AEI ASSOCIATE KATHY JACOBI FEATURED ...

12 Paintings of Women, 12 Studio Visits

John Seed

Professor of art and art history, Mt. San Jacinto College

This week, my series on paintings and palettes continues, with a few added touches. My e-mail box has been filling up with remarkable paintings, and one of the trends I couldn't help noticing is that many of them are paintings of women: an eternal and universal subject. The range of roles and meanings behind these paintings is dizzying and inspiring. Nine of this week's featured images are women painted by women, and three are women painted by men.

To whet your appetite, I should tell you that you can expect to see an allegorical figure in Betty Shelton's "Remembrance," a saint in Cynthia Sitton's "St. Dyphna," and in Margaret McCann's stunning painting "Rotary" you will see a giantess reclining on a traffic circle. Add a passive aggressive mother, a diva, a muse and a Hollywood stylist, and you get some idea of the range you can expect.

Each of this week's diverse paintings is accompanied by a studio photo: in some cases it is the artist's palette along with some technical information, and in some cases the artists have provided studio views. There are also informative commentaries with many of paintings, meant to help all of us understand the ideas behind each image.

To each of the artists who provided images and text I say "Thank You."

If you are an artist -- or if you know of an artist -- who would like to be featured in a future slideshow, please email me at: johnseed@gmail.com

Kathryn Jacobi: "My palette is glass taped over a white board. I use a relatively simple cast of colors, most of which get mixed with the basic flesh tones I prepare every week or so. The arrangement is a fairly traditional portrait palette: cremnitz or titanium white, jaune brilliant #2-4, naples yellow; then earth tones -- mars violet, indian red, umbers, ochres, mars yellow; then reds: alizerine and cadmium, cobalt violet, alizarin purple; blues -- permanent, cerulean; greens-- terre verte and pthalo. I mix my own black with alizarin crimson and pthalo green, so that I have control of the warmth or coolness of my darks and greys. Occasionally I'll put out other colors as needed. Usually I use Liquin (by Windsor & Newton) as a medium. Working on panel, I prefer working with sable or synthetic soft, fairly small brushes."

Kathryn Jacobi: "Diva #3" is one of a series of 15 paintings of mezzosoprano Geeta Novotny singing arias from the opera Carmen, by Bizet. She is a perfect Carmen, passionate and strong, with a beautiful and powerful voice. While these paintings are not faithful portraits, they attempt to capture the inspiring qualities of her infinitely nuanced performance."

"Diva 3," 2011
18" x 12"
Oil on panel

www.kathrynjacobi.com