October 23, 2006
What's the latest? Well, we're got a partnership going with a company called Chalk Talk Sports - chalktalksports.com
They're wonderful people to work with and they will be selling a lot of products with my sports images on them. So right now I'm working on a line of small 'vignettes' to be reproduced on refrigerator note pads. I'll let you know as soon as they are available.
I've also started a new series of paintings for the Danbury Mint (another great company to work with) of L'hasa Apso dogs. The first one is complete and I'll be publishing it on my site shortly for those of you who would like to order prints.
September 24, 2006
I taught some watercolor art classes for adults this summer at the Tyler Place Family Resort and really enjoyed myself. I was amazed at how creative and skilled some folks are that came into the class saying they couldn't draw a straight line. Art is so many things these days and has so many variations - no longer is it only correct to be able to draw or create something realistically. I told my students to use whatever their strengths were. If you're good with colors, use color to create something magical. If you're a good doodler, integrate that into your work and they did and we had some wonderful creative experiences.
If you have been thinking about painting but have hesitated because you feel you have no talent...get over it! Get yourself a box of student grade watercolor paints and a piece of cold press illustration board (art supply stores can help you) and go to work. After all, it's not like you have to earn your living from it! You'll surprise yourself with your hidden talents.
September 24, 2006
WARNING TO FELLOW COMPUTER PEOPLE!
What a summer! We were without phone or internet service since the end of May! It was as if we had fallen off the face of the earth! In May we changed servers to one called CIA (Cybersurf Internet Access) based out of Calgary, Canada and from then on it was an ordeal of stamina! Hours spent waiting on the phone with no response...the irony was that at one point someone from CIA opened a phone line and we overhead employees conversing with each other laughing about a customer thinking that he was going to get his line connected!
Finally after much frustration, we started with a new server and got our regular phone numbers back 2 weeks ago. I'm thinking of having T shirts printed up saying "Computers are not for Sissys" or "Stay Away from CIA"
May 20, 2006
Motivational Art Quotes to Inspire You
"Art is a kind of illness" ~ Giacomo Puccini
"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance" ~ Aristotle
"Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable" ~George Bernard Shaw
"Art is Man's nature. Nature is god's art" ~James Bailey
And here is not a quote from me, but it is a source of annoyance....why do the media persist in calling ships 'her'?? "The captain steered 'her' away from danger and into the port".... a ship is an 'it' - no doubt about it ~ there must be more to it.
April 3, 2006
Artist's Tip
If you're always wondering what you're going to do for your next painting, start keeping a 'swipe' file. Label a folder 'Swipe' and the next time you see an interesting picture or anything that stimulates your creative juices, rip it out (hopefully it's your own magazine) and drop it in your file. Or do a quick thumbnail sketch with notes ro remind you of why you found that particular subject exciting. Then when you're having a case of 'painter's block', you can refer to all these images. Generally I only have to open a file - I keep about 10 with different subject titles...Scenery, hockey, backgrounds, particular color combos etc. - to bring back that excitment and then I'm on my way!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep" ~ Scott Adams
"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home" ~ Twyla Tharp
I just put a couple of new pieces on the Originals pages 1 and 2 that I hope you will like. One in particular is very special to me.
Jim's Story
Jim is a piece that took a long time coming. We were at a show in Connecticut some years ago and I was asked to do a commission of 5 horses and a dog in one painting. Being the rabid horse and dog lover I am, I jumped at the chance and left the show to go and take the photographs. I met the first 4 horses and they were lovely but then out of the barn came this spectacular animal unlike any I had ever seen. Not spectacular in the confirmation or well bred sense, but spectacular in uniqueness and presence.
Jim is a pony draft stallion...only about 14 hands high at the shoulder, very round barreled and sturdy looking with a tail as big and bushy as his mane - and that mane was hanging equally thick on BOTH sides of his neck. He had a 'wall eye' - to those of you not familiar with horses, it's kind of an eerie looking white un pigmented eye, which I originally painted him with. But I found that too many people were distracted by the eye and lost sight of what the painting is about, so I decided to repaint it in it's natural color.
The thing that struck me most, compelling me to do the painting, and the sinking feeling that has stayed with me ever since were the number of healed over wounds he had on his body and then I noticed that part of his nose was missing! Noses on animals are so sensitive that it really shocked me because I knew it must have been a terribly painful thing at the time in which it occurred. When I asked about it, the owner told me she had aquired him from someone in the Mid West who had put a ring through his nose to lead him around. Just writing about it makes me feel sick! And on top of that, for some reason or other (and judging from the wounds on his body I can only guess) he had pulled back and it had torn a chunk from his nose.
What struck me most was that in spite of the obvious humiliations he had endured, he really carried himself with dignity. But he was detached in a way that the other horses weren't, as if he had gone into himself and had only himself, and yet he was very gentle. I just think somewhere along his journey he had lost his faith in human kind.
I just heard today (May 5, 2006) that Jim has passed away peacefully. Why is it some news feels like a sucker punch to the stomach and why is it that certain animals can touch us deep down inside in a place no human can ever get near. If there really is God, there most certainly must be a reward for animals in another kinder, gentler world.
RIP Jim
"Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we're stupid" ~ Jules Feiffer
"Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling" ~ G.K. Chesterton
Computers! Am I the only one finding them very primitive? In five years we'll look back and think we were driving Model T Fords!!! They definitely aren't made for the general public - those of us who already have a full time job. They seem to have 15,000 things you'll never use, but the one simple thing you need to do....do you think you can find it? And HELP??? If ever there was a misnomer, it is this computer word. I can't recall once ever receiving any concise useful information in any computer HELP program. Just more baffle gab.
"Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds us that you have one" ~ Stella Adler
"Painting is silent poetry" ~ author unknown
"Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression" ~ Isaac Bashevis Singer
Bogus Prints
Just a note of caution...if you're buying prints off the internet and not irectly from the artist, you might not be very pleased with the product you receive. It's come to our attention that some sites are offering my prints, but the images have been taken (read: stolen) from my site and are of extremely poor quality. Best to always check with the artist to see if you are buying from a legitimate vendor.
"The artist’s world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where she lives or a few feet away. It is always on her doorstep" ~ Paul Strand
"All art requires courage" ~ Anne Tucker
"Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do" ~ Edgar Degas
Coming Soon!!
ITALY - DAYS AND NIGHTS
Bella! Bella!
February 10, 2006
Artist's Tip
If you're working from a photograph and having trouble deciding whether or not your drawing is accurate, try looking at it in a mirror. you'll immediately see any flaws.
And better than that, try working on your drawing or painting upside down - looking at your photograph upside down as well. It really helps the brain to let go of the stereotypical images we so often associate with everyday items or body parts.
January 18, 2006
Is this a blog? Or blogg as the spelling may be...
I've always been an opinionated (some might call it 'big-mouth') person - I prefer to think of myself as passionate -
Do you think it's right when the media are reporting a murder of a woman and they use the term "...found clad only in bra and panties" . Don't you think that somehow perversly conveys a sexual connotation and indiginity to the murdered body? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to just say "...the body was found clad only in underwear"?
I just finished writing a letter to our local newspaper in response to an article that stated that 3 men who machine gunned down two guards during an armed robbery - (and since the guards weren't killed immediately, the 'good for nothings' went back and fnished them off) have been out on parole for some time. . The crime took place some 35 years ago, but so what! Are those guards any less dead?
My question was, why bother with the expense of a trial, judge, jury and lawyers and go to the trouble of presenting compelling evidence --- why not just write a synopsis of the whole crime and present it to a parole board and they can decide on the appropriate sentence. Ultimately they apparently do anyway.
And speaking of Blogs....I don't know why, but I just hate these new terms! Musings and Diary....those words said something...but Blog?? It sounds like something the dog threw up.
Does it seem that the word 'gentleman' is the most overused and misused word out there today. I can't stand it when interviewees refer to murderers, rapists and all sorts of other good for nothings as "...the gentleman said...." Get real!...'the neanderthal said...' would be the more correct word.
"Life is hardly more than a fraction of a second. Such a little time to prepare oneself for eternity!" ~ Paul Gaugin
"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures" ~ Henry Ward Beecher
How do you like the new way of filming movies and some telelvion programs...? Jerking the camera all over the place or doing fast clips to the background music. Talk about over stimulation of the eyes and brain!
Am I the only one turned off by those big horse shows because the jumps have become absurdly high and so difficult that I'm afraid the horse will be injured? From what I hear, their legs and pasterns take a real beating and render many fine animals useless way before their time is up. Seems to me it's more about the competition of human egos (as usual).
"When I paint I am ageless, I just have the pleasure or the difficulty of painting" ~ Francis Bacon Self taught artist 1909-1992
"Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it" ~ Salvador Dali
January 5, 2006
On being an artist....I'm often asked by 'artists in training' how to become successful (I'm flattered and surprised that they would even think I know the answer to that) and make a living doing their art. They're both difficult questions because there are really no concrete answers to speak of. Today there is such a proliferation of imported art on the market and people's standards have changed so greatly that most of the public no longer care about getting an 'original' work of art from a known or serious artist - they just want something that looks nice on their walls or matches the furniture and is priced 'cheap'.
From my experience, you have to think of everything in life like a pyramid. There's only room at the top for a few, lots of room at the bottom where nobody wants to be, but it can be quite 'comfy' somewhere in the middle. If you think success is being at the top, well, 3 things can bring that about. If you are one of the lucky few that paint what you want and the general public likes what you paint, that's half the battle. The second involves having a bit of luck, education in marketing or the good fortune to meet someone who can help put you 'over the top'. And the third is plain and simple - find a way to get your work seen. You can be the greatest artist in the world, but if no one sees your work, absolutely 'nuttin' will happen. And getting it seen is sometimes the hardest work of all.
I have always said there are only two kinds of people in this world, artists and critics. If you truly want to be an artist, be prepared for a rough road, much ego battering and very hard work. On the other hand, the benefits...hmmmm...well, riding on the back of a horse pulled wagon on a rutted path in the woods in early spring while everyone is laboring in the office just so that I can get some photographs of snow and light coming through the trees - flexible hours. Let's just say for now that I often repeat my mantra...."Success is the journey, not the destination".
"Painting gave meaning to my life which without it it would not have had" ~ Francis Bacon
"Let me ask you something, what is not art?" ~ Author Unknown
"For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh" ~Georges Rouault
" The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?" ~ Pablo Picasso
"Art is the colors and textures of your imagination" ~ Meghan, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999
"Art is your personal diary where you may color your thoughts and emotions on a page" ~ Sara, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999
"Art is your emotions flowing in a river of imagination" ~ Devin, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999
"Art is an adventure that never seems to end" ~ Jason, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999
"Art is pictures straight from the heart" ~ Ben, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999
"One of the best things about paintings is their silence - which prompts reflection and random reverie" ~ Mark Stevens
"As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life" ~ John Lubbock
"The artist does not see things as they are, but as he is" ~ Alfred Tonnelle
I would love to hear your comments: Please visit my WebBlog
