Saturday, July 31, 2010

Retrospective show, opening reception Aug. 1, 2 pm-4 pm

"Dorothy, all grown up"  18"x24"      NFS  (Private Collection)
This was a painting I did for an advertisement of a jewelry store, Bailen Jewelers, that ran in the Louisville Magazine in 1997.   Dorothy, (from Kansas), is all grown up and no longer wears ruby slippers but wears ruby pendents.   Do you see the yellow brick road and Emerald City?

This painting is one of the pieces I have a Retrospective show, with an opening reception this Sunday August 1, 2 pm-4 pm at JCC  here in Louisville and it will run from August 1 - September 7.   The show spans 38 years of work and includes fashion illustrations, national advertising pieces and personal works.   If you are in the area I would love it if you could be there for the opening reception.   


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Friday, July 30, 2010

"Deanna #2" 9"x12" oil on canvas board


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We had a fun time today but then we always do.   I decided to sit on the other side of the room and I believe I like this one better.    I love the way that the light was coming through the hat and making spots on her cheek.


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Thursday, July 29, 2010

"Long, skinny shoes" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

To purchase, please contact me. $100

My mother found these shoes at a small town in Illinois and why she bought them is still a mystery to me.  She said they were custom made for a nun who maybe wore them once because they look new.   These shoes were probably made around 1920 and are 12" long and 3" at the widest part of the foot and I can get my foot in them but it looks like I'm wearing clown shoes.   I would love to see the feet that fit them.



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Wednesday, July 28, 2010

"Dancing Quilt" 18"x24" cotton, shoe buttons

Dancing Quilt    $1950
I have been working all day on a show that I'm involved in.   This is one of two pieces that I have in a show here in Louisville Kentucky at the Pyro Gallery, opening night is this Friday, July 30, 6-9.   The show is called "Women Imaging Women" it will be up July 29 - Sept 5.   It is a wonderful show and if you are in the area it is worth seeing.

The quilt here is all about dancing, with dance steps around the edges and in the closet are dance outfits for different occasions.   The clothes can be removed and placed on the image on the front.



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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

"Simple shoes" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

To purchase, please contact me. $100

These are pretty comfortable sneakers made by "Simple".    I love the ribbon laces!   Doing these shoe paintings is reminding me of the days when I did fashion illustrations.



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Monday, July 26, 2010

"Old red shoes" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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I bought these red Perry Ellis shoes in 1985/86 my first winter in Chicago at a great shoe store in the Loop between Randolph and Michigan Ave on my lunch hour. They were my first (and last) pretty, leather shoes I ever bought.  I have danced in them until the leather is paper thin on the bottom.   They are 25 years old, does that make them antique?



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Saturday, July 24, 2010

"Favorite Docs" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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I love these shoes!  These Doc Martins dress up any outfit or at least brighten your feet.  How can you not smile while wearing these.



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Friday, July 23, 2010

"Deanna, close up" 8"x10" oil

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Deanna has posed for us many times and she is always fabulous.  She had on a pink sarong but I wanted to concentrate on the head and hat.   The face was in shadow but had some reflected light.


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Thursday, July 22, 2010

"Favorite Sandals" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

To purchase, please contact me. $100

These are my favorite, most comfortable, wear all day sandals by Keen.   I wash them every other week in the machine with my darks and they come out fabulously.    I had to pick another pair of sandals to wear while painting them, it was hard but I made it through.   

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Wednesday, July 21, 2010

"Mom's accessories" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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These John Jerro shoes and purse were my mothers and I believe she wore them to the Kentucky Derby around 1963.   These shoes are made with leather inside and out with a woven floral silk covering and being a 9 1/2 N I can only wear them for about an hour or possibility two.   Now the purse, they just don't make them like this any more, it is also leather with the woven floral silk on the outside with a green silk satin lining, a zippered pocket on one side with three pockets on the other with one pocket lined in gold lame leather, that holds a double sided green/cream silk satin coin purse and the pocket next to that holds a rounded mirror.  Mother gave me these about 25 years ago and I believe I have worn them twice. 


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Tuesday, July 20, 2010

"Spectator Docs" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

To purchase, please contact me. $100

These Doc Martins are great for swing dancing.  I haven't worn them out, lots of good dances left in them.   When the paint is wet, black is hard to photograph and to see while painting because of the sheen but after it dries I put a wax matte varnish on it and it even outs the strokes.   A shiny varnish will do the same also. I will re-photograph this one after it dries   I don't use black out of the tube, I mix together Burnt Sienna (Winsor Newton) and Ultramarine blue together.   This mixture is very versatile you can get a good range from orange brown to black depending on how much blue you use.  I very rarely use black from a tube.



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Monday, July 19, 2010

"New suede shoes" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

To purchase, please contact me. $100

We are fortunate (or not so fortunate) here in Louisville Ky to be living near a large Zappos outlet warehouse store which is in Shepherdsville Ky.    I got these shoes at about 75 or 80 percent off.  
Woo Hoo!!  Just had to paint them!


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Saturday, July 17, 2010

"Doc Martins" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

To purchase, please contact me. $100

My vacation this week was wonderful!   My younger sister came to visit and we had a fabulous time!  But I ate too much.   Now it is back to my routine (and diet)  and I decided to start a new series... shoes!   It was hard going today because I felt like I had forgotten how to paint.   How does that happen in just a week.
I bought these shoes in 1985 when I moved to Chicago.  These shoes have walked all over chicago, been swing dancing, contra dancing, in meetings, at photo shoots, out to eat and has a hole in one of the soles. 
  


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Friday, July 16, 2010

"Sherrie, second sitting" 9"x12" oil on oil primed linen canvas



To purchase, please contact me. $125

Sherrie was a great model, although she said she was fidgety, she sat perfectly still and resumed the exact post every time.   She was a delight.

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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

"Mermaid" Oil on canvas

NFS, comission
Here is a painting I have been working on.  I'm so sorry that is is finished, I have loved working on it.  Do you see the golden mean ratio in the painting?


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Sunday, July 11, 2010

Small still life, "Scattered" Claudia Hammer 6" x 6" oil on canvas

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Thought I would use some fabric today.   I have some out of town guests with me for  a few days so I might not be able to post every day as usual but will try.

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Friday, July 9, 2010

Sherrie, sketch 9"x12" 7/9/10

I asked Sherrie to pose for us when I saw her at a function about 2 months ago and she said yes.   She is the wife of a sculptor here in town.   She didn't know how well she would do as a model because she said she tended to fidget but she held her pose extremely well.   As you can see I did not finish today.  The canvas board I'm working on here is a plywood panel by Belle Arti, Raphael Premium Archival made in Italy and it has oil primed linen on the front.   I don't use this type very often and I forgot how the wet oil paint just slides around and it is hard to build up the paint surface on the first go around.   It will be mostly dry by next week and hopefully I can finish it then.

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Thursday, July 8, 2010

"A select few" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard


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The two cherries in the foreground would have liked to have been included in the selection.    But OH NO only a select few got to be chosen to be in the bowl.   That's life and it is not always fair.    
I have an assortment of green bowls that I just had to have a few years ago and let me tell you, they have come in pretty handy with all the chores I've had them busy doing.   This one I had tucked away in a drawer holding something or other, it's wide, shallow and the three cherries looked so good in it!



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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

"...a bowl full of cherries" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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Somehow I'm always drawn to a birds eye view for  the design of the painting.   Sometimes I think I would like to keep that view for every painting but that would get old, for me and for you.   That little cherry looks like it is looking up at the bowl and wondering how to get in.  The stem looks like a cowlick or a wisp of gel covered hair.


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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

"Left out" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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I love painting these cherries!   Do you ever get the feeling that sometimes you are in a "zone" where painting is easier than at other times when it seems to be a struggle?  I seem to be in an easy zone right now where my paintings are flowing.  A nice place to be I must say.


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Monday, July 5, 2010

"3 in, 3 out" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

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Painting these cherries are so much fun because they are red, round, shiny, have fun stems.  Can't get much better than that.  I also like cropping because I believe that you don't have to see the whole thing in order to know what is going on.

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Sunday, July 4, 2010

Painting demo by Claudia Hammer "Cherry Gathering" 6" x 6"



To purchase, please contact me. $100


Demo
Some of you have been asking questions about my process, brushes and what is the viewfinder that I'm referring to.   Below is a demo and I will try to explain.  I  hope I answer your questions, if not please contact me and I will post more explanation.
The brushes in this demo are only 2 types.  
WN = Artist Oil Brush, bright/short flat Winsor & Newton, England  (hog bristle) 
SW = Silverwhite series 1502 bright  (synthetic)



This is the view finder that I use.  I know it is kind of crude but I made it out of some scrap cardboard, punched holes at the 1/3 marks and strung heavy dark thread through the holes.  The inside square is 4.5", I have one that is 6" but I find that it is too large because in order to crop or frame out what I'm looking at I have to hold it right up to the set up.   That is not ideal.




This is me looking through the finder.  I have to say that I had a hard time getting the camera to photograph exactly what I was seeing so you will have to just take my word for it when I tell you that the cherries lined up differently than what you see here.  Also, a couple of times when I got up to take a photo I bumped the table and a few of the cherries scrambled.  I tried to place them back in the right place.   What can I say!   One of the things that I decided on while looking through the viewfinder is the background paper split, I liked lining up the top of the paper on the 2/3 over mark and the bottom at the center between the marks.



I have been painting a medium grey acrylic (grey #6 by Golden) on my board (Ampersand Gessobord) to start.  I like the way I can see the light and dark values more correctly, also it keeps the first layer of oil from soaking in too much and being too dry. 




While holding the viewfinder in place I block in all the objects.    I take about 5 minutes or so for this maybe 10 if it is more complicated.   For this part I used a #6 SW, it is a synthetic and can make a thin line.   
Here you can see the benefit of the grid.    I put the objects down initially at random and then move my view finder around until I get a nice composition, sometimes moving an object slightly to make sense.  Notice the cherry in the lower right, I placed my viewfinder so it centered it on the 1/3 over, 1/3 up mark (actually it was centered there, I just could not make it come out that way using the camera).  The stem on the cherry above it is on the 2/3 up mark, the two cherries together are centered on the 2/3 up mark.  The second cherry over on the right is just about centered on the 2/3 over, 1/3 up  intersection.  
There would be hundreds of ways to look at these same cherries with the exact set up and it all depends on where you stand how far you are from the set up.  A slight movement can make it all look different. 


 I start with painting in the dark areas of the cherries, letting the brush sweep outside the lines. The brush I used here was a hog bristle, less precise #5 WN.   Usually the dark areas are painted with the translucent paint, here I used Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine blue, and a little Thalo blue to darken.



Painting the shadows, making them larger than they should be because I will be painting in the background and reshaping them.   Brush: #5 WN, same as before.


Painted in the lighter areas on the cherries.  These areas use more opaque paint that is why I do not do them first.  Brush: a smaller #3 WN.


Painted in the green side starting with the bottom which was the darkest.  You will notice that I painted out the stems.   While I used the stems as part of the design while viewing and drawing in I don't feel the need to inhibit the loose painting style by painting around them, so I paint them out and will put them back in later.   I usually work from dark to light on the background.  Sometimes adding more light to  the light areas as needed.  While painting in the background I'm constantly redrawing and reshaping the objects.  This is important, while you are painting you should be constantly analyzing and redrawing what you see.  Notice how I redefine the shape of the cherries at this stage.
Brush: #5 WN.

Blocked in the grey area. using the same method and brush


I have put the stems back in using a #2 SW.
This is the final version.  I have added small details such as highlights, reflected lights and stem details.
I hope this has been helpful.



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Saturday, July 3, 2010

"Cherry gathering" 6"x6" oil on gessoboard

To purchase, please contact me. $100

It's that time of year when all these beautiful cherries are at the market and I could not resist bring some home to paint.  They look like they are gathering for a Fourth of July celebration.
I have a demo for this one explaining my process and the view finder that I use, but I had problems with uploading it, got real frustrated and thought that I would have to try for tomorrow.


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Friday, July 2, 2010

"Bethan, #2" 9"x12" oil on canvas

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This was our second and last session with Bethan, I think it is always harder because the paint is all dry and achieving the same set up is always dicy.   But it turned out fine and I'm pleased with what I did.

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