photo by burchenal green
(Minnesota Marine Art Museum, 800 Riverview Drive, Winona, MN; www.mmam.org. ASMA: www.americansocietyofmarineartists.com)
courtesy asma
courtesy asma
(above) Artist Michelle Jung demonstrates beginning a canvas of a coastal scene, as she discusses how she studied to achieve the nuances and power of color. (below) Her dramatic seascape of the California coast, By the Sea (oil, 30 x 30 inches), is part of the ASMA exhibition.
photo by burchenal green
on Bremen in World War II. The second—the largest of the three—hangs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The third painting hung in the West Wing of the White House for decades, but it was there all that time on loan. When word got out that the owner wanted to sell it, Burrichter and Kierlin—a former Minnesota state senator—jumped at the chance to purchase it for their museum. Adding to its historic value is that it is displayed in its original frame, signed by the artist. A group of today’s top marine artists gathered in this setting last September, where ASMA Fellows and Signature artists gave annotated demonstrations of their techniques. Of particular interest was a lesson in how using color and warm and cool tones can draw the viewer’s eye right into the painting. We learned about the “Z approach” to composition and horizon, whereby the artist imagines—or even pencils in—a “Z” on the canvas as a way to place the action. Anyone who has ever said that something “is about as exciting as watching paint dry,” has never watched a good artist turn a blank canvas into a painting, stroke by thrilling stroke. There is a plain white background, and an hour later a seascape comes to life with thundering waves, or a rusty tanker is shown moored to the wharf with slack hawsers in the low light of the late afternoon. There is so much to learn and be inspired by at these ASMA conferences, for both artist and admirer alike. During Signature member Michelle Mary Burrichter discusses Washington Crossing the Jung’s compelling demonstration, she Delaware by Edmund Leutze, one of his three paintings explained that it wasn’t until she started of this iconic event in American history. She and her huspainting that she truly learned to see the band Bob Kierlin acquired it for the museum in 2015. world around her, but that she did not start painting full time until later in life. She generously gives presentations in her community, and I know how this must inspire many hesitant beginners. The 18th National Exhibition from ASMA has moved to the mid-Atlantic and is now on display at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. It is available for all to view online via the ASMA website, but it is transformative if you have an opportunity to see the show in person. ASMA will certainly send a future traveling exhibit to this fine museum in Winona, but there is much to be seen and enjoy if you can get there sooner. You will not be disappointed.
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Weatherly, 1962 by Russ Kramer, oil on linen, 22 x 36 inches During ASMA Fellow Russ Kramer’s presentation, he revealed the painstaking work he does behind the scenes, posing and sketching actors in the positions of the figures he later incorporates into his paintings. His ability to conquer the detail, as he captures the action and the power of the light and water, is masterful. SEA HISTORY 177, WINTER 2021–22