Artwork of the month: "Immaculate Madonna"

Every now and then a work of art truly inspires me, or I just like it, so I talk about it.  

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has been purchasing a great deal of quality works as of late.  One of the best acquisitions lately has been the "Immaculate Madonna" by Giacomo Antonio Ponsonelli.  It was purchased by Eike Schmidt, the curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture.  Here is a link to a pretty cool video about the work.

This sculpture was recently acquired by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts at a bargain price, but that is another story.  I love this sculpture, it is truly a masterwork.  Now I can spend as much time as I want observing it, and someday if I feel inclined to do so, create my interpretation of it for today's world.

Giacomo Antonio Ponsonelli

Italian, 1654-1735

"Immaculate Madonna"

1710, marble


Go to the MIA and take a look at this...
...it is worth the time.

Starting over after the accident

I have not worked on this blog for a long time. 

In 2009 I was hit by a car.  It was very serious, I suffered a traumatic brain injury that has changed my life completely. When I say it has changed my life, I truly mean every aspect of my life. 

My professional career as an artist suffered as a result of the accident.  Normally, over the last 12 years, I have always had a rotating collection of oil paintings.  I would always have at least five new works, three or more that I was working on, and three or more that were leaving the studio door in sales.  I was able to keep that up because I was able to paint all of the time, every spare moment that I had I painted.  As a result of my recovery time, my remaining works were sold without me being able to create replacements.  

I intend to rebuild my collection, and then open sales up again.  I will be taking commissions and continuing with my commercial works during this rebuild of my studio collection. I will need some time, as I work slower than before.  

Before the accident...

I worked full time and very often worked overtime.  I was never working less than 40 hours a week.  I went to college part time and maintained a 4.0 grade average.  I also was working on my oil paintings daily and maintaining a professional career in the arts as a professional artist. 

My average daily schedule was...

Wake up about 5:30 or 6am, get ready for my day and then start working on my oil paintings.  I worked on my paintings until 7am when I had to leave for work.  I worked a full 8 hour day. On school days I went to class then came home and did my study work until about 12 or 1am.  On days I didn't have class, I went right out to the studio and painted until about 12 or 1am.  Then I was right back up at 5:30 again.  On my two days off (if I had not signed up for overtime which I did on a regular basis), I worked in the studio all day from 7 or 8 am until about 2am.  I didn't go out more than once or twice a month, and when I did, I had a pretty good time.  I also rode my bike everywhere and I was in fantastic shape. 

I had lived this very busy life for 12 years straight.  It was who I was and I loved it. 

My life after the accident...

First off, I was out of work for a year and four months.  The entire time I was completely unable to paint.  I first started back to work 4 days a week, but had to reduce my work hours to three days according to my doctor.  I can't paint for very long because I live with a bad headache every day.  When I say a bad headache every day, I mean it.  I have been on 15 different kinds of drugs to help with my headaches. Nothing works.  I'm tired all the time.  Not just tired, exhausted. 

I can't ride my bike for several reasons, the Number One reason being that if I exert myself, I'll get a migraine headache that lasts an entire day. 

So needless to say, it will take me longer to create a new set of oil paintings, as I cannot work fast and my responsibilities commercially are pretty heavy.  Eventually things will return to normal for me.  I will keep posting as I complete work.

-Adam