This is a very special painting of Mauna Loa, one of the two major mountains (and an active volcano!) of the Big island of Hawaii. The original painting was an acrylic piece, painted on an 18 x 24 inch canvas.
This piece came out of an order from somebody who had lived on the Big Island, and had a special relation to the “Long Mountain” (the English translation of the original Hawaiian name). For this one, I tried something new: it required to go out every morning at sunrise over the course of a week in order to spot the top of the mountain from a public park on the bayfront of Hilo, a major town of on the East (windward) side of the Big Island, that used to be my home. Those of you who’ve been to Hilo, know that although it is a very rainy place, you can often see the sky clear if you wake up early enough to catch the sunrise.
This is the moment when this mountain seems to shine in orange and red hues: I wanted to be able to capture that on canvas. My client, now living on another island still had strong feelings for the place, and so do I. This common trait was what drove me to try and express my love for the Big Island. It is a place filled with Aloha, the spirit of truely caring for others.
This snippet of island philosophy still resonates within me. The life on the Big Island strengthened my faith, and the spirit of never giving when the time is hard. When it is hard, it is like a rainy moment, but without the rain, there can be no magical moment like when a rainbow appears in the sky.
Through this painting, I hope that my client can remember her special time on the Big Island.
After my experience in Andrea‘s workshop (see previous blog post) , I began experimenting with techniques and materials, in the hope to discover my own “painting voice”. Going from being told what to do, to figuring it all out on your own is a difficult step. You doubt about pretty much everything: your technique, the quality and relevance of your work. Luckily for me, a few orders took my mind off the big question and forced me into the most important thing: just keep doing the work. Amazingly enough, I sold a few of these early pieces that while not as good as what I would do today, are still very dear to me, which is why I would like to talk about some of them.
What ingredients does one need to create quality artwork? Technique is the first thing that comes to mind, but clearly can’t be the only thing that matters. How do I reach and speak to the person who is looking at my painting and make her/him experience something that will move him/her? Those are the questions that I keep asking myself every time I work on something: the ingredient that adds to the piece the culinary equivalent of ‘umami’, something invisible and yet present and potent.
Do you think there is such a thing as a flavor for artwork? Have you tasted it? I suppose everybody’s sense of taste for art is different, nurtured by our life experiences and what one may find sweet will taste bitter to someone else. Being able to give my work the right savor is what keeps things interesting: even if the topic is sometimes the same as I can make several versions of the same piece, I keep whomever this one is destined to in mind and feelings feed the final result!
My artistic journey is also given rhythm by my life journey. After a total of more than 10 years living in Hawaii, in the summer of 2013, my husband and I moved to the city of Nice on the French Mediterranean Coast. I’ll start introducing a few of the paintings I’ve made between 2013 and 2015, as I was settling in my new environment.
This piece was inspired by the wonderful sight of a beautiful Poinciana tree (also known as a flame tree), against a shallow water background spotted on the Kona (leeward) side of the Big Island of Hawaii. The original piece (acrylic on canvas) quickly became a hit amongst my friends, got me plenty of positive feedback and a few orders.
I ended up making several versions of this painting, all based on the same idea, but with variations, and in different sizes… call if “painting jazz” if you like! This painting was one of first larger paintings that I created on my own. The colors and the theme are tropical, and my clients were Japanese and Americans who love the peculiar atmosphere of Hawaii. The process was similar to what I was doing in Andrea‘s atelier only this time, the piece was my sole responsibility. Each time, it took quite a bit of time to reach the point where I was satisfied with my work. Often, I’d think of how Andrea would tackle the work, and picture him applying his brush to the painting. Although thousands of kilometers away from him, it is as if he were with me. This can get anybody going anywhere: accepting a person as a mentor in one’s heart and keeping the connection alive, despite the distance, and that, regardless of the field.
The time in Andrea’s atelier feels like a lifetime ago. Just like any apprenticeship, there was time for lessons from the Maestro and time for learning from my many mistakes, bound to happen when working on many pieces of varying sizes. After I became comfortable with the basic layout of the reproductions, I was allowed to further contribute to each piece, which required me to practice the subtle textures of sand, water and lavender fields. Here are a few of the paintings I was lucky enough to work on.
The first is the painting of a white sand beach: a magical place where the land meets the water! This is how I learned to use brush strokes to give my canvas the texture of a sandy surface. The shadow of the palm tree, while adding a nice touch to the overall composition, was a real challenge.
How do you make things even trickier: paint a beach when it is only lit by moonlight! I had previously practiced painting hundreds of irises only this time, their delicate colors had to blend into the overall hue provided by the gentle moonlight.
This next painting is a very different one, prominently featuring man made buildings. It is the reflection by the chaotic surface of the water that gives this piece real life. This was a true challenge and it took great patience from me and from the Maestro always there to help, to reach this point where the reflection looks both alive and realistic.
And finally, there was lavender: how do you use a restricted palette of colors, to create the illusion of volume? With a lot of patience and a lot of work! A painting like this one is the artistic equivalent of a marathon: it requires layers and layers of touches to bring the flat surface of the canvas up and make it feel alive with depth! This other piece, used gradation of whites which gives it an otherworldly look.
This more or less concludes what I can say about the work I did for Andrea and the things I learned from him at the time. To grow as an artist, one must confront the unknown and find a way to express what lies inside of ourself. It is sometimes something you have to do yourself. However when I really need help, I can always go back to Andrea for his opinion and advice. The time I could spend with him and the people around me in Hawaii is one of my great treasures.
This is also a painting Andrea Razzauti that I participated.I remember that preparing this painting was difficult for me among other paintings that I tried at that time. The light effect, and the contrast between the shadow on the sunflowers. I was impressed by the number of layers of colors. blue, red, yellow, purple, and green…
The photo above shows the canvas that I made as a preparation. I copied Andrea’s original paintings on small canvas in one day of work hours. They were dried up while I make other paintings, and after they dried, I started putting a layer of colors on each painting. In the next blog, I will introduce some photos when I tried lavender field, sand, and the surface of ocean.
This is a painting by Andrea Razzauti, an italian (Toscany) artist creating amazing work both in music and painting. I am very lucky to have met him and have been given a chance to study his technique while assisting him, preparing for an event. The original is an impressive 1.5 x 1 meter framed canvas, displayed at his house on the Big Island of Hawaii.
From 2010 to 2012, while living in Hawaii, I apprenticed under Andrea’s direction. He taught me his technique for acrylic painting and in return, I helped him reproducing several of his original paintings (leaving the maestro the final touch of course!), that eventually were sent to be displayed in Lahaina Gallery galleries both on Maui and in California. This next painting of iris field is one of those. I ended up reproducing the same painting on several canvas of different sizes.
Of course, you have to begin small: my first attempt is the one featured on the right in the above picture. But after becoming more comfortable with the basics, and gaining more confidence in your own abilities, you can tackle larger, more ambitious projects: eventually, my copies grew larger, like the one featured on the left!
It took patience, hard work and dedication to get to this point. But it was immensely gratifying to see my work taken over by the Maestro, to be turned into an amazing piece of art, using oil techniques, adding even further depth to the scene. You can see the finished piece in the picture below.
Doing this work for about 2 years, through this experience, I learned much technique. It exposed me to the work and experience of a real master, gave me more appreciation for the work that goes into making art, and made me realize where my goal in life is participating to some sort of movement for people finding their happiness. I believe that a great happiness is always within our heart, where no one can destroy. The key to be happy is finding the place of the great happiness within us, and expand around us through something we appreciate to do. For me, it’s drawing and painting. Even after I moved to France, I get his advice and comments for my works when he came to Italy where is his home town.