Incredible Edible

Yesterday my students brought in amazing stuff to eat and drink for our Holiday celebration class. Crab quiche, cookies galore, exotic cheeses and dips, champagne, wine, etc. While I was shopping for some treats to bring in too, I saw this lone delectable pastry sitting all by itself on a deli shelf. In typical form, my natural inclination is to paint it rather than eat it. I did a demo on paper, having forgotten to bring a better support to work on. Its almost impossible to do a really bad painting when your subject is so spectacular. Hmmm, maybe more pastry paintings are in my near future...

Incredible Edible

8x8" Acrylic on Paper

Shirley's Bulb

This little bulb in the middle is the real deal, not some recreation of a retro design. It's about 80 years old and belonged to my mother when she was a little girl. It still has the original metal hanging hook on it, which is made of a really sturdy metal - it barely bends - in contrast to the flimsy hooks of today.

When working with Acrylics, there is a sort of built in alarm clock ticking away. They only let you work so long before they gently say, "OK, time to wrap it up now. " That happens after about an hour or so, the paint starts moving different. There are ways around this, such as using products like OPEN paints and mediums, to keep them wet longer. But I actually like this alarm clock function, it pushes me to be more decisive and efficient. If the painting doesn't work by the time my acrylics want to stop, thats OK. I'll opt for a mediocre painting with fresh brushwork and leave it at that. I can always give it to a distant relative as a christmas gift.

Shirley's Bulb

6x6 Acrylic on Board, Price on request

Sports Page

I'm not sure why I automatically named this 'Sports Page', except that growing up in a sports-fanatic family I have this assumption that whenever a guy is riveted to the paper like the one here, he must be checking on the results of a game. One of the great things about the NYC subway is that you catch everyone just being who they are, sequestered in one tiny area, a total cross section of all types. Everyone needs to get somewhere, and the subway one way to do it. It also happens to be great theatre for the lurking artist.

Sports Page

24x36" Oil Price on request

Two More Demos

Here are two demos I did yesterday for two back to back classes I taught. The challenge on the apple demo was getting the correct color of the bright red cloth reflecting up into the green apple, without creating a dull grey, since red and green do neutralize each other out (creating grey). The challenge of the angel statue was doing it fast, without a preliminary sketch first -there was no time, it was the end of class ...just jumping in with paint and big brushes and hoping for the best. TGIF!

Winding Road

I loved the dramatic pattern of the winding road and the cypress trees in this countryside setting in Italy, with the late afternoon shadows casting cool stripes over the warm fields.

Winding Road

8x8" Oil on Gessoboard

Price on request

Two Demos

Back from Art Basel, and had to hit the ground running. It was quite a trip. HUGE art fair, and impossible to see the whole thing. I hit the main largest fairs, Art Basel and Art Miami, as well as some of the smaller shows held in hotels. The overall aesthetic was contemporary art, which took me aback for a minute, till I stopped looking for more representational paintings. Once I let go of my personal agenda and opened myself up to what was being presented, I thoroughly loved it, to the point of not being able to sleep at night because my brain kept playing a slideshow of all the amazing work I saw during the day. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to see a LOT of art in one really cool city (South Beach, Miami) . The people watching and nightlife is just as entertaining as the show. Bring your fancy cocktail dresses and heels, gals - anything goes there.

No sooner did I get home than I had to teach two classes back to back. Having been deprived of doing any painting (my own, at least) since I left, I did a quickie demo for each class. When I say quickie, I mean 20 minutes and 45. I don't like to take up student time painting when they are paying for teaching, so I squeeze these in at the very tail end of the class. It felt great to have the paint flowing through my brush again. Ahhh, thats my home sweet home.

Tangerine

8x8" Acrylic on Gessoboard

Tuscan Vineyard and Grove at Dusk

8x8" Acrylic on Gessoboard

Girlfriends

I'm leaving today for Art Basel Miami, to take in the big art fair, as well as co-teach a workshop in Orlando. I did this painting way back in 2006 from a trip I took to Miami Beach. These two gals in front of me were having such a heart felt conversation. It was a deja vu moment, reminding me of how lucky I am to have such great girlfriends in my life, they make all the difference.

Girlfriends

18x24" Oil on canvas

Price on Request

Eye Candy

Early November I spent about a week at a trade show booth which featured bowls of taffy intended to entice passersby to stop and chat. Lesson learned: no one can chat intelligibly with taffy in their mouths. Fortunately, they work perfectly as eye candy.

Eye Candy

6x6 Oil on Canvas

Price on Request

Mo, Harry & Curly

Italy shmittaly. Who needs to paint beauty halfway across the world when its screaming like a siren in front of me? Thats exactly what these funky, eccentric little squashes have been thinking, while waiting patiently for me to stop painting Italian vistas long enough to notice them. They are such comical characters, with their corkscrew bonnets and zany striped pajamas. Beauty is everywhere! I'm grateful!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Three Squashes

6x6" Oil on Board

Price on Request

Cortona Village

Cortona is one of the true jewels of the Tuscan “hill towns” and is often called the “City of Art.” Olive groves, vineyards, centuries-old buildings, winding streets, texture and vibrant sunlight... an artist's dream. For those taking the workshop, this will be our home for 7 days, in addition to the other scenic places we will be taking field trips to... Lake Trasimeno, Lucignano & Val di Chiana and more.

Cortona

8x8" Acrylic on Canvas

Price on Request

Finding Colors

This is another painting of Tuscany, where I will be teaching a workshop next September. The challenge in this piece, as with many landscapes, is to take what is essentially mostly green and find the colors. What made this piece tricky is that by mistake I left all my paints at home and didn't realize it till I got to my studio, all set to work. I was not driving back. So I scrounged up three trusty tubes of paint, (plus white), and managed to coax out all the colors in this piece. There is much to be said for working with a limited palette - cheaper and less schelpping!

Tuscan Vineyard

8x8" Price on Request

Tuscan Garden

After a wild two weeks that included a freak snowstorm resulting in an 11 day power outage, a family emergency and a hijacking by my husband to drive with him to an Orlando trade show for the purposes of being his "booth babe" (quite a stretch for a gal my age), I have had no time to paint. Until last night. When I finally made off to my studio and stood before my easel, I found myself in a stupor. 'What was I painting before all this comotion - apples? martinis? shoes? Oh yeah - Italy!' Although this little garden pathway could be anywhere, its a Tuscan countryside scene. I've decided to focus on landscape for a bit, in early preparation for next year's Italy workshop. So many hues - all so uniquely different, adding their voice to the lush natural tapestry.

Tuscan Garden

8x8" Acrylic on Panel

Tuscany Valley

The Tuscan countryside often looks like a patchwork of various greens, dotted with pinks, browns and lavenders. Altho I moved many elements around to create a more defined composition, I think I could have eliminated more of the shapes. Its always a balancing act to capture the character of the landscape, including all its colorful spots of information, and simplifying the scene for more dramatic impact.

Tuscan Valley

Acrylic on Board, 6x6"

"Modern Acrylics" by Patti Mollica

Well, here it is... just got my first copy in the mail today. I'm really happy with the reproduction quality and the layout, the publisher did a great job. It can be ordered from Amazon, and you can even peek inside at many of the pages. I actually don't have much to say... its all in the book!

Field and Sky

Landscapes are so forgiving. Transplant that bush and move it 6 feet left, move that mountain, fill out that forest, throw in a few flowering buds and ... ahh, the composition falls right into place. No one knows the artistic sleight of hand that was pulled and no one cares, as long as it pleases the eye.

Field and Sky

6x6" Acrylic on board

Granny & Friends

Good 'ol Granny - she's always willing to pose for me. In appreciation, I always paint her good side and smooth out the lumps and bumps. Those young plump cherries, so firm and shiny, never need any help.

Granny & Friends

6x6" Acrylic on Board

Eat, Drink, Play!

Yesterday I taught a full day workshop in painting techniques using Golden paints, gels and pastes. It's very rewarding - and fun - to turn artists on to completely new ways of creating artwork which is unrelated to artistic experience or drawing skills. The materials lend themselves to playing, creating, and being mesmerized by texture, sheen, and seeing how color dances with surface and light. Although I'm a representational painter, I often go to my studio and get lost in this world of color and texture magic. This is my "chicken soup for the soul" when I want to throw control to the wind and play with wild abandon. Sometimes I feel like a mad scientist conducting exotic experiments - mixing, pouring, layering, dripping, oozing, scraping, spraying, ... one idea feeding the next. I'm sure my husband would prefer some of this creative energy be directed towards cooking actual meals, like with food. No such luck anytime soon. Sorry honey, my studio is way more fun than the kitchen!

Love on the L

The thing I love about New York, which struck me the moment I moved here is the lack of self-consciousness of New Yorkers. They are very comfortable being who they are and doing whatever they do, in any surrounding. I attribute that to the fact that there is rarely a moment when they have the luxury of privacy, so that feeling of worrying about what others will think falls to the wayside quickly, and morphs into 'who cares'. It makes for great people watching, especially in the subways. Take a front row seat and enjoy the daily theatre.

Love on the L

8x8" Oil on canvas

Making the Rounds

These are the types of scenes I love to paint - quiet, unassuming, unremarkable moments that often go by unnoticed. The drama of the light, shadows, shapes, the little spots of colors ... they all add up to make a beautiful impression, a fleeting moment captured.

Making the Rounds

8x8" Oil on Board Price on Request

NYC Street Corner Scene

In regards to the "Caroline" post, I want to thank everyone who sent such nice emails, some telling similar stories with both happy and unhappy endings. I don't have time to respond to each and every email, but the show of support was heartwarming... thankyou! (BTW, please consider posting your comments and stories by hitting the "comments" button on the blog, rather than by emails to me, so everyone can see them). The bottom line is, trusting your precious work to an unknown gallery owner is taking a big chance. I learned the hard way.

I have a small works show coming up at my gallery in Provincetown and decided to start painting some more city scenes. We sold 3 NYC paintings last month and I'm starting to run low on "inventory". I had a photo of a street corner in Soho that I liked, and a photo of 3 businessmen in Queens that was also nice. Problem was that the corner photo was taken on a sunny day, the photo of men walking was shot on a cloudy day. My challenge was to make the men look like they fit in the corner scene, including the correct lighting conditions. A bit tricky, but here is the outcome.

Shop Talk

Oil on Board, 8x8" Price on Request

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