About a month ago, I was contacted by a student at Suffolk Law School.  She was looking for donations from local artists towards a fundraiser for the Suffolk Public Interest Law Group (SPILG).  Funds raised would provide Suffolk Law students with scholarships and fellowships to intern in non-profit public interest organizations who cannot otherwise afford interns.  While it is difficult to part with a work, especially for “free”, this seemed like something that would be nice to be a part of.  It really seems like a win-win situation.  For Suffolk law, they will be able to raise money to help fund the internship of a student at a non-profit.  For me, I’ll get some publicity to Boston area lawyers, professors, and those who are otherwise tied to Suffolk Law School....maybe there will be some big Boston offices in need of wall hangings and just waiting for an original KME. 

At the time I was contacted for donation, I did not have a group of works to choose from.  All my recent works had been sold and my newest series, Boston Garden In Color, was in the ‘idea’ stage.  I was able to promise this student that the work would be new, an original, and based on Boston...likely, a Boston Garden In Color work.  I came upon the good fortune of exhibiting that series of works in Starbucks, however, so actually, I did not have a “Boston Garden In Color” to donate prior to this weekend.

This weekend, I sat down with my original photo of inspiration to make a new Boston Garden In Color 1, version 2.  Not only did I know that I would like the finished product and be happy to donate it, but I thought it would be fun to tackle the same scene, same setting (after all, same photo) and see what resulted.  And let me tell you, I surprised myself at my own inclination to gravitate to the same way to paint something.  I did not reference my old painting while painting this new work- though, it looks as if it were a direct replica.  There are definite differences in color.  If seen in person, you’d notice differences in texture as well....the second time around, I really slapped on the paint.  But overall, it is clearly the same scene, the same artist, and the same gravitation to a specific brush stroke and color palette.  I think this speaks to the way we, as artist, remember a painting.  While I didn’t remember how I actually painted the first Boston Garden In Color, I believe my body knew exactly what to do and went about it the same way.  Here are the two works side by side:

To expand upon this, I like to paint replicas of favorite artist works when I have nothing else I want to paint.  I like to discover their color palette, their brushstrokes, their composition.  And I truly do feel that from attempting to paint like other artists at times, it begins to impact my own artistic expression.  I incorporate what I learned from another artist into my own artistic vision and expression and in that way, I am constantly developing and changing as an artist.  Who knows, had I painted a Renoir before picking up this work for the second time, it may have looked completely different :)  It’ll be fun to experiment in the future...