Blog Posts by Subject: Painting

In recent decades, much has been said about the demographic changes that New York City shares with the rest of the world. Yes, we are getting older!

One widespread response has been a surge of programs to promote creativity in mid- and later life. NYPL has happily participated in these efforts, especially since 2010 when we started partnering with Lifetime Arts Inc. to offer our first Creative Aging courses, which took place in six branch libraries. Each course was taught by a professional teaching artist and lasted a minimum of eight 90-minute classes so that the two goals of the project — mastery of the basics of the art, and social engagement of the participants 

Mulberry Street Library is proud to present the art exhibition "Beauty in Reading," featuring the photography of Kamia J. Funchess and the watercolors of Mychel Russell-Ward. The works are on view throughout the library through June 30th, 2012, and capture people caught in the act — of reading.

Since April 5th, the Jefferson Market Library has been hosting a series of watercolor classes for twenty adults, all aged 55+. This course, led by teaching artist Josh Millis, is funded by a grant from Lifetime Arts. The participants have been working on paintings inspired by Jefferson Market and other Village landmarks. This week, I spoke with students Leo, Judy, and Noreen, all regular patrons of Jefferson Market, to find out what they are enjoying about the class so far.

Hey there summer campers!

We are working on a great new blog post that includes making your own mini loom! Until then, check out a blog post from last year, Graphic Ts! Enjoy!

Jefferson Market Library's Summer Art Display, Valhalla Hospital: The Art of the Moody Wallen Band, exhibits over 50 line drawings, watercolors, acrylics, and oil paintings throughout the entire building, as well as a visual installation display and rotating video program every Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. through August 18, inside the program room.

Shortly after landing in New York City from Greece, Fotis Flevotomos walked into Mid-Manhattan Library on June 11, 2011. As Brigid Cahalan, The New York Public Library's Outreach Coordinator, was showing him the space in the Corner Room where his art would adorn the shelves from June 11 through June 23, I was staffing the Popular Library Desk and thought that he must have been jet-lagged — if he was, that didn't stop him from installing all of his pieces that day. Flevotomos's art was on display as part of the Low Vision and Blindness Resource Day. The New York Public Library, in collaboration with Lighthouse International, the Xavier Society for the Blind, and 

Something surreal is happening on the lower level of Mulberry Street Library this summer: Haitian-American artist Christophe Clavier has five paintings on display. Influenced by sources such as the surrealists, French classical painting, and Roman mythology, the artist conjures up a world of mystical imagery.

Jerilyn is a painter of American history, and teaches drawing at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers and Spring Studio, and collage at The Cooper Union Department of Continuing Education.

Lynda Barry, most renowned for her comic strips and graphic novels featuring the character of Marlys, has written and illustrated two different books that incorporate cartoon characters into an unusual and inspiring exploration of the creative process.  One focuses more on writing and the other focuses more on artwork, but the graphic novel format means that fans of words and pictures alike will be able to appreciate both books.

Village artist Elliott Gilbert finds his inspiration in the landscapes and ancient buildings of France. And sometimes he finds his inspiration closer to home, as in this work City Hall Park.

He is exhibiting 15 pieces at the Hudson Park Library through the end of February 2011.

Pull out your black turtleneck and a beret! The Musuem of Modern Art presents through April 25, 2011 the exhibit Abstract Expressionist New York. Whether or not you think a painting by Jackson Pollock is a work of genius, or something your kid brother could easily do, this exhibit is a treat for the eyes. Suitable for the whole family, consider a visit sometime during or after the Holiday season.

I'm looking forward to Tuesday.  Wouldn't you like to meet an artist who draws herself with bunny ears?

Come now through December to see an Exhibit at Teen Central in the Grand Central Library of Photos, Stickers and Zines from the streets of São Paulo.

In this pulsating, polluted metropolis of 18 million people – many of whom barely survive – exists a flourishing array of subcultures.  An extraordinary range of vibrant public art thrives amid broken buildings, garbage-strewn streets and abandoned alleyways.

Katarina Bishop grew up all over Europe, but she isn’t an heiress. She has a Faberge egg, but she isn’t a Romanov. Kat is used to looking at a room and seeing all the angles, but that was before she stole a whole other life at the Colgan School only to walk away from it months later without a trace.

That was before everything went sideways.

The current Pic Pick is

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More
By Karen Beaumont
Illustrated by David Catrow

He came from my hometown. As a teenager, he collected photographs of movie stars. A few years later, I clipped fan zines featuring Hayley Mills and the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and the Dave Clark 5 and Star Trek, which last title had a lot to do with his obsessions.

Here is my coworker Jen's report on the 2010 Teen Art Gallery.

Saturday August 28th was New Dorp Library’s second Art Gallery that I’ve been allowed to host in the branch… Each year has been a wonderful ball full of stress and excitement! I was constantly worried about having enough finished pieces to fill the room with color and give people a chance to see inside each artist's mind.

“How do you begin?” I asked. "Well, I usually start with the head, the face, the eyes. Once I get the eyes I can move on.  The process becomes easier for me. It is at though there is a conservation going on between me and the piece and it is all because of the eyes. You know Lucian Freud always started with the nose, from there he would work his way out, letting the piece unfold naturally. I start with eyes and work out from there. When I painted it was different I would mass in areas in paint with certain color values and that would be my guide to the rest of the painting, collage is different at least for me...."

If you were one of the seventy lovely people who attended our last Handmade Crafternoon (in May—eegads, so long ago!), then you know already what a wonderful time it was.  Natalie Chanin encouraged us all to take up needle and thread and make sustainable fashions entirely by hand from the humblest scraps of soft cotton jersey.  She filled the afternoon with stories, practical advice, and enthusiasm, and Maura and I couldn't have imagined a better way to wind up our spring series.  And of course, there were plenty of books from the stacks to share too, and the day's selection represented a combination of Natalie's own favorite inspirations as well as a variety of