Studio blog of Julie Galante – painting ridiculous things in Scotland
My husband died a month ago. I’ve been rather quiet online since then, busy with paperwork and grief and more paperwork (death brings so much paperwork, especially if you’ve lived in several countries). But sooner or later I want to reemerge – to continue to share my art and my thoughts and my writing, even … Read more
Bea in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2012 Julie Galante. I have nine large dirndl paintings that are in progress or finished so far, all of them hanging out around my studio. I think they’re going to make for an interesting body of work – so many beautiful … Read more
Petra in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante. I love how painting changes the way I see. Now that I’m spending so much time painting dirndls, I have a whole new appreciation for the infinite variations they can have. Wandering around Oktoberfest these last few days, … Read more
Woman with BlackBerry Bold 9000, 60 x 40 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante. This is one of my new series of portraits with modern technology attributes. I’ve been fascinated by attributes in historical portraiture for a while now, and this body of work is my attempt to play with this traditional aspect of … Read more
Self portrait with iphone 4 (work in progress), 70 x 50 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante If you follow this blog you’ll know that I’m in the middle of painting a series of portraits with modern technology attributes. I’ve been putting my subjects in unnatural posed positions, and seeing what different kinds of … Read more
Detail of a work in progress, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante. Another big-name artist died this week: Lucian Freud. Figurative painters are in the minority in today’s art world, especially ones creating truly new, interesting things. I tend to seek them out and study their work; they comfort me against fears that nothing new can … Read more
So just the other day I was whining about how hard it is for me to work in series. Work in Progress: Scott with MacBook Pro.©2011 Julie Galante. Now suddenly my studio is full of related paintings in progress, and I have six more models lined up. I do believe I’ve found myself a series. I’ve … Read more
Jessica, 60 x 80 cm, acrylic on canvas, ©2007 Julie Galante. I’ve been thinking a lot about attributes recently. In portraiture, an attribute is an object included to help the viewer identify the subject, or to communicate something about the subject. Artists’ self portraits often include paint brushes or a palette, for example. Catholic saints are … Read more
This week I had a thought process that led to some fun ideas for paintings. It started with this monthly painting challenge announcement on Artists Helping Artists, which got me thinking about subjects that could represent September. Here in Munich there’s a big obvious answer: Oktoberfest (which takes place the second half of September). I … Read more
On a recent Radiolab podcast, Oliver Sacks and Chuck Close discussed what it’s like to be face blind. When the subject and guests were presented, I was so excited I almost started jumping up and down. I love Oliver Sacks, but he wasn’t even the exciting part. Personally I’ve always wondered why I am good … Read more