSA, LLC- MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR TIMELINESS OF THE LICENSED MATERIALS OR ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
Ira Korman
Ira Korman is a self-described "accidental artist." The California-based Korman has been drawing since he was a young boy. "But I have always drawn for pleasure," he says. "As a kid I was just as excited when my mom brought home colored pencils for me as [when she brought home] a Rock `em, Sock`em Robot."
Korman studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, but he kept getting pulled back to drawing, a process that increasingly occupied center stage in his artistic career. After a brief foray into pastels 15 years ago, he says, he "threw out the color for good."
Today he favors figures and urban landscapes as his subject matter. In a recent commission he portrayed industrial Los Angeles scenes that included old granaries and cement-mixing plants-a grandscale project he describes as similar to Works Progress Administration commissions of the 1930s. "I have always been attracted to urban landscapes," he says. "I have always loved big dark smokestack images." When it comes to figurative drawings, Korman is likely to depict family and friends, he says.
Korman grew up in New York and New Jersey and moved to the Golden State about a decade ago. Since then he has come to appreciate the state`s breathtaking landscapes as well as works by artists such as William Wendt and Edgar Payne who depicted that scenery in the early 20th century. His drawings are on view in a one-man show at Koplin Gallery in Los Angeles, May 31 through July 5.
Robert Barrett
Robert Barrett is fond of saying that drawing not only develops a skill but also liberates the imagination. "Drawing is the primary means the artist has to communicate his or her thinking," Barrett explains. For two decades he has taught illustration at Brigham Young University in Salt Lake City, UT, and says that recently he`s noticed a groundswell of student interest in the traditional art of putting pen and pencil to paper. These days the interest is so high that he has to turn students away from his classes.
Barrett isn`t sure why the tide is turning towards such a timeless art form, but he theorizes that perhaps students appreciate the reflective nature of drawing amid these turbulent times. Whatever the reason for the current trend, he continues to offer students advice that he has followed throughout his fine-art career. "Draw from life," he tells them. "Working from life you can get the spiritual essence of a person. It helps you interpret, not just render, your subject."
A talented illustrator, Barrett has created drawings for many well-known publishers, including Random House, HarperCollins, and Dell Publishing. The artist has also exhibited his works at the Society of Illustrators in New York City and the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA. Barrett`s drawings are currently on view in a one-man show through February 16 at the Springville Museum of Art in Springville, UT. He is represented by Williams Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT.
Quinn Kayser-Cochran
Give Quinn Kayser-Cochran an atlas and he is a contented man. The son of a geologist, Kayser-Cochran frequently went on assignments with his father, traveling to old mines and ranches throughout the West. During these trips he watched his father create maps and developed a fondness for studying them.
Today the Colorado artist creates black-and-white renderings of old western mining towns as well as New Mexico`s pueblos. "I want to convey a deep and abiding love for the land out here," he says. KayserCochran also has a sense of history and fascination with how gritty industrialization arrived in the West. "It`s not everyone`s favorite subject, but it is an important one," he says. "I want to understand how the area grew, for better or for worse." After all, he adds, Park City, UT, and Breckenridge and Telluride, CO, were mining towns long before they become vacation destinations.
The artist began his college career in pre-med but abandoned those studies after taking his first organic chemistry exam. He served a stint as a political consultant and worked as an administrative aid in the Colorado governor`s office before turning to drawing seriously seven years ago. His ink renderings are rich in detail, and he uses layers of fine lines, washes, splashes of pure ink, and swaths of bare paper to build complex realistic images. He has won numerous awards for his drawings in Colorado and California. Kayser-Corchran is represented by bearing Galleries, Taos, NM; Judith Hale Gallery, Los Olivos, CA; Arts at Georgetown, Georgetown, CO; and Quinn Gallery, Sedona, AZ.
Michael Bergt
For Michael Bergt, drawing is the essence of art-the vehicle that allows him to make great leaps of imagination. "Drawing gets my mind in a state where something creative can happen," the New Mexico-based artist says. At times Bergt, who also paints and sculpts, works with a specific theme in mind. Other times he draws inspiration from whatever moves him. "Something about the way a model stands may inspire me," he says. "But it`s usually a give-and-take that unfolds in my work with some planning and some spontaneity involved."
Bergt explains that he is influenced by the history of art because for him it illustrates a reoccurring theme-that the human condition remains a constant struggle between the ideal and reality. "I love to depict the figure engaged in improbable but not totally impossible tasks," he says.
While his work often deals with irony and satire, he is not afraid to portray beauty for the sake of sheer admiration. Lately he prefers work that suggests a narrative or story line because, as he puts it, "life is a journey." His subject matter usually evokes a timeless quality, which he says is a conscious effort. "My aim is to produce compelling, well-crafted works that acknowledge the history of art and man," he says. "I paint and sculpt from my life and my imagination because art should infuse poetry into the literal."
Bergt`s drawings are on view at John Pence Gallery in San Francisco, CA, March 27 through April 27. He is represented by Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; John Pence Gallery, San Francisco, CA; and J. Cacciola, New York, NY.
Terrill Goseyun
Drawings by Terrill Goseyun often focus on the beauty of Apache traditions. The Arizona artist`s portraits of family and friends are rendered in a very tight and painstakingly meticulous style. "Though I work primarily in black and white, there are a lot of meaningful representations being applied to my figures," Goseyun explains. "The dark represents the history of the persecutions that the Apaches have endured. The transitional grays between the dark and white areas represent the hardships of reservation life. Finally the white represents the present and the future of our children."
Goseyun believes that the power of his work lies in the straightforward photo-realistic representation of his culture. "When people see my work they just can`t believe that something that size and that realistic could be done with a pencil," he says. "I like them to keep that disbelief That`s when I get a smile on my face."
A San Carlos Apache, Goseyun comes from an artistic family dedicated to preserving its Native American heritage. The artist has won numerous awards for his drawings. In 2001, he was presented with the prestigious Fellowship Award by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts. He also won Best of Show in the drawing division at the 2002 Santa Fe Indian Market. His drawings are on view this month at the Western Artists of America`s Branding Iron Show February 21-March 23 at the Tucson Museum of Art in Tucson, AZ. For more information about the artist visit his web site at www.apacheimages.com.
Anne Weary
In 1978 Anne Weary was a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts when she experienced an epiphany that set the course of her future career. She was studying painting and drawing when she journeyed to Yale University in New Haven, CT, to view a show of landscapes by British artists. "That drawing show had a big impact on me, and I began to think, `Why not do a sunset in black and white? I could create the illusion of color in charcoal and pencil."` And so she began to draw in earnest. "It just felt like my medium," she recalls from her home in the Texas Hill Country.
Today her works are intimate, detailed drawings that capture the environment that surrounds her-the trees and critters she adores. "I love trees and animals so much, it`s almost a spiritual thing with me," she explains. "I really want people to see how beautiful a bending tree is or the peak light of noon on a Texas summer day in my drawings."
Weary lives on 300 acres near the woods, surrounded by her favorite things-cypress, sycamore, maple, cedar elms, and oak trees as well as coyotes, horses, and javelinas. Her studio is the great outdoors, she says. In the summer she draws outside. In the winter she puts the heater on in her car and draws on her sketchpad while perched in the driver`s seat. Weary`s drawings are included in collections at the Dallas Museum of Art, the San Antonio Museum of Art, and the El Paso Museum of Art. She is represented by Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX, and Parchman Stremmel Gallery, San Antonio, TX.
ILLUSTRATIONS
UNTITLED (INDUSTRY 2), CHARCOAL ON PAPER, 32 x 49.
MELISSA, PENCIL, 30 x 20.
AUTUMN LIGHT, TAOS PUEBLO, PEN AND INK, 7 x 9.
ROOM WITH A VIEW, COLORED PENCIL ON TONED PAPER, 20 x 14.
THE MUSICIAN AND HIS MESSENGERS, PENCIL, 60 x 40.
TRAIL TO TOP, GRAPHITE, 10 1/4 X 14 3/8.
COPYRIGHT: Copyright Sabot Publishing, Inc. Feb 2003. Provided by Proquest- CSA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Only fair use as provided by the United States copyright law is permitted.
PROQUEST-CSA, LLC- MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR TIMELINESS OF THE LICENSED MATERIALS OR ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
