My Students at the ASLD, part 3

Click here to see paintings by Terrel, Pricilla, Sandi, Pushpa, Gwen, and Suzanne. I really enjoy the diversity in my classes, as seen in this and my two previous posts. Perhaps the classes are best described as independent study.

My Students at the ASLD, part 2

Click here to see the images in a larger size. Here are paintings by Elke, Young Hee, Claudia, Milissa, Patty, and Matt.

My Students Show at the ASLD

My classes at the Art Students League of Denver focus on helping each artist find his or her own voice. Together, we explore how to make artistic statements as strongly and as clearly as possible. This process may be different for each artist. 

Click here to see the first group of artists. Included are paintings by Tina, Phyllis, Katharine and Terry.

Until May 16th, some of my students have a show in the Student Wing Gallery on the second floor of the Art Students League. Each individual image in this blog is copyrighted by the artist who painted it.

Arno Motulsky and Color Vision

On April 29th, I read an interview article in the NYT about genetics pioneer, Arno Motulsky. He is currently doing research in color blindness, and has discovered that 50% of males with normal vision have the amino acid alanine in the red pigment in their retinal cones, the other 50% have the amino acid serine at the same site. Read the article here.

The implications for artists seem interesting. Years ago, the philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, asked the question, here paraphrased: How do I know that when you see red, and when I see red, we are seeing the same color?

This research answers that question by saying that, no, we don't see the same color, or at least, males with "normal" color vision don't see the same color, due to their genetic makeup. 

Many artists have assumed that people "see" through a sociological and cultural lens, e.g. how viewers interpret perspective, and that much of seeing is a learned process. Those who have their vision restored after a life-time of blindness need to re-learn how to negotiate their environment based on their new visual information. But we had thought that those with normal vision objectively would see the same color. I'm not sure what we can do with this new information, but it certainly kicks away our previous assumptions, and may create a new challenge for artists.

Congressional legislation to weaken US copyright law

I've just received an e-mail from a fellow teacher at the Art Students League of Denver, Tom Stevens warning of proposed legislation now before the US congress to weaken the copyright protection. 

 It's difficult to imagine how much the current protection artists have for their creations would be weakened by this legislation.

Here is Tom's email:

"There is a measure before the U.S. Congress which would greatly weaken the copyright law. The legislation is intended to address a problem surrounding orphan works ... these are works which have no clear owner. The legislation will relax user restrictions and penalties for any violations. What this means is that all artists and photographers will need to take an active roll in protecting their work. Read More Here.

I would suggest that you write or e-mail your congressman (if you are in the U.S.). If you don't know who that is, here is where to find out. You would then need to go here, and send your congressman  an e-mail."

If after reading this, you feel as strongly as I do about this matter, please write today.