I stayed an extra day in New York City today, visited the Met and got my much-needed van Gogh fix.
The world is a more beautiful place after being in the presence of these paintings by my favorite artist for a while. He created so much beauty in so little time. I have already lived 20 years more than he ever did.
Trisha and Mary Ann went to Africa on Safari. Between the two of them, they brought back over 4,000 photographs. This is my favorite lion. Painted for Mary Ann.
Six years ago this month I painted Pears – which eventually became the banner picture on this blog. Today, we got a bunch of organic pears from our neighbor – and I just couldn’t resist.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I invite you to the 2014 Reenactment of Pears on the stage of our kitchen butcher block, with the painting providing the backdrop.
Every artist suffers from the cost of framing. I tend to paint large oil paintings. My favorite sizes range from 24 by 30 inches, to 36 by 36, or even 36 by 48. Buying the canvas and paint for such a painting is one expense, but the most significant one comes when the work is all done: Framing. A decent frame for a 36 by 36 painting will cost $500 or more. I usually buy them only with discount coupons, but even then they will be between $200 and $350 each. Many artists simply cannot afford that. Yet, I have found, a paining looks phenomenally more complete and impressive with a quality frame.
While the video below is an advertisement, I found it nonetheless inspiring and it taught me what an art framing is all by itself, and why it is so expensive. I have a new appreciation for the work my framers do after watching it. See for yourself:
This was photographed by Mark Gee in New Zealand in real-time. There was no editing done whatsoever in this video. Make sure you read the description below the YouTube video:
This is my “Full Moon Silhouettes” short, as seen originally on Vimeo. It is a real time video of the moon rising over the Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington, New Zealand. People had gathered up there this night to get the best view possible of the moon rising. I captured the video from 2.1km away on the other side of the city. It’s something that I’ve been wanting to photograph for a long time now, and a lot of planning and failed attempts had taken place. Finally, during moon rise on the 28th January 2013, everything fell into place and I got my footage.
The video is as it came off the memory card and there has been no manipulation whatsoever. Technically it was quite a challenge to get the final result. I shot it on a Canon ID MkIV in video mode with a Canon EF 500mm f/4L and a Canon 2x extender II, giving me the equivalent focal length of 1300mm.
— Mark Gee
And here is a link to his site and how he did it.
When I first saw this I didn’t realize it was in the Southern Hemisphere. I noticed that the moon rose to the left, rather than to the right, and I thought that the video was simply side-reversed. Then I saw that the moon looked different too. I have never been to the Southern Hemisphere, so I never could experience this live.
This experience reminded me of my own painting titled “Supermoon over Swiss Alps” modeled after photograph one of my friends took while in Switzerland, of the rising moon behind a mountain.
My art site is updated with a full reverse-chronological gallery of all my work worth publishing. The fun continues.
The 1930 painting by Grant Wood, titled American Gothic, is the most parodied painting of all time. If the artist only had known. Now it was my turn. This is my daughter with her boyfriend, their portraits lifted from her profile page on Facebook, and the background – well, follow this link.
I like to visit and stroll through the annual San Diego ArtWalk or the Laguna Arts Festival. I don’t go there to buy 4000 dollar paintings, but as an artist, I go to see what other artists are doing, and most of all, to get inspired.
I am always surprised when I see “No Photographs” signs in their booths. Are they afraid that I will steal their painting with my poorly lit and blurry iPhone photo? What do they think I will do? Publish it for bootleg prints on Red Bubble or Etsy? Or worse, use their idea to make my own masterpiece of their painting?
I find the same thing with online artists and photographers. Photographers usually watermark their work before they publish it online. Painters often do the same. The “copyright” notices abound on their websites. Most legitimate users end up being put off by those messages, and the real thieves find ways around the measures anyway.
Perhaps I am naïve. Perhaps I haven’t been ripped off online and I have not felt violated before. But I must say that the “No Photographs” signs on the booths, right by the Visa and MasterCard logos, do nothing but give me a sour feeling about the artist.
If I were displaying my paintings in a booth, I’d invite people to take pictures of my work. What better way to spread the word than somebody taking a picture and posting it online, showing it off. I’d make sure they’d get my card with the picture, or better, my face in it next to the painting.
I am a painter because I want people to see my stuff – primarily. I will not get rich off my work. I have never sold a piece, and probably never will. But I enjoy it immensely when people like my work, enough to take pictures of it. And the greatest honor would be if they liked it enough to use it as a template for their own work!
It may be a little trickier online. But even there, if somebody were to steal a famous photographer’s picture and claim it as their own, passing it off as their work, would that really result in commercial success? Would they sell more than this one work? Would they get hired from that one photograph?
I have my doubts. As an artist, if somebody wants copies of my stuff, they are welcome to it. I would be honored. That’s why I am doing it.
You are allowed to reblog this post, or copy it and claim it as your own. 🙂
Earlier this year I created a small draft for this painting, which you can see here.
This is the final version. I designed it to be an outdoor painting, for a patio, entry way, by the pool, etc. So I painted it on a 48″ x 24″ piece of plywood I bought at Home Depot.
Now I just need to come up with a good solid frame. I am thinking barn wood or drift wood. Metal would be nice, but finding the right size seems impossible.
The Burning Man 2014 festival in Northern Nevada is over.
Here is the same sculpture – burning:
Here is an informative article in NBC News that shows how much business this week-long festival brings to the Northern Nevada communities.
For more pictures and information, just google Burning Man and get your fill. I have never been – but the artist in me is intrigued.
The rigging on this ship is so detailed, he must have painted with a brush with a single hair. This inspired me to get back to work on my painting titled Golden Gate. I have been procrastinating, because I can’t figure out how to paint the vertical cables that come down from the main cables to hold up the bridge.
After seeing this painting of Nooms, I am now inspired to get back to work on that painting.
Nooms died almost 350 years ago. I would truly consider myself successful if I could inspire somebody living in the year 2360 with my art work.
Make sure you watch the entire 4:55 minute video to get maximum effect.
Here is some more of Bernard Pras’ work.
Andrea Pritschow is a German artist with focus and attention to one specific detail. Check out her site and enjoy.
Hint: All her work is crocheted.
