Lucy MacGillis Painting

Lucy MacGillis Painting

by | May 4, 2021 | Oil Painting, Plein Air, Travel, Workshops

I met Lucy MacGillis through a friend at the Boston Globe. Lucy is the daughter of Don MacGillis, who sadly passed away this past Fall. Don and his wife Ingrid talked many times about their daughter who moved to Italy and was so successful at her painting that she never moved back. Lucy grew up in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and as a youth would visit the Clark Institute in Williamstown to study master’s paintings. Lucy now lives in Umbria with her son and her companion. She makes gorgeous oil paintings of the italian countryside, portraits and still life.

Lucy paints from life, directly from observation, as a “perceptual painter”. The style might also be called “magical realism” or just “realism”. She first studied at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and got a grant to study in Italy at Nick Carone’s former International School of Art in Montecastello di Vibio, Umbria. “Along with Carone I learned from Lennart Anderson, John Lees, Jake Berthot, William Bailey, Ying Li and many others; quite the line up.”

On her website you can book a workshop in Umbria, Sicily and Austria. She travels back to Massachusetts for openings at the Hoadley Gallery in Lenox, Mass. and teaches a class that same weekend at IS183 in Stockbridge. I was fortunate to attend a free public art talk hosted virtually by Black Pond Studios this March. She offers an online class studying classical painting by sketchings and writing observations. Lucy also described how she makes her own italian earth paint in her studio by mixing ground earth and stone with Walnut oil.

On a visit to a Hoadley Gallery opening a few years ago, I was able to ask about her methods which she was very generous to share. She first stretches the linen and sizes it with rabbit glue. I noted that some of the tan canvas can be seen between the splashes of paint on the finished work. This reveals confidence in the medium and location. Her impressionist playful dabs of color shows a deep understanding of what makes a good painting.

“Lucy MacGillis combines an appreciation of Cezanne and Morandi with her own unique style to create exquisite oil paintings of her life in Umbria. Her paintings are timeless and classic yet have a fresh contemporary feeling.” –– Hoadley Gallery.

If you get a chance, visit Hoadley Gallery in Lenox to see Lucy MacGillises outstanding work.

Featured Image: “Gaetano (Man’s Name)” at Hoadley Gallery, Lenox. Inset Image: Italian Earth Color Study, by Lucy MacGillis.

Intimacy and Power

by | Jul 27, 2020 | Arts, Awards, Cold Wax and Oil, Nicholas Wilton

Nicholas Wilton recently spoke with artist Nadine Renazile, and she shared something about painting with scale that confirmed his creative experience, but never thought through to put into words.

“Small, tiny paintings need to feel powerful and large paintings need to feel intimate.”

See the video interview here: https://www.art2life.com/2020/07/26/the-intimacy-of-scale/

I’m sharing three small paintings I did in a series before the Black Lives Matter interrupted into a national crisis. I was thinking about slavery and maybe it was Black Lives month, and reports of police abuse were beginning to be being aired. So I did this. Only when the first two were made did I recognize what I had made. The third one was begun and I saw a skull. The series came into being. Serendipity but also an artist will to communicate a thought. So I think this is a good example of tiny paintings that feel powerful.

The paintings below describe the experience of an African Slave in America.  From left to right: A Way In as a slave via a ship, The Hiding Place while fleeing slavery, and finally Death of a Slave.

 

 

 

Shows, Classes and Books

by | Mar 31, 2020 | Books, Cold Wax and Oil, Newton Commuity Education, Newton Open Studios, Workshops

I had a lot planned this Spring. This weekend I would have been in Newton Centre at the Newton Open Studios weekend show. I was also scheduled to teach Cold Wax Medium classes for Newton Community Education in April. Then, in June, I was to hang a month long show of my paintings at United Parish of Auburndale. Suddenly, that very busy Spring and Summer has turned into other sorts of work because of the Covid 19 Virus.

I subscribed to a three part online Cold Wax class by the authors of the Cold Wax bible, Cold Wax Medium: Techniques, Concepts and Conversations by Jerry McLaughlin, Rebecca A. Crowell. I’m looking forward to spending seven hours learning about new techniques and practicing in my home studio. But, this will have to wait a week or two while I help a Globe colleague layout a 160 page book about a South Boston Village and its history. This has been a nice distraction and it feels good to be employed.

A hello to everyone and hope that you are all well and you and your loved ones are safe.  Hopefully, this summer will bring a safer environment.

Newton Open Studios New Location!

by | Jan 31, 2020 | Uncategorized

I ‘m excited to announce I will be exhibiting in a new location in the Newton Open Studios this April 4 and 5, 2020. The space for 15 artists is called “The Centre” and the address is 1294 Centre Street right in Newton Centre. I have a lot of new larger work to display and will probably bring a few smaller pieces to have on hand. The work is all painting in Acrylic on canvas and or Cold Wax Medium and OIl on board or paper. There is much to see! Come join us!