Early Beginnings of Cicada by Rob Evans

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Listen to Rob Evans explain his early beginnings and inspirations for his work, Cicada, currently hanging in the Commonwealth Gallery at the Michener Art Museum.

Stay tuned for future video clips regarding this work and works by other artists!

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How did Rob Evans create his painting, Cicada?

This posting follows up to a previous blog posting on Rob Evans’s work, Cicada.

First Study for Cicada c.1994, Rob Evans (b.1959), Pencil on Paper, Collection of the Artist, Image Courtesy of Rob Evans.

Rob Evans’s work is created through a long process. Often he starts with a small sketch in response to something that catches his attention or imagination. It can be something very simple, or even a passing thought. He then puts this sketch in a sketchbook. Sometimes the sketch can sit for a few months or years without him looking at it again. He returns to see his sketches to remind himself of them and keep their ideas alive in his mind. Eventually these ideas take root in larger paintings. Read More »

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Why is the painting divided into three areas?

Cicada, 1998-2000, Rob Evans (b.1959), Acrylic and oil on canvas, H. 40 x W. 120, In trust to the James A. Michener Art Museum from Ms. Joyce Tseng.

Notice that Rob Evans divided the painting into three sections, creating a kind of triptych. This painting began in 1994 as a small sketch of a cicada shedding its skin on a tree branch. The sketch was inspired by his memories of the cicada’s song vibrating each summer through the treetops at his grandparent’s home named Roundtop. He would find their translucent skins on the bark of the trees. Have you ever seen or heard a cicada before? What do they sound like? Read More »

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