"Avalon Madonna With Yellow Flowers"

1 7/8" x 2 5/8", egg tempera miniature on vellum, Available

I have softened and fine-tuned "Avalon Madonna With Yellow Flowers."  Here it is in it's frame, the last of five miniatures I sent to Weatherburn Gallery  for "It's a Small World---World Class Art in Miniature."  This very special miniature show in Naples, Florida runs from Nov. 29 through December 22, 2008. 

"The Bluebird of Happiness," All Decked Out

1" x 1  5/8", egg tempera miniature on vellum with artist hand-painted matt, Available

Remember the "The Bluebird of Happiness?" 

Here it is, revised and all decked out with a vellum matt I hand-painted,

in a small Venetian glass mosaic frame.  "Bluebird" will appear at the 

Weatherburn Gallery in Naples, Florida, along with the other miniature paintings I prepared for "It's a Small World----World Class Art in Miniature."  It's a very elegant venue, and I am thrilled to be part of this show.

Painting all those tiny dots on the vellum matt surrounding the bird, took practice to match them for size and shape at this tiny scale.  If you remember, the bluebird in this painting measures 3/8 of an inch.  The bluebird I painted it from was a small blown glass bluebird my mother gave me inscribed with 'Bluebird of Happiness' on it's bottom. 

Tomorrow I will post the last of the five paintings I sent to Weatherburn Gallery.

"Royal Carribean Ship Flag"

"Royal Carribean Ship Flag," 2 1/2" x 3 1/8"

egg tempera on Kelmscott vellum, Available 

My scanner, (which I've come to realize I can't live without!) broke down in the middle of a show shipment, but finally here is my other ship flag. I took the reference photos for this painting on a wonderful Carribean cruise in 2006 with my sister Peggy's family on our last day on "Adventure of the Seas" as we pulled into the home port in Puerto Rico. We sat in the picture window area of the lunch room looking right out on this flag, and it was a sparkling water crystal clear day. My artistic friend Sarah Nunez from El Pollo here in Brooklyn especially liked the photo of this flag and thought it would make a great miniature. I think she was right.

My two flag paintings will be on sale at Francesca Anderson Fine Art for a great show, "Almost Miniatures," from November 20 through January 17, in Lexington, Massachusetts.

"Ship Flag, Star of India"

"Ship's U.S. Flag, Star of India," 7" x 9" egg tempera on panel, Available

Although a small work is not an authentic miniature, this small work painting is the first of two flag paintings I've been working on for "Almost Miniatures" at Francesca Anderson Fine Art in Lexington, MA., a show of both miniatures and small works.  I am doing one of each for this show.

Just an announcement also that in mid-Nov. I will be able to return to posting miniatures daily. Some of these will be selling via eBay auction, and others will be sold directly from this blog via 'buy it' buttons.   I'm grateful for your patience in the meantime while I complete my preparations for the two remaining shows I am submitting work for.  Over the next two weeks I will continue to post updates on my show progress.

Ships' Flags, a preliminary look at the second flag

Just a heads up that I will be posting later tonight the first of two ships' flags paintings, a small work of an American flag that I am sending to the Francesca Anderson gallery this week for their upcoming show, "Almost Miniatures." 

But first, here is a preliminary look at my reference photos for the second flag I am painting, a Royal Carribean ship flag from the ship, "Adventure of the Seas."  For my miniature painting of this flag I am combining the flag in the top reference with the water in the second reference.  More on this one later this week.

Erlise is a Winner

"Erlise's Laugh"  3" x 3 13/16", egg tempera on panel, NFS

I was truly delighted to find out tonight that "Erlise's Laugh" won Second Prize in the category of 'Human Figure' in the Miniature Art Society of Florida 2009 Annual Show

It's my first win for this category.

"The Bluebird of Happiness"

"The Blue Bird of Happiness", 3/4" x 3/4"

egg tempera on vellum, (revised in a later post, 11/17)

Shown with a penny for scale, here is the tiniest Bluebird of Happiness I have ever painted.  

It's my smallest miniature ever.  The bird itself measures 3/8 of an inch in height.  

"Erlise's Laugh"

3" x 3  13/16", egg tempera on panel

NFS

Household member, Erlise, is much beloved by my sister's family.  I did this miniature as a tribute to Erlise for all that she has done for my sister and her family over the years.  Thank you Erlise! 

Erlise has the most delightful, musical laugh I have ever heard---hence the title, "Erlise's Laugh."  This portrait has been sent to the MASF competition, and will eventually go to my sister's family to either keep or give to Erlise.

"L'madone et l'Enfant de Remy de Saint" (Madonna & Child of Saint Remy)

4  3/16" x 5  13/16", egg tempera on Kelmscott vellum, 

(at Dunedin Fine Arts Center in Dunedin, Florida

for the MASF 2009 Annual International Miniature Art Show)

Here is the final version of "Madonna and Child of Saint Remy."  I titled this in French because I found my inspiration for this painting during my trip to France, when our guide gave us some time to explore Saint Remy by ourselves.  I took a walk on my own and discovered a small cathedral called St. Martin's, with many beautiful devotional statues.  It was very dark inside, and I couldn't believe I was alone in such a beautiful place.  I felt so blessed to find this life-sized Madonna and Child dressed in gold, and knew then that I would want to paint my own version.

This got sent out for the MASF show in a lovely gold frame.  Framing is part of the jurying process in this particular miniature competition.  Certain specifications and guidelines must be followed, and I'll discuss more about framing for competition in a future post.

"Two September Berries"

1" x 1", egg tempera on Kelmscott vellum

dailywork miniature - Happy Birthday Hilda!

My sister's mother-in-law, Hilda, and I have the same birthday on Sept. 7.  This year Hilda is visiting from Barcelona, and we were both treated to a wonderful birthday dinner at Sequoia on Pier 17 in Manhattan, which overlooks Brooklyn's skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge.  Today's miniature is Hilda's birthday present.