Sunday, July 25, 2010

Portraits of St. Louis Artists: David Ottinger

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It's Open Studios Weekend once again, when St. Louis artists open their workspaces or gather in exhibition centers to show what they are making. I went around more slowly yesterday than in the past, spending more time with the artists, learning about them and their work, and of course, asking if I could take their pictures.

I saw some very original stuff, not the least of which was the painting of David Ottinger, professor of art at McKendree University in nearby Lebanon, Illinois. The long painting behind him has four iterations of the same person, apparently wracked in thought. I wish I'd written down the title - it was The Essence of the Decision or something like that. It's quite penetrating.

Yesterday brought portraits of eight or nine artists, many of which will appear here in coming days. Today, the second day of the open house, will feature different artists and spaces.

9 comments:

brattcat said...

This is an exceptional portrait. The artist not only knows how to paint, how to capture emotion in his work, he also knows how to talk to the camera with his body and his eyes. Great capture, Bob. Can't wait to see what else you have for us.

Virginia said...

I agree with Brattcat, a superb portrait. You do this so well.
V

Birdman said...

Last weekend, with Kitty, we did the same at Rock River Artists in Brattleboro. Great fun!

Olivier said...

beau portrait de cet artiste, j'ai fait des recherches sur Internet, mais j'ai rien trouve sur cet artiste

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

The painting looks like someone trying to decide how to pay his bills after being laid off, and whether to walk from his mortgage payment.

T. Becque said...

Great lighting in this fine portrait!

U "R" Us AKA Captain Crowe said...

Awesome! What kind of direction did you give here, if any?

Stefan Jansson said...

I like his pose, and of course it's great with his painting in the background.

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