Sister Act II - How it looked!

Here are photos of my sister's jewelry

displays. She has a lot of new work

I hadn't seen. Gorgeous colored stones

such as jasper and sujalite (spelling?)

which is a beautiful purple stone. The

last photo is where she was showing

those in attendance a few of the ways to

use her scarf slides. You can see some

of them in the photo just before that one.

Click on the images to enlarge.

By the way, her Etsy site is Sandys Creations:

Just us the link in this blog in the right column!

More of Sister Act II

A few shots of people looking at our artwork!

Sister Act II

Here we are in front of a few of my small paintings.

It was a really wonderful experience and well

attended. So we were happy! It is always a lot

of work to put on such a show, but then you are

doing it and enjoying the friends and others who

come and all the work part fades away and leaves

you with the fun of it!

A few more of the small works for the show

As you see, I like pleasure moments and hope to

assist others in recalling theirs because of

seeing what I have painted. These are 5 x 7

paintings and are framed. They will be at the

show this weekend, Oct 24th and 25th from

11 - 4 at my studio.

Something different for me to paint!

This weekend of October 24th and 25th, I will host

an art show and sale with my sister in my studio.

This is one of a set of new small paintings (5 x 7)

that will be available framed and ready!

This truck is an artform in itself. Can something

that is rusting and basically disintegrating be

beautiful? Apparently yes!

Watercolor reincarnation

My art flat files have been housing many

watercolor paintings of mine for a long time.

Some are pieces I have kept because I like

their possibilities, not how they actually

turned out. So with a possibility of using them

as inspiration for future work, I have kept them.

Well now they are all cut up and reincarnated

as you see above! It has been quite the process,

but enjoyable and now I will make them available

for a few shekels at my upcoming shows. A piece

of original art for a few bucks!

The Artist's Cat

Yeah! I have my photo operation back in action!

Thank you to Chandan in New Delhi for his Dell

assistance !

Here's my girl posing in front of my impressive

art book library. If you look closely (which you

can by clicking on the image) you'll see my name

on the spine of one of the books.

This painting is 11" x 14", an oil painting. It is framed

in a simple black frame and is $400 plus s&h.

Next show preparation!

Now the Frederick show is over and the next one is end of the month here in my studio.

I seem to be having trouble with my photo downloads, so stay tuned til I get that working again.
It's always something.

I've been having fun taking bits and pieces of what I'm calling 'unresolved' watercolor paintings
and taking the parts I like to use on a new project. I'll have to get photos to post so you can
see what I've been up to.

More reception fun!

I have two cameras that I have at

my shows. So here are more views

of this past weekend's reception for

my solo show at Frederick Cellars

from the 'other' camera!

I am now in the follow up stages with

thank yous to all who helped and attended.

As well as to some who expressed an interest in

having a painting from this show. I am

happy with the results and you can see from

the last photo that my wonderful assistant

Julie and I are very pleased indeed!

Art Reception!

My art reception is tomorrow

I am really excited about this show. It is a solo show and is for the entire month of September.
I did a show at this winery last June and am so pleased to be having another one, which is of all new work for it.

Frederick Cellars (www.frederickcellars.com) is an excellent place to have an art show. The staff is wonderful and helpful and the space really lends itself to art looking good on the mostly gold walls.

I will report on how it goes and post photos of the day!

A small one

It's been a while since I was painting small panel

paintings. But here I am at it again and this one

is 5 x 7. I've been enjoying doing small ones again

and just started using a new brand of alkyd paint

which seem to be more opaque that the ones I

was using.

Show Hanging Day!

I have rarely tried to post
more than one or two photos
at a time, but I wanted to share
these with you of hanging my
current show at Frederick
Cellars winery, a wonderful place in Frederick, Maryland.

The first photo is of my assistant Julie and my friend
Linda who came to help me. Linda is our Art League's
gal who directs all those show hangings, so she knows
what she is doing in choosing and placing things that
look good together.


Here I am putting the labels on
a few paintings. The portrait in
this photo is a giclee (print) I had
made of a recent commission.






Linda and Julie getting the hook
on the painting wire!


Isn't this looking easy? They
do the work and I take the bow!
Well, I will take credit for doing
a LOT of paintings and new
work for this show. Do go to
http://www.frederickcellars.com/
if you want to know how to find this place!

A #1 Assistant!

This is my excellent assistant Julie.

She makes it possible for me to do what

I do by backing me up in the many, many

things that are required to keep an art

studio going. This is my tribute to

her cheerful spirit and superb high-

quality help. I truly could not do what

I do without her.

Now completely ready to serve lunch

Here you have the final painting, signed but not sealed

(varnished) or delivered! But that is next for sure.

I wonder if you can see what I did on it to complete

it since the last post of the entire image!

It was such an enjoyable painting to do because I

felt that I got to be there again on that really perfect

summer's day with my son.

Not a figment of my imagination

I can hardly believe that this was an actual

scene with a beautiful young woman standing

like a model looking longingly in the window.

But it was. Managed to get a shot of her before

she moved on by and have wanted to paint this

ever since. This is a small piece, just 8 x 10.

I call it "Desire". I may do a larger piece

eventually.

By the way, this shop is Yaneth Reyes at

www.yanethreyes.com

Finished with flowers!

I completed the painting of this restaurant, Isabella's.

The last touches I did on it you see here. I wanted

the spill of flowers off the cart to draw you in. I just

love this little cart and had so much enjoyment painting

it.

I will post the completed image in the next day or so.

The shots I took today were out of focus, so I have to

fix that!

Up close

Here's a detail of the painting I just posted.

I had many thoughts about what to put on

this chalk sandwich board...like "Buy me"

but thought that too silly. Also could have

said "Special of the day", could have put what

was actually on that board which was "Come

join us for lunch".

I even was toying (not seriously) with the idea

of that blackboard paint you can buy for a wall.

Thought of painting that stuff on the sandwich

board and then the owner of this painting (yet

to appear) can change what it says....

See what comes about in the creative mind?

The latest underway!

Even though I have barely posted anything for some

weeks now, I HAVE been painting. Since the MAJOR

house content sort out that took 6 weeks out of this

summer, I have painted, but not at my usual rate.

This is a piece in progress which will be the centerpiece

for a solo show in September at Frederick Cellars, a

wonderful winery in Frederick, Maryland.

This is a scene in that wonderful town...moments

of pleasure on a weekend afternoon with your loved

ones!

This painting is 30 x 40 inches in size...painted on

canvas.

Rescue

What does a baby bird rescue have to do with the Joy of Art? I guess I would just say that this relates to the art of living. And to see a tiny fragile living thing barely alive, and to rescue it and restore its vitality, well that is art of its own kind.

This little robin owes its life first to my cleaning lady who found it in the street fallen from its high nest, and then to my son who lovingly fed it and placed it in the tree on a bit of towel until its parents started feeding it again. In a few short days, it was able to flutter and fly and so very soon was gone from being close-up in our world....into the large world where we hear many birdsongs around us.

Reappearance!

Where have I been you may wonder! I have been involved in a major project at my home to get things that are left from my dear parent's lives sorted and distributed. It has taken many weeks and a great deal of what I envisioned has now been done.



I have done some painting which I will post soon. But that had to take a back seat while I poured the coals on!

Now I am working to get a great deal done for solo show in September. So not on blog very often yet as you see!

The last step

Here is what we artists must do after

the piece is completed. Photograph it

for our records and for using in our

promotion materials.

Some of us may be qualified to do a

professional job of it, but here you see

that I am having it done by a professional

instead of doing it myself.

It can be shot indoors with special

color-keyed lights, or in this case, using

the natural spectrum of daylight.

I must say that as a painter, I have

long felt that when I had completed a

work, I was DONE! But there are more

things that one has to consider before one

is truly DONE! This is one of them, and

getting it sold is the next!

Tearoom painting in progress

As you see, I've developed a lot more of this piece

since the previous post. There is a 'feeling' I'm

after in this painting that is what the magic is all

about in art. It is the reason I like original art

on my walls instead of prints. I can feel the magic

from the artist imbedded in the paint. And to my

way of thinking, in a print, you only get the physical

image, not the soul of that artist shared with you

through a magical vibration coming off the paper

or canvas.

There is still LOTS to do with this painting before

it is done.

"Tearoom" in progress

This is the current state of this painting. You can

see that I have scrubbed thin layers of paint as

I am working out the tones and subtle colors of

this piece. It is always very interesting to see if

what I have been cooking up in my head actually

appears on canvas. So far so good. Stay tuned!

Completed Portrait

This is the completed and accepted portrait.

When one paints for others, and most especially

when it is a portrait, it is a joint affair. One must

please oneself in terms of one's art goals for the

work, but also one must meet what is wanted

by those who commission you to paint. When

both or all parties are satisfied, it is the most

wonderful thing to be an artist.

Cat painting nearly done!

Several posts back, I showed you the sketch on

canvas for this painting. Since then I worked on

it at a demonstration I gave a few weeks ago.

She needs a bit more tweaking with whiskers

added and some attention to the pillow, but then

that is it! What shall I call it? "Here's looking

at you"?!

Portrait close to completion

There is a point when I know I am

almost done with my work. All is now

in place for the final elements which

bring the entire work where I wanted

it to go from the beginning.

This is rather like the last movement

of a symphony when you hear the

various parts of the orchestra bringing

the melody to a crescendo, building to

that point of total focus and feeling.

The sketch and story of 'Tearoom' painting

I have had this painting in my head for a long time.

I took some shots of this tearoom a couple of years

ago and have not been able to get it out of my mind

because of the atmosphere of the place and the

lighting. And because it has in it a sort of timeless

feeling of all the ladies who ever shopped taking time

to sit with each other and chat and share some

delicious sweets while resting their feet!

The photographs are not great, but they serve

me just enough for me to invent what I want it

to be. We'll see how it goes.

It is a rather large painting. I will have to check

the dimensions...but I think it is 28 x 32 or so.

Bigger than the recent ones I have been doing.

Also, the settee at the back just grabbed me as it

was the most unique little piece with wood carved-

inserts. It had as much presence as the people,

maybe more!

My next portrait!

Here she is yet again! Miss Lucy posing for animal

crackers (as my Dad used to say!). I am considering

doing a calendar for next year with paintings of

Lucy. So here is the beginning of this one...she

is next to an embroidered pillow, in case you are

wondering.

How about commenting for me to let me know

if you think a Lucy calendar is a good idea. Doesn't

everyone love cats (haha!).

Portrait progress continuing!

I've started putting in the lovely

hair strands across her face. Of course

one needs to have the face properly

developed in order to then do this.

It is also interesting when doing the

mouth on a young girl who doesn't

need to wear lipstick, just how delicate

the slight blush of color is!

Also note that the background has been

more developed. I have put more light

behind her head. It has a subtle diagonal

flow that forms a sort of X with the flow

of her entire body position.

I need to lighten up the dark shadow

of her apron by her elbow and modify

the tones of the apron just above it.

And then there is......... OK, enough.

Stay tuned!

Portrait progress

In my recent painting session of this

portrait (which I am really loving, I

have to admit), I worked out to bring

out the apron, its tones and color. I

pulled in a little of the background

color to it which you can see if you click

on the image to enlarge it (oh heavens,

a magnifying mirror experience!).

I have put in the darks of her hair and

spent considerable time on the subtlties

of edges in many places. I have begun

to work more on her face, though that

is usually what I do last.

Getting ready for art show

My Art League will have its spring show

in a few weeks and so here are some of

the pieces I will show. I am waiting til

the last minute to varnish them! And

to take them to the framer who has already

ordered what I want.

Portrait progress -

This is a continuation of the first stage of

applying thin layers and working out

colors. The background in a portrait is

very important in terms of setting off

the tones of the subject. I have put on

a thin wash of lavendars going from blue-

lavendar to a pinker lavendar. I want the

colors of the background, as well as the tones

of it to set her beautiful self just right!

Portrait with initial paint layer

I almost always underpaint any painting

I am doing. It gives a good middle tone or

value to the work and makes it easier to

determine the darks and lights. I couldn't

resist trying out the turquoise that I will

use for her shirt...but the next go will be

the under-layers of skin tones. So everything

you see here is preliminary to the final paint

layers.

This portrait is 18" x 24" on linen canvas.

My sister's beautiful handmade jewelry

My sister designed and created this beautiful

pendant. I think the name of the stone is

(believe it or not) 'Prudent Man'. I think her

design motif is absolutely perfect for the

amazing leaf-like markings in the stone, yes?

Check out more of her work on her Etsy site.

Go to the right column on this blog and it is

the second link (Sandra's Creations).

As you see, I am not the only artist in this

family...and there are more of us as well.

But those stories will have to wait for another

day.

OK, so this isn't the Prudent Man stone my

sister tells me. It is called Pilbara Jasper!

How my portraits develop

The first drawing is my preliminary one

where I work out the proportions and

composition. It is on newsprint. Then

in the second drawing, you see what I

have transferred to canvas from the

paper drawing. I don't add in any tone

or value on the canvas as that will happen

with paint. I also don't worry about too

much precision for the features at this

early stage. That will come once I am

painting. Stay tuned! I'm excited about

this!

Looking up has benefits

I am always on the lookout for things of visual interest.

That is my strong suit as the saying goes.

This was a rooftop in a wonderfully maintained historic

town near me. It is SO much more interesting than

the asbestos roofing and aluminum siding of my

neighborhood. Ah progress. Such as it is.

My local art group

Twenty-six years ago I founded this group, The Art

League of Germantown (www.alog.org).

I am thrilled that it has continued to thrive. We now

have 79 members and as you see from the photo here,

we have great attendance at our meetings. This

beautiful room is the art gallery at the

BlackRock Center for the Arts

(www.blackrockcenter.org)

At this recent meeting we had what we call

"Show and Tell". We do it regularly and it is a

wonderful way to keep each other up to date on

what we are doing. It provides us with a sort of

accountability and motivation to continue to

produce new work. It is always a great pleasure

to see the new pieces members are working on.

This group remains a very large part of my life. I

started it because I was new in the community all those

years ago and wanted to have other artists in the area

to share with. I also had the intention to help artists as

I care so deeply about us all and I want us to do well

and stick to our dreams.

Please look at the website for our group which is the

first one in this post. Then you can visit the site of

our wonderful art center that opened here 6 years

ago. Our group and the center are partners in many

wonderful and productive ways. How great is that!

Visual poetry of my cat

She's 'one with the blanket' I'd say! I have

had this photo on my screen saver for a while

and finally decided I had to paint the painting!

What wonderful curving lines, and what a pleasure

it was to draw this! This is my photo of my

cat, snoozing on the back of the sofa while

I relaxed watching a little TV!

Art and Humor

OK folks, I just had to veer off of the usual

sorts of things I post here. So I thought I

would go for a chuckle. I think that if I were

working in three dimensions, I would want

to bring a sense of humor to the pieces, such

as this one does! To create something that

makes a person smile is a true gift. This surely

gives me a smile! Hope it does the same for

you.....

Sister Artists

My sister and I are both artists. She creates beautiful

jewelry in gold and silver and all sorts of stones both

precious and semi-precious. We were together last

week as she was headed south for some time out from

her intense workshop and show schedule. She and

her husband wanted some warm weather time!

So here we are working on something I could share

with her. She asked me about color wheel information

as she has started doing some colored pencil drawings

for the pure enjoyment of it. It was fun to be together

and be photographed from above by her husband,

obviously a higher power!

Reader input please!

Hello! Would you all comment on what you think of the black background on this blog? I like how it makes the art look, and I have no trouble reading the white on black text. BUT the subject of black backgrounds has come up lately and I'd like to hear from any and all of you in regard to the ease or difficulty of reading the text.
Thanks!

Expanding!

When I started this blog I was doing small works on a daily basis.
Then I found that I wasn't doing my larger paintings and so the whole
thing wound down to a trickle of little pieces until I stopped doing them
altogether.
But then the blog started taking off in new directions. Now I just find it
confusing and maybe you do too! So I now have two new blogs so I can
use this one for my own artist's journey and art work, and the other two
will speak for themselves. They are new as of today, so if you scroll down
you'll see them on the right side of this blog. Take a look!

Paint from a palette or table top?

I have a new blog where you can find painting tips

about various things I have discovered over the years.

It is http://teachertipsfromthejoyofartstudio.blogspot.com

It is really not meant to be a "how to paint" blog, but one

where you can find things to refine what you are doing,

or at least shorten the path and have it go more easily!

Andrew Wyeth

There is a sort of comic remark about 'Frasier has left the building', but it always got my attention. If you think of it, there are these larger than life persons that we admire but never meet that are in the 'building' that represents life in its largest sense. And so today, in honor of
a true individual and a stellar artist, the building is feeling quite empty.

Andrew Wyeth crossed my life in the usual way that famous artists do. I had the same experience as a young person with Georgia O'Keeffe, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. These top artists were berated, x-rated and celebrated on the covers of popular magazines and newspapers. They were interviewed and then the media would do their usual hatchett jobs and the public at large would think they were odd.

They were odd in the very best way - they lived the life THEY created, and on this planet that is a tall order as the pressure to conform is subtle and constant.

I celebrate the life of Andrew Wyeth. I have been to Chadds Ford several times where he was a child and lived in the shadow of his famous father N.C. Wyeth until he grew into his own man and then some. Of course the Wyeth legacy is also shared by Andy's son Jamie who is a superb artist as well. Upon going there, one now gets to go to the home and studio that N.C. had for his family.
N.C. had the studio built just up a little rise behind his home. As you may know, he died in the middle of his life, along with his grandson when the car he was driving stalled on train tracks. The studio has been left by the family exactly as it was when he was last in it. His palette and the last piece he was working on are still there - looking deserted and not a little forlorn.

Going to Chadds Ford and the Brandywine Museum is a more spiritual experience than most such visits. It has a human quality because it was a mill at one time, and now is the wonderful human-scale place where one can visit its several floors and see works by all three of these amazing men as well as that of some other artists. On one visit, I had the extraordinary experience of getting a tour of Andy's latest show given by his granddaughter Victoria who made it so special and even humorous. She, not being an artist, did her best to be sure to communicate what it was that her Grandfather wanted understood. It was really great.

Now, as has been said of another major figure in our history, he belongs to the ages. But to me it is the empty building and knowing that he has completed his last painting. At least for now.
Who knows where such a being may show up next? Keep the door open......

Winter Sun

On a recent winter's morning, I was coming up the

stairs and there in front of me was this scene. The

sun could not have played across her pretty face

any better than this if I had set up lighting myself.

The doll is part of a collection that my mother started

years ago and that I have added to now and then

(but only infrequently) and the chair was a doll

chair that I had as a child. I just loved the beauty

of this scene and grabbed my camera before the

January sun moved on its way.

My Christmas kitty

I went out on the porch to take photos

of my wreath and lo and behold, here

was a much better photograph! My

lovely cat was in the window by the

candle watching my every move.

Eventually she'll have to move over

for grandchildren!

Happy New Year everyone!

The art of the season!

Just got the tree up yesterday. We

took it from the bucket in the garage

and juggled the screws until it seemed

straight. Is it ever? Well with the lights

and ornaments on, it is yet another

season of loveliness to enjoy. I trust

that all of you are doing that with

your holiday preparations as well!

Student set-up

A student of mine has created this beautiful set-up

to learn more about painting glass and also doing

a flower. The cast shadow of the vase is really quite

fabulous I think!

Flowers are among the more difficult

things to paint and so I like to have students start

with one that has only a simple petal formation.

Perhaps she will let me post her painting when it

is done. So far she has just created this and next

lesson will be doing the drawing before beginning

to paint.

Strength and Motion

I wanted the best title I could think of for this

11" x 14" panel painting. The enormous tree

and its massive old trunk was the perfect stable

mooring for the swing. This is from a visit I made

a few years ago to Tolchester Maryland. A really

out of the way, back in time bed and breakfast

with this marvelous pond and ancient trees.

Very soothing place to be.