Here are some recent works: (If you would like a more frequent updates, please see my Instagram under my name, or my FB under my name, where I am much more active).

"The Empty Vase," by Sandra Galda, 18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas

I won the First Prize at the Honor's Show At the St. Augustine Art Association, 

St. Augustine, Florida.

"The Kitchen Bouquet," by Sandra Galda, 24 x 30 inches. 

"The Daily Grind," by Sandra Galda, oil on canvas, 20" x 24"

 

Ongoing atelier work in midst of pandemic.

 
Hello again! Its been a strange year with my move to Florida, setting up here and establishing atelier work in this new location during a pandemic. 

I am pleased to announce my Sandra Galda Atelier has been approved again by the Art Renewal Center. this is my fourth year in a row I have received this certification.  I am very grateful! Check out their website, its is a great resource. 

I am teaching in my new large home studio space, and also soon in a nearby community center. 

I will post more as time goes on, here are some photos of my students in Florida!

Some of my high school Atelier Student's artwork from this past year: School is out for the summer!

 Here is some of my student's artwork 

from the high school atelier I taught this past school year:

All the images below were created by 9th and 10th graders,  one student was an 11th grader. 

 

 

 

I was very impressed with the student work and their efforts at learning to see and use the strategies of the training to capture the visual image. It was hard to squeeze down the excellent Atelier training I enjoyed for approx. 6 years at Ingbretson Studios with Paul Ingbretson....but the kids did get a taste of the training.  The last shot is of me in one of the rooms.

Now that school is out, I hope to work more on some of my works in process!
--Sandra

The Value of Value Spotting

 The Value of Value Spotting

                     In my high school Atelier I devised a warm up exercise to engage the students in an exercise that seems to be driving home the value of value spotting. Before they can begin painting their still lifes each session, they must take turns on their timed ongoing drawing, on which they are translating from a masterwork in full color oil,  a value sketch.  It is refining their recognition of the distribution of value, helping them to distill out of the full color image the value relationships present.  I am hoping this exercise will carry over to how they explain values in their own full color painting when they look at their still life, "..four times for every one time," that they put the brush to canvas!
-Sandra Galda

Tarbell Art Exhibit March 4, 2016-June 3, 2016

Great show coming up for Boston School painting fans,  Friday, March 4 through Friday, June 3 at Discover Portsmouth, 10 Middle Street, Portsmouth, NH. 

 

           The show features Boston School artist Edmund C. Tarbell (1862-1938) who was a pioneer of the “Boston School” of painting at the Museum of Fine Arts. His work, evocative of 17th-century Dutch artists, is known for its rich hues and an emphasis on light and tone and delicate brushwork. Unlike previous exhibitions of Tarbell’s work, Discover Portsmouth’s show will emphasize, not just his paintings, but engravings, drawings, and oil studies. When shown in conjunction with a careful selection of the finished oil paintings, these will demonstrate Tarbell’s process from conception to completion.  Below is the poster image found on the Discover Portsmouth site, from which I found information about the show.

Read a little about the artist here. His work hangs locally at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston MA, (an all over the world in other museums!).  Here below is one of my favorites at the MFA Boston:

 

"Marion Hiller Frenno at Nine as Mandolinata," Edmund Charles Tarbell, 1887-88. 

              Tarbell painted this portrait when he was young, soon after returning from studying in France. Later he became one of the leading Boston School painters and a teacher at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Below are two later paintings that embody his developed Boston School characteristic.

"Reverie (Katharine Finn)," by Edmund Charles Tarbell, 1913.

 "Girl with the Violin, (also known as the Violinist)," by Edmund Tarbell, 1890.

         Tarbell's "Girl with the Violin" above is particularly interesting to me because my teacher, Paul Ingbretson, a current Boston School master painter and teacher, produced a beautiful painting based on the image a couple years ago in the studio. He had a time lapse video created to record his process. This video has been available to the public to view on YouTube, see it here.   This wonderful version by Mr. Ingbretson of Tarbell's painting will be in the "Illuminating Tarbell: Legacy in Action" companion show upstairs on the same dates.

 "The Bach Bouree in E Minor," by Paul Inbgretson, 2014.

   Illuminating Tarbell: Legacy in Action, the companion show, is located upstairs in the Academy balcony gallery. Curator Alastair Dacey makes the case for Tarbell’s ongoing influence as a painter and teacher. Tarbell’s impact and artistic principles are revealed in close to 50 works by six contemporary painters: Don Demers, Paul Ingbretson, Jean Lightman, Mary Minifie, Colin Page, and Alastair Dacey.



 The show:  Friday, March 4 through Friday, June 3 at Discover Portsmouth, 10 Middle Street, Portsmouth, NH.   The nonprofit Portsmouth Historical Society, which also operates the John Paul Jones House Museum, is open daily from 9:30-5pm.  For further information on exhibitions, publications, gift shop, lectures, rentals, and tours, please call 603-436-8433.

Robert Douglas Hunter 1928 - 2014 Retrospective

Here is the information publicized by The Guild of Boston Artists, concerning a major Boston School artist who recently passed away: 

Robert Douglas Hunter 1928 - 2014 Retrospective

ROBERT DOUGLAS HUNTER

1928 - 2014

RETROSPECTIVE & MEMORIAL EXHIBITION

October 9 - November 1

Reception with Tributes from Students

October 16, 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Hunter from Two Perspectives

Elizabeth Ives Hunter & Paul Ingbretson, President Emeritus  

October 25, 3:00 PM 

 

Arrangement with a Seth Thomas Clock 1998, oil on canvas, 18 x 30 inches

The Guild of Boston Artists at 162 Newbury Street, Boston (guildofbostonartists.org) will honor the late Robert Douglas Hunter with a Retrospective October 9 - November 1. Some 34 of his exceptional paintings spanning a 60 year career will be on view, many for sale. There will be an evening of tributes from former students on October 16 and a gallery talk about his paintings on October 25.

Robert Douglas Hunter, who died in August, was one of New England's foremost painters and an icon of the Boston School tradition, which dates back to the early 20^th Century. Hunter worked primarily in oil and excelled at still lifes, landscapes, and portraits all of which will be on view. A past president of the Guild of Boston Artists, he was honored by WGBH in 2010 and received a lifetime achievement award from the Arts Foundation in Cape Cod in 2011. His works are represented in 19 museums nationwide and hang in the homes and offices of hundreds of private and corporate collectors. He received multiple awards and was the subject of more than 40 one-man exhibitions throughout the United States. Fellow painter Paul Ingbretson, also a past president of the Guild, said that Hunter was "best known for his richly textured and masterfully painted still lifes, Like Chardin, under Hunter's brush and out of his soul, his sense of life, emerged an art."

 

Mr. Hunter in the Earlier Days
Courtesy of Vose Galleries
  

   

Celebrating its centennial anniversary, the Guild of Boston Artists is a non-profit foundation of painters and sculptors whose purpose is to promote, nurture and encourage traditional art while adhering to the highest standards of quality and presentation. Since its founding in 1914, the Guild has sought to provide a center for the interchange of ideas between artists and the community. Along with an aggressive exhibition schedule, we offer educational programs, including critiques, classes and lectures. We hope that both our exhibits and educational programs offer opportunities for reflection and enrichment.

"Painting the Visual Impression" by Richard Whitney

While searching online for Mr. Whitney's out of print book, I found an article he wrote at the following web address, including several other interesting related articles:  http://www.worldofportraitpainting.com/commentary-whitney/index.html

 

 This series of articles is a summary of the fundamental ideas used by artists to help them paint the look of nature and the effects of light and shadow. I have listed them in order of importance with the essential ideas in bold type to help the working painter logically solve problems. I have written these concepts in a concise manner so that they can be memorized. Learning to paint involves learning to see and guidance from a master craftsman is necessary. This series should be used as a supplement to studio instruction.

The Seamstress By Robert Hale Ives Gammell, 1893-1981

This overview was inspired by the teachings of R. H. Ives Gammell who studied with some of the most skillful painters at the turn of the century. The ideas presented here are therefore not mine, nor even his, but rather have been passed down from master to student for many generations. While studying with Mr. Gammell I wrote down much that he told me about these principles. I later organized my notes and added to them from extensive reading to produce this summary.

The first articles on composition and drawing list many concepts and helpful hints that can be used by artists of all stylistic persuasions. The main portion of the series emphasizes the impressionistic approach to painting. I do not mean to imply that this is the only way, or the best way to paint. Nothing in this series is meant to be taken as absolute law since some advances in the field of painting have come from breaking the rules after training is completed. My hope is that these articles will be a useful reference you can use in finding your way when you feel lost.

These ideas are most useful in helping artists paint the visual world. The impressionist paints what he sees, not what he knows. He looks at the whole subject at once and paints this visual impression in a broad manner with only a suggestion of detail. I list the ways in which the impressionist uses light and shadow, values, color vibration, edges and paint texture to achieve an atmospheric appearance. I also discuss methods of training the visual memory so that artists can successfully capture the fleeting effects of nature.

I have included a section on helpful advice to students followed by a listing of some of the artists of the past that I recommend for study. I have decided not to include living painters for fear of unintentionally offending those that I might omit. I have instead decided to illustrate this booklet with some examples of my work to show how these ideas have influenced one contemporary painter. I have also included an extensive reading list for further research.

It has been the dream of Mr. Gammell and others who have survived the onslaught of Modernism that future generations will restore the craft of painting. I hope my articles will contribute to this end.

Richard Whitney
Stoddard, New Hampshire
2006

To Read a book preview online of Mr. Whitney's book, "Painting the Visual Impression, click here. or cut and paste: http://www.crescentpond.com/bookpreview.pdf

To read more of this series of articles, please refer to the website:  <http://www.worldofportraitpainting.com/commentary-whitney/index.html>.
 

Pithy phrases saturated with meaning are extremely helpful to the apprenticed artist.

A Quote by R. H. Ives Gammell hanging in Ingbretson Studios

 I can easily view the above framed quote by R. H. Ives Gammell, each time I take a break from my artwork and walk into the break room at Ingbretson Studios. Written in the artist’s own handwriting, it is a treasured catchword saved and hung there by my teacher Paul Ingbretson. A catchword is a memorable or effective word or phrase that is repeated so often that it becomes a slogan, as in a political campaign or in advertising a product. In the training of the Boston School Style of art, such catch phrases are an essential ingredient to the critiques on our work by Paul, helping to anchor the instructions in art he patiently delivers to each of his appreciative students.  These mottos are also tossed around between the students as friendly encouragements and reminders as we occasionally venture back into the verbal world amidst our two dimensional visual art battles.  They instantly refocus our thinking as we physically wield the brush.  Maybe painting aprons printed with a list of the most commonly quoted studio adages could be worn by our studio artists. We could also hang small printed strips of paper easily seen along our hallways with favorite artist mantras. I have made myself a stack of quotes on card stock to carry with me to memorize. It is helpful to keep them simply and easily accessed for those moments during our studio time when we surface to the verbal intellectual areas of our consciousness, before we dive back to the visually dominant areas of the gray cells and proceed to paint.

In a recent conversation I had in said break room with artist Mary M., Mary explained that the unique nature of the training at our studio requires years of devoted participation between master artist and student. This is because although the artist can hear verbally how to produce great art, physically acting on this information and consistently producing beautiful Boston School Style art is a long process. It is as if an artist can only advance by small steps.  Repetitive patterns of drawing/painting, then correction and instruction by the master artist, over and over for years—at least 3 to 5 years is necessary.   In a similar conversation in same lounge room, artist David B. and I discussed the similarity of our ongoing formal art training to dancing lessons, sport training or tennis lessons (David teaches tennis, I dabbled in gymnastics and dancing as a teen). We agreed these disciplines, like our art lessons, involve instruction that alternates between acquired knowledge with verbal reminders, and physical output in order to produce desired ends. We all agreed concise pithy phases with an economy of words saturated with meaning are extremely helpful to the apprentice whose product depends on physical performance. Slogans concisely reminding students of elaborate lessons are of course used in other disciplines, such as,

Talk with your racquet, play with your heart

Hustle, hit and never quit

It’s what you do before the season start that makes a champion.

Practice winning every day

Practice, Practice, Practice…

Experience first, then intellectualize……

Here is a sample of some of the quotes we love to hear as we train in the Boston School Style of Painting:

A painter must seek exactitude in his visible shapes and his color relations, not actual shapes and local color. --Gammell

Look for the farthest stragglers; the area least like: make it as right as possible.

All the great painters of the past had found the vocabulary of their art in the appearance of surface forms. –Gammell

Simplest way is the best way. 

Don't be meager with the paint.

Use a good deal of paint to get things down fast. Spread it professionally - generously - but carefully around the drawing.

Study the values, always the values, and again, the values. –Carolus-Duran

Paint shapes as you see them; not as they exist.

Students aiming at rapid progress in the science which teaches us to imitate and represent nature’s world, should devote themselves chiefly to drawing. -Da Vinci

The simplest way is the best way.

Acquire accuracy before quickness. –Da Vinci

Drawing is the interpretation of form. –Degas

Drawing is the probity of art. –Ingres

Ingres outlaws finicky indications and demands broad statements of dominant form. –Duval

There is courage indeed in launching a frontal attack upon the main structure and the main lines of nature and cowardice in approaching by facts and details. Art is really a battle. –Degas

Like good coaching advice that is never forgotten, these maxims can echo in the mind and help guide the artist to great productions!

Written by Sandra Galda Jan. 31, 2012

Chapter review: “Instilling the Painter’s Craft”

Chapter review: “Instilling the Painter’s Craft”

Adolphe William Bouguereau,

 A Nude Study for Venus, c. 1865.

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1578).  (http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft1t1nb1gf;chunk.id=d0e131;doc.view=print)

            In the sixth chapter of “Realism in Revolution: The Art of the Boston School,” Kirk Richards writes about current critical problems in art school training a student must face if he desires to create representational pictures of merit.  Richard echoes the sentiments of a Boston School Style artist R. H. Ives Gammell on the same subject, quoting from Gammell’s “The Twilight of Painting,” when he describes the insufficiencies found in art schools today.  In this chapter these insufficiencies are discussed - even listed numerically - which confound the training an artist needs if they wish to study traditional methods of painting.

For example, the apprentice or atelier methods of training traditional painters are not offered in elementary or high schools therefore its students cannot pursue serious traditional representational art training until college. Once in college they cannot be trained in an apprentice or atelier method either, due to the semester classroom and teacher changes –with teachers who usually own vastly differing approaches to art.  If a traditional representational painting teacher is found there, the student most likely will be shifted away from him or her to another teacher at the end of that semester with only a taste of tradition.   

A smattering of traditional training is not enough to produce a good representational painter. Richard’s metaphoric description of the arduous training a music student must take to become proficient in his calling helps put into perspective the task a visual artist must also take to develop into an equally proficient producer of representational painting.  Why do we accept that the artist of music must endure years of study and practice to please the sense of hearing yet assume a visual artist can merely “spit” and make art?  Richards writes, 

An artist is more than a creative, talented person.  An artist is one who takes whatever talent the Lord bestows upon him, develops and polishes this talent into serviceable skills, and then adds his creative perspective to produce works of art with sincerity and integrity. Desire alone will not produce an artist if the intensity of that desire is not matched by the quality and intensity of training.[1]

 

            The near complete loss of the historic and traditional methods of training artists in the apprentice/atelier environment left us with the current state of art training found in colleges. This loss was incurred by the adoption of modern art ideologies, styles, and the inability of college semesters to give a steady, consistent training to students once found in the previous centuries’ ateliers and apprentice methods.  Despite the near loss, the language of painting transferred from master to student since the Renaissance is being revived.  The desire to develop the skills to carry on the tradition of representational painting is on the upswing and with it growing numbers of ateliers.  Richard believes there will be adequate training available to produce the painters of the future.  He offers his own experience as a testimony, writing,

I discovered what was eventually to become the foundation of my artistic life.  As a full-time student for four years under Richard Lack at his atelier in Minneapolis, I became part of the Boston School, the longest continuing tradition of painting in American art.  Its roots, going back to R. H. Ives Gammell, Edmund Tarbell, William McGregor Paxton, Jean-Leon Gerome, Paul Delaroche, and eventually, Jacques Louis David, were profound. It was here that I found my place and my profession.[2]

            Richards explains that an atelier program develops several skills.  First is drawing from life --not quick, three minute college-program gesture drawings; but nine to twelve hour pencil drawings and hundred hour charcoal drawings.  Life drawing is the backbone of this system of training with three or more hours of drawing five days a week. Rendering form, anatomy, and modeling light and shadow, is emphasized, teaching the student to see with accuracy.  In this rigorous training, creativity plays no more important part than it does when a music student is learning to read music.  To overcome amateurism, dues must be paid.  In addition, plaster cast drawings of ancient statues and busts are part of the students first year of drawing, until he is competent in seeing and drawing light, shadow, and shapes.  Many ateliers then begin painting a cast in black and white oil paint—a transition from drawing to painting.  Next is oil painting in color and still life, then head studies in oil.  After this, the full figure in its environment is painted in full oil color and finally, the execution of interior paintings.

A minimum of four years in an atelier teaches serious students the craft of picture making, including how to draw and paint what they see. The author states that this traditional method of training representational painting will keep alive our great Western traditions in art and pass them on to the next generation.  “The importance of the atelier system of training is that the master of each successive atelier teaches his students all that he knows in order to produce competent painters who will then, in turn, teach a succeeding generation of students.”[3]

--review by Sandra Galda July 28, 2011

---

[1] Kirk Richards, “The Art Student’s Dilemma,” Realism in Revolution: The Art of the Boston School, ed. Richard Lack (Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1985) 55.

[2] Richards 60.

[3] Richards 60.