Uncategorized | Beverly Shipko, Artist

Gingerbread & More at the Holiday Train Show

January 9, 2016 by Beverly

Speaking of iconic candy, Jay and I found these classic sweets in the new Gingerbread Cafe, located right outside of the Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Gardens (NYBG). That’s Jay – in heaven – holding himself back from attacking the dessert table just long enough for me to take this picture.

Of all the sugary items, these M&Ms Candied Apples spoke to me. It never ceases to amaze me how often M&Ms are used in confections. Maybe there’s a future painting here, and I’ll finally paint a cakestand.

Not that I’m eager to promote MasterCard, but this Gingerbread Cafe is a welcome addition to parents who bring their kids for a trek through the NYBG Holiday Train Show. What a great reward! And unlike most typical botanical garden and museum cafes, the food was reasonably priced so a family of four could actually afford a meal here.

Taking home leftovers is encouraged. Thank you MasterCard! Hope you come back next year.

Aside from the sugar rush at the end, the train show itself is gorgeous, especially if this is your first visit to this annual event. I felt like a tourist taking a live tour of New York architectural icons. Only you could never cover all these places in one day.

Instead of brick and mortar, we see 150 intricate small scale re-constructions using bark, leaves, twigs, seeds, flowers, and every other natural material imaginable – with miniature trains zipping all around.

The show starts with some of the biggest and most elaborate architectural displays, a change from previous years. This majestic domed mini-replica of the NYBG Conservatory, where the exhibit is actually displayed, greets you when you walk in. Next up are impressive natural reconstructions of Grand Central Station and Penn State, from where all trains (real and pretend) emanate.

Just to give you a few highlights, let’s start in the next room and take a trip down memory lane to old Yankee Stadium in the Bronx (and the largest crowds too!). Then head down to Midtown Mahattan to see the legendary skyscrapers, like the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings.

Stroll by the New York Public Library on 42nd Street and then up 5th Avenue to the incredibly detailed St. Patrick’s Cathedral with its rose window made out of petals.

Take a boat ride to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

Travel upstate to more exotic locales like Frederick Church’s Olana in the Catskills, with its Moorish inspired design replicated in twigs and seeds.

Finally, end with bang at the World’s Fair in Queens with this stunning display of light and sound in the main rotunda.

There’s still 9 days to go (last day is January 18th), so it’s not to late to take your kids and grandkids. There’s something here for everyone. And now you have the Gingerbread Cafe to further entice (aka bribe!) reluctant friends and family members.

Tickets are timed so online reservations may be a good idea this last week.

Enjoy!

Icons of the Candy World

January 8, 2016 by Beverly

I am proud to show you my first painting of 2016, America’s Favorite Candy Bars: Vending Machine.

It’s also the first painting of my own personal art challenge to kick off the new year (which you can read about here.) The idea was to push myself during the month of January, yet give myself the flexibility to spend as much (or as little) time as I need on each painting.

"Iconic Vending Candies" by Beverly Shipko, 10 x 20 inches, Oil on canvas

“America’s Favorite Candy Bars: Vending Machine” painting by Beverly Shipko, 10 x 20 inches, Oil on canvas

America’s Favorite Candy Bars: Vending Machine is a direct descendant of my first small 5 x 7 inch Vending Machine painting from the recent September 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. It’s also a nod to my former advertising days on the M&M Mars account at DMMB in Manhattan – and the countless competitive analyses I did on these 5 brands!

There are some major differences between the two works. At 10 x 20 inches, this is much larger and took a week (vs. one day) simply to apply the paint, not including sketch time. It’s more finely painted, mirroring the smoothness of the candy wrappers.

With longer proportions, the composition includes 5 candy bars (vs. 4). It’s painted on canvas rather than wood, a smooth surface that I missed when painting the sharp edged logos.

This is the original photo I took of the vending machine at the White Plains, NY train station.

Unexpectedly, I practically ran into it (literally) in my rush to catch a train to Grand Central Station in Manhattan. Having practiced my photo skills previously on many local vending machines, I quickly whipped out my camera (a Pavlovian response), took a bunch of shots, and still made my train.

I started with this detailed sketch to establish the structure of the painting and emphasize the rhymic quality of the rings.

Since there were so many colors and many “moving parts”, I tried a new approach. Here I am in the kitchen painting logos in water-based acrylic paint. My original intent was to let the acrylic paint show through the oil, but I wasn’t happy with the richness of the colors in comparison to oil.

Eventually I repainted everything in oil, which worked out well. It was much easier the second time around, and those annoying little white spots from the textured canvas were already covered and not poking through. Hurrah!

After playing with various permutations of yellow ochres for the Twix Bar, I went to A.I. Friedman to buy my first tube of metallic oil paint.

As a former Twix Cookie Bar Account Executive, I had to get the color right! Then I went back to painting numbers and prices, a time consuming endeavor requiring a lot of patience and soothing music.

One evening when Laura was home for the holidays, she took some photos for this post. When she told me not to laugh, this is what happened.

I was nearly finished. The next day I turned the painting on its side to make refinements to the logos and descriptions, a good idea that gave me much more control.

Perhaps I’m just a glutton for punishment, but I’m already working on another painting with more logos, hopefully as iconic as these.

Can you can guess the subject? Let me know what your first thought is. What is iconic to me may not be to you.

Thank you – and come back soon to see the next work in the series.

My Own Personal Challenge

January 7, 2016 by Beverly

The cold weather is back, which makes January a perfect time to hunker down and paint indoors.

I actually considered doing another 30 Painting in 30 Days Challenge – briefly. I realized that I never explored the exciting ideas coming out of the September Challenge paintings, such vending machines, macarons, and pomegranates, in larger formats.

In fact, I am rather haunted by this small wood panel painting, and can’t pass a vending machine without whipping out my camera. And my camera has a semi-permanent position next the stove when I make eggs, just in case there are some double yolks.

“Vending Machine” by Beverly Shipko, Oil sketch on wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

Besides, I already did two 30/30 Challenges in January and September, 2015, accounting for over 2 months out of 12 (probably closer to 3 if you include planning time). So I know I can do it.

My dilemma: At the end of each Challenge, I was truly inspired, confident, and painting far better than ever before, but was exhausted. I loved the structure of knowing my routine (which I miss) – drawing, painting, posting, getting feedback. The Challenge also pushed me to throw aside my mental constraints and experiment with new subjects, something I hadn’t done for a while.

However, painting and blogging at the end of every day isn’t compatible with two of my New Years resolutions: to go to bed earlier and get more sleep. And then real life intervened with such events like a pantry moth infestation and a cracked tooth requiring a crown, eating up my preparation time at the end of December.

My desk and dining room table are piled high with pantry items rather than my photos, like they were in 2015. Instead of using my large dining room table, I’m temporarily reduced to working with this small chair.

In short, I came back down to earth, and starting thinking differently (hello Steve Jobs!).

Eventially, I came up with the idea of doing my own version of the Challenge, a much more relaxed and less intense challenge.

Here’s the bottom line to my own personal January Challenge: I am not committing to do a painting a day. I am committing here to focus on art the entire month of January, and to get into the studio every day during the month of January and paint.

While I considered setting a goal of painting one larger work a week, I am leaving myself the flexibility to do some small paintings too.

I may work larger, or I may work smaller.

I may blog every day, or I may not.

Two things I definitely know are: I will be doing a lot of painting and will definitely get more sleep!

#tbt Holiday Newsletter

December 31, 2015 by Beverly

Sometimes I wonder why I bother going through old files before tossing them out. Finding this gem from 1994 reminds me why. This vintage edition of Holiday News is perfect for the last #tbt of 2015.

In my recent 1st Annual Online Holiday Newsletter, I mentioned that I hadn’t sent out a holiday newsletter for years. I thought that mine tended to be a rather dry laundry list of activities. In 1994, this was my attempt to liven things up using clip art during the pre-digital photography era, in a newspaper format that served me well during my first New York City job search. I printed this using my first computer and desktop printer.

21 years went by since I put this together. How quickly time passes and technology changes! Writing blogs on the worldwide web that were released to the immediate world was unthinkable – except perhaps to a select few like Steve Jobs.

Jay and I were relative newlyweds with 15 years of marriage under our belt. The girls were in elementary school and pre-K. Now Bonnie has come full circle and is back in elementary school – this time as a teacher. My artist career was in its infancy since we were still living in a small townhouse. I didn’t even have a place to paint.

I was ecstatic when the kids were finally old enough to go to my beloved museums, even if they were quick visits with the highlight being the gift shop.

I’m so happy I found this. It’s so easy to get caught up in daily living and forget to look at the big picture. Even when we try, sometimes we just don’t remember it quite right. I realize now that I didn’t give myself enough credit for my previous holiday newsletter efforts.

We all need to take a step back once in a while, and remember how far we’ve come and how much we have accomplished. Why don’t you do that right now? After all, it’s #tbt.

Happy Holidays!

December 25, 2015 by Beverly

Today when I opened several holiday photo cards with humorous holiday letters, I regretted skipping our family photo card this year.

Holiday cards and letters are a great way to look back on the year as well as to keep in touch, especially if you’re not on Facebook. Inevitably you learn something new about your friends and family. Last year I found out my brother-in-law, Bill, drives all over Kansas to judge barbecue contests (aka Barbecue Bill going forward). Who knew?

And then it hit me. It’s not too late! After all, isn’t a blog post simply a modern day equivalent of a paper newsletter? So welcome to my 1st Annual Online Holiday Newsletter!

2015 will long be remembered as the year of wedding celebrations, all beautiful, unique and memorable each in their own way. This is one of my favorite family photos of the year, since we’re all together and really dolled up.

Family Photo in Philadelphia for Alissa and Jared’s wedding, October 10, 2015

This year we went to 12 different weddings. Jay and I went to 6, Bonnie went to 5, and Laura went to 6 (in Switzerland, Chicago, Evanston, Urbana and 2 in Philadelphia, winning our most miles traveled award). I couldn’t help thinking about wedding cake paintings.

Beverly hanging out with Emily and Josh’s wedding cake in Burlingame, California, May 17, 2015

Lots of dress shopping this year, especially with Laura being in the bridal party in 3 of her 6 weddings. We saw Laura more this year than any other year since she moved to Urbana.

Emily and Nadav’s Wedding, Evanston, Illinois, Photo Courtesy Daniela Cardili, August 15, 2015

Steph and Justin’s Wedding, Rye, NY, September 20, 2015

Here’s the most spontaneous and fun wedding photo of all.

Steph and Justin’s Wedding, Rye, NY, September 20, 2015

We extended the San Francisco wedding trip to include 10 days driving the rugged California coastline up to Mendocino (Jay has nerves of steel!), taking in the wine and art in Napa (more on that another time), and ending with a breath-taking visit to Yosemite.

From an overlook near Point Reyes, California

Rock climbing on Glass Beach in Mendocino, CA

Beverly getting her art fix at the Hess Collection in the Napa Valley, California

An adventurous Jay at Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park, California (not shown is the nervous photographer)

The Evanston wedding coincided with Jay’s national bridge tournament in Chicago. 2015 marked the first time Jay has made it to the semi-finals in a national team event (the mini-Spingold national event, for you bridge aficionados.) Congratulations to Jay!

This was also my first trip with Jay to a national tournament and it was more fun than I thought. While Jay was playing bridge twice a day, I toured Chicago’s distinctive architecture with a dear friend from business school (where Jay and I met), visited my cousins (4 first cousins in the area), went to art museums – and couldn’t stop taking photos of The Bean in Millennium Park (maybe there’s a series here a la Monet’s Haystacks) Now I’m considering going to the 2016 summer tournament. How does Washington, D.C. in July sound to you?

With my twin cousins, Pam and Sue, in Evanston.

The Bean in Millenium Park from the top of the Chicago Athletic Club

One of my many photos from the underside of The Bean

Unfortunately, all these weddings were accompanied by too many funerals, one of which hit me particularly hard. One of my oldest and dearest friends who I met at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Marlene, passed away in July after a prolonged battle with cancer. So I spent our wedding anniversary writing a eulogy for the Philadelphia funeral, but was grateful for the opportunity since it proved to be cathartic, and brought back memories of happier and healthier times.

Beverly and Marlene at one of many Thanksgiving dinners in Philadelphia, 1980s

The 3 day trip was bittersweet since I got to spend time with both her daughters, Debbie (now living in Bethesda) and Lauren (from Santa Monica), and their families, something that hadn’t happened in years. I brought a lot of old photos and this was the favorite.

Marlene with Lauren and Debbie, Valley Forge, PA, 1978.

2015 was the year I broke out of my comfort zone with my art. I participated two different 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenges in January and September. For the first time, I finally tried painting on wood panels instead of linen, and explored a lot of new subjects, food and non-food – including flowers, hood ornaments, double yolk eggs, sunsets and more. I was in a number of shows this year, at the Katonah Museum of Art, Silvermine Art Center, and in American Realism at Cavalier Galleries with branches in Manhattan, Greenwich and Nantucket.

In between the Challenges and weddings, I took 4 trips to Michigan to visit my mother, who celebrated her 90th birthday in her condo where she has lived for at over 35 years. This also gave me a chance to keep in touch with relatives and long time friends, and see the long overdue Diego Rivera retrospective at the Detroit Institute of Arts (a subject for another blog).

Looking back at 2015, no wonder I felt like I didn’t have much free time!

Now for the kids (who really aren’t kids any more).

One of my favorite photos of Laura and Bonnie

Bonnie (right) is in her 3rd year as an elementary special education teacher at Central School in Mamaroneck. It’s a demanding job that requires superior multi-tasking skills (which she demonstrated at Thanksgiving). She has found her calling as a teacher. Somehow she fit Pilates classes into her schedule twice a week, and she spent more time enjoying the food in New York City.

Laura (left) will officially receive her Masters in Biophysics and Computational Biology from the University of Illinois in May. Kudos to Laura! We will be going to Urbana for her graduation ceremony.

And so her job search for a bioinformatics position has officially begun. Her current genetics-based research project at the University of Illinois is funded through July. Of course, being her mother, I’m hoping Laura will return to the greater New York area…. So if you hear of any opportunities, please contact Webmaster Laura at admin@beverlyshipko.com.

As I write this post, I remember why I stopped writing the paper letters – it’s hard. There’s too much to say, and I have a tendency to include a laundry list of things that sounds akin to bragging, particularly without being broken up by photos. Now I better appreciate the consummate skill of Barbecue Bill who writes such entertaining, tongue-in-cheek letters that I chuckle over every year – without a single photo!

As always, I look forward to catching up with all of you, and to seeing you the next time you’re passing through New York. Our door is always open.

I wish each and every one of you a peaceful and joyful holiday season. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The Gift of Art

December 17, 2015 by Beverly

I am pleased to announce that I have 4 small paintings in the Cavalier Galleries Annual Small Works Online Exhibition. Here are the images which are included in the show.

“Crumbs Carrot Cupcake” by Beverly Shipko, Oil on panel, 6 x 6 inches.

“Chocolate Brownie a la Mode” by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradled panel, 5 x 7 inches.

“Blueberry Cheesecake” by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradled panel, 5 x 7 inches.

“Hostess Cupcake with Wrapper” by Beverly Shipko, Oil painting on cradled panel, 6 x 6 inches.

This online show features 100 small paintings, sculptures, and photographs specially selected for the holiday season, all of which which you can see here.

Take a look at these little works with big impact, covering a range of subjects from seascapes, landscapes, city scales, still lives, to a series of dog sculptures (which I know Jay would like since he still talks about his childhood dog, Buttons).

When I go through the exhibit, I see a number of works (besides my own!) which I would be happy to have as gifts.

Good luck with your holiday shopping! Maybe now you’ll have some new gift ideas. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Thanksgiving Bonnie-style

November 29, 2015 by Beverly

Thanksgiving is a holiday I look forward to for months. Welcome to Bonnie’s Thanksgiving Day Feast!

Here’s the behind-the-scenes look at this event, which extends over multiple days.

I’m fortunate enough to have a daughter who absolutely loves to cook Thanksgiving dinner – and she relishes every minute of it. While cooking can sometimes feel like a chore to some (me!), it’s pure joy to her – from planning the menu, making typed and categorized shopping lists, to picking the best looking fresh ingredients. She grows more confident every year.

In 2014, I wrote a blog post about Bonnie’s Thanksgiving called Other Food Artist in The Family. It’s definitely worth reading to understand how much skill goes into assembling the menu and balancing everyone’s likes, dislikes, and dietary constraints.

Yet cooking is more of an art than a science, and Bonnie has the art down. Somehow I can make the same recipes, but they don’t seem to taste as good as Chef Bonnie’s.

In retrospect, I wish I had taken more photos of the prep days. I would have if Laura and I hadn’t gone to Manhattan to meet good friends from Atlanta and see the Macy’s Thanksgiving balloons being blown up. Jay stayed behind to help, easing my guilt at leaving the chef (though Bonnie’s perfectly capable.) As you can see, Bonnie’s fashion sense rubbed off on Jay.

Bonnie was so well organized that she had everything lined up on the counter waiting their turn to go into the oven (glad it’s a double oven!). I was fascinated by her ability to multi-task with ease, juggling 3 to 4 recipes at once, with varying cook times and temperatures – even precooking some of them only to put them back in later so everything could be ready and stay warm at once.

It’s a good thing I re-read my own 2014 Thanksgiving post because I was about to unwittingly repeat myself. I was going to say that Bonnie upped her game, that she outdid herself, and that she made the most recipes ever. However, with 20 different items on the 2015 menu I would have been wrong – she made 23 last year. How quickly we forget!

Minor details, however, since the end result is a astonishing series of dishes that delight everyone’s palate – from butternut squash soup, to baked pears, a butternut squash and apple salad, lemon herb turkey breast, homemake cranberry sauce, quinoa salad, to her signature stuffin’ muffins and popovers in two varieties (with and without gluten).

Psst. Don’t tell anyone, but I hid the pesto green beans in the garage refrigerator to snack on over the weekend.

For me, it wasn’t so much the number of recipes that Bonnie made, but how gracefully she did it that was so impressive. Somehow being a full-time special ed school teacher for another year honed her multitasking abilities. Also, cooking is simply Bonnie’s way of relaxing, being creative, and having pure, unadulterated fun.

I thought Bonnie’s proudest moment was when she pulled her gigantic popovers out of the oven. She is radiating so much happiness looking at the “pop” that I bet Bonnie could write a book about it and give Gretchen Rubin (author of The Happiness Project) a run for her money.

I must confess I don’t do all that much. Jay, Laura and I are just part of the supporting cast. Bonnie keeps us busy all day cleaning pots and pans and making counter space in anticipation of upcoming dishes. My favorite contribution is setting the dining room table.

Now it’s time to get dressed and dig in. I’m always surprised by how we clean up so well and amazed by Bonnie’s limitless energy after such a long day, and her ability to savor her own handiwork. A lesser mortal would be asleep by now.

Here’s the chef’s dinner plate.

We took a cleanup break between the main course and dessert to make more room for this delectable finale, as if we weren’t stuffed enough already.

Bonnie’s heart has always been in baking, as you can see from these 5 desserts, including two a sour cherry tart and pumpkin pie that rival those from the famed Riviera Bake House here in Ardsley. The last three are a pear galette and two delicious gluten-free dairy-free options – apple date bars and caramel cheesecake (in the square tins), both using an almond butter, coconut flake and date pie crust. The family practically attacked the dessert table.

Of course, we couldn’t forget the traditional family selfie.

Though somehow we did manage to skip our tradition of going around the table to say what we’re grateful for. But then it’s never too late, is it?

I am grateful for my good health, my wonderful and accomplished family who support me in all the endeavors I choose to pursue. I especially appreciate having a daughter who is happiest in the kitchen on Thanksgiving, as well as throughout the year. Her happiness is contagious and I am a much better cook because of her (note I reserve the chef designation for Bonnie).

Thank you, Bonnie, for another memorable holiday feast, and for dramatically changing my attitude towards cooking!

While I can’t really speak for the rest of the family, one picture is a thousand words.

I hope you enjoyed the celebration half as much as we did, and you’re all invited back next year!

My Place in American Realism

November 3, 2015 by Beverly

I’m happy to say that I’m part of a illustrious group show, “American Realism: From Past to Present,” at Cavalier Galleries in midtown Manhattan which runs through November 30th.

From start to finish, Jay and I thoroughly enjoyed the opening of this exhibit, packed full of visually striking representational works, and quite a welcome change from the many purely conceptual shows in Chelsea.

Realism is alive and well on 57th Street.

It was nice to see familiar faces as soon as we arrived, when we were greeting by our friends Nina Fixler and Mark Rosenstein. The reception was well attended throughout the evening, which kept me so busy that I didn’t have much time for the art!

Photo by Doug Harrington

After taking a quick look around, we found my two paintings in this room, with a striking painting of Manhattan views by Jenness Cortez on the far left. It was especially fitting to find Bonnie’s Carrot Cake (4 panels) on the far wall, together with Crumbs Bake Shop Cupcakes (Bonnie’s 12-Pack) on the right, since Bonnie played an instrumental role in both works by eating the original subjects.

People often ask me what style or category my work falls in. Usually I answer contemporary realism. This show gave me a new perspective on my own work by positioning it within the much broader context of the American Realist Movement, harking back to the 19th century.

Some of the great icons in American art were included, such as Eastman Johnson, George Inness, John Singer Sargent, James McNeil Whistler, Mary Cassatt, J. Alden Andrew and Jamie Wyeth, among others.

Jamie Wyeth, “Summer House”, 1970, watercolor, and Andrew Wyeth, “Wash Basket”, 1968, watercolor.

This was one of my favorite walls with paintings by a Joel Carson Jones, working in the tradition of American trompe l’oeil (“fool the eye”) 19th century painters John Frederick Peto and William Harnett, whom I have always admired.

Small paintings by
Joel Carson Jones, Oil on panel, 2010 – 2015.

The show was full of pleasant surprises, like this particularly appealing Louis Comfort Tiffany painting (where Jay is talking to our friends Carol and Len Schwartz). I want to make sure give Carol a shoutout since she’s been my #1 fan, religiously following my blog through both monthly painting-a-day challenges. Being the daughter of an artist, she sees things that many people don’t and gives me valuable feedback.

When Barbara Pedersen arrived, the proud owner of Jay’s Blueberry Tart, I knew we would have a lively discussion about the exhibit. Barbara has been to more art galleries than I have!

American Realism is an impressive show that you truly have to see in person to appreciate and savor – which is exactly what I did when I went back for the second time. It will be worth the trip (and I’m not saying that just because my work is in it!)

Cavalier Galleries is located at 3 W. 57th Street, just west of Fifth Avenue, on the 4th floor. Since there’s major construction on the corner, be sure and look for the street level signage by the entrance.

Enjoy the show!

Day 29. Mini Tootsie Roll with Bag

October 8, 2015 by Beverly

I seemed to be hooked on candy.

And just maybe Halloween is top-of-mind from the pumpkin decorations that Bonnie already put up.

“Mini Tootsie Roll with Bag” by Beverly Shipko, Oil painting on cradled wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

Whatever the reason, this was truly a rewarding but demanding painting that took a a few days. After working for several hours, I decided not to rush this since it had a lot of potential.

I wanted to revisit little Tootsie Rolls with it’s bag (that says Midgees on it, which doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue). Using a camera as my digital sketchbook, I took 25 photos with the bag before settling on this composition (reminding me of the dramatic angles in 19th century Japanese woodcuts).

It took a while to come to grips with the different scale between the bag and the Tootsie Rolls, and find a dynamic composition using this atypically shaped candy (rather static and awkward from this painter’s perspective).

Less was more in this painting. I settled on a single Tootsie Roll, eliminating both wrapped and unwrapped ones ion various stages of being consumed.

I went right to the sketch, skipping the toned underpainting, and started with the bag – not surprising since I like use the darks to establish the structure. The above photo shows where I was at the end of the first day of painting.

Thanks again to Ed Price, my Northwestern business school buddy, who first planted the seed of painting mini Tootsie Rolls, which weren’t on my radar.

I’m proud of the last two iconic candy paintings, the Day 28 Kit Kat followed by today’s Day 29 Mini-Tootsie Roll with Bag, which are drying together on my mantel. While both have a similar color palette, the approach for each is distinct. Do you have a favorite?

With Jay’s help, there will be a lot more open wrapper “research” around here as Halloween approaches. Photos of your own handiwork all always welcome.

I’m getting a sugar high just thinking about all this candy, so I need a break. Maybe it’s time to go back to painting something more healthy – and finish up Apples and Honey from Day 15, which in the sketch stage.

I’ll decide tomorrow. Until then.

Collage from the 30/30 Challenge

October 5, 2015 by Beverly

Well, I must confess that I have 27 images for my summary “collage”, with 3 paintings left to go.

I thought I had 28 paintings but I couldn’t find the Day 16 painting anywhere. That’s because I skipped Day 16 to celebrate Rosh Hashana (it’s coming back to me now…).

This morning I started by pulling all the images together and resizing them for easy uploading. After experimenting with various templates, I designed my own custom collage layout on picmonkey.com (a useful free site for creating Facebook banners too) to post on Leslie Saeta’s Looking Back on 30 Paintings in September blog before the upload link closed.

This was my favorite collage, which I posted.

As with most computer tasks, it took longer than expected – even though I had done this once before. And I never did figure out how to add the border and caption to the collage like I did after the January Challenge, which you can see here.

Nevertheless, I was so pleased with the layout and myself for all that I had accomplished – until I realized my Mom’s birthday cupcake was missing, as were the drawings. Here are all 27 works in an earlier version using a pic monkey template as the base.

Now I’m going to take a break, order a new LED TV to replace the one that broke 3 weeks ago (back to reality), and try that first layout one more time (the perfectionist in me is showing again). I’ll give it an hour, then I’ll put the collage aside to get to work on another painting.

I have the luxury of painting for 3 more days this week, and am looking forward to it. See you tomorrow.

P.S. At 8pm, here’s what I came up with. Everything is here, and the macaroons are larger, but I think I like the simplicity first one even with its missing images. Probably no one else would even notice, and maybe I’m just talking to myself… Which one would you use on a future postcard?

Day 28. Kit Kat

October 5, 2015 by Beverly

“Give me a break,
Give me a break,
Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat Bar”.

“Kit Kat” by Beverly Shipko, Oil painting on cradled wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

With this Kit Kat painting, I took another trip down memory lane back to my days in advertising at DMB&B in New York City working on the M&M’s Twix Cookie Bars account. For two years, I lived and breathed the candy (ate it too, and gained a few unwanted pounds with all the cases of free candy lying around).

Since both Twix and Kat Kat are made from wafers, they are direct competitors. As a result, I closely monitored Kat Kat marketing activities in the US and Europe. The overseas Kit Kat commercials were really whimsical and silly – much different in tone than American ads.

This Hershey candy felt so familiar that I felt like I was getting reacquainted with an old friend during the entire process.

As I was working, this painting reminded me of another Hershey candy painting, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, from the January Challenge, with its similar orange and brown color palette. That was when I first discovered the myriad of possibilities with opened candy wrappers. I also think the Day 7 Vending Machine painting had a subliminal effect on this choice of subject.

Painting this was just plain fun.

Surprisingly, the most difficult part was the setup because the package didn’t rip open very easily or elegantly. After going through quite a few Kit Kats, I returned to this first bar, which was opened by Bonnie. Thanks, Bonnie!

Now that it’s October, technically the September 30 Painting in 30 Day Challenge is over, but not for me. When Laura was home in mid-September, she suggested a modification this concept to accommodate this exceptionally busy month: 30 Paintings in 40 Days

I will be posting my end-of-Challenge collage tomorrow here and on Leslie Saeta’s blog. However, I will keep going and build on my momentum. I’m painting better than I have for months with all this practice, and I have a few more paintings I want to try before leaving for Philadelphia for the weekend (not to mention the ones that need work).

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Day 27. Macarons

October 1, 2015 by Beverly

This quiet pastel painting is quite a contrast to the bold, graphic paintings from Day 24 Salmon in Red, White and Black and Day 25 Classic 1959 Dodge, which is maybe what I needed.

“Macarons” by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradled wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

Thank you, Betty Heller, for sending me the photo for Macarons after your trip to Belgium, which was taken at the inimitable DelRey shop in Antwerp. It’s a beautiful composition and I’ve been looking at it for about a year, but that’s all – looking…. until now.

Despite the fact that I had never painted a single macaron, I plunged ahead with this rather ambitious painting of 24 macaron (not macaroon, so Bonnie tells me). I hesitated before starting, but knew I was painting well (practice makes perfect). With the official Challenge ending soon, I knew it wouldn’t be the end of the world if this took 2 days – and it did. Besides, I’m already 3 days behind, so what’s another day. Here’s where I started and ended the first day.

After painting 10 macarons yesterday, today went a little easier. It’s funny how I started seeing these as mouths (especially the ones with the dark frosting). I just plodded along, experimenting with subtle differences in colors to try and capture soft tones, which is something different for me. Near the end, I started working on the light and shadows to bring life to the piece.

This is definitely a painting I wouldn’t have tried without the Challenge. And it took almost a month of intense painting before I felt confident enough to tackle it.

I took a risk and it paid off. Having said that, tomorrow I’ll be working on something a little less risky. I’ll try and get 2-3 more paintings in before making a collage of all my Challenge work, which I’ll post here.

The collage will be a great opportunities to look back with me at all that I accomplished in September. I hope you’ll join me.

Day 26. Christo in Central Park

September 29, 2015 by Beverly

I’m still working on my Day 26 painting, Christo in Central Park.

Maybe I was overconfident after yesterday’s terrific success, 1959 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer (Day 25). And perhaps I was impatient to get onto the next painting.

Last night, I developed a good plan for my Day 26 painting of Christo’s Gates in Central Park, featuring the King Jagiello Monument which is prominently located at the top of a hill near Belvedere Castle. Sketch, put in a light blue acrylic underpainting, lay some of the the dark brown foreground in, and let it dry overnight before putting in all those tiny little branches and shrubbery.

So far, so good, so I thought.

This morning I took up where I left off, but didn’t stick to the plan, making several unworkable mistakes – at least for now. Right away I realized two things needed to be corrected: the blue underpainting was too light and the dark brown should have been black.

Instead of darkening the blue background first, I impulsively got out my black paint (which takes a while to dry) and repainted some of the trees. Then I worked on the sky, which is now too blue, and ended up nicking the wet black oil paint in a few spots.

After I put in some of the foreground color (too much of it, nicking another black tree along the way), I decided that I liked this painting better without the color, but I can’t take it out yet since the strong, wet colors are bleeding into each other.

So it’s time to stop, let this dry, regroup and move on. Next week, I’ll come back to this after the Challenge is over. Right now I am thinking this would make a great sketch.

Hope you stop by to see the final work.

Day 25. Classic 1959 Dodge

September 28, 2015 by Beverly

"1959 Dodge Comet Classic Car" by Beverly Shipko, Oil painting on wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

“1959 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer” by Beverly Shipko, Oil painting on wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

That’s the case with this painting. I was tempted just to post this without saying anything, but I don’t have it in me. However, I will keep this short.

When I look at this painting in person, I feel really happy. In Marie Kondo’s jargon, this sparks joy. And a lot of it.

Why, you may ask? It has such presence, which I hope you can see in the photo. And the whole process of creating this painting was joyful from beginning to end, which is why I spent an extra half day today working on it. After all, you can take the girl out of the Motor City, but you can’t take the Motor City out of the girl.

Back to work. See you tomorrow.

Day 24. Salmon in Red, White & Black

September 27, 2015 by Beverly

Day 24 marked another first in the Challege: my first entrée ever, salmon.

The full title of this painting is Salmon in Red, White and Black, since the colors are such a big part of this piece. (I’ve got Whistler’s Mother on the brain, which he formally titled Arrangement in Grey and Black.)

“Salmon in Red, White and Black” by Beverly Shipko, Oil painting on cradled wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

This past February, I was having lunch with my college friend, Lynn Hilkene, who still lives in Ann Arbor and goes to all the Michigan football games. (One day I’m going to go with her!) We met for a long lunch at the Beverly Hills Grill in Southfield, MI, where we sat for hours chatting a mile a minute.

I remember this particular lunch because we talked about the Challenge, when resulted in my Top 10 Lessons Learned post. After taking our obligatory photos, we ordered our favorite foods. In my case, it’s the salmon.

When my meal came, I was struck by the strong graphic quality of the composition on the table before me – the squares of the plate and napkins softened by the the circles of the glass and dressing cup and saucer, and the dramatic contrast of darks and lights. I considered the side views through the camera LED screen, but they didn’t look as compelling to me.

This was an ambitious choice because it was an entrée, which included a glass with ice cubes and a submerged spoon, either of which could have been a subject on its own. Here I was trying try to limit myself to simple paintings, and then I do the exact opposite.

The evolution of Salmon in Red, White and Black is rather interesting and I’ll show you why. I started with a detailed drawing, put in the background and shadows, and used a red background more evocative of the mahogany table appearing black in the photo. My intention was to darken the red with a deep brown. At this point, I actually thought about turning this into a gresaille painting (all greys to imitate sculpture, except for the crimson). I’m still wondering how it would have looked in greytones. What do you think?

Then I went back with the original plan and started adding in color beginning with the lemons and salmon.

I didn’t finish this in one day (probably shouldn’t have taken that hour off yesterday), and here’s what greeted me this morning. For a few hours, I worked on the glass, cup and spoon, and brought the color intensity of the salmon and vegetables up to the level of the lemons (which is more evident in person). My last step was to add the highlights to the green beans and deepen the shadows.

I have to stop to get ready for a RiverArts fund-raising party where my Oreo Mandala print is being auctioned off today. This is probably a good thing since the painting looks fresh and lively.

While I am still several days behind schedule, I am very happy with my first entrée of plated food, potentially opening a new door for a series. As with many of my paintings this Challenge, they look better in person, and this one does too. So stop by and see for yourself.

Later today, I’ll be working on another painting inspired by a Michigan trip. Until tomorrow.