A List - Halloween, Fabric, Art, Red Hook, some People & a Dog

Halloween Party

I painted these animals for If I Were A Toy store last year.

I had a great run painting their glass door with a seasonal, often monthly theme for 

about 3 years, before they closed up shop. This was one of my favorites.

and then there's  fabric, I received 2 of my samples from Spoonflower last week.

The printing is pretty good. I'll probably play around with the repeat more. 

I simply chose "mirror" option on the site. 

Margot Kingon has offered to sew a few small purses for me :) 

I'm not sure how much I want to get involved in manufacturing products, but it's 

nice to place some pieces in shops or sell online and see how they do.

I currently sell bags, pillows, prints in my Society 6 Shop, but as other artists know,

the profit margin is quite low. You can place your products and art on the market quickly, 

with ease and get high quality printing, it's just not the most efficient way to make money.

and then there's  Artist House Party Presents

Christopher Joy, of Gorky's Granddaughter, has opened up a gallery on the UES

 The Opening for Diagonal Triangle was Oct 19th and includes my friend 

and fellow scenic, Bryon Finn (with his work below)

As you can see, I failed to take good, or even mediocre, shots of the artwork.

Just visit the site to view paintings by other artists in the show-

 Elana Herzog, Julian Kreimer, Sangram Majumdar & Sarah Walker

or better yet, go see it in person!

It's up for another 2 weeks, the Closing Reception Nov 12th, 2014

*Check out 5 Questions with Bryon Finn on Angela Fraleigh's blog this week- it's fun and insightful!

and then there's  my neighborhood...

I ran into neighbor, Gabriel as he was visiting with one of my favorite dogs in Carroll Gardens. 

This is such a lovable happy pup! These people are very nice, too ;)

and then there's  Graham Willoughby

I've known him forever and he remains one of my favorite people.

On this day, I admired the way he carried laundry on his head, so he could

carry his daughters' small jack-o-lanterns home in hand.

and then there's  Red Hook

I worked on a small job in a prop guy's studio down on Van Dyke Street last week.

This area is just great. 

I lived on Van Brunt Street back in 1991.

My roommate and I had a terrific space and each had our own studio, but the neighborhood is

very different today. Besides, the charming shops and restaurants along cobble stone streets, 

there are the buildings down on the water, like Pier 41. 

I could smell the salt air, hear seagulls and ducks as I painted set pieces and props.

Plus, it was a quick walk to Fairway to enjoy lunch outside.

I somehow missed this Fire Boat last Friday Night, but production assistant,

Ron Pritchard, captured it. Apparently, a fireman had just been married and this 

was part of the celebration.

and then there's  Halloween. I sure loved it as a kid!

I no longer dress up (tho I will if asked ;) Here is one of my 1st -

#tbt

Happy Halloween!

xo, A

What's New

Poodle Portrait by Art, the dog.

I made this little drawing a few years ago for a Read Your Dog contest on Facebook.

Yea, it won a prize ;) This week I decided to make it a painting. 

Red Studio by Matisse is a favorite of mine, so I gave Art a red space from which to work.

The timing seems right, since Matisse's Cut-Outs exhibit just opened 

at MOMA this week. I look forward to seeing it!

Monday, I picked up my new glasses by Soda Monster at Community Optical :)

I love them. They're navy with orange on the inside and most importantly, light weight.

I had the best experience going to Alex Musayev at Community Optical. 

I even ended up choosing the very glasses he was wearing!

I tried on a lot, when I finally narrowed it down to two (see below)

it still took me a while to decide. These are a nice looking CK design, 

but  in the end, I wasn't sure I could pull off the neon yellow sides.

This is such a comfortable neighborhood spot, I can't say enough about it.

Dr Jade R Gormady is great, customers are friendly 

and Alex couldn't be nicer or more helpful. 

My NEW cards arrived! I love the quality and have found a pen that writes on the glossy backs.

However, I still need to call Moo bc the consensus is that they printed the address field 

on the wrong side. 

My 1st trip to the New York Historical Society was to see the Ludwig Bemelmans exhibit.

It's hard to believe I've lived here for over 20 years and never visited. It's a wonderful place!

Above, Kristine Lombardi, Melissa Iwai and Yuko Katakawa pose with the Madeline wall decal.

I wish I could have taken some photos inside the show. Bemelmans' paintings are much more

interesting and rich in person. I've always been a fan of his loose painterly style 

and as charming as the Madeline books are, they don't do justice to the real thing. 

The original oil painted cover for Madeline and the Bad Hat was on view.

Below, was one of my favorites in person, but in the actual book

elements were cleaned up, some of the looser lines "fixed", taking away some of

the charm and inventiveness, in my opinion.

Melissa also noticed where the image was cropped and that a man on bridge 

had been deleted, which probably made sense, but note to self -

buy original work when you can, if you can!

It was fun to read personal letters to and from the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy and 

to see images of large panel murals he painted for restaurants and

for Christina Onasis' playroom, on her dad's yacht, no less! 

WNYC did a nice piece on Madeline turning 75 this summer.

And there's more if you're interested, 

Bemelmans' grandson, John Bemelmans Marciano wrote 

a terrific book years ago, Bemelmans - The Life and Art of Madeline's Creator

Overnight New York blog wrote an interesting piece here-

Madeline and the Ritz - How Hotels Influenced the Life and Art of Ludwig Bemelmans

His series of casual drawings on graph paper were totally new to me. 

Above is called Adieu to the Old Ritz

I have had the opportunity to go to Bemelmans Bar a couple of times. 

It's worth going for the cocktails and live music, but mostly I went for the art :)

I took a chance and bought a new to me, "beloved" sofa on Craigslist.

I got lucky with the price and location. I purchased this CB2 piece from a very 

nice couple who live only about 3 blocks from me. 

It seemed a bit further when Michael Thibodeau, Leslie Wolf and I walked it to my apt.

Most importantly, it fit through my doorway and Lena the cat seems to like it.

I can't thank these guys enough for helping me out! 

As for this fine piece by Earl R Smith they gave me, I really don't know what to say.

 I can thank Leslie for the ticket to Tuesday night's screening of Listen Up, Phillip at BAM.

Jason Schwartzman and director, Alex Ross Perry did a Q&A afterwards. 

 Jason is as cute and charismatic in person as you might expect :)

He plays a self absorbed, malcontented, though successful writer beautifully in the movie. 

I think he's one of the few actors who can pull off such a tricky role. 

I appreciate a story that doesn't give you what you're expecting and it's very funny 

in parts, but loses some steam about midway, for me, at least. 

Still, I enjoy screenings and love Q&A 

even though audience questions tend to be terrible and I can never 

come up with anything much better, myself. 

Luna lighting at Broadway Stages, not an accurate representation of LiteSource 

There's a NEW Awesome lighting app in town! LiteSource - dreamed up

by clever lady, Margaret Heidenry and built by genius, Mark Smith! 

It requires iOS8 or later, so I need to upgrade to try it myself. 

If you're like me, you've often felt frustrated by the inability to take a 

great night shot with your phone, whether of your friends, a beautiful building, 

romantic scene, nocturnal creature ... 

Well, now you can! I really can't believe this hadn't come about sooner.

 Check it out here.

and finally, I am behind in my pen sketches for #inktober and the 

#drawlloween topics I was drawing and posting on Instagram. 

These are a few from my sketchbook. Feel free to follow along,

join in and do your own or just see if I get back on track here.

ahhh beginnings...

Frederick Douglass statue at NYHS - photo courtesy Melissa Iwai

Til We Meet Again

xo, A

Process, Flowers and Self Promotion Monday :)

We all start somewhere. 

I thought I'd share some process pics of a painting I made this weekend.

I like to start by drawing everything out loosely with charcoal, 

but I sometimes use pencil or just start painting. 

For my latest series of flower themed art, I've been working on canvas again.

Most of my animal illustrations are currently painted on gesso board or wood.

Pre-primed canvas provides a smooth surface for acrylic paint. 

Filling in the background with color is really relaxing to me. 

I guess because it requires only light focus and skill.

Painting each flower is the most fun, but the moment comes when you gotta decide just

 how far to go. I considered keeping this loose and painterly, 

but decided to add lines for definition and to keep it similar in style to the 

last couple of patterns I made. Below, is a detail before I went lighter.

I tried a softer look, by making the background pink, plus I worked a little more on it overall.

And then, I went back to a bolder background using Photoshop, which you can see below. 

Of course, with tools like Photoshop, you can alter almost anything. 

I can get lost in all the color options, alone!

In general, I prefer to do as much with paint before scanning or photographing a piece.

I currently use my iPad to photograph work that's too big to scan, 

like this, which is about 40" x 40" I think it's time to consider buying a large flatbed 

scanner or investing in a better camera or even using my old camera again.

I would love to license work like this to fabric companies, furniture and home accessory

manufacturers. I will begin researching places I can send samples to once I have a few more 

in the series. I'll probably have some printed using Spoonflower, plus create 

some pieces in my Society 6 shop to see how they look on products.

Speaking of samples, nice segue, huh - 

Here are my little square business cards being printed by Moo as we speak :)

Below is the back with a list of select social media platforms & my website, of course.

I'm doing a variety of square cards, here are a few -

and I want to start promoting my custom work again.

I used to paint murals more regularly and I miss it. 

I also live in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, a mini-mecca for newborns!

Below, are postcards of my latest custom painting, which I like a lot.

I decided to print detail shots bc I think it shows the work off better 

than the full image on a postcard size. 

I may print some larger samples or some flyers also.

Thanks for taking a look and indulging me on this self promotion Monday!

Finally, I will leave you with something sweet -

* TAFFY *

Have a great week!

xo, A