The Cabbage Series in Memory of my Brother

Anthony Holdsworth September 17, 2011

The Cabbage Series: in memory of my brother Graham Holdsworth 1948 - 2011

My brother and only sibling, Graham Holdsworth, died in Normandy, France last June. He was three years younger than me. Like everyone in our family he was an avid gardener, so when I returned home from saying goodby to him, I took refuge in my garden and began, almost by chance, painting the Cabbage Series:

As I harvested the cabbages, I continued painting. The series became a meditation on, not simply the loss of my entire immediate family, but on our lives together over so many years.

Art exists to explore and celebrate life.

Paint outdoors in Italy 2012

Anthony Holdsworth January 19, 2011

I am leading painting groups to Tuscany and Liguria, Italy in June 2012. Early registration is necessary for Italy.

Tuscany:

We paint Florence in the rain. Linda and Niccolo serve dinner. A view from our windows.

Liguria:

View from our farmhouse Portovenere

For information about this painting expedition and to view a short video go to the Classes section of my website and scroll down to 'Outdoor painting in Tuscany and Liguria, Italy'

Beginners and one or two non-painters are welcome on these trips.

Holiday Exhibition: New Paintings of Italy, Oakland & San Francisco

Anthony Holdsworth December 6, 2010

Join me in my studio the weekends of

Dec 11-12 & 18-19 from Noon to 5 PM

View my recent work and enjoy

wine, cheese and cappuccinos.

351 Lewis St. Oak. 94607

510.836.1681

My ongoing Global Warming Series led me to an interest in the depiction of water. I took full advantage of the breathtaking, blue-green waters of the Ligurian Sea during the five days I stayed in Portovenere, Italy. This port faces the Bay of La Spezia which was a playground for the Romantic poets. Italy is a touchstone for me. Here I can reflect on most of western history and also paint reflections of that history in its landscape and its buildings.

Scroll down to the previous blog or click here if you wish to view the eight paintings I created in Italy.

The waters of the Pacific enter an ultramodern port along Oakland's shores:

"I started painting at Berth 10 in the port of Oakland this afternoon. Across a trapezoidal space of green-brown water, maybe a third of a mile away, lie freighters more than 900 feet long. “If you stood one on end” a tugboat captain remarked “ it would be taller than any building in San Francisco.” I tried to visualize a freighter balanced on its stern. It looked big across the water, but not that big. The problem is that the scale of these ships, and cranes, is almost impossible for us, who are ants by comparison, to grasp." Diary 11.14.2010

I decided to return and re-paint the Chronicle from a slightly different angle than just over a year ago. Last year I spent March and April painting the building as more than a hundred employees left the struggling newspaper. My stimulating exchanges with reporters, editors and other employees (as well as that painting) may be viewed at News in the News Pt 2: The Once and Future Chronicle in the archives of this blog.

View many more paintings like these in my exhibition.

I look forward to seeing you!

My Painting and Cultural Tour in Tuscany and Liguria: 2010

Anthony Holdsworth October 1, 2010

This September I led a painting group on an 'agriturismo' twenty minutes south of Florence. As well as painting around this farm, which produces exceptional, organic olive oil, wine, grappa and vino santo, we took two day-long visits to Florence and one to Siena. The trip is documented in an eight minute video on youtube "A Painting and Cultural Tour in Tuscany and Liguria 2010" which you may access here.

This blog focuses on the eight oil paintings I completed during my month in Italy. They will be exhibited for two weekends in my studio Noon to 5 PM, Dec 11-12 & 18-19. For directions to my studio just go to Visit Studio on this website.

I arrived in Florence five days before the painting group. I stayed at a pensione in Piazza Santo Spirito which is one of the few areas of old Florence that maintains a vestige of its original character.

Early mornings I worked on my first painting standing in front of the homeless who slumbered in their sleeping bags alongside the church under the disapproving gaze of its priest. 'Tutti in piedi! E tempo di lavorare!" (Up on your feet! It's time to work!) he shouted one day - an exhortation which had no discernible effect.

The open air market in the square offered fresh fruit and vegetables. Evenings tourists and Italians patronized several restaurants while the homeless, adding a commedia dell'arte flavor, squabbled around the fountain . Young students across from the expensive restaurants crowded the charming little 'aperitivo' ' Pop Cafe' .

There are views of Florence which transport me back to 1967-68 when I lived in a little attico behind the Palazzo Vecchio. I would pass over Ponte alle Grazie and look back at the city center from across the Arno. Because it is associated with so many memories this view continues to resonate strongly with me.

In those days I would continue out of the city and climb the steps past Piazzale Michelangelo on my way to paint in the fields. I would often pause to savor this view (below).

On this visit, my student Daniel Altman and I spent two afternoons painting here. The first afternoon rain accompanied by thunder and lightening added drama to the scene, and to our experience of painting it!

On the 'agriturismo', where we all stayed for two weeks, the courtyard in front of our accommodations (of which a corner is discernible in the bottom of this painting) served as our outdoor studio. It offers a number of fine views of vineyards, olive groves and hilltop towns.

We also ate breakfast, lunch and some dinners out here.

I have often hiked this road past our farmhouse to other subjects like abandoned farmhouses, chapels among the cypress and breathtaking vistas.

But we found beguiling subjects without even leaving our rooms!

From Tuscany I accompanied two of my students to Portovenere in Liguria which is a two and a half hour drive north-west of Florence on the Mediterranean. The name Portovenere derives from the fact that there was originally a temple to Venus where this 12th century church of St Peter (below) now stands. The church appears to have succumbed to it's pagan antecedent: it serves, almost exclusively, as a site for lavish weddings.

There is a decidedly Venusian flavor to this port. The colorful fishing boats, charming alleyways that climb its steep slopes, alluring artisan, fashion boutiques and fine restaurants like Da Antonio seduce the senses. After busy, warm days, an evening dip in the calm, blue-green water that is set aside for swimmers along the quay was a welcome balm.

These waters also conveyed me on a spellbinding journey to the Cinque Terre. Seas permitting, there is regular ferry service from Portovenere. The five lands live up to their reputation. But they struck me as incredibly fragile clinging precariously to the steep, unstable cliffs. And I wondered if the current avalanche of tourism might eventually bear their delicate terraces and precipitous towns down into the oblivion of the blue-green waters...

I am planning further painting trips both to Tuscany and to Liguria. Contact me if you are interested in participating. I will soon post dates and details in my ' Classes ' section of this website.

Completing my 'Ceago Series' at the Lavender Harvest

Anthony Holdsworth July 4, 2009

I arrived at Ceago Vinegarden, which is located on the shores of Clear Lake between Nice and Lucerne, a few days before the lavender harvest to paint the crop at its peak. The two acres of plants spread out between the winery and the lake are equally spectacular for their hue and their scent. Painting here in the hundred degree heat was like being immersed in a lavender scented sauna. I wondered if this was how the ancient Roman baths felt. Romans used it for treating wounds and for bathing. Its name is said to derive from the Latin word to wash ‘lavare’

( The entire series of these paintings may be viewed on this site in the Ceago Series 2007- 2009 Gallery .)

Viewed up close each plant is like a small 4th of July rocket-burst: from a silvery-leafed sphere hundreds of thin green stems shoot out bearing a second, concentric, shimmering sphere of lavender hued flowers. The air amid them is abuzz with bees and other insects. I even spotted some small dragonflies searching out insects among the stems. Several mornings I rose around 5:30 AM to paint the harvest. It was already light at 6 AM as I sketched two of the farm hands working their way towards me. It would be another hour before the sun crested the eastern mountains dramatically illuminating the scene. A jay hopped from trimmed plant to trimmed plant gobbling unsuspecting insects. A field mouse, grown used to me, darted near my feet only running for cover when I looked directly at it. A great blue heron rose from the neighboring field and flew over us towards the lake.

Lavendar Harves, Ceago, oil/canvas, 18" X 24"

Jim Fetzer told me, later, that a row of approximately 50 plants produces one and one half quarts of lavender oil. Which means that this field could produce 20 gallons of oil. Later in the day I observed the distillation process. Water is boiled in the spherical bottom of the 'column still'. (See painting below)

It rises through the central column which has been stuffed with lavender blossoms. The steam extracts the essential oil and carries it through a pipe that descends from the alembic dome and runs in coils down through a cooling container that is filled with water. It emerges at the end of the pipe as oil and and a milky hydrosol. The oil is floated off and bottled and the hydrosol is collected and sold in spray bottles.

Distillation is a process that was developed by the Alchemists some of whose methods are also incorporated in 'biodynamic' farming practiced here at Ceago.

Saturday, June 27th was the day of the Annual Lavendar Distillation Lunch. I was working in the raised corridor above the entrance painting a view through an opening that overlooks the courtyard.

View of the Courtyard, Ceago, oil/canvas, 18" X 24"

(This view is the exact opposite direction from the one I painted from up here on my last visit in January. It was reproduced in the blog titled "Painting at Ceago Vinegarden".)

Standing above the courtyard I witnessed people's reactions as they arrived. There were loud "Oohs!" and "Wows!" as they got their first view of the field in full bloom. Many headed right for it. Others paused at the fountain, which splashed seductively in the heat, to take photos of each other. Soon the courtyard was filled with friends and families seated at tables eating the fresh salad, grilled sausages and handmade tortillas.

A photographer, Ron Kees, found me and took some pictures of me at work. He told me that his paintings of Barack Obama had recently been featured in the New York Times.

"Art about, art about art." I commented, referring to the fact that he was photographing me making a painting of Jim Fetzer's creation.

" Life doesn't make a lot of sense unless you can create something beautiful to pass on to the next generation." he responded.

Around sundown I joined the dinner guests in the back courtyard. The Ceago Estate Lamb Gyros prepared by chef Nick Hiedeman from a lamb Jim had slaughtered on Monday was, hands down, the best lamb I've ever tasted and so tender it seemed to melt in my mouth.

A live Salsa band, Orienta, performed in the main courtyard until late into the evening. I chatted with some of Jim's childhood friends. We all paused to savour the lavender infused cake with macerated strawberries and lavender blackberry cream.

"Life" someone observed, "doesn't get much better than this."

( In early October I will be exhibiting my complete 'Ceago Series' at Ceago.

The entire series of these paintings may be viewed on this site in the Ceago Series 2007- 2009 Gallery on this Site.

To receive announcements to this and other exhibitions e-mail me at [email protected] with "add me to you e-mail list" in the subject line.)

About the artist

Anthony Holdsworth was born in England in 1945. He was introduced to oil painting in high school by the New England painter, Loring Coleman. Holdsworth embarked on a painting career while working as Head of Outdoor Restoration for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy after the flood of 1966. He continued his studies at the Bournemouth College of Art in England where he studied with master draftsman Samuel Rabin and color theorist Jon Fish and at the San Francisco Art Institute where he studied with Julius Hatofsky, Bruce McGaw and Fred Martin. He has shown with major galleries in Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles. He has participated in two exhibitions at the Oakland Museum. He was included in the California Cityscapes exhibition at the San Diego Museum. He was a recipient of WESTAF-NEA fellowship in 1990. His work is in corporate and private collections worldwide.