Monthly Archives: April 2021

Preparing for the big exhibit

Posted on April 25, 2021 | 3 comments

Intimate Spaces: Breaking Bread series. Hung on the side of my studio. It sure helps to have all the canvases the same size. At least for ease of framing and wiring.

The good news is that we were able to escape to warmer climates for a brief respite. After two years of being stuck at home, we had a delightful and restful vacation.

However, upon returning, I had to start scrambling to prepare for my upcoming solo exhibit in May/June. Fortunately, all the paintings are completed. The frames were on hand. So I jumped into the presentation process.

Framing back. Fortunately with gallery-wrapped canvases (where the canvas is stretched around the supports), there is no real need for frames. The sides are painted. The canvases only need to be wired.

All of the Intimate Spaces: Breaking Bread series are on two inch deep gallery-wrapped canvases. This means no framing, only wiring. Actually, the process went rather quickly, especially after I bought special wire snips to cut through the plastic-covered wire. My professional wire scissors wouldn’t work.

Then I began the process of working on the Intimate Spaces: Beach series paintings. About half of these canvases are also the deep, gallery-wrapped type. Those went quickly. BUT….when I began to frame the rest of the paintings. I realized that I didn’t have the correct hardware. Plenty of Z clips, but no L clips. They’re on order.

Wait. Wait. Wait.

Fortunately, they’re due to arrive on Tuesday. It won’t take long to finish once they actually arrive. Remember, I’ve been framing my work for nearly forty years now!

Anyway, the show is coming together. The marketing materials have been ordered. The paintings will be delivered on Friday, April 30^th. The show will be hung. It opens at the new Cultural Center on Thursday, May 6^th. Unfortunately, with the COVID restrictions, there won’t be a public reception. But I will be doing a demonstration painting on Saturday, May 8^th from 10 to 2. If you would like a personal tour of the exhibit, let me know and I’ll try to meet you there.

If you’re in the area, please stop by. It’s even worth it to make a special trip. Some great restaurants in Jasper, especially the Schnitzlebank, a German restaurant that attracts guests from miles around (closed Sundays). Plus, there are many other fine restaurants in the area and lots of neat shops downtown.

Address: Jasper Cultural Center. 100 Third Avenue. Turn right (North on Mill Street) and then right again (East) on Fourth street. Plenty of free parking in the rear of the building.

3 Comments

Posted in contemporary impressionism, impressionism, painting instruction

Tagged contemporary art, contemporary impressionist, framing, jasper cultural center, new exhibit

Anticipation

Posted on April 11, 2021 | 8 comments

This is the last painting in my Intimate Spaces: Breaking Bread series. I began planning this series in December 2019. I thought I had enough material. The theme was to observe people eating, either together or alone. Some were family members, others were people in the public – restaurants, picnics, etc.

I had a lot of ideas but unfortunately with the onset of the pandemic, my ability to observe was limited. I scoured through hundreds (thousands) of photos taken over about two decades. I laid out about a dozen paintings but towards the end I was running out of subject matter.

This painting is from a photo that I’d saved from several years ago. It was taken by a friend of mine at a special dinner, Thanksgiving I think. I’ve always loved this image but could never figure out quite how to capture the scene. So with his permission, I decided to add it to my series.

It made me think of several paintings of the impressionists who portrayed pets in their work. Even the formal setting seems reminiscent of that era. I thought, well, pets are often our dinner companions so it fits with the theme of the series.

The painting was so much fun to do that it almost painted itself. Some pieces are like that. I don’t usually paint animals but even the fur of the doggie was fun to paint. If you can zoom in on it, you will see that it contains many colors and perfectly captures this little girl.

So, it is with a big sigh that I’ve finished this series last month. Now just to do some framing and I’m all ready to go for my big show next month at the new Jasper Cultural Center. If you’re in the neighborhood, come check it out. More details to follow.

Anticipation, detail 1 Our little friend R. A well-loved, well-behaved companion. Loved painting her fur/hair.

Anticipation, detail 2. A table setting for celebration.

8 Comments

Posted in animals, art, contemporary impressionism, impressionism

Tagged breaking bread, contemporary impressionist, dog painting, formal dinner, kit miracle

Demonic Easter Bunny

Posted on April 4, 2021 | 3 comments

Let me preface this post by saying it is not to disparage the Easter holiday, religion, or bunnies. It is more a tale of bad painting.

I purchased this cute little Easter Bunny at an antique store. It’s not an antique but certainly a mid-century collectible. I’m always scouring thrift shops and antique stores for subjects for still lifes. I have a whole cupboard in my studio. You’ll often see the same items in more than one still life.

This little toy rabbit is vinyl, has lost its squeaker and most of its paint, and is a bit sticky. I guess it would be after 50 or 60 years. Well-loved, anyway.

The is the vintage Easter Bunny toy that I used as my subject for the painting. He’s very well-loved but cute. Not quite the way the final painting turned out.

I was taking a break this past winter from working on my big series paintings to paint some seasonal items. These are sold in my Etsy shops and a couple of local gift shops. They’re a good diversion from the “hard” work. So I thought this cute little bunny would be the perfect subject.

Unfortunately, things did not turn out the way I planned.

It seemed the more I worked on the painting, the worse he looked. Which just goes to show you that effort does not always equal success. I should know.

So I hid him away in my studio. But later showed him to my son who was visiting. He laughed and loved it. Said it has a demonic look to the eyes. (Whaaaaa???) And that the granddaughter would love it. She has his quirky sense of humor. Guess it runs in the family.

So a sincere Happy Easter to all my friends and fans out there. And for those of you who share an off-kilter sense of humor, I present this little Demonic Easter Bunny to you.