Joseph Montroy

the summer of the whale

2011-09-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I thought I 'd share one of the projects I worked on this summer. I sculpted and cast an aluminum whale for a new Head start playground in Methum MA. They are all about the "Natural Play" movement and that makes them A OK in my book. The whale is designed for kids to interact with by climbing on and jumping off of and what not.
I am going to have some images shortly of the finished playground and the whale installed, stay tuned.

here is a video of on of the pours

What a job! I used over 15000 pounds of sand for this one.

Thanks to Andres Institute for hosting me during this project.

Fall workshops in sculpture and metal casting

2011-09-07T11:17:00.001-07:00

Ah the Fall time, a perfect opportunity to have some fun with Molten Metal and make some sculpture!! Here are some workshops I am offering this this fall and winter,

Carving Casting Modeling and Molding: an introduction- sat 10/1 +10/8 at the Currier Art center

Abstract Sculpture: Carving techniques Sat 10/29 + 11/5 at the Currier Art Center Manchester NH

Cast Iron Sculpture Sat/sun 10/22+23 Essex Art center Lawrence MA

Cast Iron Sculpture: Sat/Sun 11/19+20 Sharon Arts Center Sharon NH

Bronze Sculpture: Sat/Sun 12/3+4 Essex Art center Lawrence MA

Jewelry Casting: Sat/Sun 12/10+11 Essex Art center Lawrence MA

Bronze Sculpture: Sat/Sun 12/17+18 Sharon Arts Center Sharon NH

Please see the website(below) for a complete description of the workshop or contact me if you have any questions, and I 'll be glad to talk about possible ideas for projects you may.

No experience is necessary for any of these workshops.

Essex art center Lawrence MA

Currier Art Center Manchester NH

Sharon Art Center Sharon NH

Thanks,

see you at the next pour!

Joe

2011-09-03T16:40:00.001-07:00

Please stay tuned I am going to post info soon, I promise. Lots of great things happening this fall...Oh Boy! Details soon.

Summer/Sculpture Workshops

2011-05-26T06:38:00.000-07:00

Hello,
Well the rain has stopped(fingers crossed) and the sun is shining.
Its time to start thinking about making sculpture!!!! And I have a few workshops coming up this summer season:

-Cast Iron
-Jewelry Casting/small sculpture
-Mold Making
-Intermediate Cast Iron
-Sculpture for everyone

first,
--->I will be back up in Old Forge NY at the Arts Center this summer. They have a brand new building and I cant wait to pour some iron there.

-

We are offering 2 weekend Iron Casting work shops Sing up for one or BOTH!-Pour molten iron, Participants workshop will learn the fundamentals of iron casting, from making the sculpture from clay to pouring the metal. You’ll learn multiple techniques for making molds, how to run a traditional cupola furnace, the theory and some history about melting iron, and how to make your own iron-melting furnace. Each participant will produce an iron sculpture and be given the opportunity to be directly involved in the pours. Beginners are WELCOME

Saturday+Sunday, July 9th+10th, 9am-4pm
and/or
Saturday+Sunday, July 16th+17th, 9am-4pm

To register for a workshop at the Arts Center/Old Forge contact Workshop Coordinator Barbara Getty atbgetty@artscenteroldforge.org or call 315-369-6411

AND NEXT-

We will be running some Iron in West Rutland VT @
The Carving Studio and Sculpture Centecarving studio*

Offering Introduction to Cast Iron
August 6th and 7th great for beginners or if you have a little experience in cast metals.

----->I am teaching a few classes at the
CURRIER ART CENTER currier art centerin Manchester NH. Both are week long intensives.

FIGURE SCULPTING- July 18th - the 22nd

JEWELRY CASTING- July 25th - 29th

Sculpture for EVERYONE -August 15th-19th

----------->

I am offing a few classes at ESSEX ART CENTER Lawerence MA

I have really enjoyed my self here and I am sure this summer session is going to be great.

-Intro CAST IRON SCULPTURE-July 30th and 31st

-Jewelry Casting- a once a week class on Wednesdays July 20th-August 10th

-Mold Making- Week long intensive August 8th-11th

And Finally, Essex Art Center will see some more iron poured as we travel further into the world of cast metal sculpture. In Cast Iron 2 we will work to realize your creative desires in molten metal.--August 13th and 14th

http://www.essexartcenter.com

978-685-2343

POUR MORE IRON!

melting metal around town

2011-03-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

Well its officially spring, although I have the feeling there's still some snow on the horizon. Soon we'll be enjoying the summer sunshine, but until then...

I thought I would let you know about some workshops, events and classes I'll be offering in the next few months.

First:

Cast Metals: Bronze/ aluminum
(we'll be working with direct wax and using traditional investment and bonded sand to create your sculptures, contact me about replicating a sculpture you've already made, in Bronze or Aluminum!)
Joe Montroy
Saturday & Sunday,
April 2 & 3, 9am-5pm, $190

Space is still available for this workshop sign up at 978-685-2343 Email: info@essexartcenter.com

NEXT:
Starting in May, I will be offering a couple of weekly classes at the CURRIER MUSEUM ART CENTER in Manchester NH

Jewelry making-lost wax casting
We will be creating jewelry and sculptural objects on a small scale using Sterling silver, and bronze. one project will include replicating almost any natural object of your choice in metal such as coffee beans, flowers, leaves, small branches, an acorn the possibilities are endless.
Throughout the class we'll make rings, pendants and sculptures.
class times:
Mondays 6:30-9pm
May 2-23

and:

Figure Sculpture
In this class we are working with the figure, live models and references will be used to create sculptures in clay and plaster. This is a good ole' hands on sculpture class for those who don't mind getting down and dirty to carve shape and form materials to make some great art. all skill levels welcome.
Wednesdays 6:30-9 May4-25

space is available for both work shops at the currier museum
Please click here to sign up-
https://currier.obsres.com/Info.aspx?EventID=%2012

-Interested in Learning to WELD?
I am teaching welding for the artist at Exeter art center in Exeter NH
We'll use Mig and Arc welding as well as torch cutting and welding to create steel sculptures.
this class meets Thursday nights 6:30-8:30
April 7th-May 19th
Sign up here-http://users.rcn.com/ecca/assets/EccaAdultWinterClasses2011BrochureSmall.pdf

Now for the Cast iron.

We'll be melting down some metal at CONTEMPORARY ARTS INTERNATIONAL
in Acton MA. Yin and Viktor are really great and their studio and grounds are amazing.
Join us to witness the pour and create a sculptural relief tile. Come for the fire stay for the art. 5/21/11

http://contemporaryartsinternational.org/cai/event_ironmelt.htm?

We'll be back up on the mountain melting some iron.
come be a part of the fun, 5/28/11 contact andres institute to reserve yourspot.

http://www.andresinstitute.org/

Well that's the spring line up. See you at the next pour!

Joe

Cast iron sculpture

2011-03-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

We poured some iron at Essex Art center in Lawrence Ma. this past weekend. The weather was perfect, everyone worked really hard and it was a great workshop!

Cleaning the casting,

The clay originals before they went in the molds.

A finished casting

finished piece.

I'll be teaching a cast bronze and aluminum sculpture class @ Essex art center April 2nd and 3rd.

There are a few openings left sign up now at http://www.essexartcenter.com/

see you next time!

upcoming workshops

2011-02-23T08:02:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

I am teaching a 2 day workshop focused on jewelry scale casting at the Currier Museum Art center. We'll be learning the LOST WAX PROCESS to cast bronze and sterling silver pendants, rings, and sculptures!
Jewelry Making: Introduction to Lost Wax Casting
Instructor: Joe Montroy
March 5 & 12, 1:00-4:00 pm
$80, Maximum 8 students
Teen & Adult
Location: Art CenterLimited space is available, sign up at http://www.currier.org/ac/registration.aspx
Currier Art Center Manchester NH

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am also offering a couple of Casting workshops at Essex Art Center in Lawerence Ma.

Both classes will provide participants with information about casting and making sculptures with cast metals.

Cast Iron Sculpture

Joe Montroy

Saturday & Sunday,

March 19th-20th, 9am-5pm, $175

And

Cast Metals: Bronze/ aluminum
Joe Montroy
Saturday & Sunday,
April 2 & 3, 9am-5pm, $190

Space is still available for both workshops sign up at 978-685-2343 Email: info@essexartcenter.com
2010_Register.pdf

community pour @ Essex art center

2011-02-14T07:33:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Rachel and I poured some iron at Essex art center in Lawrence MA. It was a great day, A little cold but the furnace kept us warm. Heres the furnace, in the snow bank, burning in.

we ran- Jr. J.R., its been a while---- --------------

Getting hot now

participants carve away

reliefs fresh from the molds!

Interview with James Surls, conducted by Sarah C. Reynolds

2010-12-19T07:58:00.000-08:00

I think any great concept starts with, in a sense, capturing the moment; it’s like riding the prevailing wind. You happen to be wanting to go someplace, and that’s the way the prevailing wind will take you. You get to do two things at once. Lawndale [Art Center]1 came about because the [University of Houston] art building burned. The painting building burned. The print building burned and ceramics, sculpture—they shared an old building with architecture. Architecture had one end; art had the other end.

This was in maybe ’78, ’79, ’80. The school, the power structure of the school, came and said, “Oh, my goodness, Mr. Surls. We are so sorry. The building burned. We just don’t know what we’re going to do. We’re going to have to continue classes and put you somewhere, so we’re going to put you in this old warehouse over a couple of miles off campus.” Which it turns out was Lawndale; Lawndale was the name of the street. They put us over in that building, apologized and left, and I was the happiest man on the planet! The idea of the warehouse, the big, raw, space—I mean, that’s a paradise for artists. It’s a paradise particularly for sculptors who—keep in mind now—are noise makers, dust producers, junk collectors.

So Lawndale in a sense came about just because God struck the building with lightning and set it on fire. And I happened to be the recipient of the good fortune [and] so did some other people. They also moved graduate painting over to that building. Graduate painting had the upstairs: huge studios, great studios, good studios, high energy. It was almost like playing in the freeway, in a sense. Like putting yourself in traffic. Lawndale was able to be the doorway of an enormous amount of traffic. We just happened to be the right people, in the right place at the right time to take care of a situation.

Lawndale was like being handed a race car, and someone says, “Hey, here’s the keys to the car. You can go as fast as you want to go.” Whoa! What an invitation! I mean, a race car, not just an old jalopy. They thought, “Poor people, having to work in that hot, old building.” I looked at it like a Ferrari, and I assumed the keys. To tell you the truth, I just assumed directorship. No one gave me that. As this “imaginary” director, I didn’t have an imaginary staff. I had probably 30, 40, 50 or 60 eager students available. They weren’t all my students—some were other people’s students, like the graduate painting people. But I became pretty authoritarian in my willingness to say, “Hey, I need ten guys to come down here and move a stage.” Now, they could say, “Kiss my ass—I’m not going to do it.” But they were incredibly willing to participate. They would move a stage. Paint a wall. Get ready for something. And those guys got to come to the performance. That was their reward. They got to be there when the reality of the action took place.

We got to expand our audience out of the University because we did things that involved people from outside the University.

Creative Risk

Consider the Museum of Fine Arts. The public really [doesn’t] want them to goof. They cost too much. They’re too big. They spend too much money for failure. It’s like having NASA fail: You don’t want failures of that magnitude. They don’t want to do a show and have the public say it’s a dog. They want to do shows the public [says] are great! Well, can you imagine where Dow Chemical would be without their laboratory? I mean—think about it—they have to have that lab. Lawndale was a lab. That’s basically what it was. There were some things being tested over there. There was also a very significant failure rate. You know, regardless of how much I appreciated something or liked doing everything we did over there, they didn’t all work. Some were bombs. I think you have to be able to do that. You have to have a place where you can take chances and run risks and if the test tube blows up, you simply say, “Shit. We learned.”

You can live as far out on the edge as you want to go, but it’s not really necessarily fair to take your family out on the edge with you. You can’t take your kids out there and turn them loose because now all of a sudden two worlds have to survive side-by-side, simultaneously. They have to coexist. I spent a lot of money [at Lawndale]. I didn’t go around telling people that, or complaining. I did it because I wanted to do it. I liked doing it. I thought it was important…to me and to the community. I think one of the things that made [Lawndale] successful back then was the fact that artists took responsibility for their own actions. They were willing to do things. They were willing to take responsibility for their own actions, and suffer the consequences. That’s what responsibility means.

As best I can tell, [today] there may be a bit more “laying in wait.” Kind of saying, “I can’t do this because…” or “I can’t do that because….” There are too many reasons why they can’t do something—and mostly they’re self-imposed. You’re not really supposed to consider what’s out there in terms of what you can and cannot do. You just do it and let the chips fall. If they do, you may get hurt. There’s a possibility you might get wounded—that’s what entrepreneurialism is, to tell you the truth. And guys who can—I mean, Texas, for goodness sake! Is this the wildcat state or what? Are we risk takers, or what? Are we willing to go out on a limb? There have been more rises and falls and busts in this state than probably anywhere in the world, and some guys do it and come back and do it two, or three or four more times. That’s not happening [in the visual arts] now—but it did.

figure sculpture

2010-12-11T10:29:00.000-08:00

Noguchi

Here is some figure work I really enjoy.

claudio parmiggiani

Hiram Powers

Neri

Gormley

Tony craigg

James Surls

Hope you enjoy this slice of figurative work. cheers!

Artcity London - Antony Gormley

2010-12-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

Richard Deacon

2010-12-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

Richard Deacon prefers to call himself a fabricator. Several aspects of Deacon’s self-perception as a sculptor, as well as his conception of the place and role of sculpture, are wrapped up in this label. He says, "Material and its manipulation are core areas in what I do. ‘Matter’ and ‘stuff’ are the words I tend to use." Whereas a sculptor like Antony Gormley represents the stuff and matter of the body as a point-of-entry to and signifier of transcendence, Deacon’s practice and his language always return to the material, to the work of fabrication. sculpture mag. 1999

Iron at contemporary arts international

2010-11-25T06:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a blog entry about the pour at Yin and Victors' a couple of weeks ago.

www.southendrambles.wordpress.com

Cheers!

Some ideas

2010-11-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

Here are some ideas and thoughts I 've stumbled across or came up with.

-worrying solves nothing
-assuming anything causes trouble
-anticipate and pre-solve problems
-start being happy
-writing things down helps me
-even if your life is shit, you can make good work
-the harder you work the luckier you are ( thanks to Marc Leuthold!)
-complaining is silly
-thinking life will be better in the future is a waste of time
-being untruthful hurts me
-helping people helps me
-Everything is now
-Be conscious of the ramifications of what we do.

JOhn Bisbee

2010-11-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

A sculptor from ME. He uses nails in various arrangements.

I really like his stuff, and he's an Alfred alumni, good ole' western NY.

Thoughts

2010-11-20T12:35:00.000-08:00

Over the years I have had the chance to work with some tremendously brilliant people and also had the unfortunate luck to meet and work with many pompous asses. "Well ya" you say, "the art world is full of them." Well this is true, you have to be your own advocate. But one thing I ve discovered is being a good/ big talker has nothing to do with being "good" at anything. Your work speaks for itself.
In fact to pretend you know, when you don't, is pure stupidity. An inflated ego, thinking you're the best at what you do, everyone wants to be involved in what you do, without a solid foundation is dumb.

And ultimately arrogance and ignorance are seriously debilitating in many ways. To think that something cant be true just because you don't know it... Or to have the hubris to believe you know all there is to know about something. is just ludicrous.

Any way I am sure you all know someone like this. they are out there.

Having had these experiences really makes me appreciate the truly kind and thoughtful people that I meet!!

I am glad to have met so many humble, creative and talented people who are a true joy to be in the presence of. These are the people who keep me going and really inspire me to be better.

excuse my rant.

Doppleganger Joe: out.

Bronze today!

2010-11-12T17:53:00.000-08:00

Heres a short video from yesterday

Molten iron @ Contemporary Arts International

2010-10-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

Hi There!

We'll be making some hot metal at the Contemporary Arts International center in Acton MA.
This event is open to the public and participation is encouraged. It will be an exciting afternoon for all.
Come by and make cast iron ART.
Cheers!

Iron pour

2010-10-13T04:27:00.000-07:00

I will be pouring Iron at Chester College of Art open house this saturday as an introduction to the CAST METALS class i will be teaching there this spring. PLease swing by and check it out! saturday the 16th from 1-2pm
at chester college of art in chester nh ( its about 10 mins east of manchester)
http://www.chestercollege.edu

Hello!

2010-10-13T04:16:00.000-07:00

It's fall, one of my favorite times. Apples, pumpkins and lectures.

I am going to be giving a brief talk about "connections" in art and theory at the Emmerson Umbrella in Concord MA . Thursday, October 14 from 7 to 9 pm in Room 111 – FREE and open to the public; refreshments will be served.

http://www.emersonumbrella.org/

a video

2010-09-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

I really liked the way the pines looked one day. So I filmed it. enjoy

New Studio!

2010-09-06T16:02:00.001-07:00

Well I have finally moved into a real studio! It's in a warehouse industrial building in rochester NH. I am very excited about the space... IT"S HUGE and I can't wait to make some big work to fill it. Pictures to come.

Introduction to Iron casting

2010-09-01T04:23:00.000-07:00

I taught a workshop in West Rutland VT a few weeks ago at the Carving Studio and sculpture center. Rutland vt is truly a beautiful town. Everyone worked really had, made great work, and had lots of fun. The pour was smooth, JR ran like a champ!

Iron

2010-09-01T04:19:00.000-07:00

Hello!

I had the chance to pour some iron at the Andres' institute in Brookline NH on the 21st. It was a terrific pour. Thanks to all the folks there who made it possible!

sculpture finished!

2010-08-17T05:28:00.000-07:00

Here is "Ghost Wilkie" being moved onto the truck for installation.

Finished and installed on a beautiful day.

Here is a detail shot of the center of the scupture.

symposium update

2010-05-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

well a week into the Nashua symposium and I am a little tired but feeling good. The shop is great, the people are awesome, and the food is fantastic. Heres are some photos...

A busy spring!

2010-05-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

Hello,
I am pleased to say I am going to be a part of some great events in the next few months.
First:

Nashua Sculpture Symposium 2010
May 16th-June 6th
I have been invited to participate in this years symposium, I will travel to Nashua NH and create a large welded steel sculpture titled "Ah Mother American Night" using core ten steel and standing around 15 feet high.
The sculpture will then stand in the down town area of Nashua as a permanent part of their collection.
The opening celebration is on the 6th of June.

Next:
I am Participating in the "Big Art sculpture show" which is scheduled to open on May 15 Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts in Concord MA. I just installed "Gaslight" and the grounds look great! It looks like a great show and I am really happy to be a part of it. I will also have a few smaller sculptures inside the arts center.
Opening reception May 20th

And:
I will be showing "Device for improved sensitivity" at the annual outdoor sculpture show at the Millbrook Gallery in Concord NH. Last years show was fantastic and I am looking forward to another fine show. The opening is Sunday May 30 from 2-4pm.

rules of thumb

2009-12-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

Wendall Castle's 10 adopted Rules of thumb

1. If you are in love with an idea you are no judge of its beauty or value.

2. It is difficult to see the whole picture when you are inside the frame.

3. After learning the tricks of the trade, don't think you know the trade.

4. We hear and apprehend what we already know.

5. The dog that stays on the porch will find no bone.

6. Never state a problem to yourself in the same terms it was brought to you.

7. If it's offbeat or surprising it's probably useful.

8. If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it.

9. Don't get too serious.

10. If you hit the bulls-eye everytime, the target is too close.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-25T17:40:00.000-08:00

A surface for Dreaming

2009-12-25T17:35:00.000-08:00

I just finished and installed "A Surface For Dreaming" a couple of weeks ago. Its new home is in Loudon NH. It was a great commission,

nice to see it finished./

Iron Pour 2009 - 12

2009-12-25T14:13:00.001-08:00

Iron Pour 2009 - 12, originally uploaded by The Steel Yard.

Heres my iron melting furnace JR, I just threw a wax into it. WOW! hot stuff.

Franconia Iron Pour

2009-12-25T13:59:00.000-08:00

Hello,
I had the chance to go to Franconia sculpture park in MN this past summer. It was a great time, I got to pour iron with a group of super cool and very talented people. It was a crazy pour, 12 hours and a heck of a lot of metal! Here's a video of one of the taps.

Cheers!
Joe

Two Painters and a Sculptor

2009-07-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I am exhibiting some of my work in Portsmouth NH for the month of JULY at the Discover Portsmouth Center on middle st.
Here I am with "Gas Light#2"
http://www.portsmouthhistory.org/discover_portsmouth_center/visit/

12th Annual Invitational Outdoor Sculpture Exhibit

2009-07-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

I was asked to be a part of the Millbrook Gallery and Sculpture Garden's Outdoor sculpture show this year. The reception was a blast and all the work top notch. Please go check out the work, it really is a terrific outdoor venue for sculpture.

This is the piece I exhibited titled "GASLIGHT" its steel and concrete.

WWW.THEMILLBROOKGALLERY.COM

Magma Opus

2009-07-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

On June 6th I was lucky to be a part of a cast iron performance titled "Magma Opus" which took place at Mac steel in Rutland VT.
It was great fun helping with the set up and execution of the performance.
The image on the right was taken during the dry run

art beyond sight

2009-04-27T06:52:00.001-07:00

http://www.nhartassociation.org/gallery.html

Hi there!

I was fortunate to be a part of a great show at the Robert Lincoln Levy gallery in portsmouth NH

called ART BEYOND SIGHT designed for low sighted and blind people. All the work was touchable.

http://www.wmur.com/news/19078240/detail.html

(Irwin Greenberg)

2009-02-17T06:05:00.000-08:00

I don't paint but thought these were worth reading!

Words to paint by (Irwin Greenberg)

1. Paint every day.
2. Paint until you feel physical strain- take a break and then paint some more.
3. Suggest.
4. When at an impasse, look at the work of masters.
5. Buy the best materials you can afford.
6. Let your enthusiasm show.
7. Find the way to support yourself.
8. Be your own toughest critic.
9. Develop a sense of humor about yourself
10. Develop the habit of work. Start early every day. When you take a break, don’t eat. Instead, drink a glass of water.
11. Don’t settle for yourself at your mediocre level
12. Don’t allow yourself to be crushed by failure. Rembrandt had failures. Success grows from failure.
13. Be a brother (or sister) to all struggling artists.
14. Keep it simple.
15. Know your art equipment and take care of it.
16. Have a set of materials ready wherever you go.
17. Always be on time for work, class and appointments.
18. Meet deadlines. Be better than your word.
19. Find a mate who is really a mate.
20. Don’t be envious of anyone who is more talented than you. Be the best you can be.
21. Prizes are nice, but the real competition is with your performance yesterday.
22. Give yourself room to fail and fight like hell to achieve.
23. Go to sleep thinking about what you’re going to do first thing tomorrow.
24. Analyze the work of great painters. Study how they emphasize and subordinate.
25. Find out the fewest material things you need to live.
26. Remember: Michelangelo was once a helpless baby. Great works are the result of heroic struggle.
27. There are no worthwhile tricks in art; find the answer.
28. Throw yourself into each painting heart and soul.
29. Commit yourself to a life in art.
30. No struggle, no progress.
31. Do rather than don’t.
32. Don’t say “I haven’t the time.” You have as much time everyday as the great masters.
33. Read. Be conversant with the great ideas.
34. No matter what you do for a living, nurture your art.
35. Ask. Be hungry to learn.
36. You are always the student in a one-person art school. You are also the teacher of that class.
37. Find the artists who are on your wavelength and constantly increase that list.
38. Take pride in your work.
39. Take pride in yourself.
40. No one is a better authority on your feelings than you are.
41. When painting, always keep in mind what your picture is about.
42. Be organized.
43. When you’re in trouble, study the lives of those who’ve done great things.
44. “Poor me” is no help at all.
45. Look for what you can learn from the great painters, not what’s wrong with them.
46. Look. Really look.
47. Overcome errors in observing by exaggerating the opposite.
48. Critics are painters who flunked out.
49. Stay away from put-down artists.
50. If you’re at a lost for what to do next, do a self-portrait.
51. Never say “I can’t.” It closes the door to potential development.
52. Be ingenious. Howard Pyle got his start in illustrating by illustrating his own stories.
53. All doors open to a hard push.
54. If art is hard, it’s because you’re struggling to go beyond what you know you can do.
55. Draw everywhere and all the time. An artist is a sketchbook with a person attached.
56. There is art in any endeavor done well.
57. If you’ve been able to put a personal response into your work, others will feel it and they will be your audience.
58. Money is OK, but it isn’t what life is about.
59. Spend less than you earn.
60. Be modest; be self-critical, but aim for the highest.
61. Don’t hoard your knowledge, share it.
62. Try things against your grain to find out just what your grain really is.
63. Inspiration doesn’t come when you are idle. It comes when you have steeped yourself in work.
64. Habit is more powerful than will. If you get in the habit of painting every day, nothing will keep you from painting.
65. There are three ways to learn art: Study life, people and nature. Study the great painters. Paint.
66. Remember, Rembrandt wasn’t perfect. He had to fight mediocrity.
67. Don’t call yourself an artist. Let others name you that. “Artist” is a title of great weight.
68. Be humble; learn from everybody.
69. Paintings that you work hardest at are the ones you learn the most from, and are often your favorites.
70. Read values relatively. Find the lightest light and compare all other light values to it. Do the same with the darks.
71. Grit and guts are the magic ingredients to your success.
72. Let your picture welcome the viewer.
73. Add new painters to your list of favorites all the time.
74. Study artists who are dealing with the same problems that you’re trying to solve.
75. Have a positive mind-set when showing your work to galleries.
76. Don’t look for gimmicks to give your work style. You might be stuck with them for life. Or, worse yet, you might have to change your “style” every few years.
77. If what you have to say is from your deepest feelings, you’ll find an audience that responds.
78. Try to end a day’s work on a picture knowing how to proceed the next day.
79. Don’t envy others success. Be generous-spirited and congratulate whole-heartedly.
80. Your own standards have to be higher and more scrupulous than those of critics.
81. Pyle said, “Throw your heart into a picture and jump in after it.”
82. Vermeer found a life’s work in the corner of a room.
83. Rembrandt is always clear about what is most important in a picture.
84. If, after study, the work of an artist remains obscure, the fault may not be yours.
85. Critics don’t matter. Who cares about Michelangelo’s critics?
86. Structure your day so you have time for painting, reading, exercising and resting.
87. Aim high, beyond your capacity.
88. Try not to finish too fast.
89. Take the theory of the “last inch” holds that as you approach the end of a painting, you must gather all your resources for the finish.
90. Build your painting solidly, working from big planes to small.
91. See the planes of light as shapes, the planes of shadows as shapes. Squint your eyes and find the big, fluent shapes.
92. Notice how, in a portrait, Rembrandt reduces the modeling of clothes to the essentials, emphasizing the head and the hands.
93. For all his artistic skills, what’s most important about Rembrandt is his deep compassion.
94. To emphasize something means that the other parts of a picture must be muted.
95. When painting outdoors, sit on your hands and look before starting.
96. Composing a picture, do many thumbnails, rejecting the obvious ones.
97. Study how Rembrandt creates flow of tone.
98. If you teach, teach the individual. Find out when he or she is having trouble and help at that point.
99. Painting is a practical art, using real materials -- paints, brushes, canvas, paper. Part of the practicality of it is earning a living in art.
100. Finally, don’t be an art snob. Most painters I know teach, do illustrations, or work in an art-related field. Survival is the game.

Mythological Renderings

2009-01-10T07:07:00.000-08:00

MYTHOLOGY
National Juried Show
Juror – George Shackelford
Chair of the Department of Art of Europe and the Solomon Curator of Modern ArtMuseum of Fine Arts, Boston
Reception: Sunday, January 25, 3-5pm

random, cast iron, fun, stone etc.

2008-09-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

Recent Sculpture

2008-04-11T16:18:00.001-07:00

check out my website regularly www.josephmontroy.com.

cheers!

Here's my Post Card-

The idea for the series of Basin Sculptures originated with some reading I was doing on Sacred wells in Europe. I had been thinking about making some pieces with indentations or wear marks places where some action has transpired. This particular piece is made of cast cement and charcoal.

"Give Me My Children Back"

"The Empty Middle"
"Detail"

"Basin"

"Surface For Dreaming #2"

"Surface For Dreaming"

"Jacobs Pillow"

"Mercury"

"Menhirs"

"Deus Otiousu"

"The Golden Bough"