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

Saturday, October 24, 2015

New Painting: Tours End Cottage - Nantucket

Nantucket is one of my favorite places to go, even if its for a weekend and all I and my friends can afford is the Star of the Sea Hostel. We go and bike all around and one of the sections is called Sconset. It has a small grocery and other stores that are only open for the summer. There are a lot of big houses and small bungalows each of which is named with a name plate over the door. They all have flower trellises on them and in summer are covered with roses and other plants.
This painting is of one of those little cottages that is tucked in to small intersection between a downward foot path and some roads. We were there the weekend after Labor Day, so must of the foliage was gone. Its a place that really must be walked to enjoy
As usual there are  bags and mugs

odds and ends: germ of artistic talent and other things

This is an assortment of art related items I've come across.
The first one I'm surprised hasn't gone "viral" - using microbes as painters and petri dishes as canvases to create pictures, sometimes duplicating classic works of art. This is a contest sponsored by the American Society of Microbioligists . I came across this when I same a post showing a multi-petri dish version of Starry Nights


Here are some of the winners
submitted by Mehmet Berkmen of New England Biolabs, with artist Maria Penil
 Harvest Season, created by Maria Eugenia Inda, a postdoctoral researcher from Argentina working at Cold Spring Harbor Labs.F
For more of this year's entries check out 2015 Agar art entries

I went to see the new home of the Whitney Museum of American Art in the Meatpacking District in New York. They did a great ob of the building. The main galleries are on floors 5-8, each with outdoor patios with stunning vistas of lower New York Harbor and the Freedom Tower. Beautiful!

 and if your hungry, the Meatpacking District in full of places to eat. My favorite is a food court type of place called the Gansevoort Market





Its also at the end of the new High Line Park, an old railroad elevated track between 34th and 14 Streets. It was derelict for years and was about to be torn down, when the idea sprung up to make it a park and it been a big hit ever since. You'll find lots of local art, a food court and many places to sit and watch people pass. Since the Food Network headquarters is near by, you may see a favorite chef or two pass by.




and finally a few  art memes, posters and interesting pictures
                                                        as if the city is not noisy enough