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

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Art quotes and cartoons

This is a compilation of art quote memes and cartoons I've come across. Hope they will encourage you and give you some good cheer in your artistic life










Tuesday, October 3, 2017

new painting: Oak Bluffs Fishing Pier Sunrise

This is another painting of Martha's Vineyard using a picture from the VineyardColors page on Facebook. The photographer loves having people paint his photos and I've done a few. This one is  about 5 am at a fishing Pier in Oak Bluffs.

Monday, September 4, 2017

New painting - Peace at the Beach at Sunset

Those of us who live on the coasts and love the ocean know what that beautiful time is in the final hours of before the sun sets. On the East Coast, and in this case Ocean Grove NJ on the Jersey Shore just south of Asbury Park, you are facing out into the ocean. The day crowds have left, with a number of reluctants still clinging to the beach to the last. The sea gulls and people with metal detectors start hunting for their treasure, either food or lost coins. It's time to plant your beach chair close to the water and, while listening to the waves and chatter of seagulls, you can enjoy a good read or just enjoy the vastness of the ocean before you. A wonderful time. As usual you can buy a  a mug with this image via Zazzle
This is an 11 x 14 painting using a photo I took one day at Ocean Grove.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Artist spotlight - Dale Lamphere's Diginity

Love this statue by sculpture by artist Dale Lamphere called Dignity.
It sits on a bluff between exits 263 and 2265 on I90 in South Dakota. His description: “Dignity represents the courage, perseverance and wisdom of the Lakota and Dakota culture in South Dakota,” Lamphere said. “My hope is that the sculpture might serve as a symbol of respect and promise for the future.”
A good must see on any artists bucket list


Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Art Parody - Persistance of Cookie

Love art parodies and I love chocolate chip cookies. I found something online that satisfies both.

Monday, August 14, 2017

Recipe for a starving artist - Caprese Chicken

I like to cook, too. This is an ongoing series I call Recipes For the Feeding of a Starving Artist.
The recipe today is Caprese Chicken.  I went to a Sunday Evening service last night and someone was passing out tomatoes from their garden, so I incorporated some of that, too. Added a few leaves of spinach, too Yum! Recipe  is right here

Monday, August 7, 2017

New Painting - Low Tide at Hall's Harbour

Love doing paintings of  fishing villages in Nova Scotia. One of the main features of these villages is the extreme tide, especially on the Bay of Fundy side. This painting is a place very popular with photographers and painters - Hall's Harbour.  I found the picture I used on the Nova Scotia FB page
and referenced a number of others on other sites. Enjoy


Thursday, July 27, 2017

Artist spotight: Tom Bob - NYC street artist

I love this style of art: finding everyday dreary Street Furniture (as he calls them) and having the vision to see how they can be made to look like something new and fun. I am showing a few here but check out this article  for the whole story  and more acts of creative vandalism that helps make the city a happier place. 
making a  mess of utility meters look like a lobster trap
 or making two manhole covers look like 2 Pacman figures gobbling up power points
the snake is my favorite

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

New Painting: Tisbury Sunrise - Marthas Vineyard

Hi, I am back
I had a bit of a painter block for a while, but that is over now.  To begin again, I turned to one of my favorite muses - Vineyard Colors FB page
Love Marthas Vineyard and I am becoming rather good at doing sunrise and sunset on water pictures
This painting is called Tisbury Sunrise - Marthas Vineyard. I rotated the picture because I want to do a 2018 Art of Jack Mckenzie Calendar. As usual you can buy a mug with this image from Zazzle



Sunday, May 21, 2017

more art memes to encouage us

This is an ongoing series of art memes 
We artists can be a moody lot sometimes. We question what we are doing and why and need some encouragement to keep going on.her ar a few art quotes I've com across that do just that. Check them out.







New Painting : Moon Over Great Bay Beach

(I painted this a few weeks ago, but I was having trouble getting into the blog)
My usual subjects are barns, covered bridges, Nantucket & Martha's Vineyard to name a few, but occasionally a picture pops up on social media that piques my interest and begs to painted. This is one of them.
One of the artists I follow on FB, Twitter and and Instagram is Lori McNee. She lives in Colorado and she paints, write books, has classes on many places, the most recent was a plein air trip to Monet's Giverny  Gardens . Check out her website Fine Art Tips.
She vacations in the Virgin Islands and she posted a picture on Instagram of her standing out on the Great Bay Beach at night looking across the bay in a full moon. I decide I needed to paint it and I posted that on the picture and she said go for it.
I checked out a few Youtube videos on painting moonlight on the ocean  and came up with this




from the original picture
Not bad for a first time at this type of picture. I may revisit this in the future for a better version. For now, I'm happy with it.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

New Painting: Nantucket Main Street Snowfall

Have I said before that I love Nantucket? I agree with Holly Finigan of NantucketBlACKbook (one of the Gray Lady's premier bloggers) that it is my happy place. It is one of my favorite subjects, usually summer or sunrise/sunset scenes. Then the Townpool Nantucket Store Posted an after snowfall photo on their FB page and I had to paint it. Its all the basic Nantucket white or gray houses but on the right hand side was a red brick building and I had to paint it.  Check out their page with lots of drone based sunset shots and some interesting merchandise
And as usual, you can get mugs from Zazzle of this image

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Mourning Tyrus Wong - Bambi Artist

When an artist dies who has had an impact, despite being relatively unknown, it needs to be noted. 106 year old artist Tyrus Wong died, whose artistry was essenttal to the success of the old Disney movie Bambi. He was also known around the Santa Monica beach for his amazing kites.

As for Bambi - “He basically created the look of the film,” said Michael Labrie, director of collections at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. He curated an exhibition of Wong’s work in 2013.  “Everything you see on the screen -- the other artists were trained to draw like Tyrus for that film.” Walt Disney made the final decision to use Tyrus's art to create the look of the film.
Check out  the Tyrus Wong story here.