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ARC Visions 2019

New works for exhibition

I have three new rabbit paintings up at Arcadia Contemporary for the Art Renewal Center “ARC Visions 2019“, a group exhibition featuring the winners of the “Arcadia Contemporary Award” from the 13th Annual International ARC Salon. It’s an impressive group of artwork by eleven different artists and I had the privilege of meeting two of the artists at the opening, and another in Barcelona a couple of weeks before. Lovely people and extremely talented and dedicated artists. Go to Artsy to see all of the artwork in the exhibition. The exhibition is up through March 2nd.

The ARC Salon is an internationally revered competition that attracts submissions from some of the finest realist painters in the world.

The Art Renewal Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational foundation championing the revival of realism in the visual arts and is devoted to furthering the realist art movement and helping talented artists with strong technical skills thrive. Arcadia Contemporary is recognized as one of the premiere showcases for those artists.

Arcadia Contemporary

39 E. Colorado Blvd.

Pasadena, CA 91105

Return to the Wild, 30" x 36", oil on aluminum

Return to the Wild, 30″ x 36″, oil on aluminum, contact the gallery for inquiries

Self Portrait - Expecting, 16" x 12", oil on aluminum by Rebecca Luncan

Self Portrait – Expecting, 16″ x 12″, oil on aluminum, contact the gallery for inquiries

A Silent Gathering (Aspen and Hare), 6" x 4", oil on aluminum by Rebecca Luncan

A Silent Gathering (Aspen and Hare), 6″ x 4″, oil on aluminum, contact the gallery for inquiries

A Silent Gathering (Aspen and Hare), 6" x 4", oil on aluminum by Rebecca Luncan

A Silent Gathering (detail)

ARC visions 2019 exhibition at Arcadia contemporary Rebecca Luncan Installation

Installation at Arcadia Contemporary

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“Arlington” at The CVG Show

Making large paintings takes me a very long time since I put so much detail into my work. Arlington took almost two years to complete with breaks in the schedule for finishing commissions and Monthly Miniature’s. The painting was exhibited Santa Fe in the 14th International Guild of Realism exhibition, hosted by Sugarman-Peterson Gallery and it has also been selected to be included in The 12th annual Collective Visions Gallery (CVG) show. This exhibit pulls together artwork made in every quarter of Washington state that exhibit the best qualities of contemporary and traditional art. The show is considered Washington’s richest juried art exhibition and is one of the biggest in the Northwest and I’m really excited to have my work included in the exhibit. 131 artists’ works were selected by Gary Faigin, co-founder and Artistic Director of the Gage Academy of Art from nearly 1,200 submissions.

The exhibit opened on Jan. 26 and it closes Feb. 23 at Collective Visions Gallery, 331 Pacific Ave., Bremerton. It’s a lovely show and great excuse to take a ferry ride over for a weekend adventure! Go to my figurative paintings gallery to see more works in the this series.

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New Monthly Miniature Series: “In Season” Featuring Still-Life Paintings

Happy New Year everyone! I’m celebrating the new year by starting a new Monthly Miniature series. For each month of 2019, I will create a miniature still-life painting in the Dutch Still-Life tradition and I hope you will enjoy following along. As a newsletter subscriber, you’ll be the first to see them, and they will be available for sale as soon as they are announced.

The Historic Still-Life tradition with a modern perspective

Still-life paintings from Northern Europe were at their prime from around 1600 – 1800 and they often feature blossoms, insects and food that could not be found out of hibernation or in season at the same time. They are constructs of seasonal impossibility, pieced together from earlier studies, signifying impermanence and the perception that earthly life is transitory.

In Season pays homage to Northern European still life, while also contrasting modern and past experiences. Expectations have changed; perennial availability is the norm now, and seasonality is hardly acknowledged. In Season features combinations of fruits, flowers and insects that occur together naturally, in appreciation of the beauty of the cyclical and ephemeral.

The first painting of “In Season” features the camellia flower and cave cricket. The camellia is one of few flowers in bloom here in January, and you may also be startled to find a cave cricket in your basement. Most insects are dormant this time of year, but these little creatures are actively scurrying around ready to frighten unsuspecting people in cool dark places.

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Owen and Silvan, a Miniature Portrait of Brothers (as birds)

This month’s miniature portrait of brothers features the sons of artist Jennifer Zwick. Jenny is a fixture in the Seattle art community, and I’ve known her since long before she had kids. I’ve always been a great fan of her work, her contagious grin, and her breathtaking beauty (I’ve nicknamed her Snow White, and yes, she is the fairest of them all!).

detail of Miniature portrait of brothers. oil painting by Rebecca Luncan

Detail of, “Portrait of Owen and Silvan”
4″ x 4″
oil on copper

I did a painting of Jenny once upon a time, and I’ve been excited to make a portrait of her boys. I originally imagined a classic miniature, but these two just didn’t quite fit the mold. Jenny sent me dozens of images, some of which fit my original idea, but there were so many goofy shots. These kids are definitely raised in a very creative household, and I felt more and more that their portrait should reflect this. There were several images that fit, but I love the expressiveness of the two of them in this image in particular. You see so much about their relationship, and capturing it in a painting was worth the madness of painting such tiny faces and hands.

This is the smallest-scale portrait I’ve made in a long time, and if I never work so small again, I’ll be glad the last time was for Jenny. Please take the time to enjoy a peek into her life as an artist mom, through her words and images below.

Please visit the gallery of Monthly Miniatures, and learn more about all of the Artists featured in the series in the Archive.

Words from Jennifer, on being an artist and mother:

Jenny Zwick, art and family

Jenny Zwick, art and son Owen

My first thought is to write about how the restrictions of parenting have affected my work: how, when I was first pregnant, I could no longer build large sets, so instead made tiny wearable rooms (which I call “head sets”) with dollhouse hardwood floors and framed artwork which attach magnetically and look hilarious and unreal; or when I was pregnant a second time, and so large I could barely move, and my art grew even smaller still, making miniature watercolors of Nintendo game systems.

But if I focus away from how parenthood makes one’s artistic career smaller (no residences; harder to attend openings; expensive child care; higher stakes and confusion about if making art really is a priority), I see that it was a very natural thing for me to incorporate parenthood into my artistic practice and output.

Jenny Zwick, art and sons Owen and Silvan

Jenny Zwick, art and sons Owen and Silvan

Before pregnancy, my work often focused on what I experienced as a child – things I thought might be possible, or wished could happen, or might as well have.  My obsession with optics, with the disconnect between how our senses literally perceive the world, and then how our brain translates these into the impression of a coherent experience, this was amazing to see firsthand as my children learned about object permanence, or how proximity affects scale (older son’s first airplane trip: “when do we get small?” since he’d only ever seen airplanes flying overhead, in perfect miniature distant detail), or what aspects of a world we will completely take for granted, and what sticks out as wrong, or as special, or as notable.  One ongoing photo series of mine involves building set-based narrative photographs depicting young girls in surreal circumstances, staging remembered childhood ideas and atmospheres.  I was recently able to create several new images, and for the first time, there are adults – two of the photos have mothers; one with her daughter, and one hugely pregnant.

Jennifer Zwick, "Hello 2" 2010 21" x 31" Archival pigment print

Jennifer Zwick, “Hello 2”
2010, 21″ x 31″
Archival pigment print

During my first pregnancy I had a show called “Partum” which was hung in three sections: First Trimester, Second Trimester, Third Trimester – the work was all very distinct, as I adjusted to giving up Ritalin, then as I became anemic, and then as I dealt with acute nervousness and humor about the impending birth.

Recently I revisited a photograph I made for that first “Partum” show, which was about how the female body is treated as a public object. For that photograph I stretched chaotically patterned fabric on a frame, cut a hole in it, and stuck my third-trimester belly through. Photographed head-on, it is a strange exercise in depth, with the flat fabric directly parallel to the picture plane, and the belly jutting out, impossibly round. In the new iteration, I mounted the life-sized photo on foam core, cut the belly button out, and attached it to a small motor which I wired to rotate, comically spinning in the middle of this huge belly, just as weird and humorous and insane as it is to grow a freaking person in your body.

Whenever possible, I love having my kids help with my projects, building or installing or whatever won’t 1) derail the project 2) ruin everything or 3) kill them.

Jenny Zwick, art and sons Owen and Silvan

Jenny Zwick, art and sons Owen and Silvan

Additionally, making large-scale art projects means I end up with interesting and odd materials – one project involved taking site-specific photographs of banal locations at Seattle Center, then printing them out life-sized and reinstalling them on location as photo opportunities.  In order to ensure I had the exact right focal length and composition I made several rounds of large black and white test prints at copy centers.  I did not end up creating a piece at the Kobe Bell Pagoda location, so my then 5-year old son had a great time using all the huge images for his own purposes.  One of them became the backdrop for a “play” he wrote about ghosts, and we brought it to the pagoda and he performed the play (which involved a surprising amount of jumping in dried leaves).

Jennifer Zwick, "The Moment" 2017, 28.8" x 40" Archival pigment print

Jennifer Zwick, “The Moment”
2017, 28.8″ x 40″
Archival pigment print

Jennifer Zwick

From Jennifer about her artwork: Trained in photography, I work in a variety of media, including large-scale installations, wearable sculptures, painting, interactive video installation, printmaking, and photographic processes. I am particularly interested in optics, symmetry, humor, one-point-perspective, anxiety, repetition, repetition, and repetition.  I create artwork which requires the viewer to reorient themselves, using one-point-perspective, in- camera techniques, site-specific construction, and sculptural installation, presenting nonlinear narratives depicting the fraction of a second where something fundamentally concrete is shifted just enough to turn an ordinary moment into something gently surreal.

I firmly believe that by making art which looks fantastical but is constructed rudimentarily, “in real life”, an opportunity is created for the viewer to think about what we will accept as real; about how much our brains miss when we move through the world; about what we take for granted and how much power we truly have to reshape our reality.

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Artist Choice Award

As customary during their annual juried exhibitions, the International Guild of Realism (IGOR) asks the gallery hosting the exhibition to appoint a guest judge(s) to award ribbons in different categories for outstanding artwork. I’m happy to share that I was awarded the Artist Choice Award for my portrait of my sister in law, painted with oils on aluminum, “Arlington”.

Congratulations to the Winners!

Best of Show – Ed Copley “When the Sun Rises”

American Art Collector Editor Choice – Ed Copley “The Torn Hat”

Bill & Sue Rowett Collector’s Choice – Lee Alban “May the Warm Winds of Heaven Blow Softly upon your House”

Robert Kirkpatrick Best Still Life – Sandra Robinson “Monkeys”

Best Figurative – Duffy Sheridan “The Whale Watcher”

Best Landscape – Lee Alban “May the Warm Winds of Heaven Blow Softly upon your House”

Best Tromp l’Oeil – Jorge Alberto “Allegory of the Arts”

Director’s Choice – Sandra Kuck “My Dear Angus”

Pioneer in Realism Award – David M. Bowers “Animal Instinct”

Creative Achievement – Marissa Oosterlee “The Forever Search”

Artist’s Choice Award – Rebecca Luncan “Arlington”

Best Floral – Jane Jones “Three Graces”

Best Wildlife – Camille Engel “Patient Observer”

Best Drawing – Heather Ward “That was You?”

Take a look at the whole exhibition online on the Sugarman-Peterson Gallery’s website.

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Realism Exhibition in Santa Fe

If you’re in Santa Fe this coming weekend, please stop by Sugarman-Peterson Gallery to see my painting, “Arlington” oil on aluminum, 24″ x 36″. The gallery is hosting the 14th International Guild of Realism exhibition, which will feature a blend of contemporary and classical realism. Stop by the gallery anytime from October 5 to October 29 to see some amazing work from 91 different artists. The reception is this Friday, October 5th from 5:30 to 7:30pm. View the whole show on the gallery’s website.

About IGOR

The International Guild of Realism, also known as IGOR, was founded by a group of renowned realist artists in 2002. They now represent the work of over 390 members from over 35 countries. The Guild’s mission is to advance realism in fine art. They do this through organizing museum exhibitions, art gallery shows, workshops and education programs, marketing support, and internet exposure.

It’s inspiring to be a member of guild filled with so many talented artists. I exhibited two paintings in the 13th International Guild of Realism exhibition last year in Carmel.

Please go to my figurative painting gallery to see more paintings in this series. If you’re interested in purchasing this painting, please contact the Sugarman-Peterson Gallery.

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Painting of Silkie Chicken in the ARC Salon Traveling Exhibition

First stop: New York City!

My portrait painting of the silkie chicken, Admiral Vox, will be included in the upcoming 13th International ARC Salon Exhibition. The exhibit consists of 89 Contemporary Realist works selected from over 3,750 entries from 69 countries. It is the most prestigious realist art competition in the Americas and perhaps the world.

New York, LA, & Barcelona: three stops over the next six months

The ARC Salon Exhibition will be on view at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Ave., New York, NY from September 21st—October 2nd, 2018. The public opening event on Saturday, September 22nd from 11am to 3pm. Entry is free. The exhibition will then travel to Sotheby’s, Los Angeles where it will be on view from December 4th—December 13th, 2018 with the opening reception on December 4th from 6pm to 8pm. The show will then travel to the MEAM Museum, Barcelona, Spain from February 8th—March 31st, 2019, with the opening event and award ceremony starting at 7pm on February 8th. To learn more, go to the ARC Salon website

The ideas behind the painting of Admiral Vox

My early memories are few but vivid, with joy and sorrow in equal measure. When I was small, I discovered the aftermath of a weasel attack in the hen house. Yet I also remember the sole survivor, a newly hatched chick who followed me everywhere. As my father succumbed to Multiple Sclerosis, the rest of us took more responsibility for the animals, and I reveled in it.

Now I paint animals, revisiting memories of my dad and the wonder of growing up on a small farm. I compose portraits of animals the same as I do portraits of people, seeking not only likeness but the beauty particular to them.

Admiral Vox is one of my mother-in-law’s flock. Despite his stern expression, he is gentle with people. Here he guards his hens in the dim of his coop, which has been lighted to personify the rooster without embellishment in a classic and dignified pose.

View more paintings in this series

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A Happy Father’s Day Pet Portrait of Man’s Best Friend

Black Lab’s are the quintessential family dog and a pet portrait of man’s best friend makes the perfect Father’s day gift. Black Lab’s are full of energy and aren’t really suited for apartment living, but few breeds can outmatch their friendly personalities. Such sweet personalities makes them very easy to love back.

Sally commissioned me to paint Pi (short for Pirate) as a gift for her husband for Fathers Day. She sent me lost of great photos, which gave me an insight to how lucky Pi is. Dogs love with such a wholehearted passion and it was clear that Pi is loved back just as much.

Pet Portrait of Man's Best Friend Black lab miniature oil paining by Rebecca Luncan

Portrait of Pi
oil on aluminum
5″ x 5″

We choose a solid wood frame manufactured by a company in Canada, Inline Ovals. Learn more about my commission process on my commission page and see more examples of pet portraits in the pet portraits gallery.

From Sally:

…it is SO amazing. It’s my favorite piece of art in the whole house:)

Anders was surprised and he loves it too. I def scored points. Thank you SO much!!!

The Artist’s Magazine 33rd Annual Art Competition

Reclining Rabbit oil painting miniature by Rebecca Luncan

Reclining Rabbit – November 2015, oil on aluminum, 4.25″ x 3/25″

“Reclining Rabbit” selected as finalist in Artist’s Magazine annual art competition

I didn’t win the top prize, but it’s still nice to be selected as a finalist from among 7,300+ entries. A selection of finalists will be featured in online and print publications in the coming months, and all of the finalists will be announced in their January/February 2017 issue. I look forward to seeing the line-up, my congratulations to everyone selected!

On the Easel: A Family Portrait in Miniature

Smith-family

 

Painting an eye about the size of a grain of rice takes quite a lot of concentration.

Though I usually like to have lots of paintings going at once, this August most of my time will be spent working on a miniature 5″ x 6″ family portrait. Once I had the underpainting finished, I realized this painting would take a lot of focus to finish. I’ve been using every spare minute to move this little portrait along, and as long as I keep holding my breath at just the right times, it looks like it will turn out nicely!

It’s almost done, so check back soon to see the finished piece!