Small Quick Pet Portraits

 

 

Manuel's Swiss kitty

Hershey and Sunny

I don’t currently have my own pet dog or cat- but when the kids were little we had several and they live on in my paintings.  I am grateful for the images of Sherman on the porch, Alice under the Christmas tree and Mr. Bo napping on the sofa. Now my sons have pets and I believe my portrait of Stevie Nicks is one of the best paintings I have ever done. It’s large, colorful and contains the memory of that late Alabama afternoon that I painted her. 

 

After sharing with my colleague at Swisssemester that I never painted a cat that my dad approved, she commissioned me to do a memorial portrait of her friends kitty. She said "do your magic", and I said, "Magic? You know I never painted a cat painting that my dad liked. But I am going to try".  

That was last month.

 

I just recently I finished a series of paintings for another family of pets. It felt fun. It felt magical. I especially enjoyed the looseness of painting on scraps of painted papers. 

 

Let the magic continue?

 

Hire me. I am quick and my prices are simple-

5 x 7= $70 (shipping USA included)

All works are acrylic on paper

Just email me with your preferred size, and some photos to work from.  

                                Tillystudio@aol.com

Satisfaction guaranteed. Pay when you receive the work 

If not satisfied, return the painting within 7 days.

Picture of Stevie Nicks, 33 x 22 inches

 Testimonials:

"I love what Tilly did with our Nelly Pup! She caught her sparkle and joy "- Dot, from CO

"Thank you for the beautiful painting. Our daughter was delighted with the gift. She burst into tears when she saw it" - Hannah from VA

"I received the portraits today!! I LOVE them and know the kids will too. You are very talented"- Liz in MA

Dignity for Jo Davidson

This is personal family history, art history and American History!

Taken from text written by Bradbury Kuett:

The Centerpiece of the Louis I. Kahn designed FDR Four Freedoms State Park on Roosevelt Island in New York is a triumphant bronze head of FDR, sculpted by the renowned artist Jo Davidson, a fervent supporter and friend of the president.

At the park's entrance there are engraved the names of the architect, the founder of the Park Conservancy, and the donors, but Jo Davidson's name is nowhere to be found.

Appeals to the board to engrave Jo Davidson's name have been met with silence. This unfortunate oversight, inconsequential in the view of the board, is a slight that, in effect, denies Jo Davdison his rightful recognition in American art History. Whereas Jo Davidson should be heralded as an American success story of consummate artistry, the board's silence is an outrage thrown onto the great heap of innuendos and falsities hurled upon Jo, a native son of the lower east side.

Jo Davidson should be celebrated beyond prominence as an artist. Chairman of Independent Voters' Committee of the Arts and Sciences for Roosevelt, and vice chairman of Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, Jo chose with a colleague the site of the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial Piaza in Riverside Park.

While Jo was under constant surveillance during the Cold War, the government targeted his two sons. Jacques (Tilly's note: my stepgrandfather) a Voice of Freedom (VOA) to the French under German occupation, was blacklisted, fired from CBS radio without cause. U.S. agents urged without success, Agence France Presse in D.C. to fire Jean.

Of note, Danielle Benedite, brother of Jacques wife, worked with Varian Fry in Marseille France, and saved some 1500 people from Nazi capture.

We ask that the Park's Board Chair Barbara Shattuck Kohn, Vice Chair Katrina vanden Heuvel and President Sally Minard redress this unjust situation by engraving the name of Jo Davidson on a plaque at the Park's entrance, similar to the one honoring Loius. I. Kahn. And we ask your support in this effort

Facebook: DignityforJodavidson

contact dignity4JoDavidson@gmail.com

Image of the "Mother of Modern Medicine" Inspires Hope for Vaccine.

As we try to “flatten the curve” of stress on our medical facilities and healthcare workers, we pray for a vaccine against Covid19. Doctors are studying patient responses and leaning over lab Petri dishes with questions. No doubt they will turn to the immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks, called HeLa cells, that have helped fight numerous diseases from Polio, Ebola, Parkinson’s to AIDS.  

Who was Henrietta Lacks?

Henrietta Lacks, a young mother of five, died in 1951 at John Hopkins Hospital from cervical cancer that her Doctor noted "looked like pearls". He had stitched tubes and pouches filled with radium inside her cervix, as was standard treatment at the time for invasive cervical cancer. He also took some cell samples from her cervix, without her knowledge or consent, which was also standard practice at that time.

Henrietta, the great, great, granddaughter of a slave, died that same year at the age of 31. Her cells in the lab replicated quickly and continually and amazed the doctor with their seeming immortality. They were the first human cells to reproduce outside the body! Afraid of being sued, the doctor gave the cells a code name, “HeLa” and shared them in labs across the country. They are still the most commonly used cells in research today.

The story turns rough when you learn that in the 1970’s some scientists, with secret agendas, did research on Henrietta Lacks' children without their informed consent. Then in 1975, a family friend asked about the source of the Lacks cells that his coworkers, at the National Cancer Institute, were studying. It brought a light to the two decades of darkness that the Lacks family had been kept in.

A book was written, then an HBO movie. In 2010 the John Hopkins Hospital donated a grave marker to her unmarked plot. It says: “Here lies Henrietta Lacks, Her immortal cells will continue to help mankind forever.”

To say that Lacks is a global phenomenon would be limiting. In 1962 her cells were launched into outer space aboard a Russian satellite for study. Two years ago, the National Museum of African American History ofCulture and the National Portrait Gallery jointly acquired a painting of Lacks. It adds a beautiful and much needed face to the woman often called “the mother of modern medicine”.

Kadir Nelson with his painting of Lacks

Who painted her portrait?

Kadir Nelson (b.1974), an American artist, was commissioned by HBO for the 2017 movie premier of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, to paint the first portrait of Lacks. An author of several best-selling children’s books on African-American culture and lead artist for Steven Spielberg’s 1997historical drama Amistad, Nelson is known for his larger than life portraits of African American leaders. According to his website, Nelson chooses “subject matter that has emotional and spiritual resonance and focuses on the journey of the hero as it relates to the personal and collective stories of people."

There was no portrait in existence of Lacks save for two small family photos. Nelson used those as well as a vocabulary of symbolism to tell Lacks' story. Standing in a red dress, Nelson paints a yellow straw hat as a halo around Lacks’ head. Her strong faith is reflected in the bible she holds with her hands crossed over her womb. A complex “Flower of Life” pattern against which she stands is the ancient symbol for immortality and exponential growth. The pearls around her neck reflect the doctor’s note about how her cancer grew. A pendant of a nest represents motherhood and the hope of fresh birth. The repeating flower pattern on the dress symbolizes the biological bounty that she shed without knowledge for our salvation. The most poignant details are the two small buttons missing from her dress. They symbolize that something precious was taken from her.

Hopefully, soon the HeLa cells will demonstrate another cure.

Not All Hospitals are Equal

In the light of today, when countries around the world are scrambling to build hospitals, virus test sites, and labs, I can’t help but reflect on the glorious façade of the Ospidale degli Innocenti. Back in the late 1400’s, the Silk Merchant Guild of Florence hired Filippo Brunelleschi, who would go on to become one of the renaissance’s greatest architects, to build the first public building to receive and house orphan babies as community service. 

Brunelleschi pulled together ideas of scale and optics that glorified human proportion and signaled the beginning of the Renaissance in Europe. 

The hospital façade is longer than tall. A colonnade of composite columns rhythmically punctuates the full front. Each column is placed apart at a distance that equals their height and the arcade behind them maintains the same measurement, creating a series of cubes. Sweeping arches fly up from each capital and leap down the length of the building, like a beating pulse. In the triangular spaces where the arches meet there are tondos, (circular framed), ceramic babies in sculptural relief. Above, on the top floor of the 2-story building, the rectangular windows have triangular caps that visually lift the weight of the horizontal building upwards. The design incorporates grey stone and white stucco to break up the space into geometric patterns. The whole building feels light and measured.

Brunelleschi was a trained goldsmith, and sculptor, but when in 1403 he only won second place in the competition to create panels for the FlorenceBaptistery doors, he seemed to quit all that and turn to architecture. He is known for designing innovative machines to help construction, and for his greatest masterpiece, a wonder of the world, the largest Dome of the time, theDome of Santa Maria del Fiore. It is more then 150 feet across and involved construction 180 feet in the air. It took 18 years to build and there were only three accidental deaths recorded! Brunelleschi, a problem-solver, patented many innovations to get the job done. Born in 1377, he died ten years after the completion in 1446 and is buried under the dome.

My son, another problem solver, is working in construction with a company proposing fast pop-up buildings for FEMA. It looks as though they will be made of extruded recycled plastic, and dome like in shape. I wonder if asking for columns and arches would be too much? Maybe some tondos framing the virus?

In Miami and Baltimore, Mickalene Thomas is the life of the party

One of the most exciting exhibits I recently experienced was at the Baltimore Museum of Art's Mickalene Thomas:A Moment's Pleasure exhibit. I remember first seeing her work when she was a resident at the Studio Museum of Harlem back in 2001. This was so different, and yet very much connected. Known for her large colorful, elaborate, mixed media portraits of black women, Thomas has taken the viewer right into her paintings.  By building immersive installations that mimic a party room from childhood, Thomas is bringing intimacy and a different sort of stimulation from the rest of the museum experience.

view from my comfy seat towards the bar

Born out of a desire to memorialize her mother and inspired by old Polaroids she had of her mother getting ready for parties, Thomas has been creating rooms since her "Better Days" art bar installation at Galerie Volkhaus for the Basel Art Fair of 2013. In 2016 she created the work, "Do I Look Like a Lady", an immersive video installation of singers now owned by the Portland Art Museum in Oregon. She followed up "Better Days" with Better Nights, rooms installed at Miami's Bass Museum December 2019. In the ArtNewspaper, Thomas calls the work a "manifesto experience... celebrating a marginalized group of people".
The decor is 1970's and 1980's. It is dimly lit and the music is loud. There is faux wood paneling, carpet squares, tiled ceilings, mix matched furniture, angled mirrors, bright colors, macrame plant hangers and contrasting fabric patterns. I found myself lulled into having a seat in the darkened living room and watched a few animated video shorts, while in the next room a formal bartender lined up bottles and wiped the surfaces clean. As far as I could see the other visitors were just as entranced. Included in "A Moment's Pleasure" are paintings and videos by younger Pratt artist. Thomas, a Pratt alum, has a reputation of generosity. She mentors younger artists, particularly those of color, to help them get ahead in the art world. I am sure they produced some of the colorful and mesmerizing videos on display at the end of the room.

Some books on the endtables. New to me!

The Baltimore Museum recently announced that they would spend the totality of their 2020 allocated purchasing funds to buying art by women. The focus on decolonizing the institution's collection has spread to reflecting on how they welcome and cultivate relationships with patrons and collectors of color. Mickalene Thomas is a strong artist to support. She brings with her some serious humor, a community of fans and, with installations like these, her base is only building.
The exhibit will be at the Baltimore Art Museum until May 2021. "Better Nights" at the Bass in Miami will be up until September 27, 2020.
Links to Books here: Liliane by Shange and Sister Outsider by Lourde

Go see the Icons Salisbury, CT

On a grassy knoll, down the Twin Lakes road in Salisbury, sits a simple white clapboard chapel that promises an experience both dramatic and inspiring. A delightful sensorial surprise is had upon entering the All Saints of AmericanOrthodox Christian Church. Picture a space with angels and the heavens sparkling down and around you. Saints and martyrs look out, with eyes of resilience and wisdom, and catch the gaze of all who enter. Brilliant colored Icons and relics line walls and a large mural of Christ as Triumphant King encapsulates the spectator from overhead.

Icons are a distinct art form of the Orthodox Church. They serve as an art-based path to direct revelation, giving the viewer access to the spirits. The holy images may be on wood, canvas, mosaic or fresco. An iconographer creates an icon, “written with light”; to be a transparent window and, using an inverted perspective, the church installation manifests a great cloud of witnesses, reminding the assembled that they never worship alone. The interior warm white plaster walls reflect the abundant gold leaf, and bounce the light which combined with the pungent smell of burning wax candles and smoking incense, transports you to another place

The enthusiasm of past visitors has prodded the church into initiating free Saturday afternoon tours before Vespers. Rev. John J. Kreta and the abundance of available literature at the door, reassure the secular visitor of the gregarious hospitality of the church. My tour guide on this third Saturday of touring was Evelyn Kreta. She was bubbling with enthusiasm. She is choir director as well as an experienced icon painter. The first thing she explained to me is that icons are not painted, instead they are “written”, because they serve as a way to transcribe the scriptures just as any words might do.

The artist, Reverend Andrew Tregubov, is an award winning iconographer and historian. Commissioned by All Saints of American Orthodox Christian Church, Tregubov has written the majority of the icons in the style of Father GregoryKroug. Father Kroug was born in Russia in 1909, but left after the revolution to study at the Art Academy in Paris. When he became a monk he was given the name “St Gregory the Iconographer”. He died in 1969 in a small hermitage outside of Paris after he had written 550 different icons and wall paintings. Tregubov has received grants to study and archive the work of Kroug and other master iconographers.

The iconostasis, or icon stand, divides the nave and alter. Hung with icons of angels and saints and portrayals of events from scriptures, the structure has three doorways and is meant to serve as a bridge between heaven and earth. Written dark to light, the figures have gentle delicate features that seem lit from within. Garments are brushed with all shades of colors and the folds are highlighted with bright streaks of lines. Red outlines surround much of each figure and frame. The contrast of the frenetic lines to the simple expanses of background gives the figures a feeling of active presence. Brilliant details attract my eye and standing in the space I sense the feeling of collective inspiration.

Eleven relics of American saints with expressive eyes and symbolic gesturing hands are assembled in the prayer niche to the right of the alter. Each follows a prescribed pattern with minor variations between them. Small shards of bones are encased in circular cavities below each portrait. Layers of transparent brushwork enrich the robes. The large searching eyes are the most striking. Young and old, the American martyrs engage us in their story of faith. This is an encounter that must be seen!

Tours every Saturday from 3:30 to 4:30 before Vespers at 5.  

All Saints of American Orthodox Christian Church on 313 Twin Lakes road

THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE LAKEVILLE JOURNAL SUPPLEMENT, "DISCOVER SALISBURY", OCT 2019

www.allsaintsofamerica.us

Freelance writing

I have been slogging away at my own book idea, and have found a good way to practice my word crafting. By writing reviews of art shows or about local fun places to explore I both get out and get working. It is fun to have a deadline and try to distill an experience down to 500 words. In the process, which takes me HOURS, I have started reading more and collecting favorite lines and phrases. I hope to do lots more, but it isn't so easy. It is a lot of work.
This week two of my articles under the editorship of Alexander Wilburn were published in the "Discover Salisbury" (ct) special supplement to the Lakeville Journal!

Pendant portraits finished, for Class Act series

Jay L. Chaplain and writer

I finished a portrait of another colleague as part of my #classact series highlighting the environments of exceptional teachers that I have worked with. Jay no longer works at the school but he contacted me with an interest for the commission when he saw his wife Julie's painting that I did last fall. It was fun working the two images to relate to each other across the distance of two frames. Incidentally it seems this style of portraiture, (painting a couple in a pair of pendant frames),was invented by great grandad Lucas Cranach the elder back in the 1500's!

#followinghisfootsteps

#famillytree

#portraiture #arthistory

Pendant Portraits

Women with Swords...on the way to the Stake?

One line of imagery that seemed to interest Cranach was Death and the Maiden. Biblical stories such as Judith and Holofernes depicted women as heroic defenders of Germany as well as provided cautionary tails for men. Even though Cranach painted at least 40 of them, there was not a single Judith in any of the churches and cathedrals we visited.
Looking on the internet I quickly located 23 versions painted by Cranach and his assistants. They are spread around the world in collections from NYC to Vienna, Frankfurt, Washington DC, Glasgow, Ponce, Kassel, Stuttgart, San Fransisco, Dublin, Syracuse, Cologne, Budapest, Greenville, and (one) in Berlin!
The paintings are enigmatic... decorative and almost titillating. Cranach painted aristocratic women richly dressed calmly smirking as they run their fingers through the hair of their decapitated foe. The lopped off head is most always shown with the gore and hints of vertebrae turned towards the viewer. It is a creepy yet elegant scene and I wonder if it in some way excited the male gaze of the 16th Century courts.

I am torn between thinking of them as a perfect revenge trope for the #MeToo movement or an early advertisement of warning that precludes the next half century of rabid witch burning. The paintings, made by a man for other men, might have been a best seller sold under the guise of patriotic heroines to admire, yet I don't think the women benefited from the depictions. The models were real women of the court and little is known about their lives. For men, the image clearly presents women's sexual behavior as a real threat to society. These paintings are of the vulnerability of man and the passionate, violent,  sexual beings of women.  These images would have justified retaliation by society. Within 50 years there is widespread "witch craze" through out Europe of the 1600's and 1700's.

Entrepreneurial Success with a Printing Press

Here is a story about the first German Bible:
Martin Luther's translation in 1522 was not the very first German bible, but it was the first that was translated from Greek and Hebrew original texts rather than from the Latin Vulgate, and it was translated into the common street language of Luther's time. So any German who could read in 1522, could study the word of God in their own language. This was a tremendous event, for it not only codified a national language, it personalized the relationship of the Word for the people.

Luther's Bible

 The first edition of the New Testament (3000 copies)published in September, sold out almost immediately. The December Testament sold out as well. By Luther's death 100,000 complete copies are sold...in a way unifying the country in that everyone was now reading and discussing the same text.

 Lucas Cranach's 21 wood cut illustrations of the Apocalypse were patented to be the only ones used in the first and subsequent editions. The art and translations were not without controversy. Accused of being a heretic, Luther, who was in hiding, hoped to gain the support of the people. He authorized Cranach to publish a pamphlet of full page illustrations showing the contrast between Christ and the Pope as a contrast between good and evil. The illustrations are wildly clear to anyone regardless of their ability to read. The pope is demonized. The Catholic church immediately retaliated with pamphlets attacking Luther as a 7 headed devil. Each side starts fervently publishing opinions on the matter.

The bible and subsequent printed pamphlets were a phenomenal success for Cranach's office. Between 1500 and 1530 more than 10,000 pamphlets with estimated 1000 copies per edition are printed in Germany... that's almost 20 pamphlets per literate German. And Cranach's press is responsible for creating 15% of all German books in the country!

Cranach's Wittenberg workshop and press

Check out a copy of "Luther's Bible" on Amazon--- collectible for around $725, or used $203.

Wittenberg Printmaking History

The home of Lucas Cranach and his workshop was a dream destination for me.

Wittenberg Castle, home of the patron of Cranach

my sister on the streets of Wittenberg

Map of the center of Wittenberg

The Elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, hired Lucas Cranach to be his court painter in the early 1500's. Cranach made his entry into that employment by preparing the hunt fields (trapping and sealing exits for the animals) and then painting very quickly the trophies and catches for all involved. He was very quick and able to convey a sense of abundance in his souvenir paintings so that he soon was in high demand by all the participants. That caught notice of the Elector. Once hired as the official court painter,  ( a position he kept through out the life of Frederick the Wise and his two successors), Cranach's responsibilities increased tremendously. Not only was he in charge of the castle decor, documenting historic events, embellishing and highlighting the nobility of the Saxon family by placing them in scenes of biblical and mythological settings, but he designed the fall and spring uniforms for the staff, created the themes for entertainment, decorated all horses, wagons, and squares for the pageants and tournaments, designed the wedding beds, painted alter pieces, murals and portraits, worked as ambassador and politician and printed pamphlets for both the Roman church authorities and, most famously, Martin Luther and the reformation.

 

 

Cranach was awarded a family seal of a winged serpent to show all the world how amazingly fast a painter, Pictorus Cellerimus, Cranach was!

 

 

The Cranach seal on his press

me inside Cranach printing office

The workshop is now an art school, exhibition space with an apparent resident printmaker. It was great to be able to stand in the space and smell the ink!

New puppy commission

Can she get any cuter?
Her name is Milly, and Tilly is going to paint her!!

Still accepting commissions for small pet portraits. Email me your picture and I will send you a quote.  tillystudio@aol.com

Still Time for a Holiday Pet Portrait!

I started 2018,"The year of the Dog", painting peoples pets. It is a lot of fun and I am always game to do more. I am pretty fast and charge about $2 per square inch- working small. Let me know what you want and send me a couple pictures to work from.
Here is one just finished. Between the time the commission was proposed and the time I delivered, the big black cat had passed away and a new kitten had arrived in his place. I thought this caught them both.

see the brush for scale

My 2018 Parking Meter

back side (facing the street)

front, and right side

front and left side

Located at the corner of N 29th Street and N. Miami Avenue, I used acrylic paint in brushes and in paint pens to render a dreamy image of our highways 826/836 intersection just west of the city by the airport.
Here below, in the photo, is where I was at 3pm, about 8 hours after arriving on the scene. Melting, I almost drank the pink paint water in my distraction!

A good day's painting, if I can say so myself! Thank you to the MPA community , Parkyourartwynwood.com and BeeFree Media for this opportunity. I love being an artist and sharing my vision of the best of this city. #miamiartist  #parkyourartwynwood #publicartcommission

Wynwood mural painters 2018

Right before Miami Art week and Basel (December 4-9) comes to town, the streets of Miami's arts district get a whole new coat of paint. I was proud to be a part of all that last Saturday. Across the North Miami Avenue from me was Denise Charles. She was manifesting the green theme. Down the block was Gabriela Mino. She has a business making cute bags for kids.

Other artists at work last Saturday for the Parkyourartwynwood2018 included SiegelINK, Erick Morell, Elena Montijo and Marlet Lopez.

Meanwhile by noon, when the sunlight was skipping across the street towards me, I was only this far!
See the cute little cooler Miami Parking Authority gave us? It was filled with ice cold water bottles and snacks. A life saver!

The Blank Canvas

Some towns have artists paint fiberglass cows, some paint peacocks or guitars. Miami has artists paint the parking meters. We are very much attached to our cars here! (There's very little in public transportation)
So Saturday morning, before the light even cracked the pavement, I found myself staring down the slick primed surfaces of this Miami parking Authority machine. My vine charcoal was useless in sketching out my designs... I took my inspiration from one of the newly completed, and one of my favorite, swooping highways near the airport, the intersections of 836 and 826.

Once I had it fairly well planned on my brown paper, I taped it up to check the scale. The challenging trick was getting the highways to match up after wrapping 360 degrees! You would have thought I had it all planned ahead of time, but Time ran away and I only got the notification of the privilege 7 days earlier.

Seventy two artists submitted designs for the contest. Seven were chosen. Beefree Media was running the show. I was thrilled to be a part of the live painting project once again. My whole life I have struggled with shyness, but give me a brush and some paint, and I can put on a show! It's what I love to do. And I have become pretty darn fast- one of the quickest draws in the market, maybe. (haha) I thought I'd be done by noon.

Public art project in Miami Wynwoo

Getting ready to paint on the streets of the city. #parkyourartwynwood #miamiparking.com

I'm a Park Your Art Wynwood Winner!!!

So happy to be chosen to paint another (did it last year) Miami Parking Authority parking meter station in Wynwood, Miami's mural covered district, this weekend. Park your art is in it's 4th annual family canvas event. They have art supplies and projects for all ages to participate in a day of creativity and color.
Inspired by the intersection of highways 836 and 826 near the airport, I will be out at the curb with my paints pulling off a four sided mural of Miami highways at night. Wish me luck!

News of Piccowso in Southhampton

Piccowso just made his annual move to the summer pasture! He's looking fine! ❤️❤️❤️

That makes FIVE murals at the Yoga Studio

Peter, theyogawarrior.org, has commissioned me for 5 murals since 2013.
I started outside on the side of the house with a painting of him in warrior pose at the sea.

Then I painted the OM symbol inside, on the large studio-facing wall.

I remember chanting Om while I did it! It was a fun vibration to paint with.
Then, I collaborated with Michael for the next two murals... the body chakras, and a large Buddha head.

The giant Buddha head was done in oil, applied and wiped off.

And today... a Lotus on the backboard! It is mostly spray paint with a little brush work.