January 2017
Thank you so much to all of you who responded to the
December
Newsletter. We’ve now been doing the Newsletter for 4
years!
I’m so glad you are enjoying the new format!
We wish you all a very Happy New Year!
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Artists
Profile this month: Patrice Dello-Russo!
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From
the Studio
One of the nicest things about 2016 was meeting so
many of my collectors
who came by the studio or we met at shows. Or you
emailed us with comments.
I’m so grateful that you hang my work in your homes! I
hope that the paintings
bring you much enduring joy. We love to see
installation photos of them in your homes!
There are several unfinished pieces in the works; I
like to work on more than one
in case I get “stuck” on a problem; I can think on it
and come back to it later.
At that point it may be obvious as to what
isn’t working and why!
Of course I have all the hundreds of paintings in my
head that I want to do too!
I know, it looks like I’m all over the map and I
usually paint in Series! But I am “retired”
and I am just enjoying painting what I want, when I
want, where I want, etc. And as
my eyesight fails, the only time is now!
I’m recovering from the worst head cold I’ve ever had
so I haven’t been very
productive this past month. Starting to get the “itch”
to paint again!
Abstract image……still not resolved. Working on it!
“Canadian Figure Skater”
Almost
done!
Finished?
“What I see”…….a very personal image….more on this one
later!
This is the initial wash in.
This little lady is in the queue for a portrait! Can’t
wait to do this one!
If you want to bring your friends or a family member
to the studio
we’d love to see you. Just call for an appointment!
303-752-2029
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Best
Framer in Town!
Will Mallett has been making
my work look very professional for years.
Take a look at how this piece looks so great in this
frame:
Photo by Lacie
Nichole Arts at Mallett & Associates.
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Artist
Profile
Patrice
Walker Dello-Russo
This
month we are featuring our friend and Plein air companion, Patrice Walker Dello-Russo.
Patrice
and I met through Plein Air Artists Colorado (PAAC), if I remember correctly,
when we were
painting
on the Western slope. Since then, we have painted together many times and years
ago we worked together
on
a PAAC Show which is how we really got to know each other. Patrice’s family
lives very near us
and
I came to know her Mom (a wonderful, intelligent woman who I miss.) and enjoyed
her company
on
excursions to see Patrice’s shows. Patrice is like her Mom! And we love to
visit with her and Robert in
Santa
Fe and when they come to Denver.
• It is obvious looking
at your work that you have a connection to nature and animals. I love your
story about your pony when you were young; can you tell us a little about your
first animal?
My very first animal was
a dog which my parents got as a puppy when they lived in France. They moved
back to the US to start a family and the dog became our family dog but he and I
always had a special bond. He died while I was still young and my next animal
was a goldfish. It was several years later when I got my horse, and this gave
me mobility in the outdoors which stretched well beyond our neighborhood in a
then semi-rural part of Englewood-Littleton, Colorado. I would often put a
sketchbook in my pocket and pack a saddle bag full of fruit and peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches and I would ride all day along the South Platte River and
into the foothills west of Denver. My horse gave me the chance to observe
wildlife without frightening them the way a human on foot does. I remember
getting quite close to birds and sketching them while sitting horseback. I have
a childhood drawing, which my mother had saved, of a red-shafted flicker which
may have resulted from one of those days in the saddle. Growing up in Colorado
gave me opportunities to be outside in a spectacular place where wild areas
could be found with relative ease, and these wild areas were where I preferred
to spend my time.
FALL
HARMONIES - BULL ELK Oil on Linen Panel 12 x 16
• You have travelled into
the mountains and the wilderness, sometimes alone, to paint en Plein Air
and on one occasion to photograph ……was it a bear or a mountain lion? You’ve
been known to do that alone!
I do love being alone in the mountains and in the wilderness, and it seems that
much of my time outdoors is and has been spent in solitary fashion. When you
live in any of the Rocky Mountain States, you have easy access to nature. I
grew up spending huge blocks of time camping and hiking throughout Colorado and
especially in the Colorado mountains. I once backpacked alone in the Rockies
for 15 days, and several years ago I drove on a 2-month solo winter painting
trip through Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Plein air painting is a natural
extension of my spending time outdoors. I like getting to know the landscape
intimately and the act of painting necessitates careful observation of a chosen
scene, and I find that very satisfying. I always keep my camera handy, both for
secondary reference back in the studio, and just in case a wild animal wanders
into view. I have thousands of sketches and photos of birds and wildlife and
getting them has taken hours of time out in nature along with lot of patience.
I guess that is part of the reason I do spend so much time outside alone – most
folks don’t have the inclination to wait for hours for something to happen but
I love being outdoors, being still and quiet, and simply observing my
surroundings. As for photographing bears and mountain lions, I recently spent
two weeks with a friend camping in Yellowstone with the specific purpose of
photographing grizzlies. We didn’t see any grizzlies but we did get great
reference photos (and some not-so-great photos) of just about every other
species in the Park.
Sprague
Lake Inlet, Rocky Mountain National Park - Plein air sketch, oil on linen
panel, 12x16
· Tell us something
that we don’t know about you.
Many of my painting
friends don’t know that I had a career in archaeology, both as a field
archaeologist and scientific illustrator. I had a dual major in college of art
and archaeology and graduated with the archaeology degree. I loved the
archaeology field work as it kept me outside and often in remote areas. The
scientific illustration kept my artistic skills honed as careful observation
was a key part of the illustration work. Several years ago, my husband, who is
also an archaeologist, accepted a research position in Santa Fe so we left the
Colorado Mountains and headed to the high desert country of New Mexico. When I am not there,
I miss Colorado- mostly because I am a mountain girl at heart and love the snow
- in fact, something else many don’t know about me was that I had a “career” as
a professional skier and worked in the Colorado ski industry for about 10
years. I travel back to Colorado regularly to paint, to spend time in the back
country and to be with family. I feel fortunate that I can still spend most of
my year in my home state of Colorado, where my family still lives and where I
still have a residence, so for me, New Mexico seems like a brief stop along the
road. I am happy for the stop, though, because the Santa Fe art scene has been
a great experience and an important one for furthering my art.
· What percentage of
time do you paint in the studio…Plein air? Do you have a daily studio practice?
I do have a rather strict
daily studio practice and try to dedicate 40 hours a week to my art. If I have
deadlines looming, time in the studio can be all-consuming. Generally, I try to
reserve weekends for time spent with my husband, so my week days are pretty
intense with painting, drawing, or something art-related. I try to squeeze in
time in the evenings for reading art books or art magazines and I try to give
an hour a day to marketing. For a number of years, I was very dedicated to
Plein air painting and would spend about 75-80% of my time out Plein air
painting, but now I probably spend that much time in the studio. I still try to
get out at least one day a week to paint Plein air since that helps keep my
studio work a tad bit fresher. The exception is when I go out on my painting
forays, usually into the Colorado Mountains, and then it is a focused,
multi-day commitment to Plein air painting and seeking reference material.
Since my preferred painting subjects are birds and wildlife, and they are
extremely difficult to paint in the wild, I make quick on-site drawings, take
lots of photos and study animal anatomy. I do a lot of animal sketching at zoos
and, since living in Santa Fe, I regularly participate in weekly figure drawing
of live models. This has proved extremely beneficial for visual accuracy in my
drawing, of both humans and animals.
· Recently, you
decided to change your professional name from Walker to Dello-Russo.
Why did you decide to do it now and how’s it going? Are people finding you OK?
Robert and Patrice Dello-Russo
FIRST RAYS OF WINTER
– AVOCETS Oil on Panel 24 x 36
Changing my last name
mid-career has been quite interesting. It has also been a bit disconcerting
since it feels as if I am starting over and mid-career is not really the time
to do that. I decided to take my husband’s last name, which is Italian. I
procrastinated for many years but decided I should do it, primarily for
clerical reasons, and also because I love the uniqueness of the name. I have
been signing my name professionally as an artist since I sold my first painting
when I was 12 years old. Since I just made the name change a month ago, it is
still very new for me and still feels a bit awkward. I am not quite sure how it
will ultimately affect my career, but I am ready for the challenge and the new
adventure! There is definitely a time-line of demarcation with the signature on
my paintings going from one name to the other. I thought about hyphenating my
names during this transition, but since the Italian name is already hyphenated,
that would have been too confusing, so I am just jumping right into the new
name. For friends, acquaintances or collectors who don’t know I have made the
name change, it may be problematic, but hopefully with time it will iron itself
out. As for people finding me, I fortunately have Fine Art Studio Online as my
website provider and they have linked between my old website and my new one (PatriceDelloRusso.com). And, in order to
facilitate people finding me under my new name, I just opened a Facebook page and business account under Patrice Dello Russo Fine Art. One fun benefit of
changing my name is that I have always been near the end of the alphabet and I
will now be near the front!
·
You have affiliations with six major art organizations;
how do you manage this? Do you show in all their annual/regional shows?
How has this helped or hindered your career?
I am always thrilled to
be invited into an exhibition and regularly apply to the shows offered by the
organizations where I hold memberships. I do occasionally miss deadlines. I
feel that participating in these exhibits definitely helps my career because it
puts my art in front of an audience who might not otherwise have the
opportunity to see it. Plus, anytime the work is selected for an award, it
brings a smile because it means someone else appreciates my artwork.
BEAUTY IN WINTER - TRUMPETER SWANS Oil on Linen
18x24 “Outstanding Oil” 2016 WAOW
Show
·
What are your plans for the future? Where do you want to
take your work in the future? What shows are coming up for you? Any solo shows?
The future always has a way of sneaking up on us and it is
tough to keep goals at hand, but my hope for the future of my art is to
continually improve and to continually expand my knowledge of art and natural
ecosystems. January is always the time when I begin planning for upcoming
shows, make sure my galleries are stocked with new work, review my past year,
and focus on studio painting. I still spend time outdoors, as I particularly
love painting in the snow, but during the heart of winter I spend long hours in
my studio. I like to think my art is ever evolving. I intellectualize much of
the painting process and like to work on specific challenges when I paint such
as edges, temperature, composition, or the more ephemeral/elusive arenas such
as atmosphere or mood. The first show I have for 2017 is the American
Miniatures Invitational show at Settlers West Gallery in Tucson, where I will
have two paintings on display. It will also be my first formal show with
paintings signed under my new name!
DAPPLED
LIGHT OF EARLY FALL Oil on Linen 9 x 12 Plein Air
·
What advice would you have for artists just starting
their careers?
For artists just starting out, I would say: paint what you
love and do it with a passion, with the skill and draftsmanship derived from
careful observation and long hours with a pencil or brush in hand. Drawing is
paramount – practice the craft! Paint both indoors and outdoors, and practice
enthusiastically and continually. Know that improvement will follow hard work,
and learning will be a lifelong pursuit.
·
Any final thoughts?
We are living during an interesting time. I feel that artists
have the power to be influential by sharing our creative passions and,
hopefully, by bringing an enhanced appreciation of beauty to the world. Each us
can make the world a better place, we just need to find our talent and share
it. I sincerely thank you Leslie for thinking of me for your newsletter!
Contact
the artist about all artwork.
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