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

Wordless Wednesday


Image courtesy of ny.voltashow.com




                           Kris Knight, What The MoonFlowers Told Me, 2011, Oil on Canvas




Friday, December 12, 2014

A Meeting of Creative Minds

Image courtesy of The New York Times

                                                      Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein


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

Wordless Wednesday

Image courtesy of wikiart.org


                                        Emil Nolde, Mask Still Life III, Oil on Canvas, 1911

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

Wordless Wednesday

Image courtesy of moma.org

                                             Lucien Freud, Girl With Leaves, Pastel on Gray Paper, 1948

Monday, November 17, 2014

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Wordless Wednesday


Image courtesy of Joan Mitchell Foundation


                                    Joan Mitchell, Posted, Oil on Canvas (Diptych), 1977

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.


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

Image courtesy of Rebecca Rebouche
Rebecca Rebouche, Family Tree Paintings, Acrylic on Canvas, 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.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

                                              Nathan Oliveira, Woman with Hat, Gouache, 1961

Monday, October 13, 2014

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

                                                   Image courtesy of SnackQueen 


                                                   Highline, NYC, 2014

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

       
                                                 Ashley Percival, Print

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.

Friday Mantra


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!


September

. 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

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

                               Henri Matisse, The Parakeet and The Mermaid, 1952, Paper

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

Jennifer Orkin Lewis, Illustration

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

Wordless Wednesday

Image courtesy of SnackQueen


                                                     Governors Island, New York, 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


Illustrations by Barbara Weeks.


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

Wordless Wednesday

Raoul Dufy, Interior with Window Open, Oil on Canvas, 1928

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


I was reading about the artist, Stella Maria Baer from the blog DesignSponge.com (article here) and wanted to share her work with you.  From the article, I like that she starts her day by journaling things that she wants to make -I love this aspect of her morning and would love to incorporate this into my daily routine.  There is a sense of the whimsical in her work and childlike innocence.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Friday, June 13, 2014

Inspirational Ted Talk by Brene Brown

Lately, I have been really enjoying the work of Brene Brown. Her specialty topics are shame and vulnerability. I wanted you to see her Ted talk on Vulnerability. It gives you lots to think about.



Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

Paul Gauguin, Two Women of Tahiti, Oil on Canvas, 1891

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

Edouard Vuillard, Nature Morte Avec Bouteille Et Carafe, 1887-88, Oil on Canvas


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."

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait of Madame Rachele Osterlind, Oil on Canvas, 1919

Friday, April 4, 2014

It's finally Spring! Time for an Art Trek!

Image courtesy of The New York Times

Rob Fischer’s “Good Weather (Glass House)” is at the Derek Eller Gallery in Chelsea.

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

Wordless Wednesday

Images courtesy of http://www.artistsandart.org

Michael Carson, "Beach Stripes," Oil on Canvas

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Wordless Wednesday

image courtesy of fineartamerica.com


Childe Hassam, Rainy Day, 1890, Oil on Canvas

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

Wordless Wednesday




Edouard Vuillard, Yvonne Printemps on the Sofa
1919-21, Oil on Canvas, 

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Wordless Wednesday







Frida KahloSelf-portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, Oil on canvas, 1940