Some Inspirations This Week

Earlier this week I got to see “Red”, the Tony-award winning play about one of my favorite painters, Mark Rothko.  In the first act there’s a terrific back-and-forth between Rothko and the young artist he’s hired to be his studio assistant, of different things colored red.  Its a verbal panoply of all things red, and in my mind’s eye as I visualized each thing they mentioned:  tomatoes, blood, lips, cherries, apple, red pepper, rose, red hair, beets, lobsters (cooked), sunsets, strawberries, pomegranates, poppies, I saw all those different versions of red:  cadmium red, alizarin, vermilion, scarlet, carmine, crimson, garnet and more.  All so different, and all so red.  I use them a lot.  Its a fun exercise, and illustrates so well the differences between warm reds and cool reds to boot.  In my workshop 2 nights later we started doing a similar thing, so they could all start envisioning different variations of just the one color.

 

Its a fun exercise, and illustrates so well the differences between warm reds and cool reds to boot.  In my workshop 2 nights later we started doing a similar thing, so they could all start envisioning different variations of just the one color.

Next:  I was born in the Year of the Monkey, so it’s ‘my’ year according to the Chinese zodiac calendar.  There have been some interesting illustrations for it online on various social media sites, but I wanted to share one with you all especially.  A friend of mine, Kay, who does sumi-e, created a lovely tribute to this year here.

And finally, speaking of reds, have a lovely Valentines!

Being On the Other Side of the Painting Experience, Part 1

The artist, next to my tulips painting (see the clipping of it over in the right-hand column, there).  Segment of painting in process, by Janet Logan

A little over a week ago, for my first time ever, I was the model for a small artist’s group.  This all came about when 2 friends, mother and daughter, came over for coffee in July.  I met Connie while at an former job, where one of my responsibilities was to schedule educational seminars for the members of the professional organization.  Connie worked for a company in New England that gave qualified educational seminars, which she brought to us and was the seminar presenter.  She came out a total of three times, over the years, but when she came to do the first one, she asked if her mom, who lived nearby, could come to see her give the seminar.  Her mom, Pat, turned out to be a painter too, and we immediately hit it off.  After I left that job, I lost contact with Connie, sadly.  Then a little over a year ago, Pat emailed me that Connie had an artist client for whom she was doing PR who was going to be a group show nearby here, and could I come to the opening?  And suddenly, happily, we were back in contact.  Thank goodness for the internet!  

So Pat and Connie came to visit, we were having a great conversation over cafe’ lattes, when Pat suddenly said she loved the way I was sitting on my couch, under one of my paintings, and would I consider modeling for this group she paints with? Long story short, we scheduled it, and it happened a week ago Thursday.  

In the emails confirming the date, Pat was so excited that I was going to pose for them.  She wrote, “You were just so elegant sitting in your space with your large painting behind, being so animated about your work.  So, if you could bring your couch and that large painting, that would be good.”  I howled as I shared this little gem with Connie.  Just so you know, the painting she was referring to is a very large piece, the paper is 40″ tall by 60″ wide.  Unframed.  But her enthusiasm was so fun and so sweet to hear, that I offered to bring one or two of my 22″ x 30″ pieces with me to hang on the wall behind me while I posed, if she wanted.  She was thrilled. 

So, here is where I was sitting when Pat and Connie came over:  my couch and the painting over it.  I was sitting on the right side of it, leaning on the arm of the couch, as you can see in the drawing up top, with my legs up on it, out to the side.  

And here is the set-up Pat had ready for me at their studio, with a futon approximating my couch, and two of my watercolors (obviously not as large, and much easier to transport) up on the wall behind.

Very similar!  And particularly easy, since I don’t have a bevy of nubian slaves that would be able to schlep my couch and painting onto my car, and to this painting studio.  Yet.

And here is Pat with her painting of my part-way through the session.  And yes, Pat is wearing one of my scarves that her daughter Connie had ordered from me for Pat’s birthday.  Doesn’t she look great in it!

More of my experience watching others paint while I model, and their paintings in the next posting.

Preview! Delicious New Hand-Painted Silk Scarves

 “Flower Fields” design

For the first time anywhere, here is a sneak peak at my new hand-painted line of silk scarves.  This is a path I’ve envisioned for a long time, and I’m thrilled to at last bring my designs to life in wearable art.  

I have three designs I’m currently making.  Above is the Flower Fields design, the first design in the collection.  This one is on delicate Habotai silk, a floating, semi-transparent silk with a delicate lustre.  

“Flowers” design 

The Flowers scarf above is on charmeuse, so it’s more opaque yet still has a lovely high lustre.  I’ve done this one so far with these lovely watermelon-colored blossoms, and also in periwinkle.  Colors can be ordered to match!

“Circles and Dots” in blue, green and marigold

The “Circles and Dots” can come in a variety of colors, and can be ordered to match.  The blue, green and marigold scarf is on chiffon, the pink, orange and periwinkle below is on crepe de chine.

“Circles and Dots” in orange, magenta and periwinkle

The next scarf is a version of the “Flower Fields” scarf, featuring fun, whimsical flowers without the stems that are in the scarf at the top, so it’s called “Wild Flowers”.  This one has a more delicate feeling, again because of the Habotai silk’s shimmering, diaphanousness.  On crepe de chine the colors are a bit more vivid and cheerful where as this looks more subtly happy.

“Wild Flowers” in pinks, magentas, oranges and yellows

I hand-paint each scarf , so no two are alike.  The flowers and field scarf designs are all numbered, and all the scarves are signed.  And the edges are hand-rolled and finished.  And they are washable, so they are easy-peasy to take care of!  

These are some of the scarves I will have for sale this weekend at my show “Revel in Flowers” at Peet’s Coffee & Tea in Corona del Mar, CA. I’ll be at Peet’s on Saturday, June 18th from 2 to 7 pm, and on Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm.  If you can’t make it and/or would like to order a scarf, contact me either by using the Contact link below, or via my website’s contact page at RosoffArtworks.com.  They’ll be up on the website soon!

From the garden

“From Jen’s Garden”  ©Jill Rosoff 2009, 7″ x 10″, sold

My sister’s garden is a treasure trove of inspirations for me.  The roses are scrumptious, the oriental poppies and sweet peas too. The seasonal flowers pop up as their times come, so the garden changes all the time.  And it seems like new ones show up each year, little surprises that I hadn’t seen before.  This was a bouquet of flowers she gave me earlier this year, roses, cosmos, and a dahlia, or maybe its a zinnia.  I couldn’t resist painting them.