Swim Lessons John deLorimier 2016
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| Child with Goggles © John deLorimier |
Swim Lessons
John deLorimier
August 12-September 14, 2016
Receptions: August 12 • 5–8pm + September 9 • 5–8pm
The “Swim Lesson” paintings were inspired by watching my child take swimming lessons. I was interested in showing the scary predicament of a new swimmer being watched over by a teacher. These paintings lead to the more madonna-like mother and child paintings. The painting “Resistance” continues the theme of mother and child and adds a suggestion of narrative.
A single figure on a simple background, the fun of drawing from the model and my interest in figurative art of the 19th and 20th Century inspired the “Surfer Girl” series. The Internet provides a resource gold mine of past art like the Ashcan school of American art. Artists like George Bellows and Robert Henri motivated me with their strong draftsmanship and innovative compositions to put aside a dependence on photography. However, their images are overwhelmingly rich in structure and tone and I felt the need for simplifying that would allow me to concentrate on capturing the color and proportions of the figure: a lone figure with a suggestion of seashore as in the painting “Sunset”.
Biography
Master of Art, San Francisco State University
Graphic and animation work for many technology companies
Past owner of company that developed mobile phone animation applications
Oil painter
Lives in Bolinas CA, with wife and child
Sunset © John deLorimier
