In addition to her own painting and blogging regimen, the indefatigable Karin Jurick (who I have written about previously here, as well as in my posts on “painting a day” painter/bloggers here and here) has a new project in which she participates, guides and hosts a collaborative painting blog based on a simple but fascinating concept: multiple artists’ interpretations of the same scene.
Different Strokes from Different Folks starts with the premise that multiple artists paint a painting from the same photograph. Jurick provides the photograph and gets the ball rolling in each case with her own interpretation, leaving subsequent submissions open to any artists who wish to participate.
She emphasizes that the intent is to paint the scene and not the photograph, which is basically a digital stand-in for the physical impossibility of all of the artists painting on location together. Each artist looks for their own composition and interpretation of the subject.
Each session starts on Wednesday evening and is open for a week. The results are posted on the blog with links to each participating artist’s web site or blog. The original photograph is posted first, followed by Jurick’s starting piece and followed by subsequent submissions in sequence.
Those interested in participating should read the instructions on the blog’s sidebar carefully. Submissions are limited to traditional media, must be sent directly to her email address, with a specific subject line, as a JPEG file (not as a link and no blurry photos) and accompanied each time by the artist’s name and web site or blog address (regardless of previous submissions).
The result is a fascinating look at how different artists interpret the same scene in paint, and once each session has ended they participating paintings can be viewed as a group, as well as in the blog post (weekly results links on the sidebar).
Jurick also posts her own painting, and often a composite poster of the others, on her own blog.
As of this writing, the subject is the Cloud Gate sculpture (locally known as “The Bean”) in Millennium Park in Chicago.
(Image above: left column: Karin Jurick, Emma Pierce, Dean Haven, Nancy Rhodes Harper; right column: Alice Thompson, Tommye Easterlin, original photograph)
