Another stunning work my Judy Millar, born 1957. She works in Germany and Auckland and is world renowned. Her works breaks boundaries and breaks-down taboos. This work is quite sculptural and graphic in nature. I have chosen these works here and as below as I feel they tie-in with the five-week painting module I have just completed. Using colour and placement, light and effect, and different media. I started out with painting still-life and ended up with quite abstract works, which I intend to post on here soon.

footnote: Judy Millar Web

'Framed' - an exhibition of sublime painters in cyberspace!

This is by the wonderful Henri Matisse, master of colour and placement. This work has a harmonious effect and the blue and pink off-set each other. What I have taken from Matisse is to tone down the colours in my own painting, and to play around with placement and various objects. There is a look of cubism to this work and like a great symphony, it just works as one, the overall effect is great.

Judy Millar, NZ artist, outstanding

Acrylic and oil on canvas by Judy Millar. This is a very contemporary work, which is bold and beautiful. The paint looks to be piled on. The intent is to push the boundaries and achieve something new, perhaps. It is three dimensional to look at,and reminds me of super highways. The work is quite sculptural in feel and is unforgetable and effective.

footnote judymillarartsite

Harmony in Yellow, by Henri Matisse. The content of this painting is still life and pattern, with the artist using base colours and interposing black against yellow paint. There is quite a lot of pattern in this depiction, and the emphasis is on the bottle, plate, glass and cup. These are rendered in white, grey and blue and stand out against the highly coloured background.

footnote: Henri Mattisse prints.com

A gorgeous Biblical work...

The Ascension to Heaven by        . This is included as it is a theme I'm interested in, and something I had a go at, but in a modern style. Definately a painting which tells a story. This would fit into the context of religious art and figure painting. It is rich in detail and colour, yet has almost a washed out feel.

This painting by Matisse is entilted The Music...Although it features people, it is still about placement and colour. The form of the painting is just that; placement, colour, tone, balance. It is a picture which tells a story and is rendered with great confidence. It is done with mixed media. I enjoy the pastel look to it and the warmth of the shades. Matisse painted right till the end of his life and was an expert with colour and form.

Paul Cezanne, fruit

This is a still life painting by the impressionist painter Paul Cezanne.  I have included this work in my show as it ties in with the still-life theme I chose to work with during my five-week painting module. I enjoy the rich, warm colours in this painting, and the confidence of the brush. The subdued background works nicely, and it is almost a tonal painting in colour. The method of the work is oil paint on canvas, with the fruit being outlined in black or brown. The painting is rendered in an impressionistic style, and Cezanne also was interested in fruit as shapes. This almost has a watercolour feel to it, the paint is used as a wash.

Another stained-glass window lookalike.

Superstition

Like a stained-glass window, this is a stunning work. Once again, I love the positive beauty of it, the soft hues, the lightness of the work, the life-affirming theme.

Simply entitled Hope...

Simply entitled Hope, this speaks for itself...

This work has a graphic look to it, cartoon-like, and the theme of the skull is still there, intertwined with a myriad of bold and undiluted colours. Loud and brash, but stunning.

 I love this picture. This is made from real butterflies, and was made with the help of assitants (as is often the case, similar to how Andy Warhol worked with The Factory). This is a life-affirming work, and the series was based on some of the Psalms, a lovely idea. I like the intricate details, the superb use of colours, the enlightened theme and the femininity to the work. It reminds me of stained glass windows (harking back to a religious theme) as well as antique doilies. Painstaking and gorgeous, wouldn't you just love to own this?

Francis Bacon, one of Damien's mentors

I have included this work by esteemed artist Francis Bacon as Bacon's work is admired by Hirst, and nilhistic themes of death, decay, squalor. I love the expressive use of colour here. The content of the work is stated as above, the context fits into the canon of the post modernist painters, and expressionism, the form is paint on canvas

An interesting statement

This is a controversial work by installation artist, Damien Hirst. The contexts are controversial art, Hirst headed the Young Brits movement, modern day life, ánything goes, the content is instillation art, a dead object placed in liquid, the intent is perhaps to add shock value. It is an interesting piece of work, exploring yet more themes of death and decay.

Damien Hirst's installation art

Damien's own work at the Tate Gallery, no helpers involved, slammed by the critics.

yet another dotty painting by the master

This one is subtle and interesting

one of the dot paintings?

I love the colours in this one, and the quirkiness of it too.

Damien's 'Blue' period

How fun is this?

Wow! Damien HIrst! Infamous and famous!

This is Damien HIrst's most infamous artwork to date, the 50,000,000 pound diamond skull. Adorned with real life blood diamonds sourced from Africa, the skull itself is life-sized and was purchased by the artist himself. It is entitled 'For the love of God'a name derived from the artist's own mother, who asked him, 'for the love of God, what are you going to do next?.

Print to Paint, paint, paint, paint...a selection of my own art work

Home By Christmas, a film by Gaylene Preston

This is a documentary style film, and features the director's own father, who speaks directly to the camera. He talks about his experience of World War 2, having enlisted after just getting married. This is interlaced with real life World War 2 footage, which works nicely. There is some back story about Ed Preston's wife and first child, who have to endure three years without him, wondering all the time if he's alright. The handling of the direction is very deft and I like the fact that the director lets herself be in some shots as well. A beautifully lit film, with the cinemaphotographer being Alun Bollinger (of the sublime Heavenly Creatures) fame, so I would expect no less. Well worth a second serve, Home By Christmas makes for insightful fare creamy, unstodgy fare. Other films I've enjoyed by Gaylene Preston have been Bread and Roses and Mr Wrong, both somewhat forgotten, but gems all the same. Mr Wrong is based on a delghtfully spooky short story by the talented writer, Elizabeth Jane Howard. The setting for the film is moved from London to Wellington, with the haunted car being a used Jaguar, rather than an used MG (as in the short story), giviing Preston's take on Elizabeth Jane Howard's story a lovely Kiwi flavour. The overall feel of the film is darkly humorous as well as enticingly spooky, and the quirkiness is a nice touch.