Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Or Happy Christmas and Merry New Year...No new ebay paintings until after the 1st. I'm finishing up Christmas presents and tying up loose ends. Next week I hope to post images of some finished gallery pieces as well as some exciting new ebay paintings. Enjoy your holidays and may 2013 be awesome for you. 

Available on ebay. Title: "Nude Dancer"

oil on linen 8x10 in
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From our Wednesday model sessions. This was painted in my studio. I was looking to capture the pose and light falling across the model. She's a dance major whose poses never fail to inspire. The tile floor was a challenge also.
Note the actual painting is a bit warmer than this photo suggests. For some reason the photo came out cooler and I ran out of patience trying to find the correct color temperature while editing. Oh well. Hope you like it.

Available on ebay. Titled: "Back Study"

Oil on linen 8x10 in

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Same young woman as in the painting below but a different day. Wearing a white sundress, the raking light from a window to her right really defined her back. As you can see she's quite athletic. As a matter of fact I saw her one-touch a soccer ball this summer...a pass that had my jaw drop. And she was just fooling around. This was a fun painting to paint. I'm not sure I did the image justice and may revisit it in a gallery painting.

Available on ebay. Title: "Confidence"

Oil on Linen 8x10 in.

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Another painting from our Wednesday model sessions. A confident young woman who has modeled for us many times in the past. This painting was done alla prima, or all at once, and while normally I'd take it back to the studio to touch up - I liked this one just as it was.

Available on ebay. Title: "Just Had to Stop and Look"

Oil on Linen 8x10 in.
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For some reason my camera didn't like to accurately capture the colors and values in this painting. With a little editing this is close to the original.

In the fall I spend a lot of time in the woods with my English Setter. This scene was breathtaking and stopped me in my tracks. I decided to try and get it down in paint. There is some heavy impasto. Quite a lot of vigorous brushstrokes too. I'm trying a few different techniques with the hope of incorporating them into my gallery pieces. Hope you like it.

Available on ebay: Titled "Patch of Blue"

8x10 Oil on Linen

Looking out my kitchen window last month I caught this patch of sky on a stormy day. The sun came out and caught the leaves on a tree behind the neighbor's Norwegian Spruce. There's some heavy impasto for the trees. A small painting, but I like it.  

Available on ebay Title: Invitation at Sunset

oil on linen 8x10 in
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Another one from sailing with friends this summer. I was on the 'big boat'. My daughter and her friend were on the 'small boat' called an "Invitation". They kept pulling ahead of us, sometimes far ahead, until our skipper fired up the engine.

This painting I hesitate to call a study, but I guess it is. I painted a larger gallery piece after this small 8x10. Couple things I was working on here: the darks are all different and I was trying different paints and mixtures for each. Also I wanted to see if I could get the brilliant reflection while playing with a palette knife. Naively I thought it would be an easy painting to knock out; it wasn't. To date I've painted four different versions, including two finished gallery pieces.

Available on ebay Titled: Why Not?

6x8 Oil on Linen

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A  late May day and we decided to move outdoors. We were on a friend's farm. The model had no problem posing. She had pretty much a "Why not?" attitude.  A beautiful young woman and a beautiful day.


Available on Ebay Title: Definition

Oil on linen 8x10 in.
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From Our Wednesday model group. This youg woman is a dance major. She has posed for us a number of times. I was looking to define her musculature with darks and lights, while capturing the energy of the pose.

Available on ebay Title: Light Curves

Light Curves 8x10 in. oil on linen
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On the day this was painted our model had just worked a triple shift at her job. When she showed up Wednesday morning it was obvious she was exhausted, so we laid a quilt on the floor and told her to go to sleep. She was so tired she barely moved for three hours. The light is coming from a large window above her out of sight. The floors were hardwood, but she was pretty comfy on the quilt.

Available on eBay "Apella outside Ithaca Yacht Club

"Apella" Outside Ithaca Yacht Club
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This past summer some friends invited us sailing on Cayuga Lake. We left Ithaca Yacht Club and immediately saw this large, twin masted boat. The view is looking south and just to the right, out of the picture would be Cornell University. It was a fun day for the both the kids and myself. Swimming, good conversation and lots of laughs. I painted this quick remembrance. I'm particularly happy with the sky.  

Available on EBay Title: One Bright Day

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  Every Wednesday myself and a few other painters hire a model to paint from. This was a very bright summer's day and the window had an eastern exposure. Normally we worked in the studio with a north light, but on this day the director told us the gallery was available. It has large plantation shutters throwing interesting patterns. The challenge here was to somehow convey the brightness of this hot summer light and the cool values of the interior.

 

Available on EBay Title: "A Cool Room on a Hot Day"

A painting from our Wednesday Model Group. Original Oil on Belgian Linen 8x10 in.
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"Tina" Available on EBay

Tina 11x14 Oil

Every Wednesday we hire a model. This is an older portrait of a lovely young woman. It is 11x14 painted on Belgian linen. Bidding starts at .99
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10x8 in. original oil painting. Oil on linen mounted on cardboard (Centurion OP DLX). Painting is sold unframed.
Every Wednesday we hire a model. Here one of my favorite models posed in a fellow artist's garden. Perhaps it's really her day off and she plans on a few hours under the sun. 
This painting is thicker and looser - more 'painterly' - than my usual style. Last year (to the day) I attended a workshop with renowned artist Kim English. I'm thinking it's taken me this long to begin assimilating all he taught during that intense workshop in Scottsdale, AZ. I very much enjoyed painting this, from the lush greenery swirling with thick paint, to the figure and simple shadows. Fun stuff and I hope you like it.

"Garden Light" Available on EBay

Available On EBay

Small 6x8 original oil painting. Oil on linen. Painting is sold unframed.
This model is a dance major home for the summer. She posed in a fellow artist's garden on a warm, summer morning. It was the light raking and defining her torso - combined with the deep shadows behind that I attempted to capture. The contrast between her warm, tanned skin and the various overt or subtle greens also intrigued me. 

Xanadu Gallery Ad in American Art Collector magazine

Page 39 of the February issue of American Art Collector Magazine has this painting of mine as part of the advertisement for Xanadu Gallery.

Gray Sweater
Available at Xanadu gallery

Winter 1947

Winter 1947
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Small 6x8 original oil painting. Oil on linen. Painting is sold unframed.

At Christmas my mother brought a dvd collection of old family home movies. One scene of a snowstorm circa 1947 caught my eye. I froze (pun intended) the scene on the TV and painted this from the couch. In it are my mother, her brother, sister and a family friend. Plus the dog. Mom is second from left. She's about 11 or 12 years old.

Our First "Whine & Critique"

Since the death of Tom Buechner and with "Open Studio" being mothballed, artists in the community had found themselves increasingly drifting apart. It was decided to have a monthly get-together, a time for artists to share a glass of wine and a piece of art. The piece could be finished, unfinished or something the artist is 'stuck' on. The goals are to network and help each other move forward.

Our first W&C was held at 171 Cedar Arts Center. The Center's director, Lynn Rhoda Dates, generously opened up the second floor art studio for two hours. About 18 artists attended ( I did a head count - but forgot what it was) and almost all brought a piece of work. The next W&C will be held in the studio of Bridget Bossart von Otterloo. All artists polled thought it would be interesting for other artists to host the monthly event, sort of a 'book club' format. We want to see each other's studios, perhaps gain some tips on set-up and working.

Any artist is invited. All are welcome. Please bring a beverage of your choice or a dish to share. It's very informal. Pieces are displayed. The artist is asked to say a few words on the piece, then everyone jumps in.

Lessons learned from the first W&C:

• We need to start talking about the art earlier, leaving the socializing for afterward.
• There needs to be a time limit on the critique of each piece.
• Two hours wasn't enough. Three is better.

Two pieces of art seemed to gather the most attention. Barb Blumer brought in two small paintings she'd done using eye shadow. Barb started the pieces for fun, to see if it was possible, and wasn't expecting the (positive) reaction. Marty Poole brought in a large interior he found himself stuck on. Marty presented his problems and requested comments. He got a lot of them.

We didn't get to all of the work. Thus the idea of a timer. Comments on the night have been very positive. It's apparent there were a few rough edges - but hey, it was our first one. They're scheduled for the third Mondays of the month. We have an email list but it isn't complete. If you're intererested in attending and not on the email list, please contact West End Gallery (607) 936-2011 or email me and we'll get you the details.

Artists: Jackie Braselmann, Maria Holbein, Rebecca Finch, Barb Blumer 

Artists: Barb Blumer, Criag palmer, Jen Palmer

Artist Sheila Ortiz with her work

Thanks to Lynn Dates (l) for hosting the event