About three years ago I joined a Friday night portrait sketch group, The Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists. The website is at www.literarycafeartists.com and the weekly model sessions can be found at the blog link. The group (formerly known as The Pretentious Tremont Artists of the Literary Cafe) was founded in 2005 by Tim Herron and Brian Pierce, who wanted to practice portrait drawing and drew bar patrons late every Friday night at the Literary Cafe in Tremont, Ohio. Over that past 15 years the group has grown. It is unique that it pays the model for their time with the finished portraits! Though the original meeting location has changed, the group has still been open to all for both drawing and public viewing while the artists work.
Since March 2020, because of the Covid-19 pandemic and stay at home orders, the group was able to move to an online streaming platform, thanks to the help of seasoned arts interviewer, Roger Miller, of Tues@7 on Facebook and YouTube, managing production for the first 12 weeks. This has enabled even a broader reach of artists to join in the weekly drawing session, beyond the Cleveland area. Artists then send in their portraits to give the model.
Around April of 2020, Tim Herron was interested in drawing portraits of doctors and nurses as a thank you for their service on the frontlines of battling the Coronavirus. Several artists around the world were making the news at the time involved in similar projects. Through his network of models, artists, and friends and their connections, he started receiving photographs and selfies of healthcare workers from different locations and hospital systems, including MetroHealth Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic. He opened up the project for any artists in his Friday group that wanted to participate.
So far (as of March 23, 2021), 18 artists have participated in this “Doctors and Nurses in Covid 19 Times” project, creating 155 original portraits, which are showcased on the group’s website at www.literarycafeartists.com/doctors-and-nurses-in-covid-19-times.
I personally have produced 28 portraits for the project to-date, and will continue to do more. It’s great practice and I enjoy being part of a group of artists working together. I have an individual webpage on the group’s site at www.literarycafeartists.com/janet-dodrill, where they can be viewed under my general portrait gallery. We are following along with the idea of giving the portraits to the models, in this case the doctors and nurses.
MetroHealth Hospital in Cleveland currently has an exhibit in their lobby, since last fall, of their portraits, which is visible to the public when they visit for their Covid vaccines. Linda Jackson at MetroHealth organized photos and exhibit. They also produced a video on the project, Local Artists Honor Frontline Health Care Workers.
As a result of posting some of my doctors and nurses portraits on instagram (@janetdodrill), I have been asked to tag these works for a curated North American exhibit using hashtag #portraitsforcovidheroes for inclusion in the project by Jules Smith @jules_smith_artist and @portratisforcovidheroes.
Thank you, to all healthcare workers helping to battle this virus in this pandemic and save lives. You are true heroes.
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Snippets of portraits of doctors and nurses on the frontlines by Janet Dodrill.
Snippets of portraits of doctors and nurses on the frontlines by Janet Dodrill.
Portraits of Covid frontline healthcare workers exhibit at MetroHealth Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio (photo by Roger Miller).
Portraits of Covid frontline healthcare workers exhibit at MetroHealth Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio (photo by Roger Miller).
Who doesn’t have an appreciation for an artist’s handmade Christmas card, or one displaying their artwork?
My grandfather, Warren R. Schmitz, who ran the Schmitz-Horning Company (1905-1964) from 1938-1964 received Christmas cards from artists who were either associated with the company or family friends, including Harvey Stief, Walter Sinz, and Charles Reiffel. Here are a few examples of the wonderful artwork on cards he received from them in the 1930s and 1940s.
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Another amazing life drawing session, and this time with a ‘Parrots’ theme with Macaws, Cockatoos and Parakeets with the special online event produced by The Henley on Thames School of Art and Oakley and Crew. Birds were shown flying, landing, sitting on perches, walking on the ground, and an unexpected trick at the session end, and was held on November 27, 2020.
Below are highlights of my drawings from the session.
There are more online animal life drawing sessions scheduled for December 2020, featuring Wild Mountain Gorillas, Draft Horses, and Reindeer at www.thehenleyschoolofart.com/online-classes. Artists are welcome to join!
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Incredible live drawing session with ‘Birds of Prey’ theme. Beautiful Owls (Dark Breasted Barn Owl, Little Owl, and Long-Eared Owl), Harris Hawk and Peregrine Falcon with event produced by The Henley on Thames School of Art and Feathers and Fur Falconry Centre (handler Sadie) via Zoom. Great lighting, camera work, and props, held on October 30, 2020.
Below are highlights of my drawings from the session.
There are more online animal life drawing sessions scheduled for November and December 2020, featuring Longhorn Cattle, Fjord Horse, Raccoons, Kinkajou, and Coati, Parrots, and Wild Mountain Gorillas at https://www.thehenleyschoolofart.com/online-classes. Artists are welcome to join!
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Hugo Max Schmitz, photograph, early 1900s (recently-discovered).
On a recent trip out of town to visit my cousins, some items were discovered in my uncle’s possession. Unseen artwork by Hugo Max Schmitz, my great-grandfather, all of which I had not seen before. In a couple of the works, there are similarities to his previously-known work. He was an artist and a co-founder of Cleveland wall covering firm, Schmitz-Horning Company (1905-1964). The stunning painting comparisons are below.
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Watercolor portrait of young girl by artist Hugo Max Schmitz.
Possible study for watercolor portrait of young girl by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil or gouache, early 1900s (recently discovered).
Self-portrait by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil, 1898.
Self-portrait study by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil, early 1900s (recently discovered).
Lately, I have been using primary colors (red, yellow, and blue from the color wheel) in my portraits and life model studies, and am exploring this direction in my artwork.
Below are a few examples of my artwork utilizing primary colors.
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Hugo Max Schmitz (1867-1938), my great-grandfather, was an artist and co-founder of the Schmitz-Horning Company, a Cleveland wall covering manufacturer. After moving from Milwaukee, Wisconsin around the 1890s, he established himself in Cleveland’s Art Club (formerly know as The Bohemians) and exhibited in group shows. In one exhibit he showed with prominent artist and club president Archibald M. Willard, in addition to artist and lithographer, William (Bill) Horning, who would become his future business partner at Schmitz-Horning.
Hugo had six siblings, born in Wisconsin between 1852 and 1860: Victor, Willam, Edward, Florentine, Mary, and Charles Schmitz, born to father Peter Jospeh Schmitz and mother Mary (Leity).
One day I hope to learn more about his close family relatives and more about his art. We do know that a portrait that he painted of a young girl received an honorable mention in an exhibit at the New York Metropolitan Museum of art.
He married in 1902, to Pauline (“Queen”) Maynard Reynolds, daughter of Cleveland banker Iri Reynolds. They spent their honeymoon in Venice.
Hugo was acting president at Schmitz-Horning Co., est. 1905, and was one of the initial artists for the firm, designing high-end color lithographic wall mural and paper patterns. He ran the company until his death in 1938, and then his son, Warren Reynolds Schmitz took over, who was already working in sales at the company.
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Hugo Max Schmitz as a child.
Hugo Max Schmitz, age 9.
Hugo Max Schmitz, early still life artwork.
Hugo Max Schmitz, early landscape artwork.
The Schmitz family of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, late 1800s.
Hugo Max Schmitz (center), Paris, 1890s.
Hugo Max Schmitz (right) with his signature pipe, Paris,1890s.
Hugo Max Schmitz, early late 1800s or early 1900s.
Self-portrait by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil, 1898.
Hugo Max Schmitz’s watercolor of Venice done on his honeymoon, 1902.
Hugo Max Schmitz’s watercolor of Venice became a wall mural pattern for Schmitz-Horning Co., early 1900s.
Original Wall Mural Design Panels for Schmitz-Horning-Company, Floral Garden by Hugo Max Schmitz, oil, early 1900s.
Portrait by artist Hugo Max Schmitz of his wife, watercolor, 1903.
Watercolor portrait of young girl by artist Hugo Max Schmitz.
Portrait of young lady by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil.
The Cleveland Museum of Art currently has an exhibit by artist Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) in its Focus Gallery through May 5, 2019. The show is titled Charles Burchfield: The Ohio Landscapes, 1915-1920.
The show has numerous drawings and watercolors done in both Cleveland where he attended the Cleveland School of Art (now The Cleveland Institute of Art), and Salem, Ohio, his hometown.
I admire his strength and energy in depicting landscapes. He created his own visual language with almost abstract shapes from nature symbolizing emotions such as fear and sorrow, which are pointed-out in the exhibit.
Paul A. Meunier was a Cleveland area artist who enjoyed painted nature and wildlife. He worked on staff as an artist at Schmitz-Horning Company, a wallpaper manufacturing firm, in the 1920s and 1930s. Of interest to me because of my family ties to the company, I published a list o known artists that were employed there.
A couple people contacted me regarding their Paul Meunier artwork.
One had six etched acrylic or plastic panels, two of which have a date (1970) and the artist’s name, acquired locally in Cleveland. (They are available for purchase through my source.)
The other individual purchased a map that Paul Meunier’s created of his family vacation travels from Ohio through parts of the western U.S. (1939). The contact wrote me stated that the lithograph was purchased at a Bay area market.
It’s interesting to see the broad range of work and depth of this artist, and even more interesting to speak to others who have his art work.
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Etched or engraved plastic art panels by Paul Meunier, 1970, owned by Charlie Grenier. Panel size is approximately 3×4 to 5×7 inches.
Etched or engraved plastic art panels by Paul Meunier, 1970, owned by Charlie Grenier. Panel size is approximately 3×4 to 5×7 inches.
Etched or engraved plastic art panels by Paul Meunier, 1970, owned by Charlie Grenier. Panel size is approximately 3×4 to 5×7 inches.
Name and 1970 date on art panels by Paul Meunier.
Map created by Paul Meunier of his family trip across the country, owned by Peter Bartels.
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