July 24, 2014

True Confessions of a Pinterest Artist

Standing next to my Dandelions painting

As a child, I imagined myself as an accomplished artist, and an acclaimed movie actress (or at the least, a local children show host who instructed youngsters on how to make simple crafts, as in the tradition of WOI-TV’s [Ames, Iowa], own Betty Lou, from The House with the Magic Window). Much of my playtime was spent creating childlike drawings and playing dress up in dramatic fashion. These two artistic childhood fantasies were in addition to the other aspirations that danced around in my young imaginative mind. Others included my being a zoo, or wild life veterinarian (think of the old TV show Daktari), an infant doctor, a schoolteacher, as well as a wife and mother.

Betty Lou McVay Varnum was the host for mid-Iowa’s children’s show
The House with the Magic Window. Running from1951-1994, this show was “America’s longest-running local children’s program”.

 To read about The House with the Magic Window, click on the links below
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Lou_Varnum

https://www.facebook.com/groups/magicwindow/

https://www.facebook.com/bettyloumagicwindow

The ultimate animal doctor of the 1960’s, Daktari

 To read about the TV show Daktari, click the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daktari

 Grandma Moses

I can proudly say that, so far, I have accomplished the latter of the three “careers” previously mentioned: schoolteacher, wife, and mother. At present though, the paintbrush artist in me primarily lies dormant. The artistic springs of creativity may still bubble to the surface in the future, however. After all, one of my favorite artists, self-taught Grandma Moses, did not even begin painting until she was 76, and she continued her artistic pursuits until she was 101! She churned out over 1500 works of art in the time, AND she had arthritis!

Grandma Moses painting one of her masterpieces

 I’d like to insert a little personal side note about Grandma Moses here. Many years ago, our family was on vacation, traveling up the East Coast, to New Hampshire and Maine. With the four kids asleep in the back, Dale at the wheel, I lazily took in Vermont’s green picturesque countryside. We passed through yet another little Vermont town when a sign jolted me to attention. It announced that The Grandma Moses Museum resided in this town! I loudly proclaimed this very recent revelation to my husband, and without uttering a single word; Dale promptly took a detour, turning the car around in the museum’s direction. (Does my husband know me, or what? :o)) What a wonderful hour, we spent, in that Bennington Museum, surrounded by colorful Grandma Moses creations!

Grandma Moses’s The Old Checkered House, 1853

 One of the many wonderful Grandma Moses paintings at
The Bennington (Vermont) Museum

 To read about Grandmas Moses, click on the links below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5rkcPJUk14

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0907.html

http://herstory2.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/celebrate-grandma-moses/

 For information on the current Bennington Museum, click on the link below
http://www.benningtonmuseum.org

 While researching for this blog, I found these two fun teaching links about Grandma Moses that I had to share, click on the links below
http://www.teachingstars.com/2012/06/20/adventures-in-art-grandma-moses/

http://kidstreetchicago.blogspot.com/2012/03/inspired-by-grandma-moses.html

 The Unifying Effect of Art; My personal Experience

 It has been said, that art can serve as a medium to bring people together. That certainly was the case for Jodi and me. It began several years ago, in my quest for some new artwork for my Maryland home. While perusing wallet-friendly pieces online, I stumbled upon the image of a painting, and was immediately smitten. Hoping to glean additional information about my find, I assumed my best Nora Charles form (as in Nick and Nora Charles, private detectives, of The Thin Man movie fame), and launched into sleuthing mode.

Nick and Nora Charles (William Powell and Myra Loy) with their dog, Asta

 To read more about The Thin Man, click on the links below
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Man_(film)
http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/2011/11/favortie-fictional-character-nick-nora.html

 Eventually tracking down the painting on a blog post, I discovered that the painting, Summer Daydream, had been featured at the 2010 Des Moines (not far from my childhood home in Ames) Art Festival, on their promotional poster. Being well over a year after the fact, the Art Fair people no longer had any for sale. They did, however, share the New Mexico artist’s email address with me. Happily, not only did I find a print of the Summer Daydream poster with that email address, but I also met one sweet lady in Jodi Perry. Starting out as (email) pen pals, so to speak, I now proudly call Jodi a friend. Among other similar interests, we both are I Love Lucy fans. :o)

I love Summer Daydream by talented artist and friend, Jodi Perry.
I am the proud owner of a signed poster of this print!

 To read the blog that eventually led me to my own copy of Summer Daydream and my sweet friend, click on the link below
http://www.thedailybe.com/2010/06/do_27.html

 Click on the link below to read about another Summer Daydream fan
http://iowagirleats.com/tag/rib-eye/

Enjoying a happy day, as I stand next to Jodi Perry at my daughter
Martese’s (and Mike) wedding
Ames, Iowa
May12, 2013

 A Pinterest Artist

I confess. Although, I would love to possess the artistic talent and know-how of my talented friend, Jodi, the only semi-artistic painting that I have EVER done has been of the tole painting variety. (A late 1980’s art form. Basically, you trace a pattern and paint it.) That is, until just recently, thanks to Pinterest. It was a case of artwork dictated by necessity. I found myself overseas, in an apartment with a whole lot of blank walls, and in an area devoid of stores, as I knew them. Not a Target in the whole country! Scouring over Pinterest photos of artwork, I began drooling over this piece (below). (Unfortuataly, I do not know the original source for this piece. If you have any information on this painting and its artist, please, let me know in the comments below.)

The painting that I found on Pinterest
This print is by Hugo Guinness
https://houseandhome.com/gallery/10-fashionable-spaces-by-anna-wintours-interior-designers/

 The Annette Artist Wannabe inside me began to wonder, could I possibly recreate this piece? More Pinterest research revealed that I was not alone in that thought, when I found that a fellow blogger had done just that. Through the miracle of blogging, she explained how she had painted a piece similar to the painting in the Pinterest photo. Using her instructions as my guide, I began my adventure into the world of art. I share this process below, so that you may use it to create your own masterpiece.

 Painting Materials

 Paint Canvas

Paint Brushes

Paint

Thankfully, our local overseas bookstore/office supply had a few canvases and
art supplies for sale

I used a 30 x 48 inch artist canvas.

3 paint brushes for acrylic paint

Acrylic paint in three colors, 2 bottles each: I chose white, gray, black

 How to

 Place down a drop cloth.  (I used trash bags that I cut open.)
Give the canvas a white base coat, including the sides, using the wide paintbrush. I did two coats, letting it dry between each coat.

I set the canvas up on glasses to dry. (See photo below)

 Using the gray paint first, with the wide paintbrush, paint over the white painted canvas, leaving a 2-inch edge.
After drying, I went back with some gray paint mixed with white and painted over the gray.
Don’t worry about being perfect. This is YOUR art creation.
Cut 4 flower patterns out of paper (I used paper towels because that is what I had) to use as a guide, placing them where you want them on the canvas, making sure that you have the look you desire.

The  sizes of the dandelions I painted, in inches (length by width) are from left to right about

9 x 7, 7 x 6, 7.5 x 6, 6.5 x 6.5

With the small flat paintbrush, paint the black insides of the flowers using sort of a heart shaped form. (This part was fun! :o)) See the tape measure photo above for clarification.

Paint black stems
The stems length from left to right, in inches, are about
32.5, 25.5, 30.5, 24.5
I signed my name with the small pointed brush and black paint.

When your masterpiece is completely dry, display it proudly. :o)

The Hugo Guinness print photo, on the left, that inspired my painting,
on the right.

 To see Pinterest, click on the link below
http://www.pinterest.com
To follow me on Pinterest, under find friends type in Annette Raper Hoffman

 To see the blog that inspired me and gave me instructions to begin,
click on the two links below.
http://redredcompletelyred.blogspot.com/2011/08/photos-of-paint-in-various-stages-of.html

http://redredcompletelyred.blogspot.com/2011/08/pinterest-challenge-fine-art-edition.html

Remember that Art /Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder, as these two cows illustrate. (Yes, that was a pun. ILLUSTRATE, get it? :o))

 This is a page from this year’s Chick-fil-a calendar.
I love these cow calendars (and Chick-fil-a).
Happily, my children present me with a new Chick-fil-a cow calendar each Christmas. :o)

To view more cute pages from this year’s calendar, click on the link below
http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Cows/Calendar-2014

Two Fun Art-related Films

While writing this blog post, two fun, art-related, films came to mind. The first, How to Steal a Million, stars Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole. Filmed in Paris with Hepburn drenched in Givenchy’s fashions, it is film feast for the eyes. The movie’s premise being that Hepburn’s wealthy father forges great pieces of art and sells them to the rich. All is well, until he loans a statue to a local museum and a technical examination is ordered for insurance purposes. It is all in good fun, as Hepburn and O’Toole set out to steal the forged statue from the museum before an examination can take place.

Peter O’Toole and Audrey Hepburn plan an art heist in How to Steal a Million (1966).

 To see a movie trailer of the movie, see movie stills, or read more about
How to Steal a Million, click on the links below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPStHOzjQWU

http://www.doctormacro.com/Movie Summaries/H/How to Steal a Million.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Steal_a_Million

The second art movie also takes place in Paris. It stars James Garner (who sadly passed away this week), Dick Van Dyke, and Elke Sommer. In a nutshell, this madcap romp has Dick Van Dyke faking his own death in order to see his, previously unappreciated, artwork come into high demand.

 
Elke Sommer poses for artist Dick Van Dyke in The Art of Love (1965)

 To watch a clip from the movie, or read more about The Art of Love,
click the links below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aQLBvQ4brg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Love_(1965_film)

Elke Sommer, of The Art of Love, is an artist in her own right.

 To read about and see some of Elke Sommer’s artwork, click on the link below.
http://www.elkesommeronline.com/en/paintings02.htm – _self

 If you find yourself inspired after reading this blog post, and paint a Dandelion piece of your own, please send me a photo in the comments below.

 Thanks for reading!  :o)

Annette

 I attempt to post my blog bi-monthly. 
I will talk to you again around August 14.

A great BIG thank you to all of my blog followers!!!

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