Sunday, December 22, 2013

Shots and Ladders






A little adult spin on a childhood favorite. A shot of Patrón, a lime and some salt bring in the "shot" part. My friend Mary is the only one (or perhaps the only one comfortable enough) to broach the subject of the ambiguity of the salt. It certainly could be something else...

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Primordial Plain Yellowstone


I Think this was at Excelsior, but over time, some of the many places we saw during our days at Yellowstone blend together a bit. Excelsior was a favorite because of the whole plain of steam vents that flanks the crater. It really was awe inspiring in the morning sun.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Grand Prismatic, Yellowstone


This little gem is inspired by our travels through Yellowstone last year in October. It was our first time there and it was just spectacular! It is so different than anything in my experience that every minute I felt like I was witnessing the creation of the Earth itself.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Rowboat Trinity V

 SOLD

This is a reprise of an image I did much larger, but a bit different, some time ago. Again, it's the reflections that motivate me. But there's also something about small boats, mainly dinghies, that attract me as well. Maybe it's the intimacy of them. I also enjoyed creating the texture and coloring in the old, rusty iron bulkhead.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Suspending IQ

SOLD
I came across this great sign photograph I took several years ago. I don't know why I never painted it before now. I cropped it down for the painting and gave it the title I did because it is supported my many guy wires and the IQ is in the word liquors. I don't know about anyone else, but a bit too much certainly "suspends" my IQ!

Moment of Reflection XVI

SOLD
Can't resist reflections.

Fish Tales II

SOLD
This is a return to an image that I painted once before, slightly different and much larger. I Just love alll the weathered wood and then the fish tail bones hanging on the shed. They actually look a little bit like angels to me, but they make think think of the "tall tales" that many fishermen tell of the humongous one that got away, thus, "Tales" instead of "Tails."

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Moment of Reflection XVII

SOLD
Water reflections will never lose their fascination for me. I just love painting them.

On another note... The opening on Friday night was SPECTACULAR! So much fun and so worth waiting to do. It was more than I even hoped for. People were packed into the gallery and spilling out onto the street. Energy was high and 51 of the 213 paintings sold the first night. Sales were so brisk that gallery owner Mary was actually overwhelmed at one point! Who could ask for more?

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Pop Caps and Pop Art XV

SOLD
Here's another Joe Tilson piece with my pop caps. I've always been drawn to engravings especially when they are blown up so that the lines that create the shading are a graphic element all on their own as here or in some of Fornasetti's work.

All my dailies are finally being exhibited and offered for sale. Mary and I hung the show yesterday, at Fe Fi Faux Gallery and it was an LONG day! It was impossible to keep people out during the process as this has been long awaited. If presales are any indication, it's going to be a fruitful show. I'm very excited for the opening on Friday night which is coordinated with the Bronx Culture Trolley evening on City Island.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

City Island Monopoly IX

SOLD
Still having fun with my homemade Monopoly board. My favorite part is the light coming through the dice making colored cast shadows. I really miss Constantine's which was a business nearby that sold all these great veneers, patterned wood borders and brass insert strips. Loved them!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Pop Caps and Pop Art XIV


If you asked almost anyone on the street in the U.S to name a Pop Artist, they would pretty readily come up with Andy Warhol or Peter Max. English Pop Artist Joe Tilson, however, is not so well known here. I enjoy his work, particularly the ones that speak to the senses. This is one of those that I have integrated into my painting. Viva Vox Populi!

Friday, October 25, 2013

Holiday on Ice

SOLD
Here's this year's piece for TugboatBay.com's Christmas card offering. It's a celebration of all the people who keep the spirit alive even as they have to work through their holidays, away from family and loved ones. They keep the world turning for the rest of us.

Friday, September 13, 2013

The Henry Scudder

SOLD
This is a beautiful wooden boat that has a cannon mounted on the front of it. I painted this from a photo I had taken years ago. My husband and I take our boat up Long Island Sound, most often to Oyster Bay, and tow a small tender so that we can get off the big boat and explore. I believe we found this beauty on one such jaunt into Huntington Harbor. Still wrapped up in reflections!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Launch Pad

SOLD
Here I am, painting reflections again! This is one of the Stuyvesant Yacht Club launches at home on its mooring, hence "Pad". (Now there's a bit of slang that will vault you right back into the 60s/70s!)

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Close Encounters

SOLD
I have long admired the work of Chuck Close. I think it is the mark of genius when an artist invents a whole new way of seeing.
My friend Mary and I did  a gallery crawl in Chelsea the other day and wound up at the Pace print gallery. There, against the wall in a storage area was a big serigraph Chuck Close self portrait. Absolutely mezmerizing.
I came home, pulled out my book of his work to savor them once again, and decided to have a little fun with it. Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Henbit and Buttercup Field


I particularly enjoy the fields along the roadside as I travel back and forth to North Carolina in the spring before the crops are planted. There is such a beautiful mix of complementary colors. There is the purple carpeting of a weed called henbit juxtaposed against the bright yellow buttercups. Woven through these are vibrant patches of green spring grass. Up close to the road, lining the ditches, is vegetation still wearing the rusty reds and oranges of winter sleep. Such a simple landscape, but rich in coloring.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Pop Cap & Pop Art XIII


Revisiting another iconic Jasper Johns work with my soda bottle caps. It's not easy to try to recreate the depth and layering of his color in oils when I'm trying to do it alla prima.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Pixie Caps


These are from the live oak tree right beside my deck in NC. They are tiny versions of the acorn caps that one finds on oak trees in New York. When I was little, my mother used to tell me that the caps were separated from their acorn nuts by pixies who lived in the woods so they could wear them as hats on their pixie jaunts. (I'm sure we're not the only kids who were told such things.) I used to draw little faces on my fingers and pop an acorn cap on each...instant finger puppet show.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Merry Top

SOLD
I remember my younger brother having one of these as a kid. I loved to make it spin for him and he would just laugh and laugh. I found this one at my neighbor Dan's yard sale. It brought back so many memories, I just had to paint it.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Mr. Tinkerton Contemplates Miro


Here's Mr. Tinkerton again. This time he is enthralled by Joan Miro's "Seated Woman". She is definitely his kind of gal!

Saturday, March 30, 2013

I Loves My Meeses to Pieces II


This trio of Sophie's felt mice seems to be holding up pretty well. They seem to be holding a strategy session.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Cook and Milkies


 SOLD

Credit for the title to Jimmy DeCuffa who always called his snack "cook and milkies" as a kid. It was just so quirky, it always stuck in my head.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Toast to the Ocean III

SOLD
Just can't get enough of this coloring and glowing light. I even like this painting turned on its side. It reminds me of images dimly remembered from my childhood of a jet first breaking the sound barrier and the ripples in the atmosphere. Was that Chuck Yeager?

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Toast to the Ocean II

SOLD
Finally found some time to get back to the fun stuff! Kicking back in NC, I had time to revisit this stemmed glass that I love for its ribs that remind me of the concentric rings of water when you drop a pebble into it. And I do so love the coloring!