Tuesday, May 8, 2018
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 | Noon – 1 p.m.
This is a presentation of Bare Bones Café, a community-sourced museum experience included with regular Rockwell admission. Refreshments will be available. Full schedule
In this one-hour demonstration with a live model, artist Satyavani Akula will demonstrate her approach to painting a portrait from life. Largely self-taught, Akula is excited by color, texture and play of light and experiments with many different mediums and genres of art.
Artist Statement
“Growing up in India, art was my reward for good grades. I aced school to keep my privilege of painting. For my recreation, I copied paintings of Norman Rockwell, Sargent and reputed Indian artists that were published in magazines. I immigrated to the United States, graduated and worked in Molecular Biology and painted part time. I gradually shifted into Software Management and painted part time. I moved to Corning, started as a Software Engineer and painted part time with Thomas Buechner’s Friday evening Portrait Painting Pals group. Do you see a pattern here? Well, I didn’t, till one day, I was referencing my rather extensive home library for help with a problem at work. As I scored through rows and rows of art books it struck to me that maybe, just maybe, my calling was to be an artist. Practical by nature, I dismissed my new found revelation as a whim. However, the emotional war between the joy of my painting and the lucrative finances and social status that my successful job provided had started. I decided to paint one small painting a day for a couple of months and was sure I would get bored of it. Three months of 18 hour work days still left me wanting to paint. I caved in and took a temporary break from work which has lasted to date.
Art to me is as essential as breathing. Color, texture and play of light excite me. Largely self-taught, I don’t find the necessity to mold myself into any particular school or style of painting.”
The Rockwell Museum, 111 Cedar St. Corning, NY 14830Tuesday, May 8, 2018 | Noon – 1 p.m.
This is a presentation of Bare Bones Café, a community-sourced museum experience included with regular Rockwell admission. Refreshments will be available. Full schedule
In this one-hour demonstration with a live model, artist Satyavani Akula will demonstrate her approach to painting a portrait from life. Largely self-taught, Akula is excited by color, texture and play of light and experiments with many different mediums and genres of art.
Artist Statement
“Growing up in India, art was my reward for good grades. I aced school to keep my privilege of painting. For my recreation, I copied paintings of Norman Rockwell, Sargent and reputed Indian artists that were published in magazines. I immigrated to the United States, graduated and worked in Molecular Biology and painted part time. I gradually shifted into Software Management and painted part time. I moved to Corning, started as a Software Engineer and painted part time with Thomas Buechner’s Friday evening Portrait Painting Pals group. Do you see a pattern here? Well, I didn’t, till one day, I was referencing my rather extensive home library for help with a problem at work. As I scored through rows and rows of art books it struck to me that maybe, just maybe, my calling was to be an artist. Practical by nature, I dismissed my new found revelation as a whim. However, the emotional war between the joy of my painting and the lucrative finances and social status that my successful job provided had started. I decided to paint one small painting a day for a couple of months and was sure I would get bored of it. Three months of 18 hour work days still left me wanting to paint. I caved in and took a temporary break from work which has lasted to date.
Art to me is as essential as breathing. Color, texture and play of light excite me. Largely self-taught, I don’t find the necessity to mold myself into any particular school or style of painting.”