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, February 23, 2015

New painting - High Mowing Covered Bridge in Winter

Covered bridges are one of my favorite subjects. This is a painting of the High Mowing Covered Bridge in Vermont from a photo I found on the Vermont Four Seasons Photography FB page. I like snowy scenes. I have some summer pictures of my own, which I am intending to do , also. Enjoy.
Check out some items to purchase at Fine Art America



Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Art Poster Collection Part 2 - Art is a verb....

Here's another group of art posters from various FB pages including some from Art Therapy Without Borders  , Art In Action , Artify ItA Page for Creators and other FB pages. Love these things. Some thoughts expressed will make you smile, encourage you, realize the importance of artistic expression, etc



























Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Artist, The winter got you down? Paint The Snow!

The winter has been brutal, especially for us in the Northeast. You wish for Spring, but it seems forever way. It may be sapping your artistic mojo. So what ya gonna do? Well, like Bob Ross kept on saying, Its your world and you can do whatever you want. PAINT THE SNOW.Make your own Spring!

Friday, February 13, 2015

Jason Horejs and his Red Dot Blog - How Galleries Select Artists

I highly recommend that you follow Jason Horejs of the Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale Arizona, if you have not already. I've just became aware of him, despite the fact that his writings have been around awhile. If you have not, check out his FB page or his Red Dot Blog. Both full of great articles on artist/gallery relationships.
His current posting in an on-going series about How Galleries Work concerns How Galleries Select Artists. It does vary from gallery to gallery and there are exceptions, but there are some base ideas we should all know. Check it out

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Not playing your old CD's? Recycle! Make art!

So you've moved on from playing music on all those CD's you bought and are using MP3s, Pandora,  iTunes etc (just as some of us of a certain age moved on from records to CDs - a big mistake, but that's another subject). So what do you do with all those shiny little discs cluttering up you shelves? and those "jewel cases" they came in? Make art!
The Architecture & design   site has a sampling of the many ways you can recycle your CDs. Lamps, mosaics of all kinds, etc. Whatever your artistic mind can come up with. The jewel cases are not mentioned, but those title pages would make great collages, too. And maybe you can convince your artistically challenged friends and family and anyone else willing to listen, that you'll take their CDs and make something out of theirs, for a price. There's a lot of raw material out there. Give it a try. Here's a couple of pictures from the article


Tuesday, February 10, 2015

From the Red Dot Blog - Six mistakes artists make seeking gallery representation

All artists would like to be represented by an art gallery. Most of us neophytes go about it without a clue as to what is required to achieve this. Its nice to hear from a gallery owner or a professional artist who has made it as to what is required and what to expect.  Jason Horejs of he Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona in this entry in the Red Dot Blog gives us six common mistakes artists make when approaching a gallery
I know my biggest one would be -
Mistake #2: Producing insufficient work to sustain gallery sales.
This is a good read, so check it out.

Friday, February 6, 2015

I am now on tumblr - jackmckenzieart

I'm moving deeper into the social media pool. I created a Tumblr page and  l'm starting to load my images into Tumblr. this will take a few days. I will also be posting any shows I do, too. Check it out

Thursday, February 5, 2015

9 reasons to buy a painting - from the Houzz site

While artists paint, sculpt, etc to express ourselves, we would also like to sell them, too. Prints, postcards, refrigerator magnets and nice to have, but there's nothing like a original, especially from someone you know (ahem), that can brighten up a room. There are many versions of this, and this is from the Houzz site. Find the 9 reasons here. Here are a couple of them:
(my favorite) - Buying a painting supports the artist directly
 A painting can make the room
 Curating your own art gallery is fun!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

I am now on Instagram - @jack.mckenzie.art

I finally took the plunge and I'm now on Instgram. An artist has gotta keep on all the social media!
@jack.mckenzie.art  Now on to Tumblr and Reddit?

Monday, February 2, 2015

New Painting: Whaleback Lighthouse - Done For The Day

This is a combined genre painting of a lighthouse and a fishing boat coming in after a days work. Its my usual 11 x 14 oil on canvas board. This is from a photo that Eric Gendron Photography posted on Facebook and I got permission to paint it. Its a depiction of the Whaleback Lighthouse off Kittery, Maine with a fishing boat coming in after a day of fishing. Its reminds me of the scene in the movie "Perfect Storm" where George Clooney is pilating a fishing boat and gives a description of  heading out for a days work. As usual, there are Mugs available with this image via Zazzle.