Ah, Summertime!

Here is my submission to the current Different Strokes From Different Folks challenge.

APRIL FOOLS!

Ok-I wish that was my painting. It's really Karin's. Below is the real Gorbett palette knife submission to the challenge, submitted on the last day of course. It's 8" by 10" on stretched canvas. I wanted to make a Red Sox hat on the guy which was difficult to do at this size with a knife, but anyway, I know it's there.

Beach Fans

8" by 10"

Oil with a palette knife on canvas

SOLD

And here is a detail. You can also click on the image above to see the entire painting in detail. I just noticed now that the triangle created by the woman's arm should be a darker blue to match the water. Better fix that.
The reference photo that Karin posted can be seen here.

I'd like to thank the Academy

I received this award from the very talented artist, Leslie Spanos. What a surprise. I am supposed to write 7 things I love and then choose 7 new artists to pass the award onto. Ok so here is my LOVE list (husbands are a given):
1. Art, art supplies, and more art–that was an easy one
2. Blogging–I just started this year, but what fun it is
3. Summer in New England–it is magnificent, but way too short
4. Sleeping in–although I usually can't because I have a job
5. Cats–it's so not fair that I am incredibly allergic
6. Golfing–still trying to break 90
7. Peanut butter–add chocolate, even better

And here are the 7 lucky artists:
1. Polo Barrera
2. Kim Morin Weineck
3. Tony Donovan
4. Annelein Beukenkamp
5. Carrie Griesemer
6. Debbie Later
7. Kathleen Harrington

Check them out, they are terrific.

Warm cat, cool cat...

Green cat, blue cat.

I painted this cat in the last few minutes of class a few weeks ago really trying to keep the colors warm. I till see some cool colors still trying to creep in, but I think I did a better job capturing the original. You can see our painting class in action by visiting Kim Morin Weineck's blog post here.

New Commission

I just finished a painting that Denise commissioned me to do for her sister's upcoming birthday on April 1. She told me that she had seen some paintings I have displaying at Gallery 9 that are based on old family photos and she thought it would make a nice gift for her sister who "has everything". She brought me several fun family photos to choose from and we finally selected this one. It is the cutest thing, right? Don't we all have photos like this? That's her sister Beth on the far left, brother Billy in the middle, and Denise on the right.
I think it's fun to see paintings in progress so I took this photo at an intermediate stage. I started in on the faces first, which is usually the hardest part.

Then, the background of this photo was really fun with all of the foliage and the hydrangeas. Beth lives in Miami so I hope this painting will be a nice reminder of their family days spent on Cape Cod. Happy Birthday Beth!
Check out my other paintings done from old photos in the Family Album series.

Thiebaud sushi

Thiebaud Sushi

4" x 4"

Oil with a palette knife on canvas
SOLD

Last night, I gave the latest Different Strokes for Different Folks challenge a whirl. Here is the photo Karin Jurick posted.


I think food is difficult to photograph and to paint. I mulled over how to tackle this piece for the entire 2 weeks. I even went to my favorite sushi place, Snappy Sushi on Newbury Street, for lunch one day to get inspired. Then, one of my favorite artists suddenly came to mind, Wayne Thiebaud. I love the way he so deliciously depicts food in his work and so my version of sushi was inspired by his wonderful paintings of cakes and pies. In particular, I envisioned how the composition of this painting could work with sushi.

Below is my final piece.

This is only about 3.5" by 3.5" but I really laid on the paint, didn't I? It was kind of like icing a cake. And finally, here is a photo of the Theibaud inspirations I had on hand as I worked.
Here is a redo of my photograph which had some glare spots on it. The color of this image is probably closer to my original and more Thiebaudlike. I find getting a good image of your painting is one of the biggest challenges in art. Any suggestions from others are welcome.
Ok-now I am obsessing. I think this photo looks too blown out now. My painting is really somewhere in between the one above and this one. Maybe I need a new camera. The one I have is a Canon but several years old and only 4 mega pixels. Anyone use a camera to take photos of their art that they really like ?

Happy Birthday Kim!

Today is my art instructor and friend, Kim Morin Weineck's, birthday. I just dropped off this painting I did for her from a photo I took awhile back. This is Kim and Lucy reading.

Here is a close up.

So Tim doesn't feel left out, I decided to paint him into Lucy's book. I think perhaps I may have to edit this now so that Kim is reading from her new Kindle 2 instead!
Happy Birthday, Kim.

Different Strokes challenge

The artist Karin Jurick hosts a blog called Different Strokes From Different Folks and every two weeks she posts a photo inviting artists to do their own interpretation of the image. She then posts all of the entries on her blog. Fun idea, huh? If you click on the link to her blog, you can see the entries for all of her past challenges in the side column under View The Collections Together. She has gotten up to a hundred entries and I think its' really interesting to see the different styles and interpretations.

I decided to give it a try this weekend. Ok- so here is the photo she has posted for the current challenge.
I was excited about the palette knife possibilities of all of the different textures here. Isn't it interesting how even though they are just mannequins heads, they each still have a distinct personality defined by the wig they are wearing?

Here are a few stages of my painting. The third one is the final piece I sent to Karin.




Here is a close up .

I thought this was an interesting angled view where you can see size and the texture of the painting.

I changed the hairstyle on one of the mannequins in the photo. Did you spot it right away?

Update: This painting is now SOLD.

In the moment with Caravaggio

It's snowing like crazy again this morning. Aaaaahhhhhhhh!
Yesterday we attended a lecture at RISD (Rhone Island School of Design) about the artist Caravaggio. I knew very little about the artist before yesterday, but what a troubled and violent life he led. His mother died when he was a young boy and shortly after, his father, grandfather, and uncle all died of the plague leaving him an orphan. He painted during most of his turmultuous life with mixed reactions. About half of his commissions for the church were rejected. He continually ridiculed other artists of the time, was constantly getting into fights, and was on the run for murdering a man. But even on the run, he continued to paint.

He sent this painting to the Knights of Malta who were hunting him down for the murder. The head of Goliath is is a self portrait and was sent to taunt them.
No matter the violence, his mastery of the craft and the dramatic effects he used are admirable. Some people at the lecture (many non artists) were bothered by some of his anatomy renderings-"it doesn't look right" and by the fact that some of the male figures look very feminine "why does he have a ribbon in his hair?"
But it is undeniable that his style of "in the moment" was striking, upfront, and immediate. You have to take note. He makes you feel like you are right there watching. It's also interesting that the music in this painting is real and the notes could actually be played if you had a really good hi res image.

We were discussing afterwards that we thought his life would make a great movie. Then today I discovered that there is a movie that was made in 1986. We going to try to find it somewhere and watch it. But perhaps it's time for a remake-could be a Joaquin Phoenix comback!

There are two more classes in this series. Rembrandt and Vermeer. I can't wait!

Buried in sand or cement?

Yesterday I worked on a painting that I started in class Thursday night. My cousin Amy had sent me this cute picture of her kids when they were in Florida and I thought it might be a good palette knife challenge. Amy-if you are checking the blog today, thanks for the reference photo! From left to right, that's Danny, Teddy, Jack, and Betsy.

I took some photos along the way of the progress. Here is where I was after class on Thursday.

I started with the faces because that is usually the most challenging part and yesterday I felt they needed a little refinement. Here they are after a little more work.

And here are a few close up shots of the faces.


Then I started in on the shoes, the shovels, and finally the sand. I wanted to make sure the sand color was different enough from the skin tones but still read as sand, When I stepped away for awhile, I wondered if the color I used made it look like they were buried in cement instead of sand. What do you think?

Think spring!

Yesterday I was walking around downtown Boston at lunchtime and it was beautiful outside. I could really feel spring coming. Yesterday's weather had a little bit of everything actually-rain in the morning, snow in the evening, but in-between, it was gorgeous. I haven't been too productive lately so I don't yet have a new painting to share. In the meantime, it's time to start thinking spring. I love this watercolor painting "A Garden in a Sea of Flowers" by Ross Turner . Thanks to Kim for figuring out what painting I was talking about by my weak description ("It feels like you are sitting in a field of wildflowers") and where I had seen it (at a Boston MFA watercolor exhibit a few years back). I think I had this in mind when I did this palette knife painting of wildflowers on Martha's Vineyard. I shouldn't put them near each other, because mine pales by comparison. But I hope that they both help you to Think Spring!

 SOLD

Are you superstitious?

Today is Friday, the 13th. 13 is my husband's lucky number so I know he doesn't believe this is an unlucky day, but just in case you need some positive thoughts, I heard this morning that owls are lucky. The Zuni believe the owl is the protector of the home, protects against harm, represents wisdom and truth, and has the ability to see what others can’t. It’s feathers are worn to ward off evil spirits. A co-worker spotted this beautiful owl on her way to work this am. I think it's the sign of a great day!
There is another Friday the 13th next month too so come back and visit him on March 13th if you want! I think this guy is a great inspiration for a painting too!

Happy Birthday Middle Sister

Today is my sister Lyn's birthday. As a surprise, I mailed her this painting I did of her from an old family photograph.
Lyn and I are both cat fanatics, and Lyn especially loves black and white kitties. I think maybe it started with this photo.

I also found this image from the Gallery 9 blog that was taken when I did live painting there last September. I like it because it shows this painting in an earlier stage of the process. It also shows you the cradled board that I like to use, my makeshift glass palette, and the photograph itself.
I hope you have a great day MS!

Kids love art too

I was doing some research online for work today and happened upon this great blog Art Projects For Kids . I just love these. How fun and motivating this teacher must be. Here are some samples of my favorite projects. Can you tell which famous artist inspired them?

Give me plein air!

This weekend we went shopping for a new plein air easel. Polo wanted to buy me one as a birthday gift and we heard that Ocean State Job Lots had some good prices. Well-it was such a good deal that Polo bought himself one too! These things can be a little tricky to set up. Here is Polo setting his up in the slounge.


I can't wait for the weather to warm up and the black slush to go away so we can take them outside as they were meant to be used. They look all clean and pretty now, but I'm sure they will be covered with paint soon.

I am also getting psyched up to paint larger and the wanted to see how big I could go on the new easel. This is a 18" by 24" sized board.

There is no excuse now.

Oh and I need to turn in my gift certificate from polodidit.inc now.

Radiant colors

I ordered some new oil paints from Dick Blick and as a special gift for my order, I received a four pack of Gamblin's Radiant oil colors. Awesome surprise! The sample pack includes Radiant Green, Radiant Blue, Radiant Magenta, and Radiant Yellow. This photo is a little blurry, but aren't they beautiful?


I decided to try them out during class last night. Our instructor, Kim, had made the observation that my colors tend towards the cool side due to my heavy reliance on white to lighten the value of a color as opposed to mixing it with another lighter color on the color wheel. She said that radiant colors have the advantage of being a pure hue eliminating one less step when mixing colors with white. I spent most of the class working on this painting, a Mini Manet from a book of his floral paintings that Frank loaned me.


I think it did come out on the cool side, but I enjoyed using hits of the pure radiant colors here and there.

During the last few minutes of class, I tried another, warmer painting from Manet's collection. I think the quick, decisions I made during this painting are interesting and I quite like how it came out.


Now-the question came up during critique, how would you frame these?

This bag is a work of art!

The other day, I had a birthday lunch with my good friend Danielle. For many years now, we've had a tradition of giving each other the same gift bag on our birthdays. It started (we think circa 1994) as a simple gift bag printed with colorful golf balls and tees. The next year a photo of 2 girls in a convertible was added and it took off from there. The rule is that when you give the bag back to the birthday person, you must embellish it with things that are reminiscent of events that we have shared together. Take a look at it today.

The pink tulle inside the bag has also remained. That was from a memorable performance of Guava Jelly that Danielle and my sisters did for Polo and me at our wedding. If you look closely you can see a couple of images from that performance in the bottom left corner and behind the Gallery 9 Buy Art/Give Art buttons.

We moved inside and underneath the bag and after awhile, we even had to add "annex" gift bags to the sides to allow for additional space. Here is a photo of the other side of the bag.

You will find everything from swizzle sticks to a photo of Danielle with Bill Clinton. There is a story behind every image or object added and you can imagine that it gets a lot of attention when we celebrate our birthdays in a busy restaurant. Don't you think it is a work of art?

View from a cube

I just finished this new addition to my View from a Cube series.

SOLD

It was painted from a photo I took of the view from one of our office's conference rooms. You are looking up Berkeley Street and you can see what used to be Louis Boston and the Charles River waaaay in the back. We recently moved off of this floor to a lower floor in the building so we no longer enjoy this wonderful view of the city during conference calls. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

You can see the others in this series by clicking the link in the side column under Ann's Art Porfolios.