Art By Burgarella: September 2016

Just finished "Rusty," tonight. Client sent me several photos of him and I could tell he is a wonderful family dog. So that helps build my inspiration to paint him, especially since I haven't even met him in person. I'm happy with the way it came out, although as of a couple of hours ago he still looked pretty rough.

When uploading Rusty from my computer, I noticed there were several recent paintings that I hadn't posted, and below is one of my mother, from a black-and-white photo that was taken before I was born. Wasn't she beautiful with all that red hair? Mom, Dad, and all 5 of us kids all had red hair. What a sight when we were all together. Unfortunately we never even got a photo of us all together, and sadly there's only two of us left. I have hopes to have the time to do individual portraits of everyone at this same age of life. How interesting that would be.

Painting deceased relatives is almost impossible for me as it is too emotional. So I thought that since I was to paint a portrait of my mom from a photo taken before I was born, and her looking nothing like I remembered her, that I would not get emotional. Well, that was wrong. Curiously, I felt a certain sadness to never have known this young beautiful woman, who was probably fun to be with, and interesting to talk to in her youth. Millie, as an older woman, was a good conversationalist, she was funny, and she was a really good and decent person--who did not boast about it. At her wake, friends and strangers told of her good deeds and her kindness, and brought us stories of her that I treasure. This painting, and about 60 other portrait paintings are currently on display at the Indian River County Courthouse in Vero Beach, coming down on October 4th, 2016.UPDATE: Date the show comes down has been changed to October 13th!

Of note: Hands ... I hate to paint them. Everyone I know hates to paint them. These took me forever, and I repainted, reshaped, recolored, etc. and was so glad when they were done. Very proud I am of these lovely hands which rocked me to sleep and wiped the tears from my eyes. I just had to get them right. Aren't they lovely and interesting?

This mural, painted for a client in Micco, is 15' x 4-1/2' and is a fabulous depiction of the flora and fauna that is found along the St. Sebastian River. Just happens that right around the day I was to paint these beautiful spoonbills I saw a small flock of them at a pond near my home and had my camera ready when they flew away, so got some great shots to use in the mural. To see more of this mural visit my mural progress blog at www.stsebastianriverpainting.blogspot.com

This simple 11"x14" painting was a demo at the Sebastian River Art Club. Several of my students painted it too, and they all came out great! I have more work to do on it. I happened to see a wonderful background on another painting in a magazine that has inspired me to make a similar background of nice grasses.

Another unfinished painting, which I did quickly to see if I could demo it. This was much easier than I thought, and I had always admired other artist's rendition of zebras whenever I came across them at fairs or galleries. So I did a much bigger one as my demo the next day, but that one is not as far along, but it's so beautiful that I have already picked out a frame for it.

"Flower Vase by a Window" Watercolor by Judy Burgarella

This lovely little watercolor was created in a class that I took from Bob Virelli in Hobby Lobby in Palm Bay, Florida. He's a wonderful and entertaining teacher and has a nice healthy following. However, we all painted the same thing, and also since it is in a classroom I cannot do anything with it, but either give it away or donate it. It is not my copyright either. But it was fun to paint and these exercises keep me from getting rusty with watercolor.

David Leffel is an artist I have admired and emulated for years. A teacher at the Art Students League in New York for years, he now resides in New Mexico where he continues doing what he did in New York. Another of my dreams is to paint all the artists that I admire on a palette like this. These are really fun to do, as you have the paint right there and only have to drag it over to paint the subject. This painting can also be seen at the Indian River Courthouse along with about 60 others through October 4th, 2016.

"Robin" Oil on Stretched Canvas (c)by Judy Burgarella

"Robin" is my daughter, who moved near us here in Florida in 2013 with her husband and 1-year-old daughter, Salem, whom I am crazy about. This painting is not finished and I don't know when in the heck I'll ever get to it, but I must sometime in this life. Robin posed for pictures which I painted from, but I only needed to get it looking "OK," not great, as it would only be seen from afar. She was supposed to sit for me while I painted her portrait in front of an audience at the Vero Beach Musem of Art, for only about 1-1/2 hours worth. Unfortunately the night of the event Salem was running a high fever and she could not come. I had planned to paint rough in the portrait which would surely be at a very ugly stage, and then at the end I would unveil the "finished" portrait so that they could see how beautiful it would eventually become. Best laid plans as they say. So I asked my buddy Rita Ziegler to sit instead and it was still good. She's sitting in my studio now in such an ugly stage though, I'd better pretty her up some day for Rita so she won't be mad.

This painting can also be seen at the Indian River Courthouse along with about 60 others through October 4th, 2016.

This little beauty was painted at the Vero Beach Yacht Club, and was part of a show that night for their members. The sales have always been great, but this time nobody was buying. Bummer. but at least I had a great day painting outdoors with friends. What could be better? ... I know what could be better .... to sell the darned thing!!

This, and many other of my paintings, are being used to stage houses for Robin, who sells real estate for the Dale Sorensen Company in Vero Beach. It really helps to beautify residences, especially if the owner does not have a flair for decorating. We spiff the homes up with my art, curtains, silk flowers and plants, baskets, bedspreads, rugs, pottery, etc. The owners can't believe the transformation. And, although they don't get much viewing, I am happy that my paintings are out of the house and have a purpose, even if it is only temporary.

Another little sailboat painting done the same day, so I won't repeat myself.

This quick little painting was a demo at the Sebastian River Art Club. Quick and easy, with big brushes. Typical tropical painting that everybody likes.

I painted this one twice, a little different the second time, but they are both sold. It's a lovely painting with an interesting format, the size of which will fit nicely on a tall, narrow wall. It looked lovely in my house for a short while before it sold. I must paint another one for myself, as I am redecorating my bedroom to be "beachy."

This lovely little painting was a palette knife demo at the Sebastian River Art Club. Most of my students wanted to try it and some found it a bit difficult handling a palette knife. The knife needs to be just the right size for the canvas, and it can be tricky--but fast!

"Sculpture at the Vero Beach Museum of Art"

As a member of the Faculty at the Vero Beach Museum of Art (I teach acrylic portraiture), I was asked to paint this picture, along with other faculty members, in a style all my own. So here is the boring painting, looking just like the photo. I just couldn't come up with anything different. Others did, and theirs were more interesting I thought. They displayed all their teachers' work on a big wall for all to see. So now I'm stuck with it. Anybody want it?

Well, the time has flown and I've blown the evening posting this blog. I hope someone sees it. But blogging is cathartic, and I myself like to read some of the old stuff I've posted, especially if the painting is already gone. So it's almost midnight and time to call it a day, and a nice day it always is when I've finished a painting. An artist's life is the best. Now what shall I do next???

Hope you enjoy checking out my blog, and maybe get inspired to paint!

Judy Burgarella
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Art By Burgarella

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Sunday, September 18, 2016

"Rusty"

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