Holiday Greetings

Holiday Greetings Newsletter From Marian Fortunati

I hope this newsletter finds you enjoying this holiday season by savoring your time with family, friends, good conversation and good food.

May the New Year bring you interesting challenges and enjoyable opportunities.




I have had a wonderful year both personally and on my art journey, and I have many of you to credit for making it that way.

I offer a special thank you to those of you who have collected my work.  I so appreciate your faith and enjoyment of the art.  Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone else that you think might be interested.


I've enjoyed meeting many people through my blog (www.marianfortunati.com/blog).   Not only have I learned from those who make comments and other bloggers that I visit, but I've received encouragement and the people who leave thoughts have helped me look at things in a different way.  It's always thrilling, too, to meet the people with whom I've had "conversations" through comments on my blog and visiting their sites.   I've even been able to go out to paint with some of them. Please join in on the conversation if you ever have a moment.

My family and I will be cruising to beautiful Hawaii over the holidays, but I'll still try to do some painting and blogging so drop in and share a thought.

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I have a few shows coming up in January and would love to see you if you are in the area:
 

   I'll have many works in a group show at La Galeria Gitana in San Fernando, CA.
Urban Spaces - The San Fernando Valley

The reception will be on Saturday, January 23, 2010 from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m.


I've had fun working on this show as the subject matter has been a bit different for me.. but I always love a challenge.  I hope you put this on your calendar because I'd love to see you there.   I'll send more details in January.


Here are a couple of my paintings that will be in the show:
    

                Half Lit                     Windy Day On Sherman Way

I'm very happy that another of my paintings was juried in to a National Show in Redding, California.  

I'm going to try to go up to that reception as well, but I'm not sure I can make it.    The show runs from January 26, to February 27, 2010.   The reception will be Friday, January 29, 2010 from 7:00-9:00 p.m.    I'll send more information as the event draws closer.

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I hope you have a delightful and restful Holiday time and a

Happy, Happy New Year!

Reviewing the Year 2009

I started out 2009 by setting goals for the year.   HERE is a link to that post with my 2009 goals.  Some of them were fairly lofty but I had admired the way that several artists that I look up to had set goals and I decided it was a good way to help me find my way on this painting journey I'm on.

Happily, I've achieved most of them... ... I'll continue working on some of them even though I've made progress... I'm not yet there, and of course, I failed miserably to achieve one or two.   In chatting with my artists friends, I've come to believe that as we achieve some of our goals, we sort of lift the ladder up a bit and keep on working at a higher level on them... Others need to be caste aside and new different goals should be set.

Examples of those ongoing types of goals:
I'll probably be working on values for the rest of my painting life.... I'm better, but may never be "there".

I've been painting and painting... but probably don't have enough really quality work of one genre to have a one person show yet... 
Although I marketed my work each time there was an out of town show, I have no idea whether it reached a receptive audience.... will need to work on that some more.

Dismal failures were:
I did NOT sketch... just sketch 3 times a week.   (I sketched to paint, but not just to sketch.)
I didn't do any commissions except for the family.

My major successes were:
My work was shown in juried shows in Wisconsin, Redding, CA, Santa Cruz, CA, Montrose, CA, Pasadena, CA and several other non-local venues.
I did sell many more paintings than I did in 2008 -  50% + more in both quantity and revenue.
My work has been shown in two different group gallery shows.
I received several awards for different paintings... always a nice thing.

I've been working on a series of paintings for a show in January that celebrates urban spaces in the San Fernando Valley.   The painting on this post is one of those.   It's titled "Windy Day On Sherman Way".  It's 12x16 inches.

I'll now need to sit back and decide how to modify existing goals, dropping some and adding new ones.  All in all I'd say it was a satisfying year -- both from the painting and life in general points of views.  I hope yours was as well!!

Between The Rain Storms

The weather forecasters said it ould rain all week.   They lied.   (My husband says that it's the only job he know where you can get it "wrong" half the time and still keep your job.)  Of course they only lied a little and I was happy to have a few days to get out and walk, to paint and to enjoy friends.   I'm also happy they were right about the rain being here...  We actually have had some days of rain which we in Southern California desperately need.

On Wednesday it was clear and I decided to take my almost four mile round trip down the hill and back.  I always enjoy my walk but on beautiful days it's always better.  When I got back I felt great and I still had a few hours before I needed to pick up Tyler so I grabbed some food from the fridge and headed back to
Caballero Canyon.  I had planned to paint in a spot that I've painted many times before.  There are some really interesting rocks that have been worn into balls over the years by running water.   But instead I wandered up a small canyon off the main trail and found this beautiful hidden sycamore.  I really couldn't catch it either by photo or, frankly with my little 6x8 sketch, but I just loved the way the light hit the leaves and branches.  Some of the white branches shone brightly in the sun while others were very very dark... probably still wet from Monday's drenching.

It was a nice day... I got home in time for my "blue boy" after school ... He had painted his hair blue for "Crazy Hair Day".    Ain't he cute???

I've been working hard on my urban scenes.   I think I've got some interesting paintings which I will share when I'm finished with most of them...   Six of them are pretty much finished now and I'm working on two others that I've started.  Two or three are still in my mind... LOL.

Thursday I traveled with my painting friend Annie Hoffman and my art teacher friend, Johanna Spinks, to Santa Barbara.   We drove up to see the beautiful Figurative Work at the Waterhouse Gallery.  We got there early.. did some shopping... then went to the show.  We oohhhhed and awwed and each of us tried to pick our favorites... too hard, I'm afraid.  Many had been sold and were no longer on the walls, but there was enough beauty there to keep us occupied for quite a good time.  After that we went to a few more galleries and had lunch and headed back.  We had a great day talking about life and art.

Hope you've enjoyed your week... I have!!

Birthday Pears

I haven't been posting as often as I was for a while, because I've been working on several paintings for an upcoming "Urban Spaces" show.   I have "completed" three and have three more partially complete and have done the planning for three or four others but haven't yet painted them.

Urban scenes are a bit out of my usual genre so it's been a stretch.... but fun none-the-less.   I posted one when I was almost finished .... actually I posted it a couple of times... but have continued to make little changes to it since then.   It was called "Half Lit".   I picked the scene because a friend of mine had painted it years ago and it was one of my favorites of his and also because it is one of those iconic Valley scenes that is apparently famous enough to be included in a movie... (I didn't know that until someone who read my blog told me.)  Anyway... it's not that I haven't been painting.... just not posting.

So since it's pretty cold and windy and I was too lily-livered to venture outside in the arctic cold (at least by SoCal standards), I painted a still life.   I called it "Birthday Pears", since today is my birthday.   I chose to use an 8x10 linen panel... I am basically too cheap to use linen often, but today I was reminded of why oil painters love linen so much...   The paint just flows so nicely on linen... just enough drag... just enough texture... not too much of anything.   Fairy tale perfect.  

Anyway... hope your day was pleasant.  Mine was.

WOW!!!! What A WEEKEND!!!!

Last weekend was non-stop party for me.   What fun!   On Friday Margie Murray had developed an invitational show called "The Beauty Of California Facebook Painters" at Carter Sexton - a local art supply store.  She had some fabulous artists.. some of whom I am friends with and others with whom I have become "virtual friends"... Mostly from Facebook.  It was great meeting them all face to face.  Jason Situ, Oscar Arroyo, Sharon Weaver, Margie Murray, Laura Wambsgams, Karen Winters, Tom Schaller, Jose De Juan... and so many others were there!

Saturday was the opening of the small works show at Segil Gallery.   The place was absolutely filled to the brim with beautiful art and lots of happy people.   Among the people in these first few pictures are Karl and Diane Dempwolf, Sharon Weaver, Julie Snyder (next to me and my painting "Floating On The Breeze), Leslie Saeta and Lee Edwards.   It was a fabulous time.   Sharon and her husband, Jeff, and my husband, Gastone, all went out to laugh and eat a great meal after the show.

On Sunday the California Art Club hosted its reception for the Precious Gifts exhibition at the Blinn House.  Michael Obermeyer and Karl Dempwolf were the jurors for the show and they were both there along with many other wonderful artists.   The CAC Ambassadors chairperson, Ernie Marjoram and his wife Sylvia were there along with Peter Adams to honor the artists who were juried in.   The reception was followed by a dinner hosted by the Women's City Club of Pasadena.   In the pictures you can see me with my painting "Magic Hour - Twilight's Sweet Song" and Karl Dempwolf, Margie Murray who also had a painting in the show and my Dad, Jim Beach.   At dinner are my husband, Gastone, Dad, me, Ernie and Sylvia Marjoram.  Tyler took the photo.   We were entertained after dinner by students from the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.....   WOW!!!

Close To Home

"Caballero Colors"

14x11 - Oil on Board

Email me, please, if you're interested in purchasing this painting.

I always love to go outside to paint.  It renews me... it's great to get outdoors and see the beauty... right now the fall colors are amazing ... but it's also a good excuse to hike around a bit, so I feel like I'm helping my physical health as well as my emotional health.

All of my painting buddies were otherwise occupied so I had decided to paint alone again.  When I was at the reception on Sunday I had overheard someone talking about hiking in the canyon.  It reminded me that I really don't need to go far to find a beautiful place to paint.   I've painted in Caballero Canyon many times.  It is really VERY close to my home.

This time when I walked down in the canyon all I could do was smile... The trees were ablaze with color.  It was hard to decide just WHERE to stop and paint.  This time, however, the grasses were quite high.  Since this canyon is also a place where mountain bikers come tearing around corners unexpectedly I had to stay far off the path, but I didn't want to be in the middle of high grasses... not just because of the difficulty of seeing through the grass, but because I didn't want to engage with the native population of bugs, snakes, birds, and other creatures.   I found this spot after hiking down into the dry creek bed and up the creek a bit.   It was gorgeous.

I had decided to try painting a bit larger than I have been doing.  I've admired those painters who paint large plein air pieces.  Mine was still only 14x11 but it was a bit bigger than my normal 8x10s.  One has to start somewhere.  When I started off, I realized a couple of problems.  I had failed to replenish my container of liquin.. and I was using a board covered with gesso tinted a light green.  The board and lack of liquin caused me some issues with the paint spreading or rather NOT spreading, -- the gesso seemed to suck the paint up ... too much drag...  but it also resulted in some interesting "dry brush" techniques.   In the end I liked my painting.   At home I used liquin to restate the sky and some of the sycamore leaves....  No plein air police stopped me so.. I'm okay.  

I must return before all of the leaves fall..   The seasons are rather short here in SoCal.  Does anyone want to join me???

"Why Do We Paint?"

I had a rather unique and special opportunity yesterday.  Even though getting into juried shows (Lagoon and Storm Clouds Over The Valley) is still very special to me and being honored with an award (see picture on right) is even nicer, what was quite unique and wonderful about yesterday's SFVAC reception at VIVA Gallery was that the juror, DAVID GALLUP, was generous enough with his time to come and talk to the artists -- both those in the show and those who had pieces that were juried out.  Frankly, I think it took a very conscientious yet self assured person to do this.  I was even more impressed with David Gallup as a person than I already am impressed with his art... and I LOVE his art!  You'll see what I mean if you go to his website:  www.dgallup.com .

Initially I was busy talking to friends, but then I noticed that David was spending a lot of time talking to individual artists, so I sort of lurked around and listened.  He was explaining why he especially liked a certain piece or another and even gave suggestions to artists who had had a piece juried out.   He had written comments about those that had received awards and also about those that had been juried out.  Artists were told that they could request his comments from the show chairperson, but David was also doing it in person.  As I listened, he told a story about a student he had been working with while painting outside en plein air.   A child walked up to the student and asked why she painted.  Later when she recounted the story to David, he asked her what she had said..... "..because it's fun" was her answer.  

He told us that that had gotten him thinking.  Honestly his next statement almost had me want to hug him because he said almost what I was thinking in my head...   These aren't his exact words... just my paraphrasing but here goes:
  .... When I paint outdoors in all the beauty that is around us I feel a part of nature and a sense of spirituality.  I'm not traditionally religious, but seeing and really looking as I paint makes me feel one with the creator of all of that I see........    Although he does do some SERIOUS studio work..  he paints because of the experience he has when he paints outdoors.  Even though David is far more successful than I, and his work is quite wonderful,  I feel just the same when I'm outside painting!     

Why do YOU paint???