A new commission : : Catholic School Kids

Catholic School Kids

9" x 12"

Oil with a palette knife on Ampersand Gessobord

This is a recent commission I did for my cousin. This is her boyfriend's 6 kids. My cousin already has 4 kids so you can imagine the large rowdy bunch they make when they all get together.

I wish for you all a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your family bunch.

Below are some photos that I took along the way to show you my progress and a few details shots so you can see the thick palette knife strokes.

Workshop for the Foxboro Art Association

I was asked by the Foxboro Art Association to lead a mini workshop this past Saturday. We had 10 eager artists that wanted to learn more about and try their hand at palette knife painting. It was held at the Artists Studio & Gallery at Patriot Place in Foxboro. We are so lucky to have such a large space to be able to hold events like this. Here are a few photos from the workshop.

Red Inn Number 33 :: a one-of-a-kind piece

Red Inn Shakes

36.5" by 23.24"

Oil on shingles from the Red Inn
SOLD

Recently, I counted the number of times I painted the Red Inn in Provincetown and came up with 32. Well, here is number 33 and it was a fun collaboration piece.

Back in April when Polo and I brought our paintings to the Red Inn for the 2018 season, they were doing some repairs from some recent winter storms. Polo picked up a discarded shingle so he could try to match the real red color of the inn in future paintings. During lunch, we were discussing possible artistic things we could make out of the discarded shingles, so we went back and gathered several more to take home (with their permission of course).

Over the next few months, we brainstormed some ideas and finally decided to put all of the shingles together and paint a picture of the inn on top of the part painted red, leaving the raw parts of shingles as they were. We glued the shingles to a 16" by 20 panel board for stability and hanging purposes. Here is what it looked like before we started painting:

We included a label to display with the painting to explain the story behind the piece:

“Red Inn Shakes”

By Ann Gorbett and Polo Barrera

This one-of-a-kind piece is painted on discarded shingles that artists Ann Gorbett and Polo Barrera acquired from the Red Inn. A 2018 winter storm ravished the Provincetown coastline with high winds and flooding. Repairs were being made at the inn when Ann and Polo saw the potential for a unique work of art.

Medium:
Oil on shingles

We both signed the painting at the bottom right.

So if you are in Provincetown any time soon, stop in and see our painting in person at the inn!

Seeing red for the 32nd time

The Red Inn 

18" x 24"

Oil with a palette knife on Ampersand Gessobord
SOLD

I often get asked how many times I've painted the red inn and honestly I had lost track. So the other day, I decided to go back and count them. Including all the various sizes, angles, and seasons, I've counted 32 paintings. Wow. I even astonished myself with the number. I joke that I'd like try to paint it blindfolded at some point. That would be a fun challenge for sure.

I was pretty good about taking photos along that way of my progress. Polo and I went to the gallery to paint last week, and here are 3 stages before the finish, shown above.

Thor : : a new pet portrait commission

Thor

12" x 9" x 1.5"

Oil with a palette knife on Ampersand Gessobord

This is Thor, enjoying the beach and all the interesting people, other animals, and things to look at. Don't you love all his wrinkles and rolls?

Here are a photo showing you my set up at the gallery. I used color print outs as well as an iPad for reference. If you look closely, you'll see that I moved the beach umbrella from the left of the photo to the right.

And here is a photo showing my initial sketch on the orange background color I like to use.

First Communions

First Communion

16" x 16" x 2"

Oil with a palette knife on Ampersand Gessobord

Available

This painting was inspired by a family photo of my oldest sister's first communion. I found the photo among a bunch of old slides that my dad sent me awhile ago. I remember these colorful dresses as being a favorite which we only wore for special occasions.

Some times I like to take close up photos on certain parts of the painting so you can see my palette knife strokes.

Back in 2011, I participated in a project called "The Sketchbook Project" and I included a drawing of this photo.

Cathy told me that she still has her communion veil after all these years.

I also included a drawing from my other sister, Lyn's first communion day:

As well as from my first communion day.  I am pretty sure I still have my veil too but I need to go hunt in the basement and see if I can find it. 

And finally, my dad's first communion. My dad follows my blog so he'll probably see this and remember the photo this drawing was done from. I think I still have his little communion book stored away somewhere too!

Nantucket palette knife painting workshop PART 2

We named our group The ACK PACK (ACK is the airport code for Nantucket and is often used as a nickname for the island). I designed this logo and sent stickers to everyone who attended as reminder of our time together. 

For the afternoon of the workshop, everyone chose a photo from some Nantucket inspired images I brought with me. Here are Tina, Haydi, and Ariel choosing their images to paint.

 And here are their masterpieces. Pretty nice, right?

Here is an overview shot of all of the paintings drying in the dining room...

Sunday, Andy took us on a first class cocktail cruise on his boat, My Tern. This is Sadie, our cute mascot.

Sadie and I are contemplating the beautiful view...

 The sunflowers we painted made a lovely arrangement on the porch.

And finally, a gorgeous Nantucket sunset to end a beautiful weekend.

Nantucket palette knife painting workshop PART 1

Sunflower on Nantucket

4" x 4" on loose canvas

Palette knife demo
Available

A few weeks ago, I held a palette knife painting workshop on Nantucket. A very generous friend provided room and board at her beautiful home on the water, and in exchange, she and her family tried their hand at palette knife painting. Below are a few images from the event. 

Getting set up...

Tina and Laura excited to start painting...

Color mixing and palette knife dos and don'ts...

My sunflower demo...

Everyone busy on their sunflowers...

Andy getting his palette set up...

Chase, our youngest artist, is hard at work on his sunflower paintings...

Comparing our first and second practice pieces....

Looking at cropping options...

Here are more examples of everyone's practice work...

Next, I'll share Part 2 where everyone worked on their final palette knife masterpieces.