A Visit to The Hispanic Society of America
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting the The Hispanic Society of America. What a delightful small museum. I went there to see the Sorolla Murals. Wow, I was delighted by the scale, brillance of color, compositions, and complexity of this series. The documentation of the diversity of culture in Spain is a treasure. His combination of color describing form, illumination were very inspiring. What really delighted me were to the Sorollas that were upstairs, the two children wading in the water and after the bath. To see the paint in person, the way he applied the highlights, and see the brushstrokes – it was really beautiful. I will be bringing my children and larger canvas’s to the beach.
Also there were works by Goya, Velasquez, and El Greco that I had only seen in books.
And I loved the knockers! Don’t miss them if you go there.
Detail of Sorrola Mural of Fisherman
Sorolla Mural
Dekooning at the Moma
I know the show is over. I’m sorry if you missed it. I feel compelled to write about it and share my inspiration. Dekoonings work inspired me to paint moment in the figure. He shares the same love for Titian’s work as I do, and the beauty of painting the figure in oil paint. I was astounded by his early training- his trained skills as a painter. I was inspired by how this exhibit showed work that displayed his searching for his own voice as a painter, trying on different hats of other artists styles. Also how he created different series, and then made slight shifts. I have a new found respect for him as a painters painter. And am inspired to continue my work on an abstract series that I began a few years ago.
I was intrigued how he used the same parts of a drawing over and over, and how this implied movement.
I find the painting “Excavation”, so deeply beautiful.
Now I am reading De kooning by Mark Stevens, I am hungry for more.
Book Cover Art
I recently illustrated a cover for an e book”Dark Red, the beginning of the…. I was delighted to work with the author Walter Masterson. I read the first chapter and found it profoundly interesting, spiritual and metaphorical. I am going to read the whole book. Check out the cover art and synopsis here. http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Red-Beginning-End-ebook/dp/B0068UWDHO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321834335&sr=1-1
NJ Gallery Celebrates Giving the Gift of Handmade This Holiday Season
“Good Things, Small Packages”, celebrates giving the gift of handmade, featuring TraillWorks’ guest artists, old and new. New artists include Linda Finkelstein, Janet Howard-Fatta, Joann Wells Greenbaum, Heidi Lanino, Amanda Gordon Miller, Kristen Muller, Ted Petrockho and Andrea Rosenfeld alongside TraillWorks’ regulars, Phylis Barfoot, Brenda Decker, Martha C. Hall, David Ohlerking, Karin Lowney- Seed, and owner, Jennie Traill Schaeffer. Works range in media from paintings to prints, fibers to ceramics, with every piece priced under $200.
During the opening reception on November 12th, artists Amanda Gordon Miller and Jennie Traill Schaeffer will be sharing their creative processes and insight at the opening reception through their demonstrations and discussions. Amanda Gordon Miller will be demonstrating the art of printmaking with water based, eco-friendly ink transferred onto her woodcarvings. Her nature-inspired prints embody organic shapes and forms. And, owner, Jennie Traill Schaeffer, will show her technique of blending and applying oils to model forms on panel. Jennie’s vivid and textural oil paintings are based around domesticity and the role of women in the home.
“Good Things, Small Packages”, features contemporary work by eighteen emerging and established artists from the mid-Atlantic region. Photographer, Ted Petrochko, whose work was recently on display at Krave Café and Caterers, in Newton, NJ, brightens the gallery with his vibrant, unusual photos that he refers to as the “Abstract Expressionism of Rust”. Collage artist and painter, Linda Finkelstein, brings an element of intimacy to the gallery with her small, spontaneous pieces that revolve around her travels in Europe. Oil painter, Janet Howard-Fatta, embraces light, color and her love of nature to create landscapes from the Hudson Valley area. Andrea Rosenfeld’s jewelry is made of eco-friendly, natural stones and materials that are Reiki cleansed to enhance their healing. Martha Traill Schaeffer’s delicate necklaces and earrings embrace the world around us by using nature castings of sterling silver and earthy stones. This exhibit encourages guests to buy local, give uniquely and celebrate the art of hand-made.
TraillWorks: Studio, Gallery, and Lesson space is located at 214 Spring Street, 1st Floor, in Newton, NJ, and is open Tuesday and Wednesday 12-6pm, 12-8pm on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and Sunday 11-4pm. The contemporary gallery features artist/owner, Jennie Traill Schaeffer’s paintings, drawings, and prints as well as original, artisan-made jewelry and art by emerging and established guest artists. TraillWorks offers art lessons and custom work, specializing in Wedding Cake Portraits. For additional information, please call 973-383-1307 or visit http://www.TraillWorks.com
Open Studio Tour 2011
In chaos we become the ocean.
It is that time of the year–Open Studios! Every other year Warwick participates in an Open Studio Event, every year new artists participate. The tour is FREE! You can get your map on-line here Or you can pick one up at the OCAC office in Sugarloaf. or I can drop one in the mail to you. It is nice to have the hard color copy at your fingertips.
Over 50 artists in the beautiful Hudson Valley!
The doors to studios will be open Saturday and Sunday Oct.22 & 23rd, 2011, 11AM-5PM. I’ll be doing a painting demo on both days at noon.
I am number 12 on the map.
Also, join us for the opening reception on Friday Oct. 21st, 6-8PM, at the Seligmann Homestead.
Warwick FarmAid Community Mural
On September 25th Warwick Valley Farm Aid 2011 raised over 50,000 to be distributed equally to Warwick farmers who applied for assistance. Farmers in Warwick were severely affected by Hurricane Irene and its subsequent flooding.
During the Open House portion of the event a group of local artists worked with the community to create a mural.
The mural began less than two weeks prior to Farm Aid I met with local Warwick artists Ron Gee, Heidi Lanino Bilezikian, Dan Mack and myself to discuss with Jane Hamburger, former principal of Pine Island Elementary, on how we could incorporate the visual arts into Farm Aid. Jane had the idea of creating a mural with the community and then using that mural as a backdrop for the FarmAid Concert. Furthermore, the mural has now been broken down into smaller works of art, framed and will be presented and given as gifts to the municipalities that helped during the floods. The presentation will take place on Oct. 13th, 2011 at the Town Board Meeting.
Through our brainstorming process we developed the idea to focus on the beauty of water, using large plywood panels as our base, tempra paint and collage. Local businesses donated the material for mural. Prior to the event Ron Gee gathered materials, prepared and painted swirls of blues on the panels to set a template that impied the movement of water.
In the courtyard of the Warwick Valley High School event attendees flowed through the doors and began to create with material laid out on four long tables that were assembled with paints, brushes, water and paper. There were kids as young as two, parents, teenagers and seniors all painting side by side. There was a constant flow of people all day.
Local artists Karen Decher, Lisa Cullen, Tyler Cullen and Nicole Heller also volunteered to help carefully cut and assemble the painted paper into collage onto the boards with glue. A half hour before the concert the mural was carried onto the stage and hung on cables other volunteers/custodians had put in place.
The final piece was electric! With the spotlights on it, it worked perfectly with the music, evoking waves of sound.
What a fantastic collaboration. I am so proud to be a part of this community that cares about the food we grow and the people who grow it.
An Artists Inspiration: Landscapes of Warwick’s Village and Town
The plein-air series I created in May is finally hanging in the library. I am getting lots of interesting feedback about the work. I still think about the ones that did not get painted. I would like to do one on the weekend of September 28th of the Farmers Market in action. That is the one thing that is really missing from this exhibit. The Farmers Market is part of the heart of this town.
Cross Country Road Trip – 2011
Rocky Mountain National Park, traveling with my husband and kids in our 1970 Boler.
I painted the view from our campground at Estes Park Campground at East Portal Resovoir.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Top Ten Reasons I love plein-air in the Village of Warwick in May
I’ve been compiling in my head a top ten list of reasons why I love painting outside in the Village of Warwick.
10. My palette staying wet and not wasting any paint.
9. The feeling that I am capturing a moment in history, it seems important.
8. The aroma of delicious food wafting through the air.
7. The unexpected gift of getting a jump start of my summer highlights in my hair.
6. Watching the light shift and change at different times of day and how that affects color.
5. Seeing all my different artist friends around town, there are so many of you.
4. Meeting new friendly people on the street.
3. This goal has caused me to have a huge excuse of why there are dirty dishes in the sink and the laundry not done.
2. The feeling that I can’t stop painting, That it is something that I have to do everyday.
It is so hard to choose the #1 reason, there is part of me that wants to say it is Cappacino Crunch ice cream cones at Cafe A la Mode, but the truth is I did not buy one of those cones, because I love it too much that I have to stay away.
1. The real # one reason is painting plein-air keeps me in the moment, in that power of now and makes me feel so alive and in tune to the world around me. It satisfies my intellectual connection to the history of art, the sound of the birds, fills my spirit and physically sets me up to be present. And those two hours that I spent outside recharges me in other areas of my life.
Many Thanks,
Janet
Sunday Morning
I love antiques, I love architecture, The Eclectic Eye is one of my favorite Warwick shops. I wanted to paint a store front, and I chose the eclectic eye because the store front is kind of like a visual musical grid to me. After I did a sketch, it was decided that this was the location for the day.
I stood on Railroad Green under the shade of a a huge Maple. I met the man who welded Fredrick Franck’s sculptures for 22 years, he enchanted me with his stories while I painted.
At first, I look and keep looking. mix up colors before I paint. I find my lights in warm and cold tones, and my darks in warm and cool tones, and local colors – on the dark side. Then I begin to apply paint, usually in blocks of color. Sometimes I start with pure color, and sometimes I start with dark shadows. Here the dark shadows helped define the space. I took photos along the way, and made a progression semi-slide show of the development of this piece.
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When I was done, I realized it was Sunday Morning, and I recalled Edward Hopper’s Sunday morning. How very Ironic. And I laughed and said it was a Janet Hoppard, how cliche and ridiculous, but it made me laugh!
