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

Big News! J. Perrault represented by Xanadu Gallery

Yesterday I received notice of acceptance into Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. For now I'll be a part of their virtual gallery. If sales are good then I can be invited to show in the physical gallery. 
This is a huge opportunity that I've been working hard toward since my visit there last February. Now I'm going to have to work even harder to maximize this chance. Wish me luck...


To visit my virtual on-line gallery with Xanadu gallery click here: J. Perrault

Gray Sweater
 oil 20x16
Available

Chelsea (8x10): Progressive Steps

Shot with my iphone, (except the last one).

Chesea oil 8x10
Available

My New Paintings at West End Gallery

"White Knight"
oil 8x10 in.
Sold

"Find Time to..."
Oil 16x20 in.
Available

artmatch 4u

"artmatch 4u" an online art magazine has posted my review of the Open Box M easel system. Check out their site. It has a lot of interesting stuff (besides my article). here's the link: artmatch4u

Juanita

Juanita - oil on linen 8x10
Available

Two New Ones

This one is at West End Gallery in Corning, NY for the "Windows" exhibit.

Amelia's Morning Meditation - oil on linen 11x14
Available

Not titled just yet - or finished
oil on linen 11x14

Changes

One of my favorite lines (as my son well knows) is "the only constant in life is change". Since the beginning of May my attention has been diverted from painting to a significant event that is, and will, cause drastic changes in all of our lives. Because of an initial period of adjustment and struggle I've been neglecting my painting. Slowly...very slowly,  I've begun working again. First I finished up a boatload of paintings I'd left in various stages of completedness. Now my decks are cleared and I'm ready to start fresh on fresh work. If you have been checking back here wondering what's going on, I can tell you  soon I'll posting some of this new work. Stay tuned for updates. Thanks!

My Son's Chess Set

Red King and Queen
16x20 oil on linen $1200
Available

White Queen
8x10 oil on linen $300
SOLD

The Lewis Chess Set

For Christmas my son received a chess set. The set is a replica called The Lewis Chessmen, and while over 800 years old, is know to teens and tweens from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone". One morning, struck by the clear, winter light hitting the pieces I immediately got down on my hands and knees for a closer look. 

The Lewis Chess Set is actually the best of four different sets. They were found on the Isle of Lewis in 1831 by a farmer walking the beach after a storm. The rising seas had exposed a stone chamber near the ruins of a nunnery. One version of the story has the young farmer actually falling into the chamber during the storm. Startled by the arranged pieces illuminated in a flash of lightning, he ran home to his wife saying he'd been captured by "the little people". Practical-minded she marched him back to the find, then sold them to a dealer in Edinburgh.

No one knows how the sets came to the remote Isle of Lewis, or why they were entombed. Experts agree the sets are 12th century Scandinavian in origin. They were carved from walrus tusks and they accurately represent the dress and customs of the time. Carved on their faces are the realities of a warfare that was brutal, close and personal. There is no glory - just horror and survival.

On that winter day I was struck by the humanity of the little pieces, a quality not normally found in a chess set. I wanted to paint them.

Couple Things

Now on FaceBook thanks to some serious lobbying by Bridget Bossart van Otterloo, Barb Blumer, and others. I'd had an account for a while, just never became active. So if you want to be 'friends' look me up.


Other news is I've a "Get-to-Know' entry on West End Gallery's blog. Basically it's a question and answer.  I'll probably post it on my blog also, but if you're impatient you can find it here.

Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years.

There are other videos on YouTube of people taking everyday photos of themselves and blending them into a sort of time lapse video. I think this one is the best. 

It's like time is swirling all around Noah, almost as if he were in a river. The changes in his background are fast and dramatic: light, people, locations, but the changes on his appearance are subtle (except for his hair). He gains some weight, his forehead recedes, he seems to grow sad, then recover. I'm not sure why, but I've been thinking about this video all week.

Other similar videos are OK, but lack the power of this one for various reasons. In one a teenaged girl pays no attention to lighting, or anything else really, and its disjointed, confusing. In order to make it work the lighting has to be consistent for a good number of frames and the 'triangle' of the face (eyes, nose, mouth) need to be in the same position time after time.

Another guy tried his hand at it. He seemed to shoot each photo after getting out of the shower everyday. I know why, he was lining his face and head up with the tiles behind him, using them as a grid. So you see his appearance through time, and only his appearance. In order for it to work the face has to remain reasonably steady while life swirls and spins around behind. 

And of course there's an App for this. It's called - what else? - "EveryDay'. It works on iPhone4. It will remind you at set times to take a photo, then uses your phone camera to take the picture. The previous day's photo is ghosted on your screen so you can line up your head to keep consistency. Looks like it would work.

Fur Hat

Willa in Fur Hat
Oil on linen 8x10
Available

Didn't spend a lot of time taking these photos (obviously) but you get the idea. 8x10 oil on linen. To see C&C at WetCanvas click here.