In Progress: Southern Weeds

These two paintings are still in progress. They are two of a triptych which shows three different stages of the blackberry bush in my back yard. The weather here has scorched the bush, so unfortunately, now I will have to finish these up from photos. It is not an easy thing for me to switch from working from life to using photos, especially on this newer subject matter. With the figure, I have had enough time painting in front of the real thing, so that I know what information I need to ignore in photos. But, with the botanicals, I become overwhelmed with so much information and details within the photos which aren't as apparent to the naked eye. Also, colorwise, I need to find a way to tie these two (and then the third) together a bit more.

 Blackberry Blossom, (In Progress), oil on panel, 8" x 10"

Blackberry Fruit, (In Progress), oil on panel, 8" x 8"

Diane in Raleigh again!

Diane Feissel is in Raleigh tonight... well sort of!  Diane with Kitten will be on exhibit thru July 31 in the Upfront Gallery of ArtSpace.  The opening reception is tonight during First Friday 6-10pm, so stop by if you are out enjoying the fabulous weather!

 Diane with Kitten, oil on panel, 20" x 16"

Artspace Artists Association New Members Exhibition
July 2 - 31, 2010
Opening Reception: July 2, 6 - 10pm

New members of the Artspace Artists Association (since Spring 2009) will exhibit work in the Upfront Gallery during the month of July. New artists participating in the exhibition include Megan Clark, Ryan Cummings, Jenny Eggleston, Alia El-Bermani, Kiki Farish, Bill Hickman, Lillian Jones, Julie Niskanen, Addison Page, Megan Sullivan, Ann Corley Silverman, and Lisa Stroud.

The Artspace Artists Association (AAA) is a professional membership association. Artists are juried into the association through a competitive process twice each year. The next deadline for membership is September 1, 2010.

2010 Art Related Travels: San Francisco

I am woefully behind in blogging as of late.  Please be patient with me in my attempt to catch up.  Back in April, I had the opportunity to take a quick trip to San Francisco, California.  We only had a weekend, so I felt a bit rushed, but I did manage to see some fantastic Art while visiting.

 Carl Dobsky, Portrait of Layil (detail), oil on canvas, 12.5" x 9" 2009

At John Pence Gallery, we were fortunate enough to see the exhibition of Carl Dobsky's most recent drawings and paintings.  Dobsky studied Fine Art at the Ringling School of Art in FL, received his MFA from the New York Academy of Art, as well as studied under Jacob Collins at the Water Street Atelier in NY.  His paintings combine a controlled skill and refinement with a fresh liveliness to the paint that comes from thicker application in key areas.  Just off center of the room was a table that displayed several paintings that were framed double sided.   These double sided paintings, were mostly contemporary portraits on one side and still lifes of skulls and contemporary objects on the other.  I quite enjoyed circling this table several times, noting his choice of pairing portraits and skulls.
 

 More images and information for this exhibition of drawings and paintings by Carl Dobsky can be seen by clicking here.

Seeing such great paintings can make a girl hungry, so the good folks at John Pence Gallery recommended the Grand Cafe at the Hotel Monaco.  What a splendid suggestion that turned out to be.  Fantastic French cuisine in an Art Nouveau grand ballroom style atmosphere made for quite an experience.  Delicious!

  Grand Cafe at the Hotel Monaco, San Francisco California

The next day was spent at the De Young Museum.  Now, I must say that several friends that have lived in San Francisco have always been quite apologetic for the art museums of their city.  So going to the De Young, I had low expectations.  However, I am happy to report, I have no idea what those friends are apologetic for.  This smallish museum had quite a few holdings to be proud of.  Here are a few of my favorites:

 Thomas Dewing, Elizabeth Platt Jencks, oil on canvas, 1895

Alexander Pope, The Wild Swan, oil on canvas, 1900

Alexander Pope, The Wild Swan (detail), oil on canvas, 1900

John Singer Sargent, Caroline de Bassano, Marquise d'Espeuilles, oil on canvas, 1884

John Singer Sargent, Caroline de Bassano, Marquise d'Espeuilles (detail), oil on canvas, 1884

2010 Art Related Travels: NYC

As I stated in a previous post, in January I was quite fortunate to go visit my good friend Diane Feissel in Philadelphia.  While on that visit, we took a bus trip up to NYC to meet up with our other good friend and fabulous painter Sadie Valeri who was visiting the big apple from San Francisico.  We spent the entire day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Seeing amazing works of art with two amazing friends was such a great way to break in the New Year!  Here are just a few of some of the works that struck me that day.  Again, there is much more to see at the MET and every time I get back there, I seem to find more great works I hadn't previously discovered.

Eugene Delacroix, Madame Henri Francois Riesener, oil on canvas 1835

Camille Corot, Portrait of a Child, oil on wood, 1835

Camille Corot is considered more of a french landscape painter (see example below) yet here in a room filled with Corot's masterful landscapes, I was surprised to find two of his finest portraits.  It is said that he painted fewer than 50 portraits in his life time which were mostly of his family or close friends. 

Camille Corot, The Environs of Paris, oil on canvas, 1860

Charles Brague, Bashi-Bazouk, oil on canvas, 1875

Jules Breton, The Weeders, oil on canvas, 1860

I loved walking into the room that this painting is hanging in.  It shares the space with a few Jean Francois Millet's wonderful paintings of a similar time of day.  I am in awe of paintings with back light situations.  It has got to be one of the most difficult casts of light to paint.  According to the placard hanging next to The Weeders, in his autobiography, Breton states that one evening he came across this twighlights scene of peasants pulling up "thistles and weeds... their faces haloed by the pink transparency of their violet hoods, as if to venerate a fecundating star".

 

Greenville Museum of Art

I am pleased to announce that I have been asked to be the Juror for this year's Greenville Museum of Art Artist Association's Annual Juried Exhibition.  The exhibition will run from July 29 - August 29, 2010.  I look forward to seeing GMA Artist's best work!  Thank you to Director, Charlotte Fitz for the opportunity.

More information on entering the exhibition can be found Here (scroll down) or on the Greenville Museum of Art's site.

Greenville Museum of Art
802 S. Evans St
Greenville, NC 27834
www.gmoa.org

Neighbor Painting Now Complete with Title

Space Between, oil on panel, 36" x 48"

Et Voila, here she is, my neighbor painting.  I found this painting particularly difficult to photograph high quality images of because of its size.  So, I have added a few detail shots to give you a closer view of some key areas.   

Space Between (detail), oil on panel, 36" x 48"

 Space Between (detail), oil on panel, 36" x 48"

2010 Art Related Travels: Philadelphia

As I said earlier, this first half of the year has been a very busy and art filled.  I need to take you back to January to give you a better idea of some of the great Art I've been so fortunate to see this year so far.  In January, I took a trip up to Philadelphia to visit my dear friend and fellow artist Diane Feissel.  She was so kind to take me around her new, fantastic city.  Among other things, she took me to the Philadelphia Museum of Art on an evening when they were hosting some wonderful Jazz Music.  We focused on viewing the American Collection which houses some of our countries greatests like Inness, Beaux, and several works by Thomas Eakins, in fact an entire room was dedicated to this local artist.  Here are some favorite images from this visit. 

Thomas Eakins, various portraits, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Thomas Eakins, Portrait of J. Harry Lewis, oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 19 3/4 in, 1876

Thomas Eakins, The Agnew Clinic, oil on canvas, 84⅜ in × 118⅛ in, 1889

Thomas Eakins, The Agnew Clinic (detail), oil on canvas, 1889

Thomas Eakins, The Agnew Clinic (detail), oil on canvas, 1889

 George Inness, Short Cut Thru Watchung Station New Jersey, oil  on canvas, 1883

Cecilia Beaux, Portrait of George Burnham, oil on canvas, 47 3/4 x 41 3/8 in, 1887

There are of course many many more exemplary works in this museum.  The Philadelphia Museum of Art is definitely worth a visit.  They also have a very good website that shows most of their collection with the ability to zoom in.  You can find better images of these paintings and view the PMA's website by clicking HERE.

Next post will be about a quick trip to NYC... stay tuned.

Busy Busy Busy

It has been one VERY busy Spring. I have been busy painting, painting, traveling, painting, traveling again and oh yes, painting... I am so close to finishing the Neighbor painting (still working on a title). But before I get ahead of myself and post a nearly done painting, instead of the fully complete painting, I thought instead you might enjoy seeing some pictures of one of the great places I went.  When life has more time for organizing, resizing photos, and blogging I'll do a post on some of my favorite Art works seen this Spring. 

National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Give and Take

Maple Pod, oil on panel, 12" x 12"

The painting above will be included in a GREAT annual fundraiser at ArtSpace called Give and Take.  The proceeds from this event will help to fund scholarships for inner city youth to be involved in the wonderful art classes offered at ArtSpace this coming summer.   

Give a child the chance to explore their creativity in the Artspace Summer Arts Program and Take home a great work of art!  

The Give and Take event will happen on May 13, 2010, but you can purchase tickets this coming Monday, April 12th! You can get more information on the event HERE.  Please come out and share you love of art with our future, our youth.

Southern Weeds

Poke Berries, oil on panel, 8" x 8"

I've been working on a little something...  Here's my Artist Statement for this new series.

Southern Weeds

As a recent transplant to the South, I have been struggling to find how I belong here, especially as an artist.  I grew up in New England, just south of Boston yet, I have spent the last thirteen years in California.  Our recent relocation to North Carolina has markedly skewed my sense of identity.  I am now acutely aware of how foreign I am in this place where terms like Yankee still mingle freely in conversation; where even still, segregation is a reoccurring and prominent subject.  It is through the nature of my new home state, that I have been able to find peace and a sense of place. 

While in California I studied and developed my career as a fine artist.  I received wonderful classical figurative painting training from Laguna College of Art and Design.  There, I focused on representing the figure and still life in paint.  In retrospect, it seems odd that I never was interested in painting that Western landscape.  It is such an iconic setting for plein air work, and yet I never felt connected enough to want to represent it.  Over the years, I slowly became less aware of my desire for a more familiar landscape.  This desire wasn’t re-ignited until I took a quick trip to visit Chapel Hill, NC which reminded me of the rich greens, dark woods and rolling pastures that I craved from my youth.

The natural surroundings of my new backyard are at once familiar and shockingly different than that of my childhood.  There are of course, many familiar plants that flourish in both areas, but then there are also some species that are unique to the South.  It is these new to me, but common to the South plants that I find so interesting.  As a continuation of previous bodies of work that explored the idea of representing the mundane as extraordinary, I hope to share the beauty that I find in these common, and often overlooked, southern weeds.  Through my research and painting of these specimens, I’ve also learned some of the history of the area.  As I’ve discovered how these plants were used as medicine or ink or even in Anti Slavery protests, I have found a deeper connection to my new setting.  It’s a connection safely explored through beauty and history, beyond any stigmas or political agendas.   It is an artistic connection rooted to the natural history here that has helped me find my place.

Water Oak, oil on panel, 8" x 10" 

 Persimmon, oil on panel, 8" x 8"

Art for Haiti

I am pleased to announce that Reflecting Image, a painting that was included in my 2006 solo exhibition titled 'Perceptions of Beauty', will be included in the Live Auction portion of a charitable event sponsored by Jerry's Artarama benefiting Habitat for Humanity's relief efforts in Haiti. The Art for Haiti Auction and Gala event will be on Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention Center located in Raleigh, North Carolina.  

Ticket Information:
Tickets for the event are only $45 which includes dinner catered by Centerplate and a live and silent art auction.  Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Art for Haiti website, by clicking HERE or by contacting Heather Goldstein: heather@jerrysartarama.com. 

Artists there is STILL time to participate!   

For more information about the event visit: the Art Auction and Gala For Haiti at http://www.jerrysartarama.com/community/Art-Auction-and-Gala/ or contact Heather Goldstein at 919-878-6782 ext# 115 or heather(at)jerrysartarama(dot)com.

Reflecting Image, oil on panel, 30" x 20", 2006

New Works Exhibition

I'm happy to announce that two of my pieces were excepted into ArtSpace's annual juried exhibition for AAA artists called New Works.  The exhibition will be in Gallery One from March 13 – May 1, 2010 with the Opening Reception: April 2nd, 6 - 10pm and an Awards Presentation at 8pm.  Harriett Green was the juror for this year’s New Works exhibition. Among other things, Green is the Visual Arts Director of the South Carolina Arts Commission.  You can find more information about Ms. Green and the show by clicking here. 


The two pieces that were selected were Artist Proof, Julie as well as the Portrait Study of Wyeth.  If you are in the area, I hope you will come out for the First Friday opening reception.  Hope to see you there.