My Oil Paintings

Monet, Van Gogh, Picasso, and the many other artists are embedded in our history with their works immortalized in cathedrals and museums around the world. Posters and reprints hang proudly in businesses and homes, reminders of the wonders of time.

Many artists have become famous over the years and have made their mark in the art world with magnificent pieces created from extensive training and/or some God given talent.

Pablo Picasso once said:

“The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place; from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.”

Although my early childhood was filled with classical music, art was not a priority to an immigrant household. I was lucky to have had the opportunity to visit many museums in my lifetime, and I hold a special place in my heart for those coveted unattainable relics.

I started painting a few years ago when I purchased a child’s water color set for my nephew, and found it a challenge to create something unique and colorful. Soon I progressed to oils and canvas, and off I went. Never having formal training, I don’t presume to know what I’m doing, but enjoy it, it is the only place I can get lost from the everyday chaos.

Painting scenery is the easiest because I am not confined to strict guidelines, and I also enjoy floras because, to me, they are a challenge and a study in colors. I still do not understand abstract, although I have thrown away many a canvas that would be considered abstract by some, after getting angry and running my brush through all the colors.

My family and friends have been very gracious with their compliments, and I have given away a few and sold some at garage sales and art walks, and the walls of my home are covered with my works of art. When the world gets too much to bear I retreat to my fantasy world of canvas and paint always striving to paint the next one better.

I use Gamblin and Winsor & Newton Paints because they have less lead than other paints, and rumor has it that the side affects of lead are delusion, maybe Van Gogh’s paintings are reflective of that.

I'm too old to worry about lead causing me to be delusional because some say I already reached that years ago.

I had a very hard time learning about the rules of painting, like what is fat over lean, slow drying over fast drying etc. Some of my earlier painting were such a mess, they were muddy and cracked, I kept painting over and over them, then finally ended up throwing them out. I suggest watching a few videos before you spend a lot of money on supplies you may never use.

There are several interesting articles on the internet about how to price your own art.

I have read that multiplying the size of the canvas and then multiplying it by a factor, then multiply by $6, then add the cost of the canvas times two, etc.This sounds too complicated for me. Although I have sold a few, mostly I have given them to family and friends.

I have many hanging on my own walls, these are the ones I have a hard time letting go. I'm not sure why I favor some over others, I guess it was the mood I was in when I painted them, or an event which triggered me to paint. For example the first picture of the woman laying down dreaming about the big city, this was inspired by my daughter always talking about moving to the big city.

Some of my paintings were inspired by memories of places I have been to or visited in Europe, while some were inspired by a color or a mood. The brighter the picture, the happier I was at that moment, but I still have a hard time painting during a somber mood.

I have a blank 36 x 36 canvas waiting for me to decide what to paint...something will inspire me soon....