This Week! Thoughts on our show choice (Episode 55)

Did you ever scroll through past photos in your phone or get reminders on social media about events that happened several years ago on that particular date? Recently, images from a life-drawing workshop Todd and I attended in August, 2018 resurfaced, and we haven't been able to stop thinking about the talent of the hosting artist or the richness of the experience we had.

Prior to the pandemic, Todd and I often sought out opportunities to go out and spend some time either plein-air painting, life drawing, or even taking workshops to hone our skills as artists. During that particular weekend in August of 2018, we found ourselves without kids. With such rare freedom, we decided to head out to Storm King Art Center, a place we had both ventured to before but have never visited together. We quickly checked to see if any other events were happening during our visit, and we were delighted that artist George Boorujy was having a workshop with stunning models in all of their naked yet feathered glory, several beautifully poised falcons. The workshop was entitled Avian Encounters: Retuning the Eye Through the Hand, and it was part of a bigger effort during that weekend that celebrated The Day of the Bird at Storm King while focusing on conservation and climate change and its impact on both the environment and animals.

For this week's episode, we decided to revisit our experience while introducing you to the environmentally conscious, immaculately precise and perspective-altering pieces of George Boorujy. In introducing George, we cannot help but to admire his skill in realistic rendering, his commitment to his preference for challenging mediums (ink- make no mistakes!), and the overall execution of his compositions: these are graspable attributes that immediately tell you that this artist's work is quite good. What makes him exceptional, however, extends into the connection with the environment which offers the inherent assignment of importance to subject matter. Animals, particularly birds, are depicted in ways that utilize scale and purity of background to elevate their roles within our world while alluding to the dangers that threaten their existence. Often portrayed in naturally unnatural positions, their vulnerability becomes pressing and apparent. As the viewer, we find ourselves alternately overwhelmed, awestruck or even perhaps intimidated by the size, talent and shift in vantage point to which we fall prey.

#georgeboorujy, #audubon, #contemporarypainting, #thelargeglass, #climatechange, #birdpainting, #hyperrealism