Two Bosc Pears with Bird's Egg (+ Mozart's daily routine)

Two Bosc Pears with Bird's Egg
oil on linen on panel, 2019, 7"x6"
Buy It Now or Make Best Offer

This painting is available for a buy now/make offer price because it is larger than my typical auction paintings. ("Make Best Offer" is easy and lets you offer a price you're willing to pay to secure your purchase of this painting. I can then accept, reject, or counter your offer.) Framing is available upon request after auction closes.

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Related to my postings on mindful studio practice, I often read renowned writer Maria Popova's work (my previous mentions here).

Here's a bit from her piece on Mozart’s Daily Routine: 'How a day is composed in the hours between sleep o’clock and symphony o’clock.'

"'The patterns of our lives reveal us. Our habits measure us,' Mary Oliver wrote in contemplating how our routines give shape to our inner lives. This, perhaps, is why we’re so transfixed by the daily routines of great artists, writers, and scientists — a sort of magical thinking under the spell of which we come to believe that if we were to replicate the routines of geniuses, we would also replicate some dimension of their inner lives and, in turn, their outer greatness....

"[Mozart:] I am writing this at eleven at night, because I have no other leisure time. We cannot very well rise before eight o’clock, for in our rooms (on the ground-floor) it is not light till half-past eight. I then dress quickly; at ten o’clock I sit down to compose till twelve or half-past twelve, when I go to Wendling’s, where I generally write till half-past one; we then dine. At three o’clock I go to the Mainzer Hof (an hotel) to a Dutch officer, to give him lessons in galanterie playing and thorough bass, for which, if I mistake not, he gives me four ducats for twelve lessons. At four o’clock I go home to teach the daughter of the house. We never begin till half past four, as we wait for lights. At six o’clock I go to Cannabich’s to instruct Madlle. Rose. I stay to supper there, when we converse and sometimes play; I then invariably take a book out of my pocket and read…" [Keep reading]

If you enjoy this painting, you may also like to see a bunch of my paintings of birds' eggs.

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Still Life with Peach, Antique Silver Teapot, and Bird's Egg

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All of the subjects in this painting were a gift! This elegant silver teapot, a wonderful gift from my mother-in-law, has a neat story:

"Part of the Hopkins family saga: Granny T. rode the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad often between Philly and Baltimore. One hundred years ago, G. H. Thomson bought this silver plated pot as a memento of the days when railroads had elegant dining cars with heavy white tablecloths. The Baltimore and Ohio R.R. was selling off items because they no longer had the fancy dining car. It holds a cup and a half of tea water."

If you enjoy this painting, you may also like to see peach, bleu cheese, bosc pear, and five blackberries (the light, the shade), Self-portrait in a Blue Vase with Italian Plums, Peach, and Eucalyptus, 12x24", Two Hand-picked Peaches with Leaves, or a bunch of my paintings of bird's eggs.

P.S. I'm excited to share that I will soon be announcing details for a new last minute 1-day workshop in beautiful Boothbay Harbor, Maine. It will be on Saturday, August 4th. Contact abbeyryanworkshops@gmail.com if you'd like priority registration.

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Thanks in advance,

Still Life with Bird's Egg, Apple with Leaves, and Ike's Handmade Vase (+ update on auctions)

Back in May, I asked for your comments on using auction sites. Thank you for all your replies! The overwhelming response was that eBay auctions are the easiest. However, if you don't use eBay, I usually have a small group of available non-auction paintings. Email me to inquire.

Anyway, there were a few questions regarding last minute bidding. I think the best answer is that eBay has a built-in proxy system that allows bidders to enter their pre-determined maximum bid. All you do is enter your maximum bid and let the auction proceed. From eBay's site: "If the auction ends for less than your maximum, that's all you'll have to pay. eBay will only use as much of your bid as necessary to win. Just enter your highest maximum bid once, and eBay will take care of the bidding for you." One comment I received about max bids was this: "stick what you are willing to pay as a hidden max bid and be done with it." That said, if you're interested, another commenter told me that eBay does allow people to use online auction "sniping" sites to assist them with end-of-auction bidding. I have never used one, so do your due diligence if you decide to try it.

If you enjoy this painting, you may also like to see Still life with Peach and Ike's Drop Vase or Still Life with Ike's Handmade Vase, Apricots, and Blue Jay Feather.

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Thanks in advance,

Robin's Egg (+ Lax and Pax)

Robin's Egg (present moment), oil on linen on panel, 7x6", 2017
Email abbeyryan@gmail.com for purchase information

"I may be wrong about Pax, but keep feeling that through good poems and pictures, peace can travel." -Robert Lax to Thomas Merton, 1953 

"Lax's politics, like Thomas Merton's, were the politics of peace, this person wrote. And he was right. Pursuing peace through whatever means, even a fragile newsprint broadsheet that few people read, is a political act." -Michael McGregor, 2016

In thinking about some of my series paintings (the light the shade, Separation of Powers, literally vs. seriously, Two Left, yin/yang, present moment), below is an excerpt from author Michael McGregor's newsletter about poet Robert Lax (read about my fellowship work on Lax here). Everyone can join the newsletter at robertlax.com.

"The Politics of Art and Peace" by Michael McGregor
The Robert Lax Newsletter -- December 2016

"I may be wrong about Pax, but keep feeling that through good poems and pictures, peace can travel."
-Robert Lax to Thomas Merton, 1953

The image to the right is from the third issue of Robert Lax's broadsheet Pax, which he published sporadically between 1956 and 1962, adding three new issues in 1985. I've been thinking about Pax in the wake of the American election because Lax's idea in publishing it was to spread peace by sharing the work of writers and artists. The work didn't have to be about peace per se; the simple act of making art, Lax thought, is a peaceful -- and therefore peacemaking -- activity.

I don't know any more than anyone else what the coming months and years will bring, but I've seen the agitation and rancor the election has fostered already. I've seen people say on Facebook and elsewhere that everyone should take to the streets or get involved in politics. A former writing student of mine said over tea the other day that she was unsure about writing in these times, worried that writing an essay about something other than current issues might be trivial. I'm pretty sure I know what Lax would have told her: that we need people thinking deeply and imaginatively about life right now; that we need those people to put their observations and intuitions into words and images; that we need books with those words and images in our hands and on our shelves and in our beds at night when we're prone to worrying about where our world is heading.

When I was on my reading tour for Pure Act, an audience member asked me if Lax was political at all. I said no. But two or three days later, someone who had been at the reading suggested (gently) that I was wrong. Lax's politics, like Thomas Merton's, were the politics of peace, this person wrote. And he was right. Pursuing peace through whatever means, even a fragile newsprint broadsheet that few people read, is a political act.

“To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to the violence of our times.” -Thomas Merton

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” -Thomas Merton

(You'll find information on all Pax issues, including a list of the poets and poems in each one, here.)

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Best,

Pear and Bird's Egg (the light, the shade) (+ David Wiesner's "Spot")

If you're interested, I recommend "Spot" -- an iPad app created by artist/illustrator/author David Wiesner. From their site: "Spot is an app unlike any other. A visual adventure—one that is never the same twice—unfolds as you travel through spaces that transition into one another via the Pinch-and-Zoom feature of your iPad. With a pinch and a zoom, you move through dazzling scenes, delving into worlds within worlds rendered in gorgeous original artwork by David Wiesner." Learn more: [http://bitu.com/spot/]

This painting is part of my the light, the shade series that I began back in December 2012. I wrote about how Robert Lax was the inspiration for my "the light, the shade" series here. Generous support for my "the light, the shade" series from June 2016-June 2018 is provided by the Norman Johnston Fellowship at Arcadia University.

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Best,

Still life with Robin's Egg, Acorn, and Handmade Cup

As you can see in this cup, the leaves on the trees across from my studio have turned bright orange -- almost the color of glowing embers. This painting continues my "Paintings of Handmade Pottery" project that I've been working on since January 2008. Also, there's a self portrait of sorts in the cup's reflection (here are a bunch of other reflection self portraits, too).

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Best,

Pear and bird's egg (present moment) (+ "life’s ebb and flow")

I wanted to share a beautifully illustrated children's book with you. Maria Popova writes: "I have shared a good portion of my life with a dog afflicted by what animal behaviorists call 'storm anxiety' — a phobia of thunder so acute that it renders him a terrified, trembling ghost of himself, heartbreaking to witness and nearly impossible to comfort. This despairing helplessness to help led to the purchase of the gimmicky-sounding but surprisingly effective ThunderShirt — a contraption that achieves, cognitively speaking, the opposite of what a canine raincoat does and calms the shaking pup down by simulating the sensation of being tightly held.

One of the lovelinesses of dogs is that they have a great deal in common with children — a vast capacity for playfulness and a largehearted, jubilant curiosity about the world, but also some intense, primal fears of phenomena like storms and the dark. And one of the lovelinesses of children is that they remind us of the most elemental parts of ourselves — parts that only get covered up by our grownup masks and coping strategies, but never quite leave us. That classic childhood fear of the dark, for instance, becomes the less obvious but equally paralyzing adult fear of the unexplainable.

In The Storm, Japanese children’s book author and artist Akiko Miyakoshi presents a subtle and sensitive fable of fear, the frustration of uncontrollable events, and the redemptive power of surrendering to the ebb and flow of life. The story unfolds from the point of view of an androgynous child who has been anticipating a trip to the beach, but learns that a formidable storm is on the way...." [Source]

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Best,

Robin's Egg with Handmade Temmoku Bottle

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Happy Monday,

Robin's Egg (present moment) (+ mindful practice scholarship)

Private Collection

Lately, I've been painting still life objects that were given to me as gifts. It's so wonderful to receive a gift (like a broken robin's egg) because someone had the thought, "Abbey could paint this!" To me, it means that my work inspires others to see everyday moments as possible paintings -- just as I do.

I paint daily -- and often think and read and write and teach and teach and teach some more about mindful practice as it relates to the studio and to life. To create more awareness, I am working on creating a "mindful practice scholarship" of sorts, which would be funded by voluntary donation (including my own donation, too). The goal would be to reserve mindful practice scholarship subsidized spots in each of my workshops as well as provide funding to subsidize Private Painting Mentoring for interested people. Applicants would send an application consisting of a few questions that relate to the spirit and content of this idea of mindful practice.

On a related note, the feedback about my Innernet course has been phenomenal, and we are planning to offer it again in January 2016. I've gotten a bunch of requests, so I will select a few snippets of course feedback to share here soon.

In the meantime, here's something I often read as it relates to present moment and mindful practice:

"If we have mindfulness and concentration, everything we see and hear in our daily life becomes a Dharma talk -- a falling leaf, a flower as it opens, a bird flying by, the sound of a bird calling. We say that it is the Dharmakaya, the Dharma body of the Buddha, which is always revealing the teaching of the Dharma. When we feel refreshed and attentive, we can be in touch with the Dharma body and hear the Dharma being taught from moment to moment. We shall see that it's not necessary to put a tape in our cassette player and press the button in order to hear the Dharma. We can hear the Dharma at any moment."   ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Present Moment, Wonderful Moment

To purchase my work, view my Current Painting Auctions and All Available Paintings.

Enjoy,

Blue Collection (Golden Ratio)

Blue Collection (Golden Ratio), oil on linen on panel, 6 x 7 inches, 2014

Studio Update
As I'm in the happy midst of preparations for my solo exhibition at Mason Fine Art in Atlanta in November, I am also "recovering" from moving my home and studio two weeks ago. (!) Things are finally just about close to being in order in my studio. If you're interested in seeing my beautiful new studio, let me know and I will see if I can take some decent photos of it.

About Today's Painting
This new trompe l'oeil painting of mine relates to a series of non-objective ink paintings that I've been working on since 2012 that utilize the structure of the golden ratio. I've been considering the golden ratio as not just a structure (as it is in today's painting), but as subject matter in my still life and trompe l'oeil oil paintings. More on that later.

In the meantime, if you're in the NJ area, this painting will be on view in the Peto Museum's National Juried Show of Contemporary Trompe L’oeil from September 27 – December 29, 2014. The opening reception is Friday, September 27, 2014 6-8pm. Contact the Peto Museum for details about that.

As I prepare for my Nov. 8-9 Peto Museum workshop - I am excited that I will be able to choose from Peto's objects for my own painting demo still life set up during the workshop.

If you're considering signing up, photos from last year's workshop are here. I think there may be just one spot left in the workshop.

Anyway, the Peto is a Studio Museum, so his objects are placed in situ throughout the space. During last year's workshop, I painted Still life with John F. Peto's Copper Jug, Clementine, and Concord Grapes. If you're interested, you can read more about it here.

Best,

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