Art and Culture Gallery

Superb ipod skins

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:58:51 +0000

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PB&J No. 15

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:49:34 +0000

5.5 x 5.5 oil on hardboard

I never seem to tire of painting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It’s fun to find new ways of composing them. Delving into my most recent batch of photography I really liked this wedge shape of the split sandwich on the plate. If you’d like to participate in the auction you can bid by clicking here.

Silver Creamer

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:47:16 +0000

5.5 x 5.5 oil on hardboard

I decided to hold off for the holidays, and list my final two ebay pix starting tonight. This creamer was part of a collection of vintage silver given to us by Karen’s parents. There’s also a sugar bowl, and a water pitcher that go along with this creamer. They have a great shape for reflecting the contents of a room, and these wonderfully curly handles. If you’d like to partake in the bidding for this painting, you can access the auction by clicking here.

Ketchup Complete

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:47:58 +0000

12 x 24 oil on hardboard panel

I’ve been slogging away at the second pass on this piece for about a week now and I feel it’s (nearly) complete. There’s just a couple of dabs here and there I think it still needs, but all in all, I thought it was close enough to go ahead and post the image and call it done. The final disposition of this painting is yet to be determined. I should know in a couple of days if it’s going where I hope it’s going. I’ll confirm it, most likely, in my next post.

Now it’s back to the Oranges. I’ve commented a number of times in previous posts that related to paintings of porcelain that I have struggled to achieve the wonderful translucent creamieness of that surface. Duane Keiser does it beautifully. The bowl containing the oranges puts me back at that place once more. I’ve never really recreated that surface to my satisfaction and hope with this piece I can get a little closer. Karen showed me a technique that I used on the Ketchup Bottle that may get me there. We’ll see.

Broadway and Canal by Jeff Cohen

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:06:12 +0000

Broadway and Canal

I’ve got five new ebay paintings in the works, along with a 6 x 6 commission, so it will be a little while before I get some new images up. That being the case, I thought I’d use this time to brag a little about my friend Jeff Cohen, and publicize his latest painting entitled Broadway and Canal. I hesitate to write that it’s the best thing he’s ever done, because he’s created so many paintings that I would consider masterpiece’s. But, this one . . . is a friggin Masterpiece! The sick part is, he makes it look so easy. I’ve described his technique numerous times in the past in previous blog posts, so I won’t go there again now, but Jeff just created a clever new website which illustrates his process beautifully. The URL is urbofrag.com. If you happen to be a member of FaceBook, you can follow the progress of this painting from start to finish, on his Fan Page. Jeff, you’ve outdone yourself.

The Mouse Project

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:27:43 +0000

Some months ago, Steve Worthington contacted me to ask if I would be interested in participating in a project he was putting together to raise money to support animal shelters. Steve is a sculptor, working in bronze, and creates the most amazing animals. If you haven’t been to his site, it’s well worth a visit. I happily accepted his invitation along with 21 other artists. The task was to choose one of his mice, which Steve would then send to us, and we were to use it as the focus of a painting. These paintings would then be collected into a book, which would be sold, and the profits distributed to animal shelters. The project is now complete, the book is ready, but I’ll let Steve describe the project in his own words.

The Mouse Project

I never planned to call it that, people just started saying it, and so it stuck.

The mice in question are Sprightly, Nosey and Chubby: Three of the many bronze critters I’ve made. They’ve developed lives of their own, traveling across America, to Antarctica, Australia and populating plenty of places in between.

Not wanting the fun to end there, I decided to see if the best painters I could find online might be coaxed into painting them so I could curate a book and donate the profits to animal shelters. I thought I’d start by asking only the best, not really sure what kind of response to expect. To my utter delight and disbelief the answers came back with a resounding, “YES”!

Paul Coventry-Brown

Top notch painter after top notch painter wanted in. So I dispatched a small army of mice to get their portraits painted! A PDF and a book are the end result. In the free PDF you’ll only find 22 lower resolution images (one per painter).

There are over 60 high resolution images of 47 original paintings by 22 painters in the actual book. Hopefully it will sell like hot cakes and make a bunch of money for animal shelters.

In the PDF there are links for you to be transported to the artists websites or blogs.

Jeffery Hayes

That’s why, in the real book, I recommend downloading the PDF as a companion. So you can treat yourself by visiting their web pages one click at a time.

Should you go to Lulu.com and then buy the real book, congratulations – and thanks! You’re in for a treat, and you’ll be helping an animal shelter.

I really can’t express my gratitude to everyone involved enough. They went all out, as you can see. Way beyond what I expected.

Jelaine Faunce

The images I’ve chosen above are a very small sampling of the total number of paintings in the book. I could have included many more, but didn’t want to spoil the surprise. The book is 79 pages with more than 60 images, and sells for $ 49.45 with the profits going to support animal shelters. It was a fun project, for a great cause, and I was honored to be invited to participate. So, if you’ve got 50 bucks burning a hole in your pocket, picking up a copy (or two) of the Mouse Project would be money well spent.

Goblet

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 22:00:49 +0000

6×6 oil on hardboard panel

Tonight I’ve got one of my little silver goblets, sitting on the wrapping paper it came packaged in. They have the perfect shape for getting the reflection of the entire room. I have three of these goblets, the other two are visible on the right-hand side opposite the window. If you’d like to bid on this painting, you can take part in the auction by clicking here.

Why Paint?

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:25:31 +0000

Painting takes me in emotional cycles. Have you ever had moments of doubt where you plaque yourself with annoying questions such as, “Why am I painting?” or “Why bother?”. Those moments can strike at any time. I can be painting the best work of my life, have a steady flow of sales, and still come to those moments where I wonder if I really should be looking for that full time job. Every single one of my artist friends has come to those moments at various times in their lives too. Fortunately for them and me, it usually doesn’t last too long. All we need to do is check in with a fellow artist, whine a bit and tell them our thoughts, and we get the usual burst of laughter and a pat on the back. They take us lightly because we have all been there. Cycles are important. Each time I question why I am painting, I cycle back to a clearer more potent answer, and continue painting with revived fervor. Perseverance, I think, is the most important ingredient in success as a professional artist. Not to let those down times keep us from getting back in the saddle, and continuing to paint.

For those of you who were born before the 60’s, you must remember psychedelic trance-induced author Carlos Castaneda. I recently dusted off an oldie but goodie “A Separate Reality”, where I fell into a trance myself over a part where his guru/teacher Don Juan tells him that everyone has their own predilection. And this predilection is what each of us uses to “know”. Don Juan’s idea of knowing is more of an inner truth, a yearning to keep evolving, rather than an intellectual search. For instance, a fellow sorcerer in the book dances when he wants to learn a new truth… “and he dances with all he has when he wants to ‘know’.” Don Juan’s predilection is to “see” or use his eyes to glimpse alternative worlds. I love the idea of using your predilection to evolve by throwing yourself into it. That is when it hit me that painting is my predilection, my way or tool to evolve, to “know”.

While painting, and also involved in the business or career aspect of making a living as an artist, its easy to fall into the trap of thinking we are painting to create products. Or we try too hard to make something truly unique that will stand out in the crowd. I believe that a painting traces and records all our thoughts, aspirations, desires. If we think about the painting as a product for a specific market, and think about this obsessively while painting, the work may lose its spirit, and take on a restricted feel. If we try too hard to be different, the work may end up doing the opposite, by losing our individuality and soul.

I like using this idea from Castaneda, using the act of painting to evolve, to be a better person, to create in the larger sense. Perhaps some of this will rub off in the work and be an inspiration, not just another product.

Edible Week: Granny Smith’s

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:38:40 +0000

6×6 oil on hardboard

Tonight I’m traveling way back to my ebay roots. Back to a time before I became so preoccupied with the specifics of things, and produced a more “compositional” type of painting. Utilizing more of the surrounding elements, and not focusing so much on the thing. I’m not dissing what I do now, but I have to admit, from time to time, I get a serious jones to show more of the setting. So, I painted this bowl of apples. I must say, I really enjoyed working on this painting. It offered me a chance to get a little looser, than I usually work, and just have fun with it. If you’d like to bid on this painting, you can take part in the auction by clicking here.

Return for Deposit

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:05:53 +0000

16 x 20 oil on hardboard

After two weeks, I’ve finally completed the full version of the Coca Cola bottles. I knew when I did the study I would attempt the composition larger in order to delve more deeply into that wonderful Coke colored glass. It didn’t fully satisfy that urge, and I’m anxious to begin another variation of this subject. I picked up another of those terrific Dick Blick studio mounted hardboard panels this weekend for just that purpose. Before I return to that, I’ve got to get busy on another line up of ebay paintings for next week. As soon as those are done I’m back to those bottles. I haven’t made up my mind as to where I’m going to send this as yet. I may just hang onto it for a while before I make that decision.

Update: Stricoff Fine Art, Ltd. called today, and requested that I send this piece to them. Michel and I had a nice talk, and I will be shipping this to them sometime early next week.