A Changed Artist
Dennis Perrin
It's been several weeks since I was able to sit and write to you about the adventures of an artist. Since my last note, Aimee and I traveled to New York City to see the blockbuster John Singer Sargent show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to tour the Frick Collection, and returned home to host our Well Fed Artists Retreat. I'm here to report that all of these adventures were a smashing success!!
Dennis with J.S.S.
I came away from our museum outings truly a changed artist, as I found not only new inspiration from Sargent and the many other artists we were able to see, but a renewed commitment to expressing my love for life and beauty through the medium of paint, and in my own unique way. I was particularly struck by the contrasting work in the Sargent exhibit illustrating the loose, bravura style he chose when painting "informally" during travels and with friends, versus the more formal style he used when executing portraiture. I have always preferred the vigorous brushwork and liberal color of the outdoor, plein air painting style, and I pushed that envelope even further after I returned. During our retreat I painted several "demos," all of which make use of this more fluid style. Below are images of some of the paintings done since we returned from our trip to NYC. For a complete array of available paintings of the figurative summer series, go the Figure in Sunlight Series in the gallery.
My takeaway from the New York trip was this: Be true to yourself as an artist. Paint what you want in the way want, and bring to all of your work all of who you are. Find what excites you and inspires you, and paint that and only that. Others will recognize in it the fresh, exciting qualities that were present in you when you painted it. That is why I am a changed artist, because I found yet another step in my own personal evolution as an artist and I'm following it.