Susan Hauptman

I was first introduced to Susan Hauptman as a sophomore at UGA. One of my professors recommended that I look at her work because it's comprised strictly of self portraits. She was actually the chair of the Lamar Dodd School of Art right before I got there- from 1997-2000.

Susan has used the self portrait as the foundation of her work for more than twenty years. She is an incredible draftsman... including every little detail. All of her pieces are done in charcoal and pastel; on occasion she will use carefully selected color. Her work is extremely personal and evocative; I have always found it to be very soothing and intriguing. She exposes herself in her portraits in a way that gives insight to her own psychology and innermost expression. The starkness of her appearance as well as her androgyny really begin to challenge the idea of beauty.

Hauptman earned her B.F.A from the University of Michigan and her M.F.A. from Wayne State University in Detroit, and currently lives and works in New York.

Gregory Gillespie

I saw Gillespie's work in person at the Forum Gallery this past weekend and was floored. His palette is incredibly vibrant (I am a total sucker for awesome color), and his work is so clean and meticulous. Although some of his pieces are very dated, they have a sort of eerie psychological quality that seems timeless. I was especially captivated by one piece in particular, so I took a snapshot.

Gillespie (1936-2000) was born in New Jersey. He studied at Cooper Union and received his Masters at the San Fransisco Art Institute. After receiving his masters he received quite a few awards including two Fulbrights, and was able to live in Italy for eight years studying some of his favorite Italian painters. He had his first solo show in 1966 at the Forum. His work is categorized as "magical realism."

Gillespie hung himself in 2000 in his studio in Massachusetts, after a long successful career.
http://www.forumgallery.com/adetail.php?id=106

Jacob Collins

A friend at the Academy introduced me to Jacob's work just the other day. He is an an Academy alum, and his work is wonderful. He obviously has a very solid understanding of anatomy and creates such a beautiful, quiet, reflective mood in his work- something I am constantly striving for. I am especially enamored with his handling of drapery. So elegant.








http://www.jacobcollinspaintings.com/

Nicola Verlato

Nicola is my comp and design professor this semester at the Academy. On Monday, we were lucky enough to get a private view of his studio in Brooklyn. I was pretty impressed!

Nicola is from Italy. He studied as a boy with a monk who taught him how to draw and later decided to pursue a career as an architect. However, he lost interest and became an artist. He is an unbelievable painter, draftsman, and architect.... a true Renaissance man.. probably the most talented person I've ever met.

He plans out his compositions very carefully before he begins working on the final piece....starting by rough gestural sketching, making small maquettes of figures, and by creating 3-d images on the computer. (He is having us use these techniques in our class.) Finally, he will use live models to pose exactly as he has composed them. He photographs the models and uses the photographs as well as all the other preparatory work to do a beautiful precise drawing on the canvas. Next he will begin painting by laying in glazes of the three primaries in the shadows. He then begins to lay in the mid tones, working one color at a time. Apparently he is able to work very quickly... the painting I photographed was done in just 20 days!

http://www.nicolaverlato.com/