Getting Lit in the 1950s
10x8 Oil on cradled panel, Black floater frame
I'm not sure "getting lit" means what they think it means.
Many thanks to @Anonymousphotoproject for allowing me to use their photo as a reference!
10x10 oil on panel
from my original instagram post:
World Domination, Wed Night Meeting
10x10 Oil on panel, black floater frame
I know ... the title on this one is crazy long. I had tossed around other ideas like:
"What happens in book club, stays in book club."
Or
"First rule of book club: don't talk about book club"
which were (a) even longer but (b) I felt more like these ladies were, yes... having tea and biscuits ... but also ... plotting to take over the world, not just reading books.
so then I thought maybe it could be called something like:
"The fraternal order of ladies who are tired of your shit"
Except it's ladies ... so that would make it:
"The Sororal order of ladies who are tired of your shit"
and who uses the word "sororal" ? ... it sounds like something you'd get from eating too many Jawbreakers candies.
So then there was this:
"Secret society of ladies who can't even"
but that's even longer.
It's possible my indecision is why I haven't been invited to any World Domination, Wed Night Meetings. sigh
Many thanks to @dear.fran for allowing me to use their photo as a reference! So very appreciated!
This one is available now @The_Art_Trust and is part of their holiday show "Gifted"... 20 artists , over 200 original works of art, priced $18 - $500. There is something for everyone on your list!
Give the gift of original art this year.
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Mark your calendar
Fri, Nov 18 5-8:30p Opening Reception
Thurs, Dec 8, 5-8:30p Bourbon & Bubbles
Open Mon - Fri, 9-430 or online 24/7 to view and purchase art:
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The Art Trust at Meridian Bank is a charitable, volunteer based organization focused on a contemporary aesthetic of art. Net proceeds from art sales go towards art sponsorships, scholarships & artist grants
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The Art Trust
16 W Market St
West Chester, PA
Wood paneled wagon
6x6 oil on panel, black floater frame
The wood paneled station wagon. For when a minivan is a little too sexy for you.
Many thanks to @negative_recovery_project for allowing me to use their photo as a reference!
10x10 oil on panel, black floater frame
That’s not Steven Tyler, from Aerosmith, but I can see how you may be confused. No… That’s Grandma, listenin’ to Gangsta Rap.
She loves bakin’ cookies and cappin’ fools.
As for myself, I went to a few too many rock concerts in my youth. I’ve got an ear horn on my Amazon wish list. So, if anyone is wondering what to get me for Christmas, now you know.
Many thanks to IG: @tt_flimcollection for allowing me to use their found photo as reference!
24x36 Oil on panel. Black Floater Frame.
From original Instagram post:
"Life is very fleeting, but has moments you should seize"
~ From the movie "The Dig"
When I told my husband I was going to title this painting "Ride or Die" he didn't know what that meant. I couldn't believe it! I told him EVERYONE has heard this phrase, except maybe people over 80, and to prove it I called a friend. I was getting ready to kvetch with her about how totally un-hip my husband clearly was, since he'd never heard "Ride or Die" in reference to friends, and can you even believe I married this old geezer? and she was like... a ride or die what are you talking about?
So after I got off the phone with my former friend, (who apparently doesn't know whose side she's supposed to be on) ... I wondered if any of you had heard this phrase? Tell me it's not just me!
[Just in case, here's the Urban dictionary definition: Ride or Die was originally a biker term meaning if you couldn't ride you'd rather die. It has now changed to mean anyone (wife, boyfriend, best friend), that you will "ride" ANY problems out with them or "die" trying.]
So now you've heard this phrase right? Be sure to say that specifically in the comments below so I can screen shot them and text it to my husband. Thanks in advance.
Many thanks to Rauol, from Germany, who has the flickr account: Vintage Cars and People
for letting me use his reference photo.
24x36 oil on cradled panel
Many thanks to IG: @anonymousphotoproject for allowing me to use their photo as reference.
20x16 Oil on cradled board.
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Many thanks to @sightsofthe50s60s70s for allowing me to use their photo as a reference. This Instagram account collects "Old colour photos of British life in the 1950s, 60s and 70s"
16x20 oil on canvas
From original Instagram post:
Title: 24 Years B.C. (Before Cellphones)
That's right kids, before phones could send texts, take pictures, and play YouTube videos, we used them to talk to other people. And in my mom’s case, for hours at a time … can you even imagine? We had a phone on the wall in the kitchen with a super long chord so she could reach the sink and stove while still talking to her friend. I’m surprised her head wasn’t permanently stuck in a crooked position, for all the time she spent holding the phone to her ear.
When I was growing up, we didn’t even have an “answering machine”. So, if you couldn’t get a hold of someone, you’d have to call them *again*. I know. It was horrifying. Possibly the worst thing about this time was having only ONE phone number for our ENTIRE family. Truly, no idea how we all survived.
The original image is a “found photo” in the collection of @houseofmirthphoto on Instagram. Many thanks to them for allowing me to paint their photo.
24x36 oil on panel
From my Instagram Post:
This image couldn't possibly be more 70s ... From the colors in her bathing suit, to the manual crank window.
The 70s were a nihilistic time ... when ashtrays were in every arm rest and seatbelts were optional.
I love this image so much. Partly because, other than the straight hair, it reminded me of me. To say i love dogs would be the understatement of the century. It makes all the other understatements embarrassed about calling themselves understatements. It's like saying the surface of the sun is a bit balmy, or Antarctica is a little chilly.
I love dogs more than Sir Mix-a-lot likes big butts. Seriously, nobody loves dogs more than me, just as nobody loves acorns more than that squirrel in the movie Ice Age. It's just a fact.
My first dog's name was Pierre ... which, at the time, i thought was a very clever name for a white toy poodle, but it makes for an awful stripper name, (mine's Pierre Burmont). And if you don't already know what your stripper name is (hi Dad!) ... it's the name of your first pet and the street you grew up on. What's your stripper name?
Many thanks to @dear.fran for allowing me to use her photo as a reference. If you love vintage photos ... Go follow her account.
24x36 oil on panel
from my instagram post:
Sure, you can laugh now, but those mutton chops would have been smokin' hawt in Victorian England.
Who wore it best:
Martin Van Buren
Elvis Presley
Or this guy
I'm going with this guy.
My thanks to @houseofmirthphotos for allowing me to use their found photo as reference. House of Mirth Photos is a buyer and seller of vintage snapshots and photo albums for over 20 years. Follow them on Instagram, check out their website houseofmirthphotos.com or visit their gallery in Easthampton, Mass.
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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24x36 oil on panel
My mom loved tea. She was from the UK, and if there's one thing British people love more than a pint ... it's a nice cup of ... well ... there's really nothing they love more than a pint. But if you took away ALL their beer ... there'd be nothing they love more than a ... well, probably a dram of whiskey. Okay, so take away all their alcohol, and their favorite drink would definitely be tea.
They especially enjoy their tea with biscuits. Oddly, their biscuits look and taste almost exactly like what we call cookies.
And you'd be forgiven for thinking the British secretly enjoy confusing Americans. It's like when they call diapers "nappies" when they have little, if anything to do with napping. Or when they call erasers "rubbers" when they ... oh wait. Okay, I see it now ...
They also have a thing called a scone. Scones are just like biscuits, if you prefer your biscuits to be hard and crumbly as opposed to soft and flakey. But once covered in enough jam and clotted cream, you can't even tell they taste like disappointment. (Britain has a well earned reputation for it's bland cuisine and their scones are definitely on brand.)
Many thanks to @anonymousphotoproject for allowing me to use their photo as a reference. "The Anonymous Project is dedicated to collecting and preserving mid-century colour slides from around the world. Started in 2017 by filmmaker Lee Shulman, the project brings to light Kodachrome memories of found amateur photographs, taken from the 1950s through to the 1980s."
#vintagephoto #vernacularphotography #oilpainting #originaloilpainting #tea #retro #foundphoto
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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10x10 oil on panel, black floater frame
from my Instagram post:
Had to cut this title down a bit from the initial: "And Science Wonders Why Women Live Longer."
Second draft: "Why Women Live Longer Than Men, Exhibit A."
Other briefly considered title: "Darwin Award Winners"
but why start writing pithy, three-word titles now? :-/
Many thanks to @negative_recovery_project for allowing me to paint their photo! Very much appreciated!
36x36 oil on canvas. Black frame.
from my instagram post:
When I first saw this reference photo, it reminded me of my dad, taking me and my brothers to museums when we were little. Mom generally didn't go. (Probably for reasons of sanity.)
I remember the first time we went to the Franklin Institute. It has a giant beating heart that you can walk thru. I learned so much from that exhibit! For example, I learned that I'm terrified of giant beating hearts!
(Google it. It's ghastly.)
The giant beating heart also acts as an experiment: It can tell you whether or not you have claustrophobia. Turns out, I do. Though whether or not I already had claustrophobia, or developed it by being inside an enclosed space with the theme song from Jaws playing loudly through speakers, science will never know. (Chicken/egg.)
I just wanted to enjoy a day at a museum without having a panic attack and being forced to face my own mortality ... was that too much to ask?
At the end of the day, my dad allowed me and my two brothers to each buy one thing from the gift shop. This, in turn, allowed the Franklin Institute to buy a whole new wing of exhibits.
Many thanks to @negative_recovery_project for allowing me to use their photo as a reference! 🙏💙
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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10x10 oil on panel, 2" cradled panel
I'm sure we can all agree, if women ruled the world, we'd have diplomacy via cocktail party. Because you can’t start a war with someone if you're both holding fancy drinks with tiny pink umbrellas in them. It's much more likely the evening will end with you bonding over your mutual love of bad reality tv, then singing along to Sweet Caroline when it plays over the speakers. 🎵🎵🎵 Bump bump baaa. 🎵🎵🎵
Many thanks to Mr. Shulman on Instagram: @the.anonymous.project for allowing me to use his found photo as a reference. 🙏🫵
24x16 oil over Lefranc & Bourgeois Flashe Vinyl Paint on cradled panel
This painting is currently available at http://www.beaconart.net/ Beacon Art in Stone Harbor, NJ.
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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18x18 oil over Lefranc & Bourgeois Flashe Vinyl Paint on cradled panel
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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20x16 Oil on cradled board.
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Many thanks to @anonymousphotoproject for allowing me to use their photo as a reference. "The Anonymous Project is dedicated to collecting and preserving mid-century colour slides from around the world. Started in 2017 by filmmaker Lee Shulman, the project brings to light Kodachrome memories of found amateur photographs, taken from the 1950s through to the 1980s."
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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Sister Toss 24x36 oil on panel.
Many thanks to @anonymousphotoproject for allowing me to use their photo as a reference. "The Anonymous Project is dedicated to collecting and preserving mid-century colour slides from around the world. Started in 2017 by filmmaker Lee Shulman, the project brings to light Kodachrome memories of found amateur photographs, taken from the 1950s through to the 1980s."
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
SHIPPING QUOTE
20x16 Oil on Cradled Panel
The original image is a “found photo” in the collection of @anonymousphotoproject on Instagram. Many thanks to them for allowing me to paint their photo.
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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18x24 oil on cradled panel
Original Title: Later In the Evening
New Title: Trying to Make It To Midnight New Years Eve*
*In my house, this is only a problem for my husband. I, on the other hand, am always ready to party thru the wee hours. I’m half Scottish, so, it’s a gift.
Many thanks to @secretlifeofnell for allowing me to use their photo for reference.
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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24×36 on panel, black floater frame
From original Instagram post:
I've never met 'em ... but I KNOW these ladies.
What I love about painting these vintage photos is that they show us we are all connected through the thread of the past. And we're part of something continuous. They remind us that life is fleeting, but we can seize moments and feelings to keep what's vital from being lost.
(The content of the above paragraph has been bastardized/paraphrased/stolen and repurposed from the movie ~ "The Dig")
Many thanks to @Houseofmirthphotos for allowing me to use her photo as a reference.
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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20x16 Oil on Canvas. Black Floater Frame.
From original Instagram post:
I almost called this one “No, She Will NOT Make You a Sandwich”, but my husband didn’t know what I was talking about. Which I guess is a good thing, since the phrase, “shut up and make me a sandwich” is something misogynist trolls say on the Internet, when a woman has an opinion.
The title “Fragile Like a Bomb” comes from the phrase: “Not fragile like a flower, fragile like a bomb.” By Frida Kahlo. At least, I think this was a Kahlo quote. I asked, but Google wasn't quite sure. It might have been RBG. I was unable to confirm because Google sent me down a rabbit hole of "strong women" memes, which I have lots of opinions about. Now, I can’t finish writing my thoughts about this painting, because I have to go pick a fight with a misogynist troll on twitter. Thanks a lot, Google.
The original image is a “found photo” in the collection of @houseofmirthphoto on Instagram. Many thanks to them for allowing me to paint their photo. The original was in black and white (which I love), but I decided to give this colorful lady some color.
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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18x18 oil on panel.
from my instagram post:
His hot dogs bring all the girls to the yard.
Many thanks to FB: The Anonymous Photo Project
SHIPPING: This painting is available for local delivery (near West Chester PA). If you would like a quote on shipping, please use this form:
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20x16 Oil on Panel. Black Floater Frame.
Many thanks to @anonymousphotoproject for allowing me to use their photo as a reference!
36×24 oil on panel, black floater frame
$2700
From Original Instagram post:
"Coney Island Cowboys"
While scouring the interwebz for early color photos, I came across this image, and HAD to paint it. The structure in the background is the Parachute ride on Coney Island. My grandfathee used to paint that thing!
Back in the late 40s to early 60s, Grandpa had a painting contracting business, and one of his clients was the Steeplechase Park, (amusement park on Coney Island, New York). After school, my dad often helped paint all the buildings and rides in the park.
And they DEFINITELY used all the latest government regulated safety equipment.
And since there WAS NO government regulated safety equipment, Grandpa saved a lot of money. Yanno ... On safety equipment. (And thank goodness, because those race horses and card games weren't going to bet on themselves).
The original reference photo was used with permission from the Ruth Orkin Photo Archive. Many thanks to @ruthorkinphoto The photo was taken on Coney Island during the making of the film “Little Fugitive” (1953) which Orkin made with her husband Morris Engel. Ms. Orkin was an inspiring woman and an award-winning photojournalist & filmmaker. She worked for all the major magazines in 1940s (impressive). According to Google, she'd be 100 years old this year. Check out the original photo (and others) on her site:
#coneyisland #newyork #earlycolorphoto #vintagephoto #oilpainting
This painting is currently available at http://www.beaconart.net/ Beacon Art in Stone Harbor, NJ.
What Walks Are Like When My Dog Sees A Squirrel
12×36 oil on cradled panel.
From my Instagram post:
I'm assuming this is a game of Tug of War. Is that when someone tries to take your rope?
(I don't know how sports work).
When I saw this image on the Library of Congress site, it reminded me of our dog Fergus and what he was like on a leash when he saw another dog or a small animal. He was 1/4 terrier and 3/4 personality and a very ruff-n-tumble little man. He weighed about 13 lbs and liked to mix it up with the neighbors' 90 lb Rhodesian Ridgeback/Plott-Hound. Thankfully, the Ridgeback mix, named Bob(<--- Don't you love that?) was a gentle giant and somehow, Fergus never got injured when they played.
We still miss him terribly.