Honoring Those Who Helped Me Along the Way

"Hommage a Cezanne et Van Gogh", 12 x 16 in. Oil Painting by Virginia Pendergrass

"Lemon and Grapes", 12 x 16 in. Representational Oil Painting by Virginia Pendergrass

​This post is in appreciation to all the teachers, gallery owners, fellow artists, patrons and friends who helped me see and pursue beauty in art. I have also been inspired by artists whose work delighted me in books and museums. But there is one theme which serves a special purpose in supporting my painting over the years.

An instructor in a workshop I took early on asked me, “What is your painting style?” I blurted out, “Slash and burn.” I loved to put color on a canvas and totally neglected planning before splashing.

After a workshop with a fabulous representational landscape painter, Scott Christensen, I painted more thoughtfully. But occasionally, I felt in need of a break. I chose a workshop with CW Mundy.

Midway in the instruction, he startled classmates by asking if we wanted to be impressionists. As each of us answered yes, he took a Gamsol cloth to erase all the hard lines in our paintings and advised us that round oranges are boring. Yes!

The final step in learning the purpose of 'slash and burn' was an art critic’s assessment of Cézanne’s still lifes as “brutal.” -Yes! (Even though Cézanne was meticulous in his planning and painting).

I painted a 'slash and burn' in gratitude to Cezanne with  “Hommage à Cézanne and Van Gogh.“

I still paint representational still lifes and landscape, but when I feel bored or stuck, I take a break and return to my ´slash and burn’ roots.