Greetings, Gentle Readers. Greetings from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where I find myself once again…with children, with computer, but without husband or babysitter.
Suffice it to say we have a plentiful supply of gin. And limes.
I promised I would provide more information about the art in the salon arrangement in bossy color’s living room.
Ohslowburn inquired about the picture in the upper left corner.
Don’t you love it? It’s by Janet Lis – a D.C. street scene done in the 70s. The fact that it’s D.C. is a bonus. Alas, the picture belongs to a friend in transition… I secretly hope she forgets about the loan. I wish I could dig up more information about Ms. Lis, but there seems to be precious little out there.
This picture (at right) was the first piece of “real art” I ever bought. It was part of a student exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art when I worked there in the late ’90s. I walked past it every time I went to the ladies’ room…given my Diet Coke addiction, I saw it a lot.
It’s a study, done in about 15 minutes by a Corcoran preparator named Greg Angelone. Such a nice guy. He let me pay for the piece in installments: $100 a month for 3 months.
It’s always been in my/our bedroom; I thought it was more of a private bedroom piece than a living room piece. But I think it works here. (I just sent Greg an e-mail asking about a website of his work; I’ll keep you posted.)
The two grey-matted etchings – I believe they’re part etching, part copper engraving, actually – were done for our daughters by an artist called Christina Dixcy.
And full fun disclosure: she’s my husband’s cousin :) We have a lot of her work – including this etching/engraving at right. Christina works primarily in photography now.
The small oil on board below is by Jerome Schwartz. I met him because my parents used to live in his building in Philadelphia…he and his wife are lovely people. I believe Mr. Schwartz had a whole first career before turning to painting.
I think his landscapes and cityscapes are fantastic. When we feel we can invest more seriously in art, I’d like to look at his work again.
The teeny tiny picture below (it’s etching and watercolor) is a recent find. It’s by B.J. Anderson, and I got it at The Torpedo Factory. This is the one controversial picture in the grouping; some of you feel it’s too small. Point well taken. In real life I think it works…we’ll live with it for a while and see.
And finally, that handsome Japanese fellow above Ms. Anderson’s picture? I got him from a little old lady who was leaving her family home. I can’t remember what I paid for it, but not more than a few dollars.
When my husband first saw the new arrangement, he said, “I like it…but is there art anywhere else in the house now?”
Well, no. But the rest of the house wasn’t on my list of new year’s resolutions this year, was it?