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Featured Artist: Donna Bruni |
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 Xanadu: Your work is suggestive of the landscape, and yet seems to transcend place, can you talk a little about what inspires your pieces? Do you work from actual images, or are the paintings pure imaginative creations? Bruni: I grew up on the east coast, spending summers near the ocean. I remember long afternoons watching the patterns in the sand change as the tide moved in and out. I often go back to this original landscape in my mind while painting, to establish a sense of place as a personal context to work from, rather than as a subject for my paintings. I don’t typically work from actual images but rather memories and inspirations that include; family, travel to new or familiar places and personal stories collected over time. Landscape and figurative elements integrate bits and pieces of life within layered surfaces of color in the finished pieces. X: What is the process when creating the pieces, do you start with a composition in mind?  Bruni: I
rarely start with a planned composition, but I do have parameters such
as size, format, materials and technique in mind. This gives me a
foundation to build on. When working on a commissioned piece, I
have a specific sense of direction and begin with preliminary color
studies on paper before moving onto a canvas or wood panel for the
finished piece. In developing a series I am able to explore different
facets of an idea and varied compositions to capture the essence of a
subject in the painting process. X: You have a background in commercial design, how has that work influenced your current work? Bruni: I’ve always been influenced by the power of images to express ideas and emotion. I began my career in visual arts as an assistant art director in a corporate art department in New York City. In graphic design, innovation is a result of technical expertise and manipulation of ideas. As a studio artist, the painting process generates new ideas and methods that must be skillfully executed. Although painting is a process of discovery, intentional decisions made at every stage determine outcome and success. In all creative process work there is a point when disparate elements pull together and the image becomes clear. X: Your education includes both art and healing, talk about the connection between art and well-being. Is health a conscious element of your work? Bruni: I studied use of imagery in cross-cultural healing practices to better understand the link between art and healing. The connection between art and well being is clearly established and can be described as creation of meaning, harmony, balance, unity, expression of emotion, and seeing things in new or different ways. The holistic model of health is an element of my work, in that, painting involves studying relationships of all parts to the whole. Images provide a way to share personal stories and universal ideas, connecting people by transcending boundaries. I am always reaching for that in my paintings. X: What is your creative process? Bruni: I am at the studio 3-5 days a week and teach Expressionist Painting at a regional art center once a week. Currently, I am painting nearly every day, with one large canvas and four or five smaller canvases in the works at any given time. Color is my starting point, influencing emotional tone, subject and direction of a painting at every stage. As I paint, I use visual notes taken from varied sources, such as a media image that stays with me or the texture of a rainy day, a memory of a specific place or time of year. I don’t often complete a painting in one session; layering and mixing oil paint and linseed oil on canvas or wood surfaces is time intensive. There is a point when forms begin to fall into place - my paintings reflect the journey and the destination. X: Who are your favorite artists?  Bruni: I’m
inspired by the use of color and abstract language of a wide variety of
painters. I look at contemporary art everyday. I love the
freedom, movement and saturated color of Joan Mitchell’s abstract
paintings. I am also very drawn to the Expressionist painter, Ernst
Kirchner, whose use of color has such emotional
depth. X: Your studio is located in Minneapolis, what’s the art scene like there? Bruni: I relocated to Minnesota from the New York metropolitan area in 1992 and discovered a vibrant and accessible cultural art scene in the Minneapolis warehouse district. Since then, the arts scene has grown dramatically with the Northeast Arts district designation promoting the arts and artists as an economic asset to the city. There are three internationally acclaimed art museums within five minutes of my studio lending credibility to the Minneapolis art community. It is very inspiring to be able to go and study a painting by Van Gogh or Emil Nolde at the Minneapolis Institute of Art or view contemporary works at Walker Art Center and the Weisman Art Museum anytime. A few years ago while traveling in Spain, I was surprised to see a Chuck Close exhibition with several paintings on loan from Walker Art Center at the Reina Sofia Museum (home to Picasso’s Guernica) in Madrid. |
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| Xanadu
Gallery | 7039
E. Main St. #101 | Scottsdale, AZ 85251 | 480.368.9929 | 866.483.1306 |
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