March 8, 2010 
Stephen Wiltshire
This is simply the most amazing thing I have ever seen. You have to see this guy draw! I am flabbergasted.
Watch video: Click Here
Stephen Wiltshire's website: Click Here
March 1, 2010
The Triplets of Belleville is quite unlike anything being produced by animation studios in either the U.S. or Japan. If you like being charmed by drawings that move, The Triplets of Belleville is for you.
Triplets is essentially without dialog, but the timing, sound artistry and the visual storytelling are superb. The essence of the film is the settings and characters… but I promise the music will have you tapping your toe!
Click here to enjoy the trailer.
February 22, 2010 
David Ligare - Still Life with Apples – private collection
David Ligare’s work has a strong classical pulse but also a lively modern spirit. This is a thoughtful and insightful painter – a thinker. The mysterious spaces he creates seem entirely natural and beckon us to come, relax, explore. They are unapologetically artistic. Do we wonder why freshly picked apples are sitting by the sea? It feels warmer than a Fall day when apples are generally harvested, or are these a late summer variety? Who placed them so carefully, were they about to eat the one that is sitting apart? And, then again, do we really care to have our questions answered, or is it enough just to bask in the long shadows of a wonderful day?
Here is a wonderful interview published on David Ligare’s website (Click Here). Enjoy.
February 15, 2010 
Bonnard – Interior 1913
Here is a good youtube video of a curatorial talk by Dita Amory about the exhibition of Bonnard’s late interiors at the Met earlier this year (now ended). The images are beautiful, the history interesting, the artistic development and analysis fascinating. It’s wonderful to have such expertise available right on your screen. (Click here to view video).
February 8, 2010 
Some things never change, I guess.
Like wanting to look good.
Here are some bas-relief figures from the Necropolis at Thebes. I think the 2 lower figures are male and the upper female. Isn’t it interesting that the faces look the same except for the little beard hanging from the chin of 2 of them. They even seem to be wearing the same basic style of jewelry.
Today we make such a difference between what is female/male style – girls wear pink/boys wear blue, women wear lipstick/men don’t, women wear bright colors/men subdued etc. Certainly style isn’t everything, but we think our society is far more gender equal than any before….. I wonder.
February 1, 2010 
Lorenz Stoer – from Geometria et Perspectiva - 1567
Lorenz Stöer was a German printmaker and painter who lived in the late 16th Century. He created wonderfully idiosyncratic geometric forms of imagined architecture and landscapes. Virtually unknown to us today, except for a folio of 11 woodcuts from his book called Geometria et Perspectiva, an unpublished portfolio of color drawings has recently been attributed to him (at the Munich Library).
I find these complex and inventive worlds intriguing. I can get lost in them, following lines and planes to see where they lead. In our modern world where we strive for simplicity, it is refreshing to loose oneself in their complexity – a visual sudoku puzzle!
January 25, 2010 
Leonardo da Vinci - Mona Lisa (La Giocanda) @ 1503
You know, sometimes all the modern technology that is currently available takes some of the fun out of life. For instance, a study done in Manchester, England using a 240 megapixel camera suggests that the Mona Lisa originally had eyebrows. Leonardo evidently painted them but either the paint faded because of a chemical reaction in the glaze that he used or restoration work done over the past 500 years has simply wiped them away. They also found that the sky was a bright blue and the shape of her face was wider.
Hmmmm. I know its good to learn and make discoveries, but I also think the allure of the painting has a voice that speaks beyond the facts. I like her enigmatic gaze and her missing eyebrows is all part of it. I prefer to think their absence was intentional… and don’t talk to me about Santa Clause or the tooth fairy. Sometimes we need a little fantasy and romance.
Thanks, Leonardo, I love a good story.
January 18, 2010 
Rembrandt – 1655 – The British Museum
We all know that exercise is good for us – keeps us healthy and sharp. How about our drawing skills? Do they need exercise too? Ugh – the “e” word! (That’s my reaction) However, here is a really fun way to get in some observational practice and amuse yourself at the same time... Turn on the TV and sketch what you see! The images only stay in view for a short period of time so you are forced to focus and capture the essentials – no time for details. Can you tell the whole story through a series of gesture drawings? Try it! Now you can justify lazing on the couch – pencil in hand of course.
January 11, 2010
Oil 30x30
Here is my first painting of the new year. Actually, I started it in 09 but I catalogue my work by their completion dates so here is #10-01.
It had a rather interesting gestation. In one of the art blogs I read, it was suggested that we reflect on the work we created over the past year and choose our favorite piece. That seemed like a simple enough idea and I was about to hit the delete button and move on, but instead, I did what they suggested and reviewed my work. However, what I did next was to examine why the painting was special to me.
I looked at what was its appeal. I analyzed it – what worked, where had I failed, what elements are the strongest, what did I learn, where could I push farther/pull back, what techniques do I want to build on in the new year. Hmmmm…
I gave serious thought to the questions, and then started painting. My goal was to expand my strengths and clarify my working methods. I decided to paint entirely from my head without reference material except for my answers to my questions - my subject became the color, the mood and the brushstroke. They were my entire focus. It required my being aware of what I did BEFORE I did it so that I could proceed consciously and with intention.
Give it a try – you might end up with a painting that becomes one of your favorites.
By the way, this painting is still untitled. If you have an idea for a title, shoot me an email!
Happy exploring.
January 4, 2010 
His Holiness, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama
It's hard to believe, but this blog is now 1 year old. I've greatly enoyed hearing from all of you. Thank you for your wonderful emails and comments - keep 'em coming and stay tuned, I'm not done yet! More art tidbits to come in 2010.
I try to create the blog I would like to receive, and, in fact, because I usually write these posts in advance, and then forget what I’ve written, so I subscribe to this blog myself! It’s always fun to get my notification that Gail’s written something – I wonder what I have to say today!
In honor of the New Year, let’s start out with some advice from the Dalai Lama. Here is a YouTube video of his advice to artists. I wish there was a printed transcription because it is a bit difficult to understand what he is saying at times, but here it is anyway: (Click Here)
December 28, 2009 
Harold Garde in his studio
This is a great video and one that takes us into the future while acknowledging the challenges we all face in getting there. The artist is Harold Garde speaking of his life, his art and the journey he’s been on for the past 85 years. (Click Here for video)
Happy New Year - And welcome 2010!
December 21, 2009 
Carl Moll (1861 – 1945)
Carl Moll was a Viennese artist whose work I greatly admire. He seemed to be able to straddle that fine line between abstraction and representation, between suggestion and description. I find his paintings very evocative. As my Holiday gift to you, I thought I’d share a selection of them with you today.
There isn’t a lot of information available about this artist, but you can see more of his work by Google-ing ‘Carl Moll images’.
Enjoy!
Happy Holidays.
December 14, 2009 
Vincent Van Gogh (1853 – 1890)
This is just so neat I have to share it with you!
Imagine getting a letter from Vincent Van Gogh – in fact, imagine getting letters from him on an ongoing basis. Well, you can!
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has just completed a major project of collecting and collating all the letters he has written – some 6 volumes of correspondence! The project is called ‘Van Gogh’s Letters’. As of October, they started publishing the letters as a BLOG!!
Yup!! You can subscribe to the blog and receive letters from Vincent! They are fabulous. The posts are co-ordinated to the dates he wrote them – so it is like receiving a letter from ol' Vinnie himself. He even does doodles of the paintings he’s working on!
I have to warn you, though, that, as neat as it is to hear his thoughts and opinions on his work, he is not very good about answering back when you ask him a question!
To visit the blog, go to: http://www.vangoghsblog.com/
Enjoy!
December 7, 2009 
Bonnard – Interior With Flowers (1919) – private collection
“Draw your pleasure, paint your pleasure, and express your pleasure strongly.” Pierre Bonnard
Bonnard was a small, perhaps pensive and quiet man, but you surely wouldn’t guess that from looking at his paintings. They virtually explode with color and energy. In fact, sometimes they are so energetically painted they are even hard to look at.
I think this painting certainly mirrors his words above – to me, it's sheer pleasure expressed in paint.
November 30, 2009 
Mosaics are one of our oldest and most permanent art forms. The walls and floors of ancient ruins still live on through their bits of colored glass and stone. The walls of Venice’s Basilica of St. Mark sparkle and mesmerize as the flicker of candles reflect in the thousands of gold tiles on its walls. Its floor undulates but the patterning of her stone mosaics forgive the turbulence and roll with its unevenness.
However, what is most fascinating to me about mosaics is their modernity! For instance, if you look at a digital photograph of something really closely, you’ll see the image dissolve into pixels. Those pixels look very much like the thousands of tiles that go into making a mosaic image.
Perhaps we have reinvented the wheel and have come full circle!
Note: Be sure to click on the image to see it enlarged. The workmanship in this piece is amazing!
November 23, 2009 
Stella – Gran Cairo (1962) - Whitney Museum of American Art
I don’t like to say I have given my life to art. I prefer to say art has given me my life. Frank Stella
What a beautiful quote. What more is there to say? Thanks, Frank.
Frank Stella working 1964
photo by Ugo Mulas
November 16, 2009 
Matisse – Chrysanthemums in a Chinese Vase (1902) – private collection
“It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else.” Henri Matisse
A lot has been written about the development of artistic style. Aren’t we all familiar with the many old saws quoted and over-quoted about it?
There’s: The green is always grassier on someone else’s palette.
And: Which comes first – the artist or the style?
Then there’s the one about inspiration versus perspiration. (I never was great at math so I forget the percentages here, but I do know it comes down heavily on the side of exercise!).
In the final analysis, developing a personal painting style can be summed up quite simply: All good things come to those who paint.
November 11, 2009 
Sarah's View
Hi Everyone,
I would like to invite you to attend the opening of my show at the Copley Society at 158 Newbury Street, Boston. It is tonight (Thursday) from 5:30 to 7:30.
I will also be giving an artist talk on Saturday at 4:00.
If you attend, please be sure to introduce yourselves, I would love to meet you.
-GS
November 9, 2009 
Welty – untitled – private collection
“Life doesn’t hold still…Making pictures of people in all sorts of situations, I learned that every feeling waits upon its gesture; and I had to be prepared to recognize this moment when I saw it.” Eudora Welty
Eudora Welty began her artistic journey as a photographer of her native Mississippi before going on to become one of our grande dames of American letters – winner of a Pulitzer Prize, National Book Critics Circle Award, several O Henry Awards, and the Medal of Freedom. She captured the life and times of the working poor during the hard years of the Great Depression and the realities of life for blacks in the days before the civil rights movement – all with great empathy and an understated voice saying ‘look, this is important’.
November 1, 2009 
Tiffany – Algerian Shops – location unknown
Yes, this painting is by THE Tiffany – Louis Comfort Tiffany. If you look closely, I think you can see the same mind at work behind the piece – all the shapes are clearly defined - like stained glass. He uses a very concise pattern of light and darks – like stained glass. Each patch of color stays within its boundaries with no wild brushstrokes – like stained glass.
Many artists work in several mediums, but it seems that when they become well known for one of them, we (the public) tend to like to forget their diversity. Somehow actors aren’t ‘supposed’ to sing, sports stars aren’t ‘supposed’ to be paint, painters aren’t ‘supposed' to dance. The list goes on and on. What’s up with this? Maybe it’s just unfair that some people can do several things really well while the rest of us struggle just to master one!!