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| Alexandra Tyng - Vision to Hand - 36 X 38 in. |
Philadelphian portraitist Alexandra Tyng is primarily a self-taught artist who learned her craft through the study of Old Master paintings, reading art books, and by watching other artists paint. Her figurative and landscape works have garnered numerous awards, and are included in both public and private collections in the U.S., and abroad. In addition to her busy painting schedule, Alexandra also teaches, and is the founder of an ongoing philanthropic project, Portraits for the Arts, which raises funds to help support the arts in the Philadelphia area.
In her painting, Vision to Hand, Tyng derived inspiration from a loving description a friend had made about his departed wife, fairy tales, and her perception of a fellow-artist's talent:
"When I was a child, Beth and Joe Krush were my favorite illustrators, and I got to know them just a few years ago. At Beth’s memorial service, Joe described how he met her in art school. He said the thing that really attracted him to her was her amazing talent. “It was as if she had a line from her brain, down through her arm, to her hand.” I was struck by the beauty of this idea, this appreciation of a woman whose talent was so much a part of who she was.
Last fall, I was a part of a group of artists who spent a week painting together in South Carolina. In the group was Diane Feissel. Diane sometimes wore her hair in braids and had a habit of brushing the end of a braid against her chin. We were painting around the marshes a lot, and I started thinking of the marsh grass in relation to fairy tales: “spinning straw into gold,” and the story of the handless maiden who gains hands when she realizes her own power to do things. Diane’s braids became living gold that was “spun” or woven. In the painting the braid is like a paintbrush, and the vision in her head is coming straight down through her hair, as if the power to paint is in her hands and hair together."
To see more of Alexandra Tyng's artwork, please visit her website, and visit her blog, Paintyngs.
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2 comments:
Thanks for the insight on this portrait and congratulations to Alexandra! So lovely that a everything was acknowledged well based on some simple gestures, and simple circumstances :)
Yay, it's so cool that you're posting these, looking forward to seeing the rest!!
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