Victorian Needlepoint

I know I haven’t posted in awhile so I hope you are all still with me. I have been home recuperating from surgery (I’m fine) for the past 2 weeks and honestly going a little stir crazy. I am just getting back to work in the studio now but what saved my sanity these past 2 weeks was working on a new needlepoint when I couldn’t really do much else. I knew that would be the project to engage me while I was stuck in the apartment but unfortunately I had already finished my Dove portraits so I had to come up with something new and personally interesting. I decided to pay homage to Mrs. Beeton and her Homemaking books of the 1860′s. I have always loved those beautiful illustrations of victorian desserts and thought that they would make a lovely addition to my kitchen wall. I admit to using artistic license in the names and desserts for visual reasons but the inspiration is all Mrs. Beeton.  There is a wonderful film made about her for PBS a few years back entitled The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton which I highly recommend. In the weeks leading up to the surgery I designed the image and charted it on graph paper so it would be all ready to begin when I returned home. Here is a little piece of it so far, it will probably take me most of this year to finish but after all the pleasure is mostly in the making not just the final product!

 

I wasn’t sure at this point whether I preferred a greenish gold or an aqua background and I have since changed the wording a bit.  Half the fun is adjusting it as you go.

Upcoming Exhibition

I have been very busy preparing for an exhibition opening Saturday December 3 at the Wyatt Art Studios in Rochester New Hampshire. It is my first exhibition with them and I am very excited about it. It will be in their new back room which is small so I decided to show small works. I started with the 3 vintage-y still lives I already had which are nice and cheery and created 6 additional small paintings to accompany them which are all painted from my collection of vintage salt and pepper shakers and Christmas ornaments. Unfortunately I won’t be able to go up there for the opening but I’ll be there in spirit!

Halloween Parade Goodies

Yesterday I walked down to Spring St. and 6th Ave. to see how the preparations for the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade were coming along. I look forward to it every year and the whole neighborhood comes alive. There were so many creepy and wonderful puppets and costumes so I took tons of photos. Happy Halloween!

 

Bingo’s Annual Halloween Greeting

By now I hope you have all received your Halloween cards in the snail mail so it is safe for me to post it here. This is the first year Rosie has made an appearance. Happy Halloween everyone!

Halloween Enthusiasts

As far as I am concerned the week before Halloween is the best of the year! I thought I would celebrate the people in my neighborhood (Manhattan’s West Village) who get into the spirit of Halloween as much as I do! The above photo is in my living room, I just love the old ornaments from the 40′s and 50′s.

These 3 are from Rag & Bones on Christopher St.

My downstairs neighbors

Further up Morton Street…

Jacques Torres chocolates down on Hudson Street

Some spooky votive candle holders my dear friend LJ sent me!

My mantle.

Homage to the humble mouse

We have had a mouse in our apartment for the past few weeks and have grown rather fond of him. We’ve even named him Henry. I don’t know why but he just seems so polite and apologetic after having eaten the corners off the banana bread we foolishly left on the kitchen table overnight. We know we must send him on his way before his friends and family turn up but I decided to paint his portrait to remember him by. I imagined him as an old soul so I’ve painted him in quasi victorian garb.

Old Fashioned Cat Dandy

Now what can this dapper cat be up to? He is certainly a gentleman and seems to befriend mice. He must be a cat that marches to the beat of his own drum. I was so happy with my Headless Skeleton portrait done in sepia tones that I decided to go the same route with this portrait. I believe it  gives the impression of being a vintage photograph for those who appreciate a good old fashioned cat portrait from yesteryear. Prints of him are available in my Etsy shop Curious Portraits.

Headless Skeleton Finished

I began this portrait in sepia tones as I do most of my paintings and liked it so much I decided to finish it without adding color. I think it gives it a spooky and old fashioned look and reminds me of my Halloween portraits of my dog Bingo. I’ll be selling prints of it in my Etsy shop Curious Portraits beginning this weekend.

                                      

New Uses for an Old Skull

Now that it is September I am already looking forward to Halloween, my favorite time of year. I’ve been making good use of that resin skull I purchased last year by incorporating it into some new paintings. The first one  I finished is a still life. The second which is still in progress, alas, does not have the skull but features a disembodied hand  that usually sits on my hearth and a vintage doll head. The third is so far an underpainting and has the whole skeleton holding his own head in his hand; a theme I used successfully with my dog Bingo in his “Sleepy Hollow” halloween card a few years back.

 

 

A Beautiful Weekend

I just spent a beautiful weekend at “Deer Abbey” my friend Jay’s house out in Cherry Grove (Fire Island). The weather was perfect and many of my dearest friends were there with me. We ate and drank like animals and laughed and danced.

Jay discovered a new way to use mosquito coils…He has a very special relationship with the local wildlife…

Even Bingo had a great time sunning himself and exploring the dunes.

The views are spectacular from the back deck overlooking the bay as well as the front facing the ocean.

I even managed to do a few watercolors which I find terribly relaxing. This one was done on the beach facing the house…

This is our camp as seen from the front deck..

This is the Belvedere Hotel on the bay painted from the back deck…