The art of Nathan DiPietro

Elwha

2012-01-30T02:18:00.000-08:00

Elwha. egg tempera on panel. 40.5" x 72"

Solo show at University of Puget Sound

2012-01-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

Stream Rehabilitation. egg tempera on panel. 40.5" x 72". 2011

Kittredge Gallery Showcases Contemporary Works in Egg Tempera

by Artist Nathan DiPietro

Jan. 16–Feb. 11, 2012

Tacoma, Wash. – On view at Kittredge Gallery in January and early February is an exhibition of work by painter Nathan DiPietro. Titled Invasives the exhibition explores a new Northwest where the lush overgrowth of the native landscape has been replaced with neatly platted developments, leveled fields, and manmade greenbelts. In their regional focus and tight linear detail, DiPietro’s works are reminiscent of early 20th-century American painters such as Grant Wood, but in contrast to those warmly nostalgic scenes from everyday life, DiPietro’s images have the air of stage sets—uninhabited and artificial. In some instances, the artist focuses on the plants that often serve as our contemporary urban “greenscapes”: blackberry-covered fields, ivy-infested slopes, and replanted forests of monocultural trees.

DiPietro works in egg tempera, a centuries-old painting medium created by mixing powdered pigments with egg yolk and water. The resulting paints dry quickly to a matte finish and allow for thin, smooth layers of color and tight control of details. DiPietro will offer a demonstration of this technique following a gallery talk on his work on Feb. 2, at 4 p.m., in Kittredge Gallery. This event is free and open to the public.

DiPietro received his B.F.A. from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, in 2003. He has had solo exhibitions at Woodside/Braseth Gallery and Punch Gallery, Seattle, as well as at galleries in Ellensburg. His work is currently included in the group exhibition Yesterday’s Tomorrow at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Wash., and he has participated in group shows at The Evergreen State College, Olympia; Western Oregon University, Monmouth; and Eastern Washington University, Cheney; as well as in galleries in Washington, Los Angeles, New York, North Carolina, and Texas. DiPietro recently was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, and received grants from 4Culture in 2010 and 2011. His work has been reviewed in Art in America, The Stranger, The Seattle Times, and on artsjournal.com, and can be found in the collections of Swedish Hospital and University of Washington Medical Center. He is represented by Woodside/Braseth Gallery, Seattle.

Kittredge Gallery serves as a teaching tool for the art department and a cultural resource for both the university and the community at large, exhibiting work by noted regional and national artists. Exhibits and talks are free and open to the public.

Opening Reception:

Jan. 25, 5 to 7 p.m., Kittredge Gallery

Gallery Location: University of Puget Sound, N. 15th St. at N. Lawrence St., Tacoma, WA

Directions and Map: www.pugetsound.edu/directions

Regular Hours: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Mon.–Fri.; noon–5 p.m., Saturday

Website: www.pugetsound.edu/kittredge

Trompe l'oeil artichoke

2012-01-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

I occasionally work directly from photography in a trompe l'oeil style to keep my visual skills honed. I've recorded the process below.

I arranged and photographed a artichoke, adjusted the file to life size, and printed 2 basic photos. For larger jobs I've had them printed at a nice print shop. This was close enough that I just joined together 2 8.5"/11" papers.

Joined.

Printed a gray scale copy on card stock and then cut out the main shape.

Placed the gray scale copy over tracing paper. Taped it on the gesso panel where I'd like it.

It takes a bit of force with a stylus to make a mark through card stock. I don't want too much graphite on the panel.

India ink under painting.

I used the card stock cut out to mask the artichoke while I painted the back ground. The card stock holds up well to repeated washes of egg tempera.

Less than 10 hours of work at this point. If I desired a more finished piece I could make a mask of the background, and combined with the mask I already have, apply some unifying washes and scumbles to both the fore and back ground. This would be followed up with more thin washes of color to bring the local color back out. A similar technique is done in icon painting. Important icons can receive many layers of painting in this unifying/local enhancement method.

Group exhibition at Northwest Museum of Art

2012-01-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

I'll be exhibiting five egg tempera paintings in "Yesterday's Tomorrow" at the Museum of Northwest Art. Running January 7th to March 14th. The opening is January 7th with a panel discussion I'm participating in at 1PM. Opening runs 2-5PM. Here is the link.

Culdesac. egg tempera on panel. 35" diameter

Issaquah Highlands

2011-12-30T01:40:00.000-08:00

The rebar rock pile I photographed 2 years ago has begun to take shape. Looks to be concrete sprayed in various colors and carved while wet. Wish I'd been able to watch the process. The size of this wall and the streets around it are rather intimidating. The illusion is incomplete.

Work in progress

2011-12-30T01:33:00.000-08:00

Olympic rain forest.

Detail of Glines Canyon Dam on the Elwha River. Dam in the process of being removed.

Green River LA Fitness

2011-12-02T00:30:00.000-08:00

Green River LA Fitness
18" x 45"
egg tempera on panel

And yes, I put a bird on it.

Tonquin Green Screen

2011-11-18T01:09:00.000-08:00

Tonquin Green Screen
egg tempera on panel
18" x 20"

Continuing my body of work about a fictional movie depicting The Tonquin Incident.

Blackberry/star field 2

2011-10-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

Blackberry/star field 2
egg tempera on panel
35" diameter

Riverview Park Kent, Washington

2011-10-09T15:23:00.000-07:00

Visited the future site of Riverview Park in Kent, Washington today. Major construction should be starting soon so I'm glad I was able to get in to photograph the area. Notice the cut in the bend of the river. This portion will be completed by the Army Corp of Engineers and provide Salmon with a sheltered side channel.

Source: JA Brennan Associates LLC

Green River upstream from future development. Banks are completely choked with Himalayan Blackberries.

Both sides of the river are protected by recently constructed sand berms. Site of future development in distance.

Homeless site along river. The blackberry thickets in this area are rife with well work trails leading to homeless encampments.

Blackberry Harvest

2011-10-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

Blackberry Harvest
18" x 45"
egg tempera on panel

Shuttle Launch

2011-09-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Shuttle Launch

36" x 24"

egg tempera on panel

Tour guide for the Issaquah Highlands

2011-09-09T01:37:00.000-07:00

Visited the Issaquah Highlands with Jen Graves, The Stranger art critic, this past week.

Million dollar mansion under construction. Soon to be covered with a veneer of expensive materials. A few rows of large lots overlook the whole project and include views of Bellevue, Seattle, and the distant Olympic Mountains.

Water retention pond as feature. Algae bloomed and barren. Two ducks chill by the edge.

The railings are warped and twisting out of there brackets. Cheap pine perhaps 5 years old?

Under construction.

Rotting blackberry stalk

2011-09-09T01:28:00.000-07:00

Blackberry season has brought many a berry bearing stalk into the studio for study.

Progress on shuttle launch painting

2011-09-09T01:26:00.000-07:00

After completing the ink under painting I experimented with an all over wash of alizarin crimson. You can see it raw in the figure images.

Detail of figures. Referenced from a gray scale photograph. Painted in gray scale and lightly washed with color.

Gray scale underpainting

2011-09-09T01:10:00.001-07:00

Retraining my painting practice. Referring to desaturated photos for gray scale underpainting. Will be glazing color afterwards. Mmmm old master style.

Inking for new work

2011-08-31T01:14:00.000-07:00

Concerning the last shuttle launch. My father was in the control room for the first 6 shuttle flights. Son as model in the foreground.

A second visit to Seabrook

2011-08-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

Visited Seabrook for an hour on my return from the Quinault Reservation. It had been one year since my last visit and the completion of a large body of work relating to the site.

The same house a year ago.

Tunnel Island

2011-08-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend I visited Tunnel Island on the Quinault Indian Reservation, Olympic Pennisula.

View from the top of the bluff.

Trail down to the beach. Tunnel Island on right.

Darkness brought misting rain and thick fog.

The trees are all warped in their growth by the constant wind.

The wind is barely moving but everything is alive.

2011-08-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

Himalayan Blackberries at Night

35" diameter

egg tempera on panel

New tondo panels

2011-08-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

Heavy duty bracing on one of my new 35" tondo panels.

The sides are built out as well. 3/8" untempered hardboard for the panel.

Studio visit with Jen Graves

2011-08-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/08/09/the-giant-sbx-radar-alien-and-other-invasive-species

West Seattle Landscape

2011-08-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

West Seattle Landscape

18" x 45"

egg tempera on panel

2011-07-22T01:04:00.000-07:00

Inking in preparation to paint. Below is a colored pencil study. West Seattle forest view with the SBX radar. It's been under repairs by Boeing at the Vigor ship yard for the past month.

The Tonquin Final Shot

2011-07-22T00:49:00.000-07:00

The Tonquin Final Shot, egg tempera on panel, 24" x 36".

Some history links concerning The Tonquin Incident.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Woody_Point
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles33n/oregon-4.shtml

Blackberry/star field

2011-06-25T01:24:00.000-07:00

Blackberry/star field, colored pencil on colored paper, 26" diameter.

Blackberries. Nothing, not mushrooms, not ferns, not moss, not melancholy, nothing grew more vigorously, more intractably in the Puget Sound rains than blackberries. Farmers had to bulldoze them out of their fields. Homeowners dug and chopped, and still they came. Park attendants with flame throwers held them off at the gates. Even downtown, a lot left untended for a season would be overgrown. In the wet months, blackberries spread so wildly, so rapidly that dogs and small children were sometimes engulfed and never heard from again. ...Blackberry vines pushed up through polite society, entwined the legs of virgins, and tried to loop themselves over passing clouds. The aggression, speed, roughness, and nervy upward mobility of blackberries symbolized for Max and Tilly everything they disliked about America, especially its frontier.

-Tom Robbins, Still Life With Woodpecker

Star field study

2011-06-16T01:42:00.000-07:00

Center of our galaxy study

colored pencil on colored paper

Invasive weed studies

2011-06-16T01:37:00.000-07:00

Weed Study

colored pencil on colored paper

Himalayan Blackberry and Morning Glory

colored pencil on colored paper

Jen Graves reviews New Northwest Coast: Investigating Seabrook Washington

2011-06-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/places-that-are-real/Content?oid=8638115
Intelligent and insightful review by the preeminent Seattle art critic.

Star fields and invasive weeds

2011-06-11T02:37:00.000-07:00

Colored pencil on colored paper.

Galaxy study

2011-06-08T01:51:00.001-07:00

Galaxy Study

colored pencil on paper

22" diameter

The first of a quick series.

Invasive weeds to liven up the studio

2011-06-08T01:50:00.000-07:00

Currently Reading

2011-06-08T01:47:00.001-07:00

Apple tree branch and Cosmos: a field guide by Giles Sparrow

2011-05-25T02:55:00.000-07:00

An excellent visual guide of the macro. Published 2007, so full of fairly recent scientific theories.
http://www.amazon.com/Cosmos-Field-Guide-Giles-Sparrow/dp/1847241255

New drawings

2011-05-25T02:49:00.000-07:00

The Tonquin Incident (1954) referring to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Woody_Point

apple for stage play

farmville crop life cycle gradations

fire pit

shuttle launch

Quick shots of all the drawings hanging about the studio from the last few weeks effort.

Lower Elwha Dam and Lake Aldwell

2011-05-25T02:32:00.000-07:00

View from road leading to project office and dam walkway.

Original? Power lines.

Below dam. Waterfall is caused by leakage alone east side of dam.

Edge of Lake Aldwell near dam.

New drawings

2011-05-18T01:54:00.000-07:00

Work in progress. "The Tonquin Incident, 1954"

Shuttle launch and rolling Florida beach. Working from a posed photograph for the foreground figure.

"Stream Rehabilitation"

2011-04-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

"Stream Rehabilitation" 40.5" x 72", egg tempera on panel

"Stream Rehabilitation" office buildings

2011-03-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

"Stream Rehabilitation" background

2011-03-12T11:21:00.000-08:00

Working up the mist, low lying clouds, and pine forest. Many thousands of strokes. Each a tree.

Gray on gray

2011-03-12T11:18:00.000-08:00

The only saving grace about the neighboring condos. The paint color makes them generally invisible against the backdrop of a Seattle rainy day.

"Stream Rehabilitation" underpainting 2

2011-03-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

Most of the raw gesso is covered with an initial layer of color. Now to work background to foreground. Starting on the clouds tonight.

Currently reading

2011-03-03T01:52:00.000-08:00

"Stream Rehabilitation" under painting

2011-03-03T01:30:00.000-08:00

Inking for "Stream Rehabilitation"

2011-02-28T12:15:00.000-08:00

India ink underpainting for "Stream Rehabilitation"

Large custom panel

2011-02-28T12:11:00.000-08:00

Had a large panel built for my next painting. 72" x 40.5" Used 1/4" untempered hardboard and braced with 3/8" beech plywood. Cost was $200. Very reasonable pricing and a quality bracing job.

Have found that after gessoing large panels the board will look very warped, as much as 1.5" warp in the middle. Takes about a week to realign and dry/cure fully. As long as your panel is properly braced it shouldn't be a problem.

Large Preparatory Drawing Complete

2011-02-07T12:27:00.000-08:00

Stream Rehabilitation

40.5" x 72"

colored pencil, graphite, and charcoal on toned paper

New Painting: Manifest Destiny

2011-02-06T01:43:00.000-08:00

Manifest Destiny

egg tempera on panel
45" x 18"

Preparatory drawing for Manifest Destiny

colored pencil and graphite on toned paper

45" x 18"

Large preparatory drawing in progress

2011-01-27T00:37:00.000-08:00

Full size preparatory value drawing in progress. "Stream Rehabilitation" 72" x 40.5" Charcoal and graphite on toned paper.

This is the third and final small preparatory drawing. Major composition is laid out and basic color palette established. Enlarged 4.5x using gridding.

Lake Sammamish State Park preparatory drawings

2011-01-24T01:51:00.001-08:00

Preparatory drawings. Colored pencil and graphite on toned paper.

72" x 40.5" toned paper ready to go. Gridded in quarters for enlargement. Masked off. The largest surface my studio can currently handle.

Like a hermit crab?

Lake Sammamish State Park photographs

2011-01-21T11:36:00.000-08:00

Visited Issaquah yesterday. Used to pick blackberries along the many trail areas bordering the wetlands. Water level was very high and eroding the bank. Late 2010 fencing was built and stream rehabilitation began. Blackberries are being cleared and being replanted with cedar, pine, and native shrubs. Logs have been moved into a small stream to provide shade for salmon etc.

Low clouds looking east towards Cascades.

Heavy erosion and high water.

Blackberries cleared along stream, replanted with cedar and fir.

Torn up Himalayan blackberry roots.

Facing Inland

2011-01-09T09:17:00.000-08:00

Facing Inland

2010. egg tempera on panel.

45"x 18"

From a series of work focusing on the land in and around Seabrook, WA.

New egg tempera painting

2011-01-04T00:24:00.001-08:00

Seabrook after Arbor Day

2010. egg tempera on panel.

45" x 18"

Seabrook #4

2010-11-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

Looking out to sea. Whale pack, archaeological dig, and clamming. 1 more painting this size to go and will be getting some nice 300 dpi shots of them all. Stay tuned.

The repetition of ocean waves

2010-11-22T01:31:00.000-08:00

Repetition is becoming a common theme. The goal is to blend it within a busy and active composition.

I wouldn't paint the ocean any other way.

Starting a new painting today

2010-11-18T01:36:00.000-08:00

Looking out to sea. Archeological dig in progress.

This rain is coming down hard. Going for a walk now...

Seabrook #3

2010-11-15T01:18:00.000-08:00

Started with an inked composition this last Saturday night. It's Sunday night and it looks complete. Smooth work flow. No erasing, complete process piece with tons of atmospheric mist and a working background to foreground.

Issaquah Highlands

2010-11-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

Photo expedition to Issaquah Highlands today. This is a new urbanism style planned community of 10,000 currently in development atop the ridge overlooking Issaquah, Washington.

Water retention pond and first phase of Highland Square town homes looking West.

Looking East. Many of these roads have been finished for years awaiting development.

Northwest view of Lake Sammamish

Water retention pond features

Massive water retention pond behind the new Swedish hospital currently under construction.

Great Wall replica along Highlands Drive NE. This was composed of rebar blocks filled with rock, very recently covered with this faux stone.

The tools of the trade

2010-11-06T01:51:00.000-07:00

Turns out egg tempera is an incredibly cheap medium to use. For example, a 500g bag of titanium white pigment, which I purchased for $12, should last me a good five years. I spent more on palette knives than pigment last year.

First session with new piece

2010-11-06T01:47:00.000-07:00

The majority of the color was applied with a cosmetic sponge. Some references to the installation of this

Neukom Vivarium by Mark Dion at the Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Washington
http://atlasobscura.com/place/neukom-vivarium-olympic-sculpture-park

Punch Gallery Winner Takes All

2010-11-04T01:44:00.000-07:00

Every $10 donation receives one entry ticket and a chance to win the entire exhibition!
November 4 - 27, 2010

Opening Reception
First Thursday, November 4
5-8 p.m.

Back by popular demand, PUNCH gallery continues its bold and daring approach to fundraising. An entire collection of new work by PUNCH artists will be given away at the end of this exhibition to ONE VERY LUCKY WINNER. Whether you're a seasoned collector or simply a younger art enthusiast, this is your chance to test your odds, flirt with fate, make a pact with the devil, and once again, believe in Hope.
http://punchgallery.org/sweepstakes/index2.php?ref=nf

A marathon of detail work

2010-11-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

A clear cut heavy with slash after I'm guessing about 10 years of regrowth awaited me on the outskirts of Seabrook. The original old growth remains stuck out like dry bones. New cedars and pine combined with the slash from a previous cut made this ground all but impassable. 30 feet into this terrain cost me 10 minutes and a bruised body wet with water from a previous rain. In some places the undergrowth can be 10 feet deep or more, very dangerous to be out in alone.

In the foreground is a surveyors tripod and freshly poured concrete.

New growth from clear cut

2010-10-29T00:08:00.000-07:00

A detail from a work in progress.

Working from these two photos taken at on the edge of clear cut new growth.

Happy "House" Halloween

2010-10-24T22:28:00.001-07:00

2010-10-22T02:07:00.000-07:00

Worked through a ton of details in the last painting. Should be done but setting it aside for a bit. Here is one session with a new panel. Just trying to cover with color. Focusing on getting solid atmospheric perspective in this one.

Spider love is in the air. Keep your eyes peeled for mating dances. This crafty one has hooked his web to a bell on the porch. Hopefully it will help set him apart in the dating pool.

Detail work

2010-10-12T02:09:00.000-07:00

Building of form with opaque darks and lights. Washes of color to unify areas. Scumbling the central light source.

Clouds details

2010-09-30T00:58:00.000-07:00

Since egg tempera dries almost instantaneously many layers of glazing/scumbling may be performed. With the assistance of a hair dryer I can put down 20+ layers an hour.

For the clouds I'm scumbling with titanium white, ultramarine blue, and cobalt blue. Glazing is ultramarine, burnt umber, mars black, alizarin crimson. Some glazing is performed with a cosmetic sponge. Both glazing and scumbling are building forms and cross hatching.

No erasing

Clouds

2010-09-29T01:24:00.000-07:00

Finished covering all surfaces with local color. Worked through the sky and clouds (background to foreground) with glazing and scumbling.

Painting starts today

2010-09-25T02:51:00.000-07:00

After 3 1/2 months of research, sketching, drawing, inking, building, and gessoing I'm ready to begin painting.

Working background to foreground, dark to light, opaque to transparent.

Mixed a 5 part gradient of blue for the sky/clouds. Second half was a 7 part gradient for greenery. Just trying to build structure and cover raw gesso at this point.

Fifth painting inked

2010-09-22T01:57:00.000-07:00

This will be the fifth and final painting in the Seabrook series. Each piece will measure 18" x 45".

Looking at a massive amount of egg tempera painting uninterrupted by sketching, research, inking, show openings etc. Pure painting.

Third painting inked

2010-09-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

Looks like two nights in the studio to complete tracing and inking. Not bad at all

Inking second painting completed

2010-09-15T01:10:00.000-07:00

Just finished tracing and inking the second of five paintings. Will be inking all five in the series before beginning any egg tempera painting. That should keep the style really consistent throughout the series.

2nd and final day of inking

2010-09-12T01:45:00.000-07:00

Pushed values and details out on second and final day of inking. No figures finalized yet.

Details...

Do I ink the whole series of 5 or start painting?

2010-09-10T02:22:00.001-07:00

First of a series of paintings exploring the Northwest Coast of Washington State. Stayed at Seabrook on a Art 4 Culture project grant. To the right is the life size drawing executed in mechanical pencil and colored pencil on toned paper. To the left the painting panel. Rabbit skin/marble dust gesso on untempered hardboard. Spent last night and tonight tracing the drawing onto the panel and inking.

New work at Woodside/Braseth Gallery

2010-01-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

I will have new work at Woodside/Braseth Gallery opening January 14th 5:30 - 8:30PM.

Stranger Suggests

2009-09-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

The Stranger suggested my show at Punch Gallery in the Stranger Suggests column for Saturday September 19th. Last week of the show this Thursday - Saturday.

Nathan DiPietro salutes Grant Wood - Another Bouncing Ball

2009-09-06T23:26:00.001-07:00

Regina Hackett wrote about my show in her blog today.

Nathan DiPietro salutes Grant Wood - Another Bouncing Ball

Posted using ShareThis

Neo-Suburban Palouse opening night!

2009-09-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful weekend for art. Thursday night we had a great turnout at Punch Gallery for my solo show opening. Lot's of familiar faces and a few new ones. Thank you everyone for getting out and supporting this endeavor.
-ND

Neo - Suburban Palouse

2009-07-22T13:34:00.000-07:00

Upcoming show at Punch Gallery in September. Mark your calendar for the evening of September 3rd and I will see you at the gallery! More information to come. Also check the main site www.dipietroart.com for a complete viewing of the paintings that will be on display.

4 studies for future paintings

2009-01-20T01:42:00.000-08:00

Just finished a series of studies for my next body of work. These are all colored pencil and graphite on toned paper.

Titles are...

Water park
Mountain climb
Day hike
Intruders

Review in Nov / Dec issue of Art Ltd

2008-11-05T15:33:00.000-08:00

I am very excited to announce that Matthew Kangas reviewed my recent solo show at Punch Gallery. The review was just released for the Nov / Dec issue of Art Ltd. It is hard to describe how encouraging it has been to be noticed and to receive such an intelligent and thoughtful write up. Good painting still works.

After the Birthplace of Herbert

2008-11-05T15:12:00.000-08:00

The first painting after a big solo show always takes the longest. Evaluating and weighing the path I will take for the coming year was relatively pain free this time around. This painting is meant to be viewed with Grant Wood's The Birthplace of Herbert Hoover in mind. Notice Wood's oak tree copied in the foreground. His intention was to show Hoover's humble birthplace demonstrating the particularly American myth that any man can prosper and even become president. Particularly relevant November 5th 2008. What type of person will my cultasac produce? Does mowing your own lawn build character? What's your favorite frozen confection?

After the Birthplace of Herbert
egg tempera on panel
22" diameter

Yarn insulation 4 oz roving blowout!

2008-09-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a special opportunity for any wool enthusiasts, The Softest of all Possible Worlds is being sold in 4 oz sections on valutree's Etsy shop. We have Earth, Green Grass, and Night Sky.

First Thursday opening success!

2008-08-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

Apples, knitting, and rainbows opened this Thursday. Could not have asked for a more beautiful Seattle summer evening. Turnout was great and I got a lot of positive responses on the work.

The wool insulation was assembled in the middle of the gallery. Turned out exactly how I had envisioned. Thank you again to all the at risk indie dyer volunteers who helped make this a reality. The piece really brought the whole show together.

Photo credits to aaronstj

Statement for Apples, knitting, and rainbows

2008-08-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in learning more about the Florentine tondo or would like to explore the geometry of the circle I highly recommend Roberta Olsen's book The Florentine Tondo and The Painter's Secret Geometry by Charles Bouleu. Both are out of print and expensive but I was able to track them down through inter library loan. Photocopiers and Kinkos binding are your friend...

Below is the statement for Apples, knitting, and rainbows

The tondo or circular painting was a very popular format in Florentine Renaissance painting, especially in the painting of Madonnas. Famous examples include the Doni Tondo by Michelangelo and Madonna of the Pomegranate by Sandro Botticelli. Interestingly, the use of the tondo format fell out of favor as egg tempera was replaced by oils as the dominant painting medium in Europe.

Working within this format I confirmed for myself that painting in a circle begs for unity, wholeness, completeness, it is a matriarchal shape. The mathematical curve of the circle dominated every inch of the composition, asking for symmetry and punishing straight lines. The wool roving and yarn that my wife Valerie, along with other local crafters produce became a natural subject. The craft of hand dying yarns and creating egg tempera paintings with egg yolk and dry pigments complement each other in their dedication to craft and traditional practices.

Wool roving for an insulation at Punch Gallery

2008-07-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

My beautiful assistant recently finished braiding the wool for a insulation piece. It will be displayed at my show Apples, knitting, and rainbows at Punch Gallery. We are planning on combining them into a large spiral on the floor of the gallery. After the show they will be available on valutree.etsy.com for purchase as normal wool roving in 4 oz sizes.

360 View of my old studio in Quicktime

2008-07-31T12:02:00.000-07:00

Bradford Bohonus came out to my old studio a few months ago to shoot a fantastic panoramic. This should give you a nice insight into my environment and working method. The location is 321 3rd Ave Seattle, WA overlooking the intersection of Jackson and 2nd.

If you enjoy this he has been shooting other Seattle area artists studios.

Images for Apples, knitting, and rainbows at Punch Gallery part 2

2008-07-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

Above are the rest of the paintings that will be in my solo show at Punch Gallery

From the top...

Planned Harvest
egg tempera on panel
22" diameter

The Preservation of Mr. Smith
egg tempera on panel
16" x 20"

The Garden as Historical Landmark
egg tempera on panel
16" diameter

Images for Apples, knitting, and rainbows at Punch Gallery

2008-07-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

Above is an online preview of knitting related paintings for my solo show at Punch Gallery.

From the top...
Portrait of a Woman
egg tempera on panel
22" diameter

3 Handspuns
egg tempera on panel
5 x 7 each

Roving Spiral
egg tempera on panel
22" diameter

Apples, knitting, and rainbows solo show at Punch Gallery

2008-07-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

Apples, knitting, and rainbows
Nathan DiPietro

August 7 – 30, 2008
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 5 - 8 pm

Artist will be in attendance the first and final Saturdays of the month.

Exhibition Link
Download Press Release in Word Format

In August, PUNCH presents a painting installation by Nathan DiPietro, again showcasing the irony of the positive as he further delves into notions of Utopia. Bright rainbows of color, grassy green fields, and cobalt blue skies bombard the viewer with happiness. Many of the vibrant egg tempera paintings focus on wool roving and handspun. These paintings will be complemented by a series of wool insulations displayed throughout the gallery, all dyed by local craft artists. Many of the paintings will be in the "tondo" circular painting format.

DiPietro received his BFA from Central Washington University in 2003 and now lives in Seattle. He shows his work locally and nationally and he boasts that his Monte Christo sandwiches are out of this world.

Top Image: Portrait of a Woman (detail), egg tempera on panel, 22" diameter, 2008