Mauritshuis Museum On Instagram Stories

The Mauritshuis houses an amazing collection of Dutch and Flemish art from the Golden Age.  I've not been lucky enough to visit the Netherlands yet, but you know it is on my list, and the Mauritshuis will be one of my first stops.  I am a huge fan of Dutch and Flemish art and have been very influenced by the Golden Age painters in my own work.

Until I can get there in person, I happily follow their Instagram account.  Recently, they had a great Insta Story showing the details of a beautiful painting, Forest Floor Still Life With Fruit And A Wicker Basket Of Flowers, by Abraham Mignon.

I have never saved photos from an Insta Story before, but I loved this painting so much that I took screen shots so I could study it further, and I thought you guys might like to see them as well.

This is really one of the most beautiful paintings I have ever seen.  It has everything.  Flowers, fruit, insects.  All of the things that make the Dutch paintings so amazing.  I've been studying these shots since they were posted and will continue to do so.

One of the amazing things about Instagram is being able to see art from around the world.  If you love Dutch and Flemish art as much as I do, give the Mauritshuis a follow.

Mauritshuis
The Hague, Netherlands

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!

Color Your Home at M Collection NY

Last week, I was thrilled to be included in the Color Your Home event at the M Collection furniture store in Brooklyn.

M Collection founder Niki Cheng hosted a summer event for the store and I was invited to attend and to bring some of my paintings!  As long time readers know, I'm a frustrated interior designer, so this event was right up my alley.

The store has beautiful furniture and I was able to hang my paintings to mix in with the pieces on the floor.

These are the paintings that were included in the event.

The beautiful floral cakes were created by Brooklyn Floral Delight.

Photo courtesy of ckaren_7

Photo courtesy of ckaren_7

Photo courtesy of ckaren_7

Photo courtesy of ckaren_7

Niki graciously allowed me to keep the paintings hanging in the store for a bit, so if you are in DUMBO, please stop in and check out the paintings as well as the beautiful furniture.

Thank you so much to everyone at M Collection for a great event!


M Collection
79 Front Street
Brooklyn, NY

(F to York St)

Rose Painting Demo With Katie Whipple

Over the winter I got to spend a dreary, rainy day in the best way possible:  watching Katie Whipple demonstrate painting a rose.  If you are not familiar with Katie's work, she is the best floral painter out there.  I was lucky enough to take a floral class with her a few years ago ( see here and here ) and I learned so much.

The demo took place at Grand Central Atelier, and was an all day event.  In addition to the demo, Katie brought some of her floral paintings to show us, as well as her supplies and the products she uses to keep her flowers going for the duration of painting time.

The demo was a single rose.  It's hard to see in the picture, but it was a white rose with pink and yellow undertones.

This is where she left off at the end of the day.  To me, the rose looks done, but Katie said that under normal circumstances, she would have worked on this much longer.

Aren't these paintings amazing?  Katie was so generous to bring these in for us to see.

I have a workshop with Katie coming up this summer and I can't wait.  Thanks to Katie and Grand Central for a great day!