You Are Invited!!!

I am just so very lucky to have my art stir the fancy of famed gallery owner and art connoisseur Jeanne Chisholm! Opening day for my new gallery is Thursday, January 3rd and everyone is invited! The gallery is located in sunny Florida and if anyone who reads my blog happens to be in that area, please do stop in and let me know your impressions! I am so honored and excited to be in the company of a truly stellar group of equestrian artists.The photo above is one of the gallery rooms and below is the invitation to the reception with the accompanying text. This reception is considered the preview and a big grand opening celebration is scheduled for January 15th. I hope, and I have a feeling, that this is going to be a wonderful, artful New Year! 

Wellington Equestrian Gallery and Mall Hosts Reception

Wellington, FL - December 29, 2012 - The Wellington Equestrian Gallery and Mall will kick off the New Year, and the opening of their new gallery, by hosting a reception on Thursday night, January 3, from 5:00p.m. until 8:00p.m. Guests are invited to stop by and stroll through the gallery while enjoying the collection of art displayed, some wine and cheese, and the live music provided by world-famous pianist, Copeland Davis. The store's unusual, equestrian focused offerings will be sure to please even the most discerning clientele.  Jack Van Dell, of Van Dell Jewelers, has created this unique mall that features an eclectic mix of various artists' work from around the world, and is home to the largest collection of fine equestrian art in the South. The artists and their artwork have been carefully selected by Van Dell, himself, and international art dealer and collector, Jeanne Chisholm.  "We are so pleased to be able to offer this exquisite, equestrian collection, and  be able to coincide our Gallery's opening with the beginning of the Winter Equestrian season here in Wellington," said Van Dell, "We hope to attract people who really appreciate quality art along with those who would like to own some new pieces."  The Wellington Equestrian Gallery  Mall features paintings, bronzes, estate  fine jewelry, antique furniture, garden adornments, objetd'art, providing something of interest for everyone. Current exhibiting artists include Angela Moore, Suzanne Werson, Van Dell Jewelers, Wellington  Company Antiques, A.M. Stockhill, The Chisholm Gallery Collections, Nancy Freid, Marilyn Fallon, Noble Haus, Inc., Idlewild Furnishings, The Stalk Market, Prima Antiques, Ricard Boehm, Jackie Mallick Designs, LLC, James  Jefferies Antiques, Churchill Galleries, William R. Eubanks and Cashmere Buffalo. The gallery already has a large assortment of artists' offerings to choose from and they expect even more items to arrive, daily.  The wine and cheese reception on Thursday night, with the beautiful music by Copeland Davis, is an opportunity to enjoy a relaxed evening with friends, and to preview the wide variety of high-quality, equestrian offerings from an array of high-quality artists from around the world.  Kick-off the New Year and the winter equestrian season in style, by joining The Wellington Equestrian Gallery and Mall for their wine and cheese reception on Thursday night from 5:00p.m. until 8:00p.m. The Wellington Equestrian Gallery and Mall is located in the Publix Courtyard Shopping Center on Wellington Trace and Greenview Shores Blvd. in Wellington. For information call the Gallery at (561)333-3100 or go to: www.wellingtonequestrainmall.com <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?

White Christmas Dreams Come True!

Our first white Christmas in 18 years! Merry Christmas everyone - may your day be filled with special delights!

Christmas Cover - The Chronicle of the Horse

 

I want to take a moment to wish everyone an especially wonderful Christmas this year - filled with family, friends, great food and stellar conversation. I hope for a New Year that is filled with peace, happiness, health, good will and prosperity. I also want to offer my thanks and gratitude to all those who have taken an interst in my art and the time to comment and send me your thoughts. Your support and encouragement means more to me than I can express. Thank you so much and Happy Holidays to all!

Link to The Chronicle of the Horse online version of the magazine. My cover will grace the December 24th - January 7th issue! I am so thrilled!

The Warthogs are Gathering

 Oil on canvas panel 12x12

 

 

Oil on canvas  panel12x16

 

Two more warthogs made their appearance today - fun to paint with no particular goal in mind other than to wield the brushes.

Return of the Warthog

This time he made a more formal appearance - on canvas instead of cardboard! And he turned out to be a very colorful fellow. He is 12x16 oil on canvas panel.

Steeplechase

22x28 oil on linen - so gigantic for me! I am emotionally exhausted after this one. The title is pending....

Competition at the Beach

 24x18 oil on linen panel

20x16 oil on canvas panel

 

 

Who knows what these chubby ballerinas are up to?!! I certainly do not!

 

 Up early this morning, I was treated to a new snowfall under a fiery sky.

After days of absolute frenzy, I have finally gotten all the paintings framed and shipped off to the Wellington Gallery in Florida - shipping costs alone broke the bank but they are better off in a gallery than fighting for storage space here at home. And it is excitiing week for another reason - I was contacted by the editor of The Chronicle of the Horse magazine - a really exquisite publication that had done an article on my work earlier this year. She wants to put my Christmas painting of Santa riding a zebra on the COVER of their December holiday issue! Wow! I am really happy about that!

Ballerina #26 Makes Her Debut

Ballerina # 26 seems to have a lot of confidence for her first time in the spotlight! Oil on linen 16x20. Although my ballerinas have their own unique style and sense of elegance, please be sure to visit the inviting and entertaining blog of Martine Alison "Ma dollhouse joue un grand air de peinture" - her delicate beauties are always engaged in magical and delightful activities and a visit to her blog will no doubt make you smile!

Suffering No Mathematical Inconsistencies

I finally had some time to paint today and decided to bring this one to completion. Oil on linen 18x24.

New Gallery for the New Year!

I have just spent the last few days in a frenzy trying to get paintings framed and shipped for my new gallery space at the Wellington Equestrian Gallery in West Palm Beach, Florida. I am still waiting for a few more frames to be delivered but will ship out this majority in the next few days. I am so excited! What a lovely way to sweep in to the end of the year! Sadly, with guests here over the Thanksgiving holiday and with the time spent framing, I have not done much painting. But now I am so eager to get back to the easel!

Steeplechase - Untitled

Untitled as of now, this is what I have been working on the past few days. It is not finished - still needs some fine tuning but I may put it aside for a while. It is 18x24 oil on linen.

Ballerina 25

I knew I wanted to do something a little different, a bit more abstract, and I let the paiint take me whereever it wanted to go with this portrait. Focusing more on value, I let the color just happen. It was an interesting experiment and I am not unhappy with the result although I don't think the photo truly captures the painting. This one is 14x18 - oil on linen.

A Delicate Beginning to Winter Weather

Snug in the studio with a few recent acquaintances as the snow gently fell outside.

Less than an inch - really just a dusting.

 

 

Ballerina 24

 

Ballerina 24 is just coming undone! She is falling to pieces and is in a state of complete disarray after dealing with Hurricane Sandy and the Election. I do think she needs a long vacation. Oil on linen panel 24x18

Winter is on the Way

Three elegant mule deer on our back mountainside this morning - much earlier in the season than last year. Does this mean we will have a snowier winter? I hope so as I love winter and love snow and am well prepared! I know, I know - most people think I am crazy but fall and winter are my favorite times of year! :)

Gravitational Considerations

Oil on linen panel - 22x28. I have been doing some traveling lately and had little time to paint. Back at the easel now. As always, many thanks for stopping by my blog!

Granddaughters of Marc Chagall

 

Oooohhhh - I am so done with this. I believe I painted the second face 4 times before I was satisfied. Finally, finally, finally I think I have a good likeness. In this photograph, the values appear different in the two faces because the paint is wet on one and dry on the other. Once the painting dries competely, I generally buff the surface with a thin coat of Winsor and Newton Liquin. It brings out the depths of the darks beautifully and dries to a low sheen finish.  I will try to to remember to take another photo when I do that. This painting is 14x18 oil on linen board - my favorite support.

Here is the close up of the second portrait. I must admit, this project exhausted me!

Last Life Session

 It seems I always place the 40 minute supine pose at the top of my Thursday posts as it is generally the one I like best for some reason. It could be that I am feeling warmed up and more confident by the time we get to the third pose or that I love the reclining viewpoints the most. All drawings were done in ebony pencil on smooth blue paper provided by the instructor.

 

The model liked this effort as she felt I captured a good likeness of her, however, I found this one the most difficult as the landscape of backs always provide a challenge for me.

This standing pose was 20 minutes and I am most happy with the upper body and mid section. I didn't have time to pay much attention to the drape she was holding.

Fellow blogger and artist John Simlett got me thinking about Winston Churchill lately and  then I happened upon this quote from Sir Winston:
"The way to be happy is to find something that requires the kind of perfection that's impossible to achieve and spend the rest of your life trying to achieve it."

That about sums up this art endeavor for me quite succinctly and I hope you are all as happy on your artistic journey as I am on mine!

Double Portrait

Working on a double portrait and the left half came along more quickly than the right. I actually had to wipe off the other face about half way through as I had lost the likeness. She will wait for another day but I thought I would show you the surviving half. Painting an open smile with teeth is quite the challenge and I may subdue these a bit more before all is said and done.

Another Ballerina Steeplechase Attempt

My ballerinas are certainly broadening their horizons and skillsets. 20x16 oil on canvas panel.

If This is Thursday it Must be LIFE!

 

 Alejandro, our model from a few sessions ago, returned for an encore today. This was the 45 minute pose and my goal was not only to focus on the extreme foreshortening but to show how relaxed the muscles were and how langorous was the model. Indeed, I think he fell asleep during this pose! The paper was provided by the instructor - it was a heavy weight, smooth pale gray paper with a bit of blue rag in it. I found I liked it alot.

 

For the seated pose, all his muscles seemed to bunch up and become much more prominent. This was my attempt at the 40 minute pose on a thin, pale ocher colored paper.

 

The standing pose had me seated and slightly looking upward at him. This was only 20 minutes and drawn in ebony pencil on the pale gray rag paper. Next week is the last class in this session and I will definitely miss it - these past 5 weeks have flown by!

 

 Thanks for looking and, as always, I very much enjoy reading your thoughts and comments.

Alex Katz - Portrait Practise

Today my goal was to do a loose, expressive portrait and, as the contemporary painter Alex Katz is having a grand exhibit this month, I thought I would try my hand at him. I admit that I am not a big fan of his paintings but I study them nonetheless and have found much to admire in his large scale, interesting compositions and controlled use of color. This alla prima portrait is 16x12 oil on canvas board. It feels finished at this stage even though the clothing remains unpainted. I have included a close up of a portion of the face so the brushwork is more apparent.
Alex Katz was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1927 and his prolific career spans an incredible six decades. He currently has a major exhibition at Turner Contemporary which brings together a selection of his works from the 1950s to now, including paintings, collages and a 3D cut-out.

Life!

 

Alejandro was the model at life session this morning - very muscular and a lot of fun to draw.  I chose a position at the head for this prone foreshortened drawing.  Black ebony pencil and white charcoal on brown wrapping paper - about 18 x20 and 40 minutes.

The seated 40 minute pose was just as challenging! In any case, I am pleased with this mornings efforts. Unfortunately, I will miss next week's session as I will be out of town :(  My feeling is that these life sessions are invaluable in providing me with a real feeling for how flesh clings to the skeletal structure and accomodates itself with each unique position.  I have aways felt that there is no substitue for good drawing skills and life drawing is the best way to hone them.
Your comments and thoughts are always greatly appreciated!

The Exotic Nature of Probablity

Oil on linen 24 x 18

Polo Study - Once Again

Polo pony study on brown paper. I like how the rider turned out in this quick study.

Polo - Oil Study on Brown Paper

Once again using brown paper as my practise medium for oil painting. 18x24

Life Drawing - Thursday Morning

 

Cyndi was our wonderfully curvacious model in life drawing this morning. This was 40 miniutes on brown paper using black ebony pencil and white charcoal pencil for highlights.

 

About 40 minutes on newsprint. Something tells me I should invest in more expensive paper for these classes. The ripples in the paper are much more apparent in the photograph than they are when drawing.

This was the firt drawing - the warm up. About 20 minutes on newsprint. I don't have her weight distribution correctly in this and her upper hand went off the paper. Each drawing is about 18x24.

Quick Portrait Study

What can I say? More experimentation - this time with only 4 colors. I used Venetian Red, Ivory Black, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White. It certainly has a Halloweenish feeling - I guess that is appropriate as our nights are very cool and Autumn is in the air!

Portrait Study

Today was portrait practise day with a limited palette. This is 12x12 oil on canvas.

The Chronicle of the Horse

About a month ago I received an email from Beth Rasin, Executive
Editor of a wonderful magazine called The Chronicle of the Horse stating that she came across my website and fell in love with my work! She asked if she might feature me along with a painting in the Art Gallery section of the September 10/17th issue! You can imagine how excited I was and sent her several photos and my bio. They featured my painting "The Principle of Uncertainty" and published the article above and I am so happy. It's extra special when something like this happens "out of the blue". Thank you to Beth for selecting my work to be featured in this exquisite publication and to Production Manager Lauren Maruskin for the fine layout and copy.