"Back to Basics", and a New Class

"Back to Basics", 12x12", Oil on Gessoboard

Whenever I'm feeling a bit rusty, I like to go back to my art school days, and paint the basics.  Fruit, elipses, and cloth are wonderful subjects to sharpen my focus and observation skills.  And I never tire of painting a still life setup, no matter how simple.  Even though the cloth may be orange, I challenge myself to find other colors to describe the cloth without going too bright.  And pears almost always have cool colors (green, blue) and warm colors (red, orange, yellow) wandering around in them.  Even the bowls are painted with many underlying colors to make them appear more complex, and to give the painting some atmosphere.

I'll be teaching an all day class at the BCAC Studio in the Ice House Mall in Barrington on April 6th, and we'll be talking about brushes and brushwork.  Beginning, intermediate, and advanced students sometimes need to "brush up" on what brush to use when!  Filberts, flats, brights, rounds, and palette knives all have their jobs to do.  Let me know if you'd like to join us in April by sending me an email, and I'll supply you with the details.

Silent Night, Colorado

"Silent Night, Colorado", 8x6" oil on panel

The holiday season is upon us, ready or not!  This time of year, I reflect on how fortunate I am to have fellow artists, students, and friends who have embarked on this art journey with me.  I want to thank you for following me, viewing my art, and perhaps for sending me a word or two now and then.  Just knowing that you're out there means the world to me!

For those of you in the area, I've scheduled a class at the BCAC studio in the Ice House in Barrington on Friday, January 12.  If you'd like to join us, please send me an email.

"Tabasco Time", 6x8"

Since I originated in New Orleans, it stands to reason that there's always a bottle of McIlhenny's Tabasco sauce on our table at home.  The other day, I decided to do a quick painting of this constant friend.

This got me to thinking about recognizable brands, like Heinz ketchup, Smucker's jelly, and Wonder bread, and how fun it is to raise them to new status by painting them.  Much as Andy Warhol did in his day.  

I wrote to the wonderful artist  Carol Marine about this, and she thought it would be a good idea to make this project the weekly challenge for Dailypaintworks.  Click here to see the challenge, and to see what other artists have done with it.  And maybe think about entering the challenge yourself!  I'd love to see what you would do-- what brand deserves artistic recognition in your life?

Will You Be in Michigan?

Hi Friends, if you're planing to be in Michigan this weekend, I'd love to see you in Saugatuck on July 8th!  I'll be at the J. Petter Gallery from 4:00- 7:00pm, painting and chatting with whoever stops by.  I'll also bring along some small paintings like this one to show and sell.

I hope to see you there!

New Palette Knife Video

I've just uploaded a new video to Youtube, titled "Palette Knife Painting Techniques in Oil".  This video takes you step by step through my palette knife painting process.  It's a labor of love; I hope you enjoy it too!  I'd love to hear what you think.

Click on Ann Feldman Youtube to watch it now!

"Abundance", 16x20"

I bought a small bunch of peonies from a farm stand last week, brought them home and put them in water.  The next morning, they had exploded into the most beautiful blooms you could imagine.  I couldn't let another minute go by without painting them, so I whisked them up to my studio and put them under lights.  They remained glorious for days while I labored away, trying to capture their beauty without overdoing the details.

After scraping my painting away three times, this is the iteration I was most happy with.  I hope you like it too.

"Fairy Dance", 24x12"

"Fairy Dance", oil on gesso board, 24x12"

You might not believe this but I actually stumbled upon this very scene last summer!  John and I were poking around the shops in Telluride and came outside to see this little group of fairies putting on a performance for their parents in a tiny park.  I couldn't have posed them any better if I had tried.  I loved the way the sunshine lit up their wings.

So often, fairies are idealized in paintings to represent the most beautiful and graceful creatures that we can imagine.  Another reason this scene grabbed my heart was the coltish awkwardness and innocence of the scene.  These fairies were dancing with abandon for those who love them best.  

And what artist could resist painting a scene like that?

"Illinois", 12x9"

Last weekend was misty and damp, but my little group of plein air painters decided to load up our gear and head out into the fields of Veteran's Park in Crystal Lake.  It was worth the effort-- the dampness brought out some beautiful fall color.  

After we set up and started painting, we heard a stampede of runners bearing down on us.  Little did we know we had chosen to paint in the path of a cross country competition.  We scurried out of the way, took a deep breath, and started again.  We hardly noticed the wheezing and clomping going on behind us throughout the morning.

"Thunderheads", 14x11"

This summer, I've been trying to get myself out there and paint "en plein air" about once a week. I have a small group of intrepid artist friends who enjoy throwing all their gear into their cars, then strapping it on their backs and hiking around until we find just the right spot.  "Thunderheads" was going quite nicely until we were pelted by hail in an open field.

"The Marsh", 7x5" oil on canvas

"The Marsh" was painted from a rickety bridge which hovered over snapping turtles.  I decided to forgo any art supplies that fell into the water that day.

"The Pond at Horizon Farms", 7x5"

Life and limb were not in jeopardy for this little study, but I thought I'd share it because it shows my equipment and my method of first completing a little black and white sketch before I dive in with paint.  You can see it above the painting in this photo.  These sketches help me map out what I want to accomplish in my painting.  I may decide to create a larger painting of my plein air piece when I get home, or I may just leave well enough alone.

We remain undaunted, and shall continue to paint outdoors, come what may.  

"The Cottage Garden", 8 x 10"

Last weekend I painted with some friends at the Barrington Country Garden Faire, benefitting the Hands of Hope.  There were so many little scenes to paint, we could stay there for weeks and paint our little hearts out.

I will donate the proceeds from the sale of this painting to the Hands of Hope, benefitting women and children in Africa.  Please drop me a line if you are interested.

Click on Ann Feldman Cottage for purchase information.

"A Slice of Life", 10 x 8", oil on gessoboard

 "A Slice of Life"

The exhibition at the J. Petter Gallery in Saugatuck was a wonderful success.  A big shout-out to my great friend and fellow artist Barb Benstein who went along with me and supported me in every way. I so enjoyed meeting all that dropped by to say hello, and I even had a chance to paint a little still life that afternoon.  A few paintings were purchased, and a great time was had by all.

Special thanks to Juli, Karen, and all my friends at the J. Petter Gallery for making the afternoon such a success.

For purchase information, please click on Ann Feldman Slice of Life.

 Here I am, getting ready to paint, surrounded by my paintings.

I feel so fortunate to have this gallery exhibiting my work.

"Les Mandarines" found a new home.

If you'll be in the Saugatuck area in the next month, I hope you'll drop by to see the exhibit!

"Old Town", 8x10"

"Old Town", 8x10", oil on gesso board 

With the frigid weather tapping at our windows here in Chicago, I felt the need to paint a memory from balmy, tropical Puerto Rico.  Did you know that the bricks that pave the streets in San Juan are blue ceramic?  I also learned that it is an unspoken rule in this colonial area that no two buildings or houses should be painted the same color.  Everywhere you look is a cacophony of riotous color: canary yellow, cantaloupe orange, aqua blue, parrot green.

As is the Feldman way, we packed into rental cars, left San Juan and traveled to the tiny town of Rincon on the other side of the island.  I dared myself to learn to body surf in the crashing waves, and succeeded with my pride and bathing suit intact.  I also bit into the best Cuban sandwich ever made at a roadside diner while my nephew learned the fine art of lunchtime gambling.  

The blaring music, the open smiles, and the rapid staccato Spanish of the Puerto Rican people stay with me even now.  And these memories sustain me as I pull on my boots to face the unrelenting  ice and snow outside my door.

For purchase information, please click on Ann Feldman Old Town.

"Early Autumn, Paris", 20x16" And Thoughts on Light With Claude Monet

"Early Autumn, Paris"

The light in the city was much cooler than the light in Provence

"Sunday Morning, Aix en Provence"

I tried to capture the warmth of the sun in southern France

The Impressionists are famous for their attention to the light in their paintings.  A viewer can often tell the season, time of day, and sometimes even the geography of a scene when they look at an Impressionistic painting.  When I was in France, I could see for myself how the light changed when we moved further south.  I tried to convey the difference in the light in the two paintings above.  I even went so far as to put a bit of a blue "halo" around the light on the Parisian sidewalk to make it appear cooler.  In Provence, yellow became a dominant color for the light.

Monet spent close to a year in Rouen, panting the front of the cathedral there at different times of day and seasons.  He set up camp in a women's clothing store across the street, much to the dismay of many of the store's patrons!  He didn't see why a male painter in a women's shop should cause any disturbance for a few months.

Here are three versions of the cathedral, as painted by Monet.  Each one is lovely in its own right, but they convey very different feelings through the colors he chose.  

As a painter, I could take a page from Monet's book and paint the same scene over and over again in different seasons and times of day.  What better lesson could there be in conveying feelings about a scene through color?  

The facade of the cathedral today.  

"Flowers and Grapefruits", 20x16"

My obsessive nature is getting the best of me. I repainted my last painting YET AGAIN.  It's heavy from all the layers of paint underneath.  I kept going back to it on my easel, and it just seemed static to me.  It needed life and it needed even more color.  I loaded up my brushes and went at it again.

A new blog follower (Hi Phyllis) told me that an artist friend of hers would share other artists' works on her blog, along with her own paintings.  I love this idea, especially since I often have someone else's work on my mind as I'm developing my own paintings.  Recently, I've been admiring Joan Mitchell's work, and I think it impacted today's piece quite a lot.  Here is an example of her work:

As you can see, Joan Mitchell was an Abstract Expressionist.  She painted nature in such a free and colorful way, I never get tired of looking at her paintings.  She once said, "If I could paint like Matisse, I'd be in heaven".  For my part, if I could take a drop of the excitement and spontaneity of her paintings and put them into mine, I'd be in heaven too.

"Abstracted Flowers", 16x20"

Creativity can be very fickle.

Since coming home from the holidays, I've been in my studio every day, struggling to bring a certain painting to life.  It refuses to budge, and I leave the studio every day frustrated and down.  Seems the harder I try to get this painting to work, the further it gets away from me.

Today, I decided to try a new course of action.  I put the old painting away and took out a floral that I had started months ago but never finished.  I started to paint with happy abandon, and this painting cooperated with me!  It may not be to everyone's taste, but I was able to let the paint flow without over thinking it.  I feel like I'm out of my creative rut, and that is indeed a good feeling.

"Sunday Morning, Aix en Provence" 20x16"

Aix en Provence was full of surprises.  We were walking along a narrow cobblestone street when all at once, our path opened up into a town square filled to the brim with flower stalls.  The light, the color, and the fragrance caught us off guard.  A few steps further and we were back on the quiet cobblestones again.

My Fall Teaching Schedule

My Fall Workshop Schedule has just been finalized, and I wanted you to be amongst the first to know. All of these workshops will be held at Mainstreet Art Centre, Lake Zurich, IL.


PALETTE KNIFE PAINTING, September 12 & 13, 2014.  Bring your palette knife, lots of paint, and a bit of courage to this workshop.  We'll be creating paintings together using only our palette knives.  Participants will learn how to manipulate paint and keep control of the process, ending with vibrant, exciting paintings.

COLOR THEORY, October 2 & 3, 2014.  This two day class will include lectures, demonstrations, and class projects to help to demystify color mixing and theory.  

IMPRESSIONISTIC PAINTING TECHNIQUES, November 3-24, 2014, Weekly on Tuesday Mornings.  Loosen up your painting style and explore new techniques to unleash your creativity.  We will be working with techniques such as "Fracturing" and "Destroy and Rebuild", as well as exploring different surfaces to give our paintings new life and atmosphere.

I'm excited to tell you that I'll be traveling to France in October to visit the studios, museums, and landscapes of the Impressionists.  I'll have so much to share when I'm back.  I cannot wait!

I hope you'll be able to join me for a workshop or two!  

"Homecoming", 12x9", And Artists Beware the Latest Scam

Well, I nearly fell for the latest scam out there, and I wanted to warn my artist friends about it.  I was contacted by a very nice "woman" named "Mary Collins" who wanted to buy three of my small pieces from me.  She loved my art!  Couldn't wait to see it on her wall!  Could I tell her my inspiration for each of these pieces?  I was happily reeled in for awhile, loving her compliments and enthusiasm for my work (what artist can't resist that?).  Then things got interesting.

"Mary" was in the process of moving to a new home.  And she was attending her sister's wedding, so she had her husband's private assistant make out a check to me.  When it arrived, it was a whopping $1,200 more than I had asked.  She told me that her husband's PA made a "terrible mistake", so could I please send the difference to her along with the paintings?  CUE THE ALARM BELLS!

I sprinted to my computer and looked up ART SCAMS.  Sure enough, these people are able to produce very authentic looking checks that get deposited into your bank account.  Your bank accepts the check at first, and puts the money in your account.  In the meantime, you cut a check back to the crooks.  Five days later, the bank finds out it's a phony and deducts the amount from your account, leaving you high and dry.

The only thing I lost was 15 minutes of my time, describing my paintings.  Not too bad.  If you're reading this "Mary", better start packing.  The authorities are on their way!

And now for something a bit more pleasant:  "Homecoming" is a scene from Nantucket, and it is in the East End Gallery in Nantucket.  I will not let the crooks get me down!!!

"Turnip Tempest", 12x12"

If you've  had a chance to check out my Youtube video, you know how much I love to fracture and destroy my paintings as I create them!  This painting is about as close to complete abstraction as I've ever come.  The world hasn't ended as a result, so I think I'll do some more of these.

"Turnip Tempest" is available through the East End Gallery in Nantucket.

"Job Well Done", 14x11"

Volkening Heritage Farm in Schaumburg, Illinois is an artist's dream locale.  The farm is kept as it was in the 1800's, and all the workers do their jobs in period costume.  I feel just like one of the kids that arrive in droves in school buses when I'm there.  When I catch a scene like this one, my heart skips a beat and I feel very lucky indeed.

This painting is in Saugatuck, Michigan at the Button Petter Gallery.