My books are available

I now have PayPal in place and functioning. Please find Alfred Currier, Impasto and Alfred Currier, Glacier National Park 101 available on my website: http://www.alfredcurrier.com/book.cfm

Visual Chapbook

I would have never thought that a month of plein air painting (painting outside) would culminate into a catalog. The whole process from beginning to end was both nerve-wracking and exhilarating. The way I talk about this might give the impression that it is a 500-page hardback. I have had a major book before written by a museum curator and published by a university press but, I had little input or control.

Alfred Currier: Glacier National Park 101 is a small intimate part of my life, in the summer of 2011. It is a quiet introspective with nature, a much-needed sabbatical from studio painting.

So, what's the fuss? Well, several discussions have surfaced lately about plein air painting and what qualifies a painting to be called "plein air". For the record, these works were started and finished on location with the exception of two that were the victim of a weather change at the very end. Now, some might say that if they painted from a photo, it's a plein air painting. Others might say that if it were started outside, it qualifies. And, one established plein air painter told me that 80% had to be accomplished while painting plein air.

I find all of this amusing, who cares? It's from within and how you, the artist, feel about what you do. I was moved by the beauty of the park, a visual commune so to speak. ...and the majesty of it all.

Through several conversations in the park, it became apparent that some of our leaders want to privatize our National Parks under the guise of being fiscally responsible. I find this appalling as it could open these sacred lands up for mining and degradation of our park system. This was the motivating factor for producing this visual chapbook. We need to keep our parks safe for our children's and grandchildren's sake. Amy Marquis, Associate Editor of National Parks Magazine wrote further on this topic in the preface of this catalog.

This visual chapbook will be released during my Glacier show reception this Saturday evening, Feb 11, 2012 at Howard/Mandville Gallery, Kirkland Washington. You are invited. I will give a short talk at 6:30pm followed by a book signing.

Books will be available from my website, www.alfredcurrier.com/book.cfm after Feb 12.

The Life of an Artist

I was recently invited to be included in a book titled "100 Artists of Washington" by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. It's always nice to be noticed, but, I was asked to write a little blurb about myself in the first person. This was an uncomfortable situation. It's like holding a spotlight above your head while doing a tap dance. I sat quietly for a while, trying to gather my thoughts. What brought me to this point in life? Why was I an artist as opposed to having a real job with regular income and health insurance? I had done that for a while but, it never clicked with me as my mind would wander off somewhere. Eventually, someone would smack me on the back of the head telling me to pay attention. Was that the key? I wrote:

"Gazing out the window watching a bird hop from one branch to another wasn’t uncommon for me in my early years while sitting in my classroom. Others were learning more quantitative subjects like math and verbal skills. It was that meditative activity that has stayed with me all my life. Art has been my interest since childhood.

My formative years were established in a small town in southern Ohio, Chillicothe. Art took many forms in my life and creativity was at the center although, not always recognized. I studied two years at the Columbus Collage of Art and Design and went on to receive my degree at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. I did teach for a while at the Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Art, Chicago, the Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS, as well as painting workshops throughout the United States and Europe.

My voice, however didn’t establish itself until I moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1990. The Skagit Valley Region of Washington State was my artistic coming of age. It was here where my “impasto” skills emerged and my voice began to bellow. It was here where I discovered that my technical skills were my tools of expression and not the end within itself."

So, that was my submitted response for the upcoming book, 100 Artists of Washington. Did I choose the life of an artist or did it choose me? The idea of working 9 to 5 with regular income conjures up the idea of security and being able to walk away from your job at day's end. An artist has none of that. I don't seem to be able to walk away nor do I have the security of a regular income. I went 11 months in 2011 without a major piece of my work selling. In the past 3 weeks, 7 have sold. That's like getting paid once a year but, that's the norm in this profession. I really don't think of it as a profession as much as an obsession. There are many positive aspects that far out way the negatives. First, no one can fire or lay my off. Second, if the weather is nice, I can chose to go for a bike ride. Mostly though it the satisfaction of delving into yourself and losing all concepts of time and space while coming out the other side with the fruits of your labor(or fruits of your play).

www.alfredcurrier.com

"Art for the Heart" raises over $8,000

"Art for the Heart" raises over $8,000 entering its third week.
Proceeds to go to selected non-profits that support basic human needs and the environment in which we live.

Come visit my open studio.

see: www.alfredcurrier.com

"Vivo" Art for the Heart

"Vivo", a 36x48 impasto oil is entered in the Art for the Heart program.

See www.alfredcurrier.com

Formation of a painting

This is a very simple application of a creative thought. I have been studying ravens for the past several months with some in compositions that have been fun. I believe that I've only scratched the surface so, with no further explanation, please find Formation in it's development stages.

see: http://www.alfredcurrier.com/

Painting Haystacks

I chose the title "Painting Haystacks" since it does describe the approach of my work. I'm referring to Claude Monet's repetitious, and what appears, duplications of haystacks and other motifs.

To understand this, the artist is NOT duplicating paintings but, instead, exploring color , texture, and all of the complexities that confronts him or her in the process of creating art.

Recently confronted by an artist, I was asked if I got tired of painting tulip fields. I had to smile at this question because, this artist wasn't that familiar with my work. Yes, the migrant workers and the tulip fields of this Skagit Valley region of Washington State do contribute about 30%-40% of my work but, I also paint other motifs as well. As a business decision, I tend to send these works to galleries outside this region.

In the small study of "Alla", I was exploring the migrant farm workers from a pencil sketch. The oil study allowed me to work out the invented figures. For the final painting "Unison", I used the figures as a center compositional tool so the eye of the viewer did not go directly to the sun. The idea here was to stop the viewer so he or she would explore the painting. Now, all that I said in this paragraph are learned techniques that I've acquired over the years of working at my "craft". 
But, Fine Art is my goal here, not craft. This is what binds "Unison" and "Snow Valley" together. These two paintings, although a similar subject matter of past paintings, are not duplications. These paintings are the exploration of color and texture. To be specific, an exploration of the saturation of color provided by intense sunlight. Within each value range of color, I have broken the color down in triads of color application.

With the music playing, I dance with my brush and palette knife, lost in the process of painting and seldom acknowledging my subject matter.

http://www.alfredcurrier.com/