New Discovery-Pioneer Hilma af Klint

Paintings by Hilma af Klint

The other night, I found myself drawing the face of a woman. Her eyes gazed directly into mine. Though I didn't recognize her, I felt connected somehow. While scrolling through Pinterest the next day, I saw her! Her name was Hilma af Klint, a Swedish artist and mystic who lived 1862-1944. And she is amazing!

Hilma left behind over 1,000 paintings. Very few were seen in her lifetime. In fact, she left instructions that her abstracts would not be shown for at least 20 years after her death. She felt the world was not ready for her spiritual insights. You can watch a wonderful video on YouTube by the curator of a 2014 show. Video about Hilma's art and beliefs

Hilma was way ahead of her time by painting abstracts in a large format at the same time or even before the modern masters, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Malevich, etc.. But Klint did not move in their circles. She received inspiration and guidance from her own higher consciousness and other sources as a result of her activity as a medium.

Klint's abstracts are not just about pretty shapes and colors. They express her understanding of the nature of reality. Her use of symbols, language, geometry make her artwork look incredibly contemporary and justify her title as the Mother of Modern Abstraction. What a joyful discovery!

Swan Ranked No. 9. 1914/1915

Visit my Pinterest Abstract Art board for more examples of Hilma's art.

© Claudia Rose, Ph.D.

She Dreams of Spring-New Quick Painting

She Dreams of Spring

This lady came to me when I was looking at a semi-complete floral painting. I did her in a quick, sketchy fashion like capturing a blossom when it first blooms. She's a little dreamy and unfocused as she emerges from the floral background. (I do love her, though!)

Mixed-media 16" x 20" on canvas.

Detail- She Dreams of Spring

© Claudia Rose, Ph.D.

The Sun Rises in Her Eyes--New Painting

The Sun Rises in Her Eyes

This is another mixed-media painting, 16" x 20". It is comprised of layers of washes, glazes and textures, graphite and ink. Once again. she named herself. I love the detail below:

Detail

I rise

before dawn

a new day is coming!

Thank you, dear one, for your visit.

© Claudia Rose, Ph.D.

They Come in a Sketch

Sketch- She Sings

Paintings don't usually spring up fully formed. They usually show up as sketches first. I sit down to relax and find a pencil in my hand. It is more like play than anything else--no purpose, no plan, just watching the pencil move across the paper for the sheer pleasure of the movement.

Sketch-Face of Dreams 4" x 6"

Sometimes I focus on individual features to see what arrives, such as the sketches below:

Picasso once said (I am paraphrasing): "You need to know the rules so you can break them."  It is helpful to know what things look like in the material world before expressing their essence as you see it. At least that is what I find. The late John Paul Jones taught me how to draw with graphite, charcoal and conte crayon in the style of the masters. Today I am grateful for the foundation like a rock that serves as my trampoline. Thank you, John Paul. I absorbed every word you said.

© Claudia Rose, Ph.D.

"She Dreams in Florals" Latest Mixed-Media Painting

She Dreams in Florals

My latest painting is 16" x 20", mixed-media on canvas. I used acrylics, graphite, India ink, stencils and iridescent glazes. She named herself while I was still working on preliminary layers. In person, she glows and shimmers with the change of the light. You can see more shimmer in the detail below:

I love her so much I can barely take my eyes off her. While she rests on my easel, I sneak into my studio just to admire her before I go to bed. I will give her a few days before spraying 2-3 coats of varnish on her surface. 

PAINTING

like creating a new life

with every blank canvas.

Thank you for showing up, my beautiful one!

© Claudia Rose, Ph.D.

Sacred Art Makes a Comeback in the Work of Ludmila Pawlowska

Ludmila Pawlowska

Last Sunday, my husband and I met Ludmila Pawlowska at her show, Icons in Transformation, at the Riverside Art Museum. What an inspiration!

Born in Russia and now living in Sweden with her family, Pawlowska is a deep, gentle soul determined to reveal the hidden reality beneath the material world. Her series of contemporary icons range from about a foot square to monumental in size. She has shown her work throughout Europe and is now visiting several U.S. museums and churches.

You can learn more about the artist on her website: http://www.ludmilapawlowska.se/  A press release from the Riverside Museum states: "Ludmila Pawlowska brings the whole world into her art. Using pigment, painting paste, found objects, masonry, ceramic fragments, wood, glass, burlap, and a myriad of other materials, she creates an inclusive metaphor for faith: it is both vast and intimate, profoundly personal, and yet universally recognizable as a source of humanity and truth. This exhibition was designed with sacred venues in mind to highlight and explore the deep mysticism of the art, hence the museum’s collaboration with All Saints’ [Church]. The exhibit includes 12 large sculptural pieces that provide a stunning and dramatic visual impression. Also included are 15 traditional icons painted at the workshop of Vasilevsky Monastery in Suzdal, Russia. Icons in Transformation uses traditional Russian icons as a source of inspiration for this vibrant and spiritual contemporary art."

        

Most of all, I was excited to see a successful, contemporary artist devote her career to sacred themes. Her works transcend the profane and ironic so prevalent in today's art. Ludmila's pieces are sacred and stimulating while being intensely personal at the same time. Such an inspiration!

© Claudia Rose, Ph.D.