Merry Christmas Kolene Spicher Mermaids

Good Things Come In Small Packages 

Mermaids posing on a sled for Christmas Picture 

I love the holidays and it's an honor 

to sell something to someone over Christmas that 

you know will be used as a gift.  What a privilege. 

Today, I am talking about my Christmas Mermaid painting.  It's small enough to go in a stocking but too big for my

back pocket!  

I love making Santa figurines, too.  Here are a few that I made a few years back.  The one on the right is a Vallencourt figurine.  The two on the left are KOLENE Santas! 

The frame on this is nearly perfect.  I love it when I find frames that are not fussy and good antiques.  

May it be Joyful and White is written along side the sleigh in the snow. 

This is sort of reminiscent of some of my Nantucket Paintings that I painted a few years back.  Oh how the time seems to passes.  

The mantel looks a little distorted, but you can see the little mermaid painting tucked in there between the ship and the whale.  

Thanks for looking 

and Happy Christmas and New Year to you! 

ENJOY, 

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Jonah's Whale

Jonah's Great Fish Story 

according to the Bible 

13 1/4" x 36" 

A painting on aboard 

A few years ago, I purchased an old board that someone years ago had painted a fanciful edge on.  I just loved it.  I wasn't crazy about what was in the center, however, so I decided to paint my own 'thing' on it instead.  

This is the story of Jonah of the Bible.  Oh how he hated the people of Nineveh, but God didn't feel that way.  He loved these people despite their oblivion to Him and their rebellion.  

So Jonah foolishly flees to a town far away from where God told him to go, it was the town of Tarshish. 

Oh how the boat was affected by Jonah's presence.  For God caused a great storm to come upon the vessel, surely they all were going to die while Jonah slept away at the bottom of the boat, oblivious to the dire situation that he had placed his companions in.  

There was only one solution, Jonah had to go.  "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," Jonah said.   

And God caused the great fish to swallow Jonah up, saving his life.  Three days Jonah lived in despair inside the heart of the big fish.  Finally, broken and in despair, Jonah cried out to the Lord in prayer.  

God heard the prayer and caused the big fish to throw him up.  

What goes in must surely come out!  Now Jonah was thinking correctly, he had to go to these people and tell them the good news that God loved them and wanted to bless them if they turned from their wicked ways. 

And the people believed and trusted in the Lord that day. 

Don't you love that folky border?  I know that I do.  I love the fun way I depicted this story along with the truth that this board holds.  It is simply this, God loves people that we do not.  Just because our eyes are blinded does not mean that God turns his back on us or the people that we are blinded into not caring for.  

Even the edge on this board was painted; although, not by me, it definitely is something that I would have done! 

The back has a simple wire on it.  I am going to be listing this on Etsy.  I was not going to do it in any hurry, though, so if you want this for Christmas, let me know, because I can definitely ship it out and have it to your home (in the USA) in time for Christmas! 

Enjoy. 

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City Folk Homes with neighbors

Neighbors with ______. 

New House Series about City Buildings and 

The People Who Live In Them 

One day I was leafing thru an old folk art book of mine and came across this painting. 

There is something very funny about this, to me.  Maybe it is my quirky sense of humor, but I love this.  Look at all the bottles all over the floor.  This painter had a funny personality.  Notice the broken one to the right. This is an 19th century artist.

I thought wouldn't it be neat to do a series of paintings about  houses with people around the painting doing whatever it is that people do.   

I started to think about my childhood, and our neighbors.  Some of our neighbors brought us cookies and pies, while others didn't mow their grass weekly.  Some of them borrowed milk or flour or sugar.  I lived in town growing up, and we had very close neighbors.  It was fun.  We all had a lot of kids.  Some of the neighbors had 6 children.  "Neighbors with a lot of children..."  

This painting is about "Neighbors who borrow eggs."  

The window in the middle level is painted open in the center in preparation of my lady leaning out to throw the eggs that are being borrowed.  

All the characters in this series will be consistently dressed.  Buildings and trees will vary from painting to painting. 

I love the broken eggs laying on the grass, it puts me in mind of my inspiration piece that I posted above with the broken bottles. 

There she is, hanging out the window.  This is not a farm house in the country like a lot of my paintings illustrate, but is a city house with CITY FOLK! 

I sort of like it in the gold frame but is being painted for Spicher and Co, so I must come up with a reproduction frame.  It might end up in black, but this is what I found as of today. 

I love Jacob Mantel.  This 'folk art' book is opened to one of his characters. He lived around
1810-20

In the end, after living with this painting for a long time, I decided that I wanted a little more action!  Check out the TRICK OR TREAT POST! 

Enjoy. 

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Custom Antique Reproduction Silhouette by Kolene Spicher

Silhouette of a Lady with

relatives from 

Denmark

From Denmark to America, this piece of art
tells the story of where this lady's ancestors came from
as well as the day she married.  

I started this project day one by creating a wonderfully crackled and antiqued background to paint upon.  Special consideration was taken to accommodate the lettering across the bottom.  It needed to be smooth enough to write the genealogy out yet  antiqued enough to match the rest of the painting. 

I loved this frame.  The painting was sized to fit it perfectly.  The condition is great.  Finally, the look is correct for the home that 

this piece was made for.  

MY Customer likes nautical and wanted the dress to also be nautical in nature.  Finding reference material for this had its challenges!  My inspiration came from antique silhouettes from the 1800s.  

I love house this looks hanging over the bench my foyer. 

You can sort of see the texture that I achieved by looking at the above lower right picture.  The customer also wanted the flag of Denmark flying on a ship in the background.  I also have the American flag flying on the ship to the right.  Pictorially, this suggests a story of coming to America.   It is also what we are all about here in the USA,  we were ONCE  all little seedlings. 

I love the corner blocks on this frame and the drape across the top of the painting.  I am known for including decorative drapes in my pieces.  

Here is my lady! 

Here is her likeness 1800s style!  

LOOK at the writing, you can see the genealogy,  and you will notice that her GRANDPARENTS were from Denmark.  It is a special gift to have someone illustrate how one's family came to the great melting pot!  I was happy to do this. 

Thank you for taking the time to look at this piece of artwork.  The painting will be a Christmas gift. 

Enjoy. 

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Original Whaling Scene, Maine, Post 3

The Whale from Curtis Light 

Thanks for looking at this blog entry.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions or if you are interested in your water scene being illustrated! 

This post is going to represent several days worth of work.  I think it's better than dragging it out.  

The color is starting to be added a little at a time. 

I like to paint around things instead of painting from the back of the painting to the front.  I feel that the image pops more using that method.

In this picture, you can see how the grass has a warmer feel.  

After the painting was about finished, I added the script.  Often times, I write little sayings in the grass or sky or water.  This painting was no exception.

The colors are not correct in this picture, however, look at the guy falling off the ship into the water! 

In the original painting (where you will see below),  the colors are not as 'antiqued' and the water is not as red/blue.  However, I wanted to show you the writing in the water.  In case you cannot read my writing, it says THE WHALE FROM CURTIS LIGHT.

WRITING HERE READS,
SHE GUARDS PENOBSCOT BAY 

I love the little guy up on the tower.  I read that this light can be seen for 6 nautical miles.  I think that is very cool.

On this page you can clearly see the folky bricks as well as my signature.  

The red really pops on this painting.  I like it.  The customer may want it toned down.  We shall see!

The colors are about correct in this shot

I always like to show what I am working on along side one that I have laying around.  I do this so that you can clearly see how this painting will blend with any piece of my original artwork that you might own.  I really enjoyed painting this one!  I think you can tell! 

Here is the painting in its entirety BEFORE antiqued...  

The question for me is this.  Should I antique this more? 

I welcome input! 

So ***today, November 4, 2016, I decided that the sky was too washed out.  I brightened it up a bit.  That doesn't mean that I won't go back and tone it down some, but here are a few changes. 

See the difference?  It makes the lighthouse stand out instead of blend in! 

Again, the ship stands out from the sky being darkened in the background 

I think this is done... 

Enjoy :) 

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Original Whaling Scene, Maine Post 2

Starting To Add Some Color! 

A likeness of Curtis Light 

There are many lighthouses in Maine.  This painting is centered around Curtis Light which is just outside Camden Harbor.  This painting is not meant to be 

an exact copy but rather a gently likeness.  

My customer loves whaling and ships.  Like many of my paintings, this is a fictional rendition of a time back in the mid 19th century.  

I started to draw and realized that I didn't want the painting to have pea sized buildings so I went BIG with the scale.  You can sort of get an idea of HOW big in the picture below. 

The buildings are larger than I had drawn out on my thumbnail sketches, but I felt it was necessary.     I think it makes for better composition, especially when viewing from any distance. 

This could be a painting just as it is featured in the above cropped version.  However, it is just a snippet of  a larger piece.  Tomorrow, if I have time, I want to show you some more 

pictures of what I have completed.  If I don't post tomorrow, it will be Monday! 

As I paint, I will add layer upon layer until the oversized folky bricks sort of disappear and are not as obvious.  This is the very start of the painting.  

Tune back in for more... maybe tomorrow!

Enjoy! 

What a view! 

Thanks for looking today and spending a little of your day imagining what life might have been like back in the 1840s...

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