Art As Experience

Anchors Aweigh, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf, Private Collection
~

Josef Albers said that Art is not an object but an experience. It can be both, in the same way that a theatre production might be life altering to some, but to others it’s pleasant entertainment.

My own path from appreciation for the decorative to the realm of aesthetic experience began while viewing murals from Pompeii. Bob Hunter took our group of Vesper George Art School students to see the excavated walls installed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

I recall that the scale of the room was such that the figures on the walls were life size. The subject of the murals depicted the cult of Dionysus. As I walked around the room I was conscious that the scenes seemed to blend into one another seamlessly but it wasn’t until the finale, where the emissary of Dionysus strikes the initiate that I was stunned with awe. It was only then that I understood what being “moved” by a work of art meant. My body swooned under the crack of the switch.

Determination to understand the secret of my experience drew me into many years of studying abstract relationships of imagery. Ultimately, I surmised the cause of my astonishment to be a combination of a building rhythm of arcs coupled with identification to life size figures. The effect was like a tom-tom, which culminated with a final sweeping arc of the lash in the last scene.

It is more than fair to say that the murals of Pompeii transformed my life. Until then I had seen
making art as something enjoyable, but the idea of evoking emotion, of arranging the cause of aesthetic experience became my life’s journey.

Art should at the very least, I think, ameliorate its surroundings. But the greatest art should transport us beyond ordinary experience.

Above, murals from
The Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii

~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Download our free 2010 Calendar
Commission a painting
Facebook
Twitter

Petit Andelys

Petit Andelys, 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

How heavenly it is to paint in France! My travel journal reminds me that on this journey I followed a meandering course from Paris through Normandy, making my way to Giverny. Vernon, Pont Audemer, Les Andelys, Honfleur and Rouen were all stopovers along this splendid choice of route.

Petit Andelys was painted as I wandered the adorable villages about Giverny. I recall how breezy it was that day, in late March. I set up here, lured by the music piped throughout the village, and found it a most agreeable spot to paint. The sun-drenched stone shops formed a perfect backdrop for rippling flags on harbor boats.

Petit Andelys is a gentle village, where cups of sorbet are sold from quirky blue trucks and all the color of the world sparkles in harbor reflections. I am certain to return here and paint again one day. I hope that when I do, the music is still playing.

Petit Andelys, 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, is also available in open edition print, marble beverage coasters, and handmade note cards.

Petit Andelys is our featured painting for March, and the image chosen for our free calendar download.

~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Download our free 2010 Calendar
Commission a painting of your favorite landscape
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com
Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter

~

A Morning in Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Toward Westkerk, 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

~

A morning in Amsterdam is a much quieter experience than it is in Boston. In Amsterdam, bicycles far outnumber cars, changing the sound of the morning commute. The metallic jingle of a handlebar bell is a welcomed change to the eviscerating assault of car horns and trucks thundering by. I love a culture that eases, rather than hurls itself into the day.

Amsterdam, Toward Westkerk is a glimpse of a typical Amsterdam morning in early summer. People emerge, some on foot, some on bicycles, making their way to their destinations. It is a gentle morning, sunny at the moment, but the weather can change in an instant. Amsterdam cyclers are adept at juggling umbrellas, groceries, and perhaps a small dog while continuing on their journeys.

The Westkerk neighborhood’s ancient shop windows are carved and frame elaborate displays of goods, beautifully arranged. Early in the morning, a passerby might catch a glimpse of an artist at work through a tiny opening, far behind a fenestrated entry. Such windows reveal the depth of the buildings, belying the diminutive, taxable frontage.

There are many treasures to discover on a peaceful morning promenade through Amsterdam.

Amsterdam, Toward Westkerk is a 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

~

Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards.


Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop


Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf
Download our free 2010 Calendar

~

Painting Amsterdam~ The Liliegracht

Along The Leliegracht, oil painting by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf
~

The Jordaan is a most aesthetically pleasing section of Amsterdam. The variety of architectural detail delights the eye and satisfies an artist’s soul. Effort to make practical things beautiful was clearly in high regard when the buildings bordering the Lily Canal were constructed.

The painting, Along The Leliegracht, shows several Dutch gable treatments~ step, bell, cornice and spout variations are seen in this one snippet of the neighborhood. The Jordaan is rich in adornment, which can be fully appreciated by the measured pace of travel by foot, bicycle, or boat.

Before visiting The Netherlands, I was convinced that skies in Dutch paintings were invented, but they actually do look this way. The cumulus clouds mean that weather can change quickly, from sun to rain in an instant. For a landscape painter, small studies work best.

Along The Leliegracht, is the first in the series of enlarged paintings completed from the studies of my trip to The Netherlands in July. Along The Liliegracht will be on exhibit at Vose Galleries, 238 Newbury St, Boston during the month of December.

Along The Leliegracht, 20 x 16 oil painting by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf

~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards.

Looking for affordable art?
See our complete selection of Hostess Gifts~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com/shop
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf

Related~

• The Jordaan, Amsterdam
• Vose Galleries, Boston

Melody Phaneuf's work can be viewed at The Boston International Fine Art Show, November 12-15, Booth 12

Travels in Amsterdam~ Alternative Spaces

The canals of Amsterdam are lined with houseboats. There is something appealing about floating in the midst of a busy waterway, in the heart of city life. The boats are as individual as their occupants, painted brightly and decorated with hanging plants and birdhouses.

Houseboat interiors are surprisingly spacious and not at all dark or dreary. Though the ceilings are low, many houseboats are flooded with light through skylights. Each little nook is cozy and there is a sense of well being from living simply.



If I were living here, I’d enjoy my city boat pied de terre, but would prefer to call a windmill in the countryside home. Here, the space is vertical, soaring. I love the movement of the mechanism, the thought of giant gears in the attic. The spaces here are cozy as well, with beds in cupboards, snug from the warmth of a woodstove, and shielded from the encircling wind.

I am charmed by the idea living in Nature, separated by only a thatched wall. I love looking out at sheep grazing and the lush green grass, veined with water moved by the mill, of the creaking rhythm of moving gears and the endless, endless sky.

~

Melody Phaneuf is a Boston Artist, well known for her evocative landscape, still life, and portrait paintings. Her work is regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases the artist’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards. Online ordering at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow Melody on twitter
Become a facebook fan
Visit Melody’s studio
Commission a painting by Melody

Related~

• Houseboat Rentals
• Windmills of The Netherlands
• Simple Living

Gone Painting~

Dear Readers,

I’m off to a painting journey in Amsterdam. I will return with lots of little studies~ notes that will inspire a body of new paintings when I return in August. Please come back and visit. I’m thinking of you~ Melody

~

Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative landscape, still life, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street, at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment, and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases the artist’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards. Online ordering at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Humoresque, 16 x 16 self-portrait in oil by Melody Phaneuf

Follow Melody on twitter
Become a facebook fan
Visit Melody’s studio
Commission a painting by Melody