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“Plane Tree II”, oil, 30x20”
Joanne Burney |
- When you jury an exhibit what is the
first thing about a painting that jumps out and says "I deserve an
award"?
Paintings have
presence. They say, “Look at me!” Once a painting gets your attention, you check
to see if it is worth an award. (See my criteria below.)
- Knowing you teach at the Denver Art
Students League,
what do you find the most rewarding as a teacher?
Being able to share
what I know about art. I was very fortunate to have an exceptionally good art
education. I went to good schools and studied with great artists and teachers. I
feel I owe it to them to pass it on.
- Your work with trees is amazing.
What are the things you have learned about your subject and about yourself with
this intimate focus?
Trees have something to
say. They are not just fillers in a broad landscape, but are individually worthy
of study. They may represent strength, or reaching for the sky (symbolically as
well as physically), or silent suffering or abundant beauty – anything. I’m not
interested in painting vistas, but as a portrait painter I am interested in
character, and trees have plenty of that. At first I was intimidated by their
complicated branch structure, foliage and unfamiliar attributes. But I learned
that if I stayed with it, I could paint them.
- What does a day in the life of
Joanne Burney look like?
I get up, have coffee
and make my husband’s lunch. I exercise, walk the dog, do chores and go to work
(paint/art business/teaching). Then I make dinner. After dinner I relax a little
and do more “stuff”. Then I walk the dog. Some days I teach all day and into the
night. My day looks pretty much like anybody else’s, unless anybody else has
kids, servants or no dog.
- Do you spend time marketing? What
activities have you found useful in marketing your art.
Artists have to spend a
lot of time marketing. I enter shows, send out newsletters, advertise my classes
and workshops, read trade journals and check out
galleries.
6. Do you set goals
for your artwork? What are two of your goals for next year?
I do set goals.
Currently I am looking for another gallery and am doing more
portraits.
7. Any comments you have about the LAC
exhibit in general would be most interesting to our readers.
The LAC show looked
good right from the start. I wish I’d had more awards to give. While subject
matter per se and medium per se are not considerations when I choose a work for
award, I was impressed with the range of subject matter and the range in
mediums, and the quality throughout, that serendipitously provided me with such
variety in the award winners.
Any comments for the award
winners?
When I give awards I
judge for several things –
1.
Form and function (does
the piece communicate something and do it appropriately with the composition and
materials chosen?),
2.
Technique (does the
piece show good technique, and do it in such a way that you don’t notice
technique, i.e. does the artist make it look effortless and natural – not
belabored?),
3.
Use of formal elements
(has the artist taken full advantage of the use of line, shape, proportion,
value, color, texture, gestalt). Whether representational or abstract, the piece
has to use them well.
4.
The “surprise” (does
the piece show something new or something old in a new way?) This does not mean
that the piece always is pleasant or communicates a happy mood. It means it
touches us in a meaningful way.
The Best of Show had
all of those and what a surprise! You just don’t see a piece like that every
day.
The 2nd
place oil had a sense of lush technique and great shapes and color, showing
wonder at the plays of light and beauty of the flowers.
The 3rd
place had killer color and design, and the surprise that it was a photo of a
wall.
The Marge Steinbach
award – the patterned integration with the subject of butterflies and background
was so perfect to both. The piece had great color and movement and was an
inspiration, much as Marge herself must have been to inspire that
award.
The Merit Awards
-
The Acrylic Landscape
had an exceptional moodiness and a unique look that supported/created
it.
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The Abstract Acrylic
also had mood and flow and space, integrating the black into the otherwise
colorful piece very successfully.
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The Pastel had a
lovely, contemplative mood and a beautiful handling of the pastels, especially
used to create the various objects in the still-life.
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“Ponderosa - Light on the Morraine”, Pastel, 20x16”
Joanne Burney |
