Roma

This past month I've been getting ready for the Scituate Art Festival that will take place on Columbus Day weekend, October 6, 7 and 8.  This will be my fourth year there.  Every year I try to step it up a notch by adding new and different pieces.  This year I've decided to add a little more color to my work.  This is a wood burning of Rome, 11x14 on birch.  I collaged the sky with squares cut out of magazines, then painted over it to get a textured background.  I really like how it contrasts with the natural wood.

Da Vinci's Portrait of a Young Girl

Well, I did it...I got married! It was a pretty amazing day- the weather was perfect with gorgeous blue skies, and all of my friends and family were there to celebrate with us.  I can't stop staring at my new bling on my finger.  Although it was fun planning everything and creating all of the decorations, I am very happy it is over because now I can start focusing on other things again.  Like art!  This is my newest piece based on a Leonardo Da Vinci sketch.  8x10 Wood burning on birch.

This wood burning is on cherry. I painted the background using acrylic and a putty knife. It is of my grandmother when she was a teenager. She was eighty when I was born, and we were very close. When I got engaged last spring, my fiance proposed with my grandmother's engagement ring that he had gotten from my parents. I love it.

Wedding plans are coming along. It's been fun planning everything. I'm making my own centerpieces and decorations which has been interesting. We are going to have the ceremony and reception at my fiance's family's cottage on the water. It will all be outside with a fabulous view. I am so excited, I can't wait!!!

Stranded

This wood burning was done on an old cherry cabinet. I added the blue wash with acrylic to add a little color. I also painted the frame of the cabinet with black lacquer. This is done from an old family photograph, although it looks like it could have been taken from a movie. I was intrigued by it because there is definitely a story behind this picture. Was he having car trouble and waiting for help? Who was he with, and who took the photo?

Trail Riders

Thomas Hart Benton is one of my favorite artists- I truly admire his style of work. The lines and shapes that he creates have this wonderful flowing and melting quality that are so distinct. This is a burning I did based on his painting, 'Trail Riders'. You might notice this has a similar quality to the landscape I burned into a side table- which I also use for my banner image at the top of my blog page- also based on a Benton painting. 18"x 24" on birch

Hancock 309 Gallery and Consignment

Last night SNAC had their opening reception at Hancock 209 Gallery and Consignment in Dorcester. I had some of my burnings on display along with this diptych which is acrylic on wood. The back story: I've always been intrigued by Edgar Allen Poe. When I lived in Providence, I lived on Benefit Street a few houses down from a historic home where a woman named Helen Whitman lived. She and Poe had an affair in which her family did not approve. So they were forced to meet in secret- directly behind her house was a stone staircase that led down to a cemetary where they would go to be alone. They never married due to the family feud, but were very deeply in love; Poe even wrote a famous love poem about her called "Helen". This painting is of Helen in the cemetary still 'waiting' for Poe. You can see the stone steps behind her leading up to her house. A romantic tragedy in my eyes...

Family Portrait

The past few months I have been busy, busy, busy getting all of my Christmas orders finished and shipped out to arrive before the big day. Thank you, Etsy! This is a commissioned family portrait that I just finished today. The photographer did an amazing job setting up the original photograph- I love the stockings in the background and The Night Before Christmas book. I am very pleased with the burning, I love how all the different textures from the clothing bring it all together to make a great work of art.

Now to start the Christmas shopping for my own family! No time to make any gifts for them this year, so off to the mall...on the Sunday before Christmas...I'm mentally preparing myself for all the screaming children and crowded stores. We still haven't gotten our tree yet, hopefully we'll do that today, too. Doncha just love Christmas??