Day 7 of #30paintings30days #PaintSeptember ! This is another 5"x7" abstracted landscape for only $75.

Day 5of #paintseptember.  A little landscape 5"x7" in watermedia.  $75 

Day 4 of #paintseptember #30paintings30days.

5"x7"watercolor $75.

This painting is in need of a title!  Any ideas?

Day 3 painting inspired by the crazy rain storm the night before.
5" x 7. Mixed water media $75.

#PaintSeptember #30paintings30days

5" x 7" mixed media on paper $75

Day 2 of #30paintings30days #paintseptember

Untitled.  5" x 7. Water media on paper $75.

It has been one of the most difficult summers ever.  So many thanks to those wonderful people who helped me through.  I realized that a big part of the problem was that although I have been actively involved in promoting my art, I really just stopped creating !  So I'm taking the "September challenge"  30 paintings in 30 days.  Wish me luck!

Mystery Solved!!

Mystery  Solved!!

The picture on the left is of my daughter, Carolyn on her 7th birthday in 2002.

A few days before her 17th birthday, we went to the Bouckville Antiques Fest.  Wandering aimlessly, we were quite shocked to find a picture of her!  We bought it of course.  There was no signature and  nothing on the back to identify it so we nicknamed it “Creepy Carolyn” and hung it on our wall.  And the search was on.

I usually don’t have any problems finding information on artists, artwork and provinance.  It comes from a time when I worked for a serious collector.  He always wanted to know exactly what his pieces were and how much they were worth.  I’m pretty good at it if I do say so myself.  But this had me stymied.

The clues: 
It’s nailed into a gilded wooden frame.  Nailing was the only way to affix art to a frame up until the 1960’s when those huge staples became popular for their convenience.  A carved gilded frame would be appropriate for an object of some importance to the  original owner.  The design of the carving looks early 20th century.

It’s the print-probably photographic-of a painting.  The style of the painting reminded me of 1920’s American work, her hairstyle definitely confirms the era.  This print was pasted onto thick card,  a treatment which was popular in post-WW1 and pre-WW2 photography. 

She has a stylized halo which probably makes her some sort of holy person.  Blue in religious art connotes purity and high esteem.  I thought perhaps the image of a saint?

Browsing art books, sites and questions on chat boards netted me nothing.

Then yesterday, I stood outside a thrift shop talking to a friend, when over her shoulder I saw this image. 

Same halo, same style, and almost the same frame…..but signed!!  Not only that but with a label on the back.

From there it was just too easy. 

“Creepy Carolyn” is actually “ Mary Most Holy” by  American Artist C. Bosseron Chamber (1882 - 1964)




Now to find out who the sitter was :)

Yay!

Just a quick post today.

I am very pleased to announce that several of my prints are now available for sale at the Munson-Williams Proctor Art Institute Museum's gift shop!

The Artist's talk

     I just want to thank all those who braved the icy cold to come out for last night's Art Talk!  I had a really good time and it was wonderful to be able to spend time afterwards chatting with you all :-)

    

The Artist's Talk

Found on Facebook with many attributions.

     I've been invited to give an Artist's talk.  On Monday.  In front of other artists.  And normal people.

   I'll be talking about all of the series that I'm working on at the moment, and why I feel that it's perfectly OK to work both realistically and abstractly at the same time.  It's funny the number of people who seem to have hard and fast art laws.  This could end up being a rumble!

 

   This will be held at the Hamilton Public Library on Monday, at 7 pm.   Please come and join me!
 

Ribbons watercolor painting

Ribbons wall art posters by kathysgallery
Look at other Pink Posters at zazzle.com

"Ribbons" Watercolor 2012.
Working still with  flow, movement and the lovely sketchy effects of very liquid watercolors.  I like the intensity of the colors and the way that this one holds the viewer's attention with the almost Celtic knot  line configuration.The original is on my wall and is a real conversation starter.

Once again, the original is not for sale but a very good quality print is on Zazzle.com

Blue, Red and Yellow abstraction

Blue, Red and Yellow Watercolor abstract art Posters by kathysgallery


Still having a good time with the new Windsor & Newton watercolor set!  I particularly enjoyed the illusion of movement in this one!

Green, Red and Yellow watercolor

Green, Red and Yellow watercolor painting Print by kathysgallery

 

The original is not for sale.

 

Still enjoying the semi abstraction!  I like the movement and color pop of this one.  

Red, Brown and Sepia abstract watercolor painting

Red, Brown and Sepia abstract watercolor painting Poster by kathysgallery


This one is a little different for me.  It can be difficult to stop before you get too descriptive with a landscape.  I like it because at a distance you see the landscape, but as you get closer you see the lovely variations in color that only happen with watercolor.

The original is not for sale, but you can click on the image to purchase prints starting small and less than $10, or go larger and also inexpensive!

Prints from Zazzle.com

The wonderful thing about abstraction is that each person who sees it sees something different there.  What I think I painted isn't necessarily what the viewer sees, to me this is much more interesting than a stagnant realistic piece.  These pieces invite conversation.

The above piece, "Brown Squiggly" is for me a prime example of this.  It's available on Zazzle.com/kathysgallery as a print, starting at less than $10.  The "for sale" tab at the top will take you to a slideshow of this and other recently completed abstract prints.

The Marry Me Tree - Engagement/wedding painting commission,

"The Marry Me Tree"  24 x 48" mixed acrylic media

Thought you might like to see this wedding gift for a very different couple than the last.  Lee carved the words "MARRY ME" into the bark of a tree near where he and Kaysie hiked.  He could only use his 1/2 hour lunch breaks so it took literally weeks to complete.  Finally he took her on the long awaited hike....and in response she jumped on him!

The wedding gift

When people I care about have gotten married, I've offered to make paintings for them.  I like the idea of them having an actual piece of artwork on the walls of their first place.  They generally have chosen a place that has some meaning for them as a couple such as the spot on the mountain where he proposed or the view from their first apartment together.  I love making them as I know that they are cherished.

Usually they come out as landscapes and I have shown them as such.  This one is special though.  Though I'm not known as a particularly sentimental person Sam wrote a description that brought a tear to my eye,

"We were walking and it was the most beautiful evening.  It was frosty, the air was crisp and fresh and all the stars were out...It was amazing and so romantic to be walking hand in hand .  So in love and planning our future.  Even now evenings like that take me straight back"

Little red corvette

Here is the final Christmas car commission.  Done in pencil, watercolor and pastel.

Corvette commission

8 x 10 Watercolor, Pencil and Pastel drawing on archival paper.  This is the 3rd of the commissions I had with a Christmas deadline.

Another Christmas commission

A new view of the same truck as yesterday, commissioned by the same customer for his wife.  He must really love her (or it!)  8 x 10 drawing pencils on archival paper, 2012.

Christmas commissions

This has been a wonderfully busy time for me!  So many commissions due at Christmas and immediately thereafter.  This is the first of them, commissioned by the truck owner's husband and not shown until now so as not to spoil the surprise.  it's small, 8 x 10 mixed media, pencil watercolor and pastel.