Mickey One, directed by Arthur Penn

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Victoria

I haven’t been able to find many glowing reviews of this 1964 film and it seems to be misunderstood on almost every level. Most reviewers portray the director, Arthur Penn, as having failed at his task of creating a coherent narrative and Warren Beatty as being ‘energetic’ but miscast as the lead. As one of the few supportive mainstream critics, Judith Crist loved the film, calling it ‘a brilliant original screen work’. I felt the same way when I watched it earlier this evening on Crackle.

Penn offers a multi-layered work of art that incorporates new wave and experimental film techniques new at the time, such as layered clips and double exposures. He adds an iconic beckoning character who keeps popping up during Mickey’s darkest moments; a Japanese performance artist who uses a horse and wagon to drive his sculpture around the city. This is fairly transparent symbolism – the artist as grinning clown who seems to live only for his art – but the scenes still serve as a bridge to the lead character’s final revelation.

The plot lays bare neurosis and paranoia; the general state of the country coming out of the McCarthy era and the communist ‘menace’, and heading into the Viet Nam war. Penn admits in one interview that he wanted to capitalize on the original play’s exposé of the era’s ‘timidity’ and ‘sense of guilt and a sort of silence and evasion’. In another interview he denounces the fear of communism as nonsense, saying that the American people knew better. In other words, it was obvious propaganda from a government using scare tactics to control its populace. His Mickey was running ‘from allowing other people to have possession of you.’

Everett Collection

The jazz score by Eddie Sauter and Stan Getz‘s sax improvisations plays to a voiceless fight scene in much the same way that Penn would use an excruciatingly slow shutter speed three years later for Bonnie and Clyde’s final denouement. The contrast of the beauty of music and motion to violence is what makes his films’ violence seem so completely detached from reality. In much the same way that audiences detach and become numb when they watch any violence at all.

Penn must have been impressed by the surrealism and wide shots of Antonioni’s Red Desert from a year earlier. His close-ups of cars being crushed (often with bodies still inside) and girders framing Beatty are reminiscent of that film’s wide angles of a nuclear power plant and the existential bleakness of its own industrial landscape. Robert Bresson’s cinematographer, Ghislain Cloquet, was hired to shoot Mickey One in black and white, because as Penn said, it was essentially ‘a colorless’ film.

Panned by Bosley Crowther in a 1965 NY Times review, the film should have garnered more acclaim, not least for Penn’s resistance to a Hollywood pat theme of good triumphing over evil. What we’re given is compromise, that ubiquitous and not very dramatic solution to a human dilemma. The mob has either given up chasing Mickey or they’re willing to let him go through life as a mediocre talent. Apparently he’s no longer important enough to be wiped out. And Beatty’s character has given up running. He chooses to live one last evening (a small courage) on stage rather than to keep living in fear. His last words on screen are ‘or is that the word?’

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Exhibit in Williamsburg, NY through July

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Victoria

From June 7 through July several of my paintings will be shown in the Hudson Valley Gallery in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. This is a ‘window’ gallery, one of the many alternative spaces for exhibiting work that have cropped up in the city. The circa 1920 building has been owned since the 1980’s by Larry Silver, a gallerist who lives upstate outside Woodstock. A few years ago, Silver decided to turn his love of art into support for emerging artists and he began showing select works in the large window of the building’s bottom floor.

Hudson Valley Gallery, 132 Broadway at Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211. Information: 845.687.6146

Video by NY arts blogger Loren Munk.

Works shown:

Green Tomatoes. Oil on canvas, 50″x40″ 2003


Tiber Bridge. Oil on canvas, 24″x20″ 2007.

Pines. Oil on canvas panel, 18″x14″ 2008.

Spring. Oil on canvas panel 8″x10″ 2008.


The gallery is across the street from the renowned Williamsburg Art & Historical Center (WAH), a multicultural art center in the epicenter of the neighborhood’s artists’ community. Larry introduced me to the center’s founder, Yuko Nii, who just happened to be in the historic 1876 Landmark building, setting up an exhibit. Hers is an astounding story of dedication to the arts. She bought the building in the mid 90’s and established the foundation soon afterwards.

Currently on view; the Brooklyn College MFA Thesis show.

An excerpt from the center’s history;

In the late 1980s a trickle of artists began to flow into Williamsburg Brooklyn on the north side around Bedford Avenue because of cheap rents and the convenience of the subway to Manhattan just one stop away by L train. Artists began to open their studios as small pocket sized galleries and this began to attract weekend visitors, a few collectors, and even some museum and gallery folk from Manhattan. Little by little the small art colony grew. Meanwhile, the south side remained an underdeveloped area and was considered to be a “dangerous” place. Then in late 1996 the artist Yuko Nii bought the Kings County Savings Bank Building on the south side at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge on Broadway at the corner of Bedford Avenue, and founded the not-for-profit Williamsburg Art & Historical Center (WAH Center), based upon her Bridge Concept. That concept envisions a multifaceted, multicultural art center whose mission is to coalesce the diverse artistic communities, and create a bridge between local, national and international artists, emerging as well as established artists of all disciplines. Thus through the international language of art we come to understand each other to create a more peaceful and integrated world. The WAH Center is truly a force for peace and understanding and it’s concept is incorporated in its acronym: “WAH” in Japanese means “peace” or “harmony” or “unity.” Nii also wanted to preserve the WAH Center’s building, a French Second Empire masterpiece, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and a New York City Landmark, and make it a functional part of the cultural community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY.

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Painting for the birds

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Victoria

A couple of new paintings inspired by all the songbirds who love my backyard. The returning cardinal was flashing his red in my apple tree this afternoon.

Birdsong. Acrylic on canvas panel, 16″x20″ 2010.

Strawberries keep coming despite the weediness of the beds. Like Ruth Stout, I have no intention of wasting time weeding while they keep producing like crazy. I already have enough to fill a shelf in the fridge.


this one is called Waterfall. Acrylic on canvas panel, 12″x9″ 2010.

…this is just the beginning. I’ve read that it’s impossible to eat too many strawberries.

these are the late strawberries and luckily the two beds are staggered, or I’d be out there picking non-stop.

the white peony always blooms first. Ants love it.

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Strawberries, the gardens and finished paintings

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Victoria

The strawberries are coming in fast and luscious. I’m picking them twice daily to keep up and eating just as many. I sprayed a fungicide on the two apple trees for the first time and hope that helps with the scab and cedar rust. I’ve been reading Michael Phillips’ book on organic orchard development, but there is a lot I still don’t know about how to manage even a tiny orchard of  two trees.

Lettuces and radicchio wintered over from the late summer plantings and the purple asparagus is still shoving its stalks up on these mid May rainy, cool mornings. 

The musk roses are free of black spot and aphids. 

Beautiful oakleafed lettuces and radicchio from Umbria, 2007.

…just the beginning of the deluge.

These are the acrylic works that I finalized last week. Back to experiment with more ideas this week.

an homage to the neighbor’s cat Buddy,  as he basked in the gardens.
Black Cat Gardens. Acrylic on canvas panel, 16″x20″, 2010

Sometime in Spring. Acrylic on canvas panel, 13″x12″, 2010.

Azaleas. Acrylic on canvas panel 9″x12″ 2010.

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Asparagus season and new paintings

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Victoria

I’ve been eating asparagus out of my garden for the month of April – delectable sauteéd with garlic in risottos or with pasta in my homegrown tomato sauce. A real spring treat. And now the strawberries are coming on, my last frozen stash lasted through March. The collards and radicchio over wintered under the heavy snows of last winter, and I have baby lettuces that finally germinated from my late July planting.

The blueberry bushes and the two apple trees are covered with tiny fruits. The Dutchess apple didn’t produce at all last year, so I’m pleased that she’s come back. I’m not sure much can kill the Liberty, it is an incredibly hardy tree. I’m going to spray for the first time with a fungicide, since the cedar rust and scab has been so bad for the 4 years of their young lives… I’m hoping it will help with the trees’ overall health. Eating ugly apples takes some getting used to, but the fruit is still tastier than what you can buy in the store. 

I tried a few acrylic paintings last week and the drying time is impressive compared to oils. As in an hour instead of up to twenty years. But there are drawbacks. Luminosity is one. These are in progress, just one session at this point.

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Home for a painting

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Victoria

It’s rare that I see where my work ends up, but my most recent patron was kind enough to send me a photo from her Blackberry. Her living space is perfect for the painting and I’m happy to say that she’s pleased as well.

The piece was created from a trip to a remote cabin in the Tantalus mountain range of British Columbia, was exhibited at the Wayne Arts Center in 2007 and coincidentally curated by Mark Van Proyen, who taught a painting class I took at UC Berkeley, when I lived in San Francisco. Mark has written for Art in America, Artweek and other publications. Victoria Donohoe, arts critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, cited my work in her review of the show.

Rubble Creek appears from springs that flow out of the Sphinx Glacier. I stood in Garibaldi Park on a cold, misty morning in May of 2006 and sketched the scene, then finished the painting in my studio here in the Brandywine Valley of Pennsylvania. I love painting the rugged terrain of British Columbia, whether mountains or islands off Vancouver Island.

When I was there just four years ago, the Sphinx glacier was very much in evidence from a short hike into the park. I wonder if it has melted, like so many of the northern glaciers. It is a gloriously beautiful spot.

This was my view from the front deck of my cabin. The Tantalus range is spectacular in all weather.

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Françoise Gilot and my moving company

Posted on April 19, 2010 by Victoria

An interesting coincidence; one of my moving estimates turned up the French artist, Françoise Gilot. Who also happened to be married to Picasso and whose book that has sold over a million copies, “Life with Picasso”, I read in 1989.

The estimator from Arpin moving company commented that I ranked up there with 3 other artists for having the most paintings in one household…and then went on to tell me that he had met Gilot recently, moving some of her Picasso catalogs to a college library. Small world.

In the interview with Charlie Rose below, Gilot says the most important thing that she learned from Picasso was his sense of concentration and the fact that he thought of nothing else but his art. She also seems to hold the secret to a dynamic relationship and that may be from her own sense of self as a purposeful and strong artist.

She demanded of Salk when he proposed, “I can’t live with anyone more than six months out of the year.” Thus began a 25 year marriage.

This is a delightful interview that Charlie Rose conducted with Gilot in 1998. I am especially fond of her naming her own paintings and thousands of prints, when asked by Rose of what she is most proud.

“An artist is one who IS and who DOES.” Enjoy.

Robert Capa/International Center of Photography Collection

Robert Doisneau

Ginko Trees, Oil on canvas 2006. РFran̤oise Gilot

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Packing and shipping paintings

Posted on April 15, 2010 by Victoria

Another artist from the UK posted some tips recently on packing and shipping paintings and I thought I’d add some thoughts about how my own work reaches its destination. 

All paintings require extensive packing to avoid damage during shipping. Even though you can have USPS mark fragile on your box, you are still responsible for getting it to your patron, unharmed. In the past I would have wooden crates made to ship my work for exhibits, but this has become extremely costly.

There are packing companies who will use heavy duty cardboard and packing materials that are a fraction of the cost of using wooden crates. I would use a company like Navis Pack & Ship for my very large works. Prices can run as high as $1100 for a 70″x60″ painting that is being shipped to Australia or Europe. 

But for smaller work you can pack and ship safely yourself. The post office will supply flat rate boxes that they deliver to your door and for heavier small work, this is a good value. For small, lightweight paintings you may be able to use recycled boxes or even padded envelopes that will be more cost effective.

In either case I first use Talas silicone paper to wrap most of my paintings. That way, they’re protected from sticking to any surface. I learned this the hard way, when a small painting I had sold, stuck to the glassine paper in which I’d wrapped it during shipping. Although the painting was a year old, there was a still tacky area. 

After the silicone, I bubble wrap the painting, and using a sharp X-acto knife, I cut 3/16″ foamcore pieces slightly larger than the painting’s dimensions, taped together so the bubble-wrapped painting is held inside that sandwich. Then usually because my work is medium to large, I’ll have to cut my own box. Recycled plastic bags work for packing those air spaces inside the box, too.
Note: I would not use bubble wrap next to any painting unless it’s more than a few years old and I’m not shipping in hot weather.

Substitute foamcore for the cardboard in this photo from another good site on packing art….

I started ordering packaging materials in bulk last year; Uline has good prices on cardboard boxes and Royalty Mailers here in the US is good for large rolls of bubble wrap, they will ship free. It would be great to hear from anyone who knows where to buy ‘green’ plastic or recycled bubble wrap. At this point I haven’t yet found a source.

After the wrapped painting goes into the box, I tape it down securely with wide packing tape. (get boxes of 6 rolls from Royal Mailers)

I should have taken a photo of my last shipment, which included a handmade cut-down box for a largish painting going to Canada. The finished box was 40″ x 30″ x 3″ and weighed just under 12 lbs, but this is still considered large by post office standards.

I insure all my paintings for full value and try to use Delivery Confirmation on anything that is domestic. Unless you ship Global Express or  buy a certificate of mailing,  you won’t be able to track international packages. There are some size limitations on international shipping via USPS. Make sure you’re aware of their restrictions.

Happy painting and shipping!

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Interview with Jessica Torrant

Posted on April 3, 2010 by Victoria

This is an interview with abstract painter Jessica Torrant, a fellow member of the new Artisans Gallery Team, that was formed on Etsy to highlight a curated team of gifted artisans and fine artists. Jessica lives in Connecticut and has exhibited in the US and the UK. I noticed her colorful and unique work when I first joined Etsy and have featured it in my own treasuries, or curated collections on the site.

VW I know that you’re a painter and that you’ve had a successful online shop for a few years. Can you fill us in on your background as an artist and tell us a little about yourself?

JT First let me say, hello Victoria, hello AGTeam and blog visitors! It’s an honor to be participating in this interview with you and I’m a huge fan of your work.

I grew up an only child on a dirt road with fields and woods as my playground. I’ve always been drawn to the arts, from dance and theater to singing and of course, drawing and painting. I was very fortunate to have a creative family that supported my calling. My earliest influence was my grandmother who took up painting later in life and was a very talented, albeit humble, painter. I have memories of painting with her and watching her work on still life, bird studies and paintings of barns on the farm. She passed away when I was ten, but I still feel her supporting me. She once said, “She has a very confident hand,” to my mother as I was painting a little flower. I still remember the flower, I remember her voice saying the words and the smile that crossed my face while I pretended not to be listening. I remember the feeling of pride that swelled within me. I wanted to be a painter just like grandma. 

Flash forward to my college years when I studied painting at the University of New Hampshire. It was a very traditional school and they taught me how to paint like the Old Masters. After a couple of years working from figures and still life, I went to California for a semester exchange at UCSC. I was introduced to abstract contemporary art, wandering around in awe at SFMOMA – it was life long love at first site. I returned to UNH to finish my degree in 1999 and since then I’ve focused almost entirely on abstract art. I leave a little room for the occasional landscape or work from life. I like to touch base with those skills every so often to keep me grounded.   

VW  It appears that most of your work is vividly colorful abstracts, some derived from the landscape, but you also have a highly geometric focus. What is the context of your work, do you have any set ideologies as a painter? (formalist, expressionist, etc)

JT I work in several voices, all of which are my own and consistent within themselves. One voice leans towards expressionist (and in my mind and dreams, this has the largest pull for me) but there is also another part of me that needs to express some form of control which leads to more detailed, organized, abstract maze-like paintings. So there is action painting and then what I’d call puzzle paintings, because painting them is very similar to the state of mind and process of putting a puzzle together.

Then there are the paintings, like my Horizon series, that are very simplified abstract landscapes/color fields. These are a meditation for me to paint and to view. I don’t like to limit myself to what I’ll paint next, though I do seem to keep rotating between these three states of mind: 

fun/intuitive/loose/freedom/energy/gesture
controlled/slow and steady/focused/organized/detailed/networking
meditative/peaceful/space/connected/quiet/pure/color/texture


VW Who are some of your influences, whether they’re painters, sculptors, musicians, poets or ‘none of the above’? 

JT As I mentioned, my grandmother Irma was my first and foremost influence. I love Picasso. I may have hated the man if I had known him personally, but he blew my mind the first time I saw ‘Guernica’ in a fourth grade art club. (I was a lucky kid to grow up in the 80’s when there was actually funding for art programs in public schools). Since then, I’ve always been drawn to, and powerfully moved, by his work. My mother and I went to Paris in 2001 and we visited The Musée Picasso where I got to sit and sketch from his work for about an hour or so (thanks Mom!). It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

I love the Abstract Expressionists including; Frankenthaler, Rothko, Krasner, Pollock, de Kooning – oh I could go on and on!  Some contemporary painters that I admire include team members Mary Ann Wakeley and Kendra Zvonik and you, Victoria. I also love Elis Cooke, Martha Marshall, Meghan Henley, Jean Hutter and Aisyah Ang – all of whom are also on Etsy. Truly I could go all day listing names, this is just a sampling. 

Dreamstate 2. Acrylic on canvas, 24″x18″

VW Do you work spontaneously or is there a set time that you devote to the paintings on a daily/weekly basis?

JT I have mixed luck planning to paint. Most of the time it happens spontaneously and once I begin, it dominates my life and takes over for a four to five day long ongoing session. Then I come up for air, reconnect with the world and wait for the next cycle to begin. 

VW How do you stay current, or is that important to you. Do you visit galleries and museums on a regular basis, or travel to view art and cultural events?

JT Because I’m in such a rural area and I tend to be a bit of a hermit or homebody, the internet is my primary portal into the world of current art. It’s also the season. Once spring comes, I’m more apt to hop on a train to NYC or drive up to Boston for a day in the city, appreciating art and culture. The end of winter is rather gloomy here in New England – we’re all itching for spring!

Promise Land. Acrylic on canvas, 12″x12″

VW Some artists suggest that the studio is too private for them, that they require a social forum for their work. Does networking with other artists and developing community have much bearing on your life as an artist and if so, how does it inform your work and process? 

JT I need to work in a private space. I had a studio for a while in a mill building with about 40 other artists and I could never relax, even behind closed doors with no one watching. It  confirmed that I can’t just say “this is the artist’s dream – get with the program, you’ll love it!”. I truly need to be alone when I paint.

It took years for me to even allow my husband in the same space. Now I have a studio in our backyard that I use during the warmer months (another reason I’m ready for spring – I can’t wait to get out of our basement!). I love working from home with my dog, and taking a break to do some weeding in the garden. It’s wonderful. Still, there is a down side and that is community. It’s a solitary life and as an only child, this comes naturally to me. However,  I need the balance of alone time along with social interactions. The relationships, and indeed close friendships, that I’ve made with other creative people online act as daily communication and touch stones. Without those connections, this experience would be totally isolating. I am extremely grateful for those relationships.  

Puzzled. Acrylic on canvas 12″x12″

The Process in Blue. Acrylic on canvas, 24″x18″

VW Exhibiting in galleries and museums – are you involved in showing your work in brick and mortar galleries?

JT I have exhibited in the past and would like to focus more attention on gallery exposure in the future. The last year or so I’ve slowed down with shows and focused more on my online business, but I feel like that isn’t enough for me anymore. I need to get more work out there in the flesh. 

VW Can you talk about how you began selling your work online and what challenges you faced?

JT I began selling my work on eBay in 2004 while working for a frame shop. It started as a “why not?” because I wasn’t doing anything else with the artwork that I kept churning out in private. To my delight, it took off and I quit my job in 2005 to go for it full time. At the time, there was a market for what I was making at the prices that I was asking and everything just fit into place. It was a golden era for me to enter into, when selling art online was still a bit of a novelty niche, but buyers were catching on. Some buyers realized they were getting a deal and it wouldn’t last so they bought a lot. One would think that would be the best thing for me, but actually it spoiled me with a false impression of what was to come.

Things started to slow down, the market began getting flooded with new artists every day, the demand went down and the supply went up and the eBay fees kept rising. That’s when I moved to Etsy and things turned around for me. So that was the first and biggest lesson for me to learn about selling art. It’s a roller-coaster; never get too comfortable because things will always change. The good thing is, that lesson goes both ways. It always works out that just when you’re feeling like you’ll never sell another painting again, all of a sudden the tides turn and things go your way.  


VW Any long term goals for your painting or art?

JT I’d like to remain flexible and open to new ideas and techniques and keep challenging myself. I’d like to keep pushing the scale working on larger and more ambitious paintings. I’d like to return to the figure just to see what my take is on it now after working abstractly for the last ten years. I’d like to create a large scale series for a gallery exhibit and make that a reality. The most basic goal that I have, is to just keep painting for as long as I am able.

VW Anything else you’d like to add?

JT It’s been a pleasure. Thank you Victoria and thank you to the Artisans Gallery Team!

VW Thank you, Jessica! 

Wishful Thinking. Acrylic on canvas, 24″x18″

Website – http://www.jessicatorrant.com


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Ali Hossaini and Ouroboros, a history of the universe

Posted on March 27, 2010 by Victoria

Ali Hossaini teams up with video artists and programmers, Blake Shaw and Bruno Levy from Sweatshoppe, for their 3-D extravaganza “Ouroboros, the History of the Universe”, now showing at the Ise Cultural Foundation in Soho. I’ve known Ali since our days together at the Site and ZDTV in San Francisco where I art directed motion design and he produced topical content at the interactive dotcom start-up. At the time Raves were popular, whose visuals were reminiscent of 1960s music events that partnered with light shows of psychedelic imagery .

The ambitious exhibit, curated by Koan Jeff Baysa, depicts a visual universe through 30,000 layered and appropriated images from the internet. The software that Hossaini, Levy and Shaw developed to create the layering is experimental, which gives this show its unique look. They note that they are not trying to approximate slick and commercial Hollywood versions.

Rather, the concept is the exhibit’s strength; imagery of the sacred mixed with the mundane, the importance of nature and man’s inner sense of self that in contrast, transcends a relatively short technological and mechanized history.

The Sweatshoppe collective of Levy and Shaw developed the aesthetic of Ouroboros, which is based on television’s primary colors of red, green and blue as opposed to fine art’s of red, yellow and blue. By writing their own software, the pair have developed ways to transform ordinary images into Chromadepth, which produces a stereoscopic effect; layers appear to recede and advance, depending on diffraction of color. While the collective often does live video wall performances, for Ouroboros the technique was applied on a large scale to create an immersive hologram.

For a taste of the show, watch this clip and be sure to check out Saturday’s New York Times review by Dennis Overbye.

Ouroboros: The History of the Universe from SWEATSHOPPE on Vimeo.

For more information on Hossaini and an artist’s statement, visit his site.

“Ouroboros: The History of the Universe” continues through April 23 at the Ise Cultural Foundation, 555 Broadway, at Prince Street, SoHo; (212) 925-1649, iseny.org.

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