How I clean my paint brushes and palette knives (update)

An artist should know how to treat paint brushes and palette knives with care.  From a class I took with Ed Furuike in Honolulu, I learned how to paint with a palette knife and how to clean it.  I first wipe off the excess paint in a newspaper or an old phonebook page, then clean it with a baby wipe sheet.  Works like magic!

When I'm finished painting with my brushes, I dip them in turpenoid (water for acrylic users) and blot them on newspaper or cheap paper towels.  You can also clean them with baby wipes.  Once I'm done, I clean each brush with Lava soap, rinse it clean, then rub it on Octagon soap to soften the bristles.  I rinse the brushes thoroughly and let them dry upright in an empty container.

It sounds like a lot of work but taking care of your brushes and palette knives will assure a longer life.

Miami condo update

I finally found another condo for our vacation in South Beach.  It was a pleasant flat but the complex was too big and too crowded.  The parking was too far to walk with luggage and all.  Anyway, this may be our last visit there.  We had mostly stormy weather and only 1 1/2 days of sunshine during our 11-day stay. 

WHAT A SCAM!!!

We've just been scammed by a guy who phished a Florida realtor's email. We had already transfered funds to a Barclays account in Surrey, England of a Viktor Stoian before we found out from the real property manager that it was a scam. There were other victims.  So, beware!!!  Now, I've got to find another condo for our upcoming vacation.

Another new painting!

Tempest, Oil on Canvas, 15" x 19"

This canvas was covered with excess light blue paint from another piece for months. Sometime late last year, I started a plain seascape which looked terribly boring so I put it aside. In March this year, I used my palette knife to add more waves to the water and it started to look interesting but not quite done. Then, just a few days ago, I added a couple of rocks and more movement in the water with different shades of greens and blues. There is hardly a dividing line between sky and sea.

 

Two New Paintings

I started the Swamp last year but put it aside for a long time.  I worked on it again on and off this year and just did the finishing touches yesterday.  I think it is done.

 

 The Swamp, Oil on Canvas, 30" x 40" 

I had been thinking of doing a portrait of an old couple for quite a long time.  I saw a couple in their late 70's (I think) on the bus but was too embarrassed to take a photo.  So, I searched the web and found an image I based Afternoon Stroll  on.  I started this in March and just finished it yesterday.

 

 Afternoon Stroll, Oil on Canvas, 20" x 16"

Family Visit and Painting

We had a wonderful visit from my family the week of April 15 - a lot of eating, drinking, and endless chatting.  I thought my husband would get overwhelmed but he was a real trooper - bless his heart!

My painting was put on hold but I made a lot of progress with the three pieces I was working on the week before.  It takes me a while to decide when to stop working on a painting.  A former art teacher said, "One of the most difficult things for an artist is to know when to stop working on a painting."  One piece is near completion - it is a landscape on a 30" x 40" gallery canvas.  I am quite pleased with the colors I've used and I've already signed it (?) but it needs a few more finishing touches.  I will post a photo when it is ready.

Painting in Quietude

It’s been pretty quiet around here this week. Most people are probably out of town to see their families for Easter and Passover. My better half is away on a fishing trip. So, I took advantage of the respite to paint, working on three paintings alternately. While one was drying, I worked on another. My work table is a mess but it is a studio, after all. I only clear up when expecting guests. Bliss!

No Apologies - a slideshow of my art

I just created the above video.  Why No Apologies?  My styles and themes are so varied that people say my art portfolio looks like a group exhibition.  Most galleries show artists with a common theme and a consistent style.  I prefer to paint what I feel and sometimes challenge myself to try a genre I haven't done in the past.  The common threads that bind my art are the vivid colors and a "need to convey a mood or tell a story".      

My dentist's office - Part II

The rest of the paintings in my dentist’s clinic are as follows:

The Old Oak (Oil on Canvas, 17″ x 21″ including frame)

Bambusa (Oil on Canvas, 36″ x 18″, unframed)

 

 

Bambusa II (Oil on Canvas, 36″ x 18″, unframed)

 

My dentist's office

I sat in my dentist’s waiting room yesterday and was surrounded by my own paintings. More than a year ago, I made arrangements for some of my paintings to be hung in his clinic but I still get surprised with each visit.

The Brook is the biggest attention-drawer, according to the office. No wonder, it is a 30″ x 40″ canvas with lovely autumn colors.

Benguerra Coast is the second most popular piece among the lot. It is a 16″ x 20″ oil painting (including frame).

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I'm back!

I just got back from a 5-week vacation to Manila, Kuala Lumpur, and England.  My husband and I enjoyed the food in various restaurants in Eastwood Mall, Quezon City and at my sister's home, and I loved sampling the local cuisine at the hawker stalls in Lorong Perak, Kuala Lumpur.  Much as I love food and wine, I won't be featuring them in my art anytime soon.  I need to finish the canvasses I started before I left.

Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring

Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring

This is my favorite among Vermeer's paintings.  In my art class in 1996, when Vermeer's works were visiting at the National Art Gallery in Washington, DC, my art teacher asked us to copy it.  Armed with just a small magazine print of the painting, I started working on a 16" x 20" canvas.  Below is what came out:

My version of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring

You will see the difference outright but it was not a bad attempt considering that I had only been painting for two years then.

STOP THE CARNAGE!

Voices of Hope, Oil on Canvas, 21" x 21"

 

I painted "Voices of Hope" to express my solidarity with the protesting women of the Middle East whose voices against the carnage in their homelands are muffled by politics and guns.

Flaming Lava reposted

In August 2011, I took a three-hour art class with Ed Furuike in Honolulu (http://www.furuikeart.com/web/) on oil painting with a palette knife.  Ed is a Hawaiian professional artist who really enjoys teaching.  I was delighted to be in his class and marveled at what one could do on a canvas with a palette knife.  I completed “Flaming Lava” below which he mailed to me.  I couldn’t believe I did it with a palette knife.

I chose the model from one of Ed’s magazine photos and bravely started what I had never done before, with his guidance and help.  Then he suggested that I add a white bird to the scene (barely discernible in the upper middle part of the frame).  When there is a volcanic eruption, Hawaiian legend says the lone white bird is Pele which travels alone and is protective of its domain.

Flaming Lava, Oil on Canvas, 14" x 18"

I still don't feel comfortable with palette knife painting but I have finished an abstract piece I called "Tsunami" done mostly with a palette knife (see below) and recently started a seascape with a combination of brush and palette knife.  I will post an image when I finish it.

Tsunami, oil on wood, 13" x 14"

Copying images - theft or compliment?

I google myself rarely but did several days ago and was surprised to find my painting Grief (below) in a few sites.  I had the same experience a couple of years ago and wrote on the blog of the author, asking why my permission was not asked before posting the image.  The image had been taken out.  This time, I posed the same question to the blogger, got a huge apology and my image was taken out.  He studiously looked for my name to give me credit and that was much appreciated.

I have a website and a blog so my paintings are "out there" and can be  used.  I have no watermark to protect it because I don't like watermarks - it ruins the image, I think.  In this day and age of the internet, images can be easily copied and used, copyright notwithstanding.    

"Grief" has been used quite a few times in people's blogs to reflect their feelings about a personal or public tragedy and I am flattered.  I am proud of this piece, as well as my other paintings of "suffering women".  But I would appreciate it very much if those wishing to use any of my images to ask my permission first and not to attribute their postings to me.

 

"Grief" by Cynthia Angeles

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

I wish everyone good health, good cheer, and better circumstances in your endeavors.  I might as well wish myself the same things.  A few thoughts about my art came to mind:

Where is my art going?  Is it going anywhere?  Does it matter?  Of course, it does to any artist.  Will I carry on painting?  Of course, I will.  I just hope that my website will help my art gain exposure and that it will eventually translate into sales so that I can paint some more!

GRIEF

Grief, Oil on Linen, 31" x 25" 

I can best express my feelings about the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut through my painting above, Grief. 

Christmas is almost here!

I still get excited about the holidays despite a sad but funny episode in my childhood.  I was about 5 or 6 years old when I hung an old stocking by my bedpost on Christmas Eve, only to find it empty on Christmas Day.  I wondered why Santa passed me by so I asked my mother why.  She then asked me with a straight face:  Did you wash your stocking before hanging it?  Maybe that is why Santa didn't leave you anything.  From then on until I figured out who Santa really was, I made sure my Christmas stocking was clean and fresh.

Thanksgiving gets me started on the holiday mood and I start thinking of getting the wreath out, putting some Christmas decorations together (but not a tree), and fixing up the place.  I also planned on sending Christmas cards but I ran out of time this year so I have sent e-cards instead (sorry!)

Since Thanksgiving week, I have worked on four (yes, four!) canvasses.  Because of holiday preparations and parties, I have put them aside.  Hopefully, I will get to finish them early next year.  I wish everyone one of the following:

    a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,
    Happy Hanukkah,
    Happy Kwanzaa, or simply
    Happy Holidays

Computer Woes Saga

I work on my computer all the time to update my websites and my blogs. Having found myself riddled with freezing problems since April this year, I had to rely heavily on my iPad (quite useful but with limited functions) for email and internet. My desktop was a Dell Inspiron 560s which was just 2 years old when the freezing happened. Because my warranty had expired, I had to purchase additional warranty from Dell for them to resolve the problem. I was also persuaded to purchase Norton 360 for protection. After spending close to $300, I worked with the Dell technology staff for days, resetting my desktop to factory settings, etc. but to no avail. In the end, they refunded what I spent and recommended that I take my desktop to a local computer repair expert.

And so I did. In July 2012, I took my desktop to Arlington Virginia Computer Repair. Alex was quite helpful and personable. My desktop went through their diagnostic process. It was determined that my desktop had a failed hard drive. This included a brand new hard drive, Windows, drivers, updates and basic software (including free anti-virus) installation, tune-up and testing. The intermittent freezing did not stop, however, even after the installation of a new video card, a cooling fan, and BIOS update. One day, the monitor just went blank so I bought a new monitor, hoping that it was causing the problem. Well, the new monitor also froze, and after a few seconds, went blank.
      
I then decided to get a new desktop and use my recently bought monitor. When I got everything set up, I started restoring my files which didn't work well. I tried to access Mozilla and Facebook but couldn't so I contacted HP support, worried and furious because of what I had gone through. Luckily, the technician, after running some tests, asked what modem I was using. She determined that it was my old modem (a Westell Versalink 327W) which was causing the problem. She contacted Verizon for me. After a few tests, the tech rep decided to send me a new modem (free of charge!). Once I got the new modem set up, my computer started working and I haven't had any problems for 3 full days now (fingers crossed!).

Now, I have to see if I can sell my video card, motherboard, CPU, cooling fan, etc. to recoup some of my expenses.