#4 (Aggregates) by Amy Mahnick  15×11″  Oil

Amy Mahnick. Wonderful paintings, cleverly done, abstract, some more than others. Fabulous color palette. Her paintings draw interest. I love this one – I love how everyone sees something a little different in abstract paintings. She has a great website, be sure to check her out!

Miss 4th (#2) by Amy Mahnick 10×8″ Oil

She also paints these cool models, they have so much character – the colors are so fun and she nailed the shadows and light. Wow!

Read a bit about Amy, from Black Pond Studio website (check website for workshop info):

“Amy Mahnick has been creating the subjects for her still life paintings for 18 years.  The plastic and packaging material she uses reflects her love of clean, colorful, modernist forms, and her paintings, a love for the process of working from observation.  

She was born in Detroit and received a BFA, in sculpture, from Michigan State University, and an MFA, in painting, from the New York Academy of Art. 

Her work has been exhibited in the United States and South Korea, most notably with Flowers Gallery, Nancy Margolis Gallery, Trestle Gallery, and 1285 Avenue of the Americas in New York; Richard Heller Gallery in Los Angeles; Girls’ Club, Ft. Lauderdale; and the Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul.

She has taught painting and drawing as an adjunct instructor at Adelphi University on Long Island for the past 5 years.  Prior to that, her work as a commercial painter included projects as far ranging as the recreation of Pierre Bourdelle’s Depression-era murals in Dallas’s Fair Park, to Jeff Koons’s Easyfun-Ethereal series. “

All images via AmyMahnick.net, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Interior with Flowers by John Francis Murray

John Francis Murray. Interesting paintings – so different and full of life. There is an abstract quality to them, which I like, a lot! This interior painting is so happy and vibrant! I love the table cloth, the background, the texture, the bright flowers. You know what it is even though you don’t know what everything is, if that makes sense. Fabulous! Check out more of John’s work, as well as his website!

Read a bit about John, from his website:

“John Murray is a contemporary artist who works primarily in oil. His subject matter includes figure, landscape, still-life and portraiture. Inspired by the classical masters as a boy, his traditional training and artistic development has lead to work of quality. His paintings carry an appealing sense of clarity and color. Murray was educated at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia. In 1991 he studied at the John Michael Angel Studio in Florence, Italy. Upon graduation, he became one of four banknote designers at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where he drew presidential portraits and worked on currency designs for 16 years. In 2005, he decided to leave the Bureau to pursue his art career full time. The same year, as a faculty member at the Corcoran School of Art, he won a grant from the Corcoran to do post-graduate work at the Repin Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. 

In 2001, his wife Lena, a Russian artist, founded the Bridgeview School of Fine Art in New York. John Murray is a co-founder and guest teacher at the Bridgeview School. Since 2005, John and Lena have been organizing summer master classes for American students in St. Petersburg, Russia at the famous Repin Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

John has exhibited in many venues including the International Art Expo in New York City, the Strathmore Museum in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he won Best of Show Alumni Award in 2002. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland and teaches drawing, painting and sculpture at the Corcoran School of Art while continuing to paint. He is represented by Nichols Gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia and Newman Gallery in Philadelphia.

Major commissions include portrait of Supreme Court clerk Suiter, religious mural for the Jesuit Chapel at the Georgetown University and historic restoration of the dome of the Hispanic Gala Theater in Washington DC.”

All images via JohnFrancisMurray.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

By the Ice Pond by Beth Rundquist 12×16″ Oil

My husband and I had the pleasure of seeing Beth Rundquist’s painting up close at the Island Inn dining room (Monhegan, Maine). Each year the Island Inn collaborates with the Lupine Gallery to create a stunning show that is displayed in the Island Inn dining room for that season – What a treat it is! Last year it was a show featuring the late Don Stone and others who had painted with him. It was an amazing body of work, each piece as beautiful as the next. This painting of Beth’s was in that show. What struck me is the thick layers of paint and how they were applied – it really added a WOW factor. The colors blended giving such texture and depth to the road, incredible!

Read a bit about Beth, from her website:

“Beth Rundquist is Fine Artist, Portrait Painter and Teacher living and working in New York City.

Beth received a BA in art from Smith College. She continued her studies at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Connecticut, L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, the Repin Institute of Russia in St.Petersburg, and has studied sculpture at The Sculpture Center and LIC Sculpture Studio In NY.

She teaches painting privately and at the New York Academy of Art in New York.

Beth has traveled in the US and abroad to paint commissioned portraits and has received numerous awards including the Richard and Mary Schroeder Portrait Award and Bryan Family Foundation Award from the Copley Society in Boston MA.

Her work hangs in private and public spaces around the world.”

All images via BethRundquist.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Beach Sunflower Safari by Alan Phillips 14×14″ Oil

Alan Phillips. A man with wonderful paintings, an interesting history and the best attitude on the planet. From a quick few emails with Alan I definitely get the feeling that this man loves life, he loves what he does, and his paintings show just that. His paintings are of beautiful places, typically in or near the water. He paints from his soul.

I Feel September Coming On by Alan Phillips 18×13″ Watercolor

I absolutely adore this painting – a watercolor on paper, it’s got such feeling. This was a painting that Alan did for Water’s Edge Magazine for an article about the weather turning cooler in Northern Florida – September… the time to have the beach to yourself! It’s like that here in Charleston as well. Those are the times we go to the beach. Heaven! This bird looks happy that the people are giving him back his space!

Alan has a fabulous bio, in it he mentions two things that I am familiar with, Gar Wood and Chris Craft mahogany boats. I grew up where they built them in Michigan. They are the most beautiful boats, so classy! When you’re done reading this fabulous bio, be sure to head to Alan’s website and check out his paintings!

Read a blip about Alan, from his website:

All images via AlanPhillipStudio.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Monhegan Fisherman Waiting on the Market by Michael Vermette  33×46″  Oil

Michael Vermette has his own style. I am personally drawn to the paintings that have a good bit of dark and light – so dramatic, and clean – crisp with wonderful shadows, but truly, I love them all. This painting of the Monhegan fisherman waiting on the market is breathtaking! This painting is available at Gleason Fine Art in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine.

Take a peek at Michael’s website as well as the gallery websites, including the Lupine Gallery, they have some wonderful pieces!

Read a bit about Michael, from his website:

“Michael E. Vermette double majored in Painting and Printmaking at the Maine College of Art, receiving his B.F.A Painting degree in 1980. He received his Certification in K-12 Art Education in 1986 through the University of Maine at Orono. A full-time artist and part-time teacher, Michael  has been painting in oil, watercolor, and pastel for over forty years and has won numerous awards for his work, including the Laura Coleman and the Beverly Awards at the 12th and 13th Biennial North American Open Shows of the New England Watercolor Society. Most recently, Michael was the 2011 Baxter State Park Artist-in-Residence. Michael leads several plein air painting workshops in Maine and New Hampshire in watercolor and oil painting throughout the year. He is a Monhegan Artists’ Residency Fellow and was twice an Artist-in-Residence at Acadia National Park. His watercolors, oils, and pastels are in private collections throughout the country and internationally. In Maine, his works have been shown in various galleries, including the North Light Gallery in Millinocket, the Lupine Gallery on Monhegan Island, the Elizabeth Moss Gallery in Falmouth, The Lupin Gallery on Monhegan Island, and The Courthouse Gallery in Ellsworth. 

All images via MichaelEVermette.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Ghost Boat by Claudia Hershman 16×20″ Mixed Media

Claudia Hershman has interesting abstracts, they’re fun and different. The featured painting, Ghost Boat, has that lovely pop of orange against that wonderful blue green. Lots of little interesting things thrown into the mix. Take a look at Claudia’s paintings, they’re sure to bring a smile to your face.

Read a bit about Claudia, from her website:

All images via ClaudiaHershman.com, used with permission…

Thank you Claudia for submitting your website! It’s how I find out about artists that I may not have run across!

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Bonfire by Matthew W. Cornell  12×12″ Oil on Panel

Available at Arcadia Contemporary Gallery in LA

Wow, what a painting! Matthew Cornell’s paintings make you feel as if you are right there… watching the embers in the air, feeling the cool breeze on one side of you while the fire heats the other side, hearing the crackling of the wood – fabulous painting!

Wave Study by Matthew W. Cornell (as shown on his easel) – [SOLD]

I saw this recently on Matthew’s Facebook page – can you believe someone can capture a wave so well? The foaminess, those wonderful greens and blues the warm color of the sand, the MOVEMENT is so perfect. Be sure to check out ore of Matthew’s painting on his website, Instagram and Facebook! You won’t believe how fabulous!

Read a bit about Matthew, from the Arcadia Contemporary Gallery website:

“Matthew Cornell was born in Fairfield, CA in 1964. His first memories are of traveling across the United States in a car. His childhood was, in a sense, the quintessential American experience, because the notion of a “road trip” was conceived and perpetrated by Americans. The automobile and the family trip was, and still is, ours. It is these experiences driving across this land at a young age that formed his way of seeing things. Cornell says, ”Every year we travelled across the US and I spent most of my time looking out of the window and observing the landscape and weather. We moved a lot and I got to see almost every part of this country. It was a blessing. It made me aware of the variety and the vastness the US has to offer.”

Weather became the dominant influence on his early landscape painting. “I have always been fascinated by the extremes of weather and the power of nature,” he says. “It is in a constant state of creation and destruction, of origin and destination. With every day, the planet begins anew. Nature seeks equilibrium. It is in a never ending cycle.” Cornell prefers the sublime and meditative observations of land and seascape, the narrative of majestic weather, and somber cloudscapes sweeping across the land and vast empty sea.

Recently his paintings have turned more complex, with dusk and night scenes, streetlights on secluded homes. The visual backdrop has allowed a subtle narrative of mystery and intrigue. “Landscapes at this hour are like ghosts that are unseen during the day, only to be revealed by the strange and myriad ways the night time glows”, Cornell says. These narratives include neighborhoods that mirror the kind he grew up in and the longing he now has to find home. “I spent a great deal of my childhood moving and this has greatly influenced my new work. I am searching for that elusive notion of where I come from and where I belong.”

Cornell has been part of many group, solo, and museum shows since 1997. He now lives and maintains a studio in Orlando, FL.”

All images via MatthewCornell.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Blizzard by Robert Beck  24×32″  Oil

As I write this we are having a warm day… I can feel the cooler air is on the way, but today’s sunshine and mix of humidity makes me really appreciate this Blizzard painting! Oh, what joy it would be to feel the snow on your face and to feel the cool winds. This painting is so full of action! The woman hailing the cab (I think I just heard her whistle!), you can even hear the shovel on the cement as the man gets rid of the accumulation so far. The dog walker and the dog wishing he had booties, ha ha… so much to think about in this wonderful painting!

Fiddleheads by Robert Beck 12×16 Oil

I love the clearness of this painting. Stunning in every way! Robert paints just enough of something so that your mind fills in the rest. Those fabulous wood floors, the wonderful greenery! I wonder if these are two co-workers or a client and a worker? What is their conversation about? What’s for dinner? What will go nicely with the Fiddleheads? Smell that wonderful greenery? I think I even smell the coffee that is now brewing and hear the radio that they have turned to low… What a wonderful painting! Be sure to check out Robert’s website, there are so many equally fabulous paintings – don’t miss it!

Read a bit about Robert, from the Artist’s Statement on his website:

“Both my painting and my writing are descriptions of an encounter. Recognition isn’t enough; I try to eliminate the detail and noise that dilute the identity, leaving visual clues to trigger a shared understanding or experience. My subjects are living moments, not solo, static entities. There is a before and after, and the viewer should sense that. Depicting people eating breakfast at the counter in a diner isn’t enough; I want you to hear the clatter of plates. When you notice the boots next to the fisherman in his recliner, I want you to know how it feels to put them on in the morning.”

And excerpts from Bio…

“Robert Beck grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, an area known for its artistic and cultural heritage. Beck left a career in the business world at the age of 40 to pursue painting, and subsequently attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He maintains a gallery of his work in Lambertville, NJ.

Robert Beck is a teacher, a curator, a lecturer and a writer, and he has hosted a radio interview program. His column on his art-related experiences, entitled “A Thousand Words”, has appeared monthly in ICON Magazine for more than a decade.

The focus of Beck’s work has evolved from figure, to landscape, to genre paintings done from life and studio paintings composed from sketches and imagination. His subjects vary, but the common thread in all of his images is viewpoint: the description of his encounter. Concentrating on events, occupations and environments, Beck’s paintings are a chronicle of our time.

Robert Beck is known for painting in series – multiple images addressing diverse aspects of the same subject. These “visual essays” include work created while traveling the Mississippi River on a towboat pushing barges, amidst a symphony orchestra during its performances, with a racing team in Europe, and traveling with doctors in Senegal. His paintings depicting life in the Maine Maritime community are his largest body of work with a single focus.

Robert Beck lives with his wife, Doreen, in New Hope, Pennsylvania.” Read Robert’s bio in its entirety HERE…

All images via RobertBeck.net, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!