Sunday, October 23, 2011

The Protector - WIP - Last part

The Protector

My new mascarone is basically finished...some fine tuning left to do. Do I like it? Hum...he is somewhat colorful and busy with the play of dark shadows on his face...his eyes are somewhat eerie... I think that he reminds me of a lion:-)

The more I look at him, the more I like him...It's hard to forget his eyes...I wonder what he has seen over these last four hundred years:-)


He will be framed under glass with a white mat to a final size of 20" X 24".He is painted on 300lb CP Fabriano that I was trying for the first time. I love that paper - it allows very easy lifting and takes a lot of abuse.

I am calling him The Protector ( my daughter's idea)  in part because of the latin word appearing on the right hand side of the arch "custodiat" - probably for something like "May the Lord ( the master of the house etc) protect ....He will be part of my "Memories of Venice" series.

Well, I had lots of fun painting this and I am sure that I have learned something at the same time. That is what is really important.

Your opinion?
Have a great Sunday evening.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Upcoming Art Show

The next two months will be quite busy for me with several very interesting art shows. Here is a preview of shows in which I will be participating in  Ottawa, Canada:

#1 Memories at the Foyer Gallery from Oct. 26 to Nov. 13. My painting " Where is My Gondola" is on the poster below.
#2 The Ottawa Art Association Members Awards Show:
This show is held at the Ottawa Little Theatre from November 8th until January 8th. The reception will be on November 8th. I will be showing one painting, The Gate Keeper ( one of my mascaroni)

#3 The Nepean Fine Arts League Winter Sale:
November 18, 19th and 20th at the Hellenic Centre  in Ottawa

 #4 "Art to Go" at the Foyer Gallery   
Dec. 7 – Jan. 2 ART TO GO Group show: small pieces

 I should probably stop playing on the computer and get painting:-)

Enjoy your weekend!

Monday, October 17, 2011

A nice Red Bubble surprise!

My recent small waterlily painting has just won a challenge on Red Bubble in the Aquatic and Hydrangea group.  This fun painting has also received three features in the past two weeks on that same site. Thank you, Red Bubble :-)

This 8" X 8" watercolor is on paper adhered to a cradled wood panel and then varnished. I am presently offering for sale online unframed - its edges are painted black and it can be displayed as is. However, I think it would look fabulous in a black floater frame...if I decide to go that route, I will probably remove it from my online gallery because of the extra shipping weight.

How do you feel about shipping framed paintings?

Sunday, October 16, 2011

New WIP and update

Here is the painting I am currently working on. It is another Venetian mascarone ( sculpted head found over arched doorways of Venetian palazzos). In fact, it is from a picture of the same mascarone as my last one, but from a different perspective and the pictures were taken a year apart:-)
I am just starting to work on the head itself and I am realizing that it is going to be very difficult and I am not sure that my color choice was a good one :- ( I  was hoping to get this painting finished successfully by the end of this coming week in order to enter it in an upcoming show at the Foyer Gallery called "Memories". I am keeping my fingers crossed.

My Silent Venetian, my favorite of all my paintings, has just sold...it would be nice if this WIP turned out to take its place as a companion piece for the Gate Keeper, my other mascarone....A lot of "if"s :-)

This is on a watercolor paper that I had not tried before: Fabriano  Artistico 300lb CP. So far, I really like it! And it is a lot more affordable than the Arches. The painting will be approx. 16" X 20" and will be framed under glass and matted to 20" X 24", the same size as my other two mascarones.

 I will be showing my "Where is my Gondola?" at the Foyer show...if it comes back in time from the framers. I may also bring one my Venetian doorway paintings to have a trio of "Venetian Memories".

I have not been posting much in the past ten days: my daughter moved back from Manhattan and spent a week with us before settling down in her new apartment in downtown Montreal. It was great having her visit and we even spent time in Montreal with her and our son who is at McGill's University...It was so nice being all together! But...little painting was done during this time:-(

I now have a bad old, but I want to push myself to get this painting out of its ugly stage...hopefully, it will turn out ok. Let me know what you think of it so far even though it's hard to tell at this point what it will eventually look like.

Enjoy your Sunday!