Author Archives: Stephanie Schlatter Art

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About Stephanie Schlatter Art

Stephanie Schlatter is an Artist who draws from the world for inspiration. While she calls Grand Rapids, Michigan, home she’s often off on new adventures. For more than a decade, her journeys have taken her across the globe. She has studied art both locally and abroad, including time in Mexico, where she decided to shift her focus from photography to painting. Stephanie's travels led her to found Absolutely Art: A Project for Change in 2006. Through this non-profit organization, she brings art instruction to the children of Ethiopia while supporting their education. Stephanie's work reflects an expression influenced by other cultures which resonates a variety of influences that have given her work direction.
Sep4

Florence, Day 4: Travel: The Good, the Bad and the Sick

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It finally caught up with me…

The day started normal enough. I had been arguing with my stomach, which had been a bit upset. But on this day, I left the house early to start my one-on-one plein air lessons. Like all of those cute kids whose adorable faces are filling up my Facebook feed, I was going back to school. A bit nervous about how I would manage all my, er, stuff — easel, paint, chair, etc. — but I was off.

My kind teacher informed me upon meeting him that today would be only a sketchbook. A sigh of relief.

The morning was colder than expected and windy, but we braved the elements anyway, heading to the Piazza Signoria and the Loggia dei Lanzi. Once a platform for public debates, the Medici decided great art was more important than free speech and turned this space into a tribute to sculpture. From this vantage point, you can see the whole square, and my teacher, Enrico, took me back to my college days again, as I used my outstretched arm in combination with my pencil to measure. It’s something my studio work just doesn’t require, but it is such a good discipline. Getting back to the basics is good.

En route to and from school, Enrico shared little bits of history with me, including a little chiseled-out profile on the side of the Palazzo Vecchio attributed to Michelangelo himself. He’s said to have whipped it out to prove his identity during the bonfire of the vanities (another story for another time), but how I enjoy seeing little treasures like this. How many times have I walked by this and not ever noticed this?

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I can wrap the story up here, as my ill feeling overtook me after lunch. I think all of my dashing around before leaving, jet lag, running around here and the strong coffee finally took over, and I spent the rest of the day in bed, sick. But I slept more than I have in weeks and woke up this morning ready to face more: more art lessons and more Florence. And yes, body, I got the message; I will not push myself so hard. I will remember my rest and dilute my coffee like a good American. And my apologies to all of you food and wine lovers. It’s just crackers and water for me today. I’m not one to tempt the gods to take any more revenge on me.

Cheers, or not,

Stephanie

Sep3

Florence, Day 3: A Day of Sculpture and the Nude in Art

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The nude in art: It’s a subject of controversy, and I, like many artists, don’t understand why. It’s such a huge part is our art education. I have written about it in the past and explained my reasoning as to why it’s not obscene — it’s art. So today I’ll concentrate on how it is affecting my growth as an artist and as a person. [Click here to read my past musings on the topic.]

I think every artist should have to return to studying from “real life” several times in their journey as an artist, to freshen up how we see, and it’s only a matter of finding a place and the time in which to do this.

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Florence is known as the birthplace of the Renaissance. We all know the term, and many know it means rebirth. But more specifically, it means that here, in this city, there was a spark. Something special where patrons who valued the arts met some of the most gloriously rich creative minds. So the city had money and it knew just what to do with it. It had been a thousand years since the Greeks and Romans (the ancients, as they were called) had made such advances, and the people valued it. The emphasis was all about humanism, which meant representing man as he was, not a glorified version of the gods. And what would representing man as he really is be without intense study of the nude? Many Renaissance artists even worked on corpses to study the anatomy and muscular skeletal make up so they could really get it right.

On this day, I knew my class would be studying from life (that is, a nude model), so before class, I visited the Bargello sculpture museum to really break down how the body was handled through the hands of masters like Michelangelo and Donatello. It is something special to be studying with all of these amazing art works surrounding you for inspiration.

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Today, the city itself will be my subject as I begin my plein air study. It will be exciting to be outside!