About Me

My photo
Paramus, New Jersey, United States
No, this in not a blog about gardening in any way, but a journal of my journey to become a professional landscape painting artist. For years, I’ve given my paintings as wedding gifts without thinking of profiting in some way from it. I worked for 18 years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC as a computer programmer. I have been a painter since 1990, coincidentally, when I started working at the Met. I watched Bob Ross do his thing on Channel 13 in New York and decided I could do this, too. I have no formal training. I incorporate Bob's wet-on-wet technique for sky and water. My subject matter is covered bridges, lighthouses, fishing village scenes, barns, etc. Maine, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Nova Scotia and Spain are some of the places I have painted. My style is detailed and sometimes people think a photo of the painting is an actual photo of the scene. I hope to continue and grow in this medium. I also like to cook & dance. I am also a committed Christian. I am taking commissions - painting your landscapes style photos or your vacation home. Prices on request. contact me - Jackmck@juno.com my website is www.artofjackmckenzie.com

Monday, April 30, 2012

My Camp-of-the-Woods Postcard ( my photo, not a painting)

As I said in a previous post, Camp-of-the-Woods, a Christian family camp in Speculator New York, has a postcard photo contest and 7 are chosen to be that year's postcards. One of my photos was chosen. COTW sent me a couple of samples of the postcard with my photo on it. There were 6 other winners in this poastcard contest. Mine is the only Fall picture. It looks good. I just wish they had put a caption on it, identifying where it was taken. Most of the people who come to the Camp have never been out to Tapawingo, the island in the middle of the lake where this was taken. I hope they buy it for the colors (not that I make anything from it). Enjoy!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Artists Wanted site's Times Square art show - Please "collect" me!

There are many artist sites out there vying for attention, and ArtistWanted.org site is doing so by offering a Times Square art show and getting artist's friends to go to the site and "collect" or vote for them. I need 77 people to collect me so I can get a premium membership with all sorts perks. This is a great, sneaky way of getting traffic to thr site, but isnt that what we are all trying to do? They let you load 9 photos of your art. Heres on of the paintings I added -
And heres the website to got to. Please "collect" me! http://jackmckenzie.artistswanted.org/atts2012

Monday, April 9, 2012

Artist Spotlight - Toni Grote

Toni Grote is one of many artists whose work I enjoy. She has these moody "sea with moon' (my term) paintings that I really enjoy. If you have not seen her paintings then Here is her blog - www.artisttonigrote.blogspot.com and here's one of her paintings

Thursday, April 5, 2012

One of my photos (not paintings) won a postcard contest

Yep, one of my photographs, not one of my paintings, was one of the winners in a postcard contest for the 2012 season of Camp-of-the-Woods, a Christian Family camp in New York's Adirondacks. My family has been going there for 3 generations and I frequently participate in thier Spring and Fall work weekends. They have a girls camp out in the middle of the lake called Tapawingo and the chosen picture is taken from the boat approaching the dock. I get nothing except "the honor of the thing" Here's my photo
For the rest of the pictures (all truly beautiful) check this link: https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150669396998074.394089.128308128073&type=1

Monday, April 2, 2012

Another wedding, another gift of one of my paintings

Ever since I've been getting good at painting, I've given one of them as a wedding gift. I never thought of trying to sell any until lasy year. Last Saturday, a good friend, Lauren Witkowski married Steve Strogen in what I call the Board Game wedding. They love board games, so all the tables had different board game center-pieces and the guest place cards were for those tables. Very fun. Anyway, my gift the them was was my Fishing Boats - Galilee, RI painting
and heres my game board place card and the centerpiece for the wedding

Sunday, April 1, 2012

A detour into crafts - Easter Egg Candles

I'm making a detour into the craft side of the arts in this post - a Martha Stewart craft -Easter Egg Votives or Candles. I've made thses a few times and they look great!
How to - Everything is reborn in spring -- even Easter eggs, which can be transformed into votives for your table. Simple eggcups make a lovely base. First, make a hole in the top of each egg with a pin; enlarge the holes, and pour out the yolks. Clean shells, then dye them with food coloring (follow package directions). Nestle shells in a carton. Cut wire-core wicks to 4 inches long, flatten one end, and fasten in shell with a bit of warm wax. Using a funnel, fill shells with hot wax (tinted with dye pellets). Let the wax cool. Trim the wicks, and light. Check out the link - http://www.marthastewart.com/272622/eggshell-votives