Did you know that Blog Text can also be displayed as a flower?  Yep, there's a online semantic analysis tool that does that and I wrote about it over at Webmetricsguru.com, my Web Analytics blog. What about my interview with Marsha Wooley that I did last week, what would that interview look like as a Topic Flower (see below).

Marsha Wooley's interview - which I put a lot of my soul into writing - is all about Art, and I can't tell you if lavander in the background means there is also some Economy, Science and Technology in the text as well - perhaps there is.

What About Amy Chrehore's Interview, how does it compare with Marsha Wooley's as Topic Flower?

There are subtle differences, mostly in texture between the Amy Chrehore Topic Flower and the Marsha Wooley Topic Flower.   A Topic Flower of Amy's recent post about Pierre Puvis De Chavannes looks much different - reflecting as much the writers style as the subject of the post (see below).

    

What about Olan's Interview that I did a couple of weeks ago?

Spooky!  The Olan interview was actually as much about Society as it was about Art, according to the Semantic Analysis that the Topic Flower tool performed on the Interview Text.   These Topic Flowers remind me of the 7 Chakra system of energy centers in the human body - at least, they look that way.

By the way, here's a short description of how to decode the colors and shapes of the Topic Flowers:

Rules for interpretation:

1. The same text will always generate the same flower.
2. More text will generate more layers of petals.
3. The primary topic will be shown using the associated colour on the outermost two layers of petals.
4. If there is a secondary topic it will be shown on the third layer of petals. This pattern repeats, two layers using the primary, then one with the secondary.
5. If there exists a tertiary topic its' colour is used to accent the edges of some of the primary coloured petals.
6. The number of little 'hairs' on the flower is indicative of the number of personal pronouns used in the text.
7. Rounder petal shapes are suggestive of emotionally positive terms (love, yes, peace) , and more elongated terms indicate negative terms (death, murder, idiot).

Have fun, enjoy the Topic Flower Tool and please write me to share your thoughts.

Marsha Wooley is an artist, art teacher and an art historian, even having tought classes in Art and Mathematics (ie: Searching for the Golden Mean in Art).  In fact, Marsha has incorporated the Golden Mean very consciously in some of her paintings (and not all of Marsha Wooley's paintings are of West, some are of famous Motifs like Mount Saint Victoire, the studies of this painting were done on location and using the Golden Mean - she even has some aids to help with this which we discussed).

                                Mount Saint Victoire - Marsha Wooley

As you might know, Paul Cezanne is my favorite artist and I painted many, many lanscapes and still lifes in his style (see further down in this post) and I read everything about Cezanne including a book  Jane Roberts wrote on Channeling Paul Cezanne which was out of print for a while and hardly anyone knows about - I had a copy when I spent a year living in Berkley, California, in the late 1970's but since lost it - maybe I'll order it again.  I also remember owning a "Composition According to Cezanne" book that was a classic first analysis on how Cezanne architected his paintings and the concept of flat and shallow depth.

I visited the Barnes Collection  several times (and many other museums that had Cezanne's in their collection) and knew just about every Cezanne painting and sketch like the back of my hand.  And when I spent a summer at the Vermont Studio School/Center in 1988, I met Sidney Geist who wrote a book on Cezanne and claimed to see words in the painting compositions (French words, of course).   When someone paints Mount Saint Victorie, I know all about it as the images of Cezanne's paintings are etched forever in my soul- even if I never visited that part of France.

Marsha Wooley leads a course in landscape painting in France every couple of years (then next one will be in May 2007, around Memorial day) - it's given through the University she teaches at near Denver.

ART 220 PAINTING AND DRAWING IN FRANCE 3 11073 B01 ARGMT 0900A-0200P 05/30-06/25 $ STAFF Includes 5 days in Paris, 05/30-06/25. Additional fees apply. Must register no later than 04-15-06. Orientation meeting is 04/21 in AD 105, 0600P. For more information and details regarding the registration deadline, please contact Marsha Wooley at 303-797-5862.

Many people take the course just to go landscape painting with her in France, around Paris and in other parts of France.  How many people know that about Marsha?  She does not talk about her art history work or traveling to France on her website or anywhere else - or promote it, yet I find it very intersting and very much something that should known about her; it's unusual and very hip, actually.

In this context, I see myself, in relation to other artists, as a nexus, perhaps a chalice, holding, containing and connecting multiple levels of reality - I live as much in the Web Analytics and Web Promomotion world as I live in the Art World (both modern and pas), being a creature of both-  at the same moment - think in both ways and see opportunities that are often being overlooked (but no longer - she sees them now too).  I hope I'm not being full of myself here (but if I am, so what?)

Here's an opportunity for Marsha Wooley to promote her art in a way that has almost no competition - how many American Artists take Art Classes to Paris to paint Art in Cezanne's backyard ?  Marsha Wooley - the artist, the woman who cares about the purity of the land, who is an art historian, art lover, art teacher and all around nice person (she also rides horses and lives near a ranch where she can take care of the horses - and she knows a lot about wildlife). I was drawn to talk to her when I walked into Prince Street Gallery a couple of weeks ago - and it that which I was drawn to - the paintings only are the surface).

I ended the interview talking with Marsha's boyfriend, a Rocket Scientist (a real Rocket Scientist) who works on Communication satellites, including launching them - he's a mechanical engineer and I asked him about the systems he works with. 

There was also another artist I spoke with at the Gallery today - Owen Gray - and I'll write up more about him later.

One thing we all had in common  The Vermont Studio School, me in 1988, they in the 1990's and Owen spent some time just last year there.  Yes, I should look up the people I know in Vermont again, maybe it's time to think about re visiting Vermont, some time in the near future - for a residency.  I can certainly use one - after all I have been through (that's the subject of a chapter in a book but I won't go into it here). 

I mentioned that I knew one of the founders well before the Center came into being as we studied with the same teacher, Ralph Houston, in Smithville Flats, NY; but that's another life, almost, but I haven't forgotton, and it's still part of me. Even as I have gone my own way, I still retain the knowledge of what brought us all together even as I persue it in my own way.

BTW, Marsha also opened up that she used to, in the past, paint abstract (a while back) and if you get close to her works you can see the looser brushwork.  Most of her large paintings started as one or two session oil sketches, done on location - and some of these are made into larger paintings - many of which are in the show. 

I think Marsha might be realistic in her approach, but she manages to keep her brushwork fresh - not overworked - even though the paintings are often large and complex, they hold together, and in her works she maintains a consistant mood and tone. 

Marsha has also contained many things within her - art history, geology, a feeling for the land and the animals that live on it, and that's all in the paintings - and it sets her apart from some of the other artists in her Denver Gallery, Robischon ( at least 4 others who also paint landscapes of the West). 

I am very happy for her that her first NYC show worked out, she made a profit off of the show, had some quality time in NY and furthered her career; it's a wonderful thing when that works out.

One thing I did not see Marsha paint much of - people - hardly any reference to a person (I think I might have spotted one in the Mount Saint Victoire painting at the beginning of this post - it's a wonderful painting that keeps growing on me)  - maybe her boyfriend hiking on a mountain - painted as a speck in the distance.  That sorta reminds me of Claude Lorraine - or other landscape artists that generally did not put people in their work.

Also, missed commenting on a large painting that had a rock that looked like a UFO...I almost can see Captain Kirk, Commander Spock and First Engineer Scotty beaming down next to the rock (something out of Star Trek 2, 3 or 4).  There's a mystery behind the rock (don't have a picture of that painting).

Anyway, to finish this all off, interviewing Marsha Wooley in person was a much better result than doing it via Email. She had not really seen or read my questions and what I got earlier was not the in depth interview I wanted.  I think here, I gave my readers something about Marsha Wooley they'd have to speak with her to learn about (and only if she opened up - I got her to open up for me).

Since we all spent time in Vermont, at Vermont Studio School, I was led to look at some of her paintings as being about both the landscape and herself.

 This painting was done while Marsha Wooley was in Vermont, staying at the Studio School; it was a scene from the Community College that is on a hill above Johnston, VT.  I remember it well as I used to walk up to it and paint scenes from a similar location like these works of mine (below).

       

     

Marshall Sponder's Vermont Studies (above, all from 1988)  - these reminded me of Marsha's painting - Marsha's painting, in fact, is call for me to go back and pick the landscape spirit I left in Vermont.  I put part of me aside, for many years, and I wish to address it again, which drove me to paint.  The paintings below are among those I did after I returned from Vermont. Within a year or two, I lost it - lost the thread.

              

                

Yes, I know Vermont, the mystery in those hills, mountains, the magnetic energy, the particular color of the sky, and the subject of trees.  Some of the thoughts that came into my mind felt as if the landscape spoke to me and suggested things - and when I spoke to Marsha Wooley, it turned out she has some of the same thoughts; Not unusual, we're both artists.

The trees are both the lanscape and different aspects of ourselves and people we know.  Marsha's trees represent some the people in her life - the motifs relate to people she cared about - and the painting are as much about that as the landscape of Vermont - much as it was for me, when I was painting and living there.  I was working out an idea of what comes first, what comes second, etc.

I think I need to go back to Vermont, someday soon, so I can pick up the landscape theme again - and maybe (if I can) taking part of that painting course in Paris - next time it happens - that would be really great as painting is in my soul - just as it's in Marsha's.

For the first part of Marsha Wooley's interview go here.

End of Interview

Ok, finally got the interview with Marsha Wooley that I wanted, and it was in person at the Prince Street Gallery this afternoon - I'll try writing it down now so I don't forget what I want to say as I did not take notes (I focus on talking with the artist when I have an in-person interview and write up my interview from memory).

I'm going to focus on things that I learned about Marsha Wooley by talking with her - things she does not talk about or write down (too bad, they're interesting ideas). 

 For one thing, this painting is really about studying the Geology of the West - the mountain range in the upper left is full of copper, that is why it's greenish.  There's a great deal of knowledge of the land that's really part of what this painting (and the rest of her paintings in the show, are about). 

I earlier noted the connection with Corot, esp in the tree life in the lower right.  But there's another aspect of Marsha Wooley that she does not talk about - her love for this land and how it's being destroyed by the Oil Cartel that's oil drilling, led by Dick Chaney, it's destroying wildlife and wilderness areas around Denver and throughout the West in it's relentless search for more energy - even as it destroys the earth.

While Marsha's paintings are not political - the feeling behind many of her works is - stop the destruction and paint the tranquility of the land as a way to preserve it.

This is one of the paintings that sold in the Gallery show that just closed today - I think the show was as success and one of the main reasons Marsha Wooley had the show is to see all of her work together on one wall.

In my next post I'll cover some aspects of Marsha Wooley that she hardly ever talks about - but should.

I finally got the interview with Marsha Wooley to happen - it took longer than I expected.

   

  

Thumbnails of paintings by Marsha Wooley

Me: The Prince Street Gallery show appears to be you’re first in New York; how difficult was that to arrange and how long in advance did you have to plan for this show? In what way is the NYC show different than other shows you’ve had around the country?  What were your goals for judging this show was successful?

Marsha: What makes a successful show:  Some people might think that selling out the show makes it successful.  But-I think that the success of the show depends on the intent-and there are numerous reasons.  A few of these include: getting exposure in a new market or region, selling out the show, a handsome show, and instructional or educational show just to name a few.  My goals for the show were to 1. get the exposure in the New York area, 2. see my images from the last 5 or 6 years hang together so I could assess my development and 3. to provide a venue for some of my collectors to see what I have been doing (hoping for a sale and I had 5 paintings go to these collectors).  So  conclusively I would have to affirm that the show was a success because all three goals were met.

Me: Your current gallery in Denver, Robischon, has many strong artists, mostly representational, many with strong elements of landscape painting, particularly of the west.  You work fits in well at the Robischon Gallery, but there are differences in style and approach of a Marsha Wooley painting vs. Wes Hempel (ie: whose landscapes seem to come right out of the 16th Century Dutch painters, or more symbolic – as in Tunnel of Love), Jim Wolford (scenes of Denver, houses and landscapes), Don Stinson (with such paintings as Icy Park at Ouray and Desert Burn), Jim Colbert (no relation to John Colbert – right?) whose work most closely resembles yours. - How do you see your work being different than any other artist in the Robischon gallery?   What is Unique about your work that no other artist (even those who paint in a very similar style and with very similar motifs) shares at Robischon?

Marsha: The influences in my landscape painting are as you so keenly observed Corot-mostly his studies.  An northern Italian group of painters called the Macchiaoli (a few of my favorite artist’s include Govanni Boldini, Giovanni Fattori and Silvestro Lega) The early surveyer/explorer artist’s that went west with the first map makers for the U S government or the railroad surveys (artist’s like: Samuel Seymour, Titian Peale, Albert Bierstadt –his studies, Thomas Moran, Sanford Gifford  and Worthington Whittridge) .  I also admire the William Henry Jackson photos of the west.

I caught Marsha in between her trip to NYC; I had hoped for a fuller interview, maybe that can be done at another time.