Iconic Rose

Artist talking about Artists

2011-11-26T20:23:00.000-05:00

Interview of Actor Dennis Hopper, On Art

It is very interesting seeing other well know artists, such as late actor Dennis Hopper speak about their art collection and their love for fine art. Unless a person has grown up around fine arts I find it hard for them to understand what fine art is or why it's important. When I speak about art to most random people it's unfortunate that they only think of performance art. Fine art is everywhere yet it gets little notice. This is why I love hearing those of influence or other famed artists speak about it.

www.clarissahorton.com

"Moonlight Anastasia"

2011-06-25T03:51:00.001-04:00

Moonlight Anastasia

This is a film that I made by hand on 16mm film. When I say "by hand" I mean that I did this without the use of a camera. The techniques that I used to create this film is something that was new to me. I used a variety of different elements, such as bleaching, scratching, painting, collage, etc. This project was time consuming because I had to make precise marks by hand in each individual frame. It takes 24 frames to make a second, so image how tedious that was. The theme of this this film is one dealing with childhood memories. Unlike my normal process that I use when I paint, most of the images that you see were not preplanned, but instead I made them based on instincts, energy, and color. Enjoy!

A picture of the 16mm film that I used to

make this film.

www.clarissahorton.com

Studio Interview on "Unveiling Secrets"

2011-06-10T18:46:00.000-04:00

I'm being interviewed about my thesis series "Unveiling Secrets."

www.clarissahorton.com

From WHITE, TO BLACK, TO WHITE AGAIN...

2011-05-07T23:24:00.000-04:00

Clarissa Horton

Red Lipstick, 2011

Charcoal, pastel, ink on paper, 18x24 in.

This is a photograph of a drawing that I did during a 30 minute figure drawing session at Studio Clout. I really enjoyed going to this open studio because I haven't done much hard core drawing like that since I was a sophomore in college. It feels good knowing that I still "got it" ;0). I do draw from time to time, but not with charcoal. Instead I have been doing small drawings with pen and pencils in my sketch book.

Its been a long time since I've seen a posing naked body, other than myself, lol.

As I was drawing I began having sense memory about how to make certain marks and use certain materials. It was fun triggering that part of my brain again. I always hated drawing classes in school, so me having fun drawing says a lot, lol.

I like to draw as if I'm painting. I like the reduction process where I'm adding and taking away drawing mediums onto the surface of the paper. When working with large sheets of paper I like my drawing process to go from white, to black, and then to white again.
I enjoy making high energy marks and to draw with my eraser, which aids in giving me beautiful energetic marks.

I wish I had more time to work on this one particular pose a little longer.

www.clarissahorton.com

Clarissa Horton - Movers & Shakers Exhibit 2011- Recorded Art Lecture

2011-02-18T12:12:00.000-05:00

Watch and enjoy as I discuss my painting Caught, which is currently exhibiting at The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia's Movers & Shakers of the GA Arts Scene exhibit.

www.clarissahorton.com

"Movers and Shakers" showcases rising stars | accessAtlanta

2011-01-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

"Movers and Shakers" showcases rising stars | accessAtlanta

Art review from the "Movers & Shakers" exhibit that I'm in at The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. Please click on link and read.

www.clarissahorton.com

Movers & Shakers: MOCA GA Salutes the Rising Stars of the GA Arts Scene

2011-01-24T23:39:00.001-05:00

Click on this Link for more amazing photos.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42796&id=141404392571522&ref=mf

I had such an amazing night with my family and friends at the opening reception of Movers & Shakers at The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. I felt really blessed to be in the company of such great artists. Here are a few photos from opening night.

To the left artist Fahamu Pecou who is also one of the co-curators of this exhibition.

"Tar Babies" by artist Terra Coles

Exhibition Dates: January 22 - March 19, 2011

Admission: Members: Free, $5 for non-members, $1 for students

Movers & Shakers is co-curated by 10 previous Movers & Shakers artists, and premiers 32 Movers & Shakers for 2011.

www.mocaga.org

Clarissa Horton Stone Mt. Arts Incubator CBS Atlanta News Interview

2010-10-26T10:57:00.000-04:00

This experience of being on the news is one that I never though would come so soon while I am young. I was pretty nervous, but honored to be on. I had a wonderful opportunity to speak about my art and my first studio.

www.clarissahorton.com

Clarissa Horton CBS Atlanta News Interview

2010-10-26T10:55:00.000-04:00

This was my first experience with being on the news. I was totally not expecting this to happen to me on that day. Everything happens for a reason, and I was at the right place at the right time. This is why it is important to always keep a few things of makeup in your purse ladies! LOL!

www.clarissahorton.com

Exhibition "Unveiling Secrets" Opening Reception

2010-04-11T15:08:00.011-04:00

Unveiling Secrets, March 29 - April 30, 2010

My Daddy helping me install. :0)

These pictures are from the opening reception of my BFA Thesis show at Pratt Institute. This experience had me on an emotional high for over a week. The greatest part about having a show is having my family and friends see all of my hard work; my parents were definitely proud. It's fun to see those who have journeyed with me through out this series come and see the results. I definitely got to see my own work differently hung together on a clean white wall, in a large gallery with open space. As an artist who is used to working in a small studio, it was wonderfully overwhelming to me to see my work on together on the wall. Not only was I able to see my work differently, but I was able read my work differently.

Someone at the opening asked me, which piece is my favorite, and my answer to them was, I don't have one. Each painting reflects a certain part of my journey that is apart of me. Each painting is a memory of a true experience or desire. The funnest part about the exhibition was being able to interact with my viewers and question their thoughts about my work.

If I could do one thing differently at the opening, it would be to take more pictures, lol, but here you go. ENJOY!

**Click on image to enlarge

(left to right) My Mother, Me, and my Cousin Alexis

My roommates and I

Painter Jordan Cooper and Me

My painting teacher, Peggy Cyphers, and I are examining my latest painting Secret Garden

(from left to right) Painter Anthony Morton, Peggy Cyphers, and Me

www.clarissahorton.com

Thesis Exhibition: "Unveiling Secrets", Installation

2010-04-11T06:01:00.020-04:00

Unveiling Secrets, March 29 - April 3, 2010

This thesis exhibition experience was an amazing one. I learned so much about my self as an artist, and psychologically on the issue of love. How I feel about love really spoke to me from seeing my paintings all hung together in the gallery. Seeing my big paintings, Secret Garden and Caught, in the gallery amazed me on how much life large paintings can bring to a series, and can affect the gallery in a beautiful way. I got a lot of great responses from my peers, teachers, and guest about the series. Three things that they all love is how I use color, the imagery I express in each painting, and the energy that I bring with each brush stroke.

Another thing others admire is my fearlessness to be transparent and expose my inner self for the world to see. This can be a very vulnerable place for many, but for me it gives me the strength to share my feelings with absolute power and control. Their inspiration from observing my work has inspired me as an artist. I have been debating as to whether or not to do more paintings for this series. I will because a few of my trusted peers and teachers say that I should push these ideas further, and I agree.

***Click on picture for a zoomed in image***

Secret Garden, Oil on Canvas, 2010
Pratt Student, Friend, Model James Ward beside painting

Current late painting of series

Please be Delicate, Oil on Canvas, 2010

Caught, Oil on Canvas, 2010

Senior Fine Arts painting professor Greg Drasler sharing his positive thoughts with me about his perspective on the series and my growth.

www.clarissahorton.com

"The Metamorphis"

2010-03-15T16:54:00.002-04:00

Caught
Oil on Canvas, 2010, 66 x 50in
(Zoomed in Image)

This is a zoomed in photo of this painting. This painting is 66 x 50inches. This is the largest canvas that I've stretched, and painted in years. I had another title other than Caught for this painting, which helped to inspired my story, but changed it because I desire to leave the title a little vague.

I prefer to leave room for the viewer to have their own interpretations of my work, rather than me completely forcing my emotional experience on them; I want them to have their own experience with each piece.

This large painting has brought the best out of me intellectually, and aesthetically. Its largeness of size forced me to consider every area of the canvas in greater detail. I was able to push my narrative more than I have before in my previous work. I not only had to consider the figure, but the atmosphere around the figure in intensely because there is more open space within the picture.

A large canvas gives me more room to play with my subjects body language to help tell the story. My brush work and paint application is the first painting in the series, "Unveiling Secrets", to consist of a lot of translucent color and lose energetic brush work. In Caught, I brought painting back to my paintings.

Unveiling Secrets
East Hall Gallery, 2nd Floor
Opening Reception, March 29, 2010 6-9PM
March 29 through April 2

Regular gallery hours Tues-Fri, 10AM-5PM

Pratt Institute
200 Willoughby Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205

Going Deeper

2009-11-15T01:02:00.012-05:00

So far my paintings consist of one figure on the canvas in the system of portrait painting, but now I want the rest of my series to be less about the portrait and more about the narrative. To do this I'm going to paint on larger canvases. I've gotten a lot of critiques from Fine Art teachers at my school who have evaluated my work, at Pratt Institute, suggesting that I paint on larger canvases. This will give me more room to express my imagery. Due to the fact that I like to paint the figure a little larger than life size, larger canvases will allow me to put more of the figure on it. This also helps me to add more than one figure on the canvas, which is my intended goal for the rest on my series.

www.clarissahorton.com

Mid Semester Thoughts

2009-11-14T03:04:00.012-05:00

Studio: The Circus Attraction

I'm sitting in my room staring at my paintings that I'm working on. I'm finally realizing how much painting involves a lot of staring. I do about as much painting with my eyes as I do with my brush, especially since I'm working with new techniques. Painting can be exhausting for me at times because I incorporate not only my mind and body, but also emotions; it's great.
I'm a colorist, and I love to glaze the paint for blending qualities. I'm constantly working with multiple colors at once. Color affects us all emotionally and mentally. Dealing with a lot of color at once I'm sure affects me psychologically.

Anyways, the more I look at what I've done so far with my series, and think about where it's going, it kind of reminds me of Adam and Eve from the Bible. This isn't an Adam and Eve replica series though because it isn't a dialogue between the man and the woman, but a monologue of the woman to the man. This series is about my own psychological and emotional experience with love while searching for my soul mate.

One thing that I love about my first three portraiture like paintings is how the figures are engulfed in the wildness of leaves and flowers. It's so beautiful to me. It gives me a feeling that the figures didn't just show up in this forest, but live there. The man and woman are present throughout the series as if there is no one else who exist, but them.

www.clarissahorton.com

Gouache Leaf Study

2009-10-29T01:46:00.010-04:00

Gouache on Watercolor Paper,
Study, 2009

This is a small painting of the elephant ear plant. I did this yesterday for my Painting Process class. This was the first time that I ever made a painting using the medium gouache. I secretly have a fear of painting with different mediums other than oil because that's what I know best, and that's what I'm good at doing. After finishing this painting I fell in love with gouache, and I feel the need to use it more. I want to make more small paintings of plants for my thesis because I'm using a lot of nature landscapes in my series. I like gouache because I can blend my colors like with oil paint. I'm really surprised about pulling this painting off. My teacher liked it, and so do I.

www.clarissahorton.com

1st Painting of Thesis

2009-10-29T01:25:00.009-04:00

Oil on Canvas, 2009

This is the first painting for my senior thesis. It's about love and pain. My paintings for this series aren't about any one particular guy. I say this because I get asked that a lot, but this series is on just how loving someone can make anyone feel.

I've decided to let this series consist mainly of self portraits. I want to express myself in this series as a sort of spiritual journey; these paintings will be my journal entries.

Aesthetically, I've tried a lot of new techniques and discovered more about myself as a painter. I created a lot of flat vs. 3D areas, smooth vs. textured, and I even left some areas of the painting unfinished where the under painting is showing through. I want to continue these techniques further in my body of work.

www.clarissahorton.com

Scriptual Inspiration

2009-10-05T01:45:00.005-04:00

A lot of times, especially for this series, I have found many inspirations from the "Holy Bible". These ideas of hope, virtue, love, nature, symbols, and parables are spoken of a lot in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. I like to portray the relevance of the Word in my paintings although others may not see that. This is what my paintings mean to me.

www.clarissahorton.com