Useful Links

Please take time to visit this link to Alexander Calder. This innovative painter and sculptor of modern art which often floats in space, is credited with inventing the mobile, something we deem almost ordinary today. His are definitely not ordinary. Click on one of the options on his home page to view his many works.

His works may be seen in person at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago July 28, 2007- April 2008. "This annual exhibition includes examples of Calder’s mobiles, stabiles, drawings, and paintings made from 1927 to 1968. Highlights from the show include the whimsical stabile Bird, constructed of coffee cans and tin to form a playful creature and Snow Flakes and Red Stop mobile resembling a gentle snow flurry."

Please let me know whether you like to have one week's worth of posts sent in one mailing or whether you would like them sent as they are finished in real time.

Wild Tomato

Sorry, bidding has ended. But you may still view or purchase this painting at the Yessy Gallery site. Just click on the Title.
Size: 30"w x 24"h


Sorry I'm late! Lost internet connection for a couple days. No useful links this week. See you again next week with something new!

L's Colors - SOLD

Click image to enlarge.
Size 30"h x 40"w x 1.5"d



As mentioned in last week's blog post, in this piece I used the colors a friend specially requested. Accommodating specific requests in a painting can be challenging. Sometimes it works and sometimes not. I will let you be the judge.

For this week's useful links, scroll down to the previous post to read about our top-selling living artists.

Useful links: Most Popular Artists

I found an interesting article published out of Brown University in 2005 about the most popular living artists. Popularity in this study was based on the selling-prices of the art. To be included on the list an artist must have sold a single piece of art for at least one million dollars, according to auction results. Eight artists are on David Galenson's list, which includes Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly. To read the complete article click Galenson. Since I think David Hockney is among our greatest living artists, I was surprised he was not named. Especially since his painting The Spash sold for $5,389,152 at Sotheby’s in London on June 21, 2006, only one year after the Galenson article was published. It was one of eleven works to achieve record prices at Sotheby’s Evening Sale of Contemporary Art. I love that these great artists are being appreciated so much during their lifetime.

Tomatoes II- SOLD

Click Image to enlarge. Bidding has ended.
Size: 24" h x 30" wide. Framed.



I painted another tomato piece this week in response to a customer's request. Since I love tomatoes and love painting tomatoes and was planning to paint more soon anyway, I was very happy to oblige. For next week, I plan to paint an abstract in purple, gold and blue, in response to the request of a dear friend. This is a more challenging undertaking so we shall see how it works out!

Scroll down to the previous post if you would like to read the update on lath framing.

Lath Frame Update

No useful links this week, but I do have a followup to the Friday, May 25, 2007 blog about lath frames for those readers who are artists and collectors looking for a simple, attractive and inexpensive way to frame a pre-stretched canvas. Here is what I have learned so far:

My lumber source was Home Depot. In the molding and trim isle, locate the 3/8" x 1 1/4" x 9' Finger Jointed clear pine strips (Item # CP 433 FJ). These are $.52/ft. in my San Diego store. (If you prefer the non-finger jointed strips, they will be closer to $.90/ft.) The strips have a slight curve along one side, which I chose to use on the front of my frame. FYI, this product is grown under the Forest Stewardship Council AC.

Tomatoes 11 was framed using this product. The canvas is only 5/8" thick but I think the frame gives it quite a bit more heft and presence and a nice, finished look. A 1.5" thick canvas would have cost about twice as much, minus the cost of the lumber, is heavier to handle while painting and costs more to ship. Here's how I made the frame.

1. Measure the height.
2. Measure the length. Add 3/4" to allow for the 3/8" thicknes of the lath. Add more if you want to float your piece in the frame. Note: If you float your painting, a small bit of the nails will be visible.
3. Cut 2 pieces of each size. I did all my cutting at Home Depot in the molding and trim isle, where saws and tables are set up for this purpose. They will also cut it for you with the power saw if you prefer. I did that once and there was no charge for the cuts. Lightly sand the raw ends to smooth. Don't sand much or you will alter the measurements.
4. Stain or paint each piece on all sides. (tip: staining is messier and takes longer to dry. I plan to try painting with an acrylic wash)
5. When dry, using fine wire brads (or similar, small, fine finishing nail) about 5/8" long, nail the width pieces to the top of the height pieces, using 3 brads or nails/end.
6. Place painting face down on a clean surface. Lay frame over painting. Use 1" long, fine wire brad or finishing nails to nail frame to canvas stretcher bar at about 1" and 3" from each end, or as you see is needed.

Don't use the frame as a handle for carrying the painting. Use the stretcher bars or the picture hanging wire that is attached to the painting.

If you have comments or suggestions please leave them in the Comments section of the post. Thanks!
Thank you to my artist-friend in New Mexico for saying even the 1.5" thick pieces look more finished when framed with simple wood strips, which started me on this investigation.

Abstract with Orange - SOLD

Click Image to Enlarge.

Just a reminder, the useful links for this week are in the preceding post.

Useful links

This Week's Useful links:
If you are, or will be in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area between now and September 2, 2007, consider visiting this exhibit of Jasper Johns wonderful art prints. Per The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art Museum: "Jasper Johns, one of America’s most revered artists, has been credited with two major feats in the art world: as the artist who paved the way from Abstract Expressionism to Pop Art and Minimalism, and as the creator of the highest-priced work by a living artist sold at auction (his 1959 painting False Start sold for $17 million in 1988)"... MORE

Abstract with Red

Click Image to Enlarge.
Size: 36"h x 24"w



Please scroll down to previous entry for this week's useful links. I am experimenting with posting those separately to keep up with good blogging practices! Thanks for visiting and looking forward to seeing you again next week.

Updates

No, it is not Thursday again. But I am posting to my blog. As I read more about how blogging works and what makes it effective, I find it is important to make at lease 2-3 posts per week and to update the tags accordingly in Technorati. So, since I have some useful links to share, I will add those as the update.

The first link is to an article about the importance of blogging and where I read about the above-referenced information. If you have something to say concerning your life or your business, it seems blogging about it can help a great deal to make you or your product known. Blogging increases traffic. This article is from StartupNation, an information site for entrepreneurs.

If you are an artist, painting on larger, 1.5" thick, pre-stretched, gallery-wrapped canvases, you have noticed how costly they are. Most artists selling in this size category on eBay do not frame these pieces, considering that the painted sides are sufficient and the thickness provides enough presence for their art. But here is another idea that was spawned by an artist-friend in New Mexico. She feels that they need the frames and was looking for simple frame called a butt-strip frame or lath frame. I could not locate pre-cut strips, but I think the lath materials can be purchased at DIY centers. The strips should be about 3/8" thick and as wide as you would like your art to appear to be deep. I got to thinking that if these are simple to make one could purchase less expensive 3/4" thick canvases that are stapled rather than gallery-wrapped and give them the dimension they need with the lath. The result would be a professional-looking piece for a fraction of the cost. I am going to try this out and will post the out come. In this link about DIY framing you can read a bit more.