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What is it about Snow...

...that makes me want to snuggle down with a good book?

Is it the calm serenity of the snowy garden and gently falling snow?

Because my studio is currently the most uninviting, coldest room in the house? (note to self - fix the storm windows in the studio)

Or is it my furry reading companion?

Whatever the reason I have devoured the following in the last week

Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing Margaret Livingstone

Sort of work related, as it does have "ART" in the title, but in the opening paragraph there is a jolly quote from 19th century physicist Thomas Young:

"The nature of light is a subject of no importance to the concerns of life or to the practice of the arts, but it is in many other aspects extremely interesting"

and he was quite right, extremely interesting indeed, and with lots of juicy art illustrations too.

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier

vaguely work related, as it is about artists and making medieval tapestries...somewhat

Ross Poldark quickly followed by Demelza by Winston Graham

Utterly self indulgent fiction, escaping to 18th century Cornwall to go romping with tin miners, lords of the manor and kitchen wenches

Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury & Aly Sujo

Just started this one, so pray for more snow and I'll let you know how it ends by Friday.

Celebratory Noodle Day

Happy Year of the Tiger!

what favorite Chinese nibble will you be eating? Make mine a Hot and Sour Soup followed by Crispy Duck

This charcoal still life drawing is part of the “Carbon Footprints” series.

Buy a Print here >>>

Sipping, Supping and Shopping

Come out this evening for some sipping, supping and shopping at Shop Sharey in South Orange. I will have some of my new small charcoal still life drawings for sale, as well as some miniature color pencil landscapes, giclee prints and note cards.

My friend Alison Oxman will also be showing some of her gorgeous semi-precious jewelry. I have been admiring her beautiful necklaces for a while now. I am always a sucker for pearls!

Your entrance fee of $5 will help fund the pre-school programme next year as well provide you with a glass of wine and dessert to enjoy whilst you shop

Supporting your local artisans
Helping to educate the next generation
Getting unique holiday gifts for the family
Silent auction and raffle prizes

Not bad for one evening! (If you bring your own shopping bags you get to be "green" too)

November 19th 7pm - 10pm Shop Sharey : benefit for the pre-school Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel 432 Scotland Road South Orange, NJ 07079 www.tsti.org

Fine Art Exhibit and Wine Tasting Charity Event

I will be exhibiting art in the annual charity fundraiser at Birchwood Manor in Whippany, NJ next week. It looks like it should be a good evening, with wine, nibbles and live music to enjoy as you peruse the art. There's even a wine seminar, so I might just learn something too! Benefit for Local Charities The Arc Morris The Randolph Lions Club The Wayne Marino Scholarship Fund

Includes Wine Seminar, Hors D’oeuvres, Live Music, Prizes and Art Exhibit Tickets $50.00 per person To purchase your tickets or for more information call Marie at 973-326-9750 ext: 211

Thursday, October 15, 2009 7:00 to 10:00 pm at The Birchwood Manor 111 North Jefferson Road Whippany, NJ

Alex Masket : Breaking Boundaries - Art Show

I went to a terrific art show opening at the Summit Medical Center in Berkeley Heights last week.

The largest selection of Alex's work are his mixed media pieces, created using adhesive vinyl letters and numbers on hand-painted canvas. I really love the ones that use the outside, negative space from the stickers.

What does not come across from these small thumbnails here are the subtle reflective quality of the images. As you walk past these large canvases the light shifts and reflects in a different way, opening new dimensions, as the light ripples through the painting. If you're close enough, you can even see ghostly outlines of yourself, as the picture incorporates and reflects it's surroundings. Quite magical

The lego giclee prints are also enchanting (the actual lego pieces were too precious for Alex to part with). This one is my favorite. As my eyes flick constantly back and forth, spotting doors, windows, columns, flashing lights, it feels like the half glimpsed view of a subway station, as the train rushes through.

Show Dates : Now until December 2009 The Lawrence Pavilion Gallery (Lower Lobby) Summit Medical Group 1 Diamond Hill Road Berkeley Heights, NJ

Just off Rt 78 at exit 43

www.alexmasket.com

All Images copyright Alex Masket

Free Shipping on Giclee Art Prints

It is the first weekend for fluffy blankets and hot chocolate here in the North East. And as I snuggle in, watching the Grand Prix and noodling about the internet, I'm looking around the room thinking we could do with some pictures in here. You might think that an artist would have no wall space left, but I find it hard to decorate with my own work when it keeps coming and going. Plus it's much harder to let it go if I think I own it.

Some pieces are too precious to ever sell - my first colored pencil drawing "Stolen Glimpse" for instance. It's the first thing I see in the morning...well second, after a wet dog nose and early morning wash. And some much loved pictures I have replaced with high quality giclee prints - not quite as lovely as the real thing, but a darn good substitute.

And then I find that my favorite art site, Imagekind, has a free shipping coupon to give me a helping hand with the Fall Clean Up. They must have read my mind.

They have terrific quality giclee prints on paper or canvas and all at very affordable prices. Plus you know that the artists are getting a fair cut too. These guys will even frame it - all I have to do is bang in a nail.

Free US Shipping Coupon Code : POPULARART09 Expires : Oct 4th midnight PDT

Here's a little taste of my favorites to get you started

simona balas - camera dulce (sweet room)

And of course - your's truly

Find me on Facebook

find me on facebook

Hooray! After much tinkering, I have my with Facebook Fan Page up and running. Please stop by and "friend" me, or I shall feel terribly lonely :(

Wind in the Willows illustration ~ Ernest H Shepard

I have been reading Wind in the Willows this summer. I thought I knew the story, as I had the audio book when I was a kid...come to think of it I still have the audio book. But it is an abridged version.

So it has been a delight discovering all the "new" bits - like Christmas at Moley's and meeting the God Pan.

But even better than that are the illustrations.

EH Shepard is better know for his Winnie the Pooh illustrations, which has always been a great favorite of mine, and I loved to copy the pictures of Pooh and Piglet. I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures from Wind in the Willows.

I think he had the most fun drawing Toad. You can feel his shame and apprehension when, disguised as a washer woman, he is ridiculed by a saucy fox.

And you can almost see his proud strut as he swaggers into the local pub.

Here he is splashing through the text in his brand new wager boat.

And I think I see just a touch of Piglet in this drawing of Moley, freed from Spring Cleaning and dancing through the wild flowers

oh, I know that feeling so well

So who is your favorite children's book illustrator? Leave a comment below and open up a whole new magic world for us

Website Updates and New Etsy shop

This month I have been working on creating three brand new websites - hence the lack of Work in Progress posts. And nothing gets you looking at your own dingy wallpaper and old fixtures like visiting a newly decorated house. So bradney.com has been getting a general Summer Sprucing too. (well... it's a bit late to be called a Spring Clean) The Carbon Footprints series that you have been helping to name each Friday now has its own page. Head on over to check out whether your suggestions inspired any titles. These charcoal drawings and giclee art prints are also featured in my brand new Etsy Store. In case you missed out on the 5" freebie print there are links to buy affordable 8x10 art prints and also for some small original drawings.

I will be adding a few more prints each week, so email me with a request for your favorite, or post a comment below.

I also have some pretty cool cards in the works - Alternative Baby Announcements, New Years / Christmas cards and Get Well cards for those of you who like a little irony with your sympathy. But I will, quite literally, "keep you posted" on their progress.

Glorious Color in the Mail : Pan Pastels

Is there anything more splendid than receiving a box full of art supplies in the mail?

The joy of discovering blobs of pure color amongst the peanuts completely banishes the nagging guilt of overspending.

Yes, I would have got a better deal buying a pre-packaged set of colors - the landscape set, or the portrait set or just the general "artist colors" set. But each one only had a few colors that really sang to me, so I decided to buy just those colors instead.

And look! they each come with their own little sponge. I think I am going to need a mini laundry for all my sponges soon.

And here are my new Prismacolor Art Stix, along with some regular pencils to give you an idea of their size. They are very good for some loose scribbling and for covering a lot of paper in a short amount of time and for not getting bogged down by the details too quickly.