Berlin Drawing Room Blog: Maureen Jeram: traditional and contemporary painting techniques

I am fascinated with both traditional and contemporary painting techniques and
feel that the combination of the two can create a powerful image.
Maureen Jeram

We are very lucky to have artist Maureen Jeram as the instructor for the Painting Workshop at the Berlin Drawing Room. Jeram is an artist both steeped in traditional painting technique, from oil painting to egg tempera and fresco, as well as actively exploring contemporary questions. She says, "I am fascinated with both traditional and contemporary painting techniques and feel that the combination of the two can create a powerful image." It is this blend of traditional and contemporary techniques that makes Jeram's approach to teaching painting so well suited for the Berlin Drawing Room.

Jeram's own work has been described as a "productive conflict with tradition," a balancing act which "requires that the authority of ones predecessors be taken seriously, but also be able to be overcome."1

Jeram's impressive art education in the USA, Italy and Berlin prepared her for this way of working. As she explains:

"In Italy at Romano Stefanelli’s studio and at the Florence Academy I trained for seven years classical approaches to drawing and painting, specializing in the use of tempera, oil and fresco. Developing a composition, mixing colors and building a realistic scene based on light and shadow are classical techniques that I learned and teach.

As for contemporary painting techniques, I trained at the Rhode Island School of Design and at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Georg Baselitz. I learned about painting as process, how to develop and use brush strokes and mark making, as well as the graphic and conceptual quality of creating an interesting image."

While traditional technique lies at the foundation of Jeram's own practice, as well as her approach to teaching, she is careful to remind us that these skills are only tools. To art students she would say:

"Think of your skills and techniques as a tool bag which will prepare you to find your own vocabulary and personal expression in paint."

It is this moment of personal expression that she is ultimately seeking to prepare her students for, so that they have all the tools ready to use when that moment comes. When Jeram is in her studio at work, "she has to see with tradition, but during the actual painting process she must forget or at least temporarily repress it long enough in order to let her own picture come into existence."1

And what is Jeram tackling in her studio right now? "At the moment I am working on a series of paintings of portraits and figures in spaces which fuse the real with the_uncanny," she states. Check out a couple of images below of this in-progress series!

Learn more about the upcoming Painting Workshop starting August 7, 2018 with Maureen Jeram. http://www.berlindrawingroom.com/painting/