Provence - Wooden Door

Provence - Wooden Door. 8" x 8" Study, sold

My only new year's resolution was to actually blog, and blog often. My life has changed drastically over then last 15 months with moving the studio, my house, kid's school, family business and all of that - so I now have the life I want and all there is to do now, is just live it.

With that, I'm working on new paintings for the Addison Art Gallery on Cape Cod and promoting two trips to Provence this year. I'm pretty stoked about June because the lavender will be in full bloom. This will be a first for me and I can't wait to get sketching and painting there.

The painting shown above, Wooden Doorway was painted on one of my September art retreats. (Another glorious time to visit the region.) It's the building on a little plateau above the chateau - our home base for the tour. I have a great group photo taken in from in front of this old doorway - I should be finishing editing that pretty soon and I'll post it then. 

Grey Robe

Grey Robe
oil on board
16 x 12

I'm very fortunate to have 3 beautiful daughters who inspire me to paint. Also that comes with the perks of access to their friends who often pose for me. This is one such young lady, Lauren. She graces the robe beautifully, and without much prompting, bows her head before a window allowing me to capture a serene moment in profile.

This painting is available from the Art Engine, TheArtEngine.com

More on my website

"Blue Door"

Here's my painting titled "Blue Door". 

The Asian Influence is very evident to me; I feel its influence in my art. The major aspects of the Eastern Aesthetic that affect me are design, color harmonies and influence of the line and flat two-dimensional shapes. The wood blocks of Japan are among my favorites. 


The Blue Door
The major influences of the Asian Aesthetic that affect me are design, the color harmonies and influence of the line and flat two-dimensional shapes. Here’s a blue painting; I’m in love with this color and I try to make everything a harmony of blue. The design is simple – really an undulating triangle against four flat panels of color. One of the background panels is painted in silver pigment and I used a brush to “inlay” 2-dimensional tiles of blue into the flat silver shape. The broad black (actually blue-black) line designed into her kimono is to lead the eye through and up the painting to her face and dark hair. Even the flesh tones are tending to blue violet. But if you really look at this painting I have used almost no pure blue at all – it’s all grey-blue, blue-violet and aquas. Like a haiku, it can say a lot about a subject without directly addressing it.

When Japan, in particular, opened its borders in the second half of the 19th century the world was exposed to a new aesthetic that swayed the art world completely. It presented a new sense and direction in the decorative arts and artful living, away from ostentation and towards balance and simplicity. Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Impressionism to a degree were born out of the Asian influence.
The artwork from the past that I love, admire and study for what it can teach me, is most often by artists who were influenced by this Eastern aesthetic; Klimt, architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, painters John Singer Sargent and the Glasgow Boys’ George Henry and E. A. Hornel stand out as a few.

When I contemplate a new painting, I take a few moments, move into a meditative place to form the major idea, design and message for the work I am about to undertake. And since I work at the easel quickly, this prior step is vital to the painting. This is when I lay out the road map for the piece, the harmonies, palette and the composition. From this starting point, I do not try to “visualize” the painting, but just like heading for a new destination I have an idea of what it might feel like. With these elements in agreement I can confidently paint at any speed as I know then, where I am going and how I am going to get there.

Again Dominique modeled, and she made the kimono. I sat her on top of a table to paint her as if I was seated on the ground - in other words got my eye  level about the same as hers.

The painting was included in a really gorgeous exhibit at the Galeria Gitana, San Fernando, California - Asian Influence - The Eastern Aesthetic. The show was curated by gallery director, Karen Nichols and included some great works by fellow artists. One of the exhibit highlights was a lecture on the subject by John Paul Thornton, Art Education Coordinator at City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. 

National Art Museum of Sport Exhibit Selects My Boxing Painting

INDIANAPOLIS—Before the Bell, a painting by Julie Snyder, a fine artist based in Tujunga, California, has been selected by a jury for inclusion in the Commitment to Excellence in Art and Sport exhibit at the National Art Museum of Sport at University Place on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

The exhibit, which includes 50 sport paintings, sculptures and photographs, will run until April 20, 2011. They were selected in a global competition for sports artists conducted by the Museum. There were entries from over twenty-six states and six countries with more than fifty-seven sports or sports related subjects represented.

In Before the Bell, a boxer is focused on the round and his opponent before the fight begins. Scottish-born Julie Snyder considers athletes her muse. Both artists and athletes admire those who master the body’s structure as they seek to win. Although she shows the form toned and disciplined when she paints, it is the focus and intention of the competitive sports figure that is most compelling to her.

Founded in 1959 in New York City by the late Germain G. Glidden, a portrait artist and national squash champion, the National Art Museum of Sport holds one of the nation’s largest collections of art depicting sport. Over 40 sports are represented in the over 900 paintings, sculptures and works on paper in the collection. Among the artists in the collection are Ogden Pliessner, Winslow Homer, George Bellows, Joe Brown, Ray Ellis, James Fiorentino and Alfred Boucher.

The Museum’s first home was in Madison Square Garden in New York. It has been in Indianapolis, “Amateur Sport Capital of the World,” since 1990.

The Commitment to Excellence in Art and Sport fine art competition and exhibit support the Museum’s two-pronged mission to encourage sports artists in their efforts to create sport art and to collect, preserve and share the best examples of sports art it can acquire.

The National Art Museum of Sport at 850 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202, is open free to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. week days. For group tours and weekend hours, call 317.274.3627 or e-mail ecvarner@iupui.edu; more information at www.namos.iupui.edu.

A high resolution file of the artwork “Before the Bell” is available for download. Email me.

IntroBlog

Blogs.
OK, now I'm here, what do I do?
I knew I had to have one, it's the thing to do, they say.
My kids don't have one yet, so how can this be true?

For all it's worth, I'm an arty type; a painter, a mum (mom), a wife and a busy, busy person. I care about the pursuit of happiness, attaining goals and all of that. I've got a website. JulieSnyder.com which has images of paintings. Yes, they're for sale.

I like life, Facebook, California, family, food, friends and travel. Although I haven't really traveled much lately, not counting Scotland and Cape Cod last year. My idea of travel is waking up in a strange land, listening to people talk in a language I don't know, eating food I've not tasted before. Actually it's just about my favorite thing. I have done this in many places, I love Spain, Italy and France. I've also been to Greece, the former Yugoslavia, Gibraltar, Portugal, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Belgium.