$100 (each) drawings for sale....

I draw and paint all the time and they need good, loving homes.   Art  should be affordable.  Too many artists are chasing after the big money, I want my work in real homes full of life & people.  So from time to time I will be putting work up for sale on my blog and lots of other places until they find homes.  Contact me at annscott@rcn.com if you are interested.  I do not take credit cards.   I'm working on how to connect this to my PayPal account at the moment....stay tuned.

They are all works on paper and UNFRAMED.  

Fussy Pots, watercolor, acrylic, pencil on paper, 12 x 16"

These next two would be PERFECT for the bathroom!

TP #1, gouache on Rives BFK 6 3/4 x 11

   

Soap Sketch, gouache on Rives BFK 10.5 x 15.5

Afternoon Shadows, watercolor, acrylic, pencil on paper, 12 x 16"

Coffee, watercolor, acrylic, pencil on paper, 12 x 16"

Still Life #3, watercolor, acrylic, pencil on paper, 12 x 16"

Still Life #1, marker on Bainbridge 7 3/4 x 12"

Still Life - Lotion, marker on Bainbridge 10 x 8"

Still Life #2, marker on Bainbridge 7 x 10.5"

If you are interested in buying one of these drawings please let me know which one.  Also shipping outside the US will be estimated into the price.  Thank you!

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Walking and sketching in Rome & Florence

I am not surprised but still heartbroken.  I did not get accepted to the Rome Prize this year.  To be honest I'll never get accepted but I will probably keep trying.  I touched on the reason why when I was in Rome last time and blogging because I DID get a Visiting Artist in Residency there in 2010 for which I remain thrilled and grateful for and will definitely go back for another VAR.   But in Rome there is a deep craving for all things new and I am a traditional artist, a realist.  Rome, all of Italy, much of Europe suffers from antiquity fatigue.  Poor Rome can't even build without running into layers of history.  One person told me that now they only stop building if they run into a body.  When I was there I was enthusiastically told to go see the new Zahia Hadid museum and the new Richard Meier church in Rome, both gorgeous and so unlike anything around which is thrilling to the Romans.  The Romans love their city but even I, a simple visitor, could see how exhausting it can be to live in a museum and be overcome by hoards of idiot tourists.  But I digress and sure don't want to get into what I think of most tourists my purpose is to share a number of street sketches I did while wandering Rome and Florence.  Some will have little notes and all are pen on paper about 8 x 10 inches.  Anytime I look at these they bring back the fondest memories and create a palpable longing to go back again.  I am in love with Italy, Rome, the Italian culture and Italians themselves....sigh.

View from my Villa

 A statue in the Uffizi, my poor knees were screaming from all the walking so I sat and drew this statue while resting

On a lightly rainy day in Florence I sat in a cafe, people watching then got interested in a  potential painting called "Pioggia e Fiorenze" so this is one of many sketches for that painting.  This is also typical of how my paintings all start.

 These next three are all from around the Roman Forum...

A little sketch from walking around Trastevere one day, this one became a fabulous little painting that has found a good home.

 These next two were drawn while I was having lunch at the Uffizi cafe, again my knees were screaming and I HAD to sit down for a while and since I needed a good long sit once lunch was done I started to sketch so I could justify staying there.

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Walking part 2...

One of my favorite books! First of all the title is great, so positive.  When the author was a young man with a huge wandering spirit and took off across Europe to Constantinople.  I love his writing style.  Once I finished it I put it right on top of my books-to-read again pile.  I am nostalgic for walks like his...to set out, sleeping in nature or shelter provided by kindly people.  In fact it is remarkable how many kind people he came across who were so willing to offer a meal and a place to sleep and to write ahead to friends so that he could have future places to stay.  I'm sorry to say that I do not think this kind of journey could be done today....anywhere.  I hope I'm wrong, would hate to think I've become that much of a cynic.  But when I think of what he did I sadly can't imagine doing it at all in the U.S. 

Patrick also seems like a jolly hail fellow well met kinda guy.  Wide open to meeting people where they are and learning about them which I think makes any endeavor like his journey much more successful.  

He set out in any kind of weather, some of the worst one can imagine and without complaint.  One snowflake and I'd stay in bed with as many blankets as I could find and probably whine the entire time too.  But he had this goal of so many miles a day no matter what and never to be assisted except in extreme situations by hitching a ride.  Now remember his journey took place without fancy shoes, the latest hiking gear or high tech winter clothes.  Patrick's journey also took him through a major change in world history and the book ends before he reaches his goal but the next book takes up where he left off and is next on my reading list.

Walking is all on my mind these days as I learn how to use my new knee and suffer through punishing PT.  I dream of a great journey that is slow and savoring in a way that only walking can offer.  We are all in such a rush and it's not clear what the goal is it all, just mad dashing hither & thither.   While I am truly nostalgic for a journey like Patrick's the other harsh reality is that as a woman it would not be possible.  So while I heal I dream and read about great journey's and hope to take up one of my own.

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Walking...

My dear little blog will take a turn for a while as I focus on an important aspect of life and source of energy for my art...walking.  Before I launch into this I want to say a BIG thanks to neighbor & extraordinary artist Maggie Connors for letting me use one of her paintings to start this off with.  Look at the woman in the painting walking so confidently & easily, fantastic!  Thanks Maggie...

I walk for exercise of course but it is also my main source for deep thinking & problem solving.  As I get older I want life to slow down with hopes of absorbing every second of every day and the pace of walking suits that nicely plus there is so much more to see when walking.  Sometimes it can feel as if I'm moving in slow motion as people jog, speed walk, bike or just scamper past in that type-A brisk busy walk which requires twice as many little snippy steps as any normal walk.  I've certainly done all those but much prefer a good old fashioned stroll.  Italians have it right with la passeggiata (a gentle slow stroll) in the evenings after one of their exquisite meals.
   
So why am I so focused on walking?  It has become a big issue in my life due to advanced osteoarthritis, every step hurts and journies are only short distances for which I pay a painful price with screaming knees and sleepless nights.  Actually it feels like I'm under house arrest lately!  I will be getting new knees soon and the first thing I'm going to do with them is take a good long walk.  Science has made great strides (ba da boom) with joint replacement so I'm confident for the future and getting back to being an action figure.  These days I think of people like Renoir who suffered enormous pain and deformity with RA.  In fact when I was a young artist I remember seeing and being horrified (in sympathy not disgust) over a photo of Renoir whose hands were completely distorted by the disease.  He had to wedge paint brushes between his fingers then tape it all together.  What incredible suffering he endured!  His most famous quote is "The pain passes, but the beauty remains"  when he was asked how he could continue to paint while in agony from the pain of rheumatoid arthritis.   Renoir also said to one of his dealers who was watching him paint "you see you don't even need a hand to paint".  That's because as all good artists know you paint from your heart.  Other great painters who suffered with arthritis were:  Raoul Dufy, Matisse, Grandma Moses, Paul Klee, Peter-Paul Rubens, Antoni Gaudi, etc...but they kept right on creating. 

I have been doing a ton of reading, specifically, Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit (terrific book!) and am particularly drawn to her writing about Wordsworth and how he and his sister would go on enormous walks.  So for a little while I will be focused on Walking and all the art it inspires and will keep painting as well.  This will be a great project to keep me going until I can get back to walking...

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Men only....

Just a quick little post to say I got seriously side-tracked for a bit with some issues I'll be blogging about next.  However this post is a quickie about something really shocking in this day and age.  I went to the Boston International Fine Art Fair and visited a gallery I'd long admired and had always wanted to show my work.  Plus they exhibit the work of one artist that I really admire and was about to do a blog piece on...I've decided not to do it.  The friend I went with said to forget about the gallery they don't show work by women artists. HUH???? Sure  'nuf she was right but I had to push it a bit so went over the representatives, turned on the schmooze machine wrapping up with questions re to whom I should send a cd of my work.  There was an uncomfortable silence until one of the men said "well, we only show work by male artists".   I looked him in the eye and said "are you kidding?".  Once home I googled them and indeed they only represent male artists!  I had checked their site before but it just never occured to me that they wouldn't show women!  There is nothing but the listing of artists that declares their prejudice, their statement says in part:  "...was founded ...with the goal of creating a showcase for contemporary, representational artwork.  That goal still rings true today.   The ...Gallery is now internationally known for showcasing acclaimed and distinguished painters..."  Excuse me but there are a great GREAT many women artists who are also acclaimed and distinguished painters!  Until I delve into this further and talk to them directly I am going to withhold the name of the gallery.  Most super savvy people in the art world already know who they are.  I am hoping they will change their currently narrow, chauvinistic view so until them I'm keeping a close eye on them and will keep you posted.


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One year ago...

View from Villa Aurelia

My front "yard" at the Villa!

One year ago today I was headed to the airport to get on a plane for Rome, to one of the most extraordinary opportunities of my life - a month long Visual Artist in Residence at the esteemed American Academy.  I remember being terrified that when I got there they wouldn't let me in, that I made a mistake and read the letter wrong.  When I landed I did get lost a bit trying to get to my hotel with a huge wheelie bag in the pouring rain as the Academy was closed for All Saints Day.  I was jet-lagged, painfully tired, hungry and only one restaurant in the area was open.  I wish I could remember the name of it as the food was fantastic...cold and rainy I started with a soup, then a perfect pizza margherita, wine of course and a very sympathetic waiter who was most kind to my weary, soaked self.  Then back to my hotel and asleep at 7 or 8 pm...really needed that.  Next day took a fabulous crazy taxi ride to the Academy where to my great relief they didn't laugh or turn me away, they gave me an envelope with keys, instructions and I was made to feel most welcome and the place, physically, is spectacular.  After further check in they took me to my place...a palace!...I had a friggin' apartment in a palace with manicured gardens, flowers, breathtaking views of Rome - Awesome!

After recovering from being dazed on all levels I settled in and painted like crazy.  Have to admit I only liked some of the paintings I did there but have made some terrific work in the time since and know if I had longer than a month I could move from being overwhelmed to massively productive, because once the ideas take hold the paint flows like a wild river.

I wrote a lot about the experience on my blog, it was actually the reason I started a blog to keep friends and family up-to-date with my Roman adventures, so you can read much more about in detail if you go to my Nov & Dec posts.  I loved being at the American Academy like I've never loved anything else before, high on a hill overlooking Rome, marinated in centuries of history, full of people with great passions for their field and intellect.  People so brilliant I thought surely they'd made a mistake in letting a blue collar painter like myself in but I was made to feel welcome and desperately want to go back but for a full year - a total immersion.  I've applied again and will keep applying.  One fellow said he had applied 12 times so I should never give up...he was one of my many favorite people there.

This coming year I've also applied for a residency in France and think it would be just perfect if I got that then hung out in Europe until I got to go to the Academy in the Fall.  Yes, I am a magical thinker and that just seems like the best of all possible scenarios, Art Gods hope you are listening!

So my dearest American Academy I miss you terribly and hope to come back...

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Post Open Studios purge...

Will I never learn?  If I kept my studio clean I would not have to binge and purge every year around Open Studios!  First I stuffed everything into every place I could.  Now all this week I've been hauling stuff out including canvases of failed paintings and yes, I believe one can learn from their mistakes and that parts of failed paintings can be studied for future paintings...so take a picture!  One doesn't need to save every last thing.  I'm happy to say the purging is complete and it is SO satisfying to chop up work!  Big storm coming this weekend and I'll be ready for it, music, wine, clean studio and lots of ideas ... YAY.

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