A Ship Scene

The Star 

Today, I thought I'd talk a little about ships.  Over the years, I have painted many of them, too numerous to number!  

I really loved all the blue on this piece.  Blue is really a strong color right now, and I love to incorporate it into artwork.  This painting really shows off a number of the 'blues.' 

As I was painting this, I added some stars across the top of the sky,  It seemed like that time of the day when light and dark are parting, one will take over the other.  Is it almost night or is it nearly morning?  You can decide. 

In this above shot, you can see how I added some additional ships.  There can be only one STAR, though, and my big ship is that Star that shines in this piece. 

This would be a nice piece for over a sofa or mantle.  It is what I'd call a large painting.  The sailboat over the buffet is really huge.  I seldom paint that BIG unless I have a customer in mind. 

In this shot, you can see that we sometimes at Spicher and Co, print seascapes on our Vintage Vinyl.  They make a great doormat or dog mat!  Message me if you want to buy one.  Here's another... 

The ship at the top has not been scanned or printed yet.  It is not for sale yet, either.  There is still some work to be done on it and it is being painted for the Wilton Show which takes place in November, 2017, Wilton, CT.  Here's a link for that show.  Let me know if you want tickets! 

http://wiltonhistorical.org/events/american-artisan-show/

Tweet

Miniature Whaling Scene and mermaid

The Whalers and A Mermaid

Beautiful Gold leafed frame 

This is an acrylic on paper technique painting.  I distressed the surface to slightly mimic the idea of it being a fresco.  It really has that look up and close.  

Can you see the spackled qualities? 

I named this painting "The Whalers".  Truth be told, I include that little title in nearly all of my whaling scenes and have for the last 20 years that I have painted them.  I love the long skinny feel of this painting and think that this would look fabulous on a dresser drawer.  Years ago, I painted landscapes on a dresser.  There were four drawers total (I think), and each one had a different landscape.  

New England Nantucket/Cape Cod Styled house.  

This is a relatively small painting compared to what I usually do, but I really loved the old frame.  

Top painting is also available for purchase and both will be available November 6-8, 2015
at the Wilton Historical Society show
http://wiltonhistorical.org/americanartisanshow.html

I love the rich blues that are in each of these paintings.  If you know or have collected my work, most of the paintings hang well together.  I tend to use the same color palette.  

Mermaid painting is called "She was the apple of his Eye" 

This photograph gives you an idea of the scale of this piece.  You can see that it's not very large, but it is really sweet and I love the colors.  

These paintings will be available at the Wilton Show in Wilton, CT. on November 6-8, 2015.  I don't have as much work as I sometime show, but each painting is really carefully done and I think it will be a good show.  

Thanks for looking! 

Enjoy! 

Tweet

Portrait of a young girl, auction item for Wilton Historical Society, November 2015

Nineteenth Century Portrait of a young girl 

Auction item benefiting the Wilton Historical Society 

American Artisan Show November 6-8, 2015

This is a painting that will be donated to the Wilton Historical Society.  Because I am participating in their annual American Artisan Show held November 6-8, 2015, I was asked to donate a piece for this exciting event. 

 Each year they host a private auction where you can bid on some amazing one of a kind pieces.  This year's Auction will benefit the Society's efforts to continue public awareness of the decorative arts as well as preserve their numerous properties and help maintain the beauty and integrity of New England architecture.  

If you are looking for something fun to do that is different, why not plan to attend this event?  They have wine, cheese, and catered food.  There will be 30 unique artists displaying their wares from all over the United States.  The Wilton Historical Society's American Artisan Show is its biggest fundraiser of the year, and you can be a part of it!  The preview show opens November 6 at 6 PM. 

The above painting is featured in a primitive period liner with antique wavy glass. 

This little girl is not identifiable.  She's just someone that I sort of made up and painted in the primitive style.  

I started the painting off by solidly painting the background BLUE.  I like to do this sometimes to quickly
build my paper and create a "tooth" by which the consecutive coats of paint will
nicely attach.  

As you can see, the background lacks interest.  Each step of painting leads to another.  Before long, you start to form some ideas that create the 'look' that you are striving to obtain.  My love of New England portraiture was created from various books, many of which were written by Nina Fletcher Little.

Watch what happens next as I begin to add details like the book and the clouds!

One of my favorite things to do when I finish a painting is to carry it around and photograph it with various items and in different lighting.

I thought that the frame being primitive was actually working with this piece.  The glass has a big swirl that is in the center that is not visible with the camera.  The glass is antique and wavy and wonderful.  

The frame is not perfect, but you don't really see the imperfections (except when you zoom in on it like I am doing!) 

Here's one final picture showing the painting in natural lighting!  I hope that you can see that it would be a nice addition to your collection of Reproduction Decorative Art!

Here is a picture of the promotional card from the Wilton Historical Society for the American Artisan Show! 

Here's the final copy of this piece.  I have written in the water, too (right side).  I decided that she was carrying a diary! 

"Westport" is written by the white church and "Her little book of Days" is written in the water.

There will be some other amazing artists in addition to myself.   Heidi Howard (who I happen to love) will be there with her amazing one of a kind pieces.  They present as trade signs from the 19th Century and create a look that transitions well into both reproduction and modern settings.  

Heidi Howard 

Also at the event is Deluca Windsor Furniture.  His work looks fantastic in any home setting but shines in that reproduction home that wants to look 'historically correct.'  I love his finishes, too! 

Deluca! 

Molly Grant!  Wow, I cannot wait to see with her handmade shoes.  I have never seen her work in person, but this is one gal that I cannot wait to meet and look at all of her beautiful handmade shoes.  

Molly Grant

There are other amazing artists there too--In fact, too many to mention.  But suffice it to say that I love the carvings of Jack Johnson of Three Point Design out of Virginia as well as the Vaillancourt Folkart santas, Helen Howard paintings, Judith Brink's fractures, Andersen and Stauffer's fine furniture, to name just a few! 

Thanks again for looking at my painting! 

Enjoy! 

Tweet

Show sales!

A collection of paintings that sold from Doylestown, PA show 

This is going to be a long post!  I had so much fun this last weekend presenting my creations that I have been tediously working on over the spring and into and through the summer!  I will start with the miniatures!

These are my imported handmade gold and silver leafed Italian frames.  They are very well made and were very well received at the show 

I really took my time painting these little guys.  I was thrilled to see that they sold quite quickly and found them to be a good introduction piece to individuals that have never purchased from me before!  Hopefully, it is the beginning of a wonderful relationship!  HA.

This one was very popular and could have sold several times if I had duplicates (which I did not).  I did take an additional order on it, though! 

Another well received miniature! 

Another category that I happened to do well in was the mermaid department.  People like fish.  I always have so much fun painting them, too.  I never know quite what direction that they will go…and then WALA! It sort of hits me and I run with a theme.   I present these in the order in which they sold.

I sold this right before the show (sorry) but I happened to love the person that
bought it and wanted to see her get it.  She has been patiently waiting for a redhead that she loved for a long time. 

This was a special request mermaid (the next one below).  The customer that bought her has been buying from me for a very long time.  She is my friend.  Her daughter actually picked out the frame that her mother would want.  I thought this was neat.

Some of you will remember the next one because I actually already blogged about her.  She was part of my tattoo artwork.  She's fun and is one of those paintings that I have things written in the water.  This makes it something that you really want to look at…What does that say?? 

Can you see what's written in the water? The little painting on the right gives you an idea of the scale of this piece. 

This last mermaid was a first for me.  It is what I like to call 3-D.  I actually cut her out and mounted her on the background that I painted.  I really liked it and sold 2.  The second one will be slightly larger than this piece.  The cutout really gives it a modern feel. 

Can you see that it is cut out?? 

You can really see it here.   This is actually behind glass. 

Flags are also 3-D 

My tattoo artwork was really well received, too.  Some of these pictures are a little on the dark side (and I apologize for that in advance).  I didn't take the best pictures because it was very busy and I was working the show by myself (with the help of a few wonderful customers [friends]).

This is the second one of this style that I have painted.
I usually do not do the same painting twice but
it was so well received that I needed to.   

I apologize for this one.  It really is dark and happened to be one of my favorite.  I don't know what I 

was thinking…I loved the frame on this, too. 

The last photo that I want to share is my Retrieved Wallpaper technique that I painted on canvas.  I shadow mounted it, which made it have a sort of modern flair.  

Rufus Porter style.  He was known for painting
trees and landscapes. 

I am beginning to paint again for another show.  This one is in New England - Wilton, Connecticut.  It has been about 8 years since I have showed in this area of the country.  I am really looking forward to it! It is held at the Wilton Historical Society and is November 6-8, 2015.  See card below!

Enjoy and thanks for looking today.  Message me with any questions! 

Kolene Spicher 

Tweet

Miniature Ship Portrait

Ship Portrait in Miniature 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/213996858/miniature-ship-portrait-in-antique?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

This little print measures about 4 3/4 " x 5 3/4" 

I placed this around the house in different spots, and it looks cute a lot of places.  I just listed it on ETSY and am running a special for December.  Go to my ETSY KOLENESPICHER page to check it out.  You have to enter the code to get the special, however.  Here are some other shots.  

I like it sitting here, too, in front of my GW bust.  LOVE George Washington!!! 

The back of this frame was really neat, so I decided to frame it with sheet music.  Check this out!   It would fit well in a stocking for Christmas-hint. 

I don't know who the Foster Brothers were, but I like their stuff!

Here is a closeup!  I like to hang my artwork around the real antique.  I think it really blends and just works well.  The miniature portraits that are shown (below) came from Nantucket Country.  She has the best antique miniatures.  

Jones was a famous sailor name! 

The paper really comes thru here.  The paper, actually was a page from an old book.  The backside, again, is very cool.  Unfortunately, I cannot show you, but it was painted on old marbled antique paper from a book from the 1850's.  

Enjoy! 

Merry Christmas! 

Tweet