Friday, February 25, 2011

Keeper of the Flame

So, do you remembe these?
The coolest thing ever. A Zippo lighter. Back in the days when we were ignorant I had a Zippo (which I stole from my dad) and a silver cigarette case. Sigh. What more could you want? 
I painted this as part of the the Daily PaintWorks challenge this week. There are over 100 artists who posted their interpretations of  the subject using only Ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and white. Look at them all here

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

What Time Of Year Is It??



Sure now, you wouldn't be forgetting St Patrick's Day would ya?
Just to get everyone in the mood, I've  made up this slideshow of aceos I've painted in the past for St Patrick's Day. And  I've already started on new ones for 2011.I'll start posting them on ebay soon but in the mean time there are plenty of other new paintings here

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Outsider Art Goes Mainstream



I really loved this movie. It fascinated me on so many levels. The mysterious Bansky, the lovable Thierry, aka "Mr. Brainwash" or MBW come together with a magnifying glass on modern art and marketing. Is it all true or all a big scam?
And now that the film has been nominated for an Academy Award will the mystery man himself attend? Will we see the hooded street artist rubbing elbows on the Red Carpet? Was he asked to stay away? Is this all just more hype? Stay tuned.....

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine


Red roses to you, all my dear readers and art lovers.



We had such a good time at the February meeting of the Woman's Art League. After lunch Shirley Ende Saxe held a mini workshop on collage work and we all made Valentines. Shirley and Christine Parringer brought lots of material and we go to work. 
This is my piece. It evolved and I think the story line is about heartbreak on the island of Martinique in the 1800s. You see she loved him so but he returned to France and her heart was broken. Or so I heard.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

George Ferrell


In the early 70s my husband was a grad student at Emory University in Atlanta and I taught elementary school. We only had one car so I would stop by the Chemistry Department every day to pick up Pete. I would always be greeted by George, the building custodian. We'de get a cold  "Co-cola" and visit and George would whittle while I waited for whatever experiment Pete was running to end. 
George gave us one of his sculptures and I recently did some research to find out more about him and his work. I found this:

"George Ferrell was janitor for the Chemistry Building for many years. He was a most likeable man who became looked upon as a member of the family. An article in the May 1964 issue of the Alumni Magazine reported on his talents as a sculptor. "For his carvings he uses ordinary blocks of wood and he describes his methods as 'trying to see if you can do something interesting with an idea.' A wood carver, Ferrell has had no formal training in art. He has developed his style entirely on his own."



 This is my original carving that George gave me so long ago.
I believe he used some good old red Georgia clay to secure her to a piece of granite (possibly some chunk from the old chemistry building itself?)



The article continues: 
  "In the March-April, 1970, issue of the Alumni Magazine there was another article about George entitled "Emory's Whittling Custodian.” It had a picture of George and said that it was estimated that he had completed about 1000 carvings in the last 15 years. It said that he recently had a one-man showing in the Candler Library and that he had had exhibits at local art shows including the spring outdoor art shows in Atlanta's Piedmont Park."

I would love to hear from anyone who knew George or could tell me more about his work.