Having fun with Fashion...

Now, I love all the art I create, but, fashion illustration holds a special place in my heart. Every since I've done that Red Dress last year, I've been reinventing my fashion art. I love doodling in Photoshop - first I sketch with pencil on trace, then scan in and let the layers flow! These quick illustrations are so much fun and these are out of my head. The realistic graphite pieces I've done in the past are great (a la Stavrinos) but, I think it's important to show I can create other styles. This is one of the first ones I did last week.

I found "The Firefighter"!

I am really thrilled to say I found the firefighter whose portrait I did after 9/11.

The photograph sent to me by the Chicago Tribune had his name wrong, so for several years I was looking for Brian Buck. Couldn't find him anywhere...

Last September I was at my computer and this little voice (I don't listen to nearly enough) said "look again". So I dug up the photo, saw he was with Ladder 28 in Harlem and sent them an email. A week later I got an email from Brian Burik asking me if I was looking for him; that he'd received a message from his old firehouse that they thought I meant him.

It was too much to hope for - I introduced myself and explained I'd done a portrait of a firefighter with a flag and sent him a small jpeg. It was HIM! He told me the story of the photo, how they'd found 3 flags and he was taking one out to look at it when the photographer came up to him.

He seemed very pleased about the picture and I promised him a giclee print of it. It took a while to find a large enough mailing tube but, I finally sent it out to him after Christmas 2009. The other day he called me and we had a really great conversation. He loves the print and said HE was honored..well, folks, I sit at a drawing table and don't really get into much trouble during a normal day. They run towards danger every single day - I am the one who is honored.

I hope to connect in person some time in the future when I am next in NYC. Will post it if I do!

A Rose by any other name...

Flora... mysterious little worlds unto themselves and I never tire of them. I didn't set out to draw them, in fact, I will draw whatever catches my eye. I live a few miles from Elizabeth Park in Hartford, CT, http://www.elizabethpark.org/ and have been wanting to photograph the roses for a while, but, never seem to get there. Last summer there was an article in the paper about it being the height of rose season and I grabbed my camera and family and was off!

Of course, my timing being impeccable as always, we'd had an inordinately rainy spring/summer and it was a partly sunny day. The roses were beaten by the rains; many hanging sodden and weathered. Undetered, I walked up and down each row snapping away. I did get quite a few good shots and this was from one of them.

Hopefully, I'll get there THIS summer on a sunnier day, when all the plants are less traumatized.

Artwork for Alex's Lemonade Stand auction

There are a few people in this world for whom I would do just about anything. One of these lovely people happens to be Ann Walsh, a Windsor resident and good-deed-doer who asked me if I might create something in the art realm for an Alex's Lemonade Stand "Lemon Ball" in Philadelphia this coming January 2010. This framed piece will be auctioned at the ball.

I envisioned some lemons, sliced with the light coming through the sections so they appear to be their own light source. My colors would be yellow, blue with green and white...

This is a small piece, about 9"w x 7"h, but it was fun to do and I am honored to have been asked to create it for such a cause. I am bringing it to my giclee printer, so it will have a life beyond the original as several people have asked about prints. I plan to donate a portion of the proceeds from the prints to Alex's Lemonade.

The photo here is from my digital camera, so it's not perfect, but, you get the idea.

Page 15 in International Artist Magazine issue 69

I entered "Grandmothers' Gifts" in the Still Life challenge a few months back and was pleased to find I had been selected as a finalist. This gives the artist an entire page with their work and contact information, as well as work method and inspiration.

For this particular piece, I chose one of the photos I took for the "My father's Light" shoot. This was one of the last photos; I'd pulled off rose petals and placed them in the crystal bowl and on the tablecloth, which was a gift from Steve's grandmother, Esta Kriegsman. The gold sugar bowl came from my paternal grandmother, Maude Irma Richardson, whom I never knew. The sunlight passing through the crystal and glass creating spiked abstract shadows captured my eye. Created in 2004.

Winner of Lillian Ciaravino Award at Catherine Lorillard Wolfe exhibit in NYC

I was pleased to discover I'd won an award for drawing (for Red & Green Series 2) at this exhibit which held it's awards' ceremony on October 23, 2009 at the National Art Club in New York. Steve and I drove in for this dinner, hitting little traffic going into the city on a rainy Friday and found a great parking spot right outside the club.
The National Art Club is a fabulous members-only club that organizations are able to utilize as a venue and it is gorgeous inside. Dinner was great and we sat at a table where 5 of us had won awards for various artworks. I met so many wonderful people that night and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. A power point presentation of all the winning artwork ran concurrently with the presenting of awards.
We got home around midnight, which wasn't too bad!

I found the firefighter I drew!!

It has been so busy since September I am going to catch up little by little. I'm going to start in September with "my" firefighter.
I have been "looking" for him on the internet for several years, wanting to contact him and send him a print of the original. The name I was given was incorrect, although I didn't know that while searching. Some time in September I decided to try again and found the original photo I used with the Ladder company he was in. I found their website and sent an email. A week later I received an email from a firefighter who used to work there. After sending him my story and a small photo of the artwork, he wrote back - it was him!!
I have had a full size giclee made and as soon as I pick it up, I am sending to him!! Can't tell you how thrilled I was to find him.