Oil Painting

Carolyn Anderson is a nationally recognized artist. Her work hangs in the collections of many well-known artists as well as private collectors across the globe. Her interpretive style of painting has made her a highly sought after workshop instructor.

Here’s why I needed to see Carolyn: Stat!

Earlier in the summer, I was excited to join a new group of artists who paint portraits from models every week. Since we met so often, I thought that all this great practice would lead to a freer, more interpretive style in my paintings. Sadly, I was mistaken.
 
 

 
 
 
 
Instead of evolving into a looser style, my portrait studies became more academic, with lots of attention paid to the form of the head and the likeness of my model. But I wanted to evolve! I wanted my portraits to stand alone as pieces of art, rather than something only the model’s family would love.
I knew that I needed to see Carolyn Anderson, and fast. I had gone to one of her workshops a few years ago, and I wanted “Michelle” painted by Ann Feldman before Carolyn’s workshop to reinforce the concepts she taught me about “how to see” and how to integrate the model into a dynamic composition.
Fechin Art Workshops in Taos, New Mexico had an opening in Carolyn’s next workshop. Little did I know how lucky I was to land this spot! The workshop included a room at the beautiful and rustic Hotel St Bernard, nestled in the Taos ski valley, and every day for five days, we painted well into the evenings, with breaks for yoga and meals provided by Jean Mayer, who has hosted visitors to his hotel for over 50 years. Our workshop organizer, Elise Waters Olonia made sure that we could focus all of our attention on our art. I was in heaven!

Here’s what I learned from Carolyn:

The following is a description of a series of demonstrations done by Carolyn for our workshop, condensed into one example. In addition to these demonstrations, Carolyn presented very comprehensive lectures on color theory, edges, temperature, and the art of interpretation, among other topics. To cover all of this information, this article would become the size of a book, so I will focus on what I learned from her demonstrations.

Approach the Composition as a Whole

Carolyn doesn’t paint a model’s head as a separate entity. She looks for the extreme values in the entire setup and makes marks for the darkest darks and the lightest lights and uses these marks to guide the more nuanced values in the rest of the painting.

Find Direction, Movement, and Shapes in the Composition

From her initial value marks, she finds interesting shapes and pathways through the composition to make the painting dynamic. This is not the time to define shapes, but to make visual connections that are interesting. She explained that since our eyes pick up value and movement first, we need to use this information throughout the painting process, but most importantly in the very beginning.

Look for Color and Nuance

As she makes her value notes and begins to find directional movement, she also notices color nuance beginning to emerge, and makes color notes throughout the composition. She loads her brush with a color that she sees, then uses it all over the composition wherever it appears to create color harmony in her painting. She tells us that this also keeps her from painting “things”, and dwelling too long on small parts of the composition. She continually builds the painting as a whole.

Build the Painting

She abbreviates steps instead of overdeveloping any areas of the painting and lets areas with similar value intermingle. She avoids solid outlines, especially around the head. She suggests shapes and allows them to meld into the background or other shapes whenever possible. She looks for visual connections everywhere, and tells us that in paintings, objects are not separate from space; everything is connected. As she paints, her eyes continually jump from one area to the next, making marks of whatever catches her eye. This allows the painting to work as a whole. She reminds us that if we look at any one thing too long, it will lose its context. She tells us that “A successful painting happens when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.

My Turn to Try: Applying the Lessons Learned

During the workshop, I began to understand that I needed to paint the entire composition rather than focusing on just the model and adding in the background as an afterthought. I tried to find my values and movement from the beginning of my process.
I also tried my hand at finding color harmony and bouncing it around the painting. I made a conscious effort not to paint the model as a separate entity from the background, but to make her part of the whole of the painting and allow values and edges to meld together.

Push Your Boundaries

 

“If you want to create a painting which exceeds your previous expectations, you have to be willing to fail. Make mistakes and experiment; it’s the only way to push past your boundaries.”
-Carolyn Anderson
For me, this last point is the most important of all. I’ll go back to my portrait group armed with a new attitude instead of playing it safe and painting as I’ve always done, I’ll push my limits and be comfortable with some failures. This is the only way I’ll make new discoveries.

I know I would not be the artist I am today without my teaching experience. Teaching art has enriched my life in many ways. Ironically, teaching is something I thought I’d be really dreadful at. As a teen I was a stubborn introvert. Public speaking caused me great anxiety. Although I wanted to improve my art, I remember hating most of my art teacher’s comments. You could even say I was a teacher’s worst nightmare… an unreachable student.
I never had aspirations to teach art, but fate intervened in the form of several women who saw my artwork on exhibit. They approached me and said they needed a person to ‘present a project for the day as an excuse to get together and chat’ (their words not mine) as their current teacher was leaving town. They pestered me until I said ‘yes.’ Thus began my teaching journey about 20 years ago. I was shocked to find I could actually enjoy teaching a class, moreover the students had fun too.
If I can overcome my early obstacles, it is possible for anyone. I currently see about 60 students per week for local classes and conduct travel workshops (US and abroad). Watching students of mine learn and progress into first-rate artists has been a uniquely rewarding experience.

BENEFITS OF TEACHING

• Clarification
  Concepts get clarified in your mind as you teach them to others.
• Reliability
  Predictable income versus art sales that fluctuate.
• Disciplined time to paint.
  No more procrastination. The practice of consistently producing a demo for students (regardless of inspiration or light conditions) has helped me to focus in the studio, and perform faster outdoors for plein air work.
• Travel
  As a teacher all travel expenses get paid for workshops.
• A chance to give back.
  Art is a wonderful thing to share. Artists through the centuries have passed along knowledge student-to-teacher, and many painters feel this is fulfilling part of what it means to be an artist.

STRATEGIES FOR THE BEGINNING TEACHER:

• Volunteering
  Volunteer to teach a class, give a demo or assist (school, senior center, etc.).
• Prepare
  Prepare well to gain confidence. When I first started I would pre-do every demo. I had handouts to get my thoughts organized. I didn’t make much per hour in these early days, as I spent a huge amount of time pre-preparing.
• Start Small
  Teach a friend or relative. Ask for feedback on how the process was for them.
• Remember
  Remember what it felt like to be a student and think about who was a good teacher and who was not. Would you rather “copy from that stack of National Geographics” (as one teacher told me) or would you rather draw from life; and be taught line, shape, and color with varied media? In hindsight, I am grateful I had talented teachers and ones who disappointed me. I learned from both.

CLASS NUTS AND BOLTS – AND WHERE TO GET STUDENTS

• Have a good website.
  List your classes, show examples of your work, and have a bio of accomplishments. Provide a supply list and links to resources.
• Maintain a mailing list.
  Send an email newsletter about upcoming workshops, classes, and exhibits.
• Make Friends
  Affiliate with an art school or art store. Staff will handle enrollment, advertise classes, and have a pre-existing student base. Have a contract so expectations are clear. Schools take a percentage of the tuition.
• Try Something New
  Try a “Sip and Paint” (the instructor shows a final painting, and students follow steps to completion while sipping wine.) I have not done this, but they are popular and it could be a good way to break into teaching. Which brings me to my next point:
• Know your strengths and weaknesses.
  I dislike step-by-step teaching where everyone paints the same image and with the same colors. Instead, I love to paint on-location and to show students how to see and organize what is in front of them.
• What to charge.
  Fees vary widely. Tuition will depend on your experience, your resume, geographical location, travel costs, the current economy, and demand. One way to figure your rate is hourly. A per-head fee is another way to structure tuition. Research fees at local art schools.
• Get your business in order.
  Seek advice from professionals (insurance agent, accountant, etc.). In addition to a business license, an EIN tax number and a business checking account, you should also have a business insurance policy for liability. Make sure your insurance policy covers you overseas if needed. Look into becoming an LLC. Check for any county/residential restrictions or permits. Workshop students should have travel insurance.

APPRECIATE THE ARTISTIC PROCESS

• Embrace mistakes in student art.
  Most students (especially beginners) think they need a lot of one-on-one attention because they are afraid to make a mistake. Mistakes are part of the learning process. Encourage independent painting. Don’t hover near the student with instant corrections. Tailor advice to each student based on individual needs.
• Encourage individuality.
  Not all students will want to paint the same thing, or even do your lesson for the day.
• Give your students permission to play.
  Unfortunately, getting ‘a perfect trophy painting’ is often a student’s main goal. Instead, encourage exploration.
• The bottom line.
  Easel-side personalized assistance at intervals in the painting process is more important overall than telling students ‘how to do’ something. Individual advice (artists to look at, ideas to explore, answers to questions) is the best way to have students move forward on their journey in art.

PITFALLS TO AVOID

• Don’t overload students with too much information.
  Break things down into manageable steps. Offer focused ‘tasks for the day’ (i.e., negative shapes, aerial perspective, mixing fall tree colors, etc.). Consider how one lesson might flow into the next to build skills such as: a portrait of a tree (shapes), then aerial perspective for the next lesson (atmospheric color), and a mountain scene for the final lesson putting prior concepts together.
• Have patience.
  As the instructor it is your job to fully understand the concept. Students may be hearing it for the first time. You may have to repeat yourself many times and reinforce the concept with varied examples.
• Don’t do a demo that is too long or too perfect
  (one hour maximum, half hour is better). Show enough to demonstrate a concept, but get students working as soon as possible to reinforce the learning process. Showing how to do a larger painting, or as a ‘long demo’ is OK on occasion.
• Allow proper time
  Students need time to clean up and chit chat as people exit the class.
• Have a cancellation policy.
  If you don’t you may find that you are wasting your time preparing for lessons that do not happen.
• Expect the unexpected.
  I am astonished at the new ways the universe likes to surprise me in class. Try to handle issues such as illness, personality clashes, and equipment snafus with grace. Understand that many students just want to do well in a workshop or class, and strong feelings of anxiety or insecurity can pop up.
• The customer is (almost) always right.
  Don’t forget you are a hired person offering a service. Students have paid for your time and they have a choice with whom to study. Go the extra mile for your students. There are times when you can’t please everyone. Solicit feedback, and listen.
• Ask before touching or correcting a student’s painting.
  Personally, I think we are in a visual line of work, thus a visual correction is a better, faster way of showing a student what to do versus just talking about it. I often paint on student’s paintings. Most students will be fine with it, but a few are not. Respect preferences.

GETTING BETTER

• Continue to learn.
  Rediscover what it’s like to be a student again and take a workshop with an instructor you admire, or try something new. Try to expand your skill set. This will help you teach a wide variety of students. Immerse yourself in the joy of learning. It’s lovely to watch someone else do a demo, critique, lecture, or handle a class problem. Read all you can about art, try out new ideas, visit exhibits.
• Connect with other artists.
  Plein air events, art conventions, and lectures, are great places to share ideas and meet other artists. Take a trip with a few art friends to a museum, or an art-rich environment such as New York City.
• Co-teach a workshop with a friend.
  Share ideas and have fun with only half the responsibility of the teaching load.
• Learn from your students.
  Keep an open mind and you will see that in the end you learn as much from your students as hopefully they learn from you.

I used to think that if I got enough experience I would become ‘a good teacher’ but I realize now that the journey is more important than achieving the goal. We are ALL learning, if we stop there is stagnation and repeating the same thing. The curious brain is one-and-the-same as the artistic brain. This in the end, is how to keep growing as a teacher, to let students see you are still learning and that is the best teaching tool of all.

I’m pleased to present the second part of this special interview withthe Akhriev (Ak-REE-ev) family: Melissa Hefferlin, husband Daud Akhriev, and son Timur.
In Part 1 we learned how Melissa, as a young 20 year old American made her way to Russia to study at the Russian Academy of Fine Art, where she met Daud. We also learned of the extensive training the Russian Government provided for its promising young artists. Daud and Timur are products of that system. All three are multi-talented, speak several languages, are trained in a variety of disciplines, and recipients of many awards. Daud and Timur were big winners in the Oil Painters of America national competition, held earlier this year in Dallas.
The final part of their very interesting interview deals with their diverse cultural and religious differences, how Daud and Melissa met and eventually married, and how their work has influenced the other. Timur shares his first impressions of America.
I know you’ll enjoy this. It’s a great story. Be sure to read Part 1 Here.

Melissa Hefferlin

You and Daud have such diverse backgrounds, both culturally and spiritually; how did you meet and eventually marry?
Daud had friends in my studio at the Academy, and so would sometime enter our studios to meet his friends for lunch. He asked them to invite me to his place for a dinner party, and I was smitten with his larger-than-life sense of humor and passion for painting. I also loved his work even then. He had ten times more of it than any of his colleagues (he was a graduating from the last year of the masters’ degree). I thought then that I’ d love to see him painting in the States with such huge talent, and not struggling to get by in the then-very-broken Soviet Union. Luckily, over the next four months, we spent a LOT of time together, and very quickly were inseparable. At the close of the school year when my time was finished and he was graduated, he accepted my invitation to “visit” me in the States, and we have been together ever since. It’ s true, though his family are Muslims from the Northern Caucasus, and I come from Seventh Day Adventists in Appalachia, we found that the values of hard work, love of family, mutual respect, doing all things to the best of your abilities, and passion for life were powerful overlaps. These overlaps are true for our extended families, too, and I am happy to say that our blended family of mixed heritage now adore one another powerfully. Of course sometime we had misunderstandings, but all families do. I wish more Americans had the opportunity to form bonds with people who seem different from themselves, as it is a powerful opportunity to grow and experience a broader spectrum of human life.

Has Daud’s work influenced what you do, and has your work had an impact on what he does?
Of course working near one another means we absorb something of the other to some degree. Daud most obviously gave me his work ethic, and understanding of the hours necessary to put into a finished studio piece of any profundity. My American education had shown me turning in work which at most had ten hours in it over the course of a week. Now I can spend months on a larger painting, or visit a piece off and on over a year to get it right. Before I lived with Daud, that sort of time expenditure was not within my comprehension. I also continue to learn from both Daud and Timur to be more mindful of composition. I’m an intuitive composer, and they both are much more mindful and methodical and intellectual about their compositions. (Cindy Procious, a painter currently residing in Chattanooga, is another fine sounding board on this matter to me.) While my instincts about composition remain a powerful guide to me, I do enjoy examining my choices from the perspective of Timur and Daud, and tweaking. You didn’t ask me about Timur, but I am now being super inspired by my son, who I think is just on fire. He’s super dedicated to painting things that are true for him, and not necessarily just beautiful. His series called “drifter” uses my nephew as inspiration/ model, and I admire that body of work intensely. Timur’s malcontent view on many modern practices, and on the world handed down to his generation, I find very “true,” and powerful, and I am inspired to do better. I love Timur’s color!!! Damn, that boy is a colorist. With Daud, I know in an obvious way, I gave him pastels. Daud hadn’t ever considered pastel seriously, nor had access to good ones. Now he’s an ace pastel painter, I’m proud to say. Also, when Daud was doing his masters in Russia, he was very monochromatic on purpose. He was wondering, how little color could he use and still say something well. I urged him back into his full spectrum of color. I also sent him out to paint landscape, which he’s thought of as school exercise. He blossomed and changed technically as an artist after a couple of years doing plein air all over the States and Switzerland, wherever generous people let a young couple visit and make art. I really did nudge him to do that, though quickly he took the bit in his teeth.

How would you describe the work you’re doing today?
The purchase of a studio in Spain has given me more time to focus on pieces in an uninterrupted way. I am enjoying exploring still life and figurative pieces more deeply. I have more time to finish things not necessarily more “polished” like Ingres, but more deeply to my liking. Exposure to an entirely new visual culture has been a shot in the arm. I love painting the flamenco friends I have, and the Spanish horse culture. I am really enjoying putting more love into my block printing. My subject matter is divided between still life, which is a real love of mine. I’m attempting to get more soul into still life, so that it’s less decorative and more soulful. And then I am painting lots of horses, riders and flamenco women. These are the things I love, the part of my life which gives me joy. So I want to paint them. I’m enjoying experimenting with glazes in oils, and then switching in the next painting to alla prima brushwork. I’m loving being a middle-aged painter, and having some skill already to where the media works with me, and playing is actually fun versus agony. I’ve also had some wonderful private students, long term students, and working with a new artist is always a fresh examination of what one believes. This has been fortifying.

Daud Akhriev

You were born of liberal Muslim parents and educated under an atheist communist system, have any of your beliefs changed since becoming a US citizen?
I was born into a family which followed traditions of Muslim heritage, but I lived in a village where there were representatives of almost every religion on earth. So living in the USA was very much like the way I was raised. The country being officially atheist did not mean that people were not privately believers, and in our village many people believed in their own home, privately, and the same is true in the USA, but though privacy is not necessary of course. Once being educated, all my best teachers were Jewish or culturally Christian (practicing to a more or less degree). So really, in that particular way, nothing much changed. I think the reason nothing changed in that department began with my first grade teacher, and then again with Zhukov in the children’s art school, I was always taught that “you are just another block building in humanity’s cultural achievement. Your job is to be strong and honest. When a child is so taught and so treated, that is a clear directive, and the atmosphere around the child who later becomes an adult is really not very important.

How would you describe the work you’re doing today?
Multi-faceted. I am doing many things simultaneously right now, all due to travel and the experiences which travel provides me. When I’m able to see different nature, and have new dialogs with artists and musicians and non-artists, I get new ideas for materials and subject matter. In the last two years I was in Italy, Maine, Andalusia, Russia, Morocco, and the countries expose me to so many art forms. There’s always painting. I’m working with oil and tempera now, which helps me to sharpen different skills. Working on a trip in watercolor makes you more direct and fast. Travel paintings I bring to the studio as reference material. I’m also working with clay sculpture, tile designs with drawings in wet clay tile. I still continue with one of my favorite series, called “Weathered People,” using lots of different people from around the world, including many fishermen. Within the “Weathered People” is a subset of paintings called “Wanderers.” I just finished a painting of a wanderer who was a weathered, troubled person who struck out on the road to wander, like a Hindu mystic, and he wandered and was beaten up by the elements, and had adventures, sad, happy and varied, and after years on the road he’s about to arrive home, finally at peace. My wife, Melissa, came in to the studio and made me very happy by saying, “Oh, he’s a peaceful man.” I like this series the best. My piece in the last OPA show was from that series. For the last two years I’ve been making and installing public mosaics. Mosaic helped me a great deal to express my affection for decorative art. It was so freeing to manipulate form in a non-realistic way. I enjoyed making my own ceramic tile for the mosaics, and then combining my tiles with Italian smalti, which are so rich in color and light.
Name three of the most significant things that have made you the artist you are today?
My teachers, my family and my friends. My personal connections set the tone for the artist’s vision. My teachers set the tone of ‘you have to know how to learn.’ They said to me, “Imagine that you are a sponge and collect all that you can, then release what is not useful.” However, you have to collect information first. My family and friends require of me to do what is right. My relationships with them help me discover what the right way is, what topics are important. That helps to shape my course. Perhaps I would add a fourth, the ability to travel. Travel allows me to meet people, see great art, and have conversations, testing what I believe and do…and of course, analysis of all input is essential.

Timur Akhriev

What were your first impressions of the United States?
The United States was great from the first time I ever set foot in this country. It was so different from Russia. I remember driving for the first time through Atlanta, I could not believe myself how amazing everything around me was. And, to this day, whenever I fly back from any place in the world it still feels more like home than any other place. America is a beautiful place.
 
 
 
 

Your work has similar textural qualities to that of your father, and yet in many ways is quite distinctive; how did you achieve your own voice while being surrounded by two strong artists in their own right?
I think we all have our influences that lead us to be who we are as artists. Russian school gave me a great training, but when one has two great colleagues (Melissa Hefferlin and Daud Akhriev) by your side its a great opportunity to learn more. As Akira Kurosawa said, “If you want to be a professional you have to remain a student.” I believe there is no end to how much one can learn and move forward, even if sometimes you feel like you’re standing in the same spot. I don’ t really know if I found my voice yet, I think I’m still searching.
Thank you, Melissa, Daud, and Timur for this wonderful and interesting interview. I and the readers of this blog are appreciative.

It is said that everybody has a story, and every life is interesting. I totally agree with that, it’s just that some people have lives that are more interesting than others, and in the process accomplish great things. That’s the way I feel about Melissa Hefferlin, Daud and Timur Akhriev. I call them the Ak-REE-ev family. I really have Suzie Baker to thank for suggesting this interview. I am so thankful that she did because communicating with Melissa via email, and with Timur on the phone, I have gained great admiration for this family. They are incredibly talented and versatile with a captivating and interesting story. All speak multiple languages and each have made significant contributions to this world through their art. Daud and son, Timur, are Russian, while wife and step-mom, Melissa, is American. Timur is not necessarily in favor of me calling Melissa his step-mom as he is adamant that he has two moms…and Melissa is one of them. They all live in Chattanooga, TN but spend a significant part of each year in Spain. At the 25th Annual Oil Painters of America National Show, held earlier this year at Southwest Gallery in Dallas, Daud (rhymes with cloud) was awarded the Silver Medal, just a tick away from the top prize of $30000, for his painting, “Harbor Conversations”. Meanwhile, son Timur received an Award of Excellence for his painting, “Youth”. This interview has been broken into two parts because of the extensive and thorough responses. This week is about their background and training. Next week we get a little more personal. You’re going to love this. Here is their story:

Melissa Hefferlin

As I understand it, at the age of 20, you went to Russia to study at the Russian Academy of Fine Art (the Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture) in what is now St. Petersburg. At the time you were the only American woman; that’s a pretty bold move for a young American girl. How did all that come about?
You’re right. At the age of twenty I went to study at the Russian Academy of Fine Art (you have the official name correct) in “ Leningrad” when it was still the Communist Soviet Union. I was not only the only American woman, I was the only American to study there during Communist times. Only J.M. Whistler studied there before I did, while his father built railways for the last Tsar, if I have the facts correct. I was studying painting at Otis/Parsons Los Angeles, and was rather unhappy with the emphasis on being fashionable. I met a Russian scientist who advised me that the Russians had the best art school in the world for Realism. At that time, maybe you remember 1980’s and 1990’s, we didn’t have many American destinations for the intensive study of Realism. I had to take the Russian man’s word for it, because there was no internet, there was no information on art schools in the Soviet Block, there were no ways to independently investigate the possibility. But I have always loved adventure, so I quit Otis/Parsons, sold my VW bus, and bought a ticket to Soviet Russia. (How I got a visa is a whole different story, and we don’t have time for it here.) When I arrived, the person who was supposed to meet and guide me had left the country, so a nice family my parents knew took me in. (When I was a pre-teenager, we were sent to Communist Russia as an exchange family for two years as a peace initiative on the part of President Carter. This program was run by the Academies of Science of both countries.) It’s a great piece of luck that I had no understanding of the difficulty of being accepted to the Russian Academy, because if I had known I might have given up. Being ignorant, I called all my host’s friends and found someone who knew someone in the Academy of Art, and got an interview appointment. After confusion and a very intimidating interview with some fifteen Academics (painters-educators who have received the highest educational level of the Academy of Arts of the country) in the mahogany board room, I was allowed to stay by an executive decision of the department head. They were mostly dumbstruck on how I got there, I think, and were willing to honor my gumption.

How long were you a student at the academy; how were you received, and what were you specifically hoping to learn?
I stayed for a year, like a year abroad. When I had my credits analyzed by an educational board in NYC, in that one year I had accumulated double the amount of studio hours required for a BFA in an American university. I was received with great curiosity, and mostly gracious welcome. I was the only American student out of 800, so I felt sometimes like an exotic creature in the zoo. When I arrived I was grossly underprepared, and performed far below the average student of my year. Most of my classmates had gone to art school for children for eight years, art high school for four years, and often art college for a BFA before coming to the Academy for six more years. Many were in their mid-thirties. I worked hard enough to nearly destroy my health. By the time I left, and with the encouragement and mentorship of both fellow students and professors, I was performing solidly with the middle of the class. That proved to have been one of the most useful periods of my life.
Your resume is quite impressive; what three things are you most proud of as an artist?
Thank you. You are very kind. Surely that my young self had the luck and determination to attend the Russian Academy during a time period when stellar painters were still teaching. The painters who mentored us were of a caliber and of a time period which simply does not exist there today. These men (and they were all men) had painted through the siege of Leningrad, had survived Stalin, had studied with fantastic masters themselves….This would be the event I’m most grateful for. No matter what else happens, my soul expanded and I received guidance from astonishing painters and that knowledge and experience will always be MINE. I met my future husband there. I maintain friendships of great worth to me twenty five years later. That’s number one. Secondly that I am privileged to make a living at a thing I love. I am aware of people who work labor to survive in profoundly unpleasant or repetitious or dangerous jobs (no matter how grateful they may be to have employment) and I am humbly grateful for the honor to be paid for my passion in visual arts. It’s a huge thing, yes? And on a humorous note, one of my favorite awards I was unable to accept. I entered a painting of heifers into the Kentucky State Fair. I’ve always loved State Fairs, and have an affection for the farmers of Tennessee and Kentucky, and even more for their bovines. I received a phone call that my cows were up for Grand Prize, but the judges felt they needed to inform me that the purchase prize money was 1/5 of the value of the piece. With regret I declined, but was pleased as punch with my heifers being selected. I also particularly enjoyed the honor at the Pastel Society annual juried show of the Salmagundi Award. I love that historic art club.

Daud Akhriev

You’re from Kazakhstan in Southern Russia, how is it that you came to America; when was that?
I was born in Kazakhstan because we were deported (so was my entire nationality) in 1944 to Kazakhstan from Ingushetia. After graduating from art college in the South of Russia, in the Caucasus, I then was accepted in the Leningrad Academy of Art, which is now the St. Petersburg Academy of Art (The Repin Institute). There in art school in Leningrad, I met Melissa where she was studying in Mylnikov studio with a friend of mine. When the school year ended she invited me to America and we made a life together. That was the summer of 1991.
 

At the age of eight you were singled out by the Soviet educational system to receive special training in art; what did that training involve, when and for how long were you a student?
The program I entered was officially a four year program. We were given tests, because the applicants were many. If you were accepted it was a 3-hour program after regular school, three times per week. Two months of the summer we were taught in plein air. I studied under Nikolai Vassiliovich Zhukov, who was at that time one of the top tier teachers for young students in the world, and much awarded. Even though our country was so closed by Communism, Zhukov had visitors from educational delegations from Japan, England, France, India, and others, to study his method of teaching the young people. We entered competitions all over the world and won medals in youth categories. Once, in that program, I won a medal with a personal letter from Indira Gandhi, and a set of Dutch paints. All the other kids wanted my Dutch paints. Legally the program was for children between 8 – 14. Before that, at first I was too young to enter the school because I was seven, but when the educators saw my drawings they allowed me to come illegally with the other students and attend the courses until the year I was accepted officially. In my memory, when I think about the best art schools I’ve known, I prefer that school even to the Academy, because the atmosphere was at least equal to the Academy. I preferred it because it was in an Art Nouveau mansion, with absolutely the best of the best architecture, the most fantastic teachers with a well-structured system for building a base in drawing, painting, composition, sculpture and art history. It was in Ordzhinikidze, which is now Vladikavkaz.

What are the significant differences between Russian academic training and what is typically found in the United States?
Russia has a wider range of exercises for training yourself to draw over and over and over until drawing from your head is effortless. I have never heard in a Western school where a drawing or painting will take 40 – 50 days, which our drawings at the Academy regularly did. We were expected to hone gesture drawing on our own time. We had models six days a week, five hours a day, plus evening drawing group three times per week. On top of that, all our art history teachers were well-known art historians from the Hermitage or Russian Museum, they were published authors on particular periods. So when you combine the theoretical education with teachers of that level (like having Andrew Wyeth teach you egg tempera), and you have lots of such teachers, it makes for a strong education. Also, we had the museums all free for us to enter and copy from Old Masters, with professors from the restoration department overseeing our copies. All the teachers focused on how to compose within any given shape…to use the space. And also for example in painting, when you have a painting of a model, the school was careful to give you assignments where the model was against a green background, then a black one, then a red one, in a situation with a lot of pattern, etc. Then they made it more complicated by putting two models, or three, which had to be proportional and harmonious. And, this is very different, the critiques were really critiques—-not designed to encourage students who are “ clients” of the school. The critiques were designed to eliminate your weaknesses, and they were ruthless in the best possible way. And while we lived humbly, we were given a stipend, a room in the dorm and art materials, so we could really focus on the work. Today, of course, that has changed a great deal.

Timur Akhriev

What was your childhood like in Russia?
My childhood in Russia was interesting for a lack of a better term. In 1991 we escaped war and moved from Vladikavkaz which is in the southern part of Russia. ( NOT VLADIVOSTOK!!!!!! AS MANY PEOPLE MISTAKE.) St Petersburg is up north. I was about 7 or 8 at the time and had to miss the whole year of school, but eventually did attend a public school for about two years before switching to art school. I think I had an easier time adjusting to the change as very young person than my family did.
As I told you on the phone, we kind of ended up being refugees within our own country and I think it made a very large impact on me.I think one might grow a thicker skin in situations like that, which sometimes can be a minus.

You were in art school from 1995-2002, eventually immigrating to America in 2002 to be with your father who came in 1990, and with, Melissa, your stepmother. While in school, with whom did you live, and how did you support yourself?
I entered an art school in 1995 and graduated in 2002, the same year I moved to US to live with my parents. My father moved to US in 1990 with my mom Melissa (if you need for some technical reason to call her step-mom you are welcome to do so, but I always considered her my Mother. I have two.) While I was attending school I lived in one apartment with my grandma Marietta, my two aunts Fatima and Diba and my sister Danna (it was packed). Because I was very young I didn’t have to support myself, most of my family had jobs and we had support of mom and dad who were already living in US. But if you are interested, I made my first sale when I was sixteen, it was a still life with a saddle and porcelain bull.

Like your father, at a young age you too began art studies in St Petersburg, and later in Florence; please tell us what your training was like.
The training in Russia was absolutely great and awesome. We had a seven year program which trained you from basic perspective to multi-figurative compositions. In the first year of the program we had to draw a cube on a surface with drapery to understand the perspective. After that we moved to sphere and cone and had to do it several times. In addition to that we had to paint still lifes in watercolor with pitchers and fruit, or cast iron skillets to understand different patterns, or something transparent filled with water. The reason we could only paint watercolor for the first three years is because this media teaches you precision. A mistake in watercolor is hard to fix, so eventually you have to learn to be precise in your approach to application and drawing. In addition to regularly scheduled classes, we had homework assignments, which included figure sketching, cityscape sketches, and multi-figurative composition sketches for larger projects throughout a year. Every summer we had a “Summer Practice” in a huge garden that our school had, it was not manicured, but was very natural, beautiful, and green. If you were between 6th and 9th grade you were assigned a still life in that garden for about three hours a day and after that we had to go paint cityscapes. If you were between 10th and 12th grades you had to paint a live model in the garden for about the same amount of time and also after that you had to paint cityscapes. At end of the 9th grade we had to pass exams to continue studying at this school, which included still life in oil, drawing of the mask and multi figurative composition. From 10th to 12th grades we had more advanced assignments such as nude model with different color backgrounds and live models with still life’s or some sort of arrangement.
Florence Academy was a great school too. I’ve learned many things from them as well, they are very disciplined and and have their own approach to drawing and painting and I still use certain technical aspects that they taught me. One of the great things about the Florence as a place was that I could go anywhere in Tuscany and paint one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. So combined with academy training and painting city or landscapes on the weekends, I kind of raised my level, and I think for the first time I saw my paintings starting to look more advanced and professional.

Driving through the environs of Southern Vermont, a place I know so well, I am struck by the colors and the beauty of nature, especially in the Fall. Now that I’ve lived on the West Coast as much as the East Coast I have a perspective of the two places. This is the 12th year I have organized and conducted Plein Air Workshops in Vermont at the Landgrove Inn. My family has built and enjoyed a 2nd home for over 67 years right around the corner from the workshop barn at the Landgrove Inn. This is the place where I embrace myself as an artist. I always heard that as an artist you must connect with what you like to paint. Well, I like to paint Vermont.

One artist in particular that has popped up in unexpected places when going about my errands in Vermont is the artist, Aldro Hibbard (1886-1972). I go to the local strip mall bank in the middle of Londonderry and find right up on the wall behind the teller, one of Hibbard’s paintings. Hibbard painted many snow scenes from this area of Vermont. Who would have thought a bank teller also named Hilary could direct me over to the Hibbard specialist in the area. My quest took me to Karen Ameden at the General Store, who unlocked the treasures at the Jamaica Historical Society.
 

There are bios, paintings, and photographs through googling that enlighten me but the following out of print book and hard to find books are what really informed me about Aldro Hibbard. The books are: John L. Cooley, A.T. Hibbard, N.A.: Artist in Two Worlds, Rockport Art Association;2nd edition (1996) and the book: Judith A. Curtis, A.T.Hibbard, N.A. American Master, Rockport Art Association. These books provided history and proved to be a catalyst for me to understand and make serendipitous connections with my own work and my network. Aldro Hibbard like me found enough in nature for a lifetime of contemplation and study.
I must admit, I’ve been a student for life. I have an MS degree from Pratt Institute and an MFA from the Academy of Art in SF. Many pressures of identity and success are entwined in my work as an artist. I was however, questioning my skill sets, specifically drawing. Good drawing is the most important skill in painting. Currently, I am experiencing rigorous academic training at the Golden Gate Atelier in Oakland, CA. The tradition of copying cast drawings from Charles Bargue plates and rendering from plaster casts of classical statues is priceless. After many years of painting it may seem boring and non-sequetor to go back to the basics. When one studies art and art history in museums, humility forces the contemplation and comparison of levels of mastery. Why is one work of art more exceptional? It is evident in the training.

There is a lineage of this training from the Academie Julian established by Rodolphe Julian in 1868. Aldro Hibbard’s teachers, were Edmund C. Tarbell, Frank Weston Benson, and William McGregor Paxton who had all received this rigorous academic training in Paris. Their teachers at the Academie were famous and respected artists employed by Julian were: Adolphe William Bouguereau (1825-1905), Henri Royer, Jean-Paul Laurens, Edgar Chahine, Ferrier, Tony Robert-Fleury, Jules Lefebvre and other leading artists of that time.
Paris, the center of the art world in the 19th and early 20th century was a magnet for aspiring artists. William McGregor Paxton, Edmund Tarbell, Frank Benson were exposed to the academic training at the Academie Julian, (Bargue plate copying, plaster cast copying, painting and composition) which invariably included copying Old Master paintings at the Louvre. The Impressionist movement was sweeping the city’s artist colonies and this movement and influence was impossible not to absorb as an artist. While in France these artists also traveled and were influenced by artists from different countries, especially Italy, Belgium, Germany and Spain

Upon return to Boston, Tarbell, Paxton, Benson became teachers at the Boston Museum School. They were often classified as the American Impressionists, as they had their own regional style, combining the painterliness of Impressionism with a more conservative approach to figure painting and a marked respect for the traditions of Western art history. Their preferred subject matter was genteel: portraits, picturesque landscapes, and young women posing in well-appointed interiors. Major influences included John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, and Jan Vermeer.
Because Hibbard was a native of the Boston area, it was only normal from attending Massachusetts State Normal Art School that he would continue his education at the Boston Museum School. He received a scholarship to travel to Europe and upon his return quickly made a name for himself. Aldro Hibbard was not only an artist but also an active citizen of the town of Rockport, Massachusetts.  This man of many seasons traveled to his 2nd home in Jamaica, VT, where he painted scenes of mountains, rural towns, oxen pulling logs, and streams with snow as the backdrop. Hibbard’s work has the legacy of a time in America of hardworking New Englanders. Hibbard was also a leader among the Cape Ann artists community who evolved a style of
painting known as the Rockport School.

Fast forward to explain my lineage. Another student of the Academie Julian and the Boston School was Robert Hale Ives Gammell (1893 – 1981).  Gammell was the teacher for Richard Lack who is known for continuing the atelier tradition in Minneapolis. My teacher Andrew Ameral at the Golden Gate Atelier, studied under Daniel Graves in Florence. Daniel studied with Richard Lack and Nerina Simi.  Ms. Simi was the daughter of the Florentine painter Filadelfo Simi, who had studied with Jean-Léon Gérôme, the head of the French Academy in Paris in 1870.  With such a rich backdrop of training in Florence my teacher, Andrew Ameral was the primary teacher of Anatomy and Ecroche and has returned to Oakland to carry on the tradition.  The family tree of art if you will. 5. R.H. Ives Gammell, Lamentation
This is quite the summary of name dropping and the education of many but it illustrates the continuum of training the eye. So when I drive around Vermont and hear that there’s a heroin problem it simultaneously breaks my heart and also fills my heart with gratitude that I was spared by my appreciation of art and nature. My fortuitous luck just took a loving family, curiosity and education for which I am very thankful.
When I contacted the Jamaica Historical Society one fine September day, I was driven to the exact spots where Aldro Hibbard painted.  I stood right where he stood.  I looked at the same views he looked at.  I wanted to tell him how I too love VT.  I wanted to tell him how I have carried on the French Tradition.   I need to get busy and paint and correct my Vermont paintings now. I have no excuses when Hibbard completed his paintings in subzero temps. “Just go out and do it, and “Work, Work, Work.” Benson would say.  Now that I’m back in my studio in California, I work from life but will have to use photos from Vermont even though I know my subject.  It’s ok being an artist in two different worlds as I enjoy the idea, through knowledge comes confidence. Next time you drive through a non-descript, one store town in Vermont, you might want to slow down and consider it’s world history.