Playing with Colour!

This is Stanley Kurth. The weekend before last I drove down to Phoenix to take part in a workshop he gave and to experience the delights of 120 degrees in the parking lot. The heat was really oppressive outside while we worked in a very comfortable room inside Arizona Central Art Supply and the instructor was fantastic!

I love Stan's work. It's fresh, moody, mysterious, smart, and compelling. This is why I leapt at the opportunity to be there.

These are some of the materials he works with. He implements watercolors, inks, crayons, acrylics, gesso, and anything else he can get his hands on, on various surfaces. For the workshop he used 300lb Arches watercolor paper.

This was his start. He said it was random placement of color over stray wax marks. I was there, I watched him and while I do believe that he does not start out with a plan, he is guided by all those years of creating compositions and evaluating color relationships.

To see Stan's finished work go to http://stankurth.com  You won't be disappointed.

The Inner Sanctum

I love my studio. It is light and bright and very well stocked with implements, media, and treasures.

I have skylights that fill the space with natural light.

There are two areas bridged by this area.

Plenty of room for workshops.

Why would I ever want to leave?

If you would like to schedule a workshop, class, or studio visit contact me at ctannerjensen@gmail.com or call 928-460-0065

The Girl and the Horse

This video is by Rebecca Manley and though I don't know her, she know me. The me down to my core. The essence of who I am.

This is how I know she knows.

https://vimeo.com/12556955

What dreams are made of.

Providence; Surfacing III

Oil on Canvas

68' x 34"

9750.00

I am not sure where my desire to paint comes from. It does not feel like something I choose to do, it feels like something I am compelled to do, like breathing. It is a quite thing that for me is accompanied by daydreaming.

I remember being a child and having pencils and crayons and sheets of onion skin typing paper. I would carefully draw my plans for a barn with plenty of paddocks and pastures. I would fill the pastures with the lush green waxes from my box of 100 Crayolas. Then I would draw the horses to fill that barn. I can still smell the pencil lead and the paper, and the scent of crayons transports me.

I drew my dreams. I drew to dream. I now paint to dream, and the dreams are still the same.

Artist Statements??????

Almost every maker of images is at some point to asked to write an Artist Statement. Note the request is always capitalized, I personally believe this is to strike terror into the heart of the writer. It stinks of self-importance, of something you can never retract, of something set in stone! Where as the truth of it is, it couldn't be more elusive and changing if it tried, at least for me.

This is my latest artist statement.........

Artist Statement

I believe that each act of kindness, each act of compassion, each moment of joy enriches the whole of humanity. It is from this belief that I create art. 

When I was three years old I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to draw pictures and ride horses. This was both a blessing and a curse. What a gift it is to know where you heart lies, and a curse to be told that it is impossible, ridiculous, an infantile fantasy that you will out grow.

I didn’t outgrow it. I am as or more passionate about painting than ever. The colours, the smells, the act of making marks on canvas with a fully loaded brush is intoxicating and meditative. Transforming a blank surface into a painting, it is what I live for.

And as for the horses, as you can plainly see, I still love them too!

It is as honest and as heartfelt as I can make it. Is it perfect? Far from it, and it will change. Hopefully I will grow as a human being and my work will reflect that.

Today however, this is my offering.

How do you Live with Art?

I am always fascinated with how other people arrange things. All things, from the furniture in your living room to the items in your medicine cabinet.

Are they grouped by size, color, usefulness? Was it random? Did you just toss all the left overs in that drawer? Why that scarf with that blouse? Are those books arranged by who much love what they contain or alphabetically?

So, when it comes to the art you have choosen to live with and how you have it displayed, my interest is more than piqued! I am all eyes. I am beyond the curiosity that killed the cat. I want to see.

Indulge me. Show me how you live with your object d'art, your favorite painting, that treasure that no one else quite understands.

Worth the Wait

The Good Ride

40" x 60"

Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas

7950.00

There is nothing quite like a hack through the burgeoning southern countryside in the spring. It is the warmth of the sun and the lingering coolness of the earth. The soft colours ripening into a vibrant display. Honey drifts on the air, And, if you are lucky, really luck, you have a good horse to take you over a fence or two.

It was worth the wait. This image is so sharp and clear, I could have been more pleased with the photo. I am so grateful to have a fantastic photographer who is also a genuinely nice guy. I always look forward to seeing him. Thank you Tom Alexander.