Paintings From a Trip to Avalon...

Steinbeck once wrote: "To put it plainly, this Isle is like Avalon; it must disappear when you are not there…. But it stays with you afterward, and more than that, things you didn’t know you saw come back to you after you have left.”

Gallery artists Leo Mancini-Hresko and Jeremy Durling just dropped off their finished paintings from a recent trip to the magical island of Deer Isle!  

Leo's paintings: 

Jeremy on his painting rock at Mickey's Cove.

Jeremy's paintings: 

Both Jeremy and Leo have a few more Deer Isle paintings to reveal as well as more painting trips to the island planned for later this summer and fall!   

Beacon Hill Third Thursday -- Thursday, July 18th, 5pm - 8pm

Join us NEXT Thursday, July 18th from 5pm - 8pm as we participate in the Beacon Hill Business Association's first ever Third Thursday!  With a Hawaiian Luau theme, the event is sure to draw a crowd as participating stores stay open late and the neighborhood shops local.  Stop by the gallery for a relaxing summer evening -- perusing new painting arrivals and sipping a surprise, festive libation!

Beacon Hill Business Association Third Thursday

If you can't make it this month -- not to worry!  We'll be doing it again on August 15th from 5-8pm with a theme of Summer in Paris. 

Sweet Summertime

As we begin our Fourth of July celebrations here at the gallery we decided to pick out paintings & images that conjure up wonderful memories of summers past!

Each of us chose one all time favorite summer painting (or two), one piece currently in the gallery, and one image of our favorite summer place.  We hope you enjoy! 

Ali -- Deer Isle, Maine & Norwich, Vermont

Meghan -- Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, & Elizabeth, Illinois

Jess -- Martha's Vineyard, MA

We hope you all have a wonderful Fourth of July holiday and get to spend some time at one of your favorite summer places! 

Artist Process: Leo Mancini-Hresko

We thought it would be fun to share a collection of progress images from Waltham-based artist Leo Mancini-Hresko!  Leo has a great eye for unique vantages and has the ability to make some of Boston's most iconic images his own. 

A great image to remind us of all the snow this past winter provided us -- refreshing during this current heat wave we're having!  Leo enjoys getting out and painting plein air, even in the snow.

Three images showing Leo's process on a painting of Boston from his vantage on the BU Bridge.  The last image shows the piece in Leo's studio -- soon to be in the gallery!

Painting the BU Bridge this past February. 

Three images from a recent painting session at the base of the Longfellow Bridge.  Can't wait to see the final painting!

You can catch Leo painting all around Boston, but we're thrilled that he will be joining us this July for a demo right here in Beacon Hill!

Leo also has some fantastic workshops, studio demos, and of course on-going studio classes on the books this summer: Leo summer teaching.

 

Who's Jess??

Over the summer, you may notice a bright, new face at the gallery -- that's Jess Holley, our intern!  Just to give you all a head start on getting to know her, we asked her a few questions:

Hometown: Born and raised in Andover, Massachusetts.

High School: Phillips Academy Andover.

College: Bowdoin College -- Anthropology and Art History double major!  

Jess Holley

Favorite Book: The Great Gatsby. 

What do you do with your free time?  I enjoy painting and drawing as well as traveling and spending time with family and friends.  And I can’t forget my love for the beach in the summer!

Favorite beach: Lambert’s Cove Beach, Martha’s Vineyard. 

Favorite work of art: Sistine Chapel.

 How did you develop your interest in the art world? As a small child, I grew up admiring the work of local painters.  Some of my favorite childhood memories are my frequent visits to museums and galleries in the Boston area with my mother. Throughout high school and in my first two years of college I pursued my passion for the arts by taking several visual art classes.  I eventually decided to focus on oil painting.

Best museum in the world: The Louvre.

Artist you would choose to be re-born as? Edward Degas.

Favorite painting in the gallery currently: ‘White Light’ by Daniele Cestari.

Favorite summer treat: Coffee Oreo Ice Cream.

Favorite Food: Chocolate.

Super power if you had one? To fly of course!

Favorite word: Elegant.

Least favorite word: Moist.

Daniele Cestari, 'White Light', 30 x 30, Oil on Linen

What do you want to do when you graduate? It is my dream to pursue a career in a gallery [or museum] after college and establish myself as a powerful force in the art world.  I am excited to see what this summer has in store at Sloane Merrill Gallery!

Favorite thing about the gallery: The opportunity to meet and chat with local artists -- to learn about their passion for art and how they go about creating their work. 

We are so excited to have Jess join us before she heads off to Rome for her fall semester.  We hope that you can stop by the gallery and meet her!

Beacon Hill Seminars: Worcester Art Museum Trip

On May 1st, we had the pleasure of visiting the Worcester Art Museum with the members of our Beacon Hill Seminar series!  Director Emeritus Jim Welu kindly met us for lunch and took us on a personal, post-lunch tour of the museum.

​Since Jim gave two lectures during the seminar, we were familiar with some of the work at the museum, however, it's Jim's stories and the history of the works that really make the museum come alive! 

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​Jim talking about a piece by Gilbert Stuart -- part of the American Art Collection

We loved hearing all the stories Jim has collected over the years about the pieces.  Whether it was a piece he helped bring to the museum or a work that has an illustrious history, such as the stolen Rembrandt, Jim knows the museum so well that in fact he is in the process of writing a book about its history.

Andrea del Sarto, 'Saint John the Baptist', Oil on Panel transfered to Canvas, 1517

The story behind the acquisition of 'Saint John the Baptist' by Andrea del Sarto is one of our group's most favorite. 

One of only a few Sarto paintings in America, it was brought here in the mid-nineteenth century.  Once it arrived, it spent time on loan at the Worcester Art Museum, it then traveled to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  While the painting was on loan at the MFA, its owner passed away and the piece was returned to his children.  They decided to donate the piece to a church in Worcester the owner had attended.

Over time the piece was forgotten at the church -- until 1977 when the museum was contacted to take a look at some works that were being sold to raise funds.  Jim went over to the church and discovered the Sarto on the floor behind a few other things.  Though it was dirty -- Jim could almost immediately tell what it was!  He brought it back to the museum and the excellent conservators were able to bring it back to its full glory. 

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In addition to all the beautiful works and rotating exhibitions that Worcester has to offer, the museum has renowned art classes and a vigorous conservation ​program.

​Seminarians contemplating Rembrandt's 'St. Bartholomew' -- a piece that was once stolen from WAM

​The glass roof and second floor balconies overlooking the Renaissance Courtyard

In an effort to get fresh contemporary work on view, the museum started The Wall at WAM -- a rotating series that brings artists into the museum to create a site specific work for the Renaissance Court's second story wall.  The 17 x 67-foot expanse overlooks the 6th-century Antioch Roman mosaics, including the Worcester Hunt.  Part of the current project These Days of Maiuma, by husband & wife team Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison, can be seen in the above right photo.

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​A view looking onto on of the Antioch Mosaics - The Worcester Hunt Mosaic

If you haven't been to the Worcester Art Museum yet -- it is a must!  The museum has an amazing collection of American & European art and is a hidden gem just outside Boston.  We are so thankful that Jim took the time to share his knowledge with us. 

'Saint John the Baptist' photo courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum.

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Artist Demonstration: 'Back to Back' Paint Off

Thank you to everyone who attended our 'Back to Back' Paint Off this past Saturday!  We were happy to see everyone after a long week and glad you came out to support local artists from the Boston Figurative Art Center -- Damon Lehrer, Jon Nix, & Jeremy Durling. 

​Jeremy Durling

​Damon Lehrer

Each artist has his own unique style -- which made for a great demo.  Damon and Jeremy painted in oil, but in two very different ways.  Jeremy paints on paper and uses a trowel/palette knife most of the time while Damon paints on linen and uses brushes.  As you can see in the images above, both artists produced two distinct pieces, even though they were painting the same model.  To throw in another element, Jon worked in pencil to produce a beautiful drawing of our model Dennis.

​Jon Nix & Damon Lehrer  start their pieces of model Dennis

​Jon Nix's drawing & Jeremy Durling's 'blueprint'

For those who were unable to attend we've compiled a list of some of the most commonly asked questions to each artist. 

Q -- Do you use your eraser as a tool in drawing?

Jon Nix -- I usually use a kneaded eraser but didn't have one so I was using a mechanical eraser.  It made for a delicate instrument but it worked well.

Q -- Why did you choose to do a drawing instead of a painting?

Jon Nix -- The reason I chose to draw rather then paint was that in a single session, my painting method results in a much less complete result.  I thought it would be more instructional and rewarding for the viewers to see a work come closer to fruition than for them to see the faint contours and bulky masses I typically produce in a single sitting.

 

Q -- What colors are on your palette and why?

Damon -- ypically the smallest number of colors I can get away with.  Today it's whites, two reds, two blues, and two yellows.

Q -- What is the base color you started with on your canvas?

Damon -- Burnt Sienna.

​Damon Lehrer's Burnt Sienna base color

Q -- How do you choose the colors on your palette?

Jeremy -- My palette right now consists of all primary colors.  I have three yellows, one red, three blues, and lead white.  This is a slightly modified version of the palette Cezanne used in his painting 'The House of the Hanged Man' in 1873.  I saw a Cezanne of peaches on a plate in the Barnes Foundation.  It's a simple painting, but the color had my heart pounding and I could feel the weight of the fruit in the pit of my stomach.  I wrote down the year it was painted and found out what colors he was using.  I've been fond of limited palettes for the past few years, and I'm never afraid to choose a strange color I love and build a palette around it.  I love the Cezanne palette for its versatility.  Fighting the temptation to make everything bright and high key when I'm mixing these powerful primaries makes for some beautiful neutral colors that I wouldn't arrive at if I were using earth tones.  I have to really meditate on each color to give my subject it's weight.

Q -- What is the story behind your blue base drawing?

Jeremy -- It is really just a series of lines with no clear subject.  I use it as a way of measuring angles and proportions -- a blueprint for the person sitting in front of me.  The simple drawing is easily and quickly adjusted until I find the truth of the thing.  George Nick once told me: "Drawing is really very simple.  It's only how far by how wide, at what angle."

​Jeremy Durling's palette

​Jeremy Durling's painting at the end of the session

Thank you to our talented painters -- Damon, Jeremy, & Jon -- and our patient model Dennis.  Look for us to do another Paint Off later in the year.