Nantucket Fourth of July Painting

The Mermaid's Nantucket Parade

It was an amazing time! 

This painting is for sale thru Nantucket Country, Nantucket, Massachusetts 

Cotuit is the narrow strip of land that runs along side of
the mainland at Nantucket Harbor 

It's been a few days since I have posted.   I decided to go on a vacation, whata ya know!  So this is a painting that I just finished as of June 2014.  It's current, as they say!  Because the subject matter is about the 4th, I knew that it had to look patriotic.  Mermaid's Toggery is a play on Murray's Toggery which is a store in downtown Nantucket.  The cobblestones still exist on this faraway island and are part of its quaint charm! 

I put a lot of thought into my paintings and love when you have to take a good 10 minutes to absorb all the funny details.  I really loved the Heaven Swing idea.  If you look carefully at the top of the swing, you will see some 'heavenly' arms holding the ropes along with his hat falling from the 'holy' clouds.

  

I also love the hollow whale ride (see below).  When I was a little girl, they used to make some amazing floats in our downtown Carlisle, Pa parades.  Maybe it was because I was young, and everything looked amazing back then. 

Fire bucket compliments of Cotuit! 

The hollow whale has an interesting looking sailor inside its mouth.  Check out his 'clown' foot! 

Mermaid Toggery sells Whatever Floats! 

I think wherever there are mermaids, you have to have a little water.  I love the sweet face of the mermaid with the bucket of water! 

The ticked off looking mermaid is holding a sparkler

Look at the sheen on the whale, the bumps are crackled like an old painting
the finish is Encaustic over Acrylic. 

I can paint more serious if I want to, but let's face it.  There are plenty of serious looking paintings out there, and  I feel my whimsical mermaids meet a niche in the market that is needed!  We all need to smile a little.   I am fairly certain that this painting is going to be in the main storefront window of Nantucket Country this July 4th weekend.  Nantucket Country will have this framed in an antique frame.  Sometimes its tiger maple or birds-eye maple, and other times its a cherry frame or a walnut with a gold leaf liner.  One thing is for sure, her frames are amazing and they are genuine antiques.  

Thanks for looking and happy holiday week!  We are blessed to live in the USA!!! 

Enjoy!

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Winter Scene Folkart

It was the Finest Snowfall Ever! 

A Charming winter scene! 

I know it seems a little early to be talking about snowfall, but I was working on this painting and thought that it would be fun to snap a few pictures of it and tell you all about it.  

I think my landscape styles are a little Grandma Moses like! 

She certainly loved her winter scenes!

I think nearly everyone can relate to winter.  Wintertime brings people together like no other time.  We skate, we carol, we sled, we build snowmen, and we work.  I love the way the trees look in the winter.  The form and color is every bit as interesting as in the summer when the trees are covered with leaves.  

Great Memories! 

When I was a young girl, we used to skate on a family friend's pond.  IT WAS SO MUCH FUN and has provided me with some  rich memories that will be with me for my lifetime.  One of my favorite things to watch are the skaters.  Each winter when I go to NYC I love to watch the skaters at Rockefeller Center.  I love the big tree, too! 

 Next to skating, I love to watch the kids build a snowman.  My boys build them all winter long.  Every now and again, someone builds a miniature one and sits it on my windowsill.  It melts before supper~EVERY TIME!

LOVE THE RED SLED! 

Old Time Grained Frame

These old looking frames were actually grained not too long ago.  The dings are deliberate and are meant to give a feel of an antique frame.  I love the color of the sky and the way it contrasts the frame (or rather compliments it).  

Someone has to work! 

This is what a New England or Pennsylvania hillside looks like! 

The red on this house is brighter than the original but I still like it and included it because it stands out.  Mostly everything in this painting "Pops."  I really like this one!  

I am going to list it on my Etsy store KOLENESPICHER.  Check it out! 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/193021372/folky-whimsical-winterscene-with-skaters

Enjoy! 

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Impressionistic Tulips

Une belle tulip...

A beautiful Tulip 

LOVE the orangey color! 

These flowers rank among my favorite.  In fact, each year I try to plant them in  my yard, knowing that the deer will get them every time.  I am always trying to figure out a place that the deer WILL NOT find them, as if there is such a place.  I have even had those animals on my front porch (along with bears).  Yes I live in the wilderness in greater Pennsylvania ~ just kidding, but not about the bears.

I love orangey peachy tulips.  

These were the color and variety I had in my wedding almost 26 years ago.  

Look at that blue on the vase 

As reflected in the title, I think these (and all the flowers have a very french feel).  I have this particular painting up beside my bed.  It is, however, for sale on my KOLENESPICHER Etsy page.  Take a look at this website if you get a chance.  I am listing on it almost daily.  I have paintings and other KOLENE stuff that I want to sell! 

I wish those tulips in that antique teapot were real, but they are not.  I actually am not into artificial flowers that much but liked these.   

I like to sit paintings on dressers and tables and on little easels when I can find them.  It makes the room interesting and I love the layered look.  

Thanks for looking today.  This is an one-of-a-kind ORIGINAL painting.  

ENJOY! 

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A Sailor's Valentine

Sailor's Give Great Gifts!

Check this painting out on my ETSY Store! 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192560598/sailors-valentine-to-a-mermaid-in-early?ref=shop_home_active_1 

There are few things that make me happier than a Sailor.  I just like the word - S A I L O R!  I have painted many 'sailors' over the years and equally many  mermaids.  

I decided this afternoon to put an encaustic finish on this painting and WOW did it pop! 

Even the frame has this wax finish ~ it's my new favorite thing to do! 

I really loved this polka dotted paper and decided to apply it to the back of the picture along with my signature card (From Spicher and Co.).  I sign so many of those cards and have a nice amount of them here in my studio!  Spares to share! 

Here's another painting that I called "A Sailor's Valentine".  I love her hair!  I love her heart that reads "Make us One Heart." I believe it was a February post, possibly the 14th. 

The heart theme is very dominant in this painting (like the painting above) and the red makes you think "Valentine's Day".  

This gal has a bit of a tan! The ship reads STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER…AMEN! 

I love the heart and the XOXOs that surround it.  I love her seaweed bra, too.  

The frame is compliments of my Mom.   It was in her personal collection (as they say!). 

THIS RED PHOTOGRAPHED A BIT BRIGHTER THAN REALITY! Love the XOs

When I paint a new nautical piece, I like to place it around the house in different locations to
see how it melds or looks with other pieces of my work.  If it blends, than I am happy.

My goal is for each piece to blend with last year's piece and the year before that, etc.  That way when someone jumps in and starts to collect my artwork, they can continue to add to it over the years, knowing that each will match the other.  I think that this is true of most artist.  That is how we are able to know who painted what over the centuries, even if the painting is not signed.  Each artist has his or her's own characteristics.

Thanks for taking the time to read this today.  Please check out this painting on ETSY.  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192560598/sailors-valentine-to-a-mermaid-in-early?ref=shop_home_active_1
 Enjoy. 

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Impressionistic Sunflower Painting

Sunflowers Van Gogh Style 

Go to my Etsy store if you are interested in purchasing this or any of the other Impressionistic Paintings.  KOLENESPICHER is the Etsy Store name! 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192421625/colorful-sunflower-paintingimpression

Today, I bring to you impressionistic painting NO. 3.   Although, this one may have been the first one that I painted  in this series.  It's been a while since I finished these, 2006 to be exact.  I think that this was the first in the series because the sunflowers were what I fell in love with in the VanGogh book.  

I love how these impressionistic flower paintings look with antique and vintage items 

 One of the things that stand out to me is the red and the transition that is made to the turquoise.  If you love turquoise, you will like this painting.  It is bright and the colors have a beautiful vibrancy that some of the other paintings in this series lack.  Look closely at the gold that transitions to turquoise.  Look at the purples that are blended within the red.  Look at the movement of the paint.  I think that this fun.    

Notice the bright red at the bottom left portion of this painting.  

I love the bright red at the bottom left, suggesting light.  One thing about this style of painting is that it is meant to be viewed from about 5 feet away.  I think it's neat up and close, too, but you really see all the movement when you are standing back from the pieces (look at my previous post on the other two flower paintings that I have blogged about). 

The warm tones of the flowers are bright like the sunshine.  

Sometimes when I am painting in this style, I just dab the brush randomly, collecting colors that are of the same family,  and just to see what the result ends up being.  At times, I wipe it off because it looks muddy.  However, that's what is fun about painting in this style.  It is forgiving.  

Notice the gold highlights in the frame 

The frame is every bit as important as the subject matter.  These frames are very substantial and as I mentioned in an earlier post, expensive!  Look at the width!

It is fun to to pair my paintings with vintage items that are not connected.  The bird just works because it is of nature like the flowers.  The hourglass looks neat because of the brown wood, which blends with the reds in the painting.  The cups compliment the overall colors quite nicely.  I probably will not keep the painting here because I am listing it on ETSY and don't want it to get damaged.  It may fall here.  

Thanks for looking today. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192421625/colorful-sunflower-paintingimpression

Enjoy! 

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Impressionistic Daisies

Daisies in a Cobalt Pitcher ~ Falling Petals

Reminiscent of another time… 

This painting is for sale on KOLENESPICHER Etsy

 When I was a little girl, my Nana had a flower garden.  Each day of the summer, she would go outside and work in that garden, mostly in the morning.  Her garden was perfect.  It was perfectly weeded, perfectly maintained, and perfectly organized according to the season.  She had ferns, roses, hyacinths, daffodils, tulips, and an assortment of other flowers.  And, yes, she had daisies.  She had a flower that I remember well and called it a Black Eyed Susan.  I would love to pick the flowers and remember making 'perfume' out of the more fragrant varieties by soaking the petals in water.  I was permitted to pick them (Even the roses), and I would place them in a vase and present them to my Mother or Nana.   

Closeup

The daisy arrangement for this picture came from my imagination.  I don't remember the details because this was another 'lost' piece that was retrieved from the crate at Spicher.  The painting is dated 2006.   I just know that when I was painting it, I wanted there to be plenty of movement, hence the sagging flowers in the forefront. 

The Paintings Name ~ Falling Petals

Perhaps, this is my favorite part of the painting.  I love the colors at the bottom portion of this piece.  I know that sounds funny, but I am a big fan of red.  I love the accent it provides. 

The frame naturally is a continuation of the painting and is something that is very desirable and not always easily attainable.  

Love the mottled frame

As I mentioned in yesterday's post (Impressionistic Peonies), the frames on these all match and are VERY NICE.  

I LOVE THE WAY THIS PAINTING LOOKS ON THIS TABLE.  In case you haven't noticed, I photograph a lot of things on this table.  BTW, this table was Nana's.  She kept it on an enclosed side porch and would put flowers and berries, etc. on it on the way to her kitchen.  She lived in a lovely 19th-century victorian house in Carlisle, PA  

Thanks for looking.  Enjoy! 

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Impressionistic Peonies

Peonies VanGogh Style 

Like everything that I paint, there was a time that I was really sort of hung up on VanGogh.  I just loved EVERYTHING that this brilliant man painted.  This was around 2006.  I painted flowers and landscapes and seascapes all with that impressionistic influence.  

Peonies with soft yellow background 

This particular painting was executed in 2006.  I found this along with MANY paintings in a crate in our warehouse in Carlisle.  We have forklifts and this crate was UP high on one of our many shelves at Spicher and Co.  How did it get there?  As I said in an earlier post, I was sick (all fine now), and unable to paint.  The 'shows' were all put on hold and the paintings protected in a crate.  I am going to sell these flower paintings on ETSY.  I have about 10 of them-all different.  Today we are going to talk about this Peonie painting.  

Peony IV was it's name! 

The medium was acrylic and the frames were gorgeous and very expensive.  They were at least $250 a piece retail back in 2006.  They measured in at 2 5/8" wide and had a mottled look to them in shades of Red that really worked with these flower pieces.  Outside dimension 16 1/4 X 20 3/4"  

The background and foreground have all the movement that you would expect with the  VanGogh (VanKO) look that I was striving for. 

I love the soft yellow background coupled with the blue base and red blues that were all blended together.  When I paint in this style I have a myriad of colors on my brush and all at the same time.  

Here it is in all it's glory.  This one was one of my favorites.  I love peonies and I adore how they smell.  I love them so much, despite the ants, that I am willing to bring them into my house.  This is the only flower that I will allow with an ant on it.  I don't like ants.   

Tomorrow I am going to talk about another flower painting.  Be sure and check back! 

Here's a sample! 

Thanks for looking Today!  

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YOUNG BOY Silhouette

Birds of the World

A Silhouette of a Young Boy

Love the Plaid Pants

I have  a following of people that collect my silhouettes.  I am glad that they enjoy them and am happy to continue to add to their collection as I expand my own abilities.  The background of this did not photograph true (and I apologize for this), it is much too yellow.  I kept it, however because the other colors are fairly true.

This is a little too much the other direction, it's not warm enough. 

Things that really stand out to me about this when I look at it are the collar, eyelashes,  and wispy hair. The transparent collar is very 'correct' and was frequently done this way in old silhouettes.   The plaid pants are an added plus and I painted this not realizing how much I would love the plaid when it was finished.  This was one that I didn't sell and ended up in my own personal collection.  Here is where it is currently hanging. I love how the plaid looks with the girl's red dress on the left.

It is at the top, second one down! 

This particular shot is at the entrance of my home.  I like seeing the girl with the big hat as I come in the front door (see Friday's post) and I LOVE the antique silhouettes that run up the wall.  Mine is the only reproduction there.  I fell in love with antique silhouettes many years ago and have bought a lot of them from Nantucket Country in  Massachusettes.  You should google her store!

closeup! 

I painted this frame.  It was painted on top of an old antique frame that needed a facelift.  The graining was done with my pointer finger!

I like to sign the backs of my paintings.  I love pretty handwriting!  Look for this silhouette on my Etsy store, I am going to part with it.  It's time!  The size is 7 3/8x5" wide.  It will be $210. My etsy store is KOLENESPICHER. 

ENJOY! 

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