Ahhhh, can’t wait to get here! The Island Inn on Monhegan Island, Maine… it is the best place to stay. A wonderful breakfast, coffee that makes your smile linger a little longer and I highly recommend making dinner reservations EVERY SINGLE NIGHT! We were thrilled to be in touch with some of our friends that stay on the island around the same time every year. They have become like family to us… can’t wait to see them all again!
If you’re looking for that perfect place on the island, look no further… catch you back here tomorrow!
Morning Walk by Brian Kliewer/ Image: KliewerStudio.com
Brian Kliewer. A nice guy and a fabulous artist. You can just feel the chill in the air in this painting, can’t you? Brian was a Facebook friend several years ago, and I truly enjoyed his posts, besides the beautiful paintings that he posted he would talk about life in Maine, show photos of the big snow storms and other various subjects. Brian is no longer on Facebook and I do miss his posts, got tired of all the FB changes I guess, heavy sigh… We also ran into his work at Mars Hall Gallery in Port Clyde a few years ago… as fabulous in person as it was on the Internet. Brian has a great website, I urge you to check it out, he lists the galleries he’s in, so if you’re in the neighborhood, pop on in! Here’s a little blip about Brian from his website:
Completely self-taught in painting, Kliewer began showing his work at The Pine Tree Shop & Bayview Gallery in Camden, Maine, in the autumn of 1988. The following year, artist Edward Hergelroth saw Kliewer’s work for the first time and said, “It’s hard to believe that anyone this young and with so little formal training could produce such an incredible sense of drama and atmosphere in his work.” Collectors were soon taken with his paintings and the gallery dedicated an entire show to his work at its Portland, Maine location early in 1991. His show of Maine landscapes was a near sellout. In 1995 the Camden gallery offered “Brian Kliewer-A Full Perspective” to its audience and the show nearly sold out on its first weekend! Another successful show followed in 1996. In 2001, Kliewer showed in “Two Views of New England,” a two-man show at Mast Cove Galleries in Kennebunkport, Maine. In 2005 the artist was selected by curator, Margaret Bodell, to have his first show in New York City.
Ok, so it’s not the cheapest popcorn you’ll ever find, but it is one of the very best out there. I grew up eating popcorn, so I’m somewhat of an expert on this subject. When you need a snack, that should be more healthy than not… what comes to mind? Carrot stick? Nope… POPCORN! Not from the movie theater but from your local store. It’s the popcorn in the red bag, it’s delicious, it’s PERFECT. If you haven’t tried it I highly suggest that you do, you won’t believe how good it is. Crunchy and perfectly salted, I like the “Touch of Sea Salt” but they have many varieties, that’s just my personal favorite! So if you’re craving something… give it a whirl!
Self Portrait in Studio by Daniela Astone/Image: AnnLongFineArt.com
I love paintings of artists painting, or of their studios. For some reason those kinds of paintings fascinate me. I love seeing into someones life. How they do things, are they organized or does the creativity flow without order? That seems to be the case for many artists. Maybe I spend too much time getting things the way I want them… then oops… time to make dinner… ha ha… I guess I need to lighten up, or maybe pick up a paintbrush. That’s on the list of things to do this year… didn’t really work out last year, but… Anyway, artist Daniela Astone painted a fantastic piece, a self portrait in her studio. Very nice Daniela!
Locally, Daniela has her work at Ann Long Fine Art in Charleston, SC. If you’re in the area, stop by and check it out, otherwise check it out online, they have a great website! Daniela has the most interesting blog, it’s like visiting Italy! She teaches near Florence, Italy and lives the the nearby countryside. Here is a blip about the artist from her website:
Daniela Astone was born in Pisa in 1980 and raised in the town of Porto S. Stefano in Maremma, Italy. She discovered her passion for drawing and painting at a very young age and thus began cultivating this desire. In 1997, after graduating from the Visual Arts High School of Maremma, her motivation for the arts initiated a move to Florence. The cultural city of Florence provided her with the opportunity to deepen her knowledge and love of the art by both challenging and motivating her. Daniela’s first experience in Florence was working in the illustration school. In 2001, she enrolled in the Florence Academy of Art, one of the most serious art schools of Florence. Upon graduating in 2004, she received the painting award, the highest honor of her class. Daniela’s accomplishments include participation in the exhibition “Realism Revisited” in the Panorama Museum, Bad Frankenhausen Germany in 2003 as well as two successful solo shows with Ann Long Fine Art in 2005 and 2007. Daniela currently teaches at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence and resides in the nearby countryside.
It’s not easy finding the perfect monthly/weekly planner, you know, one you’ll stick with all year long. Last year my parents bought me the Barnes and Noble monthly/weekly planner which was VERY nice. I used every little bit of it for this blog, had notes scribbled all over. This year I read the reviews and saw how everyone mentioned that the monthly view that was always spread out on two pages was now squished onto one page, what?!! I went to the store to see for myself. They were right. Whew, crisis averted! Glad I read that review! So I headed to Target, and in 0.3 seconds found the planner of my dreams (ok, I like paper, I like to write AND I like to organize so I get excited about things like this…). It’s made by BLUE SKY IMAGES, and the one I purchased is called the EggPress Heartflower Monthly/Weekly Planner. It’s a great size 8.5″x11″, nice big squares to write in and a lined area in each monthly view for notes specific to that month. After the monthly view is the two page weekly view, which is fantastic. Also there are tabs for the monthly view which is AWESOME… I made tabs for mine last year. So if you’re looking for a fantastic planner it sells online for $16+, I bought it at Target for $9.99.
We ran across Kyle Martin, a fabulous artist from Wisconsin, with such a nice loose style, while looking at Daniel Corey’s blog during the Boothbay Regional Art Foundation fundraiser that both artists were involved with back in December. Kyle has a nice blog that you should check out if you get a chance! Here is a short blip from Blue Heron, where you can see Kyle’s work if you’re out and about in Reedsburg, WI:
Kyle is interested in observing and painting the effect of light falling on the landscape. His work is created outdoors, painted en plein air, taking direct inspiration from the subject. By using color to show atmosphere, he will often return to the same location to capture different moods of the same scene. His luminous paintings are created with active brushwork and broken color. Click HERE to see the rest…
I love running across new (to me) artists! Catch you back here tomorrow!
I would like to wish you the happiest new year ever! I hope that your year is filled with all things good… health, happiness and friends throughout the year!
I would like to thank my wonderful husband (Fred Stroud) in advance for all his help in coming up with new topics, helping to find new artists to feature, he has been instrumental when a topic eludes me! We have a big time sitting around a roaring fire brainstorming new ideas. The past year has been an adventure and I/we look forward to 2012 with you along for the ride! Thanks for stopping by… Catch you back here tomorrow!
Let me start by saying… HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE! Can you believe how fast time flies?? I want to send a quick Thank You to WordPress… Last year I decided to figure out what a “blog” entailed… why not spend some time each day and see what happens? Can’t hurt, right? After a lot of research I decided on a WordPress blog, and let me say… I’m happy I flew with WordPress! I created this blog on January 1, 2011, and planned to do several posts a week. Then I noticed WordPress had a POSTADAY and a POSTAWEEK challenge… Ok, now my interest is really peaked… a POSTAWEEK challenge really isn’t a challenge for me since I feel I can ramble on about pretty much anything, and doing so only once a week is too easy, but EVERY SINGLE DAY?? Eek, that quickly started to become a challenge. It wasn’t the topics it was the time it took to research and to figure out WHAT… once I have the WHAT I’m set! WordPress has a blog you can subscribe to that gives you ideas of a topic to write about each day, they ENCOURAGE you to write. I would have to say I am THRILLED with WordPress. They strive to be the best and to constantly improve the best of the best. I have contacted their support a few times, and they are wonderful, they respond quickly, and let me just say… they are called HAPPINESS ENGINEERS for a reason! Who couldn’t love that!
Keep it up WordPress… I’ll be with you next year! A big thank you to those of you who have spent the time to follow this blog throughout the year, I have met the coolest people this past year! I’m looking forward to next year… OK, y’all, have a wonderful New Year’s Eve… be safe, don’t drink and drive… call a taxi or have a designated driver! Catch you back here TOMORROW!
Bedroom Window by artist Douglas Martenson / Image: CourthouseGallery.com
This is a fabulous piece by artist Douglas Martenson, today’s Artist To Watch. I love how the light peeks through the fabric in the curtains, its fabulous! The artist shows his work at Courthouse Gallery in Ellsworth, Maine. If you’re in the area, check it out… otherwise check out their website!
Here’s a blip about the artist from the Courthouse Gallery website:
I have been working from life directly and indirectly from images based on the studio, or the house that I rent with my wife and Daughter for several weeks each August in Blue Hill Maine. This gives me an opportunity to focus on Landscape elements such as light and how it falls, grand vistas, water, structures such as buildings and how they relate to their environment. I also create through the use of domestic spaces both in Philadelphia and in Maine and examination of the interior world consisting of objects and light that help the spaces take form to create a landscape of the interior. While the work has always been substantially representational, this focus has brought a quality of tone and brushwork to the fore. I hope through this examination I have touched on something which is universal.
Martenson, who since 1978 has made his home in Philadelphia , a Graduate of the Pennsylvania academy of the fine Arts, his studio is a three story row house located in the Dickenson square area of Philadelphia, the house he rents in Maine is an old farm house located on seventeen acres facing Cadillac Mountain. Martenson has been the recipient of many grants and awards including a Pennsylvania Council on the arts fellowship and several Individual creative opportunity stipends from the Pennsylvania council on the Arts, a Pew fellowship on the arts grant for study at the Vermont studio center in northern Vermont an a Cresson European Traveling Scholarship from the Pennsylvania Academy of the fine Arts. Martenson has exhibited widely and shown his works regularly in galleries in New York, Philadelphia and Boston.
I ran across something neat that is going on in NYC… The New Year’s Eve Wishing Wall. You can write a wish on a piece of confetti and it will be dropped at midnight… wishes have been collected throughout the year… AND if you aren’t in NYC, no worries, you can submit a wish online, they will print it on confetti and it will be dropped with the other wishes… How cool is that?? Here’s a blip from their site…
Your wishes for 2012 will be added to the confetti that flutters down in the heart of Times Square on New Year’s Eve!
Each year people from around the globe write their wishes for the New Year on pieces of official Times Square New Year’s Eve confetti. Whether it’s a personal goal, a dream for the future or doing something for the very first time, these wishes will be posted on the New Year’s Eve Wishing Wall located in the Times Square Visitor Center (7th Ave between 46th & 47th Sts).
The wishes are collected at the end of the year, and added to the one ton of confetti that flutters down at midnight onto the crowd gathered in Times Square in celebration of the New Year.
Virtual Wishing Wall
Can’t make it to Times Square? No worries, your wishes can still fall from the sky this New Year’s. Just submit your wish, your dream, your first, online. We will print it onto a piece of confetti for you, so that no matter where you are on New Year’s Eve, your wish will be part of the Times Square celebration. Happy New Year
Click HERE to go to the site… Catch you back here tomorrow!
I ran across this blog a while back by artist Scott Hamilton (Artboy68), a VERY talented artist from British Columbia. I signed up to be a follower because I was intrigued at what he was doing, 100 portraits in 20 weeks. The blog is aptly titled “100 Portraits“, and I enjoy reading the comments back from people like me who have had their portrait done! I urge you to check out Scott’s blog, he’s very talented indeed! This sketch is 2 3/8 x 2 15/16 and he is sending it to me, what a special surprise. Click HERE for the link to this post…
I’ve met a lot of neat people through WordPress, people like Scott, but no one has done my portrait before, ha ha… THANK YOU Scott! I wish you much success, you are talented indeed… AND just so you know, I already had a draft started so that I could feature you, but I was waiting for you to do a SELF portrait… hint hint… maybe the 100th?
A few years ago I ran across this fantastic recipe at Whole Foods…Chicken Sausage Jambalaya with Shrimp. It made a good bit and it was TASTY with a capital “T”! If you’re having a group over for New Year’s Day, this might want to be something you consider?? Here ya go…
CHICKEN SAUSAGE JAMBALAYA WITH SHRIMP
Serves 12
This one-pot meal is great for feeding a crowd of friends.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons safflower oil, divided
2 (12-ounce) packages pre-cooked spicy Italian chicken sausage, sliced diagonally
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
2 1/4 cups long-grain brown rice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
3/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1 (1-pound) bag frozen okra
1 (1-pound) bag frozen Whole Catch® Tail-On, Peeled & Deveined, 41/50 Cooked Shrimp
Hot sauce for serving
Method
In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add sausage and cook until lightly browned. Remove from pot and set aside. Add remaining oil, celery, bell pepper, onion and garlic. Cook until softened. Stir in tomatoes, broth, water, rice, thyme, salt and cayenne. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 35 minutes, stirring now and then. Add frozen okra and reserved sausage. Cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until rice is tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add frozen shrimp and continue cooking until heated through. Taste and season with more salt or cayenne if desired. Serve with hot sauce.
Nutrition
Per serving: 320 calories (90 from fat), 10g total fat, 4g saturated fat, 90mg cholesterol, 460mg sodium, 34g total carbohydrate (4g dietary fiber, 4g sugar), 23g protein
"Just Arrived" by artist Ulrich Gleiter / Image: KarenHagan.com
Can’t you just FEEL how deep this snow is? How cold the temperature is? Perhaps smell wood burning from a nearby fireplace? Today’s artist to watch is Ulrich Gleiter who was given this advice… “Paint two small plein air sketches every day. Nothing else will train your sense of color better.”
ULRICH GLEITER was born in Saarbruecken, Germany, and studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in Germany before moving to Rus- sia to study first at the Suricov Institute of Arts in Moscow and then at the Repin Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. In 2010 he received the Best of Show award and First Place in the Quick Draw Portrait Competition in the Plein Air Rockies 2010 in Estes Park, Colorado; the Award of Excellence in the Wyoming Plein Air in Cheyenne, Wyoming; and the Frank Bette First Prize in the 2010 Alameda Plein Air Paint out in Alameda, California. He will be mounting a solo exhibition of his work at Gallerie Ines Schulz in Dresden, Germany, in the fall of 2011, and will participate in the Door County Plein Air Invitational in July 2011 and the Plein Air Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado, in August 2011 For more information, visit his website at www. ulrichgleiter.com.
HERE is a good article from Plein Air Magazine about Ulrich…
Today is Christmas, and I wish you the merriest! Good tidings to you…!
The only old Christmas photo that I could find was teeny tiny. That’s the Fidler family when we lived in St. Clair Shores, MI. Christmas was always a magical time!
To my family… I MISS YOU GUYS… MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
To all of you… I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and I thank you for checking in with me! Have a wonderful day and I’ll catch you back here tomorrow!
A few fabulous images I’ve run across on the Internet while thinking about Christmas Eve. Believe me when I say that I know this is about more than Santa and gifts… but these are wonderful childhood memories… Wishing you a good night sleep, hope you’ve been good!
ARTFOODHOME.COM 