BICYCLE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

Oldie but Goodie

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. ;-)

Glazed

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.

Onion Skin

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.

Pink Polish

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!

The Blue Mint

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

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

Little Stripey Mint

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

Snowy Afternoon

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

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

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

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

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

Snow Man

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!