Updates

I apologize for not updating my blog in over a month - even artists can get carried away during Christmas season.  However, I do have some interesting tidbits to relate.

SOLD!!!!

First of all, THREE of my paintings (the two Picassos and the Modigliani) sold at Prime Rib's Eat Your Art Out event - very exciting! 

Secondly, I have put a lot of work into Edward, and I must say that he is coming along nicely.  A week or so ago I hit a point where I saw the "light at the end of the tunnel" for the first time.  The farther along I go with this piece the more difficult it becomes and the slower I seem to progress.  I have never worked on anything this detailed in my life.  Sometimes painting Edward is maddening, but then when I stand back and look at him, I am so proud of what I have done.

Last but not least, I have started working on a series of Matisse reproductions to sell online.  Here are the first two that I have started.  I began with really loose underpainting then added more color.  I will have to wait for them to dry before making corrections and final touches.

From the show at the Prime Rib I learned that people are willing to spend money on art if they see something they like.  However, smaller, less expensive paintings are going to be more popular if people are just browsing, and everyone seems to want to buy pretty ladies.  Larger, more complicated pieces are best done as commissions, where people already know what they want.

My Art at the Prime Rib

Come out this Monday and see my art at the Prime Rib!

I will be showing reproductions from my exhibit at Moorestown Library plus a new Picasso:

Portrait of Picasso's wife Jacqueline

The Cavalier is Finished!

The Laughing Cavalier

His elusive smile

Detail of embroidery

 Production Photos:

Edward has a face!

October Show at the Moorestown Library

My first solo exhibition is going on right now at the Moorestown Public Library.  Here are the finished reproductions that are currently on display:

Modigliani's Jeanne

Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers

Monet's Waterlilies

Picasso's The Dream

Portraits on display:

Self Portrait

Many thanks to Diane and Joanne for all of their help!

Updates

Progress on my commissions:

 

 Finished the Modigliani and added more color to the Picasso:

I started a reproduction of one of van Gogh's Sunflowers two nights ago and have been painting like a crazy person to get it done by Monday for the show.  Here is my work on it so far:

I start really simply by adding only yellow ochre and black to an already toned canvas.

I begin adding in some of the color, starting with the vase.

Filling in the background this early is not my usual M.O. for van Gogh, but in this case I had to as the dark gray was affecting my perception of the yellow.

I added in some red.  One of my painting instructors told me that as soon as red is added, the painting comes alive.  It definitely seemed that way with the sunflowers as soon as I added the reds.

Upcoming Solo Exhibition

I am very excited to be having my first solo show at the public library in Moorestown, NJ.  The show will begin the first week of October.  To get ready for the show, I have been gathering some of the still lifes which have been shown before and framing some of my portraits which have not been shown.  I am also creating four new reproductions to display as demos for what I do.  Here are images of three of them, Modigliani's Jeanne, Monet's Waterlilies, and Picasso's The Dream (clockwise from left).   The Modigliani and the Picasso are still largely underpainting, but the Monet I finished last night. 

There are two more shows coming up that I have been tempted to submit work for - "Works on Paper" at Perkins Center for the Arts and a charity show about making connections in NYC (due dates September 16th and 17th respectively).  I would have to make something new for both of them and the submission dates are approaching rapidly.  In the interest of time, I may have to resist temptation and focus my energy on finishing the Edward VII and the Laughing Cavalier, which I need to finish soon on top of getting my Moorestown show together.

Edward VII and the Laughing Cavalier

King Eward VII

Recently I've been working on two commissions simultaneously, a coronation portrait of King Edward VII of England and Frans Hals's Laughing Cavalier.  Both painting have been challenging in their own way.  Edward VII's portrait is a full-length portrait and jam-packed with detail.  For me the hardest part so far has been fitting all of the elements together into one cohesive picture.  While the Laughing Cavalier has plenty of detail of its own, not in the background but in the embroidery on his clothing, the most difficult part in my opinion is capturing his jovial expression.  The cavalier looks as if he is either fighting to suppress a laugh or he is so confident that he doesn't need to worry about smirking.  Frans Hals was a master of catching the fleeting look, so if I am not able to likewise recreate this jolly fellow's elusive smile, the painting will have been in vain.

The Laughing Cavalier (my painting on the left)

This and That

I have been doing a lot of different things lately, but haven't had any time to paint.  I've been working on my website (www.jacquelinecross.net), making business cards, framing pictures, and stretching canvases.   I have also been submitting and picking up artwork from various different shows and events.  Wednesday, as I mentioned before, I drove to the Brandywine River Museum to drop off my copy of Vincent van Gogh's "Roses and Anemones" for the Radnor Hunt auction.  Friday I drove to Harrisburg to pick up two of my paintings which were on display at PinnacleHealth Auxiliary's Night at the Museum fundraising event.  That night I was going to drop off another one of my paintings for the Burlington County Art Guild's 39th Annual Robert Ransley Open Juried Art Exhibition, but I was exhausted from driving to Harrisburg and starting to get sick so I decided to call it a night.  Today I went to Perkins Center for the Arts to submit two of my paintings for their Faculty and Members show, only to find that they had misprinted the submission date (it is actually tomorrow). 

But then I think - all of these things that I have been doing are necessary and important.  Art isn't just about painting.  If you really want to make a career as an artist, getting out there and showing your work is just as important, if not more important, than the time you spend in your studio.  And things are really starting to take off because of it.  I already have a couple of commissions lined up, and I found out today that my copy of the van Gogh sold at the Radnor Hunt auction.  Being a typical type A achiever, I was concerned that I wasn't being productive enough, but when I look back on all that has happened the past couple months, I see that I have actually come a long way...and quite quickly, too!

Paintings that were in Pinnacle Health's "A Night at the Museum":

Painting I am submitting tomorrow for the Perkins show:

Radnor Hunt Submission

Today I drove to the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, PA to drop off my submission for the Radnor Hunt Preview Party's charity auction.  I had time for a quick look around the museum, which houses several works by Andrew Wyeth.  The auction will take place on Sunday, May 1st and proceeds will benefit the Brandywine Conservancy which preserves art, clean water, and open space.  I am very excited to be taking part in this show.  The auction is for a good cause and it made me proud to see my painting being shown on the website right under a painting by Jamie Wyeth (Andrew Wyeth's son):

http://radnorhuntraces.maestroweb.com/List.aspx?OrgID=621&ItemCategory=Art&Selection=0

The painting I submitted is a copy of Vincent van Gogh's "Roses and Anemones."  All of my copies are completely original, which means I never paint over canvas prints.  Usually I build and prepare my own canvases as well.  I took pictures of my painting at different stages because I liked watching how this painting developed.  Hope you enjoy it, too!

I begin by toning the canvas with a warm gray acrylic wash.  Then I switch to working in oil and add the vase and some of the flowers.

I add in the table cloth applying paint thickly as van Gogh did.

I work on developing the flowers.  I add more and more paint to each flower creating an impasto texture.

I add in the background color, let it dry, and frame it.  Now it is complete!