A Fish Out of Water

By Claire Cushman MFA 2015


In the early hours of Monday, June 9^th, eleven half-asleep Academy students trudged through the rain to Grand Central Station, dragging bags heavy with clothing and paint supplies. After what I’m told was a scenic two-hour train ride along the Hudson River, we arrived in Rhinecliff, New York, where staff members Katie Hemmer and Denise Armstrong met us with two vans. We piled in, and headed to Germantown’s “Central House” B&B, which would be our home for the next four nights and five days.

This summer marked the New York Academy of Art’s second Hudson Valley Plein Air painting residency, which affords students the opportunity to paint in the idyllic region in which the Hudson River School painters once worked.  Founded by Thomas Cole, the original Hudson River School was the first painting school native to the United States and rose to prominence in New York City in the early 19^th Century.  The work was grounded in a celebration of the American landscape and the notion that nature was a powerful resource for spiritual renewal which led them to paint carefully observed, reverential, and sometimes idealized paintings of the Hudson River Valley and surrounding locations. Our retreat, led by faculty member Catherine Howe, offered a very welcome change of scene after a full year of toiling in our Franklin Street studios.

After settling into Central House (which we had entirely to ourselves), we drove to the nearby Clermont State Historic Site. The site protects the former estate of the Livingston family, and is named for its clear view of the Catskill Mountains over the Hudson River. Catherine met us in the visitor center (a small cottage that served as our painting base camp). She sprayed us thoroughly with bug spray and made us promise to conduct nightly tic checks on each other, then took us on a tour of the grounds. We made our way through an “allée” of enormous trees, past a bountifully flowering garden, by a pet cemetery with a gravestone from 1902, to the Livingston mansion. Rolling green hills surround the mansion, giving the property the feel of a golf course.

Many of us set up our easels and began painting that day, but were only able to get about two hours done before we were accosted by a downpour. This was a common theme during the week, so we ended up painting quite a few still lifes in the visitor center’s dining room. We also ended up playing a good deal of Pictionary and charades, telling ghost stories, and enjoying numerous “family dinners.” In true Academy fashion, there was plenty of wine. 

The next day, we ventured to Olana, once Frederic Church’s home and studio. Church, the predominant painter of the Hudson River School’s second generation, travelled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East, and drew inspiration from the design he saw while abroad. Scenic carriage roads lead to Olana, which perches atop a hill overlooking the Hudson River valley and Catskill Mountains. The mansion’s ornately stenciled stone and brick façade is a mixture of Victorian, Persian and Moorish architecture. The interior remains lavishly decorated, as it was during Church’s lifetime. Bird feathers, Persian rugs and tapestries, sketchbooks, unique amber stain glass windows, and other eclectic objects, which Church acquired on his travels, fill the house to the brim. Hanging on the walls are over forty paintings by Church and his friends.

Thankfully, we had some sunshine while at Olana, and could clearly see Church’s stunning view of the Hudson River Valley. With the weather forecast clear for the whole afternoon, I was excited to get back into landscape painting, especially after focusing on the human figure for the school year.

Before starting at the Academy, I primarily painted landscapes. However, not having painted outside for nearly a year, I felt like a beginner when I began putting brush to canvas on this retreat. And on top of the unfamiliar subject matter, there were the challenges of painting outdoors. The plein air painter must contend with fickle weather, bugs, the annoyance of carrying one’s supplies around while finding a good spot to paint, and ever-shifting light. While at Olana, I couldn’t help but wonder how on earth the Hudson River School painters were able to create the meticulous work they did without the aid of photographs.

Although I felt like a fish out of water at first, I also found that what I had learned during my first semester perceptual painting class at the Academy deeply informed my landscape painting. This class (which I took with Dik Liu) made me think much more carefully about color temperature and spatial relationships, and has given me a far organized approach to painting from life. It was truly exciting to feel like I could put what I had learned this year to use “out in the real world” during the Hudson Valley residency. I highly recommend this retreat to all and any academy students next year. 

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Claire Cushman (MFA 2015) participated in a week-long residency in Hudson Valley, New York where she and Academy artists Jaclyn Dooner (MFA 2015), Patricia Horing (MFA 2015), Richard Alex Smith (MFA 2015)  Rachel Birkentall (MFA 2015) , Shaina Craft (MFA 2015), Todd Eisinger (MFA 2014), Daniel Dasilva (MFA 2015), Kiki Carrillo (MFA 2015), Kerry Thompson (MFA 2014), and Ian Factor (MFA 2014) experienced a pastoral splendor that has enticed American artists for centuries.

Mid-Year Critiques

By Zoë Sua Kay (MFA 2014)

It might be said that one of the frustrating things about mid year critiques is that as soon as they’re over, the school closes because Christmas around the corner. But what about all that advice you’ve just been given?

Suddenly, despite having been absolutely exhausted from the final push in the studio leading up to it, you’re re-energized – you’ve got to go and fix that thing you’ve just been told is the collapsing point of that painting. But alas, you’re being shuffled out, slightly relieved, slightly ecstatic, slightly like you’ve just survived you first foray through the tumble dryer. 

Regardless of whether your own critique went well, or whether it was a disaster, it’s probably a good thing that no one really remembers in the immediate aftermath what had been said.   A few salient comments stick in your mind but really, when you’re under the spot light in front of one hundred-or-so of your peers, adrenalin kicks in and part of you snaps in to survivor mode.  On critique day, all the work you’ve done thus far – the desperate search for meaningful content and that entirely original stroke of genius that makes your artistic "voice" more Pavarotti than the guy at the 14^th street subway who for years never quite managed to figure out the lyrics to The Beatles song he keeps singing – all that exertion is finally, and in one fell swoop of the 15 minutes you’re assigned, either deemed worthwhile or, heaven forbid, a fundamental "mismanagement" of time.

Although I had only witnessed a couple of the mid-year critiques the previous year, I had heard the horror stories.   In the days leading up to critiques for my fellow class of 2014, compatriots were divided between fear of imminent apocalyptic disaster and a Joan of Arc-esque sense of martyred stoicism.  You try to tell yourself it doesn’t matter that much, that you’ve done what can.   By the time you you’re hanging your work, you are falling apart at the seams because you’re suddenly overcome with grief at the lackluster body of work you’ve produced.  However, when my name was finally called and the formal introduction made, something unexpected happened.  I found myself switching into the role of a host.   As I gave my little blurb about what my work was about, it felt as though I was welcoming them into the party that I guess is my art making.  And then it was all a blur.

I remember Wade Schuman likening one painting to a billboard (thanks, Wade) but it was all mixed between more positive comments and other criticisms.  So much is said in so little time and between so many "jurors" that it’s difficult to keep track of it all. In hindsight, it’s difficult to get into a meaty debate over certain points you’d have liked to expand on. The comments that are made by our professors are incredibly astute yet abridged versions of a full criticism you want explore. It’s actually rather an unbelievable exposé of their intellect and ability to get to the meat of the matter within a few minutes. This, however is the only drawback. If such insightful issues can be raised in such a short time, imagine what could be discussed if we had each had an hour of their time..or an entire day?? I think I can safely say that all my classmates were left hungry for more. Alas, we must take pity on our faculty members, and applaud what, for them, must have been a long and grueling two days.

All in all, the experience for us students was a good one.  And I didn’t even feel the urge to cry.  At the end, when people gave their congrats and shook my hand, and exhaled with a somewhat shaky sense of relief, thinking, ‘it’s all over…for now’. All in all the experience for us students was a good one. And I didn’t even feel the urge to cry. Especially at the end when people gave their congratulations and shook your hand, and you exhaled with a somewhat shaky sense of relief, thinking, "it’s all over…for now". 

My only grievance, as a young female artist, is the lack of female presence on the panel. Catherine Howe did a fantastic job of holding the flag for us and there were a few more women artists in the mix the following day, but in all honesty, my heart did sink a bit when in the morning I noticed the male to female ratio. 

Now though, after the dust has settled and I’ve had time to obsess over the transcripts of my critique, I feel armed and ready for the turbulence of the final semester. The time has come to jump back into attack mode and prove to Wade that my paintings are not fated to be billboards, thank you very much.  Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a good billboard.

 

On behalf of the students I’d like to thank the faculty for their time and effort, it really is an honor to be offered so much of it. Thanks to Holly for providing us all with transcripts and ultimately minimizing post-blur amnesia. I’d also like to thank the first years that made it in to show their support. And well-bloody-done fellow second years! 

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To learn more about Zoë and her work visit: www.zsuakay.com

 

Interested to experience critiques for yourself?  Find past critiques on Academy’s Vimeo channel.

Giverny, Giverny, Giverny…you can certainly hold your own: Giverny 2013 Residency, Part 1

By Shannon Kenny (MFA 2013)

August 10th, I arrived in Paris to meet with the Chilean women of the group, Alonsa and Daniela. We succumbed to the forces of the infamous Sennelier Store, almost in tears as we left, not because we were sad, but because we were persuaded by our worse judgment to buy way more supplies than necessary.

 

Then, as the weekend was over, we boarded a train to Vernon, a neighboring town just outside of Giverny. As we stepped off the train, we were surprised to find that the other Academy students had been riding along in the same train. This was the first inclining as to just how small Giverny was.

As we walked the platform, we were greeted by two lovely women who ran the program at the Terra Foundation. They then took us to Giverny: the town that encompasses Claude Monet’s house, his private gardens, the Impressionist Museum, and an overabundant supply of beauty. Have you ever heard the saying, “when everything is beautiful, nothing is beautiful”? That’s how some of the residents began to feel. Immersed in Giverny’s encompassing beauty, everything began to mesh together.

 

 

Several after-hour trips to Monet’s gardens gave us an insight into Monet’s painting practice. He created his oasis in Giverny, and over the past two weeks, we got to experience a small part of that dream. We even befriended the head gardener, whose responsibility is to maintain what Monet created over a century ago. He even joined in on the painting while Daniela gave him an unofficial private lesson.

 

 

 

It’s funny, going to Giverny, the eight residents felt the historical burden of all the world-renowned paintings that were born there and the numerous painters who have worked there over the decades. Thus, we all felt that we should give plein air painting the good ole’ try. After being immensely frustrated, many of us realized that we didn’t have to paint like Monet because we were in Giverny. What we needed to do was let that environment influence the work that we already did—let it inject itself into the work that is ours and ours alone.

 

 

Once that pressure melted from our shoulders, the work began to explode, and with only two weeks, we definitely broke some boundaries within our painting practices. For me, in particular, I felt like I went off the deep end, but in a good way. I would begin paintings from life or sketches done in the garden, and then I would let my imagination take over and empower my hand.

 

 

Who knows if what I created is ever going to see the light of day, but my time there helped me to loosen up and really dive into my painting practice. After graduating, and two years at the Academy, you find yourself wondering…what now? I think Giverny gave me a clearer idea as to where I want my work to go, and for that I am ever grateful.

 

 

That place is magical; it’s a painter’s oasis, and if you ever have the chance to experience its wonder, don’t let that opportunity slip from your hands.

Giverny allowed us to create art and art alone. It gave us the freedom to do what we love without the worry and burden of everyday life. Its culture, its beauty, and its charm have changed the way we see. I have also left with friendships that are much stronger than when we first stepped off that train.

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On August 12, 2013, eight Academy students arrived in Giverny, France, to start a two-week residency hosted by the Terra Foundation forAmerican Art-Europe.  Jessica Benjamin (MFA 2014), Adam Cross (MFA 2014), Alonsa Guevara (MFA 2014), William Logan (MFA 2014), Shannon Kenny (MFA 2013), Daniela Kovacic Muzio (MFA 2013), Kerry Thompson (MFA 2014), and Stephen Vollo (MFA 2014) will share their experience while in Giverny!