Four Other Entries Submitted to MASF

I promised to post you about which other four miniatures I've sent off to MASF, Miniature Art Society of Florida, for their annual show, January 17 - February 7, 2010. Since I've recently made a few improvements here and there on my website, I thought you might enjoy viewing these four paintings directly on my website in my miniature gallery, so here are the titles and the link to see them:

"Carribean Ship Flag," "Madonna in the Leaves," "The Bluebird of Happiness," and "Memory Rose," can be found at monadianeconner.com in the Miniature Gallery.

Just a few notes of clarification---Only once in a while do I have a later thought about an improved title for a painting, and when I do, I allow myself to re-name the painting. I've done this on two of my entries. Also, on my website the miniature portraits appear in both the Miniature Gallery and the Portrait Gallery.

Two Bluebirds of Happiness, Version 1 and 2

"The Bluebird of Happiness II," 1" x 1", egg tempera on vellum, 

with hand-painted matt, for the Hipp family

my first "Bluebird of Happiness," 1" x 1", egg tempera on vellum with hand-painted vellum matt, Venetian glass mosaic frame

My friends, the Hipp family, moved out of my building a few weeks ago, and I was sad to lose them as neighbors, even though they will still be in Brooklyn.  The Hipp daughters loved my "Bluebird of Happiness" and the miniature painting I did of it, so I decided to surprise them with a housewarming gift for their new apartment by painting another one inch square painting of the bluebird of happiness, version 2.  I tried to make it as close to the first version as possible, but gave the second bluebird a different framing treatment.  I like both framing treatments for different reasons.  What do you think?

"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.