"Claire in Gray and White" at the Lore Degenstein Gallery's 10th Annual Figurative Competition,Oct. 20 - Dec. 9, 2018

Claire in Gray and White

oil, 16"x20"

I'm honored and excited to say that this painting has been accepted into the upcoming annual Figurative Competition and Exhibition at the Lore Degenstein Gallery of Susquehanna University, in Selinsgrove, PA. Many thanks to juror Lance Esplund, art critic for the Wall Street Journal, for including me in this prestigious show.

There aren't too many shows or venues in the United States that are devoted to exhibiting figurative work. Ten years is a long time to be holding this kind of event, so kudos to the Lore Degenstein Gallery and - I hope - a growing national interest in figurative art generally. This is the third time I've had a piece accepted to this annual exhibit and I'm always delighted to have a painting on the wall there.  One of these days I will get to see the show! 

This painting is for sale and you can see it at the show which opens on October 20th, 2018 and ends December 9th, 2018. For more information contact the Gallery.

Customs House Museum Show, Clarksville, TN - September 6th to November 20. 2018

 "The End of the Beginning" oil, 30"x24"

I'm really excited to say that I was invited to participate in a group show opening this week at the Customs House Museum in Clarksville, TN.  I'll be exhibiting four of my paintings at this Women Painting Women show and all will be for sale at the show.

The invited artists are:

Linda Tracey Brandon
Elena Burykina
Alia El-Bermani
Gaela Erwin
Ann Piper
Tonja Sell
Pamela Wilson 

Thank you so much, curator Terri Jordan, for all your hard work and for inviting me to take part in this wonderful show!

There will be a reception for the exhibit on October 25th. For more information click here.

"Up", oil, 12.25" x 12.25"

"Compline", oil, 64"x48"

"Read to Me", oil, 20" tondo

"Intro to Drawing and Painting the Dog" 2-Day Workshop, July 24 - 25, 2018 Scottsdale Artists' School

There are still a couple of spaces left in my 2 day workshop "Introduction to Drawing and Painting the Dog" on July 24th and 25th at Scottsdale Artists School in Scottsdale, Arizona. We'll be painting from life and from photos (last year many of my students wanted to paint a beloved departed dog from photos. I lost one of my own dogs this year - beautiful sweet Daisy - and I think all artists should paint their dogs.)

Here's the link to sign up and below is a screenshot of the information. That's my painting of my corgi mix Ziggy, somewhat visible above the text. Hope to see you there!

Portrait Society of America Conference, Reston VA 2018

I had a terrific time at the Portrait Society of America's annual convention last weekend. I was honored to be asked to be the portrait model during the Face Off event for artists Casey Charles, Jennifer Welty and Mary Sauer and was lucky enough to have been able to buy two of the portraits at the auction the next day. All of the models were also artists themselves and so it added an extra dimension of friendship and good humor.

I was greatly honored to have introduced artist Leslie Adams when she gave a lecture on her career and recent show at the prestigious Art Prize event in Grand Rapids, MI. Leslie is a brilliant artist and you should take a long look at what she is doing on her website, www.leslieadams.com. She brought one of her framed drawings to the conference where attendees could pin their handwritten dreams onto the wall next to her work. What a wonderful way to interact with viewers.  (Thank you Judy Takacs for the photos, I didn't take too many!)

As usual, there was an inspiring array of artists, portraits, figurative art and demonstrations taking place. It's wonderful to meet new people and reconnect with old friends. Congratulations to all the prize winners!

"Visions of Venus/ Venus' Visions" - Exhibition at Zhou B Art Center, Chicago

"Myth and Reality"

Oil,14"x8"

I have some really exciting news to share. My painting of the goddess Venus with some of her children has been accepted into the "Visions of Venus/ Venus' Visions" show at the Zhou B Haus der Kunst Art Center in Chicago, IL.

The show is presented by Poets and Artists, an online site for creative people which is the brainchild of poet and champion of visual artists Didi Mendendez. It was curated by Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt. 

About "Myth and Reality":

Artists were invited to consider the Venus myth and interpret her in our own individual ways. I grew up reading D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths and was interested in how mythology can speak to the modern mind. Behind the flashy magnetism of Venus there is a mother who is married to the god Vulcan who has had children from a variety of lovers. Who takes the kids to day care in the morning? I'm betting it's Venus. 

I've also been spending some time in the Prado over the past few years and at some point during my visits I go into the room that holds Goya's Black Paintings. You can't help but be shocked by his "Saturn Devouring his Son" and I think I was influenced by his gray/red color palette. I wanted to contradict that image of cannibalism and horrendous parenting (that's putting it mildly) with a rather whimsical image of a mother goddess trying to collect and manage her brood.  Again, inspired by these black paintings, I purposely populated my little painting with not particularly realistic looking figures. 

The show opens on April 20th and runs until June 8th, 2018. 

For a link to the Artsy site that tells you more about the work and the show, click here.

For a slideshow which showcases the work featured at the show click on this link to Poets and Artists.

"Oil Portraits: the Alla Prima Head" March 21 - April 11, 2018

I'll be teaching a weekly class on painting the alla prima head in oil this spring. This is a great opportunity for intermediate to advanced artists to brush up on their skills in painting a full color portrait in oil in a limited time period (3 hours). If you are new to this, sign up anyway, I will try to help you take yourself to the next level.

When: March 21 - April 181, 2018 
            Wednesdays, 1:00 - 4:00pm (4 sessions)

Where: Scottsdale Artists' School, Scottsdale, Arizona

PLEASE NOTE: this class is now a 4 week class and not a 5 week class as originally scheduled

For more information and to register, please click here at the SAS website

"Ian and the Empty Chair" at the Lore Degenstein Gallery, 9th Annual Figurative Competition and Exhibition

"Ian and the Empty Chair"

Oil, 28" x 30"

This painting will be featured in the Ninth Annual National Figurative Drawing and Painting Competition and Exhibition at the Lore Degenstein Gallery of Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA.  It is a great honor to be in this show and I'm doubly grateful to have this particular piece accepted into it.

In purely technical terms, this painting inspired me to layer paint and glaze and scumble, working warm and cool colors into the background using a fairly limited color palette and value range.  I really enjoyed introducing elements of abstraction, mark-making and paint textures into a realistic narrative framework. 

I had started working on this painting with another concept in mind, but, as often happens when I have a visual scheme, the work at some point seemed to say another thing altogether, a more melancholy theme. It now seems to me that this painting is about loss. The empty chair used to be occupied by someone you used to be close to and who treasured you, who you thought would be there forever and who is gone.  

The young man is waiting patiently and doesn't yet realize that the person will never return.

The Lore Degenstein Figurative show is juried by the internationally acclaimed contemporary realist painter Alia El-Bermani. The show opens on October 28th with the awards ceremony at 7:00pm. The exhibition runs until December 10th, 2017. For more information, click here.