This new painting “Under our Feet” is now up in my shop. It can be purchased in three sizes and starts at $30.00. Here is the link to get to the shop.
I have had a full schedule since we visited the Detroit Institute of Arts in July and have so many more great images to share. In August I had three shows and in September I had three also and two events in October. My last outdoor show was October 12th, it was cold! The weather in October is always a crap shoot. I think my joints needed oil like the tin man. I had a new helper this last weekend and I was sorry it was so cold, but we put three sides up on the tent and kept the wind out pretty well. Joan was such a trooper and a great helper and we had a good time. Roanoke Indiana has some great shops that people should visit, it is a nice town and the art show is very well organized. My next show is not until Saturday November 30th in Noblesville, IN at the Hoosier Artisan Boutique. I am looking forward to having time in the studio to create.
The next paintings that I am showing are well known American Artists.This was my first to see Andy Warhol up close and personal. The well know Mao Tse Tung painting. It was larger than life and very neat. Self Portraits by Andy WarholYou can find more out about Andy Warhol from the Andy Warhol museum site. It is located in Pittsburg, PA. The next American Painter is Andrew Wyeth and you can find out more about him at his official site. This was a portrait of his very close friend and his lobster boots stood in for the actual person. Very interesting, I am sure that this person is known for wearing these boots. Georgia O’Keefe, different from what she is known for with her huge and closeup flowers. I did like the simplicity of this barn. I was not familiar with this artist and loved his style. The shadow play and geometric rugs. He was also a photographer and painter. Here is more information about Charles Sheeler. That’s it for now friends. Have an artful day, make something – it reduces stress.
This last weekend…Sept. 6,7 and 8 I was showing and selling my art at the Vinoklet Art and Wine fair in Cincinnati. The venue is beautiful surrounded by the vineyards. They have two ponds and a stage where good live music was being performed . Friday night was fairly busy and Sunday was so so, but the crowd on Saturday night was overwhelmingly large. There were cars parked everywhere at the vineyard, down the road, paying to park in the neighbors yard. From 7 pm on it was all about the wine and music. This gentleman came into my tent on Friday evening and we had a nice conversation and eventually he had his wife choose one of my paintings. She chose one of my newest and favorites “On the Lake”. Thank you Stephen and Gigi, you are fantastic!
This is one of the ponds, but I missed the really good picture where the sunset what reflecting in the water. It was so pretty.
Speaking of ponds, this bird spends a lot of time on our pond and I love to watch him. He is a Cormorant. They are diving birds and eat the fish. I have watched it swim all around the edge and eat then come up for air. I have watched him take off to another nearby pond and then come back. This is their wing drying mode and their heads are always up, in the water and out. Reminds me of the way Franklin Delano Roosevelt would hold his head.
Another frequent visitor to our pond is this Heron. I got a picture of him fully standing up. He walks s.l.o.w.l.y around the edge keeping an eye out for a fish then stops, his body gets very close to the water and the neck gets very small and he….WAM….grabs a fish. I take the pictures from our window and he spys me doing it, it will then fly off.
There it goes, to the other side of the pond, probably sending me the stink eye.
The hollyhocks are looking pretty sad but there are a couple of big blooms left. Don’t you love the star in the middle?
Please put this on your calendar. I am so excited to be a part of this tour. My studio is inside my house and I will have my art set up through the main area so you can choose something that you love and I am always working hard to have new work too. There will also be some homemade cookies and bread, coffee, water, cocoa.
These are all the artists participating in the tour and their addresses. We have a good array of art to visit and choose from. The reception at the 2nd Street Lofts will have music and food and a few examples of the artists pieces, it is 5 pm to 8pm. You will be able to look over an apartment though many may be occupied by that time. Decatur is a lovely town to visit with a lot to offer. Please come, we would like to offer this unique experience every year.
This plaque is outside of the Diego Rivera hall and I found it later moving to another area. I was impressed that it was a National Historic Landmark and understandably so. The display told so much about our society at that time. I am not a big battle armor person, and I really took these pictures for my sons. The ornate design of this was really neat though. The thought that these were made in the 1500’s! What craftmanship!A full body armor. So smooth, so uncomfortable, again made in the 1500’s.That arm looks robotic, really amazing!Battle Swords. Blacksmiths were in high demand.This ornate drinking fountain was outside of the Diego Rivera Hall too. I thought it was beautiful.
Not to let this post be too long I have chosen just a few of the first paintings I photographed. I took this information from the book Great Modern Masters to explain about the term.
From Cezanne to Matisse to Van Gogh, each of these masters of modern painting has had an immeasurable influence on modern art, through the movements of Impressionism, Cubism and Fauvism as well as through their own individual styles.
The Rounded Flower Bed by Claude Monet 1840 to 1926 A Monet Garden is always pretty. Read about it here.
Woman in an Armchair by Pierre-Auguste Renior 1841-1919 Read about it here.
Study for “La Grande Jatte.” by Georges Seurat 1859 to 1891 In art we studied the finished painting and discussed what all was seen in it. It says Seurat made 78 studies before finishing the final piece. Read about it here.
The Yellow Christ by Paul Gauguin 1848-1903 I loved the more simple lines and colors. Read more here.
Yesterday, August 17, I did the Satak Winery Art Show in Fremont Indiana. It was a great day, not horribly hot, not raining, somewhat humid. I so appreciate all who invest in my art through cards, reproductions and originals. I had so many good conversations with people who stopped in and had a great time.
This is Sara, from Plymouth, IN who became enamored with “Barney” so much that she had to take him home. She said that she will cherish him. I love when my art finds a good home.
Carleen from Angola is a returning customer. She purchased some reproductions for her school room last year. She stopped by again and we discussed “Save Us” and she fell in love with it. She said that she has a colorful home and had plans to hang it in their dining room. After I got it all wrapped up I remembered I needed to take a picture. So thank you all who visit me, I feel the warmth.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, during our Detroit Zoom we visited the Detroit Institute of Arts. I took so many great pictures that I will just do a few each day of the different category’s. The first I will show is the Diego Rivera Hall which is right in the middle of the museum. I was excited to view this because I had only known about it through text books. This is a mural painted by Diego Rivera who actively painted for 50 years (1907 to 1957). Diego’s second wife is the widely popular Frida Khalo.Edsel, Henry Fords son and Eleanor, Edels’s wife were huge patrons of the arts. In 1932 Edsel and the Director of the DIA commissioned Diego Rivera to paint a mural on two of the walls. Diego and Frida came and studied manufacturing at the Rouge River plant and also took in the spirit of Detroit. Rivera then suggested doing more than two murals it was agreed upon and the commission expanded. On a sidenote, you can take a tour of the Rouge River Factory today, a little more updated from the Diego and Frida time. He painted industry, airplanes, assembly workers in all races. Also included were secretary’s, accountants, Henry and Edsel Ford. It is quite a grand area and would take a long time to absorb everything. He also painted in medicine, vaccinations and religion. If you would like to read a little more in depth about the murals click here. I also want to suggest if you go to Detroit touring the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, it is chock full of art and antiques and is on beautiful Lake St. Clair, one of my favorite places.
I call my post this because when my husband and I got away for just three days we covered a lot of territory in a short amount of time. We went to the Zoo, the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA), and two Tigers ball games. We also ate at the Ford’s Garage restaurant in Dearborn which is unique and very enjoyable. In this post I am going to show the rest of my favorite pictures from the Zoo.
The animals in this zoo are not behind bars, they are in areas like their habitats. The Zebras were resting but this one sat up for a picture. The notable item about Zebras (among the obvious) are how round their ears are, unlike horses which are pointed. A very beautiful animal.Giraffes are so interesting. Their markings look like a cobblestone walk, the long neck and little head and a long smooth stride. I am so glad to get a few good images to work from. I loved this Gorilla just chilling out. It was a warm afternoon and it was taking it in stride. When we were walking up it had been scratching the inside of the ear with those long fingers. Aardvarks, so interesting to look at with that narrow snout and fringy tail. Big eaters of ants and termites. This was pretty cute where kids could get into tubes and pop up eye level with the Prairie Dogs. You can see a couple of the animals too. It was a warm day and I was also thinking “I wonder how germy those tubes are with the sneezes and dirty hands”. That’s why we have immunity. What a great picture of a Rhino! I don’t know if it is usual that the front tusk it cut off.Also a good picture of a Rhino butt. It will make it into a painting.This is a tree kangaroo. I had not heard of this species and thought it was pretty cute. The two Camels laying on the ground had the three come and stand between them with their legs all intertwined. The ones on the ground had a very hard time getting up because they are top heavy with the humps and the others so close, it took at least three times to get the job done. The Zoo had beautiful flower beds throughout the zoo. These were just yummy.I was fascinated by this snake. The color, and the way it is wrapped around the stick. It was a surprise because I didn’t expect it to be right in front and the color of the leaves. Otters are so smooth and fast and happy. This guy would swim along the river with nose out of the water. He smoothly went over the rock in his way then dove down into the pool, over and over again.The fountain area was fun and refreshing with the dancing bears.and the seal spitting water. I also liked the Amazonian rock face in the reptiles building. It reminded me of Indiana Jones movies.
I base my paintings on reality that I have seen but then I do loose renditions of them. These animals will be a fun painting to create and I have gotten so much inspiration from them.
This last weekend I had a great time with my friend Theresa. We went to Cincinnati to shop and just drove all over the place! GPS’s are a great invention.
This week I will be preparing for the Satek Winery show. I sold 108 cards and have to replenish my inventory along with prints too. I have also added a one day show to my itinerary. It is Market on 6th in Auburn on August 31st. The time is 11am-5pm and it it has a little bit of everything. Vintage, home decor, jewelry, boutique style fashion, repurposed items, artisan foods. It is during the Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg Festival. It is on 6th Street in Auburn between Jackson and Main. It can also be found on Facebook under Market on 6th..
I just finished up a good art fair in Chesterton, Indiana this last weekend. It is held in Dogwood Park and that is a dream to set up in. It is flat, there is a lot of room between tents and behind to store extra inventory. We can drive our vehicles up to our spaces. The volunteers take care of the artists, with water and breaks, morning donuts and coffee. The customers were engaging and great to speak with, it was a great experience. On top of that it is always nice to have booth neighbors that are fun too. Beside me was Cara, living around St. Louis now but was originally from Fort Wayne, who also was a painter but with a totally different kind of work. Then beside Cara was James who was a photographer, he drove up from Florida. Cara took this fun selfie of the three of us.This is Cara’s work. I loved her skinny legged horses. She was a rider herself and owned two horses. I suggested that we trade prints and this is the one I chose. Click here for her website. This customer bought two originals which is always thrilling. I happened to snap her picture with her eyes closed but we thought it humorous that the paintings match her clothes. Then while going through the files looking for the above pictures I found a couple more that I wanted to share. This might have been on my birthday but I liked the picture with my oldest son Sam.Then I had painted my friend Theresa’s house and gave it to her maybe 10 years ago. All of their bushes and trees have grown, they were pretty new in the picture. She got it framed recently and I just thought it looked really nice. She has a beautiful home.
Lastly, this weekend while I was gone the babies left and we are now empty nesters. I was sad that I didn’t get to see them go. As you can tell the nest was busting at the seams. Now we will take the nest down carefully and clean up there and put it back for next year. I am positive they will be back.
The Detroit Zoo did not disappoint. All the times that we had visited the city and we had not taken the time to go. It was delightful. We went through the butterfly house first and I just loved it. So many of them just fluttering and landing, high….low almost on you. I was tickled to get pictures of so many different ones to star in my paintings. This little guy was neat because you Could see right through his wings. Double Tiger StripedThe green is the perfect color of the leaves.Perched on a feeder.I loved this floating plant.Lastly I really liked the tiles that they had kids design.
