A Painters Journey

This was in my May newsletter. We did successfully sell the painting and raise some money for Covid relief. It now hangs in Out of the Fire Restaurant in Easton, Maryland. AND, Plein Air Magazine did a one page feature on the project in the current issue - last page!

Artists Collaborate From Home on a Work of Art

Some local artists have created a group painting, the sale of which they that hope will raise money for people in our area most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Titled “Coming Together” the collaborative painting depicts a kitchen worker at the Bartlett Pear Inn. In this case the model was a Honduran native  named Armando. As Alice Lloyd, proprietor of the Bartlett Pear Inn recalls“ He went back home to be with his family.  A lot of our employees come here for 3-5 years and then go back home for 3-5 years and repeat the cycle. We have seen Armando do that twice, the first time he went home after working with us he named his new daughter Alice . The other person with his back to the viewer is Olle who was a very well known minister in his home county.”

The group, all serious painters,  has been meeting weekly at Nancy Tankersley’s Easton Studio on Dover Street. Each artist works on projects of their own choosing and Nancy is available for guidance. Although members come and go as their personal schedules allow, many have bonded as friends as well as fellow artists. When the clinic had to close due to the virus, artist Rhonda Ford suggested an idea that might keep them all working with a common purpose. Nancy loved the idea and also saw a teaching opportunity.

The idea was to assign each artist a portion of a scene of Nancy’s choosing and their job was to duplicate what they saw to the best of their ability, closely matching shapes, colors and values. “Artists tend to paint things, but when presented with a project like this they are forced to paint more abstractly since most of them had no idea what they were painting. Painting without a preconceived notion of how something is supposed to look usually results in better painting, explains Tankersley. It is how the small shapes and colors work together that results in a realistic image.  Interestingly, this idea of of a collection of images collectively assembled is know as an “Exquisite Corpse” and started in the 1920’s as a game for artists and writers. Since then it has often been employed by teachers of painting as a learning exercise.

The challenge was to come up with an image that might have common appeal and show appreciation for people most affected by the virus. Nancy chose a picture of the interior of the kitchen at the Bartlett Pear Inn  she took years ago. In classroom settings, the artists are given pieces of an image that has been cut up into smaller pieces. In this case, Tankersley had to digitally divide the image into sections that could be emailed to the artists. After the sections were painted by each artist, they were mailed or delivered to Rhonda Ford who carefully glued the images onto a hard surface. The result is an arresting and interesting image and pays homage to the countless workers in the restaurant industry who are so important to our town, but have suffered during this time. 

The small differences in style, color choice and scale make the painting  appear fractured, giving it a contemporary look.  The size is 30 x 30 inches, making it a nice sized addition to a home or a business. The framed painting will go to the highest bidder and ALL proceeds will go Covid-19 relief efforts.

The participating artists were Joy Smith, Adam Kernan-Schloss, Jane Anderson, Mary Clark Confalone, Marianne Kost, Lori Yates, Kathie Rodgers, Rhonda Ford, Kathy Kopec, Patti Hopkins, Joanie Hart, Mignonne La Chapelle, Laura Kapolchok, Stephanie Handy, Diane Tinney, Abby Ober, Mary Ellen Mabe, Arlene Zachman, Diana Dardis, and Nancy Tankersley.