The Chairs reconstructed

The Chairs reconstructed
Originally uploaded by debclarke art

a friend on flickr (and other sites) recently reminded me that this is a pretty cool 'ahhtsie (my word)' self portrait. yeah...i really like it too.

Intershell Seafood, oil on canvas $275

This is a quick study that I painted during a Sunday morning painting class this past summer.  They hadn't started to set the staging for Fiesta, so this must have been painted in early June.

The painting has been donated to raise funds for my friend Jim and his wife.  Jim ran Jim's Frame Shop for years.  He was my framer.  Their handicapped van rusted out and they are now stuck without transportation.  The community is raising funds to help them get a new van.  This painting is at Stuff on Main Street in Gloucester.  All funds from the sale of this painting goes towards the fund to buy the van.

best,

deb

last summer morning 2010

someday i should learn to paint like this.  for now, the camera does the work.

best,

deb

Happy Fall!

Equinox Magic

going down street last day of summer

Introducing Something Sketchy!

You can follow the progress of a few intrepid sketchbook friends

complete sketchbooks for 

sketchbookproject

(if you wish to participate, you must order your sketchbook by October 31st.  return the book by mid-january.  first stop:  Space, Portland Maine in March!)

  

Something Sketchy, gloucester massachusetts
 is the blog we have created to document our progress.  we invite you to follow us, and our sketchbooks as the work gets created, then sent off on a road tour with 17,000+ other sketchbooks.  you don't have to be an artist to participate.  all you have to do is complete and return the sketchbook.  the image above is from my spiral bound collection.  clickie, clickie...

non-medicated spider

heh...this spider interferes my work.

work in progress

some downtime

downtime from on-line doings, from the compulsion to 'make'.  i've been looking at a lot of my work, moving it around.  sent a painting off to hang at the Windemere Gallery of Arts and Antiques in Rockport.  It's a fairly large panel for me, 4x5' or so.  it's an oil of a milky magnolia harbor with some dinghies and the pier in the back. maybe i posted a picture of it already?   have sent some work upstairs to storage.  replenished my blocks of charcoal.  have located the black pigment.  have some eggs and paper.

all of my brushes are clean.

and i don't want to paint.  i've packed the oils away.

i have 2 reverse glass paintings to finish.  one is a double sided Our Lady of the Lilies.  the other is of 2 lobster boats, the Dog and I and it's gray neighbor at the dock.  and i have 2 completed reverse glass paintings to frame:  sockeye salmon and The Chorus Line.  will finish framing the Chorus Line first, then it can go to the Windemere to join it's companion "5 Stand".

this is my vacation time until next wednesday.  have done a lot of housecleaning, still have more to do.

but, first to finish, then to draw.

and walk, and read and take a civilized nap or two.

have a few video thoughts too.

later and best,
deb.

A Tale of 2 Paintbrushes

My David was good friends with Armand Sindoni and received one of Armand's paintbrushes, along with a giclee print of one of Armand's last paintings as a remembrance gift from Armand's family.  The brush was proudly displayed above Armand's print, until we moved.  

A few months back I was painting when David took the brush from my hand, claiming it was Armand's.  I said:  "Well, you better put it someplace safe, because if I need a brush and find a brush, I use it."  and that was that,  until yesterday.  Yesterday I cleaned a flat brush when I realized the handle was encrusted with chrome green, a color I do not use.  The handle was used to mix a vat of paint (something I have never done). The ferrule encrusted with old oil.  I checked all of my paintbrushes. The ferrules of all of my old brushes were scraped clean. of encrusted paint.  A former studio assistant used a razor blade to clean my old brushes (a practice I put an end to...the bristles were getting shaved in the process).    I showed the brushes to David, told him that chrome green was a color commonly in use by painters of Armand's generation, then showed him my greens based on veridian and thalo...my greens lean towards blue. David agreed.  

The flat is the Armand Sindoni brush, the bare ferrule bright brush is mine.

I wanted to share some of Armand's work with you.  This photo of him with a self portrait is the only one I could find. He was known for his portraits, but he also painted seascapes.  Below is a link to the Gloucester Schooner Festival tribute to Armand.

Tribute to Armand Sindoni

best, deb.

ps:  while writing this post i looked in the dictionary for a description of bright and flat brushes (always confuse them).  i discovered that the american heritage college dictionary does not include brushes under the meanings and usage of 'bright', 'flat', 'filbert' and 'round'.   a quick google search gave me the answer.

The Chairs

This morning the frame gave way on a glass painting that i did last year for The Peabody Historical Society's "Historic Interpretation" show.  the glass did not break, but the frame is very dangerous.  i think the work can work well with mirror clamps.  i cleaned up some of the mirror and took some pictures.  i came up with a few possibilities to develop some variations on the 'wedding chairs'

this is the slide show.  there are more detailed descriptions on my flickr site.

best,

deb

Progress report: If their mothers knew

grid with thoughts of Poussin's triangular composition.

foiled comp

white aluminum foiled comp

the gilder's oil failed. good, now i can take some chances.

if it's going to fail, might as well do it brilliantly.

now i'm scraping back through the layers.

best,

\deb

ps:  there is a big cruise ship anchored just inside the breakwater.  lots of shuttles flying back and forth.  it's going to be a busy day at bananas.  almost 3000 peeps on the ship including crew.  goodmorninggloucester.com is sure to have plenty of updates to keep you all informed.

The Sketchbook Project: 2011

The Sketchbook Project: 2011 » Art House Co-op | We build art projects and communities

I keep running across links to this. the deadline is October 31st for the 2011 tour. I might do this. it's just a little sketchbook.

Magnolia boats 2001

The  Magnolia Boats 2001 can now be seen at The Windemere Gallery of Arts and Antiques in Rockport.  The painting is oil on canvas, painted from memory.  it was a white hot day in the milky harbor. 

Cape Ann on The Arts Map: Connecting Artists and the Community

Check it out! There are a lot of artists around here on the Arts Map. The good folk at the arts map are using Cape Ann as a test case for this type of focused arts area mapping. cool. I'm on the map, are you?

Cape Ann on The Arts Map: Connecting Artists and the Community

the work continues: the wip: if their mothers knew

had to bring this canvas indoors last night to escape the ravages of Earl.  it was a non-event, just rain, good thing i brought it in.  i took this opportunity to work for a bit under incandescent light, and low light.  and started again.  i like the pentimento and heed the advice that some pigments placed over a layer of ivory black may curdle.  i'm making this up as i go along, so who knows what the finished work will be, i surely don't.  not even an intimation, other than there will be figures.

best,

deb.

"Sarto shoes, a drawing"

"Sarto shoes, a drawing" copyright clarke 2010, gloucester ma, mixed media on canvas 24x24", a detail

"Sarto shoes, a drawing"

c'est finis.

the work continues: the wip: if their mothers knew

this is the 38x42" canvas that i started earlier this summer.  it has been turned to the wall and moved around until i was ready to deal with it.  this past monday i washed the image down with the thought to define an aluminum field.  not yet.  this painting/drawing is at an interesting stage:  it can go in many directions.  i just don't know which interests me most:  the juxtaposition of absurdly small and absurdly large figures with a mixed up perspective, or do i refine larger torso shapes, the three graces, and leave all the other references to resolve within a few simpler shapes.  the painting is warmer than this photo suggests.  might be time to get a new camera.  best, deb

ps:  i will look at some altar paintings.  somehow those venetian painters managed to make us believe giants dwelt among us and stood on the heads of the prominent citizens.  really, those paintings crack me up hmmmm...

how swiftly the object of my visual affection changes.  art is a fickle lover.

Wyeth's boots "Trodden Weed"

Andrew Wyeth's boots.  this painting is one of those images that haunts and informs my art everytime i consider feet, shoes, the incomplete figure on the picture plane.  Wyeth is considered by a lot of viewers as a 'realistic' painter.  Wyeth considered himself an abstractionist.  it has taken me a long time to 'get' it.  maybe...

Van Gogh's "Shoes, 1888"

18x21 3/4", oil on canvas

collection Metropolitan Museum

found this image at artcyclopedia.  vangogh knew how to draw with paint.  i should take some lessons.  it is possible these shoes are life sized.  sometimes these views looking 'down' on an object or landscape give me vertigo when observed hanging on a wall.  yes, i still have a lot to learn.