Another painting from the family album

Cocktail Hour, 1971

Oil with a palette knife on Ampersand Gessobord

16" x 16" x 2"

I have returned to paintings inspired from old family photographs and enjoying it so much. This one is of my mother (in the middle) at what looks to be a holiday cocktail party at our house with a few of her neighbor friends. I don't know the exact date so took a stab at the year. 

This was my set up at the gallery at Patriot Place. You can see that I have the photo up on my iPad as well as a color copy printed out at the size I am painting. I have taped the outside edges so it will leave a nice clean edge for adding the photo border and date at the end.

And here are some progress shots I took along the way as well as some detailed close ups.

Thanks for taking a look!

A happy girl and her happy dog

Augusta and Tito

16" x 20"

Oil with palette knives on Ampersand Gessobord

Nancy asked me to paint this fun image of her daughter and her dog. I loved the happy looks on both of their faces as well as the beautiful background and shadows. This painting is all about happiness and summer.

NEW Red Inn wood prints

As an experiment, I ordered wood prints of these two paintings from Fine Art America. I wasn't expecting that you would be able to see the natural wood grain underneath the image, but it came out looking kind of cool, especially on the beach. These went up for sale at The Red Inn in Provincetown back in June. I learned that both wood prints have sold so I guess others liked them too.

You can order these wood prints for yourself through the FAA website. 

The view from the road is here:

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-red-inn-street-view-ann-gorbett.html?product=wood-print

The view from the sea is here:

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-red-inn-view-from-the-sea-ann-gorbett.html?product=wood-print

Thanks for looking!

Back Bay Reflections

Back Bay Reflections

60" x 48"

Oil with palette knives on canvas

Available

This painting is my first big undertaking since starting my career as a full time artist in January. Here is a photo of me before I began painting so you can get a sense of the size of the canvas. Those print outs taped to the canvas are my reference photos. I also had it on my iPad while working.

This painting took about 22 sessions of about 3-4 hours each. I painted while at the Artists Studio & Gallery at Patriot Place since we have such a nice big space to work there. During the pandemic closure, I painted with the doors locked so it was a nice quiet place to work. I finally finished it this month but I took photos along the way and created this slideshow that shows my day by day progress.

Here are a few close up details.

I chose the title "Back Bay Reflections," a recommendation from my friend Danielle, as this is where I used to work in Boston before I retired from my graphic design job of 30 years. So the title has both a literal and personal meaning.

More aerial fun

Aqua Marine

24" x 18"

Oil with palette knives on Blick Studio Artist Board

I found more aerial mages on Unsplash.com and got inspired to paint this one. Mixing all of these beautiful blue and green colors was so satiisfying. I took some close ups so you can see the texture and that there are actually tiny people swimming and snorkeling in the water. Wouldn't you love to be here right now?

Beach and waves- an aerial view

Gull's Eye View

24" x 18" Oil with palette knives

Blick Studio artist board

SOLD

I painted this just for fun. The inspiration came from some images I found on unsplash.com of beach aerials. Not sure if they were taken by drone or by plane but the colors and textures are so captivating and I knew it would be great practice for palette knife techniques. I imagine this is what the seagull sees as it flies overhead, looking to see if you have any good snacks to steal. I would love to be up high looking down on this beautiful scene. And then go down to the beach and enjoy some sun and ocean waves. 

Here are a few close up details.

Back to basics-drawing the figure

Last August I attended a live model session organized by one of our gallery artist. I decided rather than trying to paint her, I would bring out the charcoal, the contes, and the large newsprint and drawing pads and go back to basics. It was so much fun drawing with charcoal again.

Here are a few select pieces from the evening.

It was just like being back in art school again!

New family portrait commission

Family Selfie at the Beach (Ken and kids)

18" x 18"

oil with palette knives on cradled wood panel

Ken asked me if I would paint this cute picture of him and his kids on the beach. It was really fun to paint a portrait at such a large size, much larger than the portraits I've done in the past. I was able to get a lot of detail in the faces and capture their likeness better.

I took photos along the way of each stage. I always start with the hardest part-the faces and I basically painted one face a day and then the background and clothing on the final day.

Here you can see my orange background wash and the sketch on top.

Ken's daughter was first...

Then Ken...

Then Ken's son...

And here is a close up of one of the faces so you can see all of the detailed strokes.

I chose a simple white floater frame and Ken hung it up moments after I delivered it to him. He hung it over the TV where he spends most of his time at home and where he can look at it daily. He sent me this photo. 

Mr. Thingamajig

Mr Thingamajig

Assemblage

Approximately 20" x 10"

" Available

I entered this assemblage into a show for the Foxboro Art Association this past February. The challenge was to create a piece of art that pushed you outside your comfort zone by trying a new medium, a new style, or just something different and fun.

This guy is a compilation of various pieces of wood I have collected, plus other metal do dads, an acorn hat and a googly eye. 

A few years ago Polo and I had an assemblage show we called "Awesomeblages". You can see some of my favorites assemblages from the show on my blog posted here. It was so much fun that we've been talking about doing another one at some point soon. 

More mini masters

I just realized that I never posted this series of mini masters from last November. They were inspired by 2 Monets, 1 Van Gogh, 1 Homer, and 2 Cezannes and are each approximately 2" by 3". I painted these all on one 12" x 16" piece of loose canvas, cut them out, and framed them in these cute little frames.

SOLD

Here are some close ups.

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

NFS

Colorful bird commission

Colorful Bird Feathers

9" x 12" 

oil with palette knives on Ampersand Gessobord

Jeremy asked me to paint this beautiful bird for him. He liked the texture I created with my palette knife and thought bird feathers would be a perfect subject matter for a painting. The images I used as reference were a combination of a blue-tailed bee eater from Malaysia and a blue kingfisher from Taiwan. I loved all of the colors in the feathers as well as in the abstract background shapes. It will be framed in a white floater frame that will really make the color come alive.

Cathy and Suzie's Adventure in NYC!

Cathy and Suzie Take On New York City

14" x 11" 

Oil with palette knives on Ampersand Gessobord

Cathy's good friend Suzie is moving to Coco Beach Florida and she is gonna miss her so much. As a special gift for her, she had this painting commissioned to always remind her of that wonderful trip they took together to New York City at Christmastime.

I always start painting the main subject first and I took this photo before tackling the background.

And here is a close up.

I love painting commissions so if you have a special photo that you'd like to turn in to an original painting, contact me at anngorbett@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Life in Back Bay, Boston

Life in Back Bay, Boston

12" x 9"

Oil with palette knives on Ampersand Gessobord

SOLD

I used to work in Boston at 222 Berkeley Street- the building that is on the far left side of this painting. I took the photo that inspired this painting while on a walk around the block during my lunch hour. I love the juxtaposition of the old and new buildings as well as the variety of architecture and colors.