Artist's Statement: Sometimes the Oil Painting Can Be a Prototype If you have been following the past several postings, you will remember that I use charcoal drawings as prototypes, to help me better understand the images I want to depict in oil. On occasion, however, I will do an oil painting as a prototype – as in this week’s posting. Here’s the backstory. Shortly after I had finished the oil painting of the Egyptian Princess (posted last week), the model on whom I had rel

Artist's Statement: In previous posts discussing the way I use charcoal sketches as prototypes, I have mentioned that sometimes a prototype teaches me that I want to make changes when I turn to oil on canvas. The charcoal for this painting did not do that. Instead, the charcoal helped me bring out in oil the solitariness and reserve that characterized and befitted her as a princess and daughter of the Pharaoh. Oil On Canvas 28 in x 22 in But there are other words for priva

Artist's Statement: In last week's post I described my experience drawing in charcoal and explained how currently I use charcoal almost exclusively to do "studies" in preparation for a painting in oil. As an example, I posted the charcoal study I did for "Fearsome and Fearless." Circumstances forced me to do the study in just two hours. I worked intensely, even furiously to depict the emotions I was imagining while dealing with the emotions of losing my terrific model. In c

Artist's Statement: The yellow rose and its companion bud are from life, and I see their beauty and intense color as the painting's focal point. The background is from my imagination, but many viewers think it representational. Of course, what one viewer "sees" as the reality being represented often differs substantially from the reality "seen" by another. ​ Oil on Canvas 16 x 16 in You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension

Artist's Statement: I remember first hearing the word “poppies” as part of a sleeping spell cast by the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz “Poppies … poppies -- poppies will put them to sleep.” The poppies in this painting have a much happier frame of reference. I found them growing among the weeds in a field in Israel. The field, which had once defensive structures for the military, was soon to become a vineyard. The poppy has a color so vibrant as to stand out wherever the

Artist's Statement: My mother’s favorite flower was a yellow rose. Red is by far my favorite, although I’ve never met a rose I didn’t like. For example, I think the roses depicted above are beautiful, though they are neither red nor yellow nor even monochrome. The interplay of pink and white in the petals gives the impression of a blush – hence the name. The long stems provide color contrast – color that is darker, less variegated, and less pronounced. Oil on Belgian Linen

Artist's Statement: The Stargazer lily is a hybrid, created so that the petals look to the sky rather than curve downward. Various colors exist, some quite exuberant. These Stargazers are primarily white, which allows the front-facing flower to provide the perfect backdrop for an intricate and elegant pattern in purple. Oil on Canvas 40 x 30 in The modest Rose puts forth a thorn, The humble sheep a threat'ning horn: While the Lily white shall in love delight, Nor a thorn nor

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 I traveled to the south of England, visiting a few castles and manors scattered about. In one manor in Cornwall I walked into an elegantly decorated and furnished dining room. On the highly polished table stood a tall vase of orange, red and yellow tulips. I loved the light and shadow play from the window, reflected onto the table. This was a lovely quiet moment that I tried to capture in oil. Oil on Belgian Linen 23.5 x 22.5 in A tulip doesn’t strive to im

Artist's Statement: "On Golden Pond", released in 1981, depicted the relationship between a loving aging wife and her loving, slightly more aging husband, and the very stormy interaction between the husband and the couple's daughter. Although the movie's "Golden Pond" was imaginary, the movie filmed on location on Squam Lake in New Hampshire. Some years ago, I attended a wedding on Church Island in the midst of Squam Lake. In the midst of the foliage surrounding the non-denom

Artist's Statement: I composed this still life from items purchased in the shuk (open-aired market) in Jerusalem. The influence of Sephardic Judaism and culture is strong in these items. Many similar influences appear in Arab cultures; "Sephardic" refers to Jews who migrated to then welcoming Arab countries when the Romans finally crushed a Jewish rebellion and expelled all Jews from Judea. Oil on Canvas 24 x 19 in My novels are set in a global space and pace. However, I hav

Artist's Statement: The inspiration for this painting is my daughter's work in Panama. She went there alone to take a job at the Smithsonian for one year. To deal with her loneliness from friends and family back in the US, she went to a small spa which had a mud bath. There, in the mud bath, although all the people were strangers to each other, they began to relate, talk, laugh, and joke with one another. These people, of very different shapes, sizes, ethnic backgrounds, and

Artist's Statement: This painting combines objects that originated 1500 miles apart. The two lions come from Thailand, a gift from my daughter. The globes come from China, a gift from a very kind law student in Beijing who showed me around her campus while my husband presented a paper. The lions, which are made of stone, have the center location, while the globes have the brighter colors. Lions sometimes inhabit the darkness. Oil on Canvas 16 x 16 in I think you travel to sea

Artist's Statement: In actuality, this lion is fewer than eight inches tall – it decorates one end of a wooden mantelpiece in a restaurant located in a very old house in Annapolis, Maryland. But in my imagination, and I hope in this painting, the lion is solitary, powerful, and even frightening. Oil on Canvas 16.5 x 13.25 in I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself there. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ​ ​ Until the lion tells his side of the story, the

Artist's Statement: This painting depicts the large, ornate antechamber of a house of worship, and, like the painting posted last week, is set in Turkey. Globes of light, manifold in an ascending spiral, draw the eye upward, along with one's thoughts and perhaps also the spirit.​ Oil on Canvas 38.5 x 28 in Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made mor

Artist's Statement: Like Tuesday's posting, this painting recalls a meal in a Jerusalem cafe'. I like the contrast of colors - the green and the variegated yellow. Also, note the border of olive oil rimming the hummus. A good sign of good hummus. Oil on Wood Panel 7.5 x 7.5 in Was pita invited to pair with hummus, or hummus with pita? The answer is lost in the mists of time, like the venerable chicken-egg conundrum. (unattributed) The emotive power of hummus all over the Midd

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: When I was growing up, anyone who knew anything about fine wine understood that to speak of fine wine was to speak of French wine. Today, there are vineyards around the world that produce fine wines: from California to Italy to Israel to Australia. The wine in the painting - Pullus - comes from Ptujska Klet, the oldest winery in Slovenia. The winery's cellars date back to 1239. Oil on Wood Panel 16 x 12 in If God forbade drinking, would He have made wine s

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