Dharma Bums, On The Road Again...

The phrase "Dharma Bum" was coined by the Beat* writer, Jack Kerouac. Dharma is one of the most important words in the Hindu and Buddhist religions. Narrowly defined it means "your spiritual duty," or "your place in the universe." A Dharma Bum is a wanderer and a truth seeker, and in the case of Kerouac’s novel these divine vagabonds were bohemians, writers and artists who shunned the confines of society. This blog is about the sacred joys of painting and travel. 

A restless spirit, I've always found it difficult to work in a cubicle from 9-5. One of my most memorable jobs was with the DPW in the summer of '72. My days were spent riding around town in the back of a dump truck with 5 other teenagers, picking up trash in the local parks. Today most people would consider this court mandated, community service but for me it represented freedom.

Love Street Surf Shop by Eli Cedrone ©

Kerouac’s notion of the Dharma Bum could easily describe today’s generation of artists who travel the country participating in Plein Air events and teaching workshops. To outsiders this lifestyle may be viewed as eccentric but these painters are highly trained, well-organized professional artists. For many, this way of life can be creatively and financially rewarding.

St. Edwards, Palm Beach

So I’m boarding my Jet Blue flight for Palm Beach (with excruciating delay given the advanced age of most of the passengers). I’ll be gone for nearly a month; painting and teaching with a residency thrown in the middle so I can catch my breath. If like me, you've had days where you’re feeling old and travel seems best suited for the obscenely young, you’ll understand the need for the residency.

Painting on Worth Avenue, Palm Beach

My wall at the Plein Air Festival, Tequesta

First stop Tequesta, for the 4th Annual Plein Air Festival at the Lighthouse Art Center. This is my second invitation to the event so I see a lot of familiar faces - and some very talented painters. I’m in good company. The camaraderie amongst artists is historic and important for a number of reasons; a sharing of ideas, a competitive spirit and a chance to get out of the studio. These events also offer opportunities to get your work in front of new collectors and publishers. I sold a bunch of paintings and was awarded First Place by juror George Van Hook in the Quick Draw (artists must complete a painting on location in 2 hours.) A pretty blissful way way to end the week.

First Prize in the Quick Draw

My winning painting "Harborside" by Eli Cedrone

I was fortunate to have a week-long residency in Palm Beach and I had some time to do a little painting on my own. I love using small 6x8 panels for quick, field studies.

Painting at the Society of the 4 Arts, Palm Beach

Color study "Bougainvillea" by Eli Cedrone

Following my residency, I taught a 2-day workshop at the Lighthouse Art Center. The focus was on the fundamentals of figure drawing. We started with a lot of quick, gesture studies and I introduced a technique to simplify the figure in order to integrate them into landscape paintings. It was an amazing group of painters, many of whom had studied with me last year. Check out my website for workshops there in 2018.

The gang at the Lighthouse Art Center workshop

I’m traveling across Alligator Alley which coming from Boston, is a disturbing name for a highway. I have visions of being devoured by one of these prehistoric creatures. I’m also a bit unnerved by the fact that there are 20 people enrolled in my workshop at the Bonita Springs Center for the Arts, but that’s okay… I’ve totally got this.

I thought it would be brilliant to present a workshop on the techniques and methods of a variety of painters throughout history. In theory "Lesson’s from the Masters" was a great idea but it required a lot of “moving parts” in order to set up each day. The staff at the art center was heroic in this regard. I swear there are tiny elves on the payroll; each morning everything was in order... model stands, lighting, even hot coffee and pastries!

My demo at left, is a copy of a painting by Anders Zorn. The palette is limited to 3 greyscale values. I begin with the mid range value, eventually adding darks and lastly, the lights. The focus of this lesson is to paint correct value relationships and seeing in terms of "pixels" in order to render the fall of light and modeling of form.

The wonderful students at Art Center Bonita Springs

For me, the sacred joys of travel and painting are an act of self-actualization. Becoming your true potential is pretty rare in society. I guess that’s why there’s always this feeling that the daily grind police will catch up with me, and I’ll have to get a "real" job. But for now, I feel the pull of the north wind so I’m heading to Portugal to teach a week-long workshop in Casais and Sintra. Want to follow along? Just subscribe to my Art & Soul blog!

Some tips on how to begin your own creative journey…
Get a change of scenery with a quick, overnight painting trip to a new destination.
Visit the studio of other artists and explore a new medium or technique.
Take a course or workshop close to home without the cost of flights and hotels.

Indulge in some armchair travel with one of these great books…

- Art + Travel Europe: Museyon Guides, Step into the Lives of Five Famous Painters

- The Last Nude: Ellis Avery, Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka

- Kiki’s Paris: Billy Kluver, Artists & Lovers 1900’s
- Strapless: Deborah Davis, John Singer Sargent's Madame X
- The Moon and Sixpence: W. Somerset Maugham, Paul Gauguin in Tahiti
- And last but not least…
- On the Road by Jack Kerouac

*Beat (Beatitude): a state of utmost bliss

Musings on a winter day…

“Even the strongest blizzard begins with a single snowflake.”

- Sara Raasch

And so it is with painting; the first stroke on a blank canvas is like that single snowflake. The tabula rasa... the promise it holds, is built on the premise that all knowledge comes from experience or perception.

Art is the external expression of the intuition. As artists we are constructing an imagined thing. Each stroke building upon the last until form and content are in correct relation to each other and the idea is clearly expressed. 

"Mere copying of nature is not an expression of emotion. 

Raw emotion, without rules of academic correctness to govern its output, 

just produces nonsense. Great art, can only come when creativity

is tempered by taste, when the design is conscious, and when the form 

is uniquely suited to the ideas presented.” 

Shakespeare said that art is a mirror held up to nature. Yet if the making of art was limited to just copying, then nature would surely eclipse any effort of the artist. The artist's interpretive vision would be lost in the cold reflection and recording of external facts. Reality is obtained not by copying but by interpreting. Even in painting the portrait, the artist must fix in his mind the quality, the character, the very soul of the person before him.

The transcending of art above nature is an age old discussion. Aristotle with his idealistic view, was likely the first to claim that true art is an improvement upon nature and that man must be depicted not as he is but as he ought to be. Realists believed that only common depictions of life offered an enlightened view of reality. But even this belief doesn't destroy the presence of artistic quality in their work. An internal vision along with the external, skill of execution is required for all true Art.

"Seek first for absolute truth of value and color, 

and paint this truth in the simplest and most direct way.”

The mechanics of picture-making, require a mastery of the basic principles. There are no great secrets, simply a commitment to careful observation and mindful, sincere rendering. Painting is a fusion of the external; skill of execution and the internal; vision or intuition. It requires an understanding of who we are and who we are becoming. An unfolding of the mind with each new experience.

Mysticism teaches that everything in the physical world has a parallel in the spiritual. Baltus said; "A spiritual stroke, correctly placed is beyond calculation.” This belief resonates with me; it suggests that something outside of our unique experience and knowledge is at work. That the hand of the artist is guided by the mind as well as the spirit. 

As with snowflakes; we all have our unique experiences. But maybe the accumulation of human experience is like a blizzard, resulting in what Jung called the collective unconscious. When a painting transcends or inspires, perhaps it has struck that universal chord.

Quotes: Carolus Duran

References: Orestes A. Brownson

Learning never exhausts the mind...

This quote by Leonardo da Vinci may seem contradictory to anyone who has endeavored to learn the skills necessary for representational painting. Whether a student or seasoned artist, the process of learning will test your patience to the point of insanity. Even Sargent had his difficulties, and issued forth a sort of battle cry of “demons, demons," with which he would dash at his canvas.

Copying Sargent's Oyster Gatherer's,  MFA Boston

Patience is a crucial element in learning to paint. One of the most encouraging things I learned was from Richard Schmid. His belief that painting is a craft which requires practice but above all patience, really set me free from negative thoughts. Much like learning to play the piano or becoming a champion athlete, it’s important not to blame ourselves when our skills don’t quite match our visions. Another mentor was John Terelak, the great Cape Ann painter and instructor. At that point in my journey, I felt my work was not good enough to share with the public and John instilled in me the need to believe in myself. He explained that learning is a life-long pursuit, our work is ever evolving and improving - your best effort is all that's required.

Richard Schmid, 1999

"I do not judge, I only chronicle." 

John Terelak 1998

I will never forget my first painting event, I was in way over my head but felt I should challenge myself. In spite of this, I must’ve looked the part because a fellow painter joined me at my chosen location. I was lucky that she quickly recognized that I had no idea what the hell I was doing. With some helpful tips I was able to make it through the day and although my painting was amateurish I was hooked on painting outdoors. 

After nearly 30 years at the easel, I continue to have moments of frustration and self doubt. It sometimes feels as if the more I know, the less I realize I know… if you know what I mean. These moments of fear and doubt can lead to a creative block. Sometimes we spend time gaining theoretical knowledge and not enough time actually painting. Nearly every artist I know has gone through it and the best way to overcome this is to just keep painting! When our skills become intuitive much like muscle memory, then our ideas and the execution of those ideas are synthesized.

Boy Swimming by Eli Cedrone, 2016

Developing patience requires having faith that eventually, you will get there. Seek out the support and exchange of ideas of fellow painters - especially those who are on the same creative path - and learn from their mistakes and successes. Celebrate small victories and breakthroughs when you’re learning the process, and allow those achievements to get you to the next level. 

Painting at Charles Hawthorne Barn, Provincetown 2014

Recently, I felt the the need to return to a more academic approach to painting by attending the Academy of Realist Art in Boston. The Academy teaches traditional techniques, modeled on 19th century French academies. The focus was on creating the color study which is a preliminary oil sketch that determines specific colors and establishes, in the most simplified manner, the value range that will best achieve a light effect and create volume. It gave me a greater understanding of how to simplify planes, properly compose values and create color harmony. The Academy proved to be a exactly where I needed to be in order to hone my draftsmanship and painting skills so don't feel that you've moved beyond a specific level - it's always good to revisit the fundamentals.

The Academy of Realist Art, Boston

"Cultivate an ever continuous power of observation… 

be always ready to make slight
notes of postures, groups and incidents."

In the studio with Dennis Sheehan, 2010

Paint from life as often as you can and carry a sketchbook with you at all times. Changing disciplines from portraiture to landscape, still life to painting the figure is also beneficial as each provides something different to consideration in terms of design, form, value and color. 

I visit museums often and carry a sketch book to "deconstruct" or make value studies of masterworks. So much can be learned from this practice. I also attend artist demonstrations and visit the studios of painters I admire whenever an invitation is extended.

As many of you know I love to travel. For me, there is no better way to arouse the senses than through visiting new places. Travel offers a diversity of landscapes, architecture and people. It’s always an awe-inspiring and enriching experience and a sure way to break free from old habits.

  "Above all things get abroad, see the sunlight and everything that is to be seen."

Lunchtime with Rob Liberace

Rob Liberace Workshop, 2014 

In the studio of Kelly Carmody, 2016

In regards to workshops, choose someone who embodies your values and approach to painting. Nearly 20 years ago I studied with a wonderful teacher who felt that taking workshops with seasoned (or celebrity artists as he called them) was like trying to pick up a "bag of tricks”. Although this is true to some degree, watching a master painter at work is a tremendously useful way to learn. Just be careful not to be so influenced as to believe that technique or mannerism is the path to good painting. Honesty is the true path - to yourself and your own expressive voice.

Visit my website to register for my upcoming workshop in California this July and the Bermuda Retreat!

All quotes by John Singer Sargent