My Father

I have 3 sisters and I have always maintained that I am my father's favorite daughter - of course, all of my sisters feel exactly the same way. Perhaps that says something about the man who made each one of us feel so special.  He has always been interested in my paintings and occassionally sends me clippings from the Wall Street Journal regarding the state of art in the world today. He thinks I charge way too little for my work and  constantly encourages me to raise my prices several 100%. There is nothing more delightful than to have a supporter like that to lend encouragement. He is so dear to me and I do remain convinced that, secretly, I am his favorite daughter!

Tiger Gourd and Mozart

This little gourd caught my eye. Its called a Tiger Gourd and it was love at first sight. A few sycamore leaves from my backyard completed the still life set up. As I painted today, I filled my studio with the violin of  Isaac Stern playing Mozart: Violin Concertos. The CD is 70 minutes long and I placed the last brush stroke as the final note faded away - as it turned out, in this painting, I think of each stroke of paint as being equivalent to a musical note. That makes me happy.

American Impressionist Society 11th National Exhibition

Shipped my painting After the Race off to the American Impressionist Society Show in  Nashville, TN. I am so delighted to be included in a show that is billed as "a collection of some of the finest American Impressionists of our time". I love that! The hosting gallery is Richland Fine Art and the judge is CW Mundy. I can only imagine how exciting this show is going to be!
I wish I could go as I would love to see the show, attend the events and participate in one of the workshops that are offered to AIS members but life responsibilities here in San Diego prevent me from doing so. I am hoping there will be another time.

American Art Collector Magazine

Be sure to check out page 95 in the October issue of American Art Collector magazine. My painting  group 10 Everyday Painters  has a beautiful full page ad! I am so thrilled to be part of this wonderful group. Here is the link to our web page in case you missed it: http://teneverydaypainters.com/

Running With Horses

Sometimes I dream of running with horses. 20 x 16 oil on canvas panel.

Copy of Gauguin and Degas Portraits

I learn a lot from copying the masters - it gives me an insight into what their processes might have been, it allows me to see color through their eyes and I almost always have one or two "Ah ha!" moments - and those moments make it very worth the time and effort.

This is a 16 x12 copy of the self portrait that Gauguin did to exchange with Van Gogh when they lived in the Yellow House and painted together in Arles for a short time. The use of color in this portrait is astounding . Here is a link where you can see the original http://www.artcyclopedia.com/Gauguin-LesMiserables.html.

 I also recently copied Edgar Degas portrait of his brother in law Albert Melida. I did this one from a photo reproduction in a book - the original is in Paris, I believe in the Musee d'Orsey.  The color in this portrait also fascinated me.

StrongBox for Shipping to the American Impressionist Society Show

I am getting ready to ship my painting "After the Race" to Nashville for the American Impressionist Society Show at the Richland Fine Art Gallery. The prospectus encourages use of the  AirFloat Strong Box for packing and shipping. It's a special cardboard box made expressly for shipping framed artwork. I first became familiar with this box last month when I helped repack and ship back some of the art work from the Women Artists of the West show. This box opens up like a book and the framed piece is gently nestled amongst layers of cushiony foam. The box is taped shut and the packing is done. It seems like a good investment as the box can be used over and over again. The link to the site is http://airfloatsys.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1 and I have attached a photo of the box. My box arrived today. It came shrink wrapped in plastic which made sense and was easily cut away. I measured the dimensions of my framed painting and popped out the corrugated foam area. The painting slipped in perfectly and I can't imagine it being more safe for its journey to the east coast. You can get puncture proof panels on the inside of the box for extra protection as well. My box does not have those in the interest of keeping the cost down. I purchased a box bigger than what I need for this 24 x 12 piece so that I can use it for larger paintings in the future. How is that for positive thinking!

Circus

Trying something a little different - I like how the spectators appear in silouette with backlighting in the foreground.  I dont know how the horses became so green but here they are and I must admit I am charmed by them!  24 x 18 oil on canvas panel.

On the Road to Glasgow and Update on John and Tilly

My life has changed a bit and I have not been able to paint the last couple of weeks so thought I would post an older painting. This one was shown at the Scottsdale Best and Brightest Show and sold before the show even opened! I was so thrilled and it remains one of my favorites. It is 16x20 oil on canvas. I hope to get back to my routine of painting every day as soon as I can.

My friend Gwen in Great Britian recieved the painting of John and Tilly that I posted here on my blog a few weeks ago.  I had shipped it to her as a surprise birthday gift and she was thrilled! Her comment was something like she is "over the moon"! As a surprise return birthday gift to me, she sent me a copy of a book she has written but not yet published called "Wave Me Goodbye". I intend to curl up with it over Labor Day weekend - and now I, too, am over the moon!

My Cousin Audre

This is a casual portrait of my cousin Audre. Audre has the most delicate pale skin which is framed by her gorgeous black hair. She has remarkable beauty. I painted this portait cropped from a photo of Audre sitting at a table in a restaurant near Lake Tahoe watching the antics of her 5 month old grandaughter. I loved the complexity of the light and shadow over the contours of her face, the hint of an adoring smile and the beautiful colors. This was done alla prima in about 3 hours this afternoon.
I used an unusual palette - thalo green, alizarin crimson, cobalt blue, white, a tiny bit of sienna and a tiny bit of umber - not a usual portrait palette at all. I love the black that is made from thalo, alizarin and blue - it is so deep and infinite - like looking into deep space.

If you click on the painting, it will enlarge and you can get a better look at it - aren't computers wonderful?!

Final Approach

I have been in a real slump this past week or so. Work has taken a lot out of me and I have not been able to do even a successful study. I finally finished this one today - I had started it over a week ago and just let it sit on the easel through my doldrums. It always amazes me how vulnerable my creative spirit is to external factors, stress in particular. This one is 24 x 18 oil on Blick canvas panel. These Blick panels are just wonderful - the canvas has a nice medium texture that grabs the paint and the panel itself is substantial and of good quality. Also, they dont break the bank and are perfect for me to paint on right now.

Steeplechase

I dont have a definite title for this one yet. Its the biggest in my steeplechase series at 36x24. Borrowing a quote from the recent Phil Levine Newsletter at www.paintingfrance.com. "Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye......it also includes the inner pictures of the soul" Edvard Munch.

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American Impressionist Society

Accepted! This painting was juried into the American Impressionist Society 11th National Juried Exhibition. It is being held at Richland Fine Art Gallery in Nashville, TN in October. This painting was done from a photo I took late one afternoon at the Del mar Racetrack here in San Diego, CA. It also recently won the Jurors Award at the Women Artists of the West show awarded by Peggy Kroll Roberts. I am so thrilled to participate in the AIS show this year! Here is a link to the AIS site where you can find a list of accepted artists: http://www.americanimpressionistsociety.org/

John and Tilly

Gwen and her husband John have been my friends for a very long time - actually since Gwen and I were 10 years old. They are Scottish but are now living in England. Recently Gwen and John rescued Tilly from their local pound and she immediately wedged her way into their home and their hearts. This photo was taken one day just after John and Tilly had exhausted each other with the big red ball in the backyard. I just love the story this photo tells, the color and the composition so I immediately reached for a canvas and painted the scene. The painting is 18x24 oil on canvas. Today I shipped it oveseas to Gwen for her August birthday. It will be a complete surprise and I can hardly wait to hear her reaction. I sure hope she (and John and Tilly) like it!

Toulouse Lautrec at the San Diego Museum of Art

I spent a recent afternoon with 100 works by Toulouse Lautrec at the San Diego Museum of Art. He has always been a favorite of mine but I came away with renewed appreciation for his work. There are two incredibly beautiful oils in the collection - one on canvas of a night scene with figures that I had never seen anywhere and an oil on board of a nude lady on a disheveled bed - the layers and subtlety of color were so awesome. But I was very taken by the small delicate pencil and crayon drawings - they seemed so spontaneous and honest. I could easily imagine Lautrec sitting at a table in the Moulin Rouge doing these quick sketches. I have included two examples of his work. The horse and jockey has been a forever favorite of mine and I was thrilled to see it in person. I must say that I came away so inspired and have begun working on a large steeplechase painting in my studio. I find it refreshing and renewing to surround myself with the work of the masters every now and then, either through books or museum visits like this. It was an unforgettable exhibit and I highly recommend it if you are in San Diego. Here is a link to the museum site: www.sdma.balboaparkonline.org/art/exhibit/toulouse-lautrecs-paris

Serendipitously, recently I did several paintings of Lautrec. The first shows him asleep in a lawn chair at his mother's home in France, Malrome Chateau. It was done using a black and white photograph as a reference taken in 1900/1901 shortly before his death. The other is called The Artist and His Muse and is 36x24. I cropped it to show Lautrec in his studio in front of his own painting In the Salon of the Rue des Moulins (1894) with his model Mireille. She is the main subject of his painting and can be seen sitting on the salon sofa with her knee drawn up. The entire uncropped version can be seen on my website in the Figurative Gallery http://www.susansmolenskyfineart.com/ . This one was also done from a black and white photo taken around the time his painting was completed in 1894.

Workshop Figure Male

I decided to post a crop of the male online challenge figure since he was mentioned in a comment on the Pink Lady yesterday. If you would like to see the entire figure, you will find him in the Figurative Gallery on my website at http://www.susansmolenskyfineart.com/. The part I like best about this figure are his feet, so be sure to check them out!

Sold! Figure Study - Pink Lady

This was done from a photo challenge in an online workshop. Its a figure of a large nude woman on her hands and knees but I cropped it for my blog in order to just show the face. The original is 12x12 oil on canvas panel. There was something so compelling about this pose and the challenge of painting so much flesh. The pink background kindof decided itself and I think it worked! I am posting this study today because I recently sold this piece to another artist whom I respect incredibly. Thank you, Kevin! By the way, if you would like to see Pink Lady in all her glory, you will find her on my website in the Figurative Gallery http://www.susansmolenskyfineart.com/

Touch Down

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul and paints his own nature into his pictures." Henry Ward Beecher

Back to the steeplechase subject. This one is 10x20 oil on canvas panel. I decided to play with color today and this is what it led to.

Monster - all 3 pounds of her.

Meet Monster, my daughter and son in laws new yorkshire terrier puppy. She is the cutest thing I have ever seen and loves everybody and everything! I can't believe they named her Monster - she is anything but!

Sumo Wrestlers

Something a little different - but maybe not so much. My steeplechase paintings attempt to suspend a moment of great motion, energy and intense physical presence while maintaining the connection between man and beast, even emphasizing it. This little study attempts to do the same between men of immense power and determination.