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.