[Aquanet] this month's critique

[David & Caryl Rojas]

Hi Pat!  Just got back from doing the One of  A Kind Show in Chicago 
very early this morning  (snow at O'Hare, low 20's, 2hrs delay, etc.) 
and found out that my painting," Luhan's Birdhouses,"  was selected as 
the December Critique.  Thank you for your interest and questions 
regarding my painting.  My last critique presentation was some time ago, 
(last year, I think), and the painting was "Sgrafitto Moon Rising," and 
received numerous responses, mostly positive and always constructive.  
My main focus as a watercolorist is in painting in the "folk art" or 
"primitive style," although if one is to look deeply into my style, it 
is more than that, but that is another essay.  To the questions at hand: 
I did my graduate work back east, at UMass/Amherst, and lived in New 
England for 5 years, and became infatuated with "American Folk Art," and 
what mostly interested me was color and  the "immediatecy"  (sp?) of the 
specific art.  Perspective was given low priority, but shape and color, 
geometry and balance, signified the whole.  My current series is in 
painting antique bird decoys (see my web site, davidrrojas.com) in a 
modified folk art rendition.  Some years ago, I attended a week long 
workshop in Taos, New Mexico, and became fascinated with the landscape, 
pueblos, culture,  history and the artists back in the 20's and 30's 
that gave the art world a preview of what kind of work that was to come 
from that great land and how it played such a significant part in the 
evolution of painting landscapes in general, and of the Southwest 
specifically (Maynard Dixon, O'Keeffe, John Sloan, George Bellows, 
William Penhollow Henderson, Milton Avery, and Robert Daughters, etc) 
that inspired artists from the eastern seaboard to come out west (via 
Santa Fe Railroad and  the Harvey Girls) to experience first hand the 
great West.  When I first visited the Luhan  estate in Taos, I 
immediately noticed the huge birdhouses (5'x18"x 6' ) she erected along 
the creek bordering her main building,  interspersed along a row of  
tall ,old, and magnificent trees  separating her main estate from the 
"visitors housing" and parking lot.
The single tree represents all the trees along the creek. I painted in 
winter.  The dovecotes were plain lumber brown; the shelving plain dark 
brown, the ground and background across the creek was dark brown. As an 
artist with a  folkish bent for quinacridone color,  I had to paint the 
dovecotes in a festive, colorful manner that suggested whimsical livelihood.
The mood I was attempting to convey is the same as I have exhibited in 
the majority of my paintings: a sense of whimsicalness.  Many people 
come past my booth at various art shows across the country, as well at 
in my gallery in Carmel Valley, Ca, saying " Why do I want to smile and 
feel happy as I pass amongst these paintings?"   Pat, I admit I have 
quirks.  As a serious "folk artist" I do not paint bunnies, nor do I 
paint pink flamingos; I have to draw the line somewhere. I take serious 
note about negative space and the effectiveness it has on the overall 
composition of a painting.  If you ignore that power, you lose in the 
message the painting is trying to convey.
Again, I thank you for your questions, and curiosity, and although 
always look forward to reading what is going on on the Aquanet  website, 
and I consider all participants my friends and artistic family,  I don't 
have the time to respond to the various comments made by some noted 
artists in the web site, and I do enjoy reading what is going on, and 
get a great satisfaction that I am among international greats  who love 
painting and painting again.
Best wishes to all for the Holidays
David R.


pat   wrote:
> Hi, everyone... and David     
>
> Before commenting on the painting, David, I'd like to ask a couple of 
> questions: first, why did you decide to paint this particular subject? 
> Second, what mood/feeling are you trying to convey?
>
> cheers
> pat
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