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, June 30, 2014

New painting: Menemsha Bike Ferry - Martha's Vineyard

So after a few posts of the process of painting it, here it is. Final title: Menemsha Bike Ferry - Martha's  Vineyard. As I've said before, my friends and I usually go to Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachucetts , stay at the hostel in East Tisbury right by the airport and bike the island for the weekend.  The ferry take you across the inlet between the Aquinna/Gay Head lighthouse and the fishing village of Menemsha, saving a 10 mile hilly ride. It puts you almost in front of the General store with its inviting ice cream window. Here's the review of the ferry on Yelp. menemsha bike ferry
Occasionally its supposed to be running and its not. Bummer!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

currently on my easel - Menemsha Bike Ferry - part 3

I have the ferry mostly done and I've blocked in the lead rider. Let that dry, then paint the detail, then paint the bike in front of him.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Opening of the 2nd annual 1st Baptist Hackensack Summer Art Gallery

As I did last year, I am "curating" the First Baptist Summer Art Gallery, which is intended for the members of the church to display their artistic talents. We tried to automate the sign-in process by adding a sign-up button to the church's website, mailing the results to me. Sadly, the button worked in testing but not in "the field". We checked with the firm that created it for us and its seems to be fixed. One came thru. Two other people came to me, wanting to participate. They will be going up in the next few weeks. The first is Shirley Morales - The Art of Crocheting.

I issued this "press release" that was posted on the church's FB and Twitter pages
Press Release
Subject: 2nd annual First Baptist Summer Art Gallery opening
For: Immediate release
From the office of the Curator
...
The curator is pleased to announce the opening of The 2nd annual First Baptist Summer Art Gallery in the hallway of the Leach Memorial Auditorium.. This series of exhibitions is intended to allow the members of First Baptist to share with each other the artistic
talents that God has given them. We are all here to support each other in the Christian life and sharing our talents is one way to do that.
The opening exhibit is Shirley Morales - The Art of Crocheting
She is showing fiolet crochet(series of opened and closed squares which form some kind of picture). When finished she frame these as artwork. Some of the items I have for display are: a rooster, a rose, a house, man on a horse, welcome banner, lighthouse, cactus, butterfly, etc.
Future exhibitors so far are Roly Medois , Bev Orwig and me. This is open to young and old on all levels. One hope is we can encourage the young artist to continue their efforts. If you signed up via the website , it came up garbled so please see me.

Here are a few pictures








Friday, June 20, 2014

Currently on my easel - Menemsha Bike Ferry - part 2


Further along - got the background further along (needs a little detail) the background boats are blocked in. The dock and ferry are blocked in with some detail. Water effects started

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Currently on my easel - Menemsha Bike Ferry I

My friends and over the past decade have enjoyed biking around Martha's Vineyard, usually the first weekend in June. We drive up there Friday and stay at the Hostel. Saturday we bike around the Island. One of the routes taken is to the Gay Head (Aquinna) lighthouse and then down to he fishing town of Menemsha to buy fish at Larsens for our dinner. Only problem is the road from the lighthouse down to Menemsha is cut off by the inlet to Memensha  Pond. You could either go the long way around or take the bike ferry (a pontoon boat) the 100 yard distance between the end of road and Menemsha. It only runs is summer.

I plan to do several paintings of it. This is the first one.