World-renowned artist Joan Snyder changed the trajectory of my life
Go to the Harvard Art Museums and you’ll see her delicious painting “Summer Orange” hung between a Jackson Pollock and a Mark Rothko. Her work “Smashed Strokes Hope” was featured in the recent Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition “Epic Abstraction: Pollock to Herrera”. And Tate Modern recently acquired “Dark Strokes Hope,” another of her 1971 Stroke paintings.
With a lifetime of achievement, Joan Snyder is exalted in the art world. Her work has been collected by such major museums as MOMA, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, the Met. She continues to create artwork that is fresh and powerful, and she continues to exhibit her work in important museum and gallery shows.
So, I jumped at the rare opportunity to take a workshop with Joan when it was offered at the Castle Hill Center for the Arts on Cape Cod.
An accident at work had made it impossible to continue my career as an art teacher. But the accident had also given me the chance to work full time, for the first time, on my own artwork. I spent two years alone in my basement, painting hours every day, answering to no one but myself.
But was my work any good? Was I wasting my time? Was I turning out crap?
I had to know. I needed a cold, unbiased and honest response from an artist I respected. Then, let the chips fall where they may.
On the first day of Joan’s class, I brought in all the work I’d been doing on a series about WWII – seven or eight pieces at that point. I arrived early and lined my art up against the wall. But it felt like it was me up against the wall, facing certain execution.
Joan walked over to my corner of the studio, pulled up a chair, and looked. After a few minutes she said “These are incredible. I love your work.”
She asked questions, gave me feedback. I wrote her words down that day in a small black book I carry around –because I could not believe what I’d heard.
Joan offered more critiques and positive feedback that week. Suddenly I looked at my artwork with fresh eyes. I felt newfound confidence. Because of her words, I started taking myself seriously as an artist for the first time in my life. I believed what she said. I believed in myself. I knew that if I never had contact with her again, she’d given me enough to move forward – to commit myself to my work for the rest of my life.
Now, please enjoy more of my favorites from the amazing career of Joan Snyder. And if you would like to see more of her creative genius at work, go to www.joansnyder.net and click on Recent Paintings. Incredible.
Click any image to enter the gallery. Mouseover any image to reveal its title and details. Click to advance.
All images used with permission. Courtesy of Joan Snyder.
