My church's ( First Baptist Hackensack ) Summer Art Gallery

This is a bit of a long one, so get a cup of coffee and a pastry and sit down and enjoy!

My church, First Baptist Hackensack, has a lot of talented people in the visual; arts, but their identity and work is not generally known in the congregation. They know I paint and several people are photographers but have not seen our product. The church's school - Hackensack Christian School - has an art class and the students display the entire school year. With school out for the summer and the board in entrance hallway to Leach Memorial Hall (also know as the gym) was available. So after speaking with the pastor and a few others, I instituted the First Baptist Hackensack Summer Art Gallery.  The church secretary Erin Cahilly assisted me in this endevour!
The idea is to have 2 or 3 artists displaying their work for 2 - 3 weeks, depending on interest, up thru the end of August. I talked to a couple of the photographers and they showed some interest. I had it announced in the bulletin (which goes out on Twitter also)  and on the church's FB page. I also gave a "Gallery Opening" statement in front of the church as follows -

Announcing the opening of the FBH Summer Art Gallery in the Leach memorial Hallway and you are invited to participate. HCS's art students have been displaying all year, but guess what? They are gone and its our turn to play  If you have talent for art and would like to see it displayed, please see me for details. We will be changing exhibits once every couple of weeks with 2 or 3 artist’s works at a time, depending on interest. This is open to young and old at any level. All the visual arts are wanted: photography, graphics, calligraphy and even finger painting There will be a signup sheet by the library and see Jack McKenzie. You must figure out how to hang your work and please post some short artist statement page with it.
We each have been gifted by God in some way. As a member of the body of Christ we each must use our gifts to help each other live the Christian life. Using that gift for the benefit of others can be considered an act of worship. The visual arts require us to slow down from our hectic pace and find enjoyment and rest in what we see.. Dont be like the man who ran into the Louvre and shouted, "Quick! Where's the Mona Lisa? I'm double parked!" Slow down and enjoy!
Opening exhibitor is Jack Mckenzie and Walter Gleeman!
Heres pictures of the two exhibitor's work. First me!

and here's Walter Gleeman's work

Sold two packets of cards on Fine Art America

There are many on-line venues that I as an artist can use to sell my paintings and items based on my paintings. You can set the percentage of royalty that you get, but the more you want, the higher the price. Since I'm just starting out, Ive set it at 15 %. They do all the producing and sending. I've sold items: mugs, magnets, bags, etc on Zazzle but never on Fineartamerica which is cards & prints until now!
I've just sold 2 10 card packet of my West Chop Lighthouse - Martha's Vineyard

and Nantucket Lighthouse - A View From The Ferry III

Hopefully, people who receive these cards will want to buy more fro themselves!! From a little seed....

New Painting: Medina Fish Merchant - Fez ( Fes ) Morocco

This painting is from a photo I took in the Medina of Fez (or Fes ) Morocco. I was on a trip with some people from my church to visit missionaries in Spain and took a several day side trip to Fez Morocco. The Medina is a city within a city with narrow streets and full of merchants selling their goods. The Fez Medina has a section where they tan leather using urine as one of the tanning agents and that area has a distinct air about it. Donkeys and mo-peds are the only modes of transportation able to navigate the streets.

This is a scene of a fish merchant try to whisk the flies and other insects away from his fish. The area is not sanitary by any means, but they do the best they can.

New Painting: Dancing in the Plaza de Espana - Ronda Spain

In 2004, I was part of a group of people from my church that went to Algeciras, Spain to assist some missionaries  for 2 weeks. One Saturday, we took a trip to Ronda. Ronda is one of the Southern Spain   White Villages or Pueblos Blancos know for their white washed walls and red or brown tile roofs. It is a town perched on two cliffs with an ancient Roman Bridge connecting them 

We were there when 2 events were occurring , a bull fight and the Ibero-American festival celebrating the Spanish countries of North and South America. Lots of people in traditional costume, good food and much celebrating. 

One such event was traditional dancing demonstrations in the main square, or the Plaza de Espana. I  took a few pictures and enjoyed the scene. I fell in love with one  picture in particular and decided some day to paint it when I had some more confidence in painting people. Meanwhile I stuck to my usual lighthouses, covered bridges, etc. I finally painted people in a another picture  I took in Spain  of a roadside café in Andalucia  (my Spanish Cafe painting) , except they were small and far away. The Dancing painting would require much more up close work. As we left Ronda, going back down the mountain to Algeciras, we had beautiful sunset  

I finally had the urge  to paint it. This is my first real attempt to paint people. I tried putting face on them but they looked horrible, so I decided to leave them out. In my way of painting, I essentially built the painting. I don’t sketch anything, I have a vision for where the paint should go and lay it on. I first block things in black and let that dry  (except for the rear buildings) and then paint the entire scene.Anything in front gets painted in black over the rear scene, dries and then gets painted fully, etc. The people I did not sketch. I just loaded up my brush and carefully blocked them in in black and painted the colors over them. There may be a few flaw in it but I’m happy with it. As an artist you have to grow and expand your boundries.

On the same trip we went to Fez Morocco for a few days with another missionary to visit a Childrens Home in another town, but I have many pics of the Fez Medina with many people in them that I want to paint, one of  a fish seller in the Medina, 

 so watch for them! So enjoy. This is 11 x 14 oil on canvas board with a price of 200 dollars. As usual mugs and bags and available with the Dancing image on it

Artist Spotlight - Tom Everhart.

I love discovering artists and I'm a great fan of the Peanuts comic strip. Tom Everhart satisfies both these.     He's been around awhile, but I just saw great a piece about him on the Today Show. He was a Charles Schultz apprentice and Chuck encouraged him to use the Peanuts character in his own art. I'm a big Peanuts fan, so I naturally fell in love with his art, which is becoming very popular and going for high prices. At the end of the piece, you find an excited Al Roker who purchased one of these paintings several years ago for a few hundred dollars. There’s one of Lucy emulating the Scream painting and anything with Snoppy gets my attention. There's one of Snoopy wearing a coat that is full of the images of his little bird friend Woodstock. Here's an image of his Big Poppa painting of Snoopy

Check him out -  http://www.everhartstudio.com

Recipes for the feeding of a hungry artist - Lobster Benedict

We artists get hungry and since I love to cook, so  I occasionally post recipes. Its National Lobster Day, so I'm posting a lobster recipe - Lobster Eggs Benedict. This is from the Food And Wine site.
This image is From the Food and Wine site by Quentin Bacon

Check out the link

Lobster Benedict

New painting - Lavender on Blue Chair

I've not done a still life, so here's my first try at it. I came across this picture on Pinterest and decided to do it. Lavender is one of my favorite flowers (besides Black-eyed Susans) and I love the pictures of lavender in the French Countyside. Several of my friends call my sea paintings my "Blue Paintings" since that's the predominate color, so this may become part of that category. As usual, this image is copywrited.
This is an orange vase of lavender on old blue chair against a blue background. Has a very French feel to it! As usual, if you like this image, I've used Zazzle to create bags and mugs and this time cards for you to purchase and enjoy!