New Painting and Show News

"Puppy"

12" x 12"

oil on wood

I will be do a painting demo and taking reservations for portraits on Bald Head Island this Saturday at the Maritime Market - Get special pricing when you order the day of the demo. Also, Guy will be on hand to photograph for portraits too.

October 6th, 2010 I will be at Artwalk in Jacksonville Florida

Showing the Downtown Dog Paintings at NEXT Gallery and also at

Bee Gallery showing the "In Hell" painting series that I did in 2006. 

Here is more info:

http://downtownjacksonville.org/first-wednesday-art-walk

Bernese Mountain Dog

12" x 12"

Oil on wood panel

Cheshire Cat

24" x 16"

oil on fabric panel

Cardigan Corgi

12" x 12"

Oil on Wood

Commission

Corgi Mix

12" x 12"

Oil on Wood

This is from the Bald Head Island commissions 

By the way, this dog is a rescue.

Painting Peaches Update

I'm almost done with the cloth part of this painting - still need to work on the peaches. I really love this one and am enjoying every minute. 

I have decided to change how I work on paintings. Ever since I can remember, I have always looked at the painting as more of an end result and forget to enjoy the detail of the journey. I want to take my time and enjoy the process and isn't that a reflection on how to live life? Enjoy the journey rather than waiting for the destination. It's taken me this long to have this (as Oprah says) aha! Moment. Maybe this is a turning point me. Hmmmm.

Enjoy the details of your life.

Cradled Wood Panels and Fabrics

O.K., here's a lesson in cradled wood panels, a popular surface to paint on and one I prefer.

Most of my smaller panels that I make are not cradled because I am assuming they will be framed to prevent warping, but since the client indicated she wants to hang the portrait on the wall without a frame, I need to Cradle the Panel because wood warps. I cradle all pieces larger than 12 X 12 and really big pieces I use extra cross bars to stabilize more.  

In this photo I have cut the panel, sanded and have put wood strips on the back with glue. The vises hold it together till the next day. Then I will put 2 or 3 coats of gesso on, then do a final light sanding after it dries. This whole process takes about two days if I don't forget to gesso. If I do forget it could take up to 4 or 5 days.

The fabric store was having a 30% off sale - New Fabric paintings - Yayyyy!

Paintings in Progress

Here are some photos of paintings in progress, some are almost done and some just started.

Painting Peaches

The peaches this season have been especially large and delicious which brings me back to painting peaches, my favorite subject, next to dogs.

I decided Sunday is my day to paint what I want for fun - everyday I paint commissions or something for a competition or whatever, which I enjoy very much, but sometimes I just want to be free and paint for fun, no pressure, just expression. This is my Sunday painting, which isn't done yet. 

Maybe I'll finish it Monday. 

:)

Emma

10" x 10"

oil on wood panel

One More Cup...

Hello everybody, I found out this morning that my painting "First Day of Summer", which I will now rename back to "Leap of Faith" did not get into the Oil Painters of America's show. I'm trying to figure out how to "get around" the disappointment. I had high hopes with this painting and really worked hard on it. I will try again next year and of course, forge ahead!

Maybe next year I'll do something a little more traditional.

Here is a watercolor I did in Florida.

"One More Cup of Coffee"

 11" x 13"

Joe or Emma & Abby

Joe or Emma (working on two cats and not sure which one this is because I lost all my emails from the past month due to an Entourage crash)

10" x 10"

oil on wood

Abby

12" x 12"

oil on wood

Watercolors

The Juggler

13" x 15"

watercolor on paper

 

When it All Falls Apart

9" x 13"

watercolor on paper

One More Cup

13" x 11"

watercolor on paper

Charlie

Sorry to say, a dog I did a portrait of last year, passed away yesterday, peacefully.

Charlie, you will be missed!

Blue Bottle

16" x 19

Oil on canvas

I had this canvas laying around and wanted to do something quick and expressive. May add more later, but I kind of like it.

Springer Spaniel in Progress

8" x 8" 

oil on wood

The humidity in Florida has been relentless - I saw rain three times today. I guess it's great for mosquitoes which is awesome for frogs and dragonflies, which there seem to be mass quantities of all. I can't open the backdoor without a tree frog jumping on me, which makes me jump no matter how many times it happens!

On the other hand, it is not good for paintings in oil. They take forever to dry to paint new layers. Normally it takes about a day in NC, here it take four days and it's still not completely dry. 

I'm not complaining, though. It's been a great retreat and I'm getting a lot done.

On the Easel

Here are some of the paintings that I am working on at the moment. There are more, some are in final stages, some are too awful at this point to post.... wouldn't want to embarrass myself. :)

I just got one more commission today and two more yesterday - things are really starting to crank!

Peach in Napkin

8" x 8"

oil on canvas

This painting was inspired by  Michael Naples - I love his work.

You can see some here:

http://michaelnaples.blogspot.com/

Interview with Dowtown Dog Project Artist

 Here is an interview i recently did about the new book...

Benton Park Photography Co.

Dog Days of Summer: Local artist publishes new book

Encore Magazine

 

CLAIR HARTMANN, ARTIST

WILMINGTON, NC

Lots of Stuff!

Wow! So much has been going on. 

First, here is a new painting that I finished for the Artwalk in Florida. This is based on a past commission and a hat by Jan Wutkowski who owns AMUSE Artisinal Finery hat shop. Her creations are gorgeous and she is a REAL hat maker. 

I started the painting when I did the Dog Days Downtown in Wilmington and was painting in front of her shop. I just recently decided to pick it up again to finish for the show. I hope to do a whole series of these with different dogs and have a show at the end of the year or beginning of next year. 

12"x 16"

oil on wood

The Artwalk Downtown was fantastic! I could not believe how many people attended.  Someone told me an estimated 10,000 people attend the Artwalk in Jacksonville! Which is such an improvement since I lived there - Downtown Vision has done an amazing job!

I sold some books and met a lot of interesting people and even saw a friend from Wilmington!

Lastly, I have an article in Encore Magazine - here is the link:

http://www.encorepub.com/articles.php?i=read&article_id=1267&section_id=3

Chumley at Artwalk living like a rock star!

Earlier he spend his day at the spa getting poofed up, trimmed up and fixed up at Pretty Paws Doggie Salon. Later he said to me "never do that again!".

Pug Wine Label

I did a commission a few months ago for a vineyard in California - well, the label is done and here it isl -  How exciting!

Never would have thought my art would end up on a label!

Bald Head Island, paintings, and other goings on....

Bald Head Island demo was great! I met a lot of people and they had a really nice place for us to stay. I got a lot of commissions and I suspect things are going to get pretty busy around here. 

In case you are wondering about the apron - no, I don't work at Starbucks - my son gave me this apron for Christmas - we are both big Starbucks fans, well, coffee fans and since there is a Starbucks on every corner it's kinda hard not to be a fan.

Here are some paintings I did while I was doing my demo. 

 

I must be getting back into blues - I just noticed both backgrounds are blue. I did get a tube of Phalo Blue and just loving it!!

Wanted to let you know, I'm  having a book signing at Chamblins Uptown and an art show at Bee Gallery for Artwalk in August in Jacksonville, FL. I'm bringing a lot of new paintings that will be at the Landing and I'll be signing the Downtown Dog books at Chamblins.

You can get the info here if you want to go:

http://downtownjacksonville.org/first-wednesday-art-walk

Longfellow

 

17" x 24"

oil on fabric panel

Renamed "First Day of Summer"

24" x 12"

Well, I'm done and just submitted this to the Oil Painters of America Eastern Regional Exhibition. This painting was tough and I am so glad to be done!!

I hope I get in - we'll see. 

I'll be at Bald Head Island - The Woods Gallery Friday and Saturday do a painting demo and taking reservations to do portraits - we'll be photographing as well. 

Leap on Faith

24" x 12"

Oil on wood

I'm almost done with this and couldn't wait to post it - This is my submission for the Oil Painters of America competition. I have been working on this for weeks.

Whew!

Painting Demo at Bald Head Island Next Weekend

Wilmington 10:00 Fox News

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hri56ujc2sw

HERE'S THE STORY:
http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=12809188

What a rush!!

Wilmington 10:00 Fox News

Just wanted to let everyone know, just got a call from Fox News in Wilmington - If all goes as planned, I'm going to be on the 10:00 News to talk about the new book and the paintings!

Boston

18" x 15"

Oil on fabric panel

Available on Etsy