artid

artid

Hungry on Thanksgiving

Here is “Sharing a Meal,” a 14x18 scratchboard art etching depicting a child eating from a chicken’s plate.  What inspired me to do this piece was learning that worldwide a child dies just about every five seconds of hunger? There are about 16,000 deaths from hunger related causes daily. Even in the richest nation in the world one in four children is vulnerable for food deprivation in America. These sobering statistics are worth thinking about as we “gobble, gobble” on Thanksgiving Day. There are many ways to respond to hungry children’s needs during the Holidays. I chose to make a pledge to “No Kid Hungry” http://nokidhungry.org/.
Website-http://harrynseymour.com

The Oath

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." This was the oath taken by our 44^th President, Barack Obama. In my scratchboard etching, “The Oath,” I’ve attempted to capture the fragility of the act when Lincoln’s bible rested delicately within Michelle Obama’s grasp and upon which Barack Obama gently placed his hand. These moments of fragility were also quite fleeting in that the euphoria and the widespread adulation felt toward our new President would soon be replaced by hysterical acrimony and doubt about his capacity to effectively carry out the very words he recited. Despite a currently rancorous and hostile national drumbeat, what is not fragile or fleeting are the very qualities for which our young President was so highly praised when he was elected. His strength, intelligence and dignity are constant, and for that I join the multitude of Americans who remain confident that the country and the Constitution are in safe hands.

http://harrynseymour.com

How long did it take to paint that?

"About 30 years," is a reply I once heard from an artist, suggesting years of experience and by implication, talent has more to do with the quality of a painting than how much time expended on it. Despite the logic of this point of view, those who ask this question really want to know the number of hours or days involved in a particular painting. I’m often asked this about “Departure” –a highly detailed scratchart etching depicting the loading of cars and passengers onto a ferry about to depart from Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard. Well, it took hundreds of hours -extended by eye strain and constant cramping of fingers when using straight pins to produce tens of thousands of scratches. Given this effort I am loathe to dismiss time and effort as irrelevant, but do accede to the maxim -it is not how hard one works but how well that counts. And so it is with art.

Is it oil or acrylic?

My recent works tend to invoke the question- are they oils or Acrylics. My reply is neither since I work in egg tempera. I’m trying to achieve a painterly and impressionistic look commonly seen in oils or acrylics and never in egg tempera. My aim is to apply egg tempera in such a way that it looks painterly and impressionistic. I favor this approach because I think it injects energy and interest beyond more direct representation. But, I do not want style to detract from the essence of what I am trying to depict. In “Shaking it out” I have painted a rather common event of a little girl on the beach shaking out her towel, and yet, it is this action that interested me. She is an African American child who has dried herself from the ocean’s water and will soon bask in the Martha’s Vineyard sun. How privileged is this descendant of slaves and by this very act and the manner in which it is painted, she is set apart.

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http://www.artid.com/hseymour

"Arrival" is a scratchart etching

“Arrival” is a 16×20 scratchart etching depicting the arrival of a ferry boat to Martha’s Vineyard. Beneath the boat cars are carried and the large doors open as the boat approaches the Island. This piece was done with a straight pin and a fiber glass brush-a process called scratchboard art. This medium consists of three layers; a firm foundation, a layer of white clay coating the surface of the foundation, and a layer of black ink covering the white clay. As a base or foundation, there is a factory prepared masonite board designed specifically for scratchboard art. Images are created by “scratching”with sharp etching tools such as knives, pins or even fiber glass brushes which was prominent in the creation of “Arrival.” The completed work is treated with a fixative that protects the surface and allows the etching to be framed without glass.

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Egg Tempera with a pallette knife

At the risk of heresy among egg tempera painters I’ve attempted this piece “Ready to Go” using solely a palette knife. To attempt this I was once told would be like painting with melted butter. Not so. I used a dispersion pigment mixed with egg yoke but keeping the consistency thicker than I would typically do when painting with brushes. Let me know what you think of this.