Westbury Gardens: an artists delight

A recent trip to Westbury Gardens on mother's Day with my family was met with ture awe and delight. This beautifully manicured oasis in the heart of Old Westbury is a rrare jewel on the island's north shore. We started our tour in the sprawling mansion, the handpainted wallpapers, and ornamental plasters greeting us in every room. The exotis marbles on table tops and surrounding fireplaces made me itch to break the "no photographs" rule. The most impressive 2 inch slab of solid lapis in the main foyer begged me to touch it despite the many "do not touch" signs. Yes the mansion is a decorative artist's paradise, every room had something to make me stop and stare! The outdoor gardens were just lovely my favorite being the reflecting pool surrounded by the wisteria trellis'. We packed a picnic lunch, brought a football and had a relaxing day on the great lawn. There was quite a few artists with easels propped up in various little corners of the grounds. If you are an artist or just appreciate an abundance of beauty , why not plan a day here and bring your easel.

Art in the Park

The Amityville Artists Circle is sponsoring it's annual Art in the Park event on May 16, at the Nautical Park on Ocean Ave. and Merrick Rd. The event promises to be a fun and inspriring day full of art, demonstrations, and entertainment. I will have a booth this year and plan on showcasing some of my newer paintings as well as doing a few demos myself. I will be dmonstrating fresco techniques, as well as japanese marbling. for info call 516 541 8782 see you there!

Japanese Marbling

This Easter I wanted to try something a bit different with my eggs. My friend Theresa Cheeck, from Texas sent me this lovely pear paperweight she made for Christmas. The pear had a paint technique that i had seen before but never had a clue how to do it. Theresa was generous enough to "walk me through " the process as if it were " Marbling for dummies" and gave me a link which is connected to the title of this post where I could buy all my supplies. I was set to try this wonderfully fun technique. I invited a few of my artist friends over and we marbled wooden eggs, trays, scarves and paper. The technique call "Sumingashi" is created by floating paint on water that has carageenan added to it. This bath now has a slickness to it that allows the paint to float on top. We then used a stylus to create patterns and designs in the paint colors. Our objects to marble were soaked in allum and then we dipped away. Our egges and scarves were really fun, the kids enjoyed watching the process. The fun thing about this is , the element of surprise, you really do not know what you will wind up with, but almost garanteed it will be beautiful! Thank you again Theresa!

From trash to treasure

Scouring garage sales is one of the highlights of the warmer months for me. Whenever I see a sign or a driveway full of "stuff" I slow the car down, it drives the kids nuts. Some of my best finds have been from garage and tag sales. The items I am always looking for are classically shaped wood furniture, glassware and large paintings in frames. I like finding pieces of furniture because sometimes they are really good as new, when they need a make over its an opportunity for me try "play" with a fun piece and I usually wind up donating that to my church. Glassware is some what of a hobby of mine, I like odd shapes, mismatched chrystal and stemware, decanters and vases. The paintings are always good finds in my opinion because if the canvas is usable, I can paint over the existing painting, if not I toss the painting and keep the frame. Frame can be expensive and having nice frames are important when I display my artwork. Someone's trash might be your treasure, and it really never hurts to look right?

Spring Cleaning

Well Finally Spring feels like it might be around the corner. I spent today cleaning my home, office and studio spaces. Many bags of garbage were disposed of! Today was a good day for me. I got alot accomplished here. I went through old sample boards, I tossed the ones that just don't sell. Like an old pair of shoes, if I have not worn them in over 2 years I toss them. With my sample boards if I have not sold it ever I tossed it. I recycled a few that I think might make interesting backgrounds for fine art type paintings. I organized my "inspiration" photo albums, and stacked my books and papers. The studio needed some tidying and the house was cleaned top to bottom including the cars! Taking inventory, and cleaning your work space helps keep you feeling in control and organized. For me it helps remind me of projects I found interesting a few months ago, and then unfortunately they may have been buried under the next "great project" added to my plate!For spring, its a good time to go through your ares, and re- establish your priorities. Plus it frees up time for gardening!

Learned Lessons in Reproducing Old Masters Paintings

As an artist I have many favorite painters, sculptors, and artists that I look up to, derive inspration from, and sometimes emulate. John William Godward is someone whose work moves me and inspires me. For many reason, I love his saturation of color his use of fabrics to convey form, and his incorporation of the often lovely female as the centerpiece of the painting. I had been wanting to incorporate my daughter into one of my favorite Godwards for a while. Over the last few months I gave it a go. I use these excersises as just that, an excersise in discapline, painting like someone else, as a challenge, and of course for my own pleasuer. My painting has a few lessons foe me. The lessons are positive and negative, I am very pleased with my renderings of the fabrics, shadows, marbles and girl. My dissappointment is that I have learned that not all paintings can be "morphed" successfully, my major failure in this painting is that my daughters face is not age appropriate to the original woman in the painting and that is why the painting looks a bit awkward. As artists we must learn from all endeavors, success is in everything because any lesson learned is of value, and all paintings serve as practice for your next Magnun Opus!

March 2009 Artist of the Month

The Faux Forum is my cyber home away from home. This is an online community where I have met and collaborated with artist friends from around the world. The Faux Forum is a place where I go for critique and help with my paintings while in progress, it's a place where I can ask questions when experiencing proffessional, or technical difficulties on a project. Faux Forum is a place where I can find out about upcoming events or plan to meet my friends at planned events. I have been honored with the Artist Of the Month recognition and I am in tremendous company. The artists recognized previosly is a long and impressive list, being added to this list is very special to me , being amongst such gifted talents, humbling. Take a moment to explore this wonderful online community, you will find some inspiring how to demo;s, some useful information on products and some interesting techniques. http://www.fauxforum.com

Sunday Sauce

Recently my husband has started taking an active interest in the house hold chore of cooking. Could it be because I burn everything? nahhhh We have been watching Lifeschool tv, and Stve Schirripa's "Hungry?" is our new favorite cooking show. He recently did a program featuring a Sunday Sauce. This is an Italian favorite and we decided to try the recipe for Dale's(my husband) birthday dinner. The recipre included Braciole, meatballs, sausage, cavatelli, and lotsa cheese! The recipe was shown on the show and made in a resturant in Littel italy in N.Y.C. We cooked the sauce for about 4 hours and the results were the hands down best sauce I have ever eaten,in fact the entire family agreed that the Irishman made the bets we Italians ever had! Thanks Steve! Here is the recipe, invite lots of friends over get some good red wine, and some home made canoli for dessert never does any harm! Braciole parsley, grated parmigiano cheese, sliced garkic, grated provolone, prosciutto fat, pignoli, raisins soaked in water, salt, pepper, chuck filet shoulder(pounded flat) mix your parsley (chopped) bread crumbs, chopped garlic and olive oil to a thick paste. Lay out each filet and put about 1.1/2 tbs of breadcrumb mixture in each slice. sprinkle cheeses, raisins, nuts, and place small piece of fat on top. wrap tightly with butchers twine. Braise in Olive oil on all sides. cook in sauce. Sauce 1/4c of olive oil and 2 cloves sliced garlic add 4 smashed shallots to pan and brown to golden. add 1/2 cup diced inions. 3 quarts of sauce(plain tomato) pinch oregano,lots of fresh basil , salt pepper to taste. add meat, braciloe, meatballs, and 6 sweet sausage. cook for 3-4 hours, add serve over cavatelli, with generous dallop of ricotta cheese! enjoy

Usinig "down" time to better our skills as artists.

There is no getting around the fact that we are in an economic down turn. For many of us in the Decorative Arts field, we are experiencing a slow down in work flow, as is the entire country and other fields. During slower times people can do many things to continue to help secure work, and market themselves. Today I would like to focus on bettering skills as an artist during a slower period. Maybe you have a few days here and there that are not filled. Can this time be used to paint a project purely for the sake of challenging yourself as an artist? Have you been wanting to try a different medium? such as pastels? Have you been thinking your landscape skills, or composition skills are lacking? This is the time to be painting, researching and planning for future jobs. This is a time when a painting a day, or week can really build upon skills you already have , or skills you would like to really fine tune. Libraries are free, as is internet resources such as ARC and Wikipedia, I find so much inspiration on these sights. Why not plan a project for yourself, today. I have come to realize that although I am slower than I would like in my business, I have never spent more time cranking out painting after painting these past few months. Once the creative juices flow, let yourself go! If you do start painting I would love to see what you are working on. I will be sure to share some of my newer inspirations. Have fun!

Kitchen Cabinets Revamped

Let's face it Kitchen cabinets are expensive, in a sluggish economy renovating a kitchen can work itself right off the "to do " list. If you have a kitchen that has wood cabinets, they can be finished in a ver affordable , highly durable, beautiful finish. We strip the wood, prime then and apply the desired finish. The finish can be a lovely faux wood, a warm cherry look or glazed oak. Some of our lovely finishes can include crackling, distressing, pickling, and handpainted designs. Our variety of samples also show various plasters, activated finishes and all colors.