Laraine Armenti

student of painting

Tempus Fugit

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This month marks ten years since I stopped working as a graphic designer for international meetings to devote more time to painting. My hectic pace of life, of client deadlines and to-do lists, kept interrupting painting. The change led to forks in myriad unmarked roads. I had wanted to discover what might be possible, to cultivate my potential, and I was motivated to make the change by nearing … [Read more...]

New from Vermont

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Bennington, Vermont continues to inspire me as an artist. This year I returned to Art New England, a Mass College of Art workshop program that convenes on the Bennington College campus each summer. It is a remarkable gift to work every day for two weeks without other responsibilities, far from the madding crowd. The focus yields incremental but essential changes in my work, especially while guided … [Read more...]

Masterpiece Copies

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"Paris offers... the museums in which you can study the old masters;... from 12 to 4 you copy, in the Louvre or the Luxembourg, whatever masterpiece you like." — Zola’s letter to Cezanne, 1858 ~~ Art made in eras that are historically and culturally different from our own provides a limitless source of instruction and inspiration. For the artist, the process of copying masterpieces internalizes … [Read more...]

Looking at Watteau

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Five years ago, I spent time in Madrid indulging in the feast of the city and in some of Europe's greatest museums. I carried a sketchbook with me to draw in the galleries. A few pages shown here are of Jean-Antoinne Watteau's paintings at the Thyssen-Bornemisza. Watteau was the progenitor of the 'fêtes galantes' genre, theatrical scenes of idylls and pastorals. Other visitors were kind to me, … [Read more...]

Figure in Four Directions

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Once again this year, I had the good fortune to make art in an intensive workshop taught by Ken Kewley. Titled "Abstraction for Realists — Working from the Model: Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Collage, and Sculpture", the workshop was held at Truro Center for the Arts, Truro, Massachusetts, in September 2016. Select tabs above labelled PROJECTS > WORKSHOPS ATTENDED to see more … [Read more...]

Vermont Gouache

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In July I took a road trip to paint outside in southern Vermont. Choosing to use watercolor and gouache on paper solved numerous itinerant-painting related issues. Watercolor and gouache dry fast, have quick set-up and clean-up, and need very little storage space. The paint doesn't melt in the heat or threaten to ignite within a baking car. There are no combustible rags to dispose. These … [Read more...]