“If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”
― Vincent van Gogh
Gary Bergren demonstrating the effect of darks and lights on paintings using pictures of paintings done by the old masters. (BJ GERTH/Courtesy)
I made my earliest attempt at a painting when I moved into my very first apartment while in college. My new roommate had lived in apartments before and had enough stuff to decorate most of the flat, but our kitchen had a blank wall that screamed for a work of art. Not a poster like the other students preferred, but a real piece of art.
I hadn’t found the wondrous world of thrift shops yet and the art work in White Front, the Walmart of its day, was too expensive for this poor college kid. Art supplies were for sale in the college book store and thanks to a scholarship, I had a few dollars yet to spend there. So I bought a canvas covered cardboard, a cheap set of brushes and a few small tubes of acrylic paint. Easy peasy.
I sat down in the kitchen of the apartment in the Mission District in San Francisco and sketched a bowl of fruit – apples, oranges, and grapes with a banana lying on a table beside the bowl. Food for the kitchen wall. Then I proceeded to paint. It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment that I didn’t know a thing about painting.
That’s what comes from having a mother who tells you that you can do just about anything you set your mind to… and you believe her.
Well long story short, I painted the picture. The colors were flat, it was two dimensional and I hated it. My roommate said she loved it. She hung it on the kitchen wall, and it mocked me every time I passed by. When I moved out, I left the paints and canvas behind. But I took an appreciation of the painterly arts with me.
Which is why I will be wandering along the waterfront at the ‘Scene on the Strait’, one of California’s leading Plein Air art festivals this Saturday, August 8th, enjoying the paintings and the painters. The festival will run from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., at the Martinez Regional Shoreline in a beautiful setting. The weather is predicted to be sublime. I’m hoping to find a treasure to love and hang on my wall.
“Plein-air” means ‘full air’ in French. It’s a style of painting developed in France during the mid-19th century where the artist paints out of doors. The box easel was invented about that time and so were paints in tubes. With paints that didn’t have to be ground up and mixed together and a box that carried supplies and transformed into an easel, painters suddenly became more mobile. Plein air artists are known for their attempts to capture the spirit of a landscape or subject by pulling together color, natural light and movement into their art that can only come from seeing the subject outdoors in its natural form. If you are familiar with the works of Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Cezanne and Van Gogh, then you have seen plein air art.
Nearly 20 artists will be on site, many of whom will be at their easels. In past years I’ve found it to be a very relaxing and enjoyable day. I delight in watching the artists at work and many of them are more than willing to explain how and why they do what they do.
When I moved out of that first apartment, I left the paints and canvas behind. But I bought more art supplies a few years later. I was a newlywed, married to a guy in the Air Force and we were stationed to Yokota AB, Japan. We had an apartment the size of a nut shell, no kids and Jeff worked 12 hours shifts, six days a week. I found the arts and craft shop on base and Mr. Moriyama, a painter of local renown. I took still life and landscape oil painting classes until my first baby came along. Then I packed up the paints and put them away to be used again ‘later’.
While living in Germany I discovered the world of folk art painting and acrylic paint. When our third and last baby outgrew the crib my little family went shopping in the local furniture stores for another bed. My oldest daughter fell in love with a hand painted bedroom set done in the traditional Bauernmalerei style. I loved it too, but the price tag was not very nice. So I signed up for a German folk art class offered at the arts and crafts center on the American Army base in Landstuhl. Marion still uses that dresser.
One thing led to another and I found myself in classroom learning the American style of tole painting, or decorative art. If it didn’t move, I painted it. I’ve painted tables, chairs, tote bags, clocks, and more serving trays than I can count. I joined the Society of Decorative Painters and am currently a member of the local chapter, Toll Bridge Tolers. Some people play video games, I paint.
A few years ago my middle daughter expressed an interest in having a landscape painting done for her new house to be painted by her mother. It had to be a local scene, preferably an industrial subject, and it was to be done in oils. I hadn’t painted with oils in 30 years, but I still had my box of paints. So I signed up for a class offered at the Martinez Adult School with teacher Gary Bergren, a professional artist with many years of formal art training. My daughter received a painting… and so did practically everyone else in the family. Gary Bergren’s class is great for all levels – from beginner to advanced. Gary specializes in realistic portraits, wildlife and landscapes in the art mediums of oil, acrylic, oil pastel, pencil pen and ink. With Gary’s incredible artistic talent, knowledge, patience, kindness, and love of teaching, you can learn to paint whatever you desire. I’m working up the nerve to try a portrait next.
My husband Jeff enjoys making art too, but his work schedule is not as flexible as mine. When ARTU4IA opened up on Ward St. we were excited to find that they offered an open studio setting where you can go in for just one session at a time. Our kids gave Jeff a painting session with John Kleber for his birthday last year. He enjoyed it so much that he asked for another. According to the ARTU4IA website, “…this is not formal art training. This is a relaxed painting studio where you can decompress and explore painting. You will however, learn a lot in the studio.” John Kleber has worked for Disney and Warner Brothers as an art director, is an illustrator, a concept artist and has received an Academy Award Nomination for an animated short film.
The 46th Annual Art in the Park, sponsored by the Martinez Arts Association, will be held on Sunday, August 16th. I thoroughly enjoy the mix of arts and crafts – from knitted caps to original oil paintings, from homemade soaps to hand crafted jewelry. Delicious food and enthusiastic musical groups only add to the festive occasion.
Come on down to the ‘Scene on the Strait’ this weekend, August 8th to watch artists in action. Look into learning the pleasure of painting during the week, and then mosey on down to Susana Street Park on August 16th. The students from Gary Bergren’s Martinez Adult Education art class will have some paintings on display.
I painted that odd little bowl of fruit forty years ago. I’ve come a long way since then. My mother was right. You can do just about anything you set your mind to.
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Scene on the Strait, August 8, 10am to 5pm. Admission and parking free. For more information: http://www.sceneonthestrait.org/
Art in the Park, August 16, 10am to 5pm. Admission and parking free. For more information: http://martinezarts.org/
Martinez Adult Education information: http://www.martinez.k12.ca.us/schools/mae/, Learn more about Gary Bergren at www.westernpainter.com/About%20Gary.htm
ARTU4IA, Studio and Gallery – 725 Ward St. Martinez. For more information: www.artu 4ia.com
Interested in Decorative Painting? For more information on the local chapter: www.tollbridgetolers.org/ or contact me through this newspaper.