A few more creations of late

"PATIENCE" - DESTINY MADE HER MINE!

"Patience" below, is from another of my portrait classes for the Fall 2018 semester at the Vero Beach Museum of Art.  I teach there three semesters per year, in addition to a 3-day oil & acrylics Portrait Workshop from a live model during each semester.

"Prudence" (I am guessing a Puritan Woman) was inspired and painted from a painting I purchased at the St. Sebastian Church's Saturday Flea Market a few years ago.  It was a full-body, life-sized oil painting in really rough shape, that obviously was destined to be thrown in the trash heap had I not come along last minute just before closing. I purchased this lovely painting, frame and all, for  $5 or $10.  No signature or any indication on it to identify the artist.  Since the clothing from below the collar on down was rendered poorly, I held my breath and cut it off.  I then glued it onto a masonite board and framed it with a beautiful hand-carved ornate frame also purchased at the same time, also for $5. The frame was also in rough shape, and even had holes drilled in it on several areas.  With some filler and good gilding, sanding and painting, the frame was perfect for this painting.  It now sits in an easel on display on high kitchen shelving along with other items and paintings of interest I have collected over the years.  And so I recreated this painting, inspired by that which I purchased, only made her a bit more pretty, as seen below.  Below the painting is a sample of the step-by-step handout I give to my Museum students.  Lots of work for me, but makes it so much easier for students to understand or jump ahead.

"Prudence" Acrylic on canvas by Judy Burgarella

Class instruction hand-outs for my students

"KATE" - FROM A LIVE MODEL

Below is an oil portrait I started in October 2018 from a live model, friend and student Kate Russum, and finished six months later.  It was my first demo at a new location, Indian River Estates in Vero Beach, where I continue to teach.  This painting haunted me after I started it, as I promised it to Kate as a thank-you gift for posing for me that first day.  It was a very rough start, as all portraits of mine tend to be.  But I finished it and believed it was one of my best yet.  I actually feel that way about all my portraits, as the way of the life of an artist is that one gets better with each painting.  And so it always gets better, if one takes the extra time to make it that way.  However I am usually on the clock and on the run, trying to finish and document steps in a painting for a class, so those paintings are not usually my finest work.

"Kate" oil painting by Judy Burgarella

MONET'S "WILLOW TREE AND LILY POND"

Below is a finished painting, a copy of a work by Claude Monet, one of the impressionists (1840-1926).  I painted this in acrylics to get the feel of how he painted, in preparation for my demo/class at Indian River Estates.  This was a 2-week demo, wrought with the usual mistakes which I gladly announce and exhibit to my students so that they can learn how an artist corrects his/her mistakes and moves on. Mistakes often result in the creation of a great new technique, a so-called "Happy Mistake," and it happened several times in this oil painting. demo.  I hope to post this painting when it's finished.  But below is my acrylic rendition of Monet's oil painting.

"Monet's Willow tree and Lily Pond" acrylic by Judy Burgarella

I have many more I would love to post, but alas, they are on the self in my studio unfinished with the hundreds of other paintings needing my attention.   I need about 40 more years and maybe I'll finish them all ... but then what?

I hope you enjoyed my postings!

Judy Burgarella

Blogger

Orca Mural - Finally Finished!

ORCA Mural, "Florida Uplands" Acrylic on Canvas by Judy Burgarella

So happy to be a part of this project, and we completed it very quickly, about a month--with some finishing even before that.  So I delivered mine, which was the latest, on Tuesday, July 3rd.  I touched mine up on the outside perimeter with the paint they all used, repainted the gold band, and Dawn and I installed the hanging hardware and hung them all in the classroom of the Artists Guild Gallery in Vero Beach.

The Vero Beach Art Club provided the artists, who donated their time to this project: me, Dawn Mill (project manager), Carol Makris, Sue Dinenno, Judy Rixom and Rita Ziegler.  Dawn chose the round design and provided each artist with a rough idea, and we all created our own design based on the basic specifications, researching our individual habitat assignments ourselves and choosing the plants and animals to include.  There are six murals, all mounted with stretched canvas over a wood frame, with circular pattern outlined in gold paint.  All are painted in acrylic. As soon as I get photos of the others, I will post them here.

ORCA "Oceanic Research and Conservation Association" happened to see the Vero Beach History/Habitat Murals (www.verobeachmural.blogspot.com), at the Community Center on 14th Avenue, and felt they needed something like that for their organization, perhaps to use as an educational tool and in demonstrations.  And so they contacted the Vero Beach Art Club, and the rest is history.

A "Soft Opening" will be held Friday July 5th, 5:00-8:00 pm at the Artists Guild Gallery, 1974 14th Avenue, Vero Beach, with wine and hors doeuvres, and a grand opening will be held at the ORCA facility at VB Airport some time in the fall.

We are very proud to play a small part in prooting ORCA's environmental mission, and look forward to the public enjoying the fruits of our labor.

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There are many more paintings I have created since my last posting, and hopefully I will have time soon to post them here.

Judy Burgarella
Blogger

Lots of Updates

Where to start ...
Since my last posting I have created many new paintings, much the results of demonstrations and classes, many if finished I will upload eventually.
At present, my class schedule is as follows: Vero Beach Museum of Art, 5-week course each semester in Portraiture in Acrylics, with a two full days workshop in oil portraiture March 29th and 30th; American Legion: first and third Thursday of each month, 10-1:00, all mediums and subjects, and includes a 45-minute demo; Indian River Estates, Vero Beach: 2nd and 3rd Friday each month.

Following is an oil portrait of a famous local historical figure, Waldo Sexton, which I painted for the Emerson Center's Foyer Gallery show, celebrating Vero Beach's Centennial.  This image was also sent to the National Portrait Society's show, of which I am a member.  Scant chance anything will come of it as the competition is phenomenal.

Waldo Sexton, oil by Judy Burgarella

Below is an acrylic portrait of Mr. Konopacky, my neighbor's father who just passed away at age 100!  This portrait was done for his memorial service, and was met with rave reviews.  He always talked with that finger pointing at you.  He was pretty sharp up to the end.  This is another one I have entered in the National Portrait Society show.

Mr. Konopacky at 100, acrylic by Judy Burgarella

A fun commission, below, is an oil painting of Max and Furnando. Now that I have finally adopted a dog myself (after being without a pet for 20 years), I fully appreciate that people love their pets enough to have a portrait painted of them.  Love my dog Piper, who is probably the smartest and cutest dog in the world. (Prejudiced? No.)

Furnando & Max, oil by Judy Burgarella

Next is a painting I'm excited about.  Started out as a "by-the-seat-of-my-pants" demo and I tweaked it a bit when I got home.  I plan on painting a similar composition on a larger and better canvas, and enter it in a show.  Such fun it was, in a wipe-out format. I will paint some ibis on a log by the palm tree, and add water ripples and refine the foliage.

Orchids and Egrets, 12"x16", oil by Judy Burgarella (unfinished)

 This little girl's image was taken from a section of a painting in the Museum.  The Vero Beach Museum of Art likes their faculty to tie in something from their exhibition, and so I used her image to teach an acrylic portraiture class.

"Girl with Lace Collar" 16"x12, acrylic by Judy Burgarella

The beautiful girl below is a copy of a painting done by one of the "Victorian Radicals" whose work is currently on exhibition at the Vero Beach Museum.  This is not part of their exhibit, but was painted by John Everett Malaise, and I used it to teach my portrait class this winter's semester  (2019).  Complicated but fun, and my students did fabulous work!  Note: This piece sold from the Museum's Faculty Show, along with another work of mine, "The Artist" also in that show.

"The Mandolin Player" from John Everett Malaise, 11"x16", acrylic.  

 This stern-looking woman is a Seminole Indian, the black-and-white image of which I used to teach my acrylic portraiture class at the Museum.

"Seminole Girl" 16"x12, acrylic

 "Misty Morning" was an acrylic demonstration I did at Indian River Estates in Vero.  This one is worthy of putting on a better canvas, and repainting it in a finer style.

"Misty Morning" 16"x11" Acrylic by Judy Burgarella

 Below is another "Misty Morning" from another demo, this time at the American Legion.

"Misty Morning" acrylic on 12"x8 canvas