A New Article

"Mallory", 16x20"

Painted in Carolyn Anderson's workshop

My article for the Oil Painters of America has just been published, titled "A Workshop With Carolyn Anderson: A Personal Discovery".  If you'd like to read the article, click on Ann Feldman OPA.

No matter where I am with my art at any given point, I always find a workshop taught by someone I admire to be invaluable.  Just being able to delve in and concentrate on my goals for several days on end always results in new discoveries and maybe even a jump forward in my growth as an artist.

"The Wedding Band", 14x11"

Strike up the band-- I'm happy to tell you that "The Wedding Band" is hanging in the Hildt Gallery in Chicago.  Many people know this gallery from its location in the Drake Hotel.  I couldn't be happier to have this new gallery relationship.

I painted this scene after a recent trip to my beloved hometown New Orleans.  On any given weekend in the French Quarter, you can see bands such as this parading through the streets, followed by a dancing bride and groom and all of their wedding guests.  It's impossible not to smile and do a little jig as they pass by.

For purchase information, call the Hildt Gallery at (312) 255-0005

"Clementines and Blue Jar", 8x10"

This little painting is a demo piece that I did for a class on painting glass last week.  I love painting glass.  It forces me to slow way down and observe what is in front of me, rather than letting my brain say "OK I got this", and painting what I think I see.

For purchase information, please click on Ann Feldman Clementines.

Here are some basic steps I follow when I paint glass.

Here's my reference.

I start by drawing in the basic shapes of the still life, including the shape of the glass object.

I paint in the shadows of the objects, including the shadows showing through the glass.

I look for the turning edges of the glass-- sometimes these edges are lighter and sometimes they are darker than the glass object.  These edges describe the shape and transparency of the object.  The last things to add are the highlights on the glass, typically nearest the light source, such as the highlight on the rim of the bottle.

Glass is a challenge, but it is almost always a rewarding one!

"Churchladies", 14" x 11"

"Churchladies"

Last time I was visiting daughter Emily in Boston, I saw this lovely trio headed down a side street.  It was late Sunday morning, and from their white dresses and shoes (not to mention the top hat) I deduced that they were heading home from church.   I tried to capture their dignity and perhaps a bit of fatigue on that morning.

I'm happy to tell you that this painting has been juried into the Oil Painters of America national salon show.  The exhibition will be held at the Castle Gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana from Sept 30 through October 29, 2016.  If you are in the area, it would be well worth your time to stop by and see 275 spectacular representational oil paintings from all of North America. 

"Blue Jar/Winter Day", 8x10" (And Breaking Rules with Picasso)

Pablo Picasso was a prolific artist, both in his art and in his philosophy on creativity.  I've drawn so much inspiration from him when it comes to "breaking the rules" in art.  Here is one of my favorite quotes:

When I started today's painting, it was textbook good, but boy oh boy, it was boring.  I put it in a sunny window to dry, and forgot all about it.  It was THAT boring!  I pulled it out this morning and armed with some Picasso inspiration, I went to work on it again.  I decided to make this painting more about the BACKGROUND than the objects in it.  I threw on paint with abandon and then scraped away with palette knives and a spatula.  Once the rules were completely broken, I felt more satisfied.

"Girl Before A Mirror", Pablo Picasso

"English Gentleman", 8x10" (No longer available)

My good friend Jayne brought back a photo from England of this gentleman walking down the street, and I couldn't resist painting him.  She tells me that it is a rare sight these days to see a man shopping with a basket.  I imagined him picking up a few things for the holidays.

I used very thick gesso on top of a hardboard to achieve the textured look of this painting.

"Where Next, Fifi?", 8x10"

Why are the French so elegant in everything they do?  Even when perusing a tourist board-- they do it with flare.  I should have been photographing architecture, but found myself constantly drawn to the people in France.  And now that's all I want to paint!

"The Barn Theater", 16x12"

This is a commission that I had to smile through as I was painting it.  It's a wedding present (sshh!) and the bride and groom met as actors at this theater near Kalamazoo, Michigan.  I hope they enjoy owning it as much as I enjoyed painting it!

"Windsong, Nantucket" 12x9"

I'm on my way today to visit daughter Emily in Boston.  I've convinced her that a trip to the Isabella Gardner museum is a "must" on our itinerary!  I will show you highlights of our visit, if I'm allowed to photograph there.

"Windsong, Nantucket" is in the East End Gallery in Nantucket.

"Expectant Spring II" 11x14"

In an attempt to keep the lessons I learned in Carolyn Anderson's class fresh in my mind, I painted another pastoral scene today.  This time, I "bounced" a bit of red into my greens to be sure that my color was harmonized throughout.  

And here is another scene from New Harmony Indiana that I thought you might enjoy.  Painters were descending on the town in preparation for the "First Brush of Spring" plein air paintout, and so many people were happy to chat with them and see their latest works.

"Expectant Spring" 11x14", And some thoughts on Carolyn Anderson's Workshop

I'm just back from another whirlwind week in New Harmony, Indiana, where I attended a workshop with Carolyn Anderson.  What an eye-opening experience! Here are some highlights of what I learned from Carolyn:


Try not to paint "things".  Instead, focus on line, value, color, and shape.

When painting from a photo, try not to go too dark.  As we know, photos lie, and darks can get darker, lights get lighter.  We have to adjust for this.

Pay close attention to color harmony and temperature.  In the painting above, I didn't have a good temperature balance. Carolyn showed me how to "bounce" a cool blueish/green color throughout the painting to make it seem more cohesive.


I'll have some more thoughts on my time with Carolyn in future posts.  In the meantime, here are a couple of photos from the idyllic town of New Harmony!

"Still Water", 7x5"

Don't worry folks, the snow hasn't hit Illinois already.  I painted this one from a photo that one of my students brought in to class.  Thanks, Dixie!  Once again, I painted on top of thick gesso applied to a hardboard which gave wonderful rough textures.  Another painting with a mind of its own!

For purchase information, please click on Ann Feldman Still Water.

Frozen Creekbed, 7x5"

This one was fun to do. As a demo in my Impressionism II class, I took a hardboard and spread super thick gesso on top of it.  After it had dried, there were all kinds of cracks and crevasses to paint on top of.  It was impossible to be too exact with this one, since the thick gesso dictated the direction of much of the paint.

I think everyone enjoyed stepping outside of their comfort zone on this one.  I know I did!

For purchase information, please click on Ann Feldman Creekbed.

Painting Portraits with Kevin Bielfuss

Portrait of Christie, Oil on Gessoed Hardboard, 16x20"  Ann Feldman

On the next day in the Kevin Bielfuss workshop, I attempted a looser, more painterly portrait.  I'm not happy yet, but I'm getting happier!  This portrait was painted on a hardboard (masonite) that was coated very thickly with gesso applied with a palette knife.  I love this surface because it forces an impressionistic feel from the very beginning, since there are so many cracks and crevasses in the gesso, and the oil paint sinks into them so beautifully.

Below are a few portrait "starts" by Kevin.  Notice that he starts very loosely (he doesn't measure), and he switches from raw sienna to pink as he moves ahead.  I think it's really helpful to see how an artist starts his paintings to understand the process underneath it all.

Here are a few notes that I found in my notebook after the class:

1. If a painting isn't going well, try doing the opposite of what you see going on.  Is it too soft?  Add impact.  Is it tight?  Loosen it up.  Dull?  Try a shot of color.

2.  Paintings can be thought of as cakes-- you need the "cake" or the structure before you can add the "icing", or the flourishes at the end.

3.  He thinks of his paintings as drawings; his work is very linear.  In the end stages, he brings his lines together and softens areas that need it.

4. His goal is to suggest rather than render his subject, because he finds this technique more interesting to look at.


There was so much to learn in this workshop!  I recommend Kevin's workshops to anyone interested in learning to paint the figure more abstractly, or anyone interested in taking their figure painting to the next level!

The Dock at First Light, 10x8"

Ann's Painting

If you are interested in this painting please click here.

Once a week or so, I join my good friends Frankie and Barb (both wonderful teachers and painters!) to kayak around Lake Zurich in the early morning before we start our day.  Yesterday, the light was so glorious that we vowed to return the next day at first light to paint.  

Frankie's Painting

Frankie's website

Barb's Painting

Barb's website

We spent about an hour and a half on the dock, pointed in the same direction.  I love coming up for air at the end of an intense painting session to see how each artist interpreted the same scene.  Each person leaves their distinctive "fingerprint" on the scene, and we each chose to highlight something different in our painting.

Thanks Frankie and Barb, what a great way to start the day!

Telephone Posies, 8x10"

You must be wondering where on earth the telephone is in this painting!  Well, I put telephone in the title because this little still life reminded me of the telephone game we all played when we were kids.  I started with the setup shown below, and painted it in a very restrained, realistic fashion.  Then I used the second painting as a reference for the third painting, but I painted this version in a very impressionistic method.  Interesting to see the evolution from beginning to end, I think.

To bid on this painting, please click on Ann Feldman Posies.  Thank you!

I painted the last version as part of a demo for the Barrington Cultural Arts Council yesterday.  We discussed the differences in approach and technique for traditional paintings and impressionistic ones.  We covered everything from new colors in toning the canvas to painting with broken color and losing edges.  Great questions from the participants and a few good laughs made for a very enjoyable afternoon! Thank you BCAC!