New Painting: Hydrangeas In A Ginger Jar

Hi All,

I'm thrilled to be back to painting and have been spending a ton of time in my studio.  I was also painting for a floral show that I wanted to enter, so things have been a little crazy the last few weeks.

I decided to do some hydrangeas in the ginger jar.  I didn't plan that in advance.  I tried out a bunch of different vases and the ginger jar is what looked the best, so that is what made it on to the still life shelf.  I was not sure what else I wanted to add to the set up, so I just started out with the flowers in the vase, knowing I could add more later.

The block in went surprisingly well.  Trying to get the symmetry of the ginger jar usually drives me up the wall, but this time it just needed a few tweaks.

This was the magic moment when the flowers started to look like hydrangeas and I knew the painting would work.  I also added a few blooms to the shelf, but ended up changing those around as I went on.

 
The start of the ginger jar pattern going in.  I also painted out the pink hydrangea on the shelf, though it did go back in on the other side as I did not want to have an even number of flowers.

I lost track of how much time I spent futzing with the highlight on the jar. I painted it on and wiped it out many times over several days before I felt it was right.

Here is the finished piece.  It was almost impossible to get a good shot of this painting, so when it dries (which is taking forever now that New York City has turned into a tropical rain forest), I will varnish it and take out the pro camera.

This is the first painting that I have completed since last February and I've since finished another.  I'm so happy to be back in the studio!

Big News: Prints Of My Work Are Now Available At Blake And Taylor!

I'm very excited to announce that prints of my work are now available at the Blake And Taylor shop in Brisbane, Australia!

Let me back up a bit and tell you how this all came to be.  Last winter, Ellie Ramsay, the owner of Blake and Taylor found me on Instagram and as she was visiting New York City, inquired about setting up a studio visit.

Though I live in New York City, my studio is on Long Island.  Ellie, along with her husband and daughter, took the train out to see me.  We had such a fun day together.  They selected five of my paintings to be shipped to Australia, so that Ellie could turn them into art prints and greeting cards for sale through her shop.

These are the five paintings available as art prints and greeting cards.  Ellie has a great eye and we tried out different combinations until she found a grouping that worked together.

If you click over to Blake and Taylor, you will see the prints for sale (with FREE worldwide shipping!).  I also wrote a short piece for each one describing the inspiration behind each painting.  I'm always interested in the creative process, so I hope you will enjoy reading about mine.

I hope you will check out my prints and if you are local to Brisbane, please stop in to Ellie's shop.  It is a wonderful, creative place.

I have met so many wonderful people through Instagram, both online and in person.  It's amazing to me that a few years ago, none of us would know about each other, and now we can connect with people around the world!

Painting Update: Brass Teapot With Grapes

So, I've been at it again.  I've updated three older paintings in the last few weeks.  I don't know why I get in this mood sometimes, but I've learned to just go with it.

I originally painted this a few years ago.  As usual, I thought it was good when I finished it.  But, over time, certain things about it started to annoy me.  I repainted the background a few months ago and then kind of forgot about it as I got busy with other things.   A few weeks ago, I was feeling frustrated with my current works and decided to pull this one out.  I decided either I would make it work or paint over it.

I started by putting another coat on the background.  With these Innerglow Boards, you have to make sure you have enough coverage and I clearly did not.  After the background was done, things started to perk up and I focused on the other things that I did not like.  Namely, the fruit.  There was not enough fruit to fill out the canvas (it's a 16x20) and it was not done very well.  Actually, the only things I did like were the brass pot, which I did not touch, and the cloth.

I started with the fruit.  The oranges needed more work and I was never thrilled with the arrangement of the grapes.  There were grapes on three quarters of the painting, but nothing over on the right side. It felt a little unbalanced to me.  You want the viewer's eye to travel from left to right, and I didn't have much action happening on the right side of the canvas.  Also, I was not feeling the red and green grapes.  It just felt like too much, so I figured, why not take the leap and get rid of the green grapes.  I painted them out and was already happier with things.

I also added an orange to the blue and white bowl.  Things already felt more balanced to me and I continued on with the oranges.  To perk them up, I lightened the lights and darkened the darks.  With the darker shadows and highlights, they started to look like round, juicy oranges.

However, something was still gnawing at me and I could not figure out what it was.  I was very close to just taking a rag full of black paint and wiping out the whole thing when it hit me.  The cloth was the problem!  While the color and pattern were good, it needed a few adjustments.

The issue was that the whole cloth was painted the same.  The front edge needed serious lightening up and the front plane needed some light under the edge.

Once the cloth was completed, things finally started falling into place.  Of course, I then decided that I was not happy with the white bowl.  Luckily, that was a pretty easy fix.  I just painted it out with my "fake white" colors and let it dry for a day or two.  I then painted in a new blue pattern that I made up as I went along.  The reason I had to make it up is because except for some oranges and grapes, I did not actually have any of these pieces in my studio!  This was one of those times when having years of painting under my belt really helped.  I knew what had to be done and was able to do it, even without the props in front of me.

Brass Teapot With Grapes, 16x20, oil

Here is the finished piece.  I'm very happy with it now and so glad this all worked out.  I'll soon have a post up detailing the other two reworked paintings.  If you have any questions about reworking an old painting, leave them in the comments.  I'd love to talk about this.  Does anyone else redo their old work?

How I Built My Collection Of Still Life Props

Recently, I've gotten a few questions about how I built up my collection of still life props.  While I will paint the occasional portrait or landscape, I am a still life artist, so that means I need vases, objects and fabrics in addition to fruit and flowers.

When I got my studio a few years ago, I started on the hunt for objects to paint.  The vase in the painting above, Lilacs, was the first piece I bought.  I got it in a vintage shop near my house.  It was very overpriced, but I liked it and have used it in several paintings, so it was worth it.  

My next big score was a lucky find on Craigslist.  An estate sale was being held at the home of a serious blue and white collector.  I didn't know about the sale until a few hours after it started, so when I got there, the seller was happy to make me a deal.  I got a bunch of items for less than the price of the vase above.  

These are some of my small pieces.  Many of the items here came in a box I won on Ebay.  I got very lucky and searched "blue and white porcelain" and came away with a box of blue and white odds and ends.  The whole box was only $27.00 and I've used the pieces in it many times over.  Ebay is a great resource for still life painters.  The search terms I use are "blue and white porcelain", "vintage blue and white", "vintage blue transferware" "vintage silver (pitcher, footed bowl - whatever you are looking for)"  "vintage delft" "vintage blue and white Chinese porcelain".  I could go on, but you get the idea.  I prefer vintage items for my paintings, so that is what I search for.  I also search from the lowest price to the highest.  Many times I will see similar items with vastly different pricing.  Why pay more for the same thing?  Especially when it is going to be used in a painting studio and has the potential to get paint on it.  

I have my larger pieces on a cart in my studio.  The items here came from all over the place, which is part of the secret to my success.  I'm always looking for props.  I look online, in thrift shops, retail shops, and my latest discovery, Amazon.  In this photo, two vases are vintage, the large vase in the middle is from The Enchanted Home Shop, the wine decanter was an engagement gift and the small vase in the back was $7.99 at the Whole Foods in Chelsea. 

So let's break this down a little bit.  I'm always popping my head into vintage or thrift shops to see if there is anything I can use.  You never know what will be available, so just pop in any time you have a chance.  Here in NYC we have Housing Works, Good Will, Junk and tons of thrift/vintage/antique shops as well as the flea market.  It helps to know what you are looking for before you go in so you don't get bogged down.  I look for vintage silver and blue and white porcelain.  I scan the shelves for those two items and if I don't see them I'm out and on to the next thing.  Also, if you have any friends who like to go thrifting or to garage sales, have them keep an eye out for things you may like.  

I mentioned that the vase in the middle was from The Enchanted Home shop.  The Enchanted Home is a design blog started by Tina, a lover of all things blue and white.  She had so many inquiries about items in her home, that she ended up starting a shop.  Though her items are new, they have that lovely vintage look about them.  These pieces are beautiful, so they go back and forth between my house and the studio.  

Both of these paintings feature porcelains from the shop.  If you keep an eye on The Enchanted Home website, you can get great deals when a new shipment arrives.  There is a pre-sale happening tomorrow morning and I will definitely be checking it out.  

Wedding/engagement/home gifts.  These are things I already owned that have made their way over to the studio.  I've been married long enough that they are in the vintage category at this point, so it made sense to use my own things rather than buying more stuff.  And it is not only my own cabinets that I raid.  I have many things that I have pilfered from my Mom's china cabinet as well.  

The candy dish and the embroidered napkin in the painting above came from my Mom's house.  If you have a still life painter in your life, nothing is safe!

I mentioned above that I got the small vase for $7.99 at the Chelsea Whole Foods.  I bring this up because you never know where you will find something you can use.  The small round vase as well as the cylinder above were bought when they were getting rid of some of their glass vases and I got these for a steal. I think the glass cylinder was round ten dollars.   Even if you don't use something right away, if the price is right, grab it.  If you paint as many still lives as I do, you need a large amount of props to rotate through out your paintings.  

Check out Amazon using the same search terms as mentioned for Ebay.  They have a nice selection of blue and white and the prices are good.

The other part of my still life set ups are the fabrics.  While we have a ton of fabric stores here in New York City, many of them are chaotic and require hunting through a ton of fabrics to find what you want.  That is not my thing at all.  I use muted red, gray and green backgrounds and I'm not interested in taking all day to find them.  I happened upon a store on Long Island, Carle Place Fabrics, where they have all their items displayed.  I was able to immediately point out to the sales woman what I wanted and have the fabrics cut into one yard pieces.  

Check out the local fabric shops in your town and don't forget about quilting shops.  They often have a good selection of fabrics at decent prices.

I hope this was helpful to any of you who are looking to start a still life prop collection.  The most important thing is to know what you want and always be on the lookout for it.  If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments.  I'm happy to expand further on anything mentioned here.  

* My usual caveat.  I paid for everything mentioned here.  I was not given any perks by the shops listed.  I just wanted to pass on all of my sources in case anyone here can use them.  

New Still Life: Red And White Vase With Fruit

I recently finished a new still life.  This painting was a bit different for me.  I did not use one of my usual blue and white vases.  Instead I did something new and went with red and white.

Back in September, I attended a still life workshop with Gregg Kreutz at the Chelsea Gallery and Studio in Huntington, NY.

We started the day with a demo, then we all moved on to our own set ups.

This was the original set up.  I made one change right away.  I started the painting as if the still life were resting on a wooden shelf instead of on the fabric.  An all fabric still life can sometimes be trouble, especially if the fabric does not have a pattern.  As Gregg says, you want to be sure your painting does not look like a window display at Macys.   I blocked it in and then got to work on the background and covering the canvas with color.

The block in went pretty well and I did manage to get the rest of the painting covered by the end of the first day.

On the second day of the workshop, I continued putting in the color.  I tried to get as much done as possible since I would not have the set up available after the workshop finished.

This was the painting at the end of the workshop.  It was nowhere near finished, but a pretty good outcome for me.  I rarely get very far during workshops, so I was happy that I had enough done that I could attempt to finish in my own studio.

I worked on the painting for a few sessions and while it was going well, the bottle was just not happening.  It was hard to paint when it was in front of me.  There was no way I could do it from memory.

Instead of giving up on the painting, I subbed in one of my own porcelain vases.  I decided to go with a red and white vase this time.  You know I love my blue and white, but the red made a nice change and fit in well with the rest of the painting.

I drew in the shape and went to work from there.  It took quite a few coats of paint before the vase began to look like porcelain, but there is no way around that.  You have to take the time to get the base right before you paint in the pattern.

I'm not sure if you can tell the difference in the photos, but the more coats of paint I put on the vase the more it started to look like porcelain.  After five or six tries I was finally happy with the look of the vase and added in the pattern.

And here is the finished painting.  I had a good time doing something new and I'm thinking about getting some different colored vases for future paintings.

If something is not working in a painting, don't be afraid to change it up!

Still Life Workshop With Gregg Kreutz

I have a fun announcement today.  My teacher, Gregg Kreutz, is giving a still life workshop at the Chelsea Studios and Gallery on September 10 and 11th.

Chelsea Studios is located in Huntington, LI.  It is a short train ride from NYC and we will pick you up and bring you back to the station at night.

If you are in the NYC/Long Island area this is a great opportunity to study the still life with Gregg.  Call the studio for more information and to sign up for the class.  You can also leave any questions you may have in the comments here.

Here are a few of Gregg's still life paintings.

Gregg Kreutz

Gregg Kreutz

Gregg Kreutz

Gregg taught me everything I know, so if you are in the area, this is a great opportunity to learn from him.

Hope to see you there!

Frances

What's Been Happening In The Studio

Hello Everyone,

I finally painted a little bit this week so I thought I'd update everyone on what is happening in the studio.  I only lasted an hour, so it's not much, but I was very happy to have a paint brush in my hand again.

I started this painting a few months ago.  Unfortunately, the photo of the original set up has vanished into the ether, but I used a heavy crimson fabric with gold detailing, along with a silver fruit bowl.  As you can see, the fabric is the main event in this painting.  That is not how I usually do my set ups, but I wanted to try something different and thought this would be a fun way to switch things up.

The top photo was the original block in.  The photo just above is the fourth week working on the painting.  The background is a mixture of alizarin crimson and red, with french ultramarine added for the dark shadows.  If you have ever painted with alizarin, you know that it is extremely transparent.  I spent quite a bit of time getting the coverage on the canvas that I wanted.  I think I painted the background four or five times before the color stopped fading into the canvas.  I also had to let it dry in between coats, so this whole thing took awhile, but it was worth it.

As you can see, I started painting in the gold pattern a little bit at a time.  That was painstaking work and I would have gone nuts if I tried to do it all at once.  I would do a little bit then move on to the pot or the grapes.

Things finally started progressing at a more rapid pace.  In addition to the fabric, there were a lot of grapes to do, as well as all the lemons.  Lemons are very difficult for me (second only to pears), so I would work on the fruit while taking breaks from the pattern.  I guess the theme of this painting was dealing with difficult subjects!

I finished the painting three nights before my surgery.  I was very happy to have it done.  I signed it the other day and as soon as a few weeks go by, I can varnish it.  I'll be very happy to have that done so those dry spots in the fabric will be gone.

I have also been working on another painting for the last few months.  This is one of those paintings where everything is technically correct, but something is just not right.  Eventually I will figure it out.
I worked on it a bit the other day, which was a lot of fun.

This is where I left off before the surgery.  I think the problem is something in the background.  I'm going to redo that and see how I feel about things.

When I went to the studio this week, I painted the blue pattern in on the fruit bowl.  That was all I could manage, but it's a start.

I, (meaning my long suffering husband) also rearranged things in the studio.  If you recall, I bought a kitchen cart for my palette, but ended up using it as a desk.  Since I have had a lot of free time lately, I was thinking about the best way to use the studio and I realized that my small taboret was not the best for the palette, so after switching some furniture around, I have a much more user friendly set up.

I may replace the palette with a large piece of glass, but I'm still pondering that.

I also had some good news.  Just a week after surgery, my painting Brass Teapot With Peaches, won third place in The Art Guild Of Port Washington members show!  I was so happy because I agonized over which painting to put in the show.  I'm so glad that I made a good choice.

Brass Teapot With Peaches, 12x16, oil

So that is what I have going on over here.  I'm happy to be back to blogging and I want to thank all of you for hanging in there with me.  I appreciate it more than I can say.