Mentor Meeting with Robert Henry

Robert Henry is my new mentor for this semester. I met with him last Saturday at his studio in Wellfleet on Cape Cod. He introduced me to his wife, Selina Trieff. Selina is currently exhibiting in a group show in Fairfield, CT. Bob has a second student he is mentoring along with myself.

I brought up my work to his large studio overlooking the quiet bay. He was very generous with his time and spot on, in his critique of my work. His suggestions were that I focus on:

• Painting is composing (composition) and composing is Painting! Think of the whole, not specific parts of the painting.
  
  
• Be more aware of the surface of the paint, don't lose the surface texture of the paint with too much pictorial transparency.
  
  
• Work on more than one painting at a time and heighten awareness of color relationships.
  
  
• Be bold and decisive as monumental space can be achieved without actual physical size.
  
  
• Create fewer shapes and vary their sizes.

Video about Henry and Trieff:
Their Lives in Art: Robert Henry and Selina Trieff, a one-hour documentary, is the story of the life and work of two painters whose nearly 50 years of married life has been devoted to the making of art.