So…I am super excited to be showing some of my most recent works at Metro 417, an art gallery in the lobby of the famous building on 417 Hill Street in Downtown Los Angeles. This gem was built in the 1920’s in the Beaux Arts style with Italian Renaissance ornamentation. Even if you are not interested in art, a visit to this historic building is definitely a treat, giving you a glimpse into the lavish lifestyle of LA’s early elite.

A half a block from the Grand Central Market, it is also a great place to make a stop on your way to lunch. So come on by and take a stroll in the lobby.

https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/metro-417

The art show runs from December 13, 2018 through January 9, 2019.

A great way to reach potential clients is the opportunity to showcase our portraits at a business expo. Last Wednesday we did just that, at the Culver City Business Expo that took place at the Veteran’s building. Many visitors stopped at our booth and took part in our raffle to win a discounted painting or drawing. The winners were notified today, and I look forward to create a beautiful one-of-a-kind portrait for them!

During the event we offered quick 15 minute sketches, as you can witness below, making this event a very fun afternoon:

Small and powerful! By slowly adding soft layers to reach the level of detail in this graphite drawing, this one-year old toddler is looking right at you!

How lucky we are to be on the receiving end of the unconditional love of our pets! And isn’t it great that they, too can be eternalized in an original oil painting. Here are two samples of detailed “Realism” oil paintings that I created from photographs. Millie the Dog and Rama the Cat are both painted just a tad below life size. Notice the colors of Rama’s eyes – one is greener than the other, which is due to how the light hit Rama when this picture was taken. Other unusual colors can be detected in Rama’s portrait. And Millie’s face shows us she’s a real sweetheart!

 

Charcoal, an ancient drawing medium consists of burned willow and vine branches and comes in various grades of softness. Charcoal creates beautiful, gracious lines, deep thunderous undertones and feather-like whiffs. This vast array of textures gives the artist an enormous sense of freedom. It is OK to get emotional when working with charcoal – how can you not. And that is exactly what gives it its reputation of a link between sculpture and painting. Like clay, charcoal is blend-able, pliable and shade-able: seemingly 3D. Like clay, it creates depth, texture and surprising warmth – how utterly memorable and rewarding. Unlike clay, charcoal is fragile. Where clay, once fired, is one of the strongest substances around, charcoal smudges easily and can literally be blown away. A drawing may not last, in fact, it may become part of the world of performance art: alive for just a brief second. But in my book that too, ads to its charm…how delicately lovely. To explore what charcoal techniques can do for you, check out the “STRICTLY CHARCOAL” classes I teach every first and second Sunday of the month at http://deb3321.com in Lincoln Heights, just NE of Downtown LA. Prepare to be surprised and enchanted!

Over the years my Sundays have taken me to model sketching sessions, shared with fellow artists. While there is an almost earth shattering silence in the room, loaded with concentration, these mornings are always such great fun. Of course, there is inspirational music playing in the background. Every person has their own unique style and personality, be it as a model, or as an artist.
I recently went from colorful chalks back to charcoal and graphite. What a fantastic medium that is. It allows for very subtle gradations, strong lines, dark thunderous areas and then the light, the shimmer of a sun beam shining through. Our faces have all that: tenderness, expression, strength, light.

Turkish rugs have always played an important role in my life – I grew up with them and love them! In my country, the Netherlands, we typically would have a low-poled knotted rug covering our dining room table. This has been part of Dutch heritage since the Middle Ages. Looking at medieval paintings by our Dutch masters, there are plenty of examples of rug-over-table settings, like in this painting by Vermeer: “Lady writing a letter with her maid” that dates back to 1670. And it is a warm and cozy table treatment. Coming home from school, my Mom would have tea and cookies ready at our rug-covered table and we would talk about our day – a cherished memory. Here, in Southern California, a rug on a table is not a common sight, let a alone a desirable concept. But my childhood rugs are living with me creating perfect, wall-to-wall carpeting.

What is going on with the weather of late? A gal from Western Europe, used to lots of wet and chilly days, I was able to get through the grueling hot Summer thanks to the promise of relief later in the year. But it seems that there is no end in sight! It is mid October, I am sitting here with doors and windows wide open, crickets chirping outside in the balming moonless evening. It makes me think of all the writers of the 19th and 20th Century not just on the muggy East Coast, but also in Europe. How were they able hold up during those long Summer days in humid Greece, Mallorca without air conditioning? Or not just writers, how about composers, painters? Matisse was probably mostly working near an open window, to catch the ocean breeze and after the sun had set to make way for some cool air, he would throw his brushes in the can with turpentine, close shop and meet with fellow artists…

Let me give you a tip. The best of all worlds: The Grand Canyon in Winter. What a beautiful, breathtaking view, and nice, nippy hiking weather. After a couple of hours along the most mysterious nature site in the world, a cup of hot tea never tastes so good.

While visiting Holland, Christine was asked to paint the portraits of three siblings, young adults attending university. They all cleared their agendas and posed together at their grandmother’s house.

Using an old-fashioned clothes-drying rack as a makeshift easel, Christine got to work. It was definitely a very fun couple of days and produced three elongated portraits that can be hung alongside each other in triptych format.