Mailbox

Mailbox is inspired by a photo I saw at MOMA in NY by Helen Levitt. She was an American photographer, particularly noted for street photography around New York City, and has been called "the most celebrated and least known photographer of her time." Wikipedia

My Woods

This is out the front door looking southeast. I've always been interested in trees and this extended shelter at home has me looking more in earnest at my lovely forest all around me.

Wacky Goats Northcoast Open Studios

This collection of whacky goat portraits will be on display this weekend at Northcoast Open Studios June 9,10 (info below). Sometimes I just get a wild hair in my brush and want to make silly paintings. When I got into this series I had been painting a bunch of portraits and had two in a row with bad proportions to the point where I scraped off two day’s work and abandoned the paintings. Still in the mood for painting portraits I landed on goats. No goat is going to come bleating and naaaging you for getting their eyeball placed an inch away from its rightful position. There just gonna eye you up and down, in hopes that you might look away long enough to get a bite of your shirt. Anyway, I started having so much fun, that one portrait begat another until I had myself a herd of whacky goat paintings. I’m not proud, it was just something that needed exorcising. 

This piece along with 300 paintings (many older pieces marked down) as well as cards and prints will be on display for Northcoast Open Studios. Over a hundred other artists will also be showing their work. Find catalogs around town or follow the link below for the online directory. Hope to see you there!

http://humboldt.northcoastopenstudios.com

Painting at Morris Graves then/now Andrew Daniel

Northcoast Open Studios is June 1,2,3,9,10 link below. This piece was also painted at the Representational Art Leagues retreat. It was a really windy day, so I tried to let the kinetic energy in the air influence my brushwork. It was a bit of a chaotic dance that had and goal of depicting the scene! I tried this same angle 3 years earlier at a painting workshop with Jim McVicker, where he helped me out a bunch. Every time he passed by, I would hand him my brush to see how he would solve that stage of the painting. It was super helpful! Wanted to see how much of that information got internalized over time, and wanted to see what it would look like with just me behind the brush. I’ll post a pic of our collaborated piece in the comments. 

Northcoast Open Studios guide is right here:

http://humboldt.northcoastopenstudios.com

Dark Reflected Forest by Andrew Daniel

Northcoast Open Studios is coming up June 1,2,3,9 & 10. This piece was painted during the Representational Art League’s annual retreat out at the Morris Graves property. I worked fast and loose and atmospheric. Was surprised at how much can be said painting in this manner.

Find the directory to Open Studios here:

http://humboldt.northcoastopenstudios.com/

#ncos2018

"Mending the Curtain," by Alicia Tredway

Using my dining area and myself as model I painted this over many sessions. I did have to photograph (set camera up on tripod with timer) to get the position of my hands.  They, of course, are backward in the mirror which was positioned on a chair in front of table. Also had to wait for those  days when the light spills into the room in that special way.  18 x 24 oil

“Wetland Greens” by Andrew Daniel

After months of playing with process and abstracting nature, it felt like it was time to revisit and finish up some landscapes that I had left unresolved. I really enjoyed working in this mode again. Perhaps it fits my way of thinking better. I like making art that is receptive and observant of nature. By trying to abstract nature, I felt like I lost my relationship to it. This isn’t the first time I’ve rode this merry-go-round and ended up right back where I started, but each time is really instructive and helpful.

“Wetland Greens” 

12” x 24”

original hand painted in oil on canvas by Andrew Daniel

Available in my Etsy Shop: artofandrewdaniel 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/559913846/wetland-greenshttps://www.etsy.com/listing/559913846/wetland-greens

Hot Pink Poppies by Andrew Daniel

I think I might have burnt a hole in my cell phone camera’s logic board trying to figure out an exposure setting for these fluorescent poppies! When I’m working with acrylics, I often get frustrated with how clumsy the medium feels compared to oils. But this time I thought I’d embrace the awkwardness and build an aesthetic around it. It was a lot of fun and it taught me about how to keep the eyes moving with color contrasts and gesture. My goal in this piece was to combine painting from observation with imagination in a more robust way. 

“Hot Pink Poppies On Teal” 

14” x 10”

hand painted original painting in acrylic

On rag paper with mat

Available in my online store:

 https://www.etsy.com/listing/568696345/hot-pink-poppies-on-teal-originalhttps://www.etsy.com/listing/568696345/hot-pink-poppies-on-teal-original

Marsh Wren and Leaves by Andrew Daniel

For a long time, I have wanted to combine the whimsy of my earlier geometric style with painting from observation. This piece feels like an intriguing window into that world of possibilities. This was painted on a piece of pine left over from a cabinet I recently built. It was fun playing with the tall rectangular format. 

Marsh Wren and Leaves 

original hand painted in acrylic on wood

14” x 5.5”

Available through my online Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/554567744/marsh-wren-and-leaves-original-paintinghttps://www.etsy.com/listing/554567744/marsh-wren-and-leaves-original-painting

Leaves and Branches on Blue by Andrew Daniel

For this piece I was responding to a photograph I took from a bush, on one of my daily walks. Each source seems to bring out different approaches to the paint. This source compelled me to use a rougher, more organic brushstroke than previous paintings, it was also interesting to work from a source that didn’t have a strong focal point. I eventually played up the leaf shapes with stripes to create something strong for the branches to dialog with.

Willow Branches - 10” x 14” hand painted original with Acrylic paint on rag paper 

Comes with mat board

Available on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/553767662/leaves-and-branches-on-blue-originalhttps://www.etsy.com/listing/553767662/leaves-and-branches-on-blue-original

St. John’s Wort by Andrew Daniel

In this piece I am revisiting an old theme, but with a acrylic paints instead of oils. I have been trying to find a way to abstract nature that holds my interest. In this one, I started out very far afield, but over time decided I was more interested in the photo reference than in what I was inventing. So I gradually brought it around to something that was very much informed by my photo but still interesting in its paint quality.

hand painted unique and original

10" x 16" acrylic on rag paper

Available in my Etsy Shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/565186411/yellow-flowers-original-painting-by

St. John’s Wort #2 by Andrew Daniel

In my previous painting of this St John's Wort bush, I had used a lot of the painters logic that I used to use as an abstract painter, but in the end had a painting that looked very similar to my source, so I thought that maybe I should try another that didn't go through so many stages along the way. This piece feels more clear and direct, but perhaps the drama has been reduced as well. Sometimes it is good to look at an idea from several angles, trying to work out the best approach.

hand painted unique and original

10" x 16" acrylic on rag paper

Available through my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/552164526/st-johns-wort-bush-original-painting-by

Flowers and Branches #1 by Andrew Daniel

I have been exploring different ways of abstracting nature lately. Trying to find my happy place. Today I have made some real inroads! It started with a foreboding feeling that my artistic crisis was not over, but instead really setting in. I wanted to paint but didn't really have any ideas that pulled me. I got out a neon red painting that had been responding to a photo of a St. John's Wart bush and started covering up the red and just playing with the natural rectangular shapes coming off my flat brush but still looking at the bush photo for ideas. This painting emerged and it felt really great doing it. It had been a long time since I had painted non-objectively/abstractly. It was like putting on an old favorite hoody that has been hanging out in the back of the closet unnoticed!

"Flowers and Branches" 14" x 10" hand painted original with Acrylic paint on rag paper 

Comes with mat board

Available in my Etsy Shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/566471413/flowers-and-branches-1-original-painting

Flowers and Branches #2 by Andrew Daniel

In this piece, I wanted to reduce the subject down to it's most elemental shapes, circles and rectangles. This was an evolution from the last painting, in which I was just using the shape of the brushstroke.

Flowers and Branches #2 - 14" x 10" hand painted original with Acrylic paint on rag paper 

Comes with mat board

Available in my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/552991878/flowers-and-branches-2-original-painting

Willow Branches by Andrew Daniel

In this piece I was playing with more organic shapes and layering. I wanted to have the piece still refer to the source, telling the story of the shapes that fascinate me in willow branches. I also wanted to experiment with a value transition from dark to light. The piece really came together in the end, when I introduced metallic gold, silver and bronze paints.

Willow Branches - 14" x 10" hand painted original with Acrylic paint on rag paper 

Comes with mat board

Available from my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/553571330/willow-branches-original-painting-byhttps://www.etsy.com/listing/553571330/willow-branches-original-painting-by

Tiger with Blue Fluttery by Rachel

Daily Paintworks fundraiser auction. 100% donation Click to bid
Oil on 12x16" panel
Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria have left behind terrible destruction and many people in need. This challenge is a fundraising auction to raise money to help our friends, family, and neighbors in the effected areas.

"Grape Vines," by Alicia Tredway

11x14 oil on canvas.  Started this painting last spring and finished with the aid of photos in the studio.

Zebe by Rachel K Schlueter

Oil on 8x10" canvas.
Zebe is my friend Jill's kitty. She lived to be 18. Painting cats who've passed on is always delicate work. I wanted to keep this nice and loose-easier said than done.
Thanks for visiting.

GlamourPuss by Rachel

Oil on 5x7" canvas
Painting kitty faces is more challenging than one might think. You have to make sense of the furry features and somehow express in painting a wild cunning nature. The cat always elusive, my faithful muse. Click to Bid

Holding the Floor by Rachel K Schlueter

Oil on 10x10"panel.
Painted on black surface is always fun, don't know why I don't do it more often. Stencils provide texture and pattern for curtain behind kitty. It all pretty simple.

"Brenda's Day," by Alicia Tredway

oil on linen panel 11 x 14....I miss life drawing.