March | 2013 | The Studio

Archive for March, 2013

More on Van Gogh

Posted in Little Known Facts, Trivia, tagged Van Gogh, Vincent Van Gogh on March 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Much has been written about the mental state of Vincent Van Gogh. It’s been proposed that he had paint poisoning, schizophrenia, syphilis, or bipolar disorder. Any of these can account for the periods of mania followed by deep depression that he suffered. Whatever it may have been, surely had he lived in our time he could have enjoyed a cure. But what would that have meant? Would he still have produced the multitudes of beautiful art that he gave us?

Read Full Post »

Happy Birthday Vincent

Posted in Little Known Facts, Trivia, tagged Art Camp, Blossoming Almonds, Starry Night, Van Gogh, Vincent Van Gogh on March 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Born on March 30, 1853, Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist who didn’t paint until his late twenties but produced more than 860 oil paintings, as well as several thousand drawings and watercolors before he died of a gunshot wound at the age of 37. And while his bright, colorful, energetic work was not appreciated by the art world and collectors during his lifetime, he is now one of the most recognizable artists in history.

Of all the paintings by famous artists that I have done with my kids classes and at Art Camp the one, by far, that the kids know and want to paint is Starry Night.

Van Gogh’s brother, Theo, who was an art dealer, supported him throughout his life. Theo died six months after Vincent. Theo’s wife, Johanna, inherited the bulk of Vincent’s paintings and it was she who promoted his work after his death and because of her constant promotion, we know Vincent Van Gogh today as the wonderful painter he was. One of my favorite Van Gogh paintings, Blossoming Almond Tree, is one that his family cherished. Van Gogh painted this piece as a gift to his brother’s newborn baby. Vincent was deeply moved when they name the baby Vincent. It is an excellent example of the Japanese influence in art that he admired.

Read Full Post »

Palmer’s First Painting

Posted in Art Class, tagged acrylic, Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, impressionism, Landscape, Virginia Artist on March 29, 2013| Leave a Comment »

We had a fun art class with kids yesterday. This was Palmer’s first class with me. And didn’t he do a great job on his Capital View painting?! Terrific! And Zach did a wonderful painting as well. That’s Zach behind his painting. His mom won’t let me post his cute face. 🙂

Good job boys. Now what might we do next week?

Read Full Post »

Shelly’s Poppy II

Posted in Art Class, tagged Art Class, Blue Ridge Arts Council, daily painter, flowers, impressionism, oil painting, Virginia Artist on March 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

A few weeks ago I shared with you Shelly’s Poppy (Check it out here). Here is the finished painting. Shelly is a wonderful painter with a great eye for color mixing. We’ve been painting together for a couple of years and it’s always lots of fun! Great job Shelly. This is your best yet!

Read Full Post »

Time to Plan for Summer Art Camp

Posted in Art Camp on March 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Even though there is still a little snow on the ground outside we have to start planning for summer. We have a terrific line-up planned for this summer. And this year we have something for young artists of all ages. Sessions are planned for ages 5-7, ages 8-13, and ages 14-18. Click here to learn more about it and be sure to click on the flyer to print out the schedule. I’m looking forward to working with all the young artists this summer painting some wonderful works of art!

Read Full Post »

Painting with Icing

Posted in Dogs, Recipes, tagged Dogs, pupcakes, Small Town Life on March 26, 2013| 2 Comments »

A week ago on Monday morning while snow was coming down I got ready to go to work. I called the dogs to say goodby and there was no Jed. I continued to call and look and no Jed. Finally I heard a sound under the deck. He had crawled under and gotten stuck way up toward the house where there is just a little space between the deck and the ground. No matter how much calling and coaxing I did, he could not come out. The good news was this was not the first time this had happened. He did it last summer while I was away and the dog sitter had to get someone to cut a hole in the deck to get him out. So I thought, “Ok, I just need to remove the wood screws from these boards that were cut and replaced and he’ll pop right out”. Of course, it could not be that easy. My little drill wasn’t hardy enough to pull those heavy screws out. So I called Allen in a panic. He was out-of-town on a job an hour away. So I panicked again. I called several other people but no one was around. Finally Allen called back and said he reached his plumber who had the right equipment and would come by to help me. They arrived (father and son) about 10 minutes later and within another 10 minutes they had the boards up and a muddy Jed out of his trap. Woo Hoo! I was so relieved and so grateful. I didn’t know how to thank these guys (who are also dog lovers). Finally it occurred to me a couple of days later that everyone loves cupcakes so I made these chocolate pupcakes for them. I tried to make them look like Jed. They loved them. And I love Sunlite Plumbers! They did some plumbing work for me a few weeks ago and did a great job….plus they rescue stuck dogs on the side. What’s not to love about that???!!!

Read Full Post »

Snow, Again?!!!

Posted in daily painter on March 25, 2013| 1 Comment »

This is what we woke up to this morning. Lincoln went out and looked around and said, “What the heck?!” I have been working on a huge Plein-air project that I am excited about getting started but it’s going to be really difficult to start with snow everywhere. Here are some quick shots from my yard at 6:30 a.m. this morning.

Read Full Post »

Fabulously Talented Artists at the Fine Arts Festival

Posted in Serendipity, tagged Art Class, Virginia Artist, Warren County Art Festival on March 24, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I really enjoyed my visit yesterday to the Fine Arts Festival at Warren County High School. It featured art from students in the entire school system. The art teachers are doing a terrific job with these kids.

Reece with Self Portrait

I ran into my friend Reece who showed me this wonderful self-portrait that he did. He turn 17 today! Happy Birthday Reece.

Logan’s Owl

I also saw art by one of my students, Logan. She drew a splendid owl. Great job Logan. There was so much to see! It was energetic and captivating. Wonderful job by the artists and their teachers.

Read Full Post »

Warren County To Celebrate 3rd Fine Arts Festival

Posted in daily painter on March 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

The Fine Arts Festival is an opportunity for teachers to showcase their student’s artistic achievements and allows the community to see their work. The Festival is open from 9 – 1 today at Warren County High School. Stop by for a few minutes and encourage a student to continue to be creative.