Monday, November 28, 2011

A Painting for Mom

I painted this 6"x 8" painting in oils this autumn while the Pieces of Eight were on our retreat in North Carolina. It was a drizzly afternoon and Carol Schiff set up the still life on her back porch. Carol and I were the only ones painting that afternoon. I did not finish the painting until about a month later when we were back in Melbourne, Florida. When I looked at it later I realized that it reminded me so much of my mom. She was raised on a farm and loves to plant tomatoes and cucumbers in her little garden behind her house. She also loves to can and makes wonderful pickles. One of her favorite flowers is hydrangea and she has a bush in her back yard. So I framed this little painting and am giving it to her for Christmas. I think that she will love it.

I hope so!

Phillis Holland

Friday, November 18, 2011

SUMMER RETREAT, Carol Schiff Studio


In October, our painting group joined me for a week of fun in my vacation home in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
When we returned home, Kathy Garvey presented me with a CD of photos taken during the week.  She also made a small book featuring events of the week.  I painted this  from her cover photo on the book, showing our home in fall color.

We all had a great time and I cannot wait to repeat the experience next October.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

A long way home

After being on the road in some form or fashion since September I finally feel like I'm home. Of course being home means being around all the things you love and feel comfortable with but it also means doing lots of catch up to get these things you love and feel comfortable with back.
First you have to wade through all of the mundane tasks that make the wheels go round, like the mail, paying bills, doing all the laundry, cleaning up the house, weeding, answering email etc. etc. After all of this is at least given a first pass you get to think about doing some painting. One of the good things that come out of having to go through and reorganize your work space is you come across a piece that you really like or enjoyed painting. This is one of the pieces that I really had fun painting. It was painted during a workshop and I loved the photo and the memories it envoked.


Thursday, November 10, 2011

The Stones Speak

Cindy
Fay


The Pieces of 8 showed up en masse to support fellow artist Cindy Michaud and poet Fay Picardi on the recent opening of their collaborative effort "The Stones Speak."  For nearly a year the two worked on images (painted and verbal) that related to their personal experiences with stones.  Amazingly a lot of the work overlapped in subject matter and thus a book became part of the creative effort featuring both the poetry and the art.
Denette and Carmen
Bob and Cindy
Originally opening in Linville, NC, the gang was happy to be there for the First Friday opening in the Allaprima Styling Group in the Eau Gallie Arts District.  Fellow artist Kathy Garvey was the computer whiz behind the book.  What a great night!

The red fashions were not planned, just a colorful coincidence.

Ballard Park, Original Oil on Canvas

  I had not painted outside in two years, so this was quite a challenge. It was one of those paintings I had to improve upon in the studio. ...