Random silliness

In my blog side column, I have a Google translation widget which is fun to play with and pretty amazing to see how quickly your words can get translated into other languages.

In Spanish, palette knife gets translated to "la espátula". In French, it's "un couteau."

That's cool.

So, meet the extended palette knife family from Mexico....

Silly, I know.

A Trip to Portland (not Oregon)

Our wedding anniversary is December 30 and every year we like to spend the night away from home somewhere. Never far, just away for the night. This year we chose Portland, Maine which neither of us had ever been to before. (funny aside...when we told my stepdaughter that we were driving to Portland, she said "You're driving to Oregon?") 

What a lovely old port town, very artsy, lots of galleries to visit, interesting restaurants, and wonderful old streets and architecture to explore. We stayed at a hotel that used to be an armory, very quaint and perfect location, right downtown. 

The next day we visited the Portland Museum of Art and I've included a few photos from our visit. We were very impressed with the museum and it's artwork. While they allowed photos to be taken without a flash, they were very strict about not taking photos of artwork that belonged to a private collection. These were marked with a little icon that I of course missed the meaning of until a nice guard kindly explained it to me.

One of our favorite parts was the N.C. Wyeth room. The only painting you could take a photo of is the one below so I also took a close up because the detail on the fish in the boat was incredible.

They also had several signs telling you to remain at least 18 inches from the paintings. I happened to catch Polo, ever the rebel, violating that rule. I hope he wasn't breathing too hard.

On our way out we noticed these huge apples on the wall down to the cafe. They reminded us of Polo's recent series of apple paintings so we had to get a shot of that.

We were surprised to see that when we came out of the museum that the roads and our car were already covered in snow. The ride home was a slow one and we even witnessed a scary spin out and a car being towed out of an embankment. Luckily we made it home safely.

We will definitely return!

What a year it's been

Happy Anniversary dear little blog. It was one year ago today that you were born and what a year it's been. Such pride I feel as I clear the list of exhibits and events that I have participated in this past year to make room for new and exciting opportunities in 2010.

Bring It!

Portrait Swap

Artist Suzy Charto

Oil with a palette knife on cradled artist board

8" x 8"

This is my entry for the latest challenge from Karin Jurick's blog, Different Strokes from Different Folks. This mystery artist will also paint a portrait of me from a photo that I submitted. I remember looking at all of the amazing portraits that were painted last year and knowing that I would want to participate should Karin do it again. What fun this was and I can't wait to find out who my mystery artist is.

UPDATE 12-29-09 Suzy Charto is my mystery artist! Here is the link to the painting she did from my photo. Her blog is so fun to read.

Oh, and this is really cool. Karin is making videos of all of the portraits and posting them on You Tube. There are 4 parts to the series. Check them out!

At Last

At Last

Oil with a palette knife on artist board

10" x 10"

SOLD

This lovely couple was married in June and their theme song was "At Last". Well of course I've had that song in my head for the last several weeks as well as the entire time I was painting, but then again, it is a great song. The bride's sister commissioned me to paint this as a Christmas gift for her sister, just like the other wedding commission I posted a few weeks ago. Sisters are awesome.

What are those things?

Lanterns

Oil with a palette knife on canvas paper

8" x 8"

Click on the image to enlarge
$150 unframed

I painted this from a photo I took on Nantucket this past summer. This restaurant had the most beautiful sidewalk garden with big white hanging lanterns that caught the attention of my camera. I sat down to paint this knowing it was going to be a hard read if you hadn't seen the picture, but it was so full of crazy colors and textures I wanted to give it a shot with my knife.

I Scream, You Scream

I just finished reading this book, The Rescue Artist by Edward Dolnick which was recommended by a fellow blogger (Thanks Katie May!). Interesting read about the theft and recovery of Edvard Munch's famous painting, The Scream.

Did you know that: 

• The Scream is painted on cardboard with tempera and oil pastel?

• someone (not Munch) wrote on the painting "This must have been painted by a madman"?

• there is candle wax in the bottom right corner where he blew out a candle after working on the painting into the night?

• Munch actually completed 4 Scream paintings?

• The vivid red sky he saw and painted is believed to have been caused by debris from a volcanic eruption in Krakatoa in 1883?

This fragile painting, even though it was removed from it's frame, was recovered without damage by the undercover detective Charley Hill. Hill is from England, yet he was posing as an American from the Getty museum and it was funny to read about what he needed to do and say to make himself believable. A few interesting trivial tidbits: Did you know that the word "horseshit" is apparently only used by Americans? And that Americans switch the fork to our right hand only after cutting our meat? As a lefty-I was surprised by this because I cut and eat with the fork in my left hand.

The book weaves in many other art theft and undercover operations of Hill's as it develops the story of the recovery of The Scream stolen from a museum in Oslo the day that the winter Olympics started. Two men simply put a construction ladder up to the window on the second floor, took the painting, and vanished. Hill has also been working on the recovering the paintings that were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum which has remained unsolved since 1990. Hope he can crack it someday!

Destination Wedding

Destination Wedding

Oil with a palette knife on artist board

8" x 10"

SOLD

This lucky couple got married in Mexico last year and as a special remembrance, her sister wanted a painting done of them together on this beautiful beach. She is going to give it to her as a Christmas gift. What a nice sister!

Support your local artists PART 2

In my continuing effort to encourage others to buy local and handmade this year, here is another great place to do your holiday shopping. Check out Boston Handmade Downtown store through December 24th for some locally made, super creative gifts. Also-check out the video that Nancy Rosetta has posted on her blog to give you an idea of the great items you can find there including her fantastic, one-of-a-kind jewelry. 

Happy Handmade Shopping!

Support local artists this holiday season

This coming Friday, December 4, Custom Art Framing & Gallery 9 in Norwood is having a Shop Til You Drop event from 6-10pm with wine, cheese, and socializing. I can't think of a better way to shop-I mean who else is doing that? If the mere thought of going to a mall makes you sweat with anxiety and dread (like me) why not support your local businesses and artisans by buying unique gifts for everyone on your list?  I can't think of a better, more meaningful way to deck the halls.

Yesterday I visited the gallery to have some framing done and drop off a few smaller pieces. I took a few shots of some of my paintings that are hanging there. The ones seen here are from my Family Album series, as well as two of my tree paintings. All done with a palette knife, of course. It always makes me feel so proud to see them. What a terrific job Julie has done transforming her new location into a wonderful shop.

Life is a bowl of mashed potatoes

Life is a Bowl of Mashed Potatoes

Oil with a palette knife on 1.5" cradled artist board

10" x 10"
NFS

This painting was done last year from a family photograph of a Thanksgiving dinner just before we dug into that big bowl of mashed potatoes and mom's famous strawberry jello mold.  It is currently hanging at Gallery 9 in Norwood. I love painting from old family photographs. They bring back such fun memories. And I love Thankgsiving. I'm pretty sure it's my favorite holiday. It always means family, food, and a long weekend away from work. If you have a favorite family photograph that you might be interested in having a palette knife painting like this done, check out my commission prices in the side column. They make great Christmas presents! 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and eat lots of mashed potatoes.

Abstract #2

Looking Down

Oil with a palette knife on canvas paper

8" x 8"

Click on the image to enlarge
SOLD

This is my entry to the latest challenge from Karin Jurick's blog, Different Strokes from Different Folks. Like the last challenge, I was trying to paint just the shapes I saw to keep it as abstract as I could. The photo was full of straight lines and angles-difficult to achieve with a palette knife, so I told myself that they didn't need to be perfectly straight and to just let go and had fun. This was the first time I painted while looking at the image projected on my computer screen. In the past I have printed out a color copy and painted from that. I'm curious what others artist do. Do you print out Karin's photo or do you project in on your computer or do you use some other method?

Going once, going twice...SOLD!

Polo's painting, Apples in Red and Green was one of the more popular pieces at the art auction to benefit Walpole's new library on Saturday night. Wow, what a turnout. The tickets sold out ahead of time and as the very busy bartender said to me "It looks like everyone showed up." We'll find out soon how much money was raised but a quick calculation of the art auction part alone is probably more than $10,000. They also have silent auction items and ticket sales to add in. It was fun evening and great to see how people really value and appreciate art in the midst of a suffering economy. Here are a few photos from the night. Sorry for the bad quality, maybe the paper will have better photos to share later.

Here is Polo's painting being auctioned.

My painting, Prim Rose was bid on earlier in the evening. You can just barely see it there sitting on the table behind the woman.

Here's the view from the back of the crowded room. There were also many people standing in back.

Friends of the Walpole Library should be very happy with the turnout. We're on our way to a new library. Yeah!

Tastings at Patriot Place

Tastings

Oil with a palette knife on artist board

12" x 12"

SOLD

I worked on this painting some more after our Patriot's Place plein air event last month. Here it is after I glazed it and framed it up. I love how the glaze brings the colors back to life after the paint has dried. I'd love to hear if other artists glaze and/or varnish their paintings after they have dried and what brands you use. I used Liquin Original here but have also tried Dammar Varnish. The varnish seems to be smellier (is that a word?) takes longer to dry, and leaves a much shinier coat.

In her element

In Her Element

Oil with a palette knife on cradled artists' board

10" x 8"

NFS

I painted this picture of my friends' daughter Elizabeth, an avid reader. I just loved this photo of her taken in a bookstore in Paris, France and couldn't resist trying to paint the pretty dress with the pink tulle she was wearing. You may remember that I had done a sketch of this photo back in August.

I also wanted to post this updated version of my painting Sunday Morning. In my Thursday night painting class, Kim showed me how to glaze this painting to warm up a few areas of the painting and make it more cohesive. Here is a before and after. I just realized that I also made a few adjustments to the composition after I took the second photo. Can you spot them?

Thanks Nancy and Greg for the great reference photos!

Haunted House and Halloween Update

Up There

Approx 10" x 8"

Oil with a palette knife on canvas

$75 unframed

Who living up there in that tiny room? I don't think this house is really haunted but on Halloween anything is imaginable. Happy Trick or Treating!

UPDATE The weather Halloween night couldn't have been more perfect. Warm, windy, and an amazing moon. I tried to capture it as it reflected in our dormer window, but photographer Kerry Hawkins captured it much better as you can see on her blog.

Our end of the street is kind of dark and we usually don't get many trick or treaters, so this year I made a few luminaria to try and entice kids to walk up the driveway. It worked! I couldn't believe we were able to keep these going with all the wind, but they lasted the entire night. And it looked really cool cuz the bags glowed an orange light. It was a tradition in our neighborhood in Ohio for each house to make these and put them out on Christmas Eve. I used to love driving around that night and seeing all of the streets lined with lights. 

And finally, scary Polo...

Abstract #1

Abstract #1

Oil with a palette knife on canvas paper

8" x 8"

SOLD

Here is my entry for the latest challenge from Karin Jurick's blog Different Strokes from Different Folks. It was a photo of rooftops in San Francisco. I really, really tried to keep it to just abstract shapes but then couldn't help myself by putting in a more details. It was fun to lay in big areas of flat color with the palette knife. Karin was right when she said that this was a perfect challenge with respect to value and mixing colors. I painted this all in one sitting last night because I really like to work wet into wet. And it's easier to scrape off areas that aren't working. I call it Abstract #1 because you never know what someone else might see in it, and perhaps it may become a series. Who knows? 

Library Auction Donations and Press Update

Prim Rose 

Oil with a palette knife on artist board

9" x 12"

Click on the image to enlarge

On Saturday November 14, the Friends of the Walpole Library are holding an art auction to raise money for a new town library. I've donated this painting and you can see it on their site along with many other wonderful original paintings. The auction will be held at the Walpole Country Club from 7-10pm and should be a lot of fun. So if you are looking for something fun to do on a Saturday night, purchase original art and gifts at unbelievable prices, all for a good cause, come on down.

I've also contributed two books by the author Kristin Kladstrup, The Gingerbread Pirates and The Book of Story Beginnings. Both are signed by her as well as the illustrator Matt Tavares.  

What a great gift! Thanks Kristin.

UPDATE On October 29, me and some folks from my art class appeared in the local paper. Here we are with our donations.

There's something about Mary Cassatt

Mini Cassatt, Mother and Child 

Oil with a palette knife on canvas paper

8" x 6"

SOLD

I painted this for an upcoming show that the Foxboro Art Association is sponsoring in January called Masquerade. Artists are asked to choose a painting by an artist they really like and do their own version of it. I chose this painting that was part of a wonderful Mary Cassatt exhibit I saw back in 1999 at the MFA in Boston. It has been awhile since I had done any more additions to my Mini Masters series and I forgot how much you can learn by doing an exercise like this. And it's even more challenging when you try to do it with a palette knife on a small scale. I think I might do some more!

Sunday Morning

Sunday Morning 

Oil with a palette knife on cradled artist board

9" x 12"

NFS

I finally completed this painting after many sessions in my Thursday night painting class. You may remember that I posted a sketch of this piece back in August. This was my first interior painting, and there was such wonderful light and details in the photo that I wanted to capture. Now...Kim says "DO IT AGAIN BIGGER!"