Neptune's Court and Happy Thanksgiving

Neptune's Court / oil on canvas panel / 20 x 16

 A painting I did from a photo taken when my husband and I were on vacation in Washington DC in May 2014. She is one of the Tritons in the Court of Neptune fountain in front of the Library of Congress. It impressed me greatly and the memory of it has stayed with me.

The Court of Neptune Fountain , Washington DC

I wish to take a moment to wish everyone who celebrates it a very happy and peaceful Thanksgiving. My husband and I will be having a quiet dinner with our son while we await the visit from our daughter in early December. We have much to be thankful for including good health, good and active minds, and an abundance of temporal riches. Happy Thanksgiving!

Bunny Jack Toovey and Moscow!

A new bunny painting - this one along with the recent portrait of Wee Elodie will be sent as Christmas gifts to my dear friend Gwen who lives in England. 

Jack Toovey / 12 x 9 / oil on linen panel

Many of those who follow my blog may remember that my daughter Kimberly has been living and working for the past two years in Amsterdam. My husband, son and I recently traveled to Europe to visit her. She is planning to come home (with her close friend Hans) in early December to spend a few days with us and we are all very excited! In the meantime, her employer has sent her to Russia on a business trip to meet up with her colleagues in the Moscow office. She arrived on Saturday and on Sunday spent the day with her new friends touring the Kremlin!

Kim (3rd from left) with her Russian co-workers in front of St. Basil's Cathedral

Cathedral of the Assumption - first constructed in 1326 and rebuilt in 1479 of vaulted limestone with 5 golden cupolas. In 1547 the coronation of the first Russian Tsar, Ivan the Terrible, took place here and  Napoleons troops stabled their horses inside during the Russian campaign.

 

Inside the Cathedral of the Assumption

Inside showing frescoes

My daughter in Moscow!

 

WWII tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Kimberly with Russian Guards

In Red Square, Kilometer Zero is marked with a bronze plaque in front of the Iberian Gate. All points from Moscow are measured from here and it is tradition to toss a coin over your shoulder to please Lady Fortune.

I told Kim to keep her eyes open for a sighting of President Putin and I guess she did!

The surname of Smolensky is a Russian name and in the museums there are several paintings of Russian princesses:

Princess Ecaterina Smolensky

Princess Daria Smolensky

Some day I suppose we should investigate through Ancestry.com to see if we are truly related to any of these people but its fun to think we might be! Moscow also boasts a Smolensky Bridge and Smolensky Boulevard. The Boulevard was immortalized by Kandinsky in his painting  Smolensky Boulevard in Snow. What fun!

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Reinert Fine Art in Blowing Rock, NC

The Reinert Fine Art Gallery is so good to me! My paintings were just received earlier this week (on Election Day!) and they are already unpacked and hung. Carolyn, the gallery director, was kind enough to send me some photos. I hope I get to visit this lovely gallery one day and to meet Carolyn and Rick and Ann Reinert in person. But seeing the gallery in these photos gives me a good idea of how beautifully my work is displayed among the other stellar artists that are there. It's a great thrill and honor for me to be in such good company!

Four of my paintings are displayed in the front window! What a thrill!

Connoisseur of Comfort on the bottom left

Early Lies the Wintry Sun on the right

A Profound Understanding above Connoisseur of Comfort

Inspired by a Shared Objective and Exuberance Unleashed beneath two of my equine paintings.

This gallery looks like an enchanted place of beauty to me - a place to feast the eyes and feed the soul!

If anyone is ever in Blowing Rock, please stop by the gallery and tell them Susan sent you!

A Lively Sense of Haste and Master pieces #5

My husband and I just returned from a short trip over the Sierra Nevada's to California and back so I have not had much time at the easel - just enough to dash off this lively bunny.

A Lively Sense of Haste / oil on linen panel / 11 x 14

 And his beginning oil sketch:

A Lively Sense of Haste

 And Michelangelo has now completed his 6th masterpiece  - the design and completion of the New Sacristy of the Medici Chapel in Florence. Here Michelangelo integrated architecture and sculpture with stunning originality.  The chapel houses the remains of two Medici Dukes, Lorenzo and Guiliano -  seated opposite each other ans sitting stiffly erect, gazing toward an unfinished Virgin Mary. Each Duke is underscored by writhing twisting figures arranged sprawled across their sarcophagi - Lorenzo by Dusk and Dawn and Guiliano by Day and Night. The result is "an essay in dynamic contrasts, of commensurate forms and unresolved tensions".

Duke Lorenzo de Medici with Dawn and Dusk

Duke Guiliano de Medici with Day and Night