Portrait of Leigh

What with being out of town and then dealing with results of the hurricane, I haven't had time to finish my recent painting, so I am pulling this from the archives. It's a graphite portrait I did years ago, and one of my favorites. 

Carmen

 

Italian Girl With Flowers, 11x14 Oil on Canvas, after Sorolla

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I've had no time for painting this week, so I am posting a throwback to 2008, when our painting group, Pieces of Eight, decided to copy Impressionist masters as a learning exercise. I love Sorolla, so I copied one of my favorites, with the above result. Below is the original by Sorolla.

I also copied John Singer Sargent, the master portrait artist. The best thing I've ever done is team up with seven women with the same passion for painting that I have. It has been such an enriching experience in so many ways, and I have learned so much.

Carmen

Steve Jobs Collage in Word Play Exhibit in Winter Garden, Florida

This collage is in the "Word Play" exhibit at the SoBo Gallery & Art Center in Winter Garden for the month of January. The theme is artworks with words incorporated in them. I am really excited about this, because I used to live in Winter Garden and I always call it my "Happy Days" stage of life. It was a lot like the TV show, just a carefree time of life with some very interesting characters. For sentimental reasons, I am very happy to be in the show, and after about 30 years away from Winter Garden I was happy to see that the town is smart enough to keep up with the times and become a very nice place to visit. The downtown area has managed to be quaint, beautiful and trendy all at the same time.

P.S. The collage just sold!

Carmen

The Black Hat, Portrait of Woman Original Oil Painting 8x10

$175

This is quite a departure from the 50-stroke paintings I've been doing. I don't know what got into me, but I really enjoyed this one. It has a vintage look but with a timeless feel. We need a little glamour now and then.

Carmen

Audrey Collage on Canvas Portrait of Audrey Hepburn

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This was a commission that I did a while back. I used pictures and articles from Audrey Hepburn's movies and it was a pleasant walk down Memory Lane. I still remember when "Sabrina" came out and we all went out and bought slacks like Audrey was wearing:

And from Roman Holiday, the way she tied her scarf became the way everyone tied their scarf:

When Audrey grew old, she didn't bother with a facelift, just faced the world with wrinkles and all and she was still beautiful. Here are some of her quotes:

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.

I can testify to what UNICEF means to children because I was among those who received food and medical relief right after World War II.

Paris is always a good idea. 

 

Girl in Chair, Canson Drawing from Life, Female Portrait

 

I've been cleaning out my studio, and it's a walk down memory lane. This was drawn from life at the Artists' Guild in Melbourne, Florida. 

Carmen

Morning Has Broken, 24x48 Oil Portrait on Canvas, Girl in Kimono

NFS

This is a portrait of my granddaughter, Alexsa, done a few years ago, before I started doing small daily paintings. I haven't done anything this ambitious in a long time. 

Carmen

Repose, after John Singer Sargent, 24x20 Oil Painting Portrait of Woman

I was recently in Washington D.C. and visited the National Gallery of Art, where I got to see Sargent's painting, Nonchaloir (Repose), a painting I love so much that I copied it years ago (see below.)  It is one painting I will never sell. It was a thrill to finally get to see it in person!

Woman in Gold, Female Portrait, Mixed Media on Canvas,11x14 Oil Painting

 

Click to Buy  

This is a mixed media painting, using gold gesso, gold acrylic paint, ink, stamps and oil paint. I was inspired by seeing Gustav Klimt's work in Vienna and found his technique for painting skin as fascinating as all that gold. This was my response to the Pieces of 8 painting group's challenge for December, using materials I have not used together before. The gold is more metallic than it looks online.

Carmen

I Have a Little Shadow, Watercolor Print, Painting of Child in Pink

 

Print for Sale on Etsy

 

I love the fact that this painting has drama created by the light, yet the subject is soft and feminine. I painted watercolors for a very short time before returning to oils, and this was one of my favorite works. The original sold, but giclee prints are available on Etsy in varying sizes.

Wishing you all a calm, peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Carmen

Color My World, 8x10 Oil Painting on Canvas, Portrait of Woman

This was my contribution to the Pieces of 8 challenge for July, which was to paste a half face to a support, then do a creative rendering of the other half. Everyone did an amazing job, which you can see at Piecesof8art.blogspot.com.

Summertime always means painting between traveling and yardwork. Am I still a full-time artist if I keep stopping to pull weeds? Hmmm. Not sure. This week I was weeding four feet away from a large snake, but he was pointed the other direction, so I didn't bother him and he didn't bother me. I did keep an eye out, though. I try to be at one with nature, as long as nature isn't a roach. I will kill myself trying to get away from a roach.

I complain a lot about weeding, but in truth I enjoy gardening, and in my family we have a name for that. It's the "Chulie Gene." My grandmother Chulie was a master gardener, and most of our family is infected with the Chulie Gene. My niece actually has a nursery, Paradise Found, and works like mad to grow very exotic and unusual succulents.

See what I did here? I plugged the Pieces of 8 and my niece's nursery, all in one blog post!

Carmen

At the Movies, 30x40 Oil Painting on Canvas, Transformations Exhibit

 

Several years ago I participated in an art show called Transformations, in which each team consisted of an artist and a poet who collaborated to produce a painting and a poem. It's amazing how well-paired each team was, because many never met before this project.

My poet partner, Jean Shepard, lives in Jacksonville, so we met in Ormond Beach to toss around ideas for our collaboration.  When I was born, we lived in an apartment inside a movie theater, and my father managed the theater. She was fascinated by the idea of living inside a movie theater. She wrote her poem from my father's perspective and also made interesting observations on time and motion. All of this gave me the idea for a painting with my mother in the center, sitting on a crescent moon, surrounded by movie stars.
Here is Jean's poem, "At the Movies."

Being two with the hope of three,

it was all they could afford,

an apartment above the cinema

where for hours each day he was a god

at work, turning day into night,

night into day with a flipped switch.

Where he revealed moments

snatched out of time

and run through a light

for believers who sat in silence below.

When two became three,

they ascended the narrow stairs

carried a pink bundle to an empty crib

watched with fascination

the arms waving, the legs kicking,

the unknowing, introverted face.

But others waited below.

He descended to darkness and the machine,

the sour smell of celluloid,

its tiny pieces of the past

curled on themselves like a  shell.

As he turned the switch on

and watched the relentless streaming

he suddenly saw how we move in the world,

how we run forward while

looking back over our shoulders

caught up in continuous flight.

Then he thought of the pink bundle above him,

the new skin, curled fingers,

the tiny feet that had not touched earth

and he was afraid.

The Farrier, Watercolor, 20x28

This is a blast from the past, one of my rare watercolors. I still like it. Working people make wonderful subjects; in fact, I did a whole series of them as a commission once. I think this is my only painting where the rear end of a horse figures prominently, but I hope your eye is drawn to the hardworking farrier.

Carmen

Portrait of Marilyn Monroe, "Red," 14 x 18 Oil on Canvas Panel

  Buy on Etsy

My painting group, Pieces of 8,  had a challenge: "Red." This is what leapt into my mind--the iconic Marilyn.

Carmen

Statue of Liberty, "Mother of Exiles," 9x9 Pencil Drawing

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We are all familiar with the words," "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...," but here is the whole poem, identifying the Statue of Liberty and America as Mother of Exiles:

THE NEW COLUSSUS

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

--Emma Lazarus 

In view of recent events, this is my interpretation of the Mother of Exiles.

Carmen

Home from Vietnam, 9x12 Graphite Drawing, Portrait of Father and Child

This was absolutely a labor of love. Our dear friend Ben was terminally ill, and his daughter Debbie posted this photo from her childhood, taken when he had just returned from Vietnam. I loved everything about the photo and just had to draw it for her. The week I finished, Ben left us. I'm so glad I could portray this happy moment in the life of this wonderful man.

Carmen

Caricature of Lamar, Pastel, 8x10

This is another blast from the past, a caricature of Lamar Walker, my friend and coworker at the Air Force Photo Lab in the 80s at Patrick Air Force Base. I really got into caricatures for a while, but I eventually got over it. This was a farewell gift when Lamar was transferred to another base.

Carmen

Caricature of Suzanne, Pastel, 11x14

Due to our closet remodeling, I recently discovered some caricatures I did years ago. This is my daughter Suzanne in her poofy blue dress in the 80s. I was still working for the Air Force then and I did many caricatures of retiring VIPs. I moved on to oil painting, and now, to book illustration. Since I'm too busy to paint much, I'll be posting more of these "oldies" for a while.

Carmen

Halie and Bunny, 12x16 Oil Painting, Portrait of Child

My granddaughter is an adult now, but I painted this when she was a child and very attached to her bunny. It went everywhere with her. She was so funny and so happy-go-lucky, she kept me laughing. I miss those days.

Carmen

Ready for my Closeup, 24x30 Oil on Canvas, Portrait of Woman

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This is my dad's cousin Florence Chumbecos, who was a chorus girl on Broadway. I had a couple of her publicity shots but didn't know her last name. My cousin Vicki, who lives in Virginia, discovered our side of the family a couple years ago. She never knew we existed, and we have been solving genealogical mysteries via emails to each other. Neither of us knew Florence's last name, but Vicki found it through some detective work, and she found an article written by Florence about dancing with Fred Astaire. It was just like the movies: the lead dancer got sick, Florence filled in and danced in the role for a year. Mr. Astaire was just like you'd think--the nicest of men. Here is the article: http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/23