Niagara

We went to Niagara Falls last year and I have managed to make several paintings from the trip. This piece is one of several that I will take to St. Louis next week. It is very small and I finished it this morning. 1 3/4"x 1 7/8". I have plans to make a very large version of this at some point. Maybe 50"x 50". I would love to return to much larger, much looser work. It seems to be more to my character and I feel more comfortable with the working methods of larger paintings. However, a small piece like this can be very effective when I paint such a large view in such a small space. It forces the viewer to look very close and when they do they see a huge world. I like that dynamic. It's not overwhelming like a large piece, but more intimate.

For Mike. . . . . .

This is my easel. If you look just below the center there is a small painting. I finished this little piece yesterday and plan on taking it to a show I have in St. Louis in two weeks. It's 1 1/2"x 1 1/2". Ridiculously small and at my advancing age(I am not old, but no longer a young man), very difficult to see and work on such a scale. It's a painting of a sunrise through some fog, early in the morning near Ocala.

An artist's friend lost her husband yesterday. He was a good man. Death plays no favorites. We are all in the same line that ends the same way, we just don't know when. We seem invincible when we are young, but time marches forward, distracted by nothing, pursuing it's only goal, continuum. It's a cliche' to say live every moment to it's fullest, but it doesn't make it any less profound. Rest in Peace Mike Bitner. May every moment now be more beautiful than a sunrise near Ocala.

Deep South

I just finished this painting last week and finally varnished it so I could send it off today. The varnish did not adhere too well to the surface. It's one of my biggest aggravations, dealing with the materials. It's a constant battle and one in which I learn something all the time. Usually its what not to do.

I think the painting turned out pretty well. It's oil on wood, 8"x 12". Titled, "Deep South". It is a river in central Georgia. I made some slight alterations, but this is an actual place. I have always loved the backwoods and the backroads of the South. I feel connected to this part of the world. It is here, just before dark, the voices of the day are hushed and the night creatures begin to stir and hum. The mystery of twilight. The witchery of the moon. There are ghosts in these parts.

In the beginning, there was light and dark. . . . . . . . . . and they called it chiaroscuro

Well here we are, at the beginning of something. I decided to have a blog because somewhere deep in the trenches of my ego I believe that what I have to say about what I am doing may be relevant to some people. We'll see.

I will try not to euthanize anyone with my thoughts and even maybe give a little insight into this world of art. My world of art.

Biography

MATTHEW W. CORNELL
1515 E. Harwood St.
Orlando, FL 32803
407.898.6956 502.649.0352
matthewcornell@aol.com
www.matthewcornell.com

EDUCATION:
BFA, California State University, Long Beach, CA

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
2009 Los Angeles Art Show, Los Angeles, CA (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Works on Paper, New York, NY (Tanner Hill Gallery)
Art Chicago, Chicago, IL (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Art Hamptons, Bridgehampton, NY (Arcadia Fine Arts)
2008 Contemporary American Realism, Fort Wayne Museum of Art
The Best of New England, Quidley and Company, Boston, MA
Art 20, New York, NY (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Affordable Art Fair, New York, NY (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Small Works Exhibition, Arcadia Fine Arts, NY
Toronto International Art Fair, (Arcadia Fine Arts)
USArtists, Philadelphia, PA , (Tanner Hill Gallery)
2007 Los Angeles Art Show, Los Angeles, CA (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Art Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM (Lisa Kurts Gallery)
Small Works Exhibition, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY
USArtists, Philadelphia, PA (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Boston International Fine Art Show, Boston, MA (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Group Exhibition, Lisa Kurts Gallery, Memphis, TN
25 years, A Director's Favorites, Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL
2006 The Florida Landscape, Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL
Small Works Exhibition, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY
All Paintings Great and Small, Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, CT
USArtists, Philadelphia, PA, (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Boston International Fine Art Show, Boston, MA (Arcadia Fine Arts)
ArtMIAMI, (Tanner Hill Gallery)
Los Angeles Art Show, (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Art Scottsdale, (Tanner Hill Gallery)
2005 USArtists, Philadelphia, PA, (Arcadia Fine Arts)
Land, Sea, and Sky; paintings by Matthew Cornell, Tanner Hill
Gallery (Angela Usrey Gallery), Chattanooga, TN
Small Works Exhibition, Arcadia Fine Arts, New York, NY
Chicago Contemporary and Classic Art Fair (Angela Usrey Gallery)
Emerging Artists 05', Scottsdale, AZ (Angela Usrey Gallery)
2004 AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY(Angela Usrey Gallery)
2003 About Face, Collection of Jackye and Curtis Finch, Jr
von Leiberg Art Center, Naples, FL
ART Santa Fe
ArtMIAMI
AAF Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY(Angela Usrey Gallery)
2002 Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, AL
B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
2001 Dale Jarrett and Matthew Cornell, B. Deemer Gallery, Louisville, KY
Paintings by Matthew Cornell, Southside Art Gallery, Oxford, MS



AWARDS:
2009 1st Place Painting, Winter Park Art Festival
2008 1st Place Painting, Winter Park Art Festival
2007 Best of Show, Painting, Old Town Art Fair, Chicago, IL
1st Place Painting, Winter Park Art Festival
2006 Morse Museum Award, Winter Park Art Festival
2005 1st Place Drawing, Winter Park Art Festival
Judges Award, Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, Reston VA
1st Place Painting, Sausalito Art Festival
2004 Best of Show, Plaza Art Fair, Kansas City, MO
1st Place Painting, Coconut Grove Art Festival
2003 Best of Show, Winter Park Art Festival
1st Place Painting, Winter Park Art Festival
Best 2-D, Naples National Art Festival, Naples, FL
1st Place Fine Art, Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival, Reston, VA
1st Place Painting, St. Louis Art Fair, Clayton, MO
1st Place Painting, Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
2002 1st Place Drawing, St. Louis Art Fair, Clayton, MO
1st Place Painting, Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
Best of Show, Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Denver, CO
Best 2-D, Naples National Art Festival, Naples, FL
2001 1st Place Painting, Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
1st Place Drawing, Winter Park Art Festival
1st Place Painting, Bruce Museum Arts Festival, Greenwich, CT
2000 Best of Show, Bruce Museum Arts Festival, Greenwich, CT
Best 2D, Naples National Art Festival, Naples, FL
1999 1st Place Drawing, Portland Art Festival, Portland, OR
1998 1st Place Drawing, St. Louis Art Fair, St. Louis, MO
1st Place Drawing, Winter Park Arts Festival
1997 Best of Show, Telfair Art Fair, Telfair Art Museum, Savannah, GA




PUBLICATIONS:
Courier Journal, 1/10/01, 10/02/98 Orlando Sentinel 3/24/03
New York Times, 11/26/00 New American Paintings, 5/01
LEO, 4/00 Chattanooga Times Free Press, 11/13/2005
Lookout Mountain Mirror 11/05 American Art Collector, 07/07







COLLECTIONS:
City of Winter Park, FL
City of Tampa, FL
Arkansas Art Center
Maitland Art Center
Hollis Taggert (Hollis Taggert Gallery, NY)
Frank Holt (Director, Mennello Museum, Orlando, FL)
Jeff Cooley (Cooley Gallery, Olde Lyme, CT)
Jami Gertz, actress



REPRESENTATION:
Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY
Tanner Hill Gallery, Chattanooga, TN
Quidley and Company, Boston, MA
Evoke Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM