Meanwhile.....

I've been working on several paintings for a client.  They are officially sold but I wanted to show them to you.

8 x 10"

sold

9 x 12"

sold

12 x 16"

sold

Always painting.....

"Chin Up"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

You might have run across Edgar Dega's sculpture of the young ballerina in several different art museums.  You're not crazy.  This Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen resides in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  When I visited the museum, it was not encased in a glass box, which made a huge difference in appreciating this perfect figurative sculpture.  And I mean perfect.

Degas painted young ballet dancers numerous times.  At rehearsals, stretching exercises and lessons in ballet studios.  He drew them in pastels and charcoal, painted them in oils.  The model for Little Dancer was Marie van Goethem who posed for the only sculpture exhibited in Dega's lifetime in 1881.  Little Dancer was originally executed in wax and later cast in bronze around 1922, after Dega's death.  Which is why you maybe have seen one yourself.

"Listen Up"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

A small study - two young ladies grooving on Interrupted Reading by Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"Flower Girls"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

I've imposed some much-needed, happy, cheerful acts on myself lately.  Baking cookies, Crock-Pot stew, the Muppets Christmas Carol and painting this colorful, soul-enriching piece featuring Diego Rivera's Flower Festival: Feast of Santa Anita. 

A couple of things I need to mention here - you don't see much progress on my blog because I'm working on paintings for a solo show held in early March.  It kills me not to reveal them as I go.

And... for those who've asked?  I have a calendar not quite ready, I know it's late in the year, but it's coming and I'll shout from the mountain top when it is.

Now for the artist Diego Rivera.  Born in 1886 in Guanajuato, Mexico - a large, colorful, overbearing, talented painter best known for his depictions of the working class and native Mexicans.  At the age of 35, through a government program, he painted a series of murals in public buildings about the country's people and its history, some controversial and all very powerful.

Rivera was a lady's man, married twice before marrying the artist Frida Kahlo who was 20 years younger - both known for their interest in radical politics and Marxism.  They fought often and divorced and remarried in 1940 - Kahlo died in 1954 and Rivera married again, to his art dealer.  He died several years later from cancer and heart failure in 1957.

Rivera's Flower Festival was painted in 1931 depicting a flower festival held on Good Friday in Santa Anita, included in a solo exhibition at MoMA the same year.  

"Walk A Mile" (study)

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

Norman Rockwell's profound 1964 painting 'The Problem We All Live With' is on the top of my Rockwell list.  It depicts 6-year-old Ruby Bridges, an African-American girl, being escorted to an all-white public school in New Orleans, by four deputy U.S. marshalls.  What is so very effective is the viewer is seeing the point of view from the angry crowd, the hint being the racial slurs on the wall and the tomato splattered in between the figures.  

The image was published in a 1964 issue of Look magazine - Rockwell's contract with the Saturday Evening Post ended in 1963 due to Rockwell's continued frustration with the magazine's limitations on his expressions of progressive social interests, including his personal views on civil rights and racial integration.

Norman Rockwell's granddaughter, Abigail, recently wrote a compelling article in the Huffington Post titled Would There Be Norman Rockwell Without The Saturday Evening Post?  Rockwell undoubtedly evolved as an illustrator between 1916 and 1963 - becoming a storyteller with his images like no other.  His career with the Post yielded 322 covers before he ended his contract.

Ruby Bridges, at the age of 56, visited the painting in the White House in 2011 - at the request of President Obama.

The CNN writer, Bob Greene, wrote about that event in this article.  Within that article, these words struck me "..the message of the painting is so powerful that it goes well beyond the incident it portrays. The message transcends our usual Democrats-vs.-Republicans, conservatives-vs.-liberals, left-vs.-right squabbling.  Rockwell was a genius not just because of the technical skill of his artistry, but because of his eye for the telling detail. And in "The Problem We All Live With," the key detail is how he framed the four U.S. marshals who are accompanying that child to school. We do not see their faces; in the painting, the men are cropped at their shoulders.

That is the power and the story of the painting: Four men were accompanying Bridges to school, yes, but the point was, the United States of America was accompanying her. We see the men's "Deputy U.S. Marshal" armbands, and that is what matters. The painting tells us: This country may have its flaws, but when right and wrong are on the line, the nation, in the end, usually chooses to stand for right."

"Their Sunday Best"

8 x 10"

oil on panel

sold

I did finish this painting, after a marathon of 5 days.  I'm more inclined to start a piece and finish it before I turn in, but this one demanded more time.  It will be included in Anne Irwin's May Show titled 'Apres Paris'.

The two sisters, in their Sunday best, were marveling over Georges Seurat's 'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte' in the Art Institute of Chicago.

The gallery sold this quickly and I am thrilled.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Double Dip"

5 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

Inspired from my short span of attention on a sunny afternoon and a stronger desire to jump in a pool.

 

"Biker Gang"

16 x 6"

oil on masonite
sold

A new painting - three kids enjoying a bike ride on the beach on Hilton Head Island.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Daisy Chain"

6 x 6"
oil on masonite
sold

Adding on to my series ATL to NYC & Back - a chain of school girls being led through the sculpture gallery in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I love this painting :)

"In The Pink"

6 x 6"
oil on masonite
sold

Adding to my series ATL to NYC & Back - a small study of two girls, seemingly sisters, both dressed alike in their pink. They were transfixed on Johannes Vermeer's 'Study of a Young Woman', in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"Four Women and a Baby"

9 x 12"
oil on masonite

A tender moment taken from the Art Institute of Chicago when a mother and her girls gathered in front of Picasso's 'Mother and Child'.

detail

Please click here for a larger view and purchase information.

Unwrapped

6 x 6"
oil on masonite
nfs

6 x 6"
oil on masonite
nfs

Now that they're unwrapped, here are a couple of personal gifts given to my extended family.

"Mother Superior"

12 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

My good friends were in the Musee d'Orsay in Paris and captured these three young women looking at James Whistler's 'Arrangement in Grey & Black: The Artist's Mother' - most of us know it as 'Whistler's Mother'. I usually paint the figures head to toe - I do love the zoomed in view on this image with the different postures and clothing. Very fun to paint.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Collection Bucket"

(detail)

4 x 14"
oil on masonite
sold

I have the beach on the brain these days - and since I haven't made that trip in several years, I live vicariously through my friends' experiences.

"Three Musketeers"

12 x 12"
oil on masonite
sold

I almost feel like I drove 620 miles to the National Gallery of Art to be able to witness this.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Deep Subject"

8 x 10"
oil on masonite
sold

Geezlois ...... it's been one of those weeks. Vet appointments for Petey have come down to a decision to proceed with chemo or take a wait-and-see approach if a new tumor develops. We opted for the latter after a positive check-up today - hoping he's got some good years ahead. Thanks to all for your kind emails - our pets are so dear to us and it's nice to hear from others.

I'm also heading out of town - partly for a big celebration of my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary - what a beautiful thing to be married and happy for so many many years. Hoping to take photos around Washington DC, in between the festivities.

I also spent an afternoon at a huge dog show - which means I'll be painting a new series like the "Dogs Rule" that I did last summer. Surely one of my favorite subjects to paint.

This new piece is a scene from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston - with the dramatic painting by John Singleton Copley titled 'Watson and the Shark' behind the group of girls who were all writing their paper on the same deep subject.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Sun Catcher"

8 x 8"
oil on masonite

This scene is especially fun to work with oils, the trick to getting chalk to look like chalk, on top of concrete. Very, very fun.

For a larger view and purchase information, please click here.

"A Word In Edgewise"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

Happy Halloween everyone.

A memorable scene for me as a grandmother and her two attentive granddaughters discuss the painting before them, Georges Seurat's "A Sunday at La Grande Jatte", which hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago. The two young girls seemed to really soak in a lot of the art in the museum. I enjoyed watching that.

Please click here for a larger view.

"Seeing Red"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

I wanted to do a very special piece for an upcoming Small Works Show at the Howard/Mandville Gallery, so I chose an image with a beautiful, strong red. Hopefully to catch someone's eye amidst a large group of paintings. I like it very much. These were two, what I gathered, best girlfriends, enjoying time together in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Please click here for a larger view.

"The Awkward Years"

8 x 8"

oil on masonite

sold

I was supposed to be packing. Instead, I came back to the studio to find my camera, turned on Ella Fitzgerald and did a painting. I'm pathetic.

This is most likely my last beach scene for a while - perhaps I'm craving the autumn colors and 60 degrees. Still.... I had to paint these girls. They remind me of those 'awkward years'. This turned out to be one of my all-time personal favorites too - I think it's what oils are meant for - the swushing, the daubs, the color - it's loose and casual and I love that.

I also want to wish you happy trails..... I'm heading out of town for a couple of days, hoping to get some divine inspiration. I'll be back this weekend. Enjoy.