Welcome to my studio.
Film director Wes Anderson has favorite actors, including Bill Murray and Owen Wilson, whom he casts in most of his films. Composers have favorite instruments, favorite musicians. Artists also have favorite partnerships. Sometimes the muses are individuals, maybe the artist's partner or children. Sometimes the inspirations are inanimate, such as the bottles in the paintings of Bologna artist, Giorgio Mirandi. I have had a few human muses (Sheri Peck, Marta Barroso Fernandez, Lola Zambrana). I'm also grateful for some potent objects and fabrics, some of which I've hoarded for thirty years or more. It's a precious thing to find an object which speaks with my artist's voice. Here are four textiles which have been steady collaborators. They bring me beauty, history and mood. I'm obligedto compose light and actually paint an artwork, but the objects make everything better.
Here's a gallery following my four favorites through my paintings over time. The thumbnails enlarge. I've put in background stories which appear when you hover your mouse over an enlarged image. Or keep the mouse aside to just flip through the paintings for fun.
Other events in my life this month include showing some of my miniatures at Beverly McNeil Gallery's annual holiday exhibition in Birmingham. She has a beautiful space near the Birmingham museum of art. Here's their website: Beverly McNeil Gallery
Sharing family news: my husband Daud Akhriev had a banner month. Portrait society of America awarded him as one of Tennessee's Ten Best Portraitists 2016 and his work is featured as American Art Collector Magazine Award of Excellence in the December 2016 issue of the same magazine.
Award-winning Portrait of the Artist's Mother, by Daud Akhriev
Holiday Gifts?
For approximately the next week I can deliver linoleum prints in time for Christmas at the standard mailing rate. After that, express rate will be necessary. Click on the ladies below to peruse nymphs and other hand-pulled linoleum prints, priced between $50 - $150 unframed. Standard handling and shipping from Spain to anywhere in the world is $15.
Sisters in Crime, hand-pulled linoleum print, edition of 40 2016
Thanks for the visit, and happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the world. We will be giving thanks in Andalucía, with a table of friends of six nationalities. From our table to yours, best wishes.
Melissa