this little cupcake

Many years ago, I dated a political consultant who worked for the state senate of Pennsylvania. He once told me about a state senator who walked into the room, spied a lovely young woman toiling away at her desk, eyed her lecherously and boomed, "does this little cupcake work for me?"

So Senator I-forget-your-name, here's a little cupcake.

9X12 acrylic

Late August Still Life Paintings

I'm getting used to cycles without my camera (broken, broken, stolen) and so I redirect my energy back into painting.  I don't know what I'm doing with all of these paintings I'm amassing, but I think chiefly I'm practicing, developing and stretching my visual muscles.  Here's two 8X10 still lifes.  My inspiration shot was the cover of the Garnet Hill catalogue.  I really love the one of the cups, but the tea/spoons turned out nicely too.  Sometimes it's so much easier to paint from a beautifully lit photo than my set-ups.

Earlier in the month, I felt inspired to paint my shoes.  I was breaking out of my fruit crate, so to speak, and set up my shoes instead.  Initially, I had painted the background a pale yellow, but after a visit to the Met and looking at Van Gogh's portrait of his postman, I changed the background to a Kaffe Fassett fabric.  I plan to do more shoes and more patterned backgrounds.  This one's a little bigger-- 11X14, but still fairly small.   Perhaps when Jack finally begins his full day of school (a grand total of 2-1/2 hours) I'll have some time to paint again.
Inspiration:

You are what makes it beautiful

"Beauty is no material thing.
Beauty cannot be copied.
Beauty is the sensation of pleasure on the mind of the seer.
No thing is beautiful.  But all things await the sensitive and imaginative mind that may be aroused to pleasurable emotion at the sight of them.  This is beauty."*

*from a book full of inspiration, "The Art Spirit" by Robert Henri.  This passage could be the caption of so many of the beautiful images posted by my flickr friends.  There are so many talented artists out who have the gift of seeing the beauty of life everywhere.

My husband thought the top painting was "pretty good" and thought it was one of mine. Alas, it's a detail from one of Picasso's paintings we saw at the Met.  The Blind Man's Meal.

Two in a series

I really have a thing for tea/coffee related images.  Probably the lovely associations, whether it's coffee on my own or tea with a friend.  One of my favorite quilts is Kaffe Fassett's rice bowls, which I think look like tea cups.   I started these as a way to practice achieving volume on a 2-D space, but I also loved the personality of the spot and the handles and I plan to paint my other two tea pots soon.   Both of these tea pots are actually white, but white is tricky, so I colored them in.  And now, to make some coffee...

Tried to use some of the techniques I learned in my still life paintings to capture some figures.  Here are the boys on the beach collecting this funny little black snails.  I hope they still will want to do that this year.  Anyway, a quick attempt...

Funny thing is, I really didn't intend to make the figures look so giant.  Just a drawing mistake.  Anyway, practice, practice. 

Late night dabbling

Aside from my classwork, I've practiced at home when I can.   One night, the big boys watched a movie upstairs, Jack went to bed and Mark was traveling.  I made an ultra easy dinner, put a movie on in the background, and set up this still life on the kitchen counter.  And then, painted until midnight.  I love doing that, even though I sometimes find it hard to sleep when I'm finished because I'm actually so keyed up.  It also gives me a deadline of sorts, so I don't overwork things.  On the down side, with the overhead lights kind of low and a little IKEA desk lamp aimed at my fruit, it makes it hard to see the colors sometimes, and I can be a bit surprised in the morning.  The red-violet on this one was a bit brighter than I thought, but I decided to keep it.  8X10 on a stretched canvas.

Kind of art show theme here lately, but this space is show & tell, now isn't it?

Knock, Knock. Who's there? Orange.

I didn't finish that top picture, but I like the way the peeled orange came out.  The bottom one was from week 2.  There is some teacher assistance in that one.  I love the color orange, so these were quite fun to paint.

When Life Gives You Lemons (and other cliches)

Without my camera for the past six weeks, I've been pouring my creative energies into other outlets.  I have spent more time painting (see, it's always something) and while I do love it, I am not a natural.  I took a class at the local arts center, which I loved, but really challenged my abilities. There were quite a few times when I wanted to quit because I just could not get what was in my head on that canvas.

Anyway, here are a few of my paintings.  We did them all within three hours on canvas panels.  It was quite freeing to do these studies, and be finished with them every class, ready for a blank canvas the next week.  There were so many things my teacher said that sounded like sayings you'd find on Yogi tea bag tags, i.e., "Once the freshness is gone, you can't get it back" or "challenge yourself to take something ordinary and make it beautiful."  I wanted to stop and write them down, but had to keep going.

Artistic Inspiration -- The value of the search.

I have been woefully absent from this space due to the lack of camera, which I have blogged about ad naseum.  However, this absence does not mean that I have been putting those energies into cleaning the house or becoming more organized or catching up on correspondence, filing and garage-cleaning.  Oh no.  That's not me (with apologies to my patient husband).  Instead, I've been painting.  Pictures to come, camera is due to be ready today!

I just wanted to share a bit from the book, Hawthorne on Painting, a collection of lessons from painter Charles Hawthorne (1872-1930) collected by his wife, credited as Mrs. Charles W. Hawthorne.  It's an inspiring little book, loaded with jewels.  Here's a passage which appeals to my minah-bird nature:

"Don't try to be an artist all at once, be very much of a student.  Be always searching, never settle to do something you've done before.  Always be looking for the unexpected in nature-- you can have no formulas for anything;  search constantly.  Don't learn how to do things, keep on inquiring how.  You must keep up an attitude of continuous study and so develop yourself.  I don't know a better definition of an artist than one who is eternally curious."

My Blue Period, or Portrait of a Portrait

I have painted funky portraits of two of my kids.  I was sidetracked by a jar of jam, and then my painting teacher moved back to Amsterdam.  Very sad.  I miss her and the company of my three Dutch friends very much.  We are starting another painting group in my grey cottage studio as soon as I have it ready for company (ahem, this could take a while), but in the meanwhile, I paint without a parachute.

Mark has wanted me to paint his portrait for quite a while. I've shied, as I'm really such a beginner. But, for Christmas, I quietly, secretly painted him out in the little grey cottage studio.  It's unusual for me to be so monochromatic, but I think I was influenced by a week of Picasso immersion as I prepared to teach fourth graders about him.  Picasso usually added in a rosey orange somewhere, and that may still appear on Mark.  Also, he thinks the eye looks a little too menacing, so I've sent images abroad for my old teacher's advice.  Anyway, here he is.

Little Reinventions (or Pimp My Chair)

Eight friends arrive this weekend for a birthday celebration (mine!). Not just a party, but full on two days of house guests. Cue the scramble. I've been cleaning, painting, primping the place for weeks now, though I'm nowhere near ready. Trying to be OK with that (if you knew how I grew up, you'd understand), but really, just under the surface, I'm frantic. My mom is taking the kids for a few days, which at least ensures 12 hours of clean bathrooms and kitchen before guests walk in. Anyway, a few projects.

Turned a hand-me-down rocking chair into a plant stand out side the cottage door. Total cost: $9 (3 for the spray paint and six for the petunias).



Turned four napkins from anthropologie into pillows for the guest bed. Rather cute, if I do say so myself. Total cost: $30. Yes, I have a stash of fabric I could have dug into, but couldn't resist the ruffles already on the napkins. I just covered some existing pillow forms.






more tomorrow...

Busier than a One- Armed Paper Hanger

My husband knows the one sure way to kick me in to high gear is to invite guests over. Well, we have eight friends coming for a long weekend in just two weeks. Needless to say, I'm in overdrive.

Last week, I painted a dresser that has been in Jack's room with paint samples on it for over two years. I bought it in college from a used furniture store to furnish my bedroom junior year. It's not a thing of beauty, but it's nice and narrow and has served me well, especially through the apartment years.

Unfortunately, in my flurry, I missed the before shot, but trust me, it was tired. Also, still not sure of the hardware, but haven't found anything better. Even anthro's selection of pulls was paltry (and pricey). Still need 8 small ones though for the top drawers.

I"m also deep into a hall painting project. The ugly bulletin board came down, walls scrubbed and BM Dill Pickle has gone up. Now to frame all those pictures...

Oh, there's more. I've also cleaned the cottage, and scattered various new IKEA goods around. To be continued.

Red Letter Day

1. Red barn, 2. Sheep with a Red Earring, 3. Heat, 4. Painting, 5. details, 6. Wonky Log Cabin, 7. Wonky Log Cabin, 8. At the parking garage, 9. Red Scarf, 10. On the Old Steps, 11. Tree hugger in training, 12. Red hoops, 13. Seaweed, 14. Local Tomatoes., 15. Radishes from the farmer's market, 16. Reds go first, 17. A Red Bag Thing, 18. Red tote for Teach, 19. Vintage quilt detail, 20. Drying off, 21. Brothers in arms, 22. pink stuffie, 23. geraniums in Spain, 24. te in Spain, 25. Pippi Longstocking lives
Just looking through my photostream, I realized that I shoot a lot of red things. And, I also find red hard to shoot. It's often blown out and fake looking for some reason. Anyway, here's a little mosaic of my red images. To me, red is a color of boldness, and I'm feeling bold today. Tackling a few projects on my lengthy to-do list. Some of them (paint Jack's dresser, he's two already), have been on there for a while.

Hope you have a red letter day too!

Jam Fancy

I finished another painting in my beloved acrylics class. My very talented friend, Marlieke, is a Dutch acrylics artist who finds herself in our little town because her husband's job has brought them to NY. There's a surprisingly large community of Dutch ex-pats here, and they are quite connected to one another. Marlieke started teaching acrylics classes in her home several years ago and nearly every Wednesday, I find myself in her studio, warmed by her amazing coffee and painting alongside four other Dutch women. Often the conversation is in Dutch which allows me a little alone-time in the crowd, but they swing back to English for me so easily, as bi-lingual people can do. I'm always so amazed at people who are adept at languages as I am so not. Another painting finished is bittersweet, because it signals the end of our "semester." Well, here it is. Grandmother's jam.

Home is Where You Hang Your Paintings

Tried to get creative with Mark's valentine.  Here's the not-quite-finished painting I gave him. The three buildings are the three places we've lived together.  Two are in the city; one, the burbs. I want to add some kind of quote about home in the right corner and frame the whole shebang.  I hope the trees don't look too much like golf balls (though at least he likes golf).  I'll post again when it's finished.

And one of the other brother

I also painted Max's portrait. Which means I have one more little boy portrait to go. I have to take a portrait breather now, though, and do a still life. I'm thinking about Bonne Maman Quatre Fruits or maybe the illy container. Two of my other loves.

Portrait of a Portrait

I find portraits intriguing, in most any medium.  I don't read Vanity Fair very often anymore, but I always like their portrait features.  Here's one that I scored at an antique shop in Reynoldsville, PA a few years back. That shop is probably gone by now, but it was one of my favorite type of antique shop. Dusty, cavernous, filled with really good stuff and very well priced.  I think I picked up this portrait for $12.  Thanks to trusty Google and the amazing internet, I fairly quickly learned that this painting came from the art dealer Willibald Ulbing in Vienna on Schottenfeldg. 61.  I also learned that a Viennese resident Mr. Willibald Ulbing died at 87 years old in 2007.  He might be one and the same.   

And here's a portrait I recently painted of my son.