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, March 31, 2015

Art Poster Collection - part 3. Art Speaks Without Words

More thoughts expressed via "posters" collected from various sources that I hope will make you smile, encourage you, realize the importance of artistic expression, etc





Sunday, March 22, 2015

Check out the Twitter hashtag Thingspeoplesaytoartists

All people in the creative arts field get clueless people asking all sorts of  odd and back handed putdown questions or statements that demean what we do. I previously published the following poster


Well there is a hashtag on Twitter #thingspeoplesaytoartists .  On it, creative people are  posting all the clueless, nasty and rude things that people have said or asked them. Too many people ask for free or reduced price services. This is a huge topic with many art for free  articles and blogging artists  such as Lori McNee have commented on this, too.
Here are a few. Go add your own.
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*steals your work without permission* *is called out* " HUH?! You should be grateful for free exposure!
 
How much for a sketch? $20. But some artists here charge $5 Then buy art from them. But I want YOUR art for $5
 
"Hey, can you design me a tattoo? The parlor wanted money for that"
 
"I love your portraits - they're so realistic! Would you draw Spongebob for me?"
 
You illustrate kid's books? Brilliant! I have an stupid idea for a book that I'd like you to illustrate for free
 
Hey, do you think you can help me design something? It should only take a minute or two."
 
"You draw cartoons for a living? When are you gonna grow up!"
 
What's it like to be a woman in (name any artistic field)?
 
Person: You're an artist? Oh, man! I totally want you on my team for Pictionary! Me: No, you don't.
 
"This probably won't take someone like you long, maybe 15 minutes.
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Any just to make the art for free thing clear, here's a poster we should have printed on cards and handed out
 

Saturday, March 14, 2015

The art of Pi - celebrating Pi day 3-14-15

This one will take some time, so get a cup of coffee and a piece of pie and enjoy.
Today, March 14,2015 is a math geeks holiday! It's Pi day! Pi is a value used to determine the area of a circle, which is 3.14159265359 in short form so the date 3/14 is Pi day annually and once every hundred years the 15 comes into play along with the time 9:26:53, so there is a lot of attention to today. It is known as an irrational number since there is no end point. Since Pi looks and sounds like the English word pie, part of the celebration is baking and eating pie. Its a day where math and food coincide.  In fact  if you look at 3.14 in a mirror, you get the word pie.

Which leads to the art of Pi.
The cartoonist come up with all sorts of pun offerings and Pi day works


 
 

and must include this one - riff on Norman Rockwell

Math in visual representation can be beautiful. Fibonacci numbers produce spirals. Fractals produce astonishing patterns. So does Pi. Computers are used to generate beautiful images of Pi using various patterns and alogrithims
Here are a few




So get another piece of pie and enjoy the day

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Recipes for the feeding of a starving artist - bacon wrapped, mushroom stuffed chicken

Artists need to eat! Besides being a painter, I like to cook. Our family Monday meal is chicken thighs which most every one likes dipped in milk, coated with breadcrumbs and baked. I like to do something else with them. This time I made bacon wrapped, mushroom stuffed chicken. I deboned the thigh, seasoned and pounded flat. I modified it by cooking a bacon slice the crumbled it. I sauted the mushrooms and onions in the bacon grease and added seasoned bread crumbs and the crumbled bacon. Yum! Served with perogies sauted with onions and broccoli sauted in the bacon fat


Sunday, March 8, 2015

I sold a Painting - Babbs Covered Bridge in Winter - Maine.

This is one of those pictures I found on FB and painted. My friend Rob Blumenstock decided to buy it. I've started using an art bill of sale I found on-line, which, among other things, lets the buyer know that "Copyright and Reproduction Rights are Reserved by the Artist". I can still make reproductions of the painting and sell them. I like to make this personal, so here's a picture of Rob with the painting and his two children Aaron and Kylie. His wife Suki was inside the church talking to his mother. His parents bought one of my paintings - Portland Head Lighthouse at Sunrise.


Thursday, March 5, 2015

Christof Niemann - art from everyday objects - #arteverywhere

I love this genre of art - "building" art around every day objects in fun and very creative ways. Here the blog Twisted Sifter displays  examples of an ongoing series by artist Christof Niemann  called Sunday Sketch.
Check them out. #arteverywhere.