Water Music-A Mermaid's Lullaby

I just finished this painting and it left today in a truck to Studio E Gallery in Palm Beach Gardens. My studio is very empty now. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to paint larger and wonderful to know that someone has space in their lives for a big painting. It feels like suddenly being able to take a deep breath of fresh air. Like my last painting, "Blues for Dogs", "Water Music" involves an interior/exterior space with one merging into the other. The idea of a "floating room" has intrigued me for some time, and I have done sketches considering this concept, but this is the first painting where I have actually explored it fully. I plan to do more with it. The title "Water Music" comes from the suites composed by Handel which were first played by musicians on a barge on the River Thames for King George I and his close friends. The story goes that the barge moved along with the tide, and the King liked the music so much he asked the musicians to play it three times. In this "Water Music" the sound coming from the piano is so beautiful it is drawing creatures from the sea to come and listen. For the mermaid, it is a lullaby.

My Studio this Afternoon

The late afternoon light in my studio today, glancing off the paintings that are ready for the show. All the little figures are waiting patiently. Some are reading, some are sipping tea. Others sleep as if they don't have a care in the world.

Blues for Dogs

Here are two images of a painting I just finished. The first one is in process and the second image is the finished painting.

It is titled "Blues for Dogs" and is oil on linen, 36" x 48". It will be in my upcoming show at the Marin-Price Galleries in Bethesda, Maryland. The show will be comprised of landscapes with figures, inspired by Block Island, as well as interiors with single female figures. "Blues for Dogs" is sort of the linking painting between these two groups.

The painting was inspired by a Piero della Francesco fresco- a reproduction of which, has been pinned to my studio wall since 1983.

And yes that is my dog, Rembrandt, sitting in the first archway on the left.

The show opens March 3rd.

Painting Commissioned Portraits

Painting commissioned portraits is always challenging. Making an interesting painting as well as representing an individual to his or her satisfaction can sometimes be tricky. My latest incarnation as a portrait painter seems to be painting beloved, but deceased pets. My dear friend and dealer, Peg Goldberg, of Longstreth Goldberg Art, Naples, FL, called me a month or two ago close to tears. Her neighbor's dog "Maxwell Smart" had passed away that morning and they were all devastated. It seems Maxwell, a huge, happy, old yellow lab was the center of their lives. Peg asked me if I would paint Maxwell with his "parents", as a surprise. This is when a portrait painter has to make a decision- do I make an attempt at it or not? My policy is to always say yes. And truthfully I have yet to paint a portrait from which I didn't learn something new or which didn't push me out of my comfort zone in one way or another. I always feel like I gain from the experience. So I said "yes, I would love to paint Maxwell and Family!" Then Peg started sending me the only resource material she had, which included a very blurry low resolution image of Maxwell, and a couple bad shots of his people. The only story I had to go on was that Maxwell liked bananas. So that led to a picnic- Dejeuner sur L'herbe avec Lab. Since they live in Naples I looked at a Winslow Homer watercolor I love of palm trees, and invented a picnic lunch, including a banana. Peg gave me some input on the general appearance of her friends-face shape, type of clothing, etc. which was helpful. She loves the end result and is giving the painting to her friends for Christmas. What did I learn from this one? I definitely figured out palm trees, and I got better at making something from almost nothing. As long as my client is happy, then I am happy to have painted it.

The painting of Maxwell Smart is oil on panel 20" x 24"

Illustrations for Three Digital Picture Books on utales

Here are the covers of three digital picture books I illustrated.

They are available at www.utales.com. There is also an iphone and ipad app available on itunes. Paloma's Pie is written by my collaborating author Jean Heilprin Diehl.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/utales/id465334751

I did all the illustrations on an ipad using Sketchbook Pro. I included sounds and animation in The Princess on the Pea and The Baker Dog, by utilizing the utales tools.

Any book you purchase on utales supports Pencils of Promise http://www.pencilsofpromise.org/who-we-are So you can read a picture book with a child while helping another child somewhere in the world!

Portrait of a Family

This is a portrait I finished recently for a family in Ridgewood, New Jersey. I used the repetition of a triangle, referencing the shape in the roof of the house in the composition of the three figures. This is a device often seen in Early Renaissance panel paintings and frescoes which anchors the figures to the foreground while creating a connection and harmony between the foreground and the background of the painting.

Two new interiors-"Girl in Chair" paintings

Beauty and Beast; a Donut on the Table (oil on panel 8" x 10")

Girl in a Red Bandana with Cat (oil on panel 11" x 14")