"Miriam Schapiro was born on November 15, 1923, in Toronto, Canada. Her artistic training began at age six when her father gave her weekly drawing assignments. She attended classes at the Museum of Modern Art and learned to draw from the nude model at age 14, when she attended Federal Art Project classes. She received both her undergraduate (1945) and graduate (1946, 1949) degrees in art from the University of Iowa, where she studied printmaking with Mauricio Lasansky. While at the university, Schapiro met and married fellow artist Paul Brach. They moved to New York in 1951, when Abstract Expressionism was exerting a powerful influence. Schapiro's Cubist-derived style was transformed by that influence, leading her into a series of painterly, calligraphic figural and landscape works. Known as one of the "second generation" Abstract Expressionists, she began to show at the Andre Emmerich Gallery in 1958. " (Source: Your Dictionary)
Miriam began to layer “femmages,” a term she coined, as a “container for her feelings.” In these works she incorporated the female icons, the apron, doilies, curtains, hearts, the fans, the house and more.
This is an old video uploaded to YouTube on April 2007 but so lovely that I though I would republish it today.
Set to Bach's Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed by Yo-Yo Ma, this video was nominated as "Most Creative Video
2nd Annual YouTube Awards",
Phillip Scott Johnson uses 90 portraits of women from famous painters to seamlessly show their changing features as time elapsed. It was created using Abrosoft Fantamorph
My art journal sketch: Beatrix Potter's Birthday (July 28)
"I cannot rest,
I must draw,
however poor the result,
and when I have a bad time come over me,
it is a stronger desire
than ever..."
~Beatrix Potter~
Pictures of Beatrix Potter often feature her with her many animals and pets.
This FemArt post differs from my previous posts. My previous posts have focussed on women artists who are living or have lived in my lifetime.
In this post, I am writing about a Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) a woman who's life story and watercolour art has inspired me and planted a seed in me to one day illustrate a children's book. A dear friend reminded me recently how we had, in our youth, made a promise to each other that she would write a children's story and I would illustrate it for her!
This three minute introduction to the movie "Tale of Peter Rabbit" below features Beatrix Potter's creation of the Peter Rabbit character and the scene makes me so incredibly happy! The outdoors, nature, children singing, a rain shower, a warming fire and a cup of tea before starting to sketching....three minutes of bliss!
I love all of the characters that Beatrix developed: Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Mrs. Tiggly-Winkle, and Squirrel Nutkin to name a few. I read these stories to my children when they were small over and over again.
Beatrix' life story fascinates me as well:
she was an animal lover
she loved dogs
she was self-published!
she kept a journal … in code!
she was financially independent at the turn of the century (uncommon for women)
she wrote an illustrated letter to a five-year-old boy and Peter Rabbit was born (see more below)
Beatrix was "born to wealth and privilege in 1866, the only daughter of a Nonconformist family from the north who renounced their roots in trade for a place in London society".
Her father (a lawyer who never practiced law) "devoted himself to photography and art. Her mother Helen was skilled at embroidery and watercolors".
Beatrix wanted to ‘do pen and ink better’and applied herself to mastering ‘the art of leaving out’ – the ability to evoke movement, humour and expression with a minimum of pen strokes
Peter Rabbit Appears In A Letter
Just as the movie depicted above : "In September of 1893, at 26 years of age, Beatrix Potter sent the following illustrated letter to Noel, the five-year-old son of her friend and former governess, Annie Moore. The letter contained a tale of four rabbits, and in fact featured the first ever appearance of Peter Rabbit; however it wasn't until 1901, eight years later, that Potter decided to revisit her letter to Noel and develop the idea."
This week's Friday FemArt post is about Doris McCarthy. I have been researching her for some time. I love her story and I love her art.
She produced an unparalleled body of work spanning over 75 years with an estimated 6000 paintings in a variety of media. She was elected the first woman President of the Ontario Society of Artists and has taught some of Canada's most distinguished creative people.
A quick sketch that I made of Doris McCarthy
in my art journal September 2014 ("Plein Air" collage)
Doris McCarthy "Holy Point" Oil on Canvas 34" x 48"
Here is what I have come to love and know
about Doris McCarthy's wonderful life:
Dorothy was born in 1910 in Calgary, Alberta,
She grew up in the beaches area of Toronto.
In 1926 she earned a scholarship to the Ontario College of Art (OCA) where she was mentored by some of the premier Canadian artists of the early twentieth century (i.e. Arthur Lismer and JEH MacDonald)
She attended the Ontario College of Art from 1926 to 1930
She became a teacher shortly after 1930 and taught most frequently at Central Technical School in downtown Toronto from 1932 until she retired in 1972.
She traveled abroad extensively (five continents) and painted the landscapes of various countries
Her best known art is her Canadian landscapes and her depictions of Arctic icebergs.
She loved people and was quite sociable but also had a great appreciation of solitude, most often in the form of the northern Ontario wilderness.
Some of her early painting trips involved adventures in Muskoka, Haliburton, Georgian Bay and the Arctic with groups of other devoted artists (usually women artists).
Retirement in 1972 (at 62 years of age) freed her to paint full-time and fulfill her dream of visiting the Arctic,
She was a lifelong learner. In 1989, (at 79 years of age) she graduated from the University of Toronto Scarborough with a B.A in English
She died at 100 years of age. She passed away peacefully on the morning of November 25, 2010, at Fool’s Paradise, her beloved home atop the Scarborough Bluffs
(Excerpt: Ontario Heritage Trust)"Fool’s Paradise was the home and studio of Canadian landscape artist, writer and educator Doris McCarthy (1910-2010). The site overlooks Lake Ontario along Toronto’s Scarborough Bluffs. McCarthy first visited the property during a sketching trip in November 1939. She was immediately inspired by the landscape views and picturesque setting, and purchased the property for $1,250. In 1940, she had a small cottage constructed on the site by local builder Forest Telfer. McCarthy’s mother, Mary Jane, saw the purchase as extravagant, referring to it as “that fool’s paradise of yours.” The name stuck in McCarthy’s mind and the property soon became known as Fool’s Paradise. Originally, the cottage was a summer retreat, but it became her permanent home in 1946.
Fool’s Paradise evolved and grew over McCarthy’s time there, guided by her personal preferences. The one-storey wood frame structure comprises attached wings off the central small studio, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The interior of Fool’s Paradise follows an irregular layout, as wings have been added to the original cottage over the years. ......" read more here
Links
There are plenty of links to follow below to explore more about
Doris McCarthy's art and learn more about her interesting life.
“So here I am, content to enjoy every day as it comes,
and wise enough to thank God for his mercies and rejoice in them.
My only regrets are my economies (never my extravagances)
– particularly those of spirit and love.”
~Doris McCarthy~
Honours
For her continuing contribution to Canada's artistic community, Doris McCarthy has received The Order of Canada, The Order of Ontario, five Honorary Doctorates, and an Honorary Fellowship to The Ontario College of Art and Design. In November 1999, McCarthy was named the first Artist of Honour at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. On March 11, 2004 the University of Toronto, Scarborough opened the Doris McCarthy Gallery in her honour and will eventually hold her archives.
A Visual Artist First and Foremost....
Globe and Mail quote:"A visual artist first and foremost, McCarthy was also a teacher, author, lecturer, wilderness advocate, handywoman, storyteller, hostess, world traveller, philanthropist, cat lover and virtuoso figure skater who was able to toss off showy spins well into her eighties. She was a whiz at cryptic crosswords, and enjoyed taxing her linguistic skills at solo Scrabble. Her friends talked rapturously about her formidable peanut butter cookies, luscious breads, super-deluxe marmalade, and rhubarb and dandelion wine......
For McCarthy the glass was always full. Early every morning on a painting trip, she would declare: "We have a whole new chance." Her mantra was the word "yes" and her Holy Grail was the infinite glory of the Canadian landscape. As she herself wrote: "I love the world. I love nature. I love creation. I love life.""
I am grateful for Dorthy's art and life story. How it inspirits me so...
