Monterey Jazz Festival 2011: series of new iPad paintings!

54th Monterey Jazz Festival! What a great festival it was. My best one so far. I was concerned about not being able to sit close enough to the stages to see the musicians well enough to paint on my iPad. Painting during live jazz is what I do! This was my first chance to do so at MJF.

The first night, Friday , Sept. 16, I recklessly abandoned the large outdoors arena (Jimmy Lyon's Stage) where we do have very respectable seats in row G - earned over many years steady attendance - and stood in the long line for Dizzy's Den, had my dinner in line, and got a pretty good seat. I chose Dizzy's Den because it promised a close view of Richard Bona and Raul Midon followed by Hiromi: the Trio Project. This was a totally different approach to the festival. In the past I would come and go between the various venues (there are 6 different spaces - all spread out over the Monterey Fairgrounds, with food and drink vendors, vendors of CDs, hats and crafts) depending on how much I liked the music.

I found myself supported by the audience around me at Dizzy's Den. They showed a lot of interest in what I was doing, and a couple of them gave up their seats so that I could have a better view of the performers. And at the end of each performance I was able to go backstage and get signatures. Afterwards I was so jazzed.... painting at the MJF works!!! It was a lot of fun! I am very pleased with the results. And, I was completely blown away by the forceful playing of Hiromi and her drummer Simon Phillips! Richard Bona and Raul Midon's performance was sweet and lovely. A great evening.

Richie Cole at the Typhoon at the Santa Monica airport Aug. 2011 He blew us away!

Gordon and I have a long standing relationship with Richie Cole - wonderful Jazz musician - and we got to see him perform with his Alto Jazz Orchestra at the lively, friendly and FUN Typhoon restaurant/club located right on the small planes' airport in Santa Monica.

This is what my husband Jazz - Gordon just wrote to Riche Cole:

"Your wonderful music has meant so much to my whole family. When I met my wife back in the early 80s we used to listen to "Keeper of the Flame" and I remember her saying, "what IS that incredible music?" Years later when we took our son camping a tape of "Pop Bop" was our companion music for the car trip and all three of us were happy to find it on CD. Needless to say, we were delighted to find you at the club in Santa Monica during our visit. My wife Iris was the woman who drew you and the band on her iPad. "

And here is the iPad Painting of Riche Cole! Signed by him!

For more about my iPad paintings become a follower on my blog. Email me ischencke@mac.com if you would like to purchase a print or have me make an iPad painting for you.

Student iPad paintings - four first lessons! Lovely work!

I have now taught four students, four first lessons, consisting of :

1. Mondrian

shapes: straight lines, rectangles

dimensions: thin -thick, translucent -opaque

tools: pencil, brush, pen, bucket, eraser

general operations: open, save, export, email

2. Miro

shapes: curved lines, circles, dots

tools: spray can, scatter, smudge tool

layers: background, foreground

general operations: wi fi connect, searching for art

3. Modigliani

shapes: angled lines

tools: eyedropper

dimensions: touch screen expansion/contraction

color palette: making skin tones

general operations: publishing to facebook

4. Monet

review of all the first lessons

tools: stamping

add additional layers

work on a comprehensive project

As expected, the students progressed at different speeds and found some features more interesting than others, so the lesson plans changed accordingly and become very tailored to the individuals students interest and abilities.

I am now working on developing a set of intermediate lessons.

Here are some of the subjects: incorporation of photos into iPad paintings, advanced use of multiple layers, transformations, gradients, creating your own textures and patterns.

I am going to attend the International Association of Mobile Digital Artists, IAMDA, 2nd annual conference in NYC in early October and expect to come back with a lot of new knowledge, inspiration and contacts for my iPad art.

At this time I have openings for a small number of private students. Send me an email if you are interested. You will need an iPad and the ArtStudio app - which costs about $6. ischencke@mac.com

Above examples of one of my students work.

About all kinds of water nymphs, at the Piante Gallery

Richard Evans who writes the Art Beat at the Journal, now featured in the monthy insert called the Muse, dropped in on me a couple of week before the opening at the Piante gallery of The Glacier Art Project and At Waters' Edge. We had fun looking at the paintings - which I strewed out on the floor in my studio - and in his art review he captured a lot of what I said, including the concept of "iciness". But, what I found brilliant in his writing was the interpretation he gave to the figures that appear in quite a few of the paintings. Here's what he wrote: "It’s so fascinating to observe how artists call upon their backgrounds and skills to bring forward themes using new visual clues. Iris has been a lifelong practitioner of drawing from the live model and in many of these prints anthropomorphic figures emerge as though calving into our presence."

Thank you Richard!

Here's what I say about these nymphs in the art: Greek mythology gives us a multitude of nymphs associated with life giving waters: Nereids, nymphs of the Mediterranean Sea, Hyades, rain, Limnades, lakes, Potameides, rivers, Oceanids, salty water and Naiades, of fresh water. At the splintering edge of a tide water glacier one can imagine playful Naiades, bathing, dancing, singing, and also raging as the glacier violently calves an iceberg."

Piante is open on Wed. through Sat. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. my exhibit comes down on Aug. 30. I do have a key if one of my friends would like a private showing when the gallery is closed.

Amazing Esperanza Spaulding, live jazz iPad painting of her performing at Humbold State University.

more Ipad paintings of live Jazz performances 2010, 2011

iPad paintings of live Jazz performances 2010, 2011