Motherwell, Part 1

Another art class! My foray into abstract expressionism and the Mimicking the Masters Series continues with Robert Motherwell. Who dat? Motherwell was a younger contemporary of Mark Rothko. They were both primary figures in abstract expressionism, an American-born movement in art.

NIGHT #1:  There were five of us in the class. When we introduced ourselves, I learned that I am the one with the least amount of artistic training. This means I will probably have the most fun. The room itself was inspiring tonight! The Center for the Arts is a nonprofit community-based art school. The building was built in 1911 and used to be a factory. Who doesn't love an old factory?

Blinded by inspiration and solar rays.

Abstract expression is important to America because until that point (the 1940's) "art" was mostly happening in Europe. Abstract expressionists were not interested in painting landscapes or forms. They wanted to create new post-war mid-century realities. Abstract art was focused more on emotion than form. Unlike Rothko, Motherwell often started with sketches, "gesture drawings" or "automatism". These are fancy words for doodlin' and scribblin' - drawing without intention. Then he would interpret his drawings with paint and color.

Our task in class was to explore surrealist automatism - scribble our asses off - then step back and interpret our doodles. We were told to scribble 3 times: one with our right hand, one with our left hand, and one with simultaneous hands. Most of the background scribbles are hard to see in these photos because they are pencil lines but you get the idea.

Circles and squiggles with my right hand...

...interpreted as a cup of tea, teaspoon, and lemon slices.

...interpreted as a man playing a French horn.

My left hand, squiggles and shapes...

Both hands, which operated like windshield wipers...

...now it's Abe Lincoln. Or a hatless Amish guy.

NIGHT 2: The following week, Teacher taught us about Motherwell's famous series called Elegy to the Spanish Republic. There are over 150 huge canvas paintings in this series, but most of them look like this:

Elegy to the Spanish Republic, 54.

Elegy to the Spanish Republic, 110.

In abstract expressionist style, the painting as a whole is meant to evoke emotion or feeling. This registered with me when Teacher said the works in this series were meant to invoke the disappointment and oppression of war, and rhythm like a drum beat or march. Motherwell chose black and white for drama in this series, but he used color in many of his paintings. Elegy to the Spanish Republic was our inspiration for the evening. We were tasked to do some automatism scribbles, interpret our scribbles, and use black and white paint to express the emotion of our piece. I could not find the black paint, so I used blue. Blue ended up working my favor.

My sketch. In it, I saw a sailboat in dangerous waters.

So I painted a sailboat with blobs like Motherwell's example.

I completed the task. A sailboat tipping on the sea. Done. then I looked at my watch. There was still an hour left in class. Everyone else was quietly and diligently painting. In black and white. Where did they find the black paint?!?  Anyway, then I looked at Teacher's work and I knew somehow I had missed the mark. Big time.

Teacher's canvas.

"Hey Teacher, can you come here for a sec?"  He did. "I think I've lost my purpose here. Tell me again what we are supposed to do?"  Teacher explained. "You sketched, interpreted a sailboat and you painted a sailboat. But there's no emotion here. Where is the turbulent water and the movement of the sea?"

Hmmm. "Okay Teacher, thanks."  So I squiggled the turbulent sea. I love to squiggle.

Sailboat + Turbulent Sea.

Done. I looked at my watch. There were still 50 minutes left in class. "Hey Teacher, can you come here for a sec?"  He was a good sport and came over. I said, "I'm not feelin' it tonight."

"Well, I see the boat. I see the water. But I can't feel it. Motherwell said 'I have painted many mistakes but I have never painted a lie.' You need to paint emotion. This sailboat is a lie until you do."

Seriously? "But Teacher, I don't understand what emotion a sailboat should have."

"Maybe your painting is not about the sailboat. Maybe it's about the sea. Paint what it feels like to go under. Paint the force of the waves and the voice of the storm."

Good grief. "I'll think about that, but this looks less and less like Motherwell's Spanish Republic series. Aren't I supposed to 'Mimic the Master'?"

"Definitely mimic him - his process, his technique, his expression, but not his paintings. That would be forgery." With a smile, chucking at his own cuteness, he dismissed himself to wander the class and consult with the others.

I stared at my squiggled mess. Paint what it feels like to go under? Panic. I'll show you panic, you stupid sailboat, cuz you about to go under, baby...

Voice of the Storm, 2015.