documentary...NED WERT Painter

This documentary project has been gloriously fun and challenging.  I have a new appreciation for filmmakers, now that I've dipped my toe in this creative venue.  Thanks to Steve Witmer for patiently walking me through the process, and then allowing me to actually DO it!

I honestly thought it was all about going out and shooting lots of footage, piecing together the good parts, and improvising until a story emerged.  No.  It's more like writing a research paper, coming up with a damn good outline at the front end - then you need to meticulously follow it in order to get the footage and shoot the story you want.  Not that there isn't room for the unexpected - the elements that make you smile and laugh - but I can't get away with the same spontaneity you'll find in this blog!

So the whole thing started years ago, when Steve and I would chat about how much we'd enjoy working together, on the rare occasion we'd run into one another.  He was a gallery owner long before I was, and truth be told, I think we both loved the art and the artists more than making money - though such idealistic notions have been tempered over time with reality.  You don't make money, there is no gallery!

Steve sold his gallery and started Tape-to-disc Studios with his brother Josh back in 2001, and our discussions morphed into a mutual desire to capture artists on tape and tell their stories.  We finally settled on Gus Kermes, scheduled a time with Gus to come out to his studio - unfortunately, he passed away the week we were to come.  Having lost that opportunity, and between Steve's crazy schedule and mine, it took us this long to set our sights on another - Ned Wert.

Last spring we set a date for a visit to Ned's studio in Brush Valley, PA, and with much coaching from Steve, I started making lists, outlines, and doing research.  By the time we journeyed to western PA on July 23rd, I had a notebook full of interview questions, storyboard, and list of deliverables.  We worked the entire 3 1/2 hour trip out, Steve's questions making it increasingly apparent to me that I really didn't have a clue what lay ahead.

The day we arrived, we spent some time preparing Ned, as I furiously scribbled down more notes - this is nothing new - Ned always has stories to tell, and I love documenting them for the future.   We moved to the studio, got "the set" organized, and began to work through my carefully prepared and ordered  list of questions - Steve pointed out this was key to "finding" things later in hours and hours of tape.

Between a persistent bumble bee caught in the skylight, and the random motorcycle zooming by the window, the noise required the windows be closed during the shooting.  Keep in mind it's the end of July, and it's hot, but that didn't melt Ned's spirit or professionalism despite three hours of shooting.  And he didn't seem to mind being followed around his house, making dinner, feeding the cat, and entertaining us in front of an ever-present camera.  Of course by then, we had shared a couple bottles of red wine, al fresco, and were all feeling rather mellow.

We spent the following day at Indiana University, interviewing colleagues and students of Ned's, and learning more about his years there as a teacher, then gallery director.  Heading home afterward, we spent the entire trip previewing the film footage, stopping the video long enough to jot down time stamps and note quotes we thought we'd likely use.  I went through them all again back in my studio until I had transcribed highlights of the entire four reels as reference.

After going through the transcriptions and highlighting the parts I wanted to use, I transferred them to index cards for easy shuffling.  Spending a morning at the kitchen counter, putting cards into storyboard order, I began sorting through stacks of photographs and other scanned images in order to begin thinking it through visually.  Reading through the quotes I'd selected gave me some idea of the length - I had a little over 5 minutes worth, and we edited it down to 3 1/2.

I then made copies of cards and images in groups, noting time stamps on the footage, and sent the package off to Steve and Josh.  My job, according to Steve, was to make Josh's job as simple as possible - parsing out the selected pieces and parts, and weaving in scanned images, etc.  Unlike writing a paper, film making has three-dimensions, and though I think I'm rather good at visualizing things, this afforded me a new challenge.

 Steve and I then spent several hours working through the preliminary cuts from Josh, editing further, getting Ned's input, and finding the music to go with it.  After numerous sessions of back and forth, we were ready to premier the documentary clip at Ned's opening reception.  Ned hosted his collectors at the gallery two nights, despite a painful knee, scheduled to be replaced in a week.  Thursday evening was Collectors Only Preview, and Friday the Opening Artist's Reception.  Both evenings featured jazz by Ned's highschool friend, Barrie Spessler, and his jazz trio.  Ned and Barrie used to play in the band together - Ned played trombone.  I have a picture...

This is only the beginning, as we've begun work on a full-length version to release in April 2013.  We'll be interviewing more collectors, friends and family in order to capture not only the essence of this man, but the rich, full life he's led.  I've carved out hours (days!) to work on the script, determined this time to streamline the process with my new found experience.

We'll see.... Steve?

To view the NED WERT Painter, click here - to learn more about Ned Wert, his work, and the Lynden Gallery, visit our website, www.lyndengallery.com.  And when you are in Elizabethtown, be sure to drop by.  Gallery hours are 10-5 Wednesday through Friday, 10-3 Saturday - or by chance or appointment.  717.367.9236

The documentary was written by Lisa Clemens and Steve Witmer, videography by Steve, editing by Josh Witmer, and music by The Reese Project.  Steve and Josh Witmer, Tape to disc Studios.

Ned Wert, Bright Introspection

I love art.  Living with art, teaching an appreciation of art to another generation, learning to understand the process of invention and inspiration behind the work, the privilege of knowing the people, the hands, faces, trials and tribulations, and enthusiastic joys that create the work - my life is richer because of the arts.  It speaks to the deeper underside of my life, and enhances my journey through this world.

Through art I find both common ground and contentious discussion, as each of us connect with our visual worlds uniquely.  I see the color play, you see the shape of a tree.  I see shadow, you see light.  I find joy, you find repression.  I feel peace, you are jarred into discovery.  Art isn't about the image alone - it's about what you bring to it, the discussion around it, the people behind it - all of which are experiential and ever-changing.

I can say the same of music and literature.  Each time I hear a Concerto or read a Psalm, I bring myself to it - where I am at the moment, who I'm with, what I'm feeling - and it's different every time.  The lovely thing is that art, music and writing each have the capacity to capture a moment in time.  You'll never see it the same way ever again, in part because you now bring experience to it.  I believe this is why people bring a tattered piece of paper with a poem written on it to be calligraphied, an old print from home with no inherent value to be framed, or go back and purchase a painting - there is a connection, and it isn't stagnant.

This afternoon, I received an Artist Statement from Ned Wert, long-standing artist and friend.  He's finishing up a new body of work for a Lynden Gallery solo exhibition in October, and wrote a bit about what drives his enthusiasm for painting and his experiementation in this new collection.  He captures not only the magic in the making, but in the viewing, and I couldn't wait to share it....

ARTIST STATEMENT 2012
The works in this exhibition represent two years of work in my studio and have been inspired by personal and shared experiences during that time.

During that time my foremost goal was to produce over 30 pieces that, while unified in an exhibition, would expand new visions of the artist’s thinking. For more than 40 years I have explored diversity in people’s cultures, as well as the natural landscape. My enthusiasm for personal interpretation, I  hope, leads people to respond with thoughts and appreciation. In two years there will be obvious changes in images. How I see and represent my ideas, and how they are placed in compositional arrangements, become the ingredients in my abstract paintings.

I sincerely love painting. My art has never been a hobby---not even when I was in my teens. Now, 50 years later, I maintain that the underlying character of my work is the joy of painting. The gestural movements I use to produce the brushstrokes as well as the constant excitement about color, what goes with what, represents my enthusiasm. I present myself with challenges and then get energized if my intent is working. When it doesn’t, I’m open to finding a new solution that works.

The final surfaces seen in these works, by no means show the initial attacks to the blank surface. Almost all of what I do is in response to what is already there after the beginning white surface is covered. I like to layer the compositional structure by adding seemingly unrelated elements that might disturb my thoughts. They often result in discovery----and that brings on more original thoughts to deal with as I continue.

I have always been an optimist and I preserve that attitude abstractly in my work. My work is never negative, morbid, nor secretive. I enjoy the “bright side of life”....as they sing in Monty Python’s “Spamalot!”
I am proud of this exhibition of new works. Painting is work and I love my job. It energizes me---what a pleasure it is each time I decide the painting is finished and I get to add my signature as the final touch.

Ned Wert

Brush Valley, PA 

Ned Wert's latest work will premier Friday, October 19 at the Lynden Gallery.  Kindly set the date aside.

The image above is "Urban Momunments" 30" x 42" acrylic on paper.  For more about the life and work of Ned Wert, and details for the upcoming exhibition, visit our website, www.lyndengallery.com.

Modest Quests for Jenna

"Modest Quests", an 18" x 24" acrylic on canvas by Ned Wert, recently found a home on my daughter's living room wall. A gift in keeping with tradition, she received it on the completion of her master's degree, a Masters in Human Resource Management from the Keller Graduate School of Management. Congratulations Jenna!

ned's opening, celebrating 50 years

Lynden Gallery on Market

so i went to an art opening
at the lynden gallery
in etown & many people came out
including Luke and Mallory
whom i hadn't seen in about
two years or so plus Lisa
the owner was there
with her beautiful raven dark hair.
Ned Wert was the artist on display
and his works are now largely abstract
hanging with red as the predominant shade
i was gasping at the numbers as fact
then noticed several full prices were paid
but it was simple since the mood was so good
to be friendly and feel that you should
in this fire hall converted to art 
just mingle and fondle a heart
drink wine, eat crackers, and cheesy
to imagine that living is easy
here is original stuff as it should be
poking holes in the idea of normal
a space which is happy and free
relaxed and certainly not formal
so visit.

GREG HOOVER, blogpost

jenna's graduation (ok, we're going back a few years!)

Speaking of Jenna, this piece of artwork was her college graduation present from me.   I told her, if I'm doing my job right, it's an investment in her future!  This one is called "Shadow Chase" by Ned Wert, measuring 22" x 28", acrylic on woven canvas.  When I found it at Ned's studio that fall on a visit, I knew she'd love the colors.  When I read the title, I knew it was for her.  She had emerged from her own year and a half of shadow chasing that year, more lovely, beautiful, and confident than ever.  I'll never forget the smile she had that day - I think only the one on her wedding day outshone it!

a visit to ned's house

Friday we headed west on the turnpike mid-afternoon for a visit to Ned Wert's house and studio.  With his latest exhibition, "Ned Wert well-seasoned" fast approaching, it was time to review the work and get to know one of my favorite people even better.  This show will feature not only new work, but work from the last 50 years of Ned's prolific painting career - alongside a dedicated career teaching on the high school and university levels.

Across the Allegheny mountains on the turnpike, then heading north on route 56 from the Bedford exit, the land stretched before us, mostly brown and barren, the hope of spring occasionally showing itself, three and a half hours later, arriving at Ned's door.  He greeted us with a big hug, the smell of dinner wafting thru the door, and invited us in by the fire for a glass of wine.  After chatting a bit, we settled at his big oak table in the kitchen, every detail tended to with care, as is his ever-caring, comfortable manner.  Dinner of chicken breast wrapped in prosciutto, fresh spring salad with grated Parmesan, and a french baguette was served by candlelight, bright orange tulips sitting sentry at the head of the table.  Despite being fully sated, I couldn't turn down the offer of dessert, which was deliciously simple and a most fitting end to the meal - fresh, chilled green grapes with a sour cream and cinnamon drizzle on top. 

 

Blossom Kent Series, number 1, 41" x 50" oil on canvas, 1970

We spent the next day reviewing new and old work, and choreographing the exhibition for the end of April at Lynden Gallery.  With a catalogue in the works, I took every opportunity to learn more about where this gentle man has been, and what has influenced his work over the years.  The language of his work hasn't changed, I noted, seeing an older work he completed one summer at Kent State in 1970, under the tutelage of modern masters, Jack Tworkov and Alex Katz.  The expressionistic abstraction of his work simply gathering a bold confidence as the decades rolled by.   We headed home, our small Saab packed to the brim with new paintings, my journal several pages full of dates, notes and comments, research books on Diebenkorn, Tworkov and Katz , and a prized stack of slide pages, 4" thick - images of work from 1967 to 1993.

Set the date aside - NED WERT well-seasoned, Friday, April 24th from 5:00 to 8:00 pm, at the Lynden Gallery.  For more about Ned, click here

the opening

Last evening we had a full house - and a great mix of old and new faces.  The Gadjo Playboys, as always, didn't disappoint - the music was fabulous!  We sold Ned Wert's "Lessons for the Soothsayer", 60" x 48" acrylic on canvas.  It only arrived home this past fall after gracing the Embassy in Macedonia for two years.   The Ambassador found the piece on our website after it's debut in a solo show of Ned's work in 2005, and personally requested it for the collection.  I found the Arts in the Embassy program to be thoroughly professional, well organized and the work was picked up, packaged and shipped on both ends of it's journey with meticulous care.   The purchasers of the work have several of Ned's pieces, but this one will certainly be the prize in their collection!  I'm thrilled for them, as I know how I've delighted in living beside the work myself.  The energy in that painting - and the color - so bold and delicious! http://www.lyndengallery.com/wert%20embassy.html

I was thrilled to cross paths with Gary Butson Thursday, and find him ready to dig out his studio and get back to painting after a three year hiatus.  At my urging, he agreed to bring in his palette and some unfinished work, along with a few small pieces so I could include him in the exhibition.  Truth be told, his palette was the one that started me thinking about putting together this whole event.  It's tiers of oil color, like stalagmites rising from the floor of a cave were several inches high, with a cleared pool of glass shimmering beside them for mixing.  It was art in itself!  He said someone offered him $500 for it, but he wouldn't part with it.  It's on exhibit, sans cobwebs, a red dot on his painting, "Grapes".  Jackson, Gary's three-year old son, loved the whole scene, and we were successful in selling another piece or two.

After the musicians packed up to leave, the crowd began to thin.  Several of us walked down the street to the Wachhaus residence at the invitation of Eve and Aaron.   Eve, true to form, had prepared a delicious repast of fresh tomato soup, quinoa salad, and baked potato fingers, with artichokes, olives, cheeses, dried cranberries and hearty bread on the side.  I realized when I sat down we had been so busy I hadn't had a bite or nibble the whole opening.  On arriving, Roger started telling me a story about the old Victorian house as we came up on the porch.  Inside, they greeted each other like old friends, and I found to my surprise the Wachhaus family had purchased their circa 1900 Victorian sofa from Roger!  Stories ensued, Roger sharing images of his kids sitting on that sofa 20 years ago on Christmas Eve, and Eve spoke of a painting she had done of her children on the sofa more recently.   

I sat in their parlor surrounded by old friends and new acquaintances talking art, dogs, and a myriad of other light-hearted subjects, laughing and relishing the success of the evening.  All the talk of the down economy of late had been waring on me, and I had declared to myself it simply meant I had to work harder and smarter - I will have none of such pessimism.  The evening ended with a pleasant walk back down Market Street with Roger, Andy, Tom and Don.  As we approached the corner to cross the street, we heard a man yelling at the passing cars.  Up ahead, half a block or so, he staggered down the street, so inebriated he couldn't even stay on the sidewalk.  As I called 911, fearing the poor soul would stumble into the street and get hit by a car, I watched him go down hard on the sidewalk.  I ran ahead to find him out cold, just as the police pulled up, his whiskey bottle sticking out of his back pocket and his glasses tumbled from his nose.  The cops seemed to know him. 

There are more such people downtown than I could have ever imagined, having grown up just around the corner, in the safety of my childhood home on College Avenue.  I never thought I'd stay in Elizabethtown all my life, let alone, live downtown in the old Fire Hall!  I woke this morning in the front room - the room where the firemen slept - ever more aware of my blessings.  And more certain than ever, of my desire to give back to this community in whatever way I can.

ned's stuffed mushrooms

Ned brought along is famous stuffed mushrooms to the opening, which were gone before I got any.  I hear they are delicious!  He suggests "portions may be varied for preference."

Snap stems from mushroom caps and set aside.  Chop the stems finely.

In a skillet, saute' chopped stems and some green onions in olive oil.  Add seasoned pre-cooked loose sausage and cook completely.  Allow the mixture to cool a bit.

Add seasoned bread crumbs and one beaten egg - salt and pepper to taste.  Add olive oil to attain moistness that can be pinched, shaped and stuffed into the caps.  Fill caps abundantly.

Arrange on an oiled cookie sheet and broil until heated.  Watch carefully - do not over broil!

Serve warm or room temperature.