Whitbeck Notes
Summer 2024
African Gray
18" x 24" oil on panel
I have been enjoying the most satisfying and productive of times in the studio this year. I can't really put my finger on it, but the new work leaving the easel have just been spot on and I have found myself leaving the studio every afternoon, about five or so, content and looking forward to opening back up the following morning and getting to work. Over the past twenty plus years I can honestly say that I have not had such a long stint of smoothness in the studio. There is usually the frustration of working and re-working a piece, trying to get it into the groove and to a spot where I feel back on track. But lately the two, three, sometimes four paintings that are underway in the studio have been right on, having a confident feel for their outcome.
It is not only the quality of your technique and the fineness of your brushwork that makes a painting, but also the subjects you choose. You can usually sense from the start if the objects arranged are going to work and if they will work well with each other, translating into a good painting. Sometimes you don't see it until the work starts and paint is applied to panel. But once in a while, before any of that happens, you know it's going to be a good set-up, at the very start when you are looking at your subject through the view finder. An old mat, the ones that I use for my prints, I had cut at opposite corners and then using paperclips to hold these corners together in an adjustable manner for viewing the different size panels I am able to frame the scene before me. Sometimes it is through this viewfinder that the satisfaction of a good set-up shows itself.
As many of you know, I have for a couple seasons now been adding birds, mice and other animals to my paintings, and these additions are not something you can set up with the other inanimate objects. It is a scene that you mostly have to imagine for the final outcome. These animals are painted from photos, the modern version of the detailed sketches that were used in the previous centuries before the coming of the camera. And for me, even though they are not in the arrangement and I cannot see them in my viewfinder, I know they are a powerful part of the painting.
I can actually pinpoint the exact painting that was the center of this initial inspiration. Georg Flegels early seventeenth century painting Dessert Still Life, in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich opened the door and shed much light on a new and intriguing path in my painting career. This small panel, about 8 1/2 inches tall by 11 inches wide shows a Chinese bowl filled with sweet confectionary treats and strewn around the bowl are fruit, nuts, a carnation, some coins and a delicate glass of white wine. Perched on the bowls rim is a small green and red parrot and sitting at the base of the bowl, among the food is a mouse. I loved it! I loved the addition of these living creatures so prominently places in the traditional still life setting. For me it added a new note to the painting, a new feel, some life, and it created a new narrative that I just needed to get to work on. It influenced my work from that moment on. And as I have been painting individual songbirds on small panels for some time now, it was an easy and exciting jump to start working them into my still life paintings.
Victory of the Winter King
14" x 18" oil on panel
At first it was the butterfly's and other curious insects that I was painting in and among the flowers. But then, after seeing the Flegel painting it was a full on chickadee resting on the lip of a dish. Then a large parrot made an appearance, perched on a stand at the edge of a panel, watching over the scene, and it just seemed to grow from there. It felt different and fresh.
Of course for Georg Flegel and his fellow seventeenth century painters there was often a spiritual meaning and symbolism behind the various animals in their work. The parrot and mouse in Flegels work represent good and evil respectively. Other examples of the period are an owl for heresy and a cat for cruelty or the devil. A horse representing unbridled rage or lust. A goat for lewdness. A viewer from that century would have been able to pick up on the moral lessons put before them by the artist. I would imagine that some of the viewers would have felt strongly about the message the images put forward, a message to them on how to behave in their daily life, while others would have seen it just for the picture it was, similar to art goers nowadays. For me it is more the presence that a certain animal puts forth and the hidden story that they create. The pensiveness of an owl, the grounded, steady feel of the parrot or the light playfulness of a wren. Even though the artists of old used animals for their symbolism, I would imagine that the strongest motivation was what that certain animal could bring to a panel as far as color and form went. Also, as I have mentioned in previous Notes, it was a great way for an artist to show off their skills with a brush. Capturing deftly all in the same panel the blush of a red grape, the ultra soft feel of mouse fur, the rough texture of a walnut hull and the transparent delicateness of a wine glass is definitely a talent and a display of the painters brushwork.
From the success of the past show seasons it seems to me that my new inspiration is attractive to all and I look forward to crossing paths with the next interesting creature that will find a place in one of my new panels.
Chickadee and Fruit
oil on panel SOLD
Having recently returned from our month long "Midwest Tour" I am happy to say what a complete success it was. From 57th Street in the south of Chicago to Old Town in the north then onto Des Moines at the end of the month with a short visit to see family in Los Angeles in the middle of it all, it was definitely a busy time with more driving then I care to mention! But totally worth it in so many ways.
After having been basically in the same booth spot on Orleans in Old Town since 2010, I was a little nervous when before the show we were told that they would be moving us around the corner onto Wisconsin. Not only am I used to the logistics of that spot with set-up, electricity and such, but more importantly people are used to me being there and know where to find me. But it all worked out and the show ended well and the panic that I had felt before the show was for naught. As a matter of fact we liked the new spot so much that we will apply for it again next year!
In Des Moines, despite its reputation for super hot weather and nasty storms, we ended up with some pretty pristine weather. There was a downpour at the beginning of the show on Friday and then with the threat of a large storm moving our way in the evening, the festival directors smartly decided to close the show at 8pm instead of 10. So with good weather and great sales in between, we can mark down the Des Moines show as a success.
I will be winding up the 2024 season with the Longs Park Art Festival in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The dates for this show are August 30th to September 1st. A number of new work will be available, so take a look at my website www.jameswhitbeck.com to have a preview. You can also find the link there to the official show website for more information. Longs Park is held in a beautiful setting with the show ringing an idyllic pond, accompanied by plenty of food and drink vendors for all to enjoy. I have been attending this show since 2018 and I look forward to another great one this year!
Eastern Empire
18" x24" oil on panel
Hummingbird and Butterfly
oil on panel SOLD
The Winter King
oil on panel SOLD
