Two Solo Shows! Oy Vey!!

Having trouble with my blogs, and somehow lost over a year's worth!  ...somewhere out there in cyberspace.  Oh well, carrying on ...


A COUPLE OF JUST-FINISHED PIECES

For my portrait show, "Portraits of the World ... And Beyond" (postcard and further info follows) I have a couple of new ones:

"Madonna" oil on canvas, with 24K gold leaf halo

This painting was done with only 4 colors, and is painted over another portrait I did as a demo of a wipe-out face.  The wipe-out base gave it the depth and mystery I was looking for.  Gold leafing went surprisingly well, as it is very difficult to work with, and one must not waste 24K gold!  It's in a fabulous frame too, displayed over my Jesus painting which has a crown of thorns hanging on it that I purchased from a Jerusalem supplier.


A Totally Portrait Show for all my friends and students who love portraits!

Worked like crazy putting this one together.  Never showed this many portraits at once, excepting for in my own home during the Sebastian Art Studio Tour.  Carole and Peter Coe, curators of the "Pres Galleries," and members of the First Presbyterian Church in Vero Beach, flawlessly installed the show, allowing me some input as to it's setup.  There was a great turnout and the show looked beautiful.  About 30 paintings in all mediums are on display.  They decided to add a mid-show reception I guess to allow the Snowbirds to view it.  It's up through December.


MY MOM, "MILDRED"

My mother was a jewel, and a really pretty one with a beautiful wad of red hair.  I guess this was about 1942, before I was born.  It was painted from a black-and-white photograph.

"Millie, 1942" oil on canvas by Judy Burgarella

PORTRAIT SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Tonight at 9:00 pm I finally got around to entering something in the Portrait Society of America, which I am a member of.  Decided to enter my mom.  It would be such an honor if they accepted my entry.  First time entering a national competition.



AND NOW FOR MY NEXT ACT ...

Just delivered this show today.  Over 40 paintings of Florida-inspired works.  What a job putting all this together, repairing the frames, reframing where needed, cleaning and rematting.  I have too many paintings, so they're priced to go, to make room for more. Looking forward to the opening to see how the public receives them.  I revised a portrait I did of Osceola in 2014 which I have shown around here but it never received much attention.  So I took it apart (not an easy job with pastels) and redesigned the face, clothes, position, and values, contrast and background.  Basically it's all redone.  I am very happy with it now, and I am a better artist than I was in 2014.  That's what's amazing about this art thing, everyone gets better with each painting.  I teach so I see it happen right before my eyes to my students.  Below is Osceola, I love it now.

"Osceola" Pastel by Judy Burgarella

LADY OF ELCHE

Monday I had my first of five classes for the semester in the Vero Beach Museum of Art, and below is my subject lesson.  I brought her back from the 4th Century B.C.  Found her sculptured image in an old sculpture book I got at a thrift shop.  I opened the book and fell in love with her face.  So regal, strong, intelligent-looking and beautiful.  And that headdress!  Wow!  I later found out that the bust, which is hollow and presumed to have been used as a funerary urn, is in a museum in Madrid.

"Lady of Elche" Acrylic on Canvas by Judy Burgarella

Well, that's all for tonight ... I hope you enjoyed my images.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger

MIA Too long!

Where to start?  Just remembering why I hadn't posted in some time ... husband's multiple hospitalizations, my hospitalization, also my eye surgery which greatly impacted my eyesight, and lots of other of "life's interruptions."  Oh, and I am now serving as President of the Sebastian River Art Club which keeps me incredibly busy as I work to improve upon what past presidents and members have created.

 So now I'll post a few things, what I remember I've done since then, starting with most recent.

Below is a show I just installed Thursday.  All portraits, and several of the following portraits are in that show.  One down, one to go.  Have to get ready for the Emerson Center show to be installed November 1st, entitled "Florida - Paradise through the Eyes of an Artist"

"Madonna" Oil w/24K Gold Leafing  11"x14" w/5" ornate gold frame

 This one came so easy, and the gold leafing went surprisingly smoothly.  This one got me in the zone right away.  Divine intervention??

"Mildred" Oil

 This is my mother circa 1942?  Lovely rendition of her with all that hair.  We all (5 kids, mom & dad) had various shades of red hair, which came with freckles.  Wish I could have known her at that age.

"Girl in Victorian Dress" Acrylic, Adaptation of Da Vinci.

 Created for my portrait class in the Vero Beach Museum of Art.

"Girl with a Pearl Earring" Acrylic, Adaptation of Vermeer's

 Created for my portrait class in the Vero Beach Museum of Art.

"Monet"  Acrylic

 Created for my portrait class in the Vero Beach Museum of Art

"Wash Day" Wine Bar with Glasses, Acrylic

Antique ironing board, fun to do, and I made 6 glasses to match that had clotheslines painted on them.   It is supposed to serve as a wine bar.

"Red Sculpture at the Museum"  Acrylic

Created at the request of the Vero Beach Museum of Art for a special Faculty showing.

"Two White Pelicans" Acrylic. Available on metal or as print.

 Acrylic painting from a very lucky photo I took in Sebastian on a dock at the Indian River Lagoon.

"Sand Hill Crane"  Acrylic

 Created as an Art Party subject.

"Red Rose in Triangle Substrate" Acrylic

 Created for a special Faculty showing for the Vero Beach Museum of Art.  The Lily below too.

"Lily"  Acrylic

Pewter Ornament "Millenial Salute to our Protective Services"

Just threw this one in.  Created before I started to paint.  Part of a series of pewter ornaments I designed to be sold each Christmas as a fundraiser for the Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Committee, of which I was a member with my home business Document Magic Secretarial Service.

"David Leffel on my Palette" Oil on wood palette

 One of my favorite portraitists, and also a fantastic still life painter,.  He's a bit older now, but I liked this portrait of him I copied from his many self-portraits.

"After the bath" Oil 

 This is a nice little nude I wanted for myself, saw it in a magazine and painted it.  That's the wonderful part of being a representational artist, you can have it for yourself, almost as good if you're good enough. 

"Windy Day at the Marina" Oil

 Painted "en plein air" at the Vero Beach Yacht Club for the Cultural Council.

"At Rest"  Oil

Painted "en plein air" at the Vero Beach Yacht Club for the Cultural Council.


Well, that's all for now folks, getting late and it's been a long day.  I hope I did not repeat myself with any of these postings--did not check earlier ones.  Oh, and here's a little song I wrote for all you artists out there--sing it to the tune of "My Favorite Things":

Brush, paint and canvas, the odor of oil,
Scumbling and glazing as we artists toil
Painting on canvas a great work of art,
All of this beauty must come from the heart.

They'll be pretty, they'll be stunning, and surprising too;
When artists are working they get in the zone,
Their favorite thing, to do.

Portraits and landscapes and seascapes and abstract,
Sales and commissions and gallery contracts.
These are the things that an artist must do,
else he will starve and his family too!

He must paint, and, he must learn, and, he must suffer too;
He'd better be ready to get his hard knocks
And come up with something new.

Paint on his fingernails, paint on his clothes,
Paint on his loafers and paint on his nose,
Art books and ribbons and easels and lights,
painting most days and then into most nights.

There'll be art shows, and receptions, competitions too;
So painters must paint and create something nice,
or if they can't they'll be through.

I envision singing this song around a table with a glass of wine with a bunch of artist friends.  Just may do it at "Girls Night Out" tomorrow night at the Tiki Bar.
I also wrote a Halloween song to this tune years ago when my kids were little. They are in the 40's now, so I've been a frustrated songwriter for a long time.

It's really really late now. G'nite!

Judy Burgarella
Blogger