Month: May 2020

Purple & Yellow Wakeup Call

When I was sitting on my patio today, I thought about the possibilities of decorating this outdoor space.

Now that open studio tours are on hold, I am displaying an oil painting in the corner window facing the front of my apartment building. This week I chose a painting from my double yolk egg series.

Double Yolk Egg on a Purple Plate (oil on linen, 16 x 20 in.) has 3 basic contrasting colors: purple, cadmium yellow, and white.

I never consciously put it together until today that the color scheme matches my purple pansies, with their yellow and white faces.

This insight was a bit of a wakeup call. This was the first time I considered the possibility of leveraging this cozy outdoor space as an extension of my home studio. Color coordinating paintings and flowers were a new thing for me. For the moment, I’m thinking more like an outdoor installation artist – on a much smaller scale, of course. I can’t wait until the nurseries open up!

On a larger scale, it’s time to think outside the box – to Think Differently (thank you Steve Jobs!). I need to expand my horizons beyond traditional galleries, and take advantage of our new Zoom reality, one small purple-and-yellow step at a time.

Outdoor 2020 Virtual Studio Tour – with Cake!

It was a gorgeous day on Saturday, so let’s begin my 2020 Virtual Studio Tour outside, with three of my favorite cake paintings in contrasting styles and compositions.  

 I was lucky enough to have Bonnie, my very own Vanna White, to showcase my paintings as she has in the past. (See Getting Ready for the Virtual Studio Tour). Only this year she is outdoors for a change of pace – and social distancing.

“Bundt Cake”,
My first cake painting.
Oil on canvas. 16 x 20 in. Beverly Shipko

Lets begin at the beginning with my very first cake painting, Bundt Cake, from my favorite bakery, Riviera Bakehouse, right here in Ardsley. 

This work uses thick paint throughout. Back then, I experimented with a palette knife, and caked on (pun intended) the heaviest paint layers to depict the powdered sugar topping. 

The subject is almost the paint itself.

Detail of “Bundt Cake” showing impasto

Notice that this painting shows a slice of cake taken out, as if it is ready to be served. I took creative license by eliminating the plate it was originally on. That way the cake is larger, and the paint texture of the cake could pop. Hardly anyone noticed the awol plate…

Thick paint texture on detail from “Bundt Cake”

Contrast the earlier Bundt Cake painting with this more recent blueberry cheesecake, titled Falling Blueberries. I painted this for my solo show in Rockland, Maine at The Michael Good Gallery – where the wild blueberry (vaccinium angustifolium, aiton) is the official state fruit. 

“Falling Blueberries”,
Oil on linen, 15 x 20 inches

However, I must confess that these berries came from… drumroll…. Riviera Bakehouse. Not a surprise, is it? BTW, Riviera is open and my friend and owner, Liv Hansen, would appreciate your business.

I spent a great deal of time painting these blueberries, and am proud of this painting. The composition is frontal and bold as cake paintings go. While a few pieces of the cheesecake are missing, they are not shown. 

I think of it as my in your face approach to painting a fruited cheesecake.  The plate hangs right over the front edge of the table, daring you to pick up those loose blueberries with your fingers.

Finally, I give you Blueberry Crumble Pie, unfinished at my last Open Studio. Unlike the rather pristine Falling Blueberries, Blueberry Crumble Pie is just that – crumbling, in a big way.

One of the challenges was to accurately depict the cake tin with all its little crevasses and crinkles, vs. the smooth metal fork.

You can see how the cooked blueberries turned into a rich, reddish blue color. The crumble crust oozes wine colored filling. 

Lots of crumbs here – and you all know how much I love painting crumbs!

I took about 100 photos of various permutations of this pie over a period of 2 hours as we devoured it. There were photos with a pie server, 1 fork, 2 forks, 3 forks, no forks or pie servers. Then there was a 3/4 view of the pie, half a pie, a piece of pie, and no pie at all – just a god awful mess!

In the end, I decided to go with more of an action view – and leave you salivating over the forkful of pie you’re about to eat. 

So are you hungry for more? You’re invited to come back soon.

P.S. WordPress updated their online program in the middle my 2020 Virtual Studio Tour, and the learning curve is steep. There are so many new options, and several of my favorite buttons moved or are hidden. I’ll have to seriously study the online manual. It took me way too long to get this posted. My apologies for the delay.