"Carmel Mission" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

sold

The Carmel Mission, from the late 18th century, is a Roman Catholic mission church in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA.  I had the reference photo printed out six years ago and sat on it.  I have painted two other paintings of this beautiful place before, but the Mission's architecture with the two nonidentical bell towers was trickier.  Now it's Day Four of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 Challenge.  I decided to be brave.  What do you think of my efforts?

"Carmel Mission Garden Gate" (acrylic, 14" x 18"; sold) 

"Saintly Garden at Carmel Mission" (oil, 5" x 4"; sold)

If you send me your pictures to kimstenbergart@gmail.com, I may make paintings out of them.  How fun is that!  At the end of September, I will do a drawing and one lucky person wins a free painting.  You can buy the painting anytime, but there is no obligation.  Thanks!

"Azalea Shadows" (acrylic on canvas; 20" x 16")

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What would happen if I apply the same approach that I have been using for my watercolor florals on a white ground to the medium of acrylic that dries fast like watercolor?  That's exactly what I did with "Azalea Shadows".  I didn't want the ground to be chalky white so, guess what, I went "wild" with pink!

I arranged the azaleas from my garden to cast beautiful blue shadows. Can you find a butterfly shape in the shadow?  If you are looking for a happy painting, this is it!

Edges are all crisp, as in my watercolors.  I used to think that paintings with all hard edges are no good.  That is one of the reasons that I had stopped painting in watercolors.  Now that I have evolved and matured more as an artist, I don't have such an attitude.  Beauty in art comes in all different edges!

By the way, I took a flower arrangement class for a year at college; flower arrangement is a big deal in Korea and Japan.  I am wondering if my "floral education" is finally paying off!

"Winter Shadows" (acrylic on canvas; 24" x 18")

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In case you are wondering why I haven't been blogging often lately, here is why.  I came down with shingles over the Christmas holidays.  Yes, shingles.  Yes, it really hurts!  So I have been taking it easy.  Yesterday I felt a little better and overdid things.  Boy, a big mistake.  There is no reason, however, why I should always talk about new paintings.  I have plenty of old paintings to share with my readers.  Today I am going to share one of my all-time favorite paintings.

In northern Virginia, where I live, we get very little snow in some winters.  2012-13 seems to be such a winter as well.  Anyhow, this particular winter was one of those disappointing ones.  So when we had a little snow overnight, I was eager to take a walk in the neighborhood park.  There I saw this scene of the mellow winter afternoon sun casting long shadows over the fallen logs.  You wouldn't believe from the painting, but on top of the hill were suburban homes, which I edited out.  The painting was juried into The Art League show in Alexandria, VA in 2007.

"Winter Shadows" hangs proudly in my living room.  I don't paint this big very often, which is a shame.  I could play with subtle changes in color temperature and soft/hard edges throughout the canvas, while maintaining the mood of a brilliant light pouring through and uplifting the viewer.  Do you feel like you are standing in the woods and looking up?

"Tulips and Pansies" (acrylic on canvas; 12" x 10") sold

sold

"Tulips and Pansies" used to be a much larger painting (20 x 16"); it also used to be called something else ("Lovers in Spring Garden").  The scene is from the Market Square in Old Town, Alexandria in Virginia.  In the background one could see cars, buildings, lampposts and passersby. There was also a couple of lovers in a passionate embrace!  It was too much and I found the painting an embarrassment.  It was about to be donated.

Then I looked at it with an objective eye and spotted a nice spring flower bed in the left bottom.  Humm....  Why not crop the painting judiciously, paint over the offending, busy area in the background, and change the bottom right corner into dirt.  Thus was born "Tulips and Pansies".  I am not saying it's a great painting.  It's full of hard edges, for one thing.  But that's how I used to paint several years ago, as I found blending in the fast-drying medium of acrylic very hard.  You know artists grow and evolve and their early works have their own merit. 

Do I sound defensive?  I am not actually.  Have you seen Vincent Van Gogh's earlier drawings, or even his mature paintings?  I am positive that he was still developing when his life was tragically cut short by his foolhardy, if altruistic, suicide.  (He committed suicide to help out his long-suffering brother, Theo, as he suspected that his paintings might start selling with the notoriety of his early death.  He botched his suicide attempt and died of slow, painful death.  Poor guy!)  Obviously, I am not comparing myself with Van Gogh, one of my heroes.  It's just that I am glad that I gave my old painting another chance.

"Fall Patterns" (acrylic on paper; 15" x 11") sold

sold

Do you like Wolf Kahn, a great colorist?  His calendar hanging in my office claims on the back that he is "probably the foremost American colorist."  Whether you agree with it or not, I surely love his semi-abstract art.  But I don't have the courage to paint with his bright yellows, mauves, aquamarines, pinks, and scarlets.  If I dare, my teachers would probably admonish me to tone them down to more "natural" colors.  Perhaps only masters, such as Kahn, can truly follow their aesthetic choices.

In "Fall Patterns", however, I hear the echos of Wolf Kahn.  Have you ever seen the violet fall foliage?  Why is the ground under the tall trees burgundy, or the sky so chalky Naples yellow?  But the painting works, and one feels that it is fall and the leaves are changing colors.  I don't know what got into me to paint like that, but surely like to do it again.

"Snorkeling Fun" (acrylic collage on paper, 20" x 14") sold

sold

Are you tired of the winter and wish to get away to a place where the sun shines and the air is scented with tropical flowers?  Here is a painting that will whisk you away to such a place.  One winter it snowed so much that we couldn't take it any more, so we escaped to Maui for a week.  Soon after we came back, I created this painting in acrylic. 

All the pieces--figures, corals, and tiny swirling orange fish--were cut out from separately painted paper and collaged on a dark blue ground.  A lot of work, but also soothing for a detail-oriented person like me!

"High and Mighty" (acrylic collage on paper, 11" x 7 1/2") sold

sold

You might be surprised to learn that the woman walking the dogs in this semi-abstract collage is the super model Kate Moss.  Or could you tell that from her strutting gait?  I had a lot of fun assembling the pieces of paper painted in acrylic and gluing them onto the support of watercolor paper in Susan Herron's class at the Art League School in Alexandria, VA.

In Susan Herron's class, several years of painting clicked and I finally began to see and paint like a real artist.  She is one of the most generous and innovative teachers whom I had the good fortune to meet.  Despite some personal tragedies, she continues to be a warm, positive human being and popular teacher.  I may have never attended an art college, but will hesitate to call myself a self-taught artist.  I have had numerous influences--direct and indirect--in my art education, and Susan has been one of the former.  Thank you.

"Winter Walk" (acrylic on illustration board, 20" x 30") sold

sold

Nature is not famous for moderation, and has hit the Northeast with another huge snowstorm.  This time, Washington, DC got caught in her furor as well.  Hundreds of thousands of homes are without power; some drivers got stranded on George Washington Parkway for up to 13 hours!  Oh, well.  At least children are home having fun playing in the snow.  

The sun is out. I am going to take a walk in the neighborhood park and take some pictures.  The park has provided many inspirations for my artwork over the years, and maybe I will get lucky today.  The painting won the Second Place in the Potomac Valley Watercolorists show in 2004, and was juried into the Art League show in Alexandria, VA in 2006.

"Winter's Arrival" (acrylic on paper, 10" x 14") sold

sold

It was very foggy the night before, which reminded me of this painting.  It is one of the first pieces that I painted in an opaque medium--in this case, acrylic.  I remember being amazed by the covering power of this fun medium.

In case you are wondering why I have been uploading entries about old paintings lately, here is why.  I am busily setting up my online gallery and can't find much time to paint these days.  You know the feeling of wishing there are more than 24 hours a day.  Teaching, parenting, and trying to launch an online art business all at the same time sometimes get too much, and it is painting that ends up shortchanged sadly.  Today I am determined to work on a new painting that I started yesterday.  Wish me luck.

"Hush, Baby" (acrylic on paper; 4" x 6")

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This is an old piece, but seemed appropriate for the season of angels.  It's an acrylic painting (on paper) of an angel statue in Burgundy, France.  The spots in the background that look like lights sparkling in the sky were created by dropping rubbing alcohol to the still damp surface.  The painting was juried in the Art League Small Works Show in Alexandria, VA in 2002.