Artist's Statement: "Dancing with Your Baby" has been accepted into the 2021 Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition. This will be the first time showing this piece since it came off my easel. The show runs daily August 26 - September 6, 9am-9pm at the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Center. Oil on Belgian Linen 30 x 40 in Art as an Oasis™ Art as an Oasis is a series of occasional postings from the art of Carrie Kleinberger providing a temporary respite from both mundane and

Artist's Statement: Purple – for some time in Ancient Rome, reserved to the Emperor. Purple – given an entirely different meaning by Jimmi Hendrix in “Purple Haze” and yet another by Prince in “Purple Rain.” In my painting, the greenery has the greater height, but the purple crocuses draw the eye. They are the focus. Oil on Canvas 36 x 24 in If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change. ​ often misattributed to Buddha Jack Kornfield Budd

Artist's Statement: Penzance is a port town on the southern side of the English county of Cornwall, about three miles north of the town of Mousehole. Penzance was once known for its pirates, and many parts of Cornwall have a hardscrabble kind of beauty. This painting reflects another side of Cornwall – the beauty of its flowers. Oil on Canvas 30 x 24 in We've got to learn how to not look at creed or color. Look at how beautiful a bouquet of roses looks like - different color

Artist's Statement: Passover begins in two days, on the evening of March 27, 2021. The holiday marks the beginning of a people's travel that lasted 40 years. Of the many messages entwined in the Exodus story, one teaches of our human obligation to take care of "the other" – the stranger, the different. The Jewish people live because the baby Moses survived. The baby survived because of an Egyptian princess – Batyah – rescued, protected him and raised him – all in defiance of

Artist's Statement: While looking for art supplies during a visit to Beijing, I came across a number of beautiful boxes intended merely to hold a customer's purchase. Each box itself seemed to me a work of art. This painting depicts several of the boxes, together with a set of wood-handled paint brushes (and a silk scarf I bought on the same trip). Oil on Canvas 19 x 25 in If she knew how beautiful love is, she would already put it in a box, seal, and preserve it. So she coul

Artist's Statement: One small, curious cat sitting inside a brown cabinet. A seemingly endless number of folded carpets in a shop in Turkey. I keep waiting for the cat to move. Oil on Canvas 25.5 x 33.5 in The smallest feline is a masterpiece. Leonardo da Vinci ​ ​ The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. Albert Einstein Living Philosophies ​ I started my own little carpet and upholstery cleaning business. I'

Artist's Statement: Since I first started working as an artist (initially in charcoal only), I have been fascinated with the interplay among glass, liquids, lights and shadows. In this painting, the key contrasts for me are among the dark beer, the light "head," the slightly frosted sides of the mug and the mug's translucent base. I acknowledge that reasonable people may disagree as to whether dark beer is a natural high. Oil on Wood Panel 20 x 16 in In wine there is wisdom,

Artist's Statement: In a time of minimalist breakfasts and the rushing about they connote, here is a blast from the past, a gift to the stomach, and a sign pointing away from the frenetic - a full English breakfast, served in a restaurant/hotel in a small town in Cornwall. Oil on Linen 16 x 20 in Go, eat your bread joyfully and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already accepted your deeds. Ecclesiastes 9:7 "When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at

Artist's Statement: At the other end of the day from the breakfast in Tuesday's painting, and across an ocean and a gulf from Cornwall - a dinner of fine oysters served late at night in Mexico City. And an artistic contrast: between the soft waterlines of the oysters and the tough hardness of the shells. Oil on Wood Panel 5 x 5 in - food, glorious food - Oliver musical based loosely on Dickens' Oliver Twist Words to live by and also the number one reason to order oysters righ

Artist's Statement: Cheesecake is my favorite dessert, edging out even pumpkin or pecan pie. Charry topping is my favorite topping for cheesecake - not only for the taste but also for the stark contrast in colors. Oil on Panel 12 x 9 in The only way cheese is dessert is when it is followed by the word cake. Julia Child Because you don't live near a bakery doesn't mean you have to go without cheesecake. Hedy Lamarr Art as an Oasis™ Art as an Oasis is a series of occasional pos

Artist's Statement: This painting, and the one posted last Friday, show the view from a kitchen (more precisely - standing at the kitchen sink). Placing this painting next to the first one works to make more apparent the cold of deep winter. The contrast in the lighting between the first and second paintings works to make the winter light seem unwelcoming; nature shooing us out of our yards and into our shelters. Oil on Wood Panel 17.75 x 24 in Spring passes and one remembers

Artist's Statement: This painting, and the one to be posted next, show the view from a kitchen (more precisely - standing at the kitchen sink) first in early, then in deep winter. In both paintings, I worked for contrast - the ground cover, the exposed branches, the light particular to the onset of sustained cold. Oil on Wood Panel 7.75 x 24 in Not forever does the bulbul* sing In balmy shades of bowers, Nor forever lasts the spring Nor ever blossom the flowers. Not forever r

Artist's Statement: Fall has left very few leaves in these trees; despite the still-green moss, the emptiness connotes loneliness. At the same time, the emptiness allows a view upwards, towards the heavens, which almost calls to the viewer to climb. Oil on Linen 30 x 24 in If lightning is the anger of the gods, then the gods are concerned mostly about trees. Lao Tzu You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep pea

Artist's Statement: This painting is the one the bride and groom actually selected to be imprinted on their chuppah. The trees are in the mountains of Colorado, where the wedding took place in the month of October. I particularly like the contrast of the white bark of the birches and the green, gold, and orange of autumn. Oil on Canvas 19.5 x 19 in I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. L.M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables Autumn is a second spring when every

Artist's Statement: This painting was one of two offered to a Jewish bride for her fall wedding, to be printed on the chuppah – the ceremonial cloth and the four poles which hold it up and envelop the bridal party during the ceremony. Amidst woods turned into autumn gold, the road suggests the thought for such an occasion – the journey together begins. Oil on Canvas 24 x 24 in Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; but only so an hou

Artist's Statement: This series of paintings of the odd, the curious, and the strange, shows items I came across in two curiosity shops in an historic district in Tampa, Florida. I saw this puppet set far away on a back wall in a curiosity shop. He looked like he had been used as a child's toy but long since discarded. To me, in the moment, he seemed alone and lonely with no other toys or other company on the shelf near him. I painted this puppet as an expression of some of m

Artist's Statement: This series of paintings of the odd, the curious, and the strange, shows items I came across in two curiosity shops in an historic district in Tampa, Florida. A hat with a matching feather atop a hat stand which also displays an intricate necklace and an elaborate mask. The hat and its plume resonate in color with the adjacent velvet bow. In contrast with earlier postings, in this painting the stand performs its usual, mere supporting function. It is the e

Artist's Statement: This posting is the third of three charcoals showing individual triplets, at the age of four, at moments of preternatural solemnity. This charcoal shows the other of the two boys of the triplets, but by happenstance shows only the left side of his face. The full portrait is of a cousin. Both children appear solemn; the cousin’s gaze is less guarded. Charcoal Drawing 11.5 x 8.5 in When I approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments; tenderness for w

Artist's Statement: Coelho’s statement fits the eyes of my son, who was the model for both of these portraits. As for the passage from Hugo, B’H’ my son is not poor, but those who know him would agree that the stars do pass through his soul. Mr. Cool Oil on Panel 18 x 24 in His Eyes Oil on Panel 14.25 x 17.5 Your eyes show the strength of your soul. Paulo Coelho The Alchemist What Is Love? I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his c

Artist's Statement: To think of the story of Moses as focused solely on men (e.g. Moses, his brother Aaron) is to miss the remarkable roles played by women and even girls. This painting focuses on Miriam, sister to Moses. After Pharaoh’s decree for the killing of all Jewish boy babies, Miriam’s father (the leader of the Jews) and his wife divorced and opted for sexual abstinence to avoid the horror. Miriam – six years old – admonished her parents, “Your decree is worse than