These are my first two large size canvas paintings and both sold!  The first is a 2' x 4' piece.  I used a mop brush and a wet paper towel to produce a stained-glass type effect.   The second is a piece called "Watch Your Fingers".  It is 2.5' x 4'.  This piece is about the music of my childhood.  I took piano lessons for 4 years in Argentina before returning to the States and the teacher would always remind me to "watch my fingers".  Within the frames is actual sheet music I practiced, with her handwriting in Spanish saying "Cuidado con los dedos!"-- "Careful/Watch your fingers".

I ended last night's Forest Hill Art Walk by attending Chuck Scalin's opening at Nest.  The Forest Hill artwalk was fun and I had the heart photo (shown in my last blog) at Epoch.  My visit at Nest was short but fun.  The place was packed!  There was a great food spread in the gallery where Chuck's work was hanging.  His prints were colorful and the photos of the architectural details were haunting and large.  I tried to make my way through the cozy space which is Nest, only to come face-to-face with the artist, Chuck Scalin!  

"Hi!" he says, "I'm Chuck Scalin, the artist in the other room."  " Yes", I say, "Jamie Weinstein, I have my art in the other room.  I make the skulls and other pieces.  I took some pictures of your pieces, I hope that's okay".  "Of course, it is!  Then you must know my son" he says,  "thanks for coming, it was great meeting you".  Awesome short interaction.  I grabbed a glass of champagne, ate a brownie and left.  I actually got locked out after stepping out of the crowded gallery to eat my brownie!  Then I went and hung out with my husband since the baby was already asleep.  The perfect short little evening!

Mueller's work emphasized the relationship between humans and nature.    To the left, we're looking at "Nude in Landscape" from 1915 done in tempera on canvas.  This is one of the pieces that always captures my attention when I visit the VMFA.  The softness of the nude body against the contrast of the rougher paint strokes really grasps my attention.  I am not incredibly fond of the color combination he chose but it works.  The piece is peaceful to look at while maintaining the integrity of the brushstrokes.  I replicated the piece in marker to get a feel for the shapes he used.  Once I viewed my drawing, I noticed I made the woman smaller in my picture.  I think the original is beautiful and wonder if that is a simple matter of replicating the picture incorrectly or if somehow the media has brainwashed me and I made her skinnier because of that!  I don't know!  I'm glad I noticed it though!  No brainwashing for me!  People are beautiful in all shapes and sizes.

Doing a project everyday has me scrambling for ideas!  My latest idea for inspiration though is to copy some of the "masters" paintings.  First I want to imitate their actual piece and for a second project, I want to create my own ideas and executing the project/painting in their style.  This is my first of this series based on Paul Klee's 1937 piece, "Clever Child" done in charcoal and watercolor on chalk paste-primed ground on paper on cardboard.  Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Klee to read a little more about Klee.