Tag: artist

Artist to watch… Eric Hopkins!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment
Photo by William Thuss for Eric Hopkins

Many of you have heard of Eric Hopkins. He’s got a fabulous gallery in Rockland, Maine. An exquisite space full of his paintings, most of which are large and a few are VERY large… If you think he seems familiar but haven’t been to his gallery perhaps you’ve seen his paintings on the cover of the LL Bean catalog? He’s got a fun element to his work. This painting is entitled FLYING OVER BLUE BAY. If you’re in Rockland, ME, you’ve GOT to go in the gallery. I LOVE how (at least last time we were there) Eric used an old door with glass panes as a palette. BRILLIANT!?

Ok,  blip from the ERIC HOPKINS GALLERY:

With the eyes of an artist, the words of a poet, and the mind of a scientist, Eric Hopkins has engaged numerous people through his art and with his thoughts about life on this Big Blue Planet.  He captures the dynamic forces and rhythms of nature in watercolors, oils, blown glass, mixed media, and photography. His vision focuses on the Big Picture of the natural world, geological and geographical forms, and the exchange of energy between Earth, Water, and Sky. From this intimate study of nature, Eric has developed a keen awareness of light, form, color, and pattern, which is reflected in all of his work.

“I was lucky enough to spend my early days on North Haven,” says Eric, “where my worldview consisted of roaming the woods, fields, shorelines and exploring the edges where land, water, and sky meet. I was drawn to shapes, spaces, patterns, and the rhythms of nature. I was and still am fascinated by the incredible variety of life forms and forces on this Planet.”

Eric is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and has taught at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Pilchuck Glass School. He has exhibited at the Farnsworth Art Museum, Portland Museum of Art, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Waterfall Arts Center, University of Maine Museum of Art, and a number of galleries nationally.

Enjoy! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Gary Akers!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist2 Comments
Gary Akers - "The List"

I think this is the sweetest little painting. I love the pop of red against the white, the shadows, the light…  This makes for one happy painting. “THE LIST” is a watercolor on paper that measures 8 1/4″ x  5 1/2″. You will find it at the Haynes Galleries in Thomaston, ME (Note: they have another location in Franklin, TN). Click HERE to check out their website. THE LIST is a name that makes me think up all kinds of possible stories behind this painting… for me it would go something like this…  I spend time to write out a list of things to pick up from the store… I’m in a hurry, grab my keys, jump in the car, once inside the store I reach into my purse to pull out THE LIST only to remember I left it sitting on the table next to the geranium while I locked the front door. Nice… Luckily trying to constantly remember what was on my list is keeping my memory sharp, ha ha…

Here’s a blip about the artist from the Haynes Galleries:

Accomplished in both watercolor and egg tempera painting, Gary Akers has received national recognition for his abilities in both mediums. He has exhibited widely in numerous institutions, including the Speed Art Museum in Kentucky, the Frye Museum of Art in Seattle, the Ogunquit Art Museum in Maine, the Asheville, N.C. Art Museum, the National Academy of Design in New York City, the Artists of America show at the Colorado History Museum, and the Great American Artists exhibition at the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Akers was born in Pikesville, Ky., and was educated at Morehead State University, graduating with a master’s degree in 1974. Since the 1970s, his paintings have been featured in numerous books and periodicals, including the two monographs about his art, Kentucky: Land of Beauty (1999) and Memories of Maine (2003). He is listed in Who’s Who in American Art, Who’s Who in Emerging Leaders in America, and American Artists of Renown. He currently paints and resides alternately in Kentucky and Maine.

If you’re in the area of Orleans, MA check out his work, otherwise check out their website! Great paintings!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Jack Goldsmith!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment

There is a fabulous artist that I found on North Water Gallery’s website. I haven’t been to that gallery… yet. North Water Gallery is located in Edgartown, MA. I love this artist’s style, a bit like Charles Sovek, and I thought the world of that man! (Let me just note that I wrote that BEFORE I read the “blip about the artist” whoa!). This is artist JACK GOLDSMITH. I love how he says he refuses to labor over a painting! I wholeheartedly agree. The best paintings (to me) are the ones that happen quick and loosely. That is exactly what I love about his paintings! I found a blip about him in Cape Code Life:

Jack Goldsmith boils his words down to their essence. He credits his polished verbal skills to his 40 years of art direction and design in Manhattan. What he doesn’t take credit for is how he gets to the heart of the matter of ethereal subjects in spot-on fashion, whether he is expressing them in words or acrylics.

“Once I come upon an image I want to paint, I like to attack it and do it quickly,” Goldsmith says. “I refuse to labor over a painting.”

Goldsmith’s canvases are vibrant glimpses of life in all its nuances of light, color, and feel. Perhaps owing to his early career in art direction, the Osterville resident speaks frequently of “staging” his art. The Kite Flyers features one of his favorite subjects, Cape Cod’s ocean edge. “I like to paint children on the beach,” he says. “I also like to paint the beach with nobody around. It all becomes kind of a stage.” All of his pieces, including his still lifes, are arranged almost like choreography, to render a very natural experience.

Goldsmith was trained in the 1940s at the Syracuse University School of Fine Arts and the Rochester Institute of Technology School of Art and Design, before starting his career in art direction and teaching at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan. As Goldsmith succinctly says, “My life has always been holding a pencil or a brush.”

Finally, he came home to a life of fine art when he and his wife moved to Osterville in 1993, drawn by good friends and the Cape’s renowned light. Among his influences are the 19th-century Spanish painter Joaquin Sorolla and the late Cape Cod artist Charles Sovek, as well as members of the French Impressionist School.

Although his paintings are filled with highlights, shadows, and other subtleties, for Goldsmith it all goes back to first blocking the painting with brush on canvas. “It’s the most crucial part of the painting for me,” he says. “If you don’t design it well, you’ll struggle.”

I am a fan. What else can I say! Check them out by website or a visit! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Tollef Runquist!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment
Image: DowlingWalsh.com

Tollef Runquist is an exquisite artist represented by the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine. His bright, contemporary style is refreshing. This painting is entitled LOOK  30 x 48. LOVE. IT! LOVE the bright pop of red against the great blue water… wow! If you’re in the Rockland, ME area I encourage you to stop by the Dowling Walsh Gallery (then pop over to Atlantic Bakery for a chocolate croissant, or they’re mushroom soup, or a cookie, or… or… or…. OR pop across the street to the Farnsworth Museum!), it’ll definitely be worth your time. They represent some FANTASTIC artists!

Here’s a blip from the Dowling Walsh Gallery website:

Artist’s Statement

Painting is for me an undertaking of appreciation and inquiry. It is a means by which to engage the beauty and mystery of visual experience in an ongoing dialogue. This is a widening puzzle; as I partake in this conversation it continually refreshes itself, revealing unexpected angles and new understanding. I feel no particular loyalty to realism or my own past work. I set to draw out a particular vision as long as my experience with it is visceral, attentive and useful. I try to encapsulate the fullness of my experience of a moment; weight and stillness, burning edges, massive, calm. These move me towards a particular subject, I try to paint and honor them, and then move on.

Some visual artists who have affected me deeply have been Richard Deibenkorn, Monet, De Kooning, Gauguin, Bonnard, Rothko, Sargent, Gordon Grant, Gerhart Richter, Hopper, Homer, Klimt and Egon Scheile among others. I have been drawing and painting as long as I can remember. I received a B.A. in studio Art from Dickinson college in 2002 and have since been continuing my education through creation.

Another blip from the Dowling Walsh website:

Tollef Runquist will have a solo exhibition at Dowling Walsh Gallery from Friday, September 2nd through Sunday, September 25th with an opening reception on Friday, September 2nd from 5 to 8 p.m.

Tollef Runquist has been featured in Maine Home and Design Magazine’s April 2011 Issue. Click the link below to view the feature:

Tollef Runquist MHD_0411_CurrentWork_-Tollef

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist Carol Marine… House lost in Texas fire, can you help?

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, THOUGHTSLeave a comment
Image: Chron.com

I know Carol Marine through her wonderful blog (Carol Marine’s Painting A Day) and Facebook. By now most of you have heard about the devastating fires in Texas… It has destroyed nearly 800 homes and displaced countless people. Artist Carol Marine and her family recently found out from a neighbor that their home was completely destroyed. Absolutely. Nothing. Left. Ugh. The good thing is that Carol, her husband and her 6 year old son are all OK. Her husband was brilliant in thinking to drive both cars, one with the camper… so they are set up in a park until they can determine what to do next. Fire insurance is great, but the benefits aren’t instant. It’ll be a while… It’s hard to imagine losing everything. I don’t know Carol personally. I know a lot of people who DO know her. From what I’ve always heard, she is just the nicest person, willing to help anyone at anytime.

Image: http://carolmarine.blogspot.com/

Carol has many friends. She is a fabulous artist. What more can be said? How about… would you like to buy a painting OR contribute to a fund set up to help out?  Artist Frank Gardner has several of Carol’s paintings at Galeria Gardner, he is waiving his portion of the sales so that 100% of the purchase price goes directly to Carol. Another good friend of Carol’s has set up an online fundraiser. Can you help?

Here is a small portion of the entry, click HERE to be taken directly to the online fundraiser page.

They had good insurance, but it will take time for that to all kick in, so I’d like to help them in the meantime.

Please consider making a donation below to help them get back on their feet.

It’s true, the most important thing is that they’re safe. They are my family and I love them all dearly. But my heart aches for everything they lost – all the mementos, all the memories, their sense of sanctuary.

Thanks for your help. And please say prayers for everyone that lost their house, dear pets, or is still in harm’s way.

With love,

Jennifer

We all need to help each other out when we can… if you don’t have extra money right now, a prayer, a good thought, any positive energy sent Carol’s way would be most appreciated.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Peter Kalil

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment
Image: AddisonArt.com

I think this is such a sweet painting, entitled AN ARTIST’S GARDEN, this painting was done by Peter Kalill. I love that little splash of bright light on the bench beside the flowers, the sunlight grass and the color of the sky! Peter is a fabulous artist from Cape Cod. You can see his work at Addison Art Gallery, he was part of the PAINTAPALOOZA artists a few years back in Port Clyde, Maine.

Here’s a little blip about the artist from Addison Art Gallery’s website:

Peter Kalill was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts. He began his first formal studies in art at Providence College in Rhode Island. In his third year of college, he studied painting, drawing, and art history in Florence, Italy. Peter returned to Providence and earned a B.A. in drawing in 1995.

After his graduation, Peter moved to Cape Cod and continued to learn all he could about painting. He combined his passion for art with his interest in travel, and spent many winters traveling to Honduras, and Guatemala and all over Mexico. It was on a trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he befriended landscape painter Frank Gardner, who introduced him to plein air painting.

Upon returning home from his second winter in San Miguel, Peter was accepted into Addison Art Gallery, in Orleans, MA, where his first show in the U.S. was a great success. Peter’s work has attracted the attention of many collectors throughout the U.S. and Canada, and has been featured in many publications including Cape Cod Life, Cape Cod Art Review, andAmerican Art Collector magazines. His work has been exhibited in the Cape Cod Museum of Art, and at juried shows at the Copley Society of Art, and The Guild of Boston Artists.

Peter Kalill lives on Cape Cod with his wife Kathleen, and their daughter Violet. He continues to travel to San Miguel and places throughout the U.S., Mexico, Europe, and Canada in search of great places to paint.

If you aren’t near Addison Art Gallery in Orleans, MA, check out their website, it’s a good one! If you are near them… Go visit!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Shannon Runquist!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment
Image: HortonHayes.com

Shannon Runquist always paints the neatest subject matter. Regular everyday things come to life with her paint brush! This painting is entitled HOW ‘BOUT A HUG? Here’s a blip from the Horton Hayes Gallery :

Shannon Runquist was born is Savannah, Georgia and has spent most of her life in the South. She has lived on St. Simons Island, Georgia and currently resides in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and spends summers on Cape Cod. Spending time near the shore, she has developed a great love for coastal regions and the elements that define them. She has painted and studied in Europe, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Runquist has participated in many national and international exhibitions including consecutive years at the Salmagundi Club in New York City and the Salon International. She enjoys traveling and painting en plein air as well as working in her home studio. Her paintings hang in both corporate and private collections in the United States and abroad.

Artist’s Statement: “I would like for my paintings to convey a timeless aesthetic. They are often an extension of an emotion at the time I am painting but I hope my work remains ambiguous. I paint what is familiar to me, what I have collected or a place I have been. My favorite paintings are ones that tell a story but leave a little mystery for the viewer.”

Hey, if you get a chance, stop in the gallery… and if you aren’t in town, check out their website. It’s a gallery full of amazing artists!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… JB Boyd!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment
Image JBBoyd.net

JB Boyd, an artist that shows such an interesting perspective on this painting… Kind of like when you’re a kid and you’re  sprawled out on the grass watching the clouds in the sky… I love when paintings take on a new angle, something different. The way the yellow “pops” against the darkly shaded tree trunks and brilliant blue sky. JB Boyd is an interesting and accomplished  young artist represented by Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, SC. Check him out if you get a chance!  Here’s a blip about the artist on the gallery website, there’s more, but you need to see his work to appreciate the words! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Boyd currently lives and paints on Goat Island, a barrier island on the outskirts of Charleston, SC. Boyd is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, has shown his work across the United States, and has been collected around the world. Boyd recently received the Michael and Donna Griffith Lowcountry Artist’s Award.

Please visit www.robertlangestudios.com or call for more information 843.805.8052. 


Artist to watch… Frank Bruckmann!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment
Image: http://fbruckmann.com

What a unique story this artist has! Meet Frank Bruckmann. I first ran across this artist when searching for blogs about Monhegan. I found one called MONHEGAN SOJOURN, it was fabulous, not only did it showcase Frank’s art, but it included stories and pictures of Monhegan Island, a great love for many of us! I see that since the family has moved off the island they have started another blog (click HERE), more great art, stories, etc. I urge you to check it out! Also check out the artist’s website! The featured painting is entitled FROM WHITEHEAD and can be found on the artist’s website under the MONHEGAN tab!

Here’s a blip from Frank’s website:

Frank began his studies at the DuCret school of Art in New Jersey, and then took classes at the Art Students League in NYC. In Paris he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and spent nearly a decade in France and Spain, copying the masters in the great museums, and painting landscapes in the cities and countryside. 

Now a resident of New Haven, CT, Frank has found endless subject matter for landscapes in New England, but periodically packs his easel and travels farther and wider in his VW camper. 

How exciting is that? Check him out! Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Philip Frey!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist2 Comments
Image: CourthouseGallery.com

Really, what can be more exciting than finding artists that are new to you?? Philip Frey is an artist from Ellsworth, Maine. He has some fabulous work, very exciting! Philip (one “L”) has a fabulous WEBSITE and lists all the galleries (with links!) that he’s affiliated with. This image came from the Courthouse Gallery website, it was painted this year and is entitled “Evening Light, Stonington”. If you get a chance check out his other work!

Here’s a blip from the Courthouse Gallery website:

Philip Frey is inspired by color and how he can use light and color to recreate Maine’s incredible landscape. His unique style has emerged over the last decade with recent paintings becoming more realistic. Throughout this evolution, Frey has continued to use strong, vibrant colors.

Frey’s sense of color stems from an interest in Fauvism, a major avant-garde European art movement in the 20th century. Henri Matisse, who Frey credits as a major influence, embraced this expressionistic style characterized by vivid, exuberant color. Other European artists, whose work Frey admires, include Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Edouard Manet.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Dee Beard Dean!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist2 Comments
Image: KarenHagen.com

What a wonderful painting of King Street in Charleston, SC. You can feel the hustle and bustle. If you haven’t heard of Dee Beard Dean I urge you to check out her WEBSITE. She’s a magnificent artist with a great website (oh so important)! She’s in many galleries, the image above is from the Hagen Fine Art Gallery and Studio located at 27 1/2 State Street in Charleston.  She offers workshops all over the country… check her out!

I’ll catch you back here tomorrow! If you get a chance, check out my photo blog!

Artist to watch… Andrea Peters!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment
Image: GleasonFineArt.com

Now this is an artist that makes a statement! You can recognize her paintings quickly… no guessing if it’s Andrea Peters or not! Andrea has her work at Gleason Fine Art in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. If you’re in the area, stop by, say hello and check out her work… while there also check out Kevin Beers, I’ve mentioned him before, but he’s worth mentioning again!

Here’s a blip from Gleason’s website…

With her bold, brushy landscapes, Andrea Peters is one of Gleason Fine Arts most recognizable artists. She is a keen observer of the landscape around her. From her cove in East Boothbay, Maine, she paints the views surrounding her home in each season: her flower garden, the shores edge, waterfalls, and blueberry fields. Her paintings are composed for maximum expression. “I push beyond the obvious,” Peters says, and in doing so she creates a seismic shift in the way we see the landscape. The result is a visual extravaganza. To see more, click HERE.

Stop by my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com – catch you back here tomorrow!

Leonardo da Vinci – Vitruvian Man

On By Barbara StroudIn ARTLeave a comment
Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci, 1490

Leonardo da Vinci was one smart cookie… that’s my opinion. I mean the man was a brilliant artist as well as an inventor?? I’m sure you’ve seen this drawing some time in your life?? He drew it in the year 1490. If you would like to read more detailed information on this image (fascinating!), click HERE for a great link to Stanford with lots of interesting info…

This image has mostly been related to health and fitness or the medical community. Here’s a blip from ArtQuotes.net

The Virtruvian Man has also been referred to as “Canon of Proportions” or the “Proportions of Man”. The image and accompanying text of the Virtruvian man displays the understanding that Leonardo had of the proportions of man. The artist used the theories of the Roman architect Vitruvius, calculating the proportion of the perfect male figure. The text above and below the drawing is written in Mirror writing by Leonardo.

Text from The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
From the roots of his hair to the bottom of his chin is 1/10 of a man’s height; from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head is 1/8 of his height; from the top of the breast to the roots of the hair will be the 7th part of the whole man. From the nipples to the top of the head will be the 4th part of man. The greatest width of the shoulders contains in itself the 4th part of man. From the elbow to the tip of the hand will be the 5th part of a man; and from the elbow to the angle of the armpit will be the 8th part of man. The whole hand will be the 10th part of the man. The distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose and from the roots of the hair to the eyebrows is, in each case the same, and like the ear, a third of the face.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Image also via ArtQuotes.net

Artist to watch… Jill Carver!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured ArtistLeave a comment
Image from artist’s website – JillCarver.com

Jill Carver. I love her work, it’s got such a neat twist to it. One look and you can tell this artist is a pro. I’m familiar with her work from South Street Art Gallery’s website, facinating! The image being featured is “Winter Harmony” Matter-of-fact here’s a blip about Jill from South Street Art Gallery’s website:

Jill Carver – Originally from England, Jill Carver moved to the United States in 2002 following a twelve-year career as a research assistant at the National Portrait Gallery in London.  She now divides her time between Austin, Texas and Rico, Colorado.  Recognition for her work has come quickly, and she has won numerous awards including “Artists Choice” most recently at the Laguna Beach Invitational in 2009, also at Telluride in 2009 and at Plein Air Easton! in 2008.  The Art Academy Museum in Easton, Maryland has purchased two of her paintings for its permanent collection.

A self-confessed “addict” to outdoor painting, she frequently packs up her pick-up truck and two dogs for “hunter-gatherer” painting trips across the West.  “I spend as much time walking and observing and sketching as I do painting. It tunes me into the landscape. My first step is exploring and just looking.  I do hours of that, and I find lots of paintings as a result.  You pay attention to what your mind keeps wandering back to.”

Although Jill painted often as a child, she never really thought she would pursue art for a living, and majored in British history at the University of Sheffield in England.  After graduation she worked briefly as an art teacher only during the period she was applying for “real” jobs.  During the next 12 years she continued to paint while working in the archives at the National Portrait Gallery in London. But after a four month painting sabbatical in New Zealand, she returned to London, and married American Larry Carver who encouraged her to start her painting career after their move to Texas.  Inspired and taught by Scott Christensen, successes came quickly to Jill, and awards followed.

In January 2009, the editors of Southwest Art Magazine named Carver as one of ten artists to watch.  Peter Trippi, editor of Fine Art Connoisseur, named her as one of three artists to watch in the Sept/Oct 2010 issue of FAC. In 2009 she was invited as ‘guest artist’ to participate in the prestigious Maynard Dixon Country event in Mount Carmel, Utah and in 2010 she returned as an ‘invited artist’.

The artist also has a great website, she’s in several galleries, and is teaching a few workshops. If you get a chance check her out!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Artist to watch… Marlee Brown!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, Featured Artist, TRAVELLeave a comment
Image: MarleeBrown.com

One year when vacationing on Mackinac Island, MI (ohhh, what a place!), we ventured into the Grand Hotel… I was completely against paying $10 per person to walk through a hotel, but we did it, and am I ever glad we did! I’m not sure what the fee is these days to enter through the door, but if you’re considering it, I would do it! We had lunch at a nice little cafe, it was very quaint, very good, we had the best time. We wandered the halls of the Grand Hotel and there was so much to see! They have wonderful shops and a fantastic gallery. Marlee Brown’s gallery… this is an artist not afraid of color! Very loose and impressionistic in style her paintings were fabulous. The image above is from her website, the image that you click on to view the paintings. I love that painting AND the quote. If you get a chance check it out! And if you’re on the island, her gallery is a definite stop worth making!

Enjoy your weekend! Catch you back here tomorrow!
Visit my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !