I am an artist living in a New York suburb. Getting back into the creative process after 20 + years. I post things that are of interest to me, which I hope will inspire you to continue on your creative journey.
What is a Tuck Shop? It is Aussie for a Canteen.
Monday, December 22, 2014
TED Talk: The Art of Asking
Interesting Ted talk by Amanda Palmer (Singer-Songwriter-Writer-Provocateur) about how artists can and should be supported by fans. She also talks about what it means to be an artist.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
A Meeting of Creative Minds
Image courtesy of The New York Times
This morning I was invited to the house of Patricia Van Essche of PVE Design (who is a good friend and fellow artist). She decided to host a small gathering of local artists. The other artists in attendance were Jennifer Orkin Lewis, aka August Wren and Ellen Hopkins Fountain. It reminded me of Gertrude Stein who hosted artists salons in her house frequently. I loved that we sat and talked about everything art related i.e. our creative process, how to advertise ourselves via social media-it was truly inspiring! I am nowhere as prolific as these 3 artists so I definitely felt privileged to be there. It would be terrific if we could organize to have these artists' salons on a regular basis.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Artist Highlight: Claerwen James
Image courtesy of CliveJames.com
Claerwen James, Girl in Blue Against Yellow, Oil on Board, 2009
Claerwen James is a British painter. Her father is well-known author and critic Clive James. She specializes in portraiture, in particular of young people. She usually paints from photographs and not from live sittings. I like that her paintings are not overly detailed but there is enough to capture the person's essence and their expressiveness.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Monday, November 24, 2014
Friday, November 21, 2014
Currently
What I am currently trying to do is get into my studio as much as I can and do something creative -whether it be a quick sketch or work on my current paintings. Quite frankly, I am not sure where it will take me but it's much better than not doing anything at all. I keep looking at articles related to drawing because one of my biggest issues is that I don't draw nearly as much as I should because I used to believe that each drawing I produced had to be "perfect" and what a joke that is. I just needed to tell myself to stop over thinking every little thing that I did and now I've started to draw quick sketches and not overwork them. My usual style is that I overwork everything and I want to loosen up. I have torn out magazine images and painted over them just to get used to painting with acrylic paints and keep the style of brushwork very loose. I am enjoying the process.
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Monday, November 10, 2014
Monday, November 3, 2014
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Books I Love
Vera, The Art and Life of An Icon by Susan Seid.
Vera Neumann, prolific American artist and entrepreneur, designed everything from wallpaper, bedding to dresses, blouses and her signature scarves. She was best known for her boldly, colored linen patterns and scarves signed "Vera" and featuring a ladybug. All her merchandise were based on her original artworks which typically featured painterly florals or imagery based on her travels. She averaged 500 paintings a year -truly impressive. I loved looking through this book -it's given me inspiration and ideas on which I can work from.
Vera Neumann, prolific American artist and entrepreneur, designed everything from wallpaper, bedding to dresses, blouses and her signature scarves. She was best known for her boldly, colored linen patterns and scarves signed "Vera" and featuring a ladybug. All her merchandise were based on her original artworks which typically featured painterly florals or imagery based on her travels. She averaged 500 paintings a year -truly impressive. I loved looking through this book -it's given me inspiration and ideas on which I can work from.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Friday, October 17, 2014
Affordable Art
Image courtesy of the Jealous Curator
Shannon Rankin, Simpling No. 3, Print, 2014
Do you have difficulty buying art even when you can afford it? I find it hard to commit to buying art -it feels decadent -it's weird I realize. I know people that do and I find that inspiring. I was always under the impression that art is expensive to buy and it doesn't have to be. Buying art is very personal and if you love something and can afford it -go ahead and buy it.
I recently discovered the blog The Jealous Curator -she highlights contemporary artists and I love the artists she presents on her site. I mentioned the Jealous Curator because in one of her posts, she talks about affordable art that ranges in price from $20 to $200 -very reasonable prices. Check out her link to the artwork you can purchase.
Shannon Rankin, Simpling No. 3, Print, 2014
Do you have difficulty buying art even when you can afford it? I find it hard to commit to buying art -it feels decadent -it's weird I realize. I know people that do and I find that inspiring. I was always under the impression that art is expensive to buy and it doesn't have to be. Buying art is very personal and if you love something and can afford it -go ahead and buy it.
I recently discovered the blog The Jealous Curator -she highlights contemporary artists and I love the artists she presents on her site. I mentioned the Jealous Curator because in one of her posts, she talks about affordable art that ranges in price from $20 to $200 -very reasonable prices. Check out her link to the artwork you can purchase.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Monday, October 13, 2014
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Artist Highlight; Beth Lo
Image courtesy of duanereedgallery.com
Beth Lo, Made in USA, Slip Cast Porcelain
I was on the Jealous Curator blog and came across this artist, Beth Lo. Aren't these porcelain figures adorable? I love that she adds Mandarin text to her porcelain figures -they are 10 inches high.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
List of Exhibitions in NYC That I Want to Go to this Fall/Winter
I was going over the New York Times list of upcoming art exhibitions for the September to May season and there were so many exhibitions that I am interested in going to. I want to make more of an effort to see more art!
. Naim June Paik: Becoming Robot at the Asia Society.
. Francesco Clemente: Inspired by India at the Rubin Museum
. Thread Lines at the Drawing Center
. Cy Twombly: Treatise on the Veil at the Morgan Library and Museum
October
. Marisol: Sculptures and Works on Paper at the El Museo Del Barrio
. Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs at the Museum of Modern Art
. Judith Scott-Bound and Unbound at the Brooklyn Museum
. Jean Dubuffet: Soul of the Underground at the Museum of Modern Art
. Cubism: The Leonard Lauder Collection at Metropolitan Museum of Art
. Helena Rubenstein: Beauty is Power at the Jewish Museum
. Chris Ofili: Night and Day at the New Museum
November
. Madame Cezanne at the Metropolitan Museum
December
. Reopening of Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
. The Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World at the Museum of Modern Art
January
. Noguchi as Photographer; The Jantar Mantars of Northern India at the Noguchi Museum
February
. The Generational Triennial at the New Museum
March
. Laurie Simmons: Two Girls/1966 at the Jewish Museum
April
. Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks at the Brooklyn Museum
. Portraits from the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts Paris at the Drawing Center
May
. Van Gogh; Roses and Irises at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Matisse The Cut-Outs Exhibition at MoMA
Image courtesy of The Guardian.com
There will be a Matisse The Cut-Outs Exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art here in New York. It will begin October 15, 2014 and end on February 8, 2015. Here is the link to exhibit.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Interview with Jennifer Orkin Lewis on Lisa Congdon's blog
Image courtesy of illustrationfriday.com
An artist friend of mine, told me about one of her favorite bloggers, Lisa Congdon -who is a well-known artist and illustrator from Oakland, California. I was on Lisa's blog and found her interview with Jennifer Orkin Lewis, aka AugustWren. Lisa talks to Jennifer about her daily painting project which has evolved over the years and now has ended up where she sets a timer of 30 minutes and when the timer goes off, it is a complete painting no matter what. I love the discipline that Jennifer has in creating this daily habit of a painting a day -truly inspiring. Here is the link to the interview.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Friday, September 5, 2014
An idea for the next painting
Even though majority of my paintings are images of still life and portraiture -what I really love is abstract art -there is something about the colors and the patterns that I really enjoy looking at. What I have been doing is cutting and pasting from old magazines to come up with ideas for future abstract themed paintings. I put these 2 cut outs together and came up with this image and I think this is going to be a new painting! I also have been wanting to try painting monochromatically so this image fits into that criteria perfectly.
Friday Mantra
Saw this on Pinterest and wanted to share it. I have been in a state of inertia and can't seem to wake up from it. I am letting "Life" get in the way of my creative pursuits and I cannot let that happen. I need to just show up even if briefly.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Speed Sketching
I came across this article about speed sketching. This maybe a way for me to get back into drawing.
Essentially there are only 3 steps:
1. Think small (credit card small).
2. Keep it simple. Avoid detail -stick to shapes and values.
3. Focus -pinpoint your subject.
Now this sounds very doable!
Here is a link to the article here.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Picasso on Intuition and Creativity
Pablo Picasso, Self Portrait, Oil on Canvas, 1907
Saw this terrific article on Picasso and his views on creativity. I liked that he said " to know what you are going to draw, you have to begin drawing." One cannot wait for inspiration to hit, one needs to show up every day and work.
Here is a link to the article.
Friday, June 20, 2014
Artist Highlight: Stella Maria Baer
Tiger Bunny Bugle, Ink on Paper
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Friday, June 13, 2014
Inspirational Ted Talk by Brene Brown
Monday, June 9, 2014
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Books I Love
I recently read this book by Brene Brown called The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. One of the sections is about how to cultivate creativity. She states that everyone is creative -it's whether you use it or not. So simple yet so true. And creativity comes in all shapes and forms -there is no one particular way of being "creative."
Friday, May 2, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Friday, April 4, 2014
It's finally Spring! Time for an Art Trek!
Image courtesy of The New York Times
According to the New York Times article today, there are 72 new galleries to check out this Spring in and around New York City and Brooklyn. See here for list.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Artist's Studio
Image courtesy of New York Times
Saw this article about the studio/home of artist, Tom Levine, in the Home and Garden section of the New York Times. It's very spacious and has beautiful light -stunning! Tom Levine loves works by Jasper Johns so there are quite a few Jasper Johns' artwork scattered around the home. Here is a link to the article.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
In The News
Image courtesy of The New York Times
One of my favorite sections of the Sunday New York Times is the section called Character Study. This topic highlights ordinary people who hold all kinds of occupations.
I particularly enjoyed reading about an 85 year old artist, by the name of Florence Wint. She lives in Forest Hills, Queens and literally paints for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One of my favorite quotes from her is "I can't sleep if I don't do my artwork." Now that's what I call passion. I aspire to be Florence!
Here is a link to the article. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
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