sfumato
[sfoo-mah-toh]
1.
the subtle and minute gradation of tone and color used to blur or veil the contours of a form in painting.
Ahhh.. and Whew! I am finally recovered from the Oldfield show. My husband and I have all but perfected the art of R&R so art shows which are polar opposite to R&R can be, let's just say, taxing.
That said, it was, and always is, a good experience.
It used to be the Oldfield Western Art Show but they have recently dropped the Western so collectors will not be limited to those loving only cowboy art - which there is plenty of - and good stuff too but collectors of several genres of art - including my primary genre, still life.
Old Worldly | Quiet | Serene
I heard several buzz words repeated in my booth. "Old Worldly" was one I heard several times. Also, "Quiet" and "Serene". But one that was new to me was "Sfumato". Sure, I've heard the word and was vaguely familiar with it's artful meaning but never really related it to my work. When I google imaged Sfumato in Chrome I got a bunch of images of the Mona Lisa and the liqueur Amaro sfumato Rabarbaro from the Cappelletti website. And from that site I quote:
"The term Sfumato derives from the italian word for smoke "fumo" .
It is traditionally associated with a style of Renaissance painting characterized by subtle transitions between areas of dark and light.
This speaks directly to the profil of this amaro wich marries a dark smokiness with nuanced bitter woodsiness from alpine herbs and notes of sweet alpine berries."
*the direct cut and paste quote allowed for misspelled words. I did, however, change the font, size and color for emphasis... :)
So what does that have to do with my artwork? Hmm. I have considered myself a Chiaroscuro painter to some degree and often think about a smokey piano bar, hazy and blues-y (you know, like the singing the BLUES). And since the Italian word for smoke is "Fumo" and "Sfumato" is drived from "fumo" then, yeah, I guess it does indeed have Sfumato qualities.
CHIAROSCURRO | SFUMATO
Neither one really rolls off the lips but when you say them you sound really artsy. It sounds like you know what you are talking about whether you do or not. :) I find that's true with a lot of artsy comments though. Sure there are sciences and principals to be found but by and large a lot of artsy talk is opinion and theory. Often no one is really truly right or really truly wrong.
So, do I paint using Sfumato?? Or do I paint using Chjiaroscurro?? Neither you say? Both?
I shoot for QUIET INTROSPECT. Those will be my new buzz words. At least for a while.
QUIET | INTROSPECT
Smokey, hazy, atmospheric, quiet. What ev's... It is what it is. And perhaps even more introspective with that bottle of Cappelletti Amaro.. :)
