Yumi Iwamura 

Scarsdale Art Association's "Artist of the Month"

Yumi Iwamura, a fine artist and member of the Scarsdale Art Association, recently completed a month-long solo exhibit of her work at the Scarsdale Library.  She was selected to be the association's featured "Artist of the Month".  An account of her life and her art appears below.

 My Life and My Art

My Life

I have loved art since I was a six-year old growing up in Japan, drawing people in a small note book.  At age twelve, a birthday gift of oil paints, sealed my love of painting, and of art.

Longing to study art, and paint people, I settled for still life painting lessons, on Sunday afternoons, from a neighborhood artist.  Continuing with art during my marriage, when raising my children in Australia, however, my art had to take a back seat.  

In the early 80’s the family moved to New York, and upon my arrival here, I joined the Scarsdale Art Association, and have been a member ever since.

After a four-year study of figure painting at SUNY Purchase, I had my first solo show at The Leahey Gallery in Scarsdale.  That year, 1988, was the Year of the Dragon, -my birth year.  It was then that, I decided to have a solo show in every Dragon Year, (every 12 years), - and I did. This most recent show at the Scarsdale Library was my third solo show.

My Art

Born and raised in Japan, my art is very personal and unique in its expression.  It is a blend of East and West, - both subtle and bold at the same time.  

I love the interplay of light and shadow:  the sun’s rays that make leaves transparent and apples vibrant. or shadows that reveal subtle hues in skin tones.   This waltz of nature and human form inspires me and keeps me at my canvas.

Composition too is important, and challenging in my work.  Deciding what to include, or eliminate, makes the difference between an ordinary painting, and one that sings with color, movement and poetry.  When I paint, I see beauty in every object; try to be at one with it, and to enhance this beauty on the canvas.

A famous Japanese artist, Yuhki Ogura, active until age 94 said;  “Artists bring out their inner selves on canvas, therefore their works are their self portraits”.  By showing my work, I reveal myself.   If my paintings give comfort and joy to viewers, I am at peace, and very, very happy.

Art continues to be an evolving piece of my soul, and I feel fortunate to know that I can continue to paint and be a part of the art community, however small my role, for as long as I live.

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SCARSDALE ART ASSOCIATION OFFERS EXCITING JOURNAL WORKSHOP

Sunday November 11, 2012, from 1-4 PM

On Sunday, Nov. 11, from 1-4, the Scarsdale Art Association will hold another Journal Workshop  at the Leahey Gallery of the Girls Scout House in Scarsdale.

The program will be  multi layered, with several elements aimed at challenging artists to use their talents in new and
exciting ways.

The members' Fall Art Show will adorn the walls of the Leahey Gallery. The theme:  "Food, Glorious Food"  which will include oils, watercolors, graphics and sculpture. Prizes will be awarded.

During the Journal Workshop, members will be invited to share journals they have created since the last workshop in July. Expanding the concept beyond travel, two presenters will demonstrate how artists can use art journals to enhance their work, to explore thinking prior to starting a painting as well
as for experimenting with colors, objects and form for use in later works.

As with all Scarsdale Art Association events, the public is invited, there will be refreshments, and there
is no charge.

The Girl Scout House is located in Scarsdale, just south of Scarsdale High School, on Wayside Lane, 2/10 of a mile west of Route 22 on the right.

Meet the presenters:
     
Janet Patterson, retired textile designer and winner of numerous awards for her oils and watercolors. Janet will show her watercolor sketch books as a means of explaining how she works out color and composition prior to beginning a painting.  Here is Janet Patterson in her studio.

 Phil Wallace, artist, illustrator and cartoonist. Phil will demonstrate some fun and easy-to-master ways of placing figures in paintings. He observes that "painting figures can be a challenge to those whose work does not normally include people, yet oftentimes, a landscape can take on additional meaning with one or two figures in it".

Here is Phil at his French easel, painting "en plein air".

Do You See What I See?

Perception, seeing, and the subconscious mind

by Phil Wallace, Member blogger


With so many images bombarding our senses each day, what do we really see?  How much do we skip over, relying on images in our subconscious to complete the perception?  A good artist trains the mind to see beyond what others see.  For example:

Question:  "What color is the sky?"

Answer:  "On a clear day, it's blue."

Observation:  "Ah yes, but isn't the blue overhead deeper than the blue on the horizon? Doesn't the blue seem to fade in the distance?  Isn't a hint of pink creeping in?"

Suddenly, we realize that the clear blue sky we paint must have a considerable range of color.  When we paint, a landscape plein air, we try to concentrate on such things even though the subconscious says to us "hurry along, we know this part."  We resist the subconscious and sure enough, we see shapes and shadows. colors and values that at first escaped us.  The same is true of painting still life or portraits, or even in some cases, abstracts.

Still, we tend to fall back on that subconscious memory bank.  Our job:  to keep that memory bank as fresh and accurate as we can.  We do this by concentrating on the art of looking, and really SEEING  what we're looking at.


Phil Wallace

Phil Wallace is an artist and author, as well as a retired filmmaker and advertising executive.  He paints landscapes, still life, and portraiture in oil and watercolor.  He is also a cartoonist.