Art at Chocolate Church Art Gallery...

December is such a hectic month, however if you are out and about in Midcoast Maine, I have 48 pieces of Art out in the world for sale at the moment. Come and take a look.
I am in a group show at The Chocolate Church Art Gallery in Bath, Maine. This show will remain up until the December 18th. Now is the time to pop in, I am featuring a 5 foot Nest, Paint and 2 Crows in the Snow, Encaustic.

Also, I have a collection of Encaustic Shells available at Ornament Home & Garden Shop in Bath, Maine.

A few spots in Brunswick, Maine also have pieces of my Art for sale. Blessings Home and Garden Store & The Brunswick Inn. Stop in they would be delighted to see you.

Nest with a Wild Sky, Dyptic...

This was a fun piece to create. The inspiration is a bird lucky enough to build a nest out of long stringy and various thicknesses and colors of yarn left out just for that purpose. Ah yes, the human impact on nature. This piece is 48x24.

Oyster & Mussel Shells, Encaustic Series 2...

I have been enjoying the feeling of working with Bees Wax, the studio smells of warm honey and my palette is 220 degrees.
As the wax cools I am able to sculpt into the wax and also reveal under layers of the many layers of color.

WOW this is fun! This collection is being shown for sale at "Ornament" Home & Garden Store in Bath, Maine. If you would like to check it out this beautiful shop is open 7 days a week.

New Encaustic Paintings...

I have been having too much fun in the studio. I love to spend the summer exploring the rocky coast of Maine. This year Oyster and Mussel Shells have caught my attention.

I have been studying (since early June) these shells and their nuances of color, texture and all of the sea schmootz that hangs onto the outside of these very interesting shells. The colors are surreal, for real. That was the best part!

Texture, hot bees wax+damar resin(220 degrees) and brilliant pigmented colors come together to create a visual feast and for me a longing of those languid summer days at Hermit Island. mmmmmm.

Good Eggs and Goldfish...

The Good Eggs and Goldfish series are at the moment being shown and sold at Blessings in Brunswick Maine. Blessings is a Home Store with Antiques, Vintage Cool Stuff, Antique, New and Painted furnishings. Diane Vella does a great job putting her darling store together.
She is open Tuesday through Saturday.

Stop by, you will find something cool to take home with you, maybe even a goldfish painting!

10x10 Art Show...

The 10x10 Show is an annual event in the town of Brunswick. I have three pieces in the show this year. There are 186 pieces of fantastic ART. Each piece is 10x10, framed and ready to hang.

 The actual show is Friday October 1st, at the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick.

The View from Above, Good Eggs and Some Goldfish...

I have been busy painting small paintings for the upcoming ART Rave. It is always a delight to paint Goldfish swimming about with funny little grins on their fishy faces! I also have been working on a small series of "Good Eggs" painted on maps, which have been mounted on cradled birch board.
Lastly I mounted maps on a canvas, then painted a stack of 5 eggs with a Crow, contemplating the view from, well, on top of the world. This painting is truly "The View From Above".
If you are interested in seeing these small pieces or my other paintings please come to The ART Rave, Friday, August 13th. 5-9 in Brunswick. See you there!
PS The Rave is a small group of fine artist's. FMI: www.amoveablefeastartgallery.blogspot.com/
KDB

"A Dozen Pieces" Art Show...

Last week I installed my show "A Dozen Pieces" at "The Brunswick Inn" in Brunswick, Maine.
It was sure interesting to see all of these pieces of art hanging in one large room. The owners were enthusiastic and happy with all of these paintings that are inspired by nature, the natural world and true love.

In the show are Eggs, Nests, Goldfish and Crows, no surprise there. A few birds and an Eiffel Tower are also in the mix. Some pieces are large up to 5 feet and others are only 10"x10". I have included Encaustic, Acrylic, Oil Pastel & mixed Media. If you have a moment and find yourself in Brunswick on the common (near Bowdoin College) it is worth a look. A few have sold but will remain for a while.
Give Eileen at The Brunswick Inn a call she would be happy to let you have a look. While you are there you may want to check out her lovely Gardens and main sitting rooms as well as their Bar and Evening Music on random evenings.
The Brunswick Inn
165 Park Row
Brunswick, Maine
207.729.4914

A Good Egg...

I love old Maps and painting eggs! I decided for my dear friend Michael's Birthday to create a bit of fun. I found a map of the coast of Maine (where Michael was born) painted an egg on the map, painted some paper, then typed "a good egg" and added his birth year on the second line. He was as delighted to receive this as I was to create it. Happy Birthday Michael!

Sara Cox is Delilah Pottery...

Every Monday I attend a gathering of Artists. We call ourselves "The Art Hooligan's". We share the work we have been creating, catch up on the upcoming call for Artist's opportunities and work very hard at helping to promote each others work and art in general. We have a wonderful hour or so and then are cast back into our own little worlds. I am very lucky to have such a great group of kindred spirits to share the collective passion of Art and the big imaginations that go with the business of Art!
Today I am featuring one of the "Art Hooligan's" members, Sara Cox. She is a talented Pottery Artist.
Sara is the creative force behind her company, Delilah Pottery. Her Pottery Studio is tucked into the woods on a little back road in Bowdoinham, Maine. When you turn onto the lane that leads to her studio, know that you are about to be enchanted. The long drive passes through a forest filled with dappled sunlight, ancient Apple Trees and of course the huge Pine trees that Maine is famous for. Sara loves this land and walks it most every day. She takes her inspiration from nature and is in a constant state of being amazed and delighted with her finds and musings from her daily adventures in her very own slice of heaven. The Studio is surrounded by Sara’s lovingly maintained gardens. Filled to full with flowers, herbs and bulbs, this garden brings joy to all who are lucky enough to spend time at Delilah Pottery and with Sara. Pinecones, flowers, bark, mushrooms, acorns and a multitude of flowers can be found on her studio table next to her drawing pad, waiting to be turned into a drawing for one of her pieces of pottery.
Sara has a love of the natural world and is in tune with the magic of each season.
The pottery that flows from Delilah Pottery is filled with color choices that are bright, cheery and bold making her style distinctively her own. Always re-interpreting organic forms and shapes in her own whimsical way makes her work original and highly collectible.
Sara mentioned that she was inspired by the work of the Arts & Crafts movement mentor William Morris. His work, mostly textiles and wallpaper were stylized organic forms, drawn from nature. His work is as fresh today as it was in 1860. Sara’s unique etched series of vases and bowls is most like Mr. Morris’ work. They seemed to be carved from wood and are highly graphic with perfect repeats and balance Her painted work is equally as beautiful but filled with whimsy, color and an energy that can only be called joyful. Sara Cox lives and “Artful Life” filled creativity, other Artist’s and her own big imagination. She is doing what she was meant to do, sharing her art and taking wonderful walks in the woods. You can view her work at www.delilahpottery.com Check it out you will be delighted.
Click to view the slideshow...

Encaustic Crows...

MMMMMMM, I have been havin' more fun in my Encaustic Art Studio than a girl should! I had an idea to paint Two Crows in the Snow with some round reddish berries. The most challenging part of this painting was working with the pigments and encaustic medium to achieve the nuance of color and tone of the snow. The birds are almost multi dimensional due to building up with the wax and pigment and etching. This piece is 24" x 12". Encaustic + Oil Pastel on a Birch Cradled substrate.

Encaustic "Abtract Eggs", 2 of 12...

Today I spent the day in my new Encaustic studio, here in Topsham, Maine.
I have been studying birds, eggs and nests ever since I can remember. They are very interesting. So many shapes, colors sizes, habits and habitats. Oh I love that birdie world! The colors of the eggs happen to be my favorite color palette, mostly muted greens, buffs and blues with many flecks and fields of browns, ecru, white and creme. In studying eggs under a magnifying glass the spots became abstract, the edges defined, becoming a series of edges and shapes.









This piece is what I envisioned. Today I finished 2 of the 12 panels, now it is off to the art store for 10 more substrates!
"Abstract Eggs" is 12 separate 12"x12" paintings. They will be connected to form 1 large piece.
BeesWax+Damar Resin = Encaustic Medium, add the color pigments and then the magic happens. This is an interesting medium to work with, using a heat gun and hot beeswax creates an artistic environment that is filled with experiments and happy accidents. The challenge of Encaustic is the more you learn, the more you just don't know. Love It.

Newsflash: Marketing Your Art...

News Flash...
Read all about it.
I am going to be giving a talk on "Marketing Your Art".
It will be fun, informative and you will meet other folks in the "Art Community". Hope to see you there.

"On Monday, April 12 “Guerrilla Marketing” is the topic of Five Rivers Arts Alliance’s Member Meeting with Karen Dominguez-Brann. The presentation is at 6pm at Frontier Cafe, Cinema + Gallery, 14 Maine St., Brunswick. KDB is an artist and designer who lives and works in Topsham, Maine. Her talk will tackle the question
“Does marketing your ART make you crazy?” KDB will talk about Web, Print, E-news, Blasts and Newsletters. In an hour-long session she will teach how each component works and more importantly how well they work together. According to Karen, “We will discuss many options, most, which take very little money and basic minimal effort. You will learn about Blogging, and why, what you say and how you say it, is important for the search engines. You will also discover the beauty of “Viral” marketing on Facebook in conjunction with an e-blast and your just published blog article. Most of all you possibly will leave with an understanding of your place in your identified “Art Market”. See you on Monday April 12th , 6 pm at the Frontier Café.”

Log onto the Five Rivers Art Alliance website FMI.

Encaustic Painting in Maine...

I have become totally enamored with Encaustic painting. Studying the Encaustic's Realm, a tutorial and some inspiration from Jasper Johns, Miranda Lake and other Encaustic Artist's sealed the deal. I am in love with this medium. The sweet smell of honey and the rich colors of pure pigment are absolutely intoxicating. I recently finished a workshop at MECCA (Maine College Of Art) with a fantastic

instructor Kim Bernard. She is brilliant, fun and very talented. If you have a chance to study with her, do it.
The workshop was "Technique" driven. Brushing up on the the basics and also many new tricks with color, heat, fusing and transferring images. This was the perfect 2 day Art Workshop.
Each piece featured in this article is 5x5 "The Bee, Butterflies,Dragonfly, & Nest". All feature different techniques, approaches and colors. My Art Studio here in Maine is a very busy place these days!

Science & Art...

This mixed media portrait was a fun and interesting project. I have featured the physicality as well as some of the "interior' stuff that makes me tick. I am amused by most things and love the analytical and scientific, the natural and celestial world and of course, quirky and beauty. This incorporates many of those key "me" elements. I am looking through a monocle, haloed by a map of the starry sky, with a radiometer perched above, which when hit by the sunshine whirs about giving the piece instant motion! A paintbrush with dried paint is balanced atop of 2 eggs (Yes they always seem to show up!)
This piece also features a California coastal map, covered in some of my favorite Fibonacci numbers. I used a variety of color mediums, pastels, paint, grease pencil and medium gel. All in all it is fun, interesting and makes me smile. This piece is 16x21.

Three Feet of Goldfish, Sweet...

This has been a very productive 2 weeks of painting. One of the finished pieces is 3, 12" canvases with 9 Goldfish swimming happily along. This piece has an abstract style water background and the fish are painted with thin layers of Translucent Golden Acrylic paints. Ahhh, swim little fishies!

Goldfish, at Last...

I have been studying Goldfish for well over a year. My goal was to figure out the shimmers and glimmers of these beauties. Goldfish have a unique shape and they come in many sizes and colors. So after slogging through numerous photos, books and other paintings I was ready to paint these fish myself! I created a background that has the colors of water with plant, light and sunshine affecting the shades. Fun.

After sketching the fish, loosely with a pencil onto the canvas, the moment arrived. All of my theories and techniques came together in a perfect storm and 5 Goldfish appeared on the canvas.. Yes I am joyous, I am happy to look upon my canvas of Goldfish, finally!



Goldfish #1.... 2'x2' Acrylic on canvas.