Jim Schell

Where do I begin to talk about Jim Schell? It's hard to explain what an amazing person he is. On February 14th he celebrated his 90th birthday. Jim is an exceptional portrait painter and enjoys painting other things as well. I am fortunate enough to be a student of his. He teaches 3 classes a week at Abernathy Art Center in Sandy Springs and still goes to an art class on another day. Jim Schell is certainly a person I greatly admire. Our model in class didn't show up one Friday in March so Jim sat for us. I'm so happy I was there that day!

Italy

These are 2 paintings from Italy that I created for my solo show in March this year. Thanks to my cousin Sherron for the beautiful images!

ART FROM THE HEART

Art from the heart is the most rewarding project I have ever been involved in. Atlanta Fine Arts League created this project to honor the Georgia soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. We wanted to put a face with the names and numbers we hear on the news and also wanted the families to know their loved ones will not be forgotten. So far over 45 artist have painted over 70 portraits. The artists are happy to donate their time and talents to this project. There is a real bond that is formed between artist and family. I feel that the families I have painted for are now part of my family. Through them I have come to know and care for the soldiers I have painted. These images are 4 of the portraits I have painted; I am currently working on another one right now.
The soldiers pictured here are: Army Specialist Justin W. Johnson, 22, KIA April 10th, 2004; Army Sergeant Kevin Akins, 29, KIA March 12th, 2006; Army Corporal Victor M. Langarica, 29, KIA January 20th, 2007; Army Staff Sergeant Darren Patrick Hubbell, 29, KIA June 20, 2007. For more information on this project please visit http://www.atlantafineartsleague.org

Painting for cookbook cover

I painted "Italian Still Life with Fruit" for a solo show earlier this year. The painting is being used for the cover of a cookbook titled "As Good as Gold" - Celebrating 50 Years of Food and Family. The cookbook is being published by the Holy Innocents' Episcopal School Fine Arts Alliance in Atlanta. The proceeds will go back to the Fine Arts Department and to help their sister school in Haiti. The book will be a historical account of the school in photos and timelines, not to mention the WONDERFUL RECIPES. When the book is published I will post a copy on this blog and share information on how to buy it.

My Boys and Brownie

These are my sons with our lab, Brownie. Last summer they sat for a painting class for three hours (with breaks) for three days. Of course they got paid - that was the only way to get them to be still for more than a minute. I took a 24x36 canvas, thinking that we could have one of the boys pose lying on the floor. I was outvoted so I had extra space at the end of the canvas. I went home and took a picture of my dog and painted her in. I am very happy with the way it turned out. I used the image for my Christmas cards last year. Redeasel.com is currently featuring it on their website and it was in a juried show earlier this year.

"Isabelle" in Rome Art Coterie National Show

This portrait has just come back from the 2008 Rome Art Coterie National Show at the Rome Area Council for the Arts in Rome, GA. "Isabelle" also won Best in Show in the 2007 Atlanta Artists Center's Dogwood Show. The Rome Art Coterie named me the 2008 Southern Featured Artist and honored me with a solo show.

All New to Me

I have been thinking about creating a blog for a while; If I had known it would be this easy I would have done it a long time ago. I will be using this blog to post photos of recent paintings (portraits, landscapes and still life paintings) and to share any news about my art. Since this is my first blog, I will post some of the paintings that I have completed within the last six months or so.

Portrait to Washington

This is Veronika. She is one of three children I am painting for a family in the D.C. area. I had a lot of fun painting this portrait, especially the dress. I am also painting portraits of her two brothers which I will post soon.