Dutch Encore

Just as we were about to skate away from the Holland scene I remembered that some of our Junior Artists still had to put finishing touches on their landscapes from last week.  These watercolor scenes were mostly inspired by the monochromatic Blue Delft tiles we had studied.  So this morning we finished up, and here are a few photos of works in progress.

Ice at Mill Creek's edge

Outside the Rabbit windows we could see ice and bits of frost still skirting the edges of Mill Creek leftover from Monday’s snow.  Quite picturesque but very damp and downright cold.  Not to fret.  Inside the studio things were warm and bright with the wood stove crackling as we painted windmills and nibbled on yesterday’s Valentine candy.

My daughter, Angel, presented me with a delightful crocus arrangement last week in…of all things…a Delft shoe, and the rich purple buds are now opening.  Could very well be an appealing still life subject.  Here it is:

Anybody know how to say "Good-bye for now" in Dutch?

For St. Valentine

The last box of Christmas tree ornaments that we packed away this year just happened to contain an assortment of various colored glass hearts.  I commented to my daughter, Aimee, who was helping me put things away, how I wished somehow we could keep the tree up year-round.  She responded by retrieving the red and pink hearts from the box and suggesting that we create a Valentine tree…of sorts.  The glistening hearts were soon hanging in  a vase of branches and will, I’m sure mark the beginning of a new tradition in our household.

Aimee's Valentine "tree"

A similar thing happened in the kitchen as I was dismantling a tired arrangement of flowers.  A red paper Cardinal which had served as a gift tag at Christmas, became the perfect herald for St. Valentine among the dried remnants of baby’s breath which I couldn’t bear to throw away.

The Junior Artists will be creating Valentines in the studio tomorrow and Tuesday.  I hope all of you who are reading this receive many tokens of love from those you care about.  Here is a Valentine for you from The Brown Rabbit fashioned from watercolors and sealing wax.

With love from The Rabbit....Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Domestic Inspiration

Art Trivia Question:  What well loved 17th century Dutch master comes to mind with these clues: blue and yellow color dominance, tranquil domestic scenes, large wall maps, black and white tile floors, women and musical instruments, light streaming through casement windows illuminating the subject…?

These motifs were used and repeated over  and over again with variation by none other than Jan Vermeer, of Dutch Golden Age fame, who produced most of his masterworks within the confines of two rooms of  his home in Delft… proof that one does not have to travel to far-away places to search for inspiration for painting.  Sadly, Vermeer left us less than forty artworks, two of which can be seen in the above photo: Girl with a Pearl Earring, often referred to as the “Dutch Mona Lisa”, and View of Delft, one of perhaps only two landscapes.  You can see the favored blues and yellows that permeate these paintings.

Samples of hand painted Delft tiles and a Delft pitcher and vase–items that are still  produced in this port town, can also be seen in the photo.  The pitcher came down to me from my godfather who grew up on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao, where the business of exporting Delft pieces provided a lucrative income for his family.

Try painting a windmill...

The Gray Rabbit assisting John

Out in The Rabbit Studio we are producing our modest contribution to the world of Dutch art.  We, like Vermeer, are reveling in blue.

Detail of Delft

Why the Rabbit?

     Visitors to the The Brown Rabbit Studio often ask, “Why did you choose a rabbit for your logo?  What does this have to do with an art studio?”   Well, here’s my case for the rabbit…

Before moving to Kansas in 2001, I had established an art business in central Mississippi on the grounds of our antebellum farmhouse, where I taught painting classes and sold paintings, note cards, and watercolor bookmarks.  I called this business The Paper Garden, since all of my wares at that time were on paper, and I maintained  lots of flowerbeds to provide inspiration  for creating art.  My logo consisted of a white rabbit in the grass with the words, The Paper Garden, inscribed in an arc enclosing him.  I used this name and logo for several years and had it screen printed on aprons and t-shirts which I sold and gave away to promote the business.

In 2001 my family and I decided to move to Kansas, and my husband sent me along with one of our daughters to find a house.  On our first night in the wind swept state, Claire and I were sitting on the balcony of The Paxico Inn sipping  local wine and surveying the peaceful rural landscape.  It was twilight of a spring evening and all the town was still and quiet.  Then came the brown rabbit.  He had made his way up from the direction of Mill Creek, south of town, and appeared to be scoping things out.  Along Newbury Avenue he hopped, stopping here and there to adjust his whiskers and take an occasional sniff.  Claire and I held our breath and watched, fascinated.  The rabbit didn’t seem to notice us at all and contented himself  with loping along in a leisurely way surveying the shops.  At last, he pointed his ears toward the creek and returned from whence he had come, leaving us with the feeling that we had been visited by a blithe spirit .

A few weeks later my husband and I purchased the house we now live in, perched along the edge of the creek bank that houses the rabbit and his numerous kin.  We are just a few yards from The Paxico Inn and pass under the memorable  balcony every day on our walk to the post office.  When I opened my Kansas studio the wild brown rabbit seemed to be the perfect logo.  After all, it was he who had made our little town seem as if it were enchanted, and it was just a matter of exchanging a white for a brown one.

I have had some bookmarks printed with a poem dedicated to him:

Paxico, a place to go

the pace is slow

      the woodstoves glow

                             your whiskers grow.

     After a long refreshing Christmas break, I am painting skies again, and creek scenes.  In the junior classes we are still looking at the Dutch painters and I will post some samples of the best work soon.  Drop by when you can.  The coffee pot is on and every now and then we are visited by a rabbit……..

Waiting for Snow

We are waiting and hoping for snow to fall on Mill Creek before winter is out so we can paint the real thing.  By this time last year, as the photo shows, Paxico was already a winter wonderland.  Seems like this year we’ll have to wait a little longer.  In the meantime, studying and copying the snowy landscapes of the seventeenth century Dutch painters is keeping us busy enough.  Since there is never a shortage of snow in the northland, artists like Henrick Avercamp and Esaias Van de Velde had all the inspiration they could want for painting in winter.  Usually their landscapes are crowded with figures engaged in all sorts of  outdoor activities: skating, sledding, working, and even enjoying snowball fights.

  Here is a slice of a 400-year-old Dutch painting by Avercamp entitled, A Winter Scene with Skaters Near a Castle.  Known as the ‘mute of Kampen’, Avercamp was born deaf and was never able to speak.  This impediment didn’t prevent him from studying in Amsterdam and successfully selling his paintings all over Europe.  The modern viewer is drawn to enter his charming winter scenes and join in the fun!

Aspiring  artists of The Brown Rabbit Studio painted snow scenes in watercolor this week, drawing their inspiration from the cheery winter landscapes of the Dutch painters.  Palette colors were restricted to earth tones of Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine Blue, and Burnt Sienna.

Seventeen year-old Michael's watercolor was the class favorite.

Epiphany

"When Jesus therefore was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of King Herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him' ...... and behold the star which they had seen in the east went before them until it came and stood over where the child was. And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother. And falling down they adored him. And opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh." Matt. 2

Young Artists of The Brown Rabbit Studio prepared for the great feast of Epiphany by creating their own versions of the gifts of the Magi.

Chests for gold, and vessels for frankincense and myrrh…….

The Brown Rabbit put some sweet myrrh incense into the wood stove while the Young Artists were drawing .  What a heavenly fragrance!

The best part was sprinkling glitter over the gifts!  Thomas and David Devine are gearing up for the best part!

A Blessed Epiphany to All

Christ is born!

"A light shall shine upon us this day: for the Lord is born unto us: and He shall be called Wonderful, God, the Prince of Peace, the Father of the world to come: of Whose reign there shall be no end.....

Merry Christmas from The Rabbit !

Sky Over Paxico

Sky Over Paxico   6×8 Oil 

We’re still painting skies in The Rabbit this week and this is a small one I just finished and framed.  It is a simple composition, but since it’s all about clouds, I wasn’t too worried about obsessing over the foreground.  It was quick and fun to do.  The students have been inspired to create some rather dramatic works of their own in imitation of that incomparable master of  the American skyscape, Eric Sloane (1905-1985), whose life and work we have been studying.   Having painted nearly every day for the last thirty years of his life, he left a treasure trove of art works-all done in his dramatic manly style.  Toward Taos is perfect example of Sloane at his best and has served as the springboard for the artists of The Brown Rabbit.  The thumbnails that follow are a few student works.

"Toward Taos", Eric Sloane

The Scared Rabbit

Phil Starke in Action

Attending a painting workshop is usually a humbling experience for me since I rarely perform well in a group.  Nevertheless, from time to time I sign up for a class or workshop to broaden my outlook and to learn from a contemporary master.  Phil Starke is just such a master.  This past Monday and Tuesday this Tuscon based painter was in Topeka to direct a workshop sponsored by The Topeka Art Guild, and this opportunity was just too good to miss.

Sure enough, sitting at a tabletop easel for two days with six other painters, I thoroughly disgraced myself, becoming tense as a scared rabbit and acting as if I had never painted in my life.  Still, I have to admit the humble pie was good for me, pride being my dominant fault, and watching Phil work his painting magic made up for my temporary misery.

During the workshop Phil presented two colorful painting demos.  In this photo he demonstrates how to summon order out of chaos.  He begins by establishing a color base, pushing paint back and forth across the canvas in a rather haphazard fashion.  Quickly he wipes out the dominant shapes-a cluster of rustic buildings-to establish his focal point.  He then puts color into the whited out area creating rooftops, barn walls, and shrubs.  Magically, a charming rustic scene begins to take shape, and even in these early stages, the embryonic painting has more appeal than the photo from which he is working.  You can see in the next pictures how he began and progressed with rapid strokes and rich color notes.

Sorry to say, I didn’t get a photo of the finished work since artistic paralysis set in when the time came for me to deal with my own blank canvas.  I sat moaning and mumbling in the far corner of the room while the other participants began happily and confidently painting at their stations.

The most popular classes I teach are the Scared Rabbit variety.  Having often descended into regions of fear dark and deep with regard to my own painting pursuits, I can well recognize that demon, Panic, when he enters the studio.  I even keep a plush stuffed rabbit handy in case a student needs a pacifier.  Wish I had taken that rabbit to the workshop.  Saying a siilent prayer as I perspired, saved me from total disgrace, and I brought home some fledgling paintings which I will finish in the sanctuary of The Rabbit.  Thank you, Phil Starke!

Demo almost finished...

Painting Skies

Waiting for Rain 24x30 Oil

Waiting for Rain began as a demonstration I undertook a while back for a lady who had signed up for a few private lessons at The Rabbit.  She had never painted anything in oil-ever-and yet was determined to complete a large panoramic Kansas skyscape to hang over her sofa. She had brought along some photos of skies that appealed to her.  I was impressed with her sense of daring and determination and began our first meeting with a quick demo of how to spread and mix colors on the canvas .  I began by dashing off long horizontal strokes of Ultramarine, Cobalt, Yellow Ochre, and some other earth tone pigments.  Then I wiped out the clouds and hills, stopped for lunch, and went back to add trees and cows.  Using this Alla Prima method, basically quick, and “all at once”, the painting was completed in a couple of hours.  Chris (the brave lady) came back to see me a couple of times and did the very same thing herself  using greens and blues to match her living room decor.  After three lessons, having never seriously painted anything, she took home her own large and impressive oil painting, which now hangs over her sofa.  Some determination and a pinch of recklessness go a long way!

We are painting mostly skies in The Rabbit this week, and I will post a few student works of art as I promised, in the hope that you will be inspired to paint a few of your own.

The Mionis, The Brown Rabbit and Susan

Pictured are some of the aspiring cloud painters….I will post more images later in the week.

Susan

by Andrew Mioni

by Joseph Mioni

by Nicholas Lapin