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The Thinking Woman's Almanac
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From Annie Shaver-Crandell's Studio
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TULIPS AND TANGO: RESUMING SOME LAPSED PLEASURES
Happy to be minded to paint again, after the personal upheaval of the last eight months, I'm equally pleased that It's tulip season here in the northeast. Fortunately, it's always tango season; the similarity to be noted is that, like a blossom, each dance is unique. Neither lasts in real time for very long, though memories can linger long after the musicians have stopped playing or the flowers faded.
Flowers captured by artists are usually less perishable than the real thing, so, in order to surround myself with tulips for all seasons, I am currently a very good customer to flower-sellers here in Manhattan.
Tulips, just home from the market, in the bathroom sink
After a few false starts now relegated to the scrap drawer in the studio flat file where watercolor failures go for recycling, I've managed a few keepers. Here are the results of some recent studio sessions.
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| Parrot Tulips, watercolor, 11"x11," 2017 |
Models resting overnight in the artist's refrigerator.
These parrot tulips flopped over so much, in spite of copper pennies in their water, daily trimming of stems and the odd overnight stay in the refrigerator, that I felt the need to revert to a medium that expressed their energies differently. So here are two pieces done in oil stick on canvas. Oil paintings that were duds taking up storage space served nicely as substrates for both of these studies of tulips.
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| Parrot Tulips, oil stick on canvas, 12" x 16," 2017 |
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| Red Tulips, oil stick on canvas, 16" x 20," 2017 |
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Annie working with oil sticks.
If you're unfamiliar with oil stick as a medium, here's a short video of my starting one, with some of the tools I use. It's great fun if you feel the need to draw very freely and don't mind a bit of a mess.
As for the tango, I'm very pleased to announce that I'm resuming sponsoring milongas at the Salmagundi Club, with Sid Grant as my co-host and Steve Harris as the DJ. We resume on Thursday, May 18, 6:15-9:45 in the elegant double parlor, and Thursday, June 22, same hours, in the Main Gallery. The club's bar is open 5-10; restaurant service begins at 5:30, with last orders in by 8:30. $12 for the milongas, and always without charge for NYPD, FDNY and active military personnel, and veterans. The Salmagundi Club is located at 47 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street in Greenwich Village;
www.salmagundi.org; 212-255-7740.
Hoping to dance with some of you then and to meet the rest as life continues to improve.
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Here are a first and second impression of my most recent monotype
Dog Walker, 5 3/4" x 7 7/8" before I made corrections with Inktense pens.
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Dog Walker, 1/2, 2017
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Dog Walker, 2/2, 2017 |
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This video shows some of my source photographic material, the copper plate itself, me tinkering with defects in the impressions, and their finished versions.
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I'm pleased to announce that my monotype,
Hunters Pausing, 2/2 was acquired at the SCNY 2017
Spring Auctions.
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UPCOMING ART-MAKING EVENTS APRIL-JUNE
April 22
plein air day at Planting Fields
April 29 all-day monotype at the Salmagundi Club
April 30 workshop at Annie's studio on reds, purples and pinks
May 20 all-day monotype at the Salmagundi Club
June 10
plein air day at Planting Fields
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In addition to my regular teaching schedule on Bond Street, I'm leading or involved with a number of painting workshops and other art-producing events over the next two months. The next one here in the studio is:
PINKS, REDS AND PURPLES:
a painting workshop focusing on the palette of nature in Springtime
Sunday, April 30, 11:30-3:30, in my studio
$45
As we move here in the Northeast into the season of flowering trees, bulbs and other early blooms, we are invited to broaden our palettes to include pinks, reds and purples. How to create them? Which pigments best depict what we are so excited to see after the greys of winter?
Though the focus of the day is to explore the practical properties of specific pigments as they perform in watercolor, participants are welcome to work in most other mediums. You are encouraged to take the workshop in a spirit of meditation and process, rather than feeling that the day should yield a finished painting or drawing. You will have opportunities to experience commercially prepared pinks, reds and purples, as well as to develop your own palette using combinations of pigments. There will be flowers and other conventional still life materials available, as well as yardage from my historically vast collection of fabrics, and a wide selection of watercolor pigments to sample.
Light refreshments provided.
The workshop is open to all levels of experience; please feel free to call or email with any questions.
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| Carnations and Tulips (Red), watercolor, 10 1/2" x 10 1/2," 2010 |
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| Green Vase, Four Views, Three Pigments, watercolor, 18" x 24," 2005 |
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TWO
PLEIN AIR PAINTING DAYS A
T PLANTING FIELDS, ARBORITUM, OYSTER BAY, LONG ISLAND
Saturday, April 22nd
Plein Air Through the Seasons
Azaleas, Rhododendrons & Spring Blooms
10:00am - 3:00pm /FREE with $8 Parking Fee
Meet at the end of the West Parking lot by the Welcome Pavillion.
Suggested list of materials: Some form of drop cloth, any oil, watercolor, acrylic, oil or dry pastels. Bring a bag lunch or purchase snacks at COFFEED's garden café inside the hay barn. Contact Jennifer Lavella
(516) 922-8678 or jlavella@plantingfields.org for more information.
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Gravel Path: Salvia and Peggy Martin Roses,
watercolor, 6 3/4" x 14," 2015 |
Saturday, June 10th
Plein Air Through the Seasons - The Rose Garden
10:00am - 3:00pm /FREE with $8 Parking Fee
Meet at the end of the West Parking lot by the Welcome Pavillion.
Suggested list of materials: Some form of drop cloth, any oil, watercolor, acrylic, oil or dry pastels. Bring a bag lunch or purchase snacks at COFFEED's garden café inside the hay barn.
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MONOTYPE
PARTIES AT SALMAGUNDI CLUB
Two all-day monotype parties are coming up,
Saturday, April 29, and Saturday, May 20, 10AM-8PM each day.
$30 for non-members, $20 for Salmagundi Club members. If you're new to these events, I'll suggest you bring old clothes, apron, vinyl or nitrile glove, Q-tips, soft paper toweling (Viva is very good), source photos or drawings to work off (remember that these will be flipped left to right in the monotype printing, so you may want to print your sources backward first). The club will supply: printing plates, ink (oil-based), paper and lots of shared expertise.
Our club president, Robert Pillsbury, often does a demo print at the beginning of the party to explain the process; that alone is worth the price of admission.
Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue @12th Street; New York, NY 10003; 212-255-7740 or info@salmagundi.org to reserve.
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VIGNETTES FROM THE STUDIO
Washing dishes in Van Gogh's bathtub during the recent outage of my kitchen drain (now repaired).
Lara Kamhi, temporarily reassigned from her Monday morning office duties to washing down watercolor palettes in the kitchen sink
Last book enjoyed: Donna Leon,
The Waters of Eternal Youth
Next book on disc to listen to in the studio:
Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz, which I last read as a child, from the wonderful Carnegie Library in Oberlin, Ohio.
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Annie starting a watercolor.
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FEARLESS WATERCOLOR CLASSES
Space is currently available in my group painting classes, offered in my Bond Street studio. Class is in session three times a week, on a drop-in basis. All experience levels welcome. Email me for details about these and private lessons.
Classes have begun. A few spaces remain.
Current schedule:
Monday 2:30pm - 5:30pm
Wednesday 3:00pm - 6:00pm
Thursday 10:00am - 1:00pm
A typical workstation
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ANNIE'S STORE
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Annie Shaver-Crandell: A Collection of Views Landscapes, Cityscapes and Interiors
36 page book, 8 3/8" x 10 7/8"
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| Carousel Mug |
Please visit the online
store to purchase my book and collectible mug.
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Please visit my studio for a private viewing. Call me at
212-464-7519 to schedule. I am also available to discuss commissions.
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| FEEDBACK
I love hearing from all of you with all your questions and comments. Please feel free to write me at
annieshavercrandell@gmail.com and I promise to reply. Your comments help me build my studio.
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