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

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Street Art - beautiful steps from around the world

Street art comes in all forms. Some is gang related to mark a territory. Its beautiful but with an unspoken message to other gangs to stay away. It could be an artist trying make his or her mark like Banksy. Some just seeing a wall with some features that beg for an artistic addition, like painting fire hydrants or, as in this case public stairs. One of my favorites is a video of subway stairs being painted to look like a piano and sensors implanted to make each step sound like the notes stepped on (like in the movie Big).
The Architecture and Design FB page posted a collection of pictures of painted stairs from around the world. Check them out. Art everywhere!




Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Artist spotlight - Hannah Rothstein Thanksgiving dishes for charity

This time of year is when we who have the talent and means to give make a special effort to do so. Artist Hannah Rothstein has created a series of images showing How Famous artists would plate Thanksgiving meal. 25 signed, limited edition prints available per image, $75 each. All prints 16" x 20", except the Sherman print, which is 16" x 16". %10 of profits will be donated to the SF-Marin Food Bank. For inquiries, write art@hrothstein.com.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Art of the NYC Subways - 30th anniversary of the Art &Design program

Being a resident of Northern NJ, I get into New York City a lot and ride the subways many times. Music abounds on the platforms as musicians try and raise their personal fortune and occasionally on the cars themselves between stop.
The visual arts abound on the NYC subway platforms. The 81st street stop for the Museum of Natural  look like representation of the museum with mosaics and bas relief sculptures of dinosaurs and insects and other things. The walkway tunnel between Times Square and the PA Bus Terminal have sculpture dioramas in the walls.
All this to say this is the 30th anniversary of the NYC Subway's Art and Design program. There are hundreds of various kinds of art works all thru the system and they have published a book called . New York’s Underground Art Museum: MTA Arts & Design with 300 pictures o various art installations in the subways. Mashable has posted an entry about this this along with 12 selections of whats there. Enjoy! And go art hunting on the subway!

Recipes for the feeding of a starving artist - Thanksgiving leftover loaf

Artists need to eat and Thanksgiving is in a few weeks. We all have our plans, including what to do with the leftovers.  I usually do all the cooking. We always have my sister's turkey soup from the turkey carcass. I'm always making turkey and stuffing sandwiches and sautéing everything together except for the stuffing, which I fry nice and crisp. I'm always looking for new ways to do this. Saw one that involved a waffle iron. Bread or tortillas with the leftovers inbetween. This one is a  Thanksgiving leftover loaf check it out!

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Plant scupltures from the Montreal Botanical Gardens

We artistic types seek inspiration and motivation from many other genres. Seeing others practicing their art can energize ours. One FB page I get some of this is  the Architecture and Design FB page.
I previously posted some glass sculptures there and now some great plant sculptures from the Montreal Botanical Gardens. If you have not checked out the A & D FB page, please do. Some examples.



Sunday, November 2, 2014

Nova Scotia Art News posts my Peggys Cove Painting

This comes under the heading of its nice to have your art work noticed!
This morning, I check my Twitter feed and this is the first thing I see

Shawna Mac @Shawnamac_  ·                 
 
Interesting! I  click on the link and there's my blog post about my Peggy's Cove on this on-line "newspaper" put out by Photographer Shawna Mac (also noticed grammatical error or two in my post). She has used the Paper.li site to create a series of art "newspapers" for Newfoundland Ontario Paris  and London plus a Digital Arts newspaper. I am now following her on her Shawnamac_ twitter page and suggest you do too and maybe check out this Paper.li site, too.