Chihuahueno...

  Chihuahueño 

8x8 oil on gallery wrap canvas 

Is it Chiwawa - or - Chihuahua? This little guy is from a photo I took at a local town fair, I didn't get his name so I titled this Chihuahueño - the Spanish version (I like the little tilde).  He was a nervous little guy, his body shaking with fear as he was surrounded by giants gushing over him. I watched him closely amazed by his small size and noticed he was much happier in his mommy's arms - and that's when I snapped the photo. Of course, with mommy's permission and not without petting and  loving this little guy to pieces! 

a little fact: the Chihuahua is the smallest breed of dog, the oldest breed on the American continent and is named after the state of Chihuahu in Mexico.

Interesting, I must look up where Chihuahu is in Mexico - wonder if its a town full of these little cutie-pies. How wonderful would that be? A town taken over by Chihuahu's... that could be a fun painting, hmmm.....

♥

Coke Bottles

Today's study...

  Coke Bottles - alla prima

9x12 oil on canvas

I love those old Coke bottles... but I gotta say I struggled with this study today, for several reasons. Grrhhh. Painting glass is difficult and to get that translucency is just – not easy. Getting the shape of the bottle is tough too not to mention working on this in one sitting while the paint is wet. It was difficult but a very good exercise.

A little interesting fact: Coke was invented in the 19th Century by John Pemberton and came out in bottles for the first time in 1894. The prototype  was made originally as a coca wine, an alcoholic beverage that combined wine and cocaine. The shape of the bottle known as "contour bottle" or "hobble skirt" came  from bottle designer Earl R. Dean who wanted to base the design on  one of the two ingredients, coca leaf or the kola nut. The final design came from a gourd-shaped cocoa pod.

♥

"Spring Fourth"

Ok so I am a bit late with my Spring post, I just couldn't have another day go by without sharing some photos from our garden and a few thoughts. Spring makes me well – happy. The whole idea of springtime is yummy... the warm weather, longer days, the smell of spring flowers, the smell of rain showers, all the colors in bloom, birds chirping, the extra spring in my step, walks in the parks, dogs in the parks....ahhh Spring time!

Spring...

a time of growth, of renewal, of new life being born...

I like to think of Spring as a start of better times... and with that, I will spring fourth and do some spring cleaning. Its ok, I actually like it. Yeah, yeah call me crazy. Happy Spring to everyone!

♥

Sketches...

I've been busy in my sketch book lately and loving every minute of it! I wanted to share two of my many dog sketches I will be working on for what I am calling my whimsical min-series...

 

I decided to work on this series because well, ... I love my dog to pieces and I think a lot about a dogs life and their quirkiness.  I also wanted to keep this series on a small panel because I just think they are cute - I'm very excited for this new collection - the paintings will be modern and clean with simple use of colors.  Paintings to come.... ;-)

♥

A sporting dog...

A Watchful Eye

5x7 oil on panel board

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Little Peppers

Another little study...

Little Peppers - alla prima

8x8 oil on canvas paper

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Purple Pug

...won the Honorable Mention Award at the Monmouth Museum & Monmouth County Arts Council - 31st Annual Juried Art Exhibition – January 17 through February 21, 2010.

"With 363 pieces submitted, sincere congratulations are expressed
to all 78 artists selected by MOMA juror Maura Lynch".

Purple Pug 

12x12 mixed media (oil and acrylic) on gallery wrap canvas

It was a great show with very unique and contemporary pieces. I made some new friends and was very happy to have been a part of it, I look forward to submitting more work next year.

I usually like to take photos of the steps I go through when I paint a piece. Its a good way to document my progress and process especially as I explore new techniques and colors. For this painting I captured these earlier stages – there were many more steps involved, of course ;-)...

                   EARLY STAGE                                                     MID STAGE

I like using mixed media, I like the effect I get from using both oil and acrylics. In this painting I started with a purple canvas and dark purple under painting. It was a challenge to paint over such a dark background but it was also fun - each stroke had an element of surprise I just loved. It was great to see the painting start to illuminate against the purple.

Purple Pug was fun to paint, its amazing how many colors there are in a dogs coat– how cool would it be if there were really purple Pugs around?

♥

A study

Today's painting...

A study of carnations and strawberries - alla prima

9x12 oil on canvas paper

♥

Sugarloaf Craft Festival

This weekend was full of rain, overflowing rivers and flooded streets but I managed to have a fun weekend anyway. I was not stuck home considering the bad weather, I was at the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival on Saturday http://www.sugarloafcrafts.com/ it was my first time attending this annual event and I am glad I went! It was indoors and had about 275 vendors. I went because it was not far from our house, I wanted to see what type of art there was and to see if having my own booth is something I'd want to do in the future. There was the occasional booths you kind of – eh, just walk by and lots and lots of jewelry but I did manage to fall in love with a few beautiful pieces and well—I had to have 'em and post about them!

The artist Bill Finks was so unique and very very cool to talk to.  He and his wife Marcia Finks have been in business since 1990 in metal sculptures. Their work has been featured in Bergdoff Goodman, House Beautiful, Home, Country Living, Country Home, Elle Décor, Newsweek magazine to name a few. I fell in LOVE with his sculptures and overwhelmed on which to pick - because I knew I was was not going to leave without one  ;-)

So here is the one my husband actually picked out!

 UHM....LOVE it!

His sculptures are made from antique German doll heads, antique tins, found objects and vintage embellishments.  I chose my doll sculpture for several reasons; my husband liked it,  I love the black tin, a candy container from England that reads Black Magic. I think Black Magic is perfect, it adds to the dark, creepiness of the doll. 

I like the cracks in the head, this was one of the older German doll heads hanging in the collection. It has glass eyes and an open mouth showing teeth which is pretty rare for dolls. It looks pretty freaky up close. Doesn't it?

My other favorite part is the toy fridge! The door opens and the trays spin showing 3 antique porcelain heads inside. The collar is the base of an antique lamp, the bowls on her head are milk & cream silver cups. The skirt is made of some kind of hard metal mesh and the legs are one of those antique thread spindles. I am very impressed on how well crafted this piece is he drills a metal rod in the center to hold every piece together - it is very solid and sturdy.

He handed me a piece of cardboard as a business card (maybe its a protest) but I managed to find a gallery link that shows more of their beautiful and inspiring work since their website has not been updated with this collection. http://www.philipmortongallery.com/Finks.html. Their contact information is 810.240.9418 and email: mfinks@nyc.rr.com, their website shows their older collection doesn't do much for me http://www.primitivetwig.com/about.cfm

I just love this piece...now I must figure out where to hang it...

Bogey In Red

Today I want to introduce you to...

 Bogey In Red

Mixed Media – acrylic & oil

12x24 1/2"deep panel board

original photo

Bogey In Red is one of my favorite paintings because this was the first painting I decided to do something different with and not so traditional. Oh and Bogey is an adorable Beagle – of course, painting him has NOTHING to do with the fact that I adore Beagles ;-) (uhm Dukie) but more so because I love painting dogs. Dogs have such personality, they are beautiful, comical, smart and never have an ego, they just... love unconditionally. I can't get enough of them! To me art and dogs fit perfectly.

In this painting I wanted to combine design, composition, bold colors and texture. I also wanted to approach a more contemporary style that I feel my work is moving towards. I really enjoyed the creative process I went through when painting Bogey. Painting is limitless...I mean to be able to challenge oneself to create something new, to be able to take your work a step further and to go beyond what a photo provides is so much fun and for me, its part of growing – evolving as an artist.

~ Thank you Bogey! 

♥

Still Life = Learning To See

There is nothing like painting from life, you "learn to see" and it improves your skills of observation. I am not a big fan of painting flowers or still life's but I know they are good practice. Although, I prefer painting from photos I know there is a flatness to every photo I am challenged with. When you think about it a photo can never capture the "reality" of something. I've been to some incredible places and snapped some incredible pictures but the photos still didn't capture what I saw exactly. I mean I love taking photos and admire the beauty in good photography but the result is still 2D. The challenge as a painter  is how to represent a three dimensional reality on a flat surface. To me a painter (representational painters) chooses to distort in a way that gives the feeling, impression or illusion of three dimensions in ways that a photo may not capture. All in all, what we see in 3D helps us to draw and paint in 3D.

So I practice...practice...practice...

Today's loose study of flowers - alla prima

12x13 oil on canvas paper

This was painted in one sitting, a way for me to observe, practice, loosen up and not fuss over the details.

♥

Bathroom Wonderland...

Yeah...ok so it doesn't sound right, a title about a bathroom but BOY... is this the most incredible bathroom I have ever been in! I occasionally take classes at the Visual Arts Center in NJ   http://www.artcenternj.org/  its a great facility that offers wonderful art classes and where my good friends/fellow teachers have their classes Andrea Gianchiglia  http://www.agillustration.com/   and Anne Kullaf  http://www.kullaf.com/ both excellent teachers ;-)

I wanted to share my experience in this

"Bathroom Wonderland"

Words can't explain the beauty and I am not even sure pictures can do it justice but take a look... 

 

MOSAIC...MOSAIC...MOSAIC!

 

 This is a close up of the door - its painted.

  

I love this tree and the little brown owl hiding...

 

There's detail on the base of the toilet and the floor are photographic grass tiles

 

Ok so I can't get over the 3 dimensional sections...

 

3D shutters and tin roof...

 

3D clock and columns

  Close up of painter

  

Detail shot of 3D roses, dragon fly and coins etc...

  

Message is behind me, to be read through the bathroom mirror

Detail of water and duck - love the duck feet

3D Deer close-up

Painter and do I see a doggy?

These are only  few pictures I took...I spent hours in this bathroom! What made this even cooler is that once the lights were off there were some pieces that glow in the dark which I could not capture on my camera. I felt like a kid again in this room – in awe.

Well, I hope this Bathroom Wonderland has inspired you as it did me—and with all these beautiful pieces I am off to go see what I can get my hands on to make a mosaic of my own...maybe my bathroom? hmmm...

Suki in moonlight

Here's a dog portrait I am working on of Suki..

"Suki in Moonlight"

14x17 oil on deep galley canvas

To get the mood and feel I wanted I used cerulean blue as my under tone color.

I work from photos and here is the original shot of Suki.

Suki is a cute little dog, a regular at http://www.dogdaysdaycare.org/  a wonderful cage-less doggy daycare facility and where Dukie goes to play with Suki and friends. This painting will be hanging at Dog Days Daycare Center along side other pooch members I have hanging,  I'll post more paintings soon!

This place is awesome! Duke comes home exhausted from a day there, Robin the owner and her staff are wonderful. They really care about every dog, they have games they play, couches they can lounge on or a yard they can run around in. They have two buildings the "Dog House" for the smaller doggy's (this is where Duke hangs) and they have the "Ruff House" a larger building where the big boys hang. Robin also opens up the Ruff House for Sunday Socials for those bad weather days when your stuck indoors and cabin fever  sets in - her facility is open for dogs to play as owners watch.  What a great idea, she thinks of everything! I am thrilled to have found Robin because I know Duke is in good hands. Robin even sleeps with the dogs, never leaving the facility unattended while boarding. Now that is an animal lover!

Duke is on his way there now... he's at the front door wagging! Until later...

 

♥

Tim Burton on the mind...

I am a HUGE fan of his dark and quirky style. Can not wait to see Alice In Wonderland this Friday! I'm in it for the brilliant animation, costumes, colors and delicious macabre - of course a good storyline wouldn't be bad either. Oh-h- how exciting... I cannot be late for this very important date!

 

What's next for Tim Burton?  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith, a story that puts a vampiric spin on the life of Abraham Lincoln. Pretty crazy hu? Check out the book trailer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X58RPS665V0

Tim Burton's exhibit at the MOMA  http://www.moma.org/  is amazing and oh - so-o-o inspiring. It's a wonderful showcase of several personal works - many never published. His exhibit has been up since November 22, 2009 and will be up 'till April 26, 2010. I highly recommend going! I missed his book signing back in November but thrilled to have gone to his exhibit. Twice, in fact, and I will going again for sure. I just can't get enough - when you walk in it's like another world and you just get lost in it!

No cameras aloud in the exhibit but here's is a sneak peak of my favorites...

 

Untitled (Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories)
c.1982-84. Ink, marker, and colored paper, 10x9" (25.4x22.9cm). Private collection.

 

Untitled (Clown Series) 1993. Oil on canvas, 12x9"(30.5x22.9 cm). Private collection.

 Untitled (Alice in Wonderland) 
2009. Ink and colored pencil on paper, 5x8" (12.7x20.3cm). Private collection.

 Blue Girl with Wine

c. 1997. Oil on canvas, 28x22" (71.1x55.9cm). Private collection.

Untitled (Cartoons Series)

c.1980-86. Pencil on paper, 13x16" (33x40.6 cm). Private collection

Untitled (Ramone)

c. 1980-90. Ink, marker, and colored pencil on paper, 
11x19" (27.9x22.9cm). Private collection.

 I can go on and on... these are just a few that are in the MOMA book I purchased. But... there's also his new book -  The Art of Tim Burton  which is not sold in bookstores or on Amazon. 

Only available directly from SteelesPublishing.com. They are limited and there are two editions that contain over 1000 illustrations and 430 pages plus foldouts. I gotta have this!

Still Life

Today's painting -alla prima

 

A study of fruit and tea pot

oil on 9x12 canvas

♥