The Plasterers

[Cindy Procious]

Alex, all I can do is echo what everyone else has already said (more eloquently than I ever could).

Bravo! I wish I had painted this. I wish I COULD paint this.

[Janet Kimantas]

Chris has said, wordsmith that she is, what I couldn't when I saw this. The word I thought was iconic but it seemed wrong-she got it right with heroic. And the sons, fathers, brothers, husbands. Proud workers and craftsmen. That's it. Perfect.

[Alexandra Tyng]

Gosh, you guys, I am just totally overwhelmed by your comments!

Chris, to think that it reminds you of that song--those few words suggest so many emotions and images.

Chris and Janet, to say this painting is "heroic" makes me feel like a vessel though which something was expressed. It's kind of awesome. I feel you must be exaggerating. I KNOW you must be exaggerating!

Cindy, thank you so much for your incredibly generous words!

The father-son relationship in this painting is very special, I think. They tended to fall into the same position which seemed to describe the way they work in tandem. Both father and son are quiet men. The father is a highly skilled craftsman who impressed me right away 20-some years ago when he first did some plastering work for us. He had such an impressive work ethic and did everything with an artistic sensibility. His son started working for him when he was still a teenager and now does a lot of ornamental work while his father assists him, so I guess he is slowly taking over. I wanted to express this dynamic in the painting. The father and son look very different and act different in certain ways, but there seems to be this easy harmony when they work together that comes from the father understanding his role of bringing up a son and then encouraging him to become all he can be, even if he (the father) takes a back seat eventually. In a way, the father keeps his position of respect by doing this.

By the way, the son is also a visual artist (painter).

[Janel Maples]

Alex,

I like so much about this, it would be easier to tell you what I don't like about this painting. I know this is the unveiling section, and not a place for anything negative but
I can't help but say I don't like that it isn't mine.

I really, really like the perspective.

Great portrait!!

[Alexandra Tyng]

You almost had me fooled, Janel! (I'm easily fooled, one of my more embarrassing traits.) Anyway, thanks so much for the "critique." The perspective was challenging. One of my worries was how to make the father look taller (which he is) although the sharp perspective angle, and the fact that he is behind his son, make him lower down in the composition. I ended up exaggerating his height slightly, and hoping that the angle of the cornice and the closeness of his shadow to the top of his head would give the right information to the viewer.

[Linda Nelson]

Terrific job Alexandra - I love it's contemporary nobility .

Congratulations

[Alexandra Tyng]

Thank you, Linda! I think Wally has a flair for the dramatic and carried off the impression of nobility in his pose, so I didn't have to do much besides paint it.

Hope you enjoy your workshop with Jeremy Lipking. His paintings of rushing water are so exciting and beautiful. I was showing them to one of my students the other day because he's painting a waterfall.