n.b.miller

Summer Night

2011-06-25T14:40:00.000-07:00


Monhegan Moonrise, oil on linen, 36 x 24, 2009

Illustration Friday is running a them that gets my heart pumping: midsummer night! How I long to be visiting the far northern reaches of Scandinavia one midsummer's day eve! Till then, Maine is about as north as I can get. This is the moon rising over the tip of Monhegan Island.

Shadow Paintng

2011-06-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

Arrangement for Ukulele, oil on canvas, 16 x 16 inches, 2011

This week's prompt over at Illustration Friday is shadows. A good deal of this painting is about the shadows cast by the objects. So I hope it fits the bill. This piece was part of my one person show last month at Artists' House Gallery in Philadelphia. I believe the paint was still wet when I dropped it off. I hope I canpry it out of the frame because of course I now see several things I'd like to fix!

BICYCLE

2011-04-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

Portland Delivery, oil & pencil on linen, 9 x 12, 2009

Bicycle is the theme today at Illustration Friday. I have only once painted a bicycle, and here it is! It's very uncharacteristic in style as well as in execution. I was so worried about depicting the bicycle accurately that I traced it carefully in pencil onto the primed canvas before "coloring it in", not at all my usual slap-happy style!

I had been showing at a gallery in Portland Maine (Susan Maasch Fine Art) and was dropping off some work one late afternoon when I saw this bicycle delivery guy sailing slowly past on his red bike. There was something about the light and the balanced motion of the scene that caught at my heart. I happened to have my camera in hand and click: almost unbelieveably I managed to catch the moment. I don't usually work from photos, depict action, work from tracing or even do any drawing at all before painting, but I did this time and was somewhat pleased with the result. Something to revisit in future perhaps.

I felt later, looking at the scene that it had a faint whiff of Christen Købke about it, which must have unconsciously caused the initial attraction. I have had a postcard of this painting on my studio wall for years.

Last Autumn, Bottled

2011-04-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

Green and Yellow, oil on gessoed ragboard, 8 x 10 inches, 2011

Bottled is this week's prompt at Illustration Friday. I love this little brown bottle which once held a nutritional supplement we were giving my son with autism when he was younger, and I use it over and over again in my work. I think it signifies a simpler time, when we were full of hope and energy. Still have lots of hope, but less energy! ;-) The coreopsis blossom and nasturtium leaves were from my late autumn garden. They lasted a long time in my chilly studio. The apple on the left only went into the compost bin a month or two ago...very long-lasting! This recently completed piece is on the invitation card for my upcoming show:

Nancy Bea Miller: recent work

May 4-29, 2011
Artists' House Galley
57 North 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA

Receptions:

First Friday:
May 6, 5 - 8:30pm
Sunday,
May 8, 1 - 4pm

http://www.artistshouse.com/exhibits/next.html

Duet

2011-04-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Joined, oil on linen, 12 x 9 inches, 2011

DUET is this week's prompt at Illustration Friday. This is a painting I completed about a month ago and I think it fits the bill. I am in the Philly area and we sure do love our soft pretzels here! I am originally from NYC and we loved our pretzels there too, but the NYC pretzels are an entirely different configuration. In any shape, soft pretzels are best bought from a street vendor on a cold day, eaten warm with a zigzag of mustard. If you get a blob of mustard on your cheek and someone kisses it off...all the better!

Surrender

2011-02-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

Oliver on the Floor, oil on canvas, 20 x 42 inches, 1992-3

Surrender is the theme this week at Illustration Friday! Battling to meet several important deadlines and to endure a bunch of winter storms I had surrendered the idea of participating. But this morning, imminent deadlines met, storms having done their worst, I took a deep breath and decided I wanted to play after all. Better late than never!

The model for this painting was a young man I was friendly with at art school. He was immensely talented, but unfocused. I knew he needed money and so I was happy to pay him to pose now and then. He had long thick blonde hair and a Jesus beard, till one day he showed up completely shaven! We were in the middle of a painting too. Resigned, I put that one away and started this one, which seemed to better suit both our moods. Unfortunately, the shaving seemed to be indicative of some "casting off" process, and after only a couple of sessions he disappeared. Later I heard he'd headed to California.

The painting never got finished, but there is something about it I like, despite its rough, unfinished, state.

Chicken

2011-01-14T14:13:00.000-08:00


Free Range, oil on canvas, 8 x 10 inches, 2009

This week the theme over at Illustration Friday is Chicken. At the risk of being a literalist, this painting from about a year ago sprang to mind. I painted this at the 2009 Plein Air at Beaver Farm event. It's a beautiful biodynamic working farm but it's a real farm too, nothing boutique about it. Nature red in tooth and claw and all that. I was surprised when several people who first saw it said "Awww, sweet!" and "Isn't that cute?" While painting I had been thinking about these chickens, happily roaming the range and killing bugs and even small animals (apparently they love to eat field mice, baby snakes and voles!) as fast as their greedy beaks would allow, and how they would eventually be food themselves. Just cycle of life thoughts, nothing tragic, but certainly far removed from sweet or cute. I was thrilled when the person who bought it actually shivered and said "Ooh, this one is a bit creepy! Makes you think, doesn't it?" YES! Makes me think it certainly found the right home, this painting. ;-)

Déjà Vu

2011-01-08T19:05:00.000-08:00

Pears and a Pot, 11 x 14, oil on linen, 2008

Not really sure what to put in for Illustration Friday this week. The theme is Déjà Vu, the feeling that you have already experienced a moment which is currently happening. Who hasn't felt this, but it seems a tough concept to handle visually. This comes close, I think, to expressing that feeling that creeps up on you... a concealed memory projected onto the present moment. A little unnerving!

Resolutions

2011-01-02T15:19:00.000-08:00


Hazel and Katie, oil on canvas 28 x 44, 2007

RESOLUTIONS is this week's theme over at Illustration Friday. I don't believe in New Year's resolutions per se, but taking stock and taking appropriate action is a good idea at any time. Let's hope it is more than just once a year! ;-) My developing resolution of late is to dig deeper.

This painting from a few years back seems apt for the Resolutions theme. It was recently featured on the fantastically interesting blog Women Painting Women. I was thrilled, surprised and grateful that it caught the eye of the WPW folks.

Resolutions or no resolutions, Happy New Year everyone!

Savour

2010-11-27T14:26:00.000-08:00

Lobster with Brioche, oil on canvas, 2009, 20 x 24 inches

This was painted last year for the "Consider the Lobster" exhibit at gWatson Gallery in Stonington, ME. In case you're interested here's the link! For a funny story about how I rented the lobster from a props supplier and then could not bear to return it, click here.

Burning

2010-11-13T18:34:00.001-08:00

The rose is burning
in its watery vessel-
searing my eyes

Tangerine Rose, 7 x 5 inches, oil on linen mounted to panel
This piece will be on display in this upcoming exhibit:
Small Works 2010
Artists' House Gallery
December 3 to December 24, 2010
Two receptions:
First Friday:
December 3,
5 - 8:30pm
Sunday,
December 5,
1 - 4pm

Artists' House
57 North Second Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 923-8440
artistshouse@aol.com

Philly Photo Day exhibition

2010-11-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

Nancy Bea Miller, Sarah Barr, Lisa Minitz at the

Philly Photo Day Exhibition
November 11 - 21, 2010
Philadelphia Photo Art Center
Grey Area, Crane Arts Building
1400 N. American Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
215.232.5678
267.324.3268 (fax)
info@philaphotoarts.org

I do a lot of photography in addition to painting. I don't consider myself a professional, even though I have had several photographs bought for book-covers, magazines and websites, and I am fairly regularly commissioned to take product shots, art shots and head shots. But I still think of it more as a hobby. I don't really know what I am doing. Photography simply satisfies my unflagging impulse for observation and appreciation of life and self-expression, and in a quick-n-easy way too! I can't be painting 24/7 but I do have a camera to hand at all moments. You never know when something will reach out and grab your heart. When that happens I reach out and grab my camera. As Baudelaire put it:
To glorify the cult of images (my great, my only, my earliest passion)

This is the first time I've exhibited my photography in a gallery setting. On October 28, Philly Photo Day, photographers took their best shot within the Philadelphia city limits and sent it in to the Philadelphia Photo Art Center. The work was catalogued, compiled and printed out on huge banners and hung.

"Leaf Blow on Clearfield Street". On Philly Photo Day I happened to be driving through the East Falls section of the city when a sudden gust of wind whipped the leaves into a hail of gold. I checked behind me, saw there was nobody coming up and quickly shot the scene. Talk about driving while distracted (just kidding, I of course, stopped the car while shooting.) Steering wheels make good tripods! Rotopods? :-) Prints can be ordered through the PPAC: $10 for a 5 x 7, $20 for an 8.5 x 11. If you're interested in purchasing a copy of "Leaf Blow" contact the PPAC and tell them you want image number 168.

Philly Photo Day Exhibition
November 11 - 21
Philadelphia Photo Art Center
Grey Area, Crane Arts Building
1400 N. American Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
215.232.5678
267.324.3268 (fax)
info@philaphotoarts.org

It is truly an amazingly interesting show, giving a wildly varied portrait of a day. It should interest Philadelphia historians and sociologists as well as artists and anyone who just loves Philadelphia!

Afterwards, Red Velvet

2010-11-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

Winged Cupcake
A friend took me out for lunch last week. This is a rare event because I don't actually like to go out to lunch...it disrupts my working day and I have little enough time as it is. I'll go out for breakfast or dinner, but lunch, almost never. Still, a number of factors lined themselves up and off we went to lunch. Great place, the food was absolutely delicious and Roz suggested we have dessert too. I looked at all the gorgeous baked goods lined up like sugary little soldiers in the lighted case and knew a fierce hunger...to paint, not eat. So I had a cup of tea while Roz ate a sweet, and afterwards I carried my dessert home in a little box to paint. Which I did. Yum.

Winged Cupcake, oil on canvas on panel, 4 x 6 inches

RACING CLOUDS

2010-10-23T07:45:00.001-07:00

UNDECIDED SKY
is the title of this recent painting. I am the founding director of Plein Air for Camphill, a non-traditional plein air event that benefits a program for teens and young adults with special needs in the Phoenixville, PA area. There is one big day of art-making in August when the bulk of the fifty-odd invited artists come to one location and paint/draw/sculpt/carve/video (and visit and feast.) However, organizing artists is not really like herding cats, it is like herding FERAL cats! So I usually arrange a "pre-make-up" day for people who know in advance they can't make the big day and also a make-up day after the event. This painting was done at the pre-make-up day in June. It was squally weather, with streaming sun and gusty showers, clouds threatening or benevolent constantly racing across the sky! We went ahead and held the event despite the iffy weather.

I was too busy organizing to paint while people arrived and did their thing and had a communal lunch. After lunch the skies really went dark and all the other artists left. I stayed to talk to the school administrator, when suddenly the skies cleared. I'd already set up my painting gear and so I broke off the conversation abruptly and raced to my easel. I painted like mad for less than an hour. When rain started bouncing off the oil paint I knew my "window" had closed and I packed up and left. At the time I felt the piece was unfinished, and that maybe I'd do some touch-up back in the studio. But when I looked at it, a day or two later, it felt complete. I did nothing more than varnish it a few months later and put it in a frame. I was thrilled when it sold at the event reception, and to some well-known collectors too!
Sometimes it's good to be undecided.

Undecided Sky, 11 x 17 inches, oil on gessoed wood, 2010

Foggy Day Tree

2010-10-20T13:01:00.001-07:00

I went out painting today at Valley Forge. The plan was to meet up with another artist. When I arrived, to be honest, had I been by myself I would have called it quits after one look at the grey misty sky and one lash of the cold wet breeze. That's the beauty of partnership. There Liz was, already setting up to paint, so I stifled my misgivings and did likewise. And what a nice surprise!

I did not stay long because my hands became numb and my nose turned into a faucet, but I was really somewhat pleased with my efforts. Liz and I decided we'd try never to be deterred by weather, but to adopt "Just paint it!" as our motto. Or maybe "Just say no to not painting."? ;->

Foggy Day Tree, oil on linen, 8 x 10 inches

Oldie but Goodie

2010-08-04T06:24:00.001-07:00

Looking through some old files and saw this little cutie...a birthday party cupcake homemade by me for one of the little boy's birthdays. Cupcakes are so in these days, but they tend to be much larger, with a lavish crown of icing. I don't think anybody uses sprinkles anymore either...a blast from the past! And, in truth, this was probably only five or six years ago...how times change! Still sweet though. ;-)

Trail Light

2010-06-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

Light in the Forest
There's a beautiful little piece of woods near us, called Rolling Hill Park. Lots of meandering trails. This one leads past an old, roofless ruin. I was lucky enough to be there yesterday just when the light was filling the old stone structure so that it absolutely glowed! Fits in by chance with today's Illustration Friday theme of Trail.

Light in the Forest (Ruin in Rolling Hill Park), oil on linen on wood, 7 x 5 inches, June 2010

Happy First Day of Spring!

2010-03-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

Crocus in an Egg Cup, oil on linen on wood, 4 x 6 inches, 2010

Quick Sketch

2010-03-19T06:41:00.000-07:00

Quick Little Kayti, oil on linen on wood, 7 x 5 inches, 2010

From my portrait class last night. Unfortunately I'd left at home the big painting of this model that I have been working on, as well as all my brushes...argh! Ever have one of those days? I did have my paints and luckily a small linen panel...so I raided the supply cupboard and found some old brushes used in the kid's classes (some very bristling bristle brushes used for tempera painting). Despite these handicaps, I think this little dashed-off sketch has a certain something. The model is much prettier than this, of course, but I caught a certain intensity in her expression.

greenery-yallery

2010-03-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

Greenery-Yallery Apple, oil on linen on wood, 5 x 7 inches, 2010

I had a hard time with this one for unknown reasons. Still not really finished. But I've already spent six times as much time on it as I wanted to (it happens!) Time to move on I think.

Three Eyes

2010-03-15T16:52:00.001-07:00

Potato with Three Eyes, oil on linen on wood, 5 x 7 inches, 2010

Just realized the theme over at Illustration Friday this week is subterranean, and by a stretch of the imagination this vegetable which grew underground fits the bill.

Green Jello

2010-03-14T16:07:00.001-07:00

Green Jello: First Attempt, oil on linen on wood, 5 x 7 inches. 2010

I found Jello to be a surprisingly challenging subject! It is translucent, reflective, smooth, and textured, with lots of inner goings on: bubbles and fissures and air pockets.

Little Silver Bag

2010-03-13T17:45:00.000-08:00

Little Silver Bag with Red Apple, oil on linen, 8 x 10 inches, 2010

Glazed

2010-03-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

Glazed, oil on linen on wood, 8 x 6 inches, 2010
This was one session: it's difficult to achieve that glazed look without actually glazing! ;-)

P.S. Just donated this piece to Dear Fleisher, a fund-raiser for a local subsidized city art center.

Mermaid's Purse

2010-03-10T20:04:00.001-08:00

Mermaid's Purse, oil on gessoed watercolor paper, 3.5 x 2.5 inches, 2010

Breakneck quick and teeny...whetting my appetite for a calmer and larger painting at some point in the future. Mermaid's purses are really egg cases for sharks and skates. Thanks to my friends Eric and Nancy for sharing their collection!

Onion Skin

2010-03-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

Onion Skin, oil on linen on wood, 8 x 10 inches, 2010

This is alla prima, all done in one session, but not exactly speed painting as it took me about an hour and 45 minutes. I might go back and do a little touch-up and glazing: then again I might not.

Brave

2010-03-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

BRAVE is the theme this week at Illustration Friday. I think this portrait demo I did for a class I'm teaching fits the bill. In several ways:

1) It is brave of me to show an unfinished piece. In fact, a barely started piece. I was demonstrating how to start a portrait and then was kept busy individually assisting my students for the rest of the session.
2) Teachers have to be brave to do demos in general. There is nothing like standing there in front of a class for a little performance pressure! You need to talk, explain what you are doing and answer questions, while at the same time produce something the students will find worth emulating: yikes!
3) This model, whom I have hire frequently, strikes me as a brave soul. Also an artist, she is piecing together a living with modeling and art sales and other part-time jobs: living on the edge.

We artists have to be brave, and also a little strange, to do what we do.

Lily stepped back to get her canvas - so - into perspective. It was an odd road to be walking, this of painting. Out and out one went, further and further, until at last one seemed to be on a narrow plank, perfectly alone, over the sea.

~Virginia Woolf, from To the Lighthouse

Pink Polish

2010-03-07T14:51:00.000-08:00

Low Light on Pink Polish, oil on linen on wood, 4 x 6 inches, 2010

Another super quickie. It's getting closer to nail polish season!

Sand Dollar in a Box

2010-03-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

Sand Dollar in a Box, oil on canvas on wood, 4 x 6 inches, 2010

Dog Biscuits

2010-03-05T15:22:00.001-08:00

Attila's Biscuits, oil on gessoed ragboard, 4 x 6 inches

(Thanks to my friend Mary and her dog Attila, for the props!)

Sweet

2010-03-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

Little Gold Sweet, oil on canvas, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, 2010

Ducky

2010-03-03T13:56:00.001-08:00

Duck in a Box, oil on gessoed ragboard, 6 x 6 inches, 2010

Bagel on Blue

2010-03-02T14:08:00.000-08:00

Bagel on Blue, oil on gessoed ragboard, 4 x 6 inches, 2010

The Blue Mint

2010-03-01T13:43:00.000-08:00

The Blue Mint
oil on gessoed ragboard, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, 2010

My grandfather used to keep a stash of these in his pockets.

Overturned Mushroom

2010-02-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

Overturned Mushroom
oil on gessoed cardboard, 4 x 6 inches, 2010

Little Stripey Mint

2010-02-26T14:34:00.001-08:00

Little Stripey Mint,
oil on gessoed cardboard, 2 x 3 inches, 2010

Snowy Afternoon

2010-02-25T16:28:00.000-08:00

Rooftops in the Snow, oil on linen on panel, 10 x 8 inches, 2010

I did this out the smaller studio window this afternoon. Snowed again all day today. It has not amounted to much as yet, just a lot of cold wetness melting in the streets and sticking to the old piles of snow. And scaring the populace, with our fresh memories of the recent blizzard and power outages. It's certainly pretty though!

P.S. Today's theme is "perspective" over at Illustration Friday, and I think this fits the bill. What luck! I am almost never in at the start for that meme. ;-)

Thyme in a Bottle

2010-02-24T15:29:00.001-08:00

Thyme in a Bottle
oil on linen on wood, 6 x 4 inches, 2010

I might go back and touch up the label a bit more tomorrow or the next day. The paint is too thick and wet for me to get further detail in. BTW, I truly did not even think of the song title till after I'd posted the image! Now I've got it in my head....

Ripe Berry

2010-02-23T17:07:00.001-08:00

Ripe Berry
oil on gessoed cardboard, 3 x 3 inches, 2010

This may have been my fastest one yet. And I can't even see what it really looks like, because it was dusk when I started painting and after only about 15 minutes I dropped my brush and raced out the door to pick up youngest son from his after school activity. When I got home, night had fallen. I've never managed to set up good artificial lighting in my studio, and rely entirely on daylight. I may be in for a huge surprise in the morning! Well, never a dull moment when you are a painter.

Quick Eggs

2010-02-22T10:08:00.001-08:00

EGG TRIO
oil on gessoed cardboard, 5 x 7 inches, 2010

Illustration Friday's theme this week is propagation, and I thought these eggs had at least a whiff of that about them. Another super quickie.

Star Fish

2010-02-21T16:30:00.001-08:00

Starfish from Eric, oil on canvas, 3 x 3 inches, 2010

Snow Man

2010-02-20T10:43:00.000-08:00

Snow Man
oil on gilt cardboard, 8 x 6 inches, 2010

Maybe I will start a new blog category: speed painting. The way I am using this term, it is a subset of alla prima painting and consists of getting the image onto the canvas in the fewest strokes possible. We are talking half an hour or less! Speed painting was necessitated in this case by the pain of painting while looking into the white glare of snow...excruciating. I wore a hat to cut the glare but even so...ouch.

My youngest son took this picture of me as I was crouched on the landing painting (I think he was very pleased that I was painting his snowman!) Very circular..taking a photograph of someone painting a sculpture created by the person taking the picture. Am I dizzy!

Tangerine with Leaf

2010-02-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

Tangerine with Leaf, oil on canvas on wood, 5 x 7 inches, 2010

Yellow Onion

2010-02-18T12:37:00.001-08:00

Yellow Onion, oil on gilt cardboard, 6 x 8, 2010

Little Jar

2010-02-17T19:29:00.001-08:00

Little Jar of White, oil on canvas on wood, 3.5 x 5 inches, 2010

I'm enjoying these little tossed-off pieces, these painting "scales". The problem is having time and sufficient light to take a good photograph! I seem to finish in the late afternoon, when darkness has already started creeping into my studio.

ADRIFT

2010-02-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

Adrift is this week's challenge at Illustration Friday. I'm several days late but I suddenly realized this piece, fairly recent too, would fit the bill. I painted this in September on Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine. The sun had just set but the afterglow lit the harbor with an eerie cool glow. Rusty Spear's boat drifted, loosely tethered, on the glassy water. I stood there, up to my ankles in beach scum and painted as fast as I could. A local walked by and asked me if I wanted a beer but I declined, too caught up in my painting (and also, truth be told, too shy.)

This was one of the few pieces that needed no re-working later. It is rough, but it expressed how I felt, standing there at dusk at the edge of the world.

Gathering Dusk, oil on canvas on wood, 11 x 14 inches, 2009

Tulip Head

2010-02-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

Tulip Head, oil on canvas on wood, 5 x 3.5 inches, 2010, N.B.Miller

This is from a bouquet my husband gave me yesterday on Valentine's Day. I love tulips!

I am trying to do A Painting A Day, but even at 3.5 x 5 inches, I am not a one day painter, it seems. I always want to go back and adjust even just a little teeny bit. I am "letting go" after the second pass, though and moving one. These are like practice scales, and my goal is to simply keep on doing them, not fuss each one to death.

Snowy Evening

2010-02-10T14:55:00.000-08:00

A Very Quick Sketch
from my studio window, just a few minutes ago. About 30 minutes of painting in all. I am challenging myself to paint every day...even if it just a few strokes. Trying to beat the winter blues.
We are actually in the midst of a blizzard as I type, and I had just gotten started when the lights went out. I kept painting and after a few minutes they came back on...yay! I was trying to get a tonal thing going, but I am not sure I succeeded. It was actually easier to see the values when the electric light was not on. This painting might benefit from later glazing or scumbling, but whatever...it was an experiment.

Light in the Window, oil on canvas on board, 4 x 6, 2010

One Persimmon

2010-02-09T14:24:00.000-08:00

Vincent's Persimmon, oil on canvas on board, 5 x 7, 2010

My cousins Mary and Keith were visiting a few months ago and brought me some persimmons grown by their friend Vince. The others rotted quickly but this one lasted through my painting of it...my studio is a bit like an icebox that way. Anyway, I just finished its portrait yesterday (the leaf is still intact although the fruit is no longer glossy!)

Neighbor's House

2010-02-08T11:56:00.000-08:00

Neighbor's House, oil on linen, 6 x 8, 2010

I'd call this a plein air piece except that I did it out of my studio window yesterday afternoon. We got 22 inches of snow over the weekend! I hadn't painted snow in a long time...fun! Wish I had a bigger view from my studio window but you make what you can out of what you get, right? ;-)

Xmas Pioneer and Lone Survivor

2009-12-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

Pioneer is the theme over at Illustration Friday this week. Here is a holiday blast from the past: I made this two-color woodcut for Christmas 1991, the year I graduated from art school and got married. I cut the panels, then Paul and I set up a little production line in the livingroom of our tiny apartment(and because we used oil-based ink, the place stunk for several days!) Inspired by the yearly holiday prints of one of my teachers, Homer Johnson, I think we intended to pioneer our own tradition of hand-made prints every year for Christmas...just shows the kind of spare time young people without kids, a house or a full-time job have! However, the next year we bought our first house, and then the Christmas after that I was on bedrest pregnant with twins...and this turns out to have been a one-time only "tradition". Fun though! :->

~All the blessings of the season to you and yours~

Undone

2009-12-21T18:25:00.001-08:00

Undone is this week's theme over at Illustration Friday. Yes, I am a little late...I definitely feel a day late and a dollar short pretty much continually these days as we careen towards Christmas...or as I think of it, Stressmas! ;-) Cake definitely helps if you can get some.

Last Slice, oil on canvas, Nancy Bea Miller

Welcome

2009-09-12T13:59:00.001-07:00

Welcome
is this week's theme over at Illustration Friday. This fairly recent painting seems to fit the bill.

I started painting this in a white-hot fit of inspiration, then suddenly...stopped. Six months later it is still unfinished, and I can't seem to muster up the aesthetic energy needed to bring it to conclusion. Yet, I feel it kind of has something good going, and I am not quite ready to abandon it. Maybe some help is needed? Any constructive criticism would be very welcome!

In the Doorway, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches, 2009, Nancy Bea Miller

Impossibility

2009-04-18T06:48:00.000-07:00

Impossibility
is this week's theme at Illustration Friday. My work almost never deals with things that are impossible...I so deeply love the real and physical world that I rarely feel the need to go beyond its inexhaustible inspiration. Nonetheless, I am enjoying looking at other people's flights of fancy!

The tie-in with this week's IF theme is that it is an impossibility to make a dog pose for you for more than thirty seconds at a time! I had to take about 30 photos of this good-natured corgi, only one or two of which worked as painting reference. Thank heavens for digital. (The island referred to in the painting's title is, of course, Monhegan Island: how I love that place!)

Island Dog, oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches, 2008

Fleeting

2009-04-11T06:29:00.001-07:00

Fleeting
is the theme this week at Illustration Friday. Thought I'd put a toe back into those waters. It's been a busy and difficult winter. Fortunately time is fleeting for both the good times and the bad (although the tough times sure feel longer don't they?)

The woman holding the little girl in the this picture was actually pregnant at the time, and now both her children are past the toddler phase. Talk about fleeting! This painting is currently hanging in the biggest one-person show I have ever had: 50 paintings! Not quite a retrospective, but something approaching it, for my Genre of Inclusion project. If you want more info on the show, which is up thru the 22 of April, click here.

In the Gallery, 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas, 2004

Flawed

2009-02-05T10:24:00.001-08:00

FLAWED
is this week's theme over at Illustration Friday (yeah it is indeed Thursday, I am just squeaking in under the wire here!) This is a painting I did last spring, and it was the card image for my one person show at Sherry French Gallery in June. I remember the canvas was still wet when I photographed it. Down to the wire is my usual state I am afraid!

While painting the set up I became entranced with the big tear in the broad hydrangea leaf. Which I guess qualifies it for this week's theme of flawed.

Blue Hydrangea and Bagels, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 inches, 2008, Nancy Bea Miller

2008-10-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

SUGARY
was last week's theme over at Illustration Friday. Unfortunately, I did not realize it was last week's theme till after I posted this and entered my link in the IF linkslist. Sorry! Since my entry cannot be retracted I'll just carry on as though nothing was wrong. ;-)

I certainly have an embarrassment of riches to choose from in the sugary images department! I painted this little piece in August...I'd always wanted to paint a broken piece of pastry or bread but have always had some inexplicable block. I know this sounds weird. Why do we have these odd internal harnesses? Anyway, my son Henry (who has autism and mental retardation) got into my studio and got into my still life set-ups (he likes to eat the pastries and candy, even if they are stale.) This doughnut fell to the floor during the raid and broke beautifully in half, so, despite the wreckage I ended up feeling very grateful to him! It was as though I had finally gotten permission to paint a piece of broken pastry, because after all, it would have been a shame to let it go to waste!

Not sure what all that stems from, and probably best not to inquire too deeply. But anyway, here is my late, sugary, post!

Broken, oil on canvas laid to wood, 5 x 7 inches

2008-09-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

ISLAND
is this week's theme at Illustration Friday. I am just back from a week of painting on Monhegan Island in Maine, so I have a lot of paintings to choose from. I painted this sitting on the highest point of Monhegan (Lighthouse Hill) looking over towards Manana, a small uninhabited island which helps form Monhegan's harbor. It seemed to be hunkering down comfortably, like an animal enjoying the brilliant sunlight.

Landscape is a medium for ideas...the various details in a landscape painting mean nothing to us if they do not express some mood of nature felt by the artist.
~Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

Little Manana, oil on canvas, 5 x 7 inches, 2008

2008-05-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

BABY
is the theme at Illustration Friday this week. What fun, I love painting babies! I was one of those little maternal girls with a family of dolls I lovingly tended, and I still like to draw babies whenever I get the chance. Very rarely does anyone ever commission a painting of a baby however...I guess because they change so dramatically in such a short span of time. Often there is only a faint resemblance between an adult's face and his or her baby face, but there is usually some likeness between a child's face and an adult's. Personally I love the face morph time. I love doing teenage portraits as well, again, a time period only rarely commissioned.

Well whatever, this challenge has made me realize that I have only ever painted five or six portraits of babies (!) and I'd like to do more. So maybe I'll just do some for fun. If you live near me (Philadelphia) and have a cute baby, send me an email!

I was shocked to realize it has been several months since I last participated in IF! I have been busy preparing for my first one person show in New York; it's called Still Moments and I just delivered all the paintings on Tuesday. Now comes the nerve-wracking period before the opening, where I worry about the work and its presentation even though at this point there is little to do except try and find a nice dress for the reception. If you're in Chelsea on June 7th, please stop in Sherry French Gallery and say Hi! And if you say Hi Baby I'll know you got there from IF ;->

Nya and Katina, oil on canvas, 28 x 24 inches

2008-02-10T19:39:00.000-08:00

CHOOSING
is the theme this week at Illustration Friday. I am using a painting I did several years ago...but it was a big leap forward for me at the time. Taken me quite a long time to catch back up with myself, if you know what I mean? Anyway, it's about having to choose. Taking one thing, then looking again at what you left behind and thinking "Hmmm..." Concept embodied by a small boy eating cupcakes!

Desire, oil on wood, 16 x 8 inches

P.S. Penelope may be too modest to mention her interview in the latest issue of Artful Blogging magazine. I was thrilled to be one of several artists whose images were used as visuals for the article. For more about this, see here!

2008-01-19T13:03:00.000-08:00

PLAIN
is this week's Illustration Friday theme. An excellent theme that can be interpreted a variety of ways. I am posting a plain black & white line drawing! I did a number of these hoping to get some work doing spots for children's textbooks. I showed them to two very experienced illustrators I know: both said, "Excellent work! You're good to go!" But go where? It turns out textbooks are a very difficult market to break into. It seems you have to have an agent, and I don't...yet. Oh well! I had a lot of fun doing them, they were a great exercise in artistic restraint and line control, and I guess it's a case of virtue being its own reward, even though virtue would really have preferred to be rewarded with a few paying jobs! ;->

I'm posting this particular spot because my twins are turning fourteen tomorrow! Like every other birthday mother everywhere my thoughts are all "That was fast!" and "I can't believe it!" And "I have got to get that cake baked!"

2008-01-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

STITCH
is this week's theme at Illustration Friday. I thought this painting might suit the topic. When my boys were tinies I enjoyed knitting for them, although apart from a couple of infant caps, I never knit clothing: I knit toys instead! I did not have the attention span necessary for a sweater, but I could manage to knit a lamb or a kitten or a striped ball. Not sure I want to enquire too deeply into what that says about my character. But anyway, knitting and early motherhood always seem to go together in my mind. This is a painting of my friend Emilie and her youngest son.

Knitting, 18 x 14 inches, oil on canvas

2007-12-21T07:12:00.000-08:00

HORIZON
is the theme of the week at Illustration Friday. I thought this little painting might fit the bill. Painted on the beach on Chincoteague Island a summer or two ago.

The Red Umbrella, oil on canvas laid to board, 4 x 6 inches

2007-12-07T10:41:00.000-08:00

LITTLE THINGS
is the theme this week at Illustration Friday. Not a hard topic for me, since my mind tends to run on small matters, not least when I am in the studio. Night, sleep, death and the stars are all very good as topics for brain activity when you are a childless, unmarried, middle-aged, male poet but not such all-consuming topics when you are a married, middle-aged, female, painter with three children. Vive la différence, of course!

Speaking of little things I am currently in two different small works exhibits. They seem very popular these days, lots of galleries do them in December. Perhaps as a last gasp attempt to get a little of people's holiday spending money before the old year passes on? Anyway, this little piece is up at Artists' House Gallery and the opening reception I will be at (there are two) is this Sunday. I prefer this opening which features a classical guitarist, tea, coffee and cookies, as opposed to the Friday might opening which is wine and cheese and hordes of heavy-booted art students. Not that there is anything wrong with heavy-booted art students, I was one myself! Still have the boots as a matter of fact, they are very useful. Anyway, if you are in Philadelphia (PA, USA) on Sunday then do please stop by the gallery and introduce yourself!

SMALL WORKS
December 5 to December 23, 2007
Reception: Sunday, December 9, 1-4pm
Sunday Snow Date: December 16

Artists' House Gallery
57 North Second Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 923-8440
Hours: Wed - Sun 12-5 PM
or by appointment

Powdered Sugar Doughnut, oil on gessoed paper laid to wood, 4 x 6 inches

2007-11-14T18:27:00.000-08:00

SCALE
is this week's theme at Illustration Friday. I guess the week is almost over actually. But I prefer to take a wider view of these things: it's Illustration Friday ALL WEEK in my opinion!

I was interested to see so many varying interpretations of the theme...musical scales, fish scales, weighing scales, proportional scale and what have you. I'm going for small scale here. This is one of the smallest paintings I have ever done, yet the objects are slightly larger than life-size! It's all relative.

Small Candy, 3 1/2 x 5 inches, oil on canvas laid to board

2007-11-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

A NEW BOOK
for which I shot the cover photograph, is just coming out. I think you can pre-order the book from the Publisher, should you happen to be a teacher who has an inclusion classroom with kids with autism! The publishers wanted the cover photo to be authentic, and it really is. The little boy in the photo really does have autism, and really was in a regular classroom with some extra supports (you can see his wonderful aide behind him.) The teachers, students and administrators at the school, Philladelphia's Penn Alexander, could not have been nicer or more helpful to me. The whole job was a pleasure, from beginning to end.

2007-11-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

HATS
are this week's theme at Illustration Friday. Very seasonally appropriate I thought. I have already started looking out the family's winter hats as our house is wonderfully cool in the summer but also in the winter, alas! Wearing a hat makes a big difference.

In fact, when winter really hits, a hat is a necessity, especially in my studio. North-facing and with a very feeble radiator, there are times when you can practically see your breath in there. No need to wrap up my palette at the end of the day...the paint stays nicely refrigerated and fresh for days on end. Me too I guess, so I wear a hat, a neck-warmer and a paint splattered down vest to work.

Self Portrait in a Cold Studio, oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches

2007-10-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

OPEN
is the topic of today's Illustration Friday! I was very happy to see this theme, as I have quite a little thing about open boxes as characters in my still-life paintings. There is something so generous-looking about an open box, as well as it being (to me) of "architectural" interest!

Ducky Buns Oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches

2007-09-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

MOMENTUM
is the theme this week at Illustration Friday. I've noticed lots of the regular participants apologize if they put anything old up in response to a theme. I've never understood that, and I am not going to apologize for this being done several years ago. It's a rarity for me, an action image, as I seem to specialize in stillness.

This is one of my young sons (even younger when I did this) galloping down a hill in a local park. This park is situated right up next to a high school, and to me there was something very poignant about the wild, golden freedom of the young child, contrasting with the strictures of society's expectations and duty (as evidenced by the school building off to the left) looming in the future.

It also seems very appropriate to this Back-to-School week!

Springtime, oil on canvas, 24 x 36 inches

2007-07-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

POEM
is this week's theme at Illustration Friday. By odd coincidence I have been working on writing poems for some of my paintings. Here's one with the most seasonal subject matter. You can click on the painting to enlarge it. My son H is the model, enjoying a moment at one of his favorite places in the world: the lake near my parent's house. I used to love it too...so it's a joy to watch the boys basking in the same feelings the lake always awoke in me. Time stands still for a heartbeat.

Edge of the Lake, 30 x 40 inches, oil on canvas

2007-07-19T13:22:00.000-07:00

SIMPSONIZED
I did it myself and apparently I did a pretty good job too. I hung it on the fridge and there was a clamor later that day when the men in the family saw it, grasped instantly what (or who) it was and came rushing over to me "How'd you do that?!" "Me too, me too!!" Ironic that in a houshold of Simpsons fans I was the first to find this site, because I can't actually stomach the Simpsons. I admit its theoretical brilliance but in actuality it's too crude for me. The drool, butt cracks, drunk jokes and the like just gross me out. I have a fondness for Lisa, of course.

I picked a pink frosted doughnut for my Simpsons shirt. I thought it was appropriate as some art reviewer once called me "the foremost doughnut painter of Philadelphia." It may sound banal (and perhaps it was meant as a back-handed compliment) but I was thrilled. How often does one get called the foremost of anything, anywhere? And I certainly do love to paint doughnuts! I guess there's a streak of Homer in me after all.

Anyway, I've seen so many of these Simpsons avatars on illustrator's sites that I can't remember whose I saw it on first. If you want to make your own, go to the Simpsons Movie site and click on the Make Avatar button. It's fun! If you try it drop a link in the comments here to your Simpsonized self (or entire family like my friend Ned ). I'd love to see what you come up with!

2007-07-13T10:09:00.000-07:00

DISCOVERY
is the topic for the week over at Illustration Friday. This painting leapt to mind. It is fascinating to watch children discovering the world, all its riches and surprises. A table laden with still-life objects can be an enchanted island brimming with allegory and possibilities to a four-year-old. I still feel that way myself.

Hugh at the Table oil on canvas 28 x 44 inches

2007-07-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

GEEKY
is this week's theme at Illustration Friday. One of the definitions of geek is "A person who is interested in technology, especially computing and new media." -Wikipedia. I decided I did not want to do the stereotype of thick glasses, buck teeth and mismatched plaid: it's a dead horse. Very few people still sport that Poindexter look from the 1950's, and I am amazed how pervasively it has lingered in our collective cultural memory. Most of the geeky guys I personally know wear tee shirts, jeans and sneakers. They often have beards, and sometimes glasses but not always. They just look regular which is not very visually exciting. Instead, I found this drawing I did of kids having fun on the computer, and colored it up in Photoshop. Geeklings!

Personally I am not a technology geek. I take no particular interest in the technological aspects of the tools I use, my computer, camera etc. I value them but just as a means to an end. In fact, I only learned how to turn off my cell phone last week at a bar-mitzvah when they made a general request for this courtesy and I had to ask the man sitting next to me for help. He shot me a look that read Are you kidding me?" then quickly realized I wasn't and showed me how. Duh, right? (In my defense, it is a new phone!)

Confession: it all seems like magic to me and I am content to let it be so!

Pen and ink on paper, scanned and colored in Photoshop

2007-07-02T11:32:00.000-07:00

TWIST
is the theme for this week's Illustration Friday. You can see, I think, how influenced I was by the work of Lucien Freud at the time that I painted this. Although I was not aiming to be a Lucia Freud or anything...but I was poring over books of his work and obviously it made an impression.

It is unfinished. My model, Oliver, a free spirit, took off for California (land of the free spirits) after we had only a couple of sessions. I hadn't gotten around to taking good reference photos and so that was pretty much that. There was always something about it that kept me from painting over it, despite its rough state, although I never exhibited it. Till now!

On the Floor, oil on canvas, 44 x 60 inches

2007-06-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

REJECTION
is the theme of this week's Illustration Friday (I'm very very late getting to it.) This painting is only tangentially related to the concept of rejection. It's mostly about newness: it is a marvel to see young children and babies experiencing the world for the first time. It is not all wonder and delight, but it is all interesting.

This is my friend Kelly and her young son H. They were visiting me and had stopped at a farm stand and brought peaches as a gift. We cut some up, they were lusciously ripe, and Kelly gave a piece to H...his very first experience with a peach. There was something so beautiful to me in the way she was watching him quietly, to see if he'd like it. And also in the way H took this dripping, tender and velvety morsel, then ruminated over it, tasting it carefully. We waited. He rejected it. Then Kelly took another piece and carefully peeled off the fuzzy, powdery skin. This time: acceptance!

Strange Fruit, oil on canvas, 30 x 44 inches

2007-06-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

SUIT
is the theme of this week's Illustration Friday. I was initally stumped. I don't have a lot to do with suits as a general rule, business suits that is. Then my mind relaxed and my thoughts widened and I realized Oh yeah: suits of armor, lawsuits, suits of cards and... bathing suits! And I had done this piece just days before. How I enjoyed painting the red stripes on the little guy's bathing suit!

Some back story: I'm in a group of local artists that meets once a month for mutual encouragement and critique. The last meeting was a few days ago, and I decided to bring in a print-out of this piece and a couple of others like it. As soon as I stood up and cheerfully announced "I'm doing some illustration now!" I realized I'd made a big mistake. The pieces circulated to awkward silence. Finally someone cleared their throat and asked "Why are you doing this?" People then started chiming in with suggestions for alternate ways for me to make money: teaching, web design etc. ANYTHING, it seemed, except illustration! I was taken aback, didn't say much, and resumed my seat quickly.

Later I spoke with a friend who is in the group. "Is the work really THAT bad?" My friend said "No no! You've got it all wrong. It wasn't the quality of the work the others were objecting to: it was the fact that you used the dread word Illustration!" Her insight shocked me, but mulling it over, I suspect she is right. I myself don't think that way: fine art v. commercial art. It is ALL just art to me! So it never occurred to me that other artists would have any issue with it either. But these, apparently, did.

Before the art group debacle, I'd queried a little children's magazine and yesterday I got back an e-mail from the art director telling me they love my work and are going to find an article for me to illustrate in an upcoming issue! It is not a sure thing, or even that big of a thing, but I'm thrilled. The praise felt like balm to my wounded confidence! Has anyone else ever run into similar peer issues working in both "fine" and "commercial" art? It just seems so silly to me...!

Little Lake, micron ink pen, watercolor, Photoshop "neatening".

2007-06-02T05:28:00.000-07:00

MY PARADISE
is the theme this week at Illustration Friday. Last week it took me so long to get it together that I missed joining in the fun, and I can see there is a danger for me with this theme as well. But for different reasons! Last week I didn't instantly get in the Cars groove because I have about zero interest in anything automotive. (I did eventually complete the assignment though!) This week I have almost too many thoughts and ideas on the subject.

I can see myself over-thinking this all the way till next Friday...so I am just going to enter a painting I did a few years ago called In the Chestnut Grove. I started the painting while on an artist's residency. I got to stay in a small secluded house/studio on the grounds of a wealthy estate, and do whatever I wanted. Which of course, for me was read, draw and paint 24/7. I also cooked myself lovely little meals and took leisurely swims in the estate swimming pool. It was literally heaven on earth. My family and a few friends came out from time to time to pose for me and partake of my temporary good fortune. This is my friend Katie and her little daughter H who were amazingly obliging about posing. I did another painting of Katie that I think was more successful than this one...but it's darker. I think this attempt, despite its flaws, caught a tiny glimpse of a mother's paradise: a golden afternoon in a beautiful grove of trees with one's beloved child...

In the Chestnut Grove, oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches, 2005

2007-06-01T07:35:00.000-07:00

PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP
Last week's Illustration Friday theme was Car. I groaned when I saw that, and since I was busy with the big holiday weekend, I made no attempt to try it. I am notoriously uninterested in automotive subjects. My sons love to tease me by asking me the make and model of various cars we've just seen. They want to hear me say "Um, I think it was a blue one. Right?"

But then just a few days ago I looked out my window and there was my little two-year-old neighbor going for a drive down the sidewalk in his shiny new pedal car. I raced outside with camera in hand. "Hey, honey, what kind of car is that?" I asked, snapping away. Little guy replied "Mine!"

Micron pen on paper, with watercolor, and photoshop "neatening"

2007-05-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

SIGNS
is the the theme of Illustration Friday this week. For whatever reason, upon seeing the theme, protest signs flew into my head and had to be exorcised by being drawn out. I am still digitally semi-illiterate: this is pen on paper, colored with Prismacolor pencil, and then scanned in and cleaned up a bit in Photoshop. My color penciling scans terribly: it looks like moth-eaten tweed! I'm getting better at fixing it in Photoshop, but any ideas on how to correct this in the scanning stage are very welcome.

Micron pen on paper, Prismacolor pencil, Photoshop "neatening"

2007-05-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

QUICK SKETCH
I love my tiny little sketch book and never leave home without it. I have a bigger one, for if I am going someplace where I know sketching and note-taking will be possible, but I also keep a tiny one in my purse for drawing emergencies! Such as this. Friends Molly (a painter) and Sigmund (a doctor) invited us to dinner last Saturday and afterwards Sigmund treated us to some pretty fantastic piano playing. Knowing what was on the agenda for the evening my husband Paul brought his flute, and it was great to hear the guys jam together for a while. Sigmund is a neurologist, but could probably have become a professional pianist if he'd wanted. Musical talent runs in his family: one of his nephews is the Rap Champion of Norway!

This was just a minute of quick scrawling with a ball point pen...I knew I'd be interrupted and I was. One of the kids needed something, then Molly wanted my opinion on one of her newest paintings, and then it was time to head home. But I was glad I got this done: I love my sketchbook, even if it is not full of carefully rendered scenes, but mostly is a bunch of croquis, doodles and lightning sketches. (Plus phone numbers and names of books and movies people recommend!) It's my funbook, and we can all use a little fun!

2007-05-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

CITRUS
is this week's theme at Illustration Friday. Making me realize that although I am a still-life painter, I very rarely paint citrus. I find limes and citrons useful little notes of color, added to a larger painting, but rarely are they the focus. Here is the one piece I could dig up that fits the bill, a painting of grapefruit. They were waxed to a high gloss, and I was fascinated by both their shiny surface and the feeling of weight: heavy and juicy. I was looking at a book about William Bailey when I painted this and you can see I am indebted to him for the color scheme.

My ten-year-old son H just walked by and said "Why are you posting that to your Illustration blog? That's a painting not an illustration!" Yikes, this topic is too big for me to even know how to begin to reply to it. My brain frantically fumbled around for a moment and then I said "Well, people think some illustrations are art, and paintings are certainly art, so maybe paintings and illustrations are sort of the same, too. Sometimes. " He looked a little confused by that (so was I, truth be told.) Then he shrugged and said "OK, Mom, whatever!" Whew, saved by quick thinking up of baffling art theory! I'll be writing for ArtForum any day now.

Plate of Grapefruit oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches 2003

2007-05-07T05:32:00.000-07:00

NEIGHBOR
is the current Illustration Friday theme. This is a painting I did last year, a small quick oil sketch of a neighbor who dropped by with a huge bunch of white lilac from her garden. I had my camera close to hand and snapped a quick shot. The painting was in an exhibit and I invited the neighbor. She had not seen the painting completed, and when she came to the show, I think she was surprised and even somewhat horrified, a reaction I simply had not anticipated. I felt pretty bad, she is a very nice lady and a great neighbor. But she has never again stopped by with flowers from her garden...alas!

Neighbor with Flowers oil on canvas board 8 x 10 inches

2007-04-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

REMEMBER
is this week's Illustration Friday theme. I recently finished this little scene of a grandmother reading aloud to her granddaughter. The grandmother is reading from an old baby book, or dance card, or perhaps it is a menu, autographed by friends at a festive dinner long ago? Her grandaughter listens with rapt attention...seeing it all in her imagination. I think most people can remember some scenes like this one from their own childhoods.

By the way, many thanks to everyone who wrote me so encouragingly about my last post! All the advice, encouragement and tips are invaluable...I am really grateful. I have not progressed technologically very much since last week...but a little. I scanned this in, a traditional ink drawing colored with prismacolor pencil, and then cleaned up the color using Photoshop. So, same as last week, but I'm a little more comfortable with the brushes and things now. Some small progress!

2007-04-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

POLAR FOX
for Illustration Friday's theme of polar. I've always liked the look of the polar fox, sometimes known as the arctic fox. If anyone knows the work of illustrator Roger Vernam, you can see a shadow of his influence here, I think. But as far as technique goes, it is back to kindergarten for me! I did a drawing (the usual paper with pencil and ink) and scanned it (first time ever!) and then re-worked it in Photoshop (also first time ever!) I am stumbling along trying to figure things out as I go.

Some (gentle) advice would be very welcome. Obviously I need to find time to take the tutorial, but also, do you recommend using Photoshop or Illustrator or something else?

2007-04-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

FORTUNE
is this week's Illustration Friday theme. Made me realize that I have quite a little thing about fortune cookies... I have several paintings that feature them. Funny when you discover themes in your work you had not consciously chosen. Sometimes I think the things we do and choose unconsciously speak of our truest nature...there is no "show" or public presentation in them!

What does it all mean? I have no idea. But a fortunate Friday the Thirteenth to you!

Chime Bird with Orange Soda and Fortune Cookies oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches

2007-04-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

GREEN
is this week's Illustration Friday challenge. This gave me a moment's pause, as actually the problem is that I have SO MUCH to choose from. I've been told that I use green too often and that it is not a particularly popular or appealing color to the general public. Alas! Because I love it, almost every shade and variation of it appeals to my eye, and yes, I admit it creeps in everywhere...even when I am making an effort not to use it as much.

Oh well, to thine own self be true (since you don't really have any choice in the matter!)

White Hydrangeas and Assorted Treats oil on canvas 20 x 24 inches

2007-04-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

SNAP!
is the theme of this week's Illustration Friday. My first thought was of playing the card game Snap...which we love to do in this family (preferably after dinner so the table is cleaned off otherwise it can be quite a mess!) But illustrating that epic scenario just seemed overwhelming. Then I got this idea "Oh yeah! Snap, like fingers!" Pretty obvious, I guess, but it took me a few days to make that mental leap- oh well! I'm trying out a new pen, an indian ink fibre brush and having fun with the line variation.

Faber-Castell Pitt fibre brush pen and color pencil

2007-04-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

Fruit and Water oil on canvas 8 x 10 inches

PAINTING & POETRY SHOW
Happy National Poetry Month! Well, the artist's reception in Chelsea for this show was yesterday. Lots of fun: wine, chocolate, poets, friends. I was thrilled that an art hero of mine, Jules Feiffer, came to see the show! (I was too shy to ask him to pose for a photo, more's the pity.)

The show was written up in The Village Voice as "A group show illuminating the relationship between text and image." Sounds very cool, doesn't it? Maybe not everybody likes the idea of pairing art with writing...fearing the dread "illustration" but I am completely fine with it. I love illustration, I love art, I love poetry, and I feel the boundaries between all forms of creativity are actually very blurred. The artists in the exhibition were directed to pair our paintings with poems, and so I asked a poet friend, Cathy Cohen, if she had a poem in her files that had any relation to this image. She didn't, but then she went ahead and wrote one! I was blown away. Here it is:

Still Moment

We balance near the edge
like crystal,
ready to embrace.

If we stare long enough
we enter fragrance,
vibrating color.

But a still moment will burst
and skim its soul
from thing to thing,
from vessel to vessel.

~Cathleen Cohen

2007-03-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

BIRD GIRL
Illustration Friday's theme is "I Spy" and I thought this girl and her parakeet, part of a project I am working on, might fit the bill. Now that the image is posted I can see that I am going to have to get a scanner, mostly to keep the tones even on the paper. Any recommendations?

Ink pen and colored pencil.

2007-03-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

THE TOTAL DOUGHNUT
Delicious inside and out. This is a small 4 x 6 inch painting I just donated to our local Manna auction.

Boston Kreme, oil on canvas, on wood, 4 x 6 inches, 2006

2007-03-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

FIRST POST
Just want to see what it all looks like! This painting will be in an exhibit at Sherry French Gallery in NYC, next month.
After The Meal oil on canvas 11 x 14 inches 2007