Hurricane Sandy- Here's a way you can help

Flower Study 8
 Roses & Lilacs
6 x8 Oil Painting
 by Pat Fiorello

Opening auction bid $25
To bid click here:

I just posted this painting in conjunction with an on-line art fundraiser to contribute to Hurricane Sandy.  

It's always difficult to see and comprehend the destruction, disruption and impact these types of events have on people and communities, but this one hits close to home for me. I grew up in NYC and lived in NJ for many years before moving to Atlanta. All my family lives in Brooklyn, Staten Island, NJ, Connecticut- everyone is okay, just shaken up and all still without power.  

 My heart goes out to those who have lost family, homes and their sense of life as they once knew it.  A number of artists are contributing work to raise funds to help.

 I contributed this painting for auction with a starting bid of $25. It will be open for bid for 7 days with 100% of the proceeds going to the recovery fund.

To bid on this or other artworks see Hurricane Sandy auction

Thanks for your concern and compassion in the face of this disaster, in whatever way you choose to express it.

Yellow Roses- Light Study

Yellow Roses- Light Study
6 x 8 Oil Painting
by Pat Fiorello

This is a little study I did trying to capture the light on some roses. Did this right before I left for Italy earlier this month.

 I haven't gotten back in the studio yet since returning on Monday night.  Thought I might do so today but instead I spent the day culling thru my new photo's from this latest trip to Tuscany. I went thru over 1100 photo's, selected the top 85 and then from those picked about 14 that seem to have the most potential for strong paintings. Been working with those images today, printing, cropping, looking at value patterns etc..

Did a small value sketch of the one I want to do first, so hope to get started tomorrow.  I'll post new work as this new series unfolds.

Eat, Paint, Shop

Sunny Piensa
9 x 12 Watercolor Painting
by Pat Fiorello
$200

You may have noticed my blog has been quiet for a couple of weeks. I was teaching a painting workshop in Italy and just got back last night. We spent a week in the Tuscan countryside painting and tacked on a few days before in Rome and a few days at the end in Florence.

I've taught at the same location for the past 5 years, and the familiarity is nice, but it's also fun to visit some new towns. This scene is from Piensa. It was my first time there and it was probably the highlight of the week. Great sun and shadows and I took over 300 photo's there that day.  The title of this post "Eat, Paint, Shop" pretty well sums up a perfect trip.

  Below are some photo's of my students painting on location in Piensa.

Catching the Light

Catching the Light
8 x 10 Oil Painting
by Pat Fiorello
$300

Here's a piece I worked on this week, with an emphasis on capturing the light streaming in from a nearby window and also keeping brushstrokes a little looser.

Here's the photo inspiration which I altered a bit.

The difference a background makes...

Adie's Day
16 x 20 Oil Painting
 by Pat Fiorello
SOLD



I had a request for a painting of flowers for a yellow kitchen with some blue accents. I had recently finished the yellow roses and white hydrangea demonstration in my class but the size was too small and I thought the dark background might be a little serious for a small  kitchen. So using the photo's of the orignal set up for inspiration. I made a few adjustments. The canvas was much larger so I had more room to lengthen the vase. I also made the background a slate blue grey ( it's a little more neutral in reality than it's showing up on my monitor) . The lighter background gives a whole different mood from the original which is shown below.

And now for something completely different...

Richard's  Ride
9 x 12 Oil Painting
by Pat Fiorello
SOLD

Well this one was definitely outside my comfort zone. I paint a lot of green things - landscapes, flowers, but this is the first oil painting of a car I've ever done. I did a watercolor which included a car many years ago, but it was a minor element of the painting,  not the focus. Recently, I had a collector of mine, who I just finished 3 commissions for, ask if I could paint her husband's car for a gift.

I was a little unsure since I hadn't done that type of subject before, but I said I'd give it a shot. To get over my initial skepticism, I  tried to convince myself it was just a shiny rectangle with some details. Once I got started, the challenge was actually fun.  I've heard it said, learning doesn't happen when you are in your "comfort zone" nor in the "panic zone".  Only when you are between those 2 spaces are you in the " learning zone".  I have to admit it was fun to figure out how to get started and how to depict certain elements like a sense of reflected light on the side of the car  and try to keep it  not too overly detailed. The tires were the toughest part to simplify- there were tons of spokes which I tried to suggest but not report precisely without losing the spirit of the car. I delivered it today and my client was very happy.

On another note, I was recently asked to put some of my small paintings into floater frames. I looked on-line and found some options, but many were deep and I typically work on panels rather than thick stretched canvas, so that type wouldn't work.   I did discover a wonderful framer, Mike Schmidt of Framer's Outlet in Lawrenceville , GA. He put them together for me exactly as I needed them and did so quickly and at a reasonable price. Even if you don't live nearby, he will ship to you. He's been framing for 30 years.
 His info is: framers@att.net, 1-800-228-8527, 770-822-6388
 www.framersoutlet.com.

Here's an example of one of my 6x8 paintings in the floater frame. This one is walnut, but he had several other options.