I started the ArtFoodHome.com daily (now 4 times/week) blog 1/1/11 (easy to remember, right?) and have kept it going since then. Come back each day - I share with you:
ART: featured artists, art events, workshops, etc.
FOOD: recipes, restaurants, and good finds along the way
HOME: house plans, home design, places here in Charleston...
On year 14 of artfoodhome.com - share this site with anyone who you think might enjoy it!
Mark it on your calendar! October 13-15, 2014 Tim Bell will be giving a workshop here in Charleston, SC.
The workshop begins on Monday (Columbus Day) through Wednesday from 9AM – 4PM each day.
Tim Bell painting on the wharf, Monhegan Island
I would just like to say, from experience, that I personally have learned so much from Tim. My husband and I met Tim on Monhegan Island, Maine (photo above) back in 2006 and he was painting away. For the three of us it was our first trip to Monhegan, and meeting Tim made it special. He shared so much information with me that week. I remember thinking to myself that he shares information that he knows because he WANTS you to know it too. He is passionate about painting. Have you ever taken a workshop or a private lesson, and had an instructor who didn’t want to instruct? I have. She wanted to paint on her own… without me asking questions… hmmmm. That just didn’t work for me. I was there to learn and I walked away not learning a single thing. So if that has happened to you, don’t let that stop you from taking a workshop that could possibly catapult you into the stratosphere! Ok, maybe I’m a little dramatic, but it’s my way of saying… This workshop… Will. Be. Worth. It.
If you agree, please share this post! You know… the artists helping artists thing… ;)
Quite the classy design, isn’t it? You come to expect nothing but from Allison Ramsey Architects. The Shadowlawn plan (C0053) is 3,356 square feet and has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. I love how these homes look like they could have been built many moons ago- such fabulous porches. A place you want to spend time, even before you see the inside! A wonderful design is key to a home that you will love for a lifetime. This home not only has a wonderful front porch, but great screened porches in the back. Lets have a look…
Shadowlawn Main Floor
I like how the left side of the house is reserved for the Master Bathroom, Bedroom and Closet. This home has a wide foyer that looks straight through the Great Room to the Porch. Speaking of the porches, the screened porches allow you to keep the french doors open when its nice outside. What a nice size kitchen, hmmm! This is a grand house plan!
Shadowlawn House Plan – Second Floor
The upstairs offers plenty of room and privacy with the separate bathrooms, which is nice. For our purposes, I think I would have a storage room instead of two bathrooms… but this gives you great options!
See images from Allison Ramsay Architects website HERE.
I featured Philip back in 2011, the first year that I started this daily blog… his work was amazing then, but I love it even more now. I think his bold brush strokes and vibrant colors are out of this world. Each and every one of his paintings is absolutely the best! I haven’t met Philip, but we’ve gone back and forth with messages, and he is the nicest guy ever, a big plus when purchasing art. I have got to like the artist, otherwise it doesn’t matter to me how good their work is, I just won’t love it… you know what I mean?
The darkness of the rocks, against the sunlit shore and that beautiful water… wow… great combination. I like how color peeks through at you through the clouds. Awesome!
Mondrian’s Ice Fish Shack by Philip Frey – 30×40″ Oil
Another fabulous painting by Philip. The vibrant blue really just sings… and those icicles hanging off the bottom of the fish shack, well, I just love them! This painting caught my eye, reminded me a bit of home (Michigan). As soon as the lake would freeze you would see “shantytown” – Fish Shanty’s (shacks) everywhere! Inevitably some people didn’t pay attention to when the ice would begin to melt and a few would be lost… bloop… gone. This painting really depicts that quite nicely. I remember going ice fishing with my dad out on the frozen lake. Dig the hole, that was the coolest part. Then sit on buckets with the car door open blocking the wind… no fish… Hello!! Where are the fish…?? Ok dad… I’m done and ready to go get something to eat, hee… that would be after about 15 minutes – wonder why we never had a shanty, ha ha… it was big fun regardless, and probably MORE fun, hey, the memory stuck, that has to mean something, right?
Philip is giving a workshop this year, here are the details, if you’re in the Maine area you aren’t going to want to miss it!
Painting Downeast
Plein Air Painting Workshop with Philip Frey
August 28-31, 2014 | 9 am – 4 pm | $400 | www.philipfrey.com
Phil Frey was born in Portland, Maine, in 1967. He honed his artistic muse at Syracuse University, from which he graduated cum laude in 1990. Returning to his beloved Maine, he established his home and studio in the down-east village of Sullivan.
Frey is a master at using bold color to capture the sense of his subject. An admirer of the French Fauves, the 19th-century artists noted for their use of bright color, Frey says of his art: “I’m an artist who tries to joyfully express the surroundings I love through color and a sense of place.”
Frey’s vision is vital, his goal is simplicity. He is often attracted to what might seem ordinary or everyday to someone else. It is Frey’s ability to transform that everyday object into something of beauty and meaning that has caught the eye of Maine’s audience of astute art collectors.
Although Frey’s subject matter is diverse—pure landscapes, seascapes, and even interiors—his joy in the simple act of painting is a constant. So is his need to show “the simple beauty of the extraordinary moment: vivid light on a building, shadows draped along curvy roads, the many colors of foliage, or the intricacy of a working harbor.”
Fred and I had the best lunch the other day… we had worked hard (our study has been painted, woohoo Fred!) it was getting late and we were starving! We headed to Brixx Wood Fired Pizza, in Mount Pleasant, SC. Usually we split a pizza, they aren’t big, but just enough for us… except for that day… this turned into a lunch/dinner situation… we ordered our typical Margherita Pizza… it’s so fresh tasting with a light crust, very fresh (house made) mozzarella, fresh roma tomatoes and luscious basil… a tasty treat… but we saw that someone had ordered a pizza with some lots of “green” (it was a ways away), we asked what it was. It was the Wild Mushroom Pizza with fresh arugula. So we ordered one of those as well! (Oink! Oink!) Oh. My. Gosh. We were in Heaven… the arugula was so fresh a tender, the PERFECT addition to this pizza. The Margherita Pizza was delicious, as it always is! Their iced tea is pretty spectacular as well… always fresh, and if you’re an iced tea connoisseur like we are (unsweet please) this is the place to go!
Wild Mushroom Pizza with Arugula
Can I tell you how difficult it was to wait to snap this photo? I was getting the evil eye from Fred. HURRY UP! ha ha… Heaven, I’m tellin’ ya! If you get a chance, head on over there… Here’s their website with menu! Or if you prefer to jump right to the PIZZA MENU just click the link! Enjoy and I’ll catch you back here tomorrow!
Chance. Of. A. Lifetime! That’s what I would personally call it! If you’re going to be in the Apalachicola, FL area in May, take this workshop with Ken DeWaard and Greg LaRock (another fabulous artist!) if you can! Ken (pictured above), is such a great instructor. Learning from someone like Ken is a privilege… you will leave with great insight and you will master your skills… no doubt about it!
Don’t miss this opportunity to study with two nationally known, award-winning plein air artists in one workshop! With decades of experience, Greg and Ken will guide you through everything you need to know including: simplification, understanding good composition, creating focal interest, achieving depth and atmosphere in your work and much, much more. Watch and learn with demos by both artists including a side by side demo of the same subject matter. Plus, lots of hands on instruction, discussion and free goodies for all students! Workshop is open to all levels.
Fee:$300. Click hereto register OR email info@pleinairfl.com !
Check out Ken’s website, it’s a great one, full of details… to see images of his work. Stunning!
This photo was taken last year on Easter, what a festive porch! There is nothing like walking around downtown, especially on or after a holiday when the decorations are still hanging. You wouldn’t believe how many fresh flower wreaths there are. Just stunning! What a treat this city is!
Hope you enjoy your Sunday!! Catch you back here tomorrow!
Dogwood Blooms in Charleston… Lovely… absolutely stunning in every way. When the sun hits this tree in the morning and late afternoon it just lights up. This time of year doesn’t last long… azaleas blooming, wisteria showing off it’s multitude of blooms with a scent that just goes on forever, soon the hydrangeas and gardenias! Spring is beautiful even though it flies by in the flash of an eye…
Enjoy it while you can! Catch you back here tomorrow!
Interiors. I know I keep mentioning them (hint hint to all you artists out there!)… I love them and paintings of interiors are not easy to find. When you do find an artist it seems like all their interiors are sold… it’s crazy! Of course it can’t be any interior, the painting has to depict great detail (for me, without being too tight), sunshine/light and shadows. It has to be interesting… and Cecilia’s are!
Read a blip about Cecilia from her website, and while you’re there check out her lovely paintings!!
CECILIA ROSSLEE grew up in South Africa and has recently moved to Carmel, California where she lives with her husband and three children. Her work reflects the people and objects she loves.
After graduating with a National Diploma in Fine Art, Cecilia moved to Cape Town where she started a prolific career in art. Some of her clients include Planet Hollywood and Sun International Hotels.
In 2000 she formed a publishing company with her husband which supplied a large range of stationery, depicting her art work. She supplied a major, upscale retail chain store, Woolworths, for 9 years.
Since living in Carmel, CA, Cecilia focuses mainly on her beautiful oil painting. Her work is in great demand as she depicts happy, warm images that are dear to her.
Last week I featured a one bedroom house plan… this week it’s a two bedroom house plan (and I bet you can guess what next week will be)! After much searching, I came upon this plan, which I think would work nicely if a small house would suit you! This plan is 1,120 square feet of heated space with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The only things missing is a dining room/eat in area of the kitchen. That can be solved by eating on the screened porch during nice weather (how nice would that be??)! Or if it became an issue, the screened porch could always be enclosed, like a sunroom… just a thought. So one side of the house are the bedrooms and the other side is the living space, family room, kitchen and screened porch. I love the look of the exterior of this house. It’s got so much charm! It would be nice with wood walls inside (horizontal).
Fabulous painting, isn’t it? I love paintings of everyday people doing everyday things… it makes it so interesting. This pastel painting “Window” is featured in the Artist’s Magazine Competition Spotlight, May issue, 2014. I like how you get a glimpse into this persons life… a bit of their kitchen, their window washing, the outside. I love the concentration in the woman’s face. The movement is spectacular! Great painting Sally!
Sally’s work is so wonderful, she would be a great one to take a workshop with! Lucky you… Sally teaches workshops, check out the link to see when/where!
“I am captivated by light, and my interest in light is on equal terms with the content of a painting.” Strand pulls the extraordinary out of the ordinary through the use of light and color. Assembling multi-layered surfaces in a rich complexity of form and color, her paintings appear to emanate light from within.
A native of Colorado now residing in California, Strand has been exhibiting professionally as an artist for over 30 years. Influenced early in life by an artistic mother and a heritage of artistic relatives, her childhood was a creative mix ranging from art projects to professional puppet shows.
As a result of extensive travels while a young adult, Strand recognized a need to portray her view of the world through art. Her subjects became the familiar people and objects she carefully observed in the business of living – a man reading a morning newspaper; light falling across a bowl of eggs; groups of people waiting, working, playing – slices of life.
Strand was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, the highest commendation of the Pastel Society of America, NY. She is the recipient of numerous top awards, including the PSA Master Pastelist distinction, and most recently the IAPS Master Circle Honor. Her solo exhibitions in galleries and museums include a 2006 one-person retrospective of pastel and oil paintings at the Bakersfield Museum of Art in California.
Widely published in books and magazines internationally, her work is also represented in many corporate and private collections. Strand studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and at the Art Students League and National Academy of Design in New York. She earned a BFA degree from the University of Denver. Strand teaches workshops and master classes around the country.
Have you heard about the men’s perfume “Eight and Bob”? It has a fascinating story. When Fred and I last visited Old Road Mercantile (that I wrote about HERE), Kevin, the owner, was telling us all about this. Fred had read something about it long ago, it was the scent that John F. Kennedy Jr. wore. You must read the short history from the Eight and Bob website, so interesting! It is so classy and the scent… Out. Of. This. World!
Limited yearly production- – – Yep, it’s only carried by a few select retailers, and when it’s gone for the year, it’s gone…
ANDREA IS THE PLANT
WHOSE EXTRACTS ARE THE
SOUL OF EIGHT&BOB
In January 1934 Albert Fouquet traveled to Chile at the invitation of the Italian ambassador. Besides enjoying the charms of the country, he took advantage of this trip to search the Andes for aromatic plants that would enhance his fragances.
He returned to Paris with several sprigs of “Andrea”, the name Albert had given the plant whose extracts are the soul of his cologne “EIGHT & BOB”. Andrea is a wild plant in short supply due to the altitude and limited area in which it grows; and can only be picked during the months of December and January. The plants gathered undergo a very exacting selection process in which only seven percent are chosen. This process ends between March and April and only then is it known how many units of “EIGHT & BOB” can be bottled; and how many can be allotted of each country.
If you’re in Charleston, SC check it out at Old Road Mercantile on King Street!
How magical is this? The way Haley’s paintings include her as a self portrait in a heroin type way is so clever. These paintings have such life. You could look at this painting for a long time and still see new things that you didn’t catch on a previous glimpse. Brilliant. And… this is only one of many! Be sure to check out Haley’s work!
There was a great article that The Morning News did, where Karolle Rabarison interviewed Haley… read it HERE… it makes me like this artist even more! This also shows some of her paintings…
The self-portrait confronts the viewer with an outward representation of the inner self. Here is the exterior as seen by the interior.
The self-portrait as a character introduces a further element. While the self-portrait implies that the artist is showing us the truth, a representation of the exterior in disguise conveys the impossibility and doubleness of this endeavor.
Through the seemingly private world of self-portraiture and autobiographical narrative, I hope to present a compelling fictive world, without dictating a precise narrative or relying on a static symbolism. I try to invest the figure with an iconic confrontability – making it operate both as self-portrait and archetypal heroine.
Painting impels me to cross the border freely between the universe of things and the universe of the imagination. The former involves an urgent encounter between the eye and the exterior world, while the latter contains the interior universe of memory, history, narrative, and desire.
Check out Haley’s paintings… they are magical! Catch you back here tomorrow!
All images via HaleyHasler.com – with permission from the artist.
Well, it is Palm Sunday today… so I thought I would get a shot with a palm! This isn’t our house, but it’s a beauty, isn’t it? Lovely with all the azaleas blooming! The big old live oak trees help as well. Such a pretty setting!
There is nothing better fresh local strawberries. To make a quick stop at the Farmers Market is soooo worth it! These strawberries are nothing like the ones you get in the grocery store, they are juicy and sweet and a true delight!
Isn’t this the most delightful self portrait? I love it. Diane looks like such a nice woman, someone who you would like to spend time talking to. Her work is exceptional!
The light on her face and in her hair… so nice… those little punches of color in the necklace, and that soft pretty color on her face. Very nice!
Read a blip about Diane from her website, be sure to check out her blog as well!
My adopted state of Florida both inspires and terrifies me. The sky and water, vivid colors, light and shadows… hurricanes! There’s an energy here that drives my painting. People, palm trees, birds and flowers. Tourists and trailer parks. Painting material everywhere I look! I’m lucky to live where the ordinary is extraordinary. Florida’s beauty contrasts sharply with seedy tackiness. My challenge is to translate this visual chaos with paint in full color.
I paint with several plein air groups in Southwest Florida and often venture out on my own. Sometimes fire ants or rain chase me into my car (auto-painting). A plein air sketch may evolve into a larger studio painting. Over thirty years as an artist/author (more than 64 books illustrated as Diane Paterson, 12 as author) have influenced the way I see and translate visual reference. Sharing my skills through teaching has sharpened my life-long learning process.
My blog has become an important part of my work. I post and write about painting techniques almost daily. Please visit:
ARTFOODHOME.COM 