The Inlet Road

"The Inlet Road" 18"x24" Oil on panel
I have been working on this painting on and off for the last few months. It's was inspired by other coastal artists and from a trip to an old plantation site below Charleston. Interested in this painting or any others email me: ndcorley5@gmail.com
More to come. (Got a painting to share? Email me.)

The Human Form with Bonnie Goldberg

"La Danseuse II" by Bonnie Goldberg
mixed media on canvas 30" x 24" $1500

Contact Bonnie directly via email: bonnieart@bellsouth.net

To see more of Bonnie's art or learn about the artist you should visit her website: www.bonniegoldberg.com. Bonnie's colorful site has pages of her creations where you can click on a thumbnail version and see them enlarged. Bonnie paints here in Columbia, South Carolina from her studio and participates in the "About Face" painting group at the Columbia Museum of Art.

Oils by Rob Shaw

"Hunting Beach" 16x12 By Rob Shaw
Oil on canvas, framed & ready to hang $275





"Wish you were here" 16x12 By Rob Shaw
Oil on canvas, framed & ready to hang $275


Rob is one of my favorite South Carolina artists. Contact him directly if you are interested in either painting.

Phone: 803-665-2440 Email: havensframemaker@yahoo.com

Watercolors by Rachel Parker

"Zebra Contours" 20"x 20" by Rachel Parker
Contact: r1achel@yahoo.com or visit her blog: www.rachelsstudio.blogspot.com

Art Showing at Habitat for Humanity Expo

"Turf" by Andy Corley


For local artists wanting to participate in the Habitat for Humanity's Expo coming up, I have pasted below the information sent from Jennifer Bridges. She's the contact person for this Expo. I am told that this Expo receives a lot of attention and the potential for art sales is great. Happy Painting,
Andy

See below:


Good Morning HeArtists, This is just a reminder to anyone that is wanting to put art into the Expo next weekend that I need your art pieces (up to 3 pieces) brought to the store by next Wednesday, August 17th. I extended the deadline so that to help some folks out that needed more time. It’s a great opportunity to make some extra money so please let me know as soon as possible if you’re interested. Any further questions, feel free to email or call me. We look forward to hearing from you guys! If you have already entered pieces for the Expo, please disregard this message J Jennifer Bridges Office Supervisor CSC Habitat for Humanity ReStore483 Sunset Blvd West Columbia, SC 29169 www.midlandsrestore.org

Missing an ear this morning

18x24" Oil on Canvas by Andy Corley

Hello and happy creating to all. Here is my interpretation of a Van Gogh painting that we attempted this past week. In class Tuesday, I think everyone was just sick when we realized that we had spent already 1.5 hours just on the sky. So I brought it home unfinished and painted this past week little by little. Now I really like it. I particularly enjoyed playing with all the different tones of blue and green - my favorite colors. Well I hope you like this one. Can't wait to see your own creations. Send me an email to ndcorley5@gmail.com so I can share your art. Think I might do another one in this similar Van Gogh-type style.
Chau,
Andy

A couple recent additions to my collection

Gearing-up for summer painting and I wanted to share a couple new pieces that I recently came across. I saw this plantation scene at Havens in Columbia and had to purchase it. I don't think Rob Shaw wanted to get rid of this painting, so I snatched it up before he could think twice about it. I love the greens and the plantation house.

The second one was given to my by Garwood Mills. I love her soft style and twisted her arm into exchanging a piece with me. This is the treasure that I received from our exchange. Both of these I have within close view in my study room. As soon as I have decided I'll find special places for both of these.

Now that my summer has officially started I can't wait to get painting. Got some artwork you'd like to share? Send it to ndcorley5@gmail.com and I'll showcase it. Happy creating!



An old plantation scene by Rob Shaw. I love the shades of green and the boardwalk takes you right into the house.



A Tuscan scene by Garwood Mills. The colors are so beautiful. She has the softest touch. I've told her before that her paintings have a dream-like quality about them.

Help me with a title

"Help me with the title" 14X18" Oil

Here is a painting I finished earlier this week. I'm trying to see how impressionistic I can get...to quote a friend. Spring has had it's effects on me this year and during the recent break I've just been painting as much as possible while trying to keep ahead with work and studies. I hope someone likes this painting, I had my doubts about it but it's growing on me. I'm trying to "let go" a little. It's hard to let go with painting. Any suggestions for a title on this one? Let me know.

PS- send me you art work via digital photo to my email if you'd like me to show it. here is my email address: ndcorley5@gmail.com

Chau, more to come.

Re-doing the Hunting Island Painting

Last night I painted again with the group at Havens Frame and Gallery and the resident artist Rob Shaw. We did a painting that I had done back in 2009 and sold. At first I was a little hesitant to do the same painting again, but I was happy that I did. It was great to be back in the studio with Rob again and painting that scene again produced a while new version on that painting and a gave me a worthwhile experience. I'll be doing multiple copies of paintings more often. Besides who doesn't love palmetto trees? I don't think I've got it quite perfect yet, but everytime I paint them I find it gets easier. Wonder what it's like doing a palmetto for Rob, who says he's done this painting many many times over? Practice makes perfect I guess.

Just to be back around other artists, to talk about colors and textures and other tactics, it was a great experience and fired me up to do some more painting. I also saw my friend Garwood doing a painting of a porch scene. It was very impressionistic and I told her it looked like a dream or a memory. I can't wait to get my hands on that piece and either buy it or share it on this blog.

Included here is a photo of the second version of my Hunting Island painting that we did together.

An Intimate Evening with Bonnie Goldberg Thursday 1/6/11

I'm happy to announce an event this coming Thursday evening with South Carolina artist, Bonnie Goldberg. This event will run from 6pm-9pm.

More items from 2010

If anything catches your eye, let me know. I've got something totally different in the works right now. Hope to share that before the spring semester gets underway at USC. Stay in touch! I hope to be painting with Rob Shaw in January, depending on my schedule. I'm sure Rob would love for you to come join in.

PS - Send me fotos of your own work, plus descriptions and pricing information to my new email: ndcorley5@gmail.com, I'll be happy to post your work. Have an idea for an article? Send it to me.

A Few Recent Items

The middle painting is 14x18 inches
The other two are 9x13 inches

Varnishing an Oil Painting

Some Background Knowledge and Buyer’s Advice

I was a little confused about the types of varnishes out there and didn’t know which ones were bad to use. So I asked a friend of mine. I learned a lot more than I needed to know, but still here is what I was told:

Varnishes, made from resins, have been around for thousands of years. Until modern chemistry, resins came from plant and animal extracts. They often have pleasant smells and were used in religious ceremonies in days of yore. However many craftsmen started using resins because when they are dissolved in solvents and when applied to certain surfaces they can have a protective quality about them once the solvent has evaporated away. After the solvent has evaporated, there remains a layer of protective resin-like layer. However when used on oil paintings, this varnish will last only a limited amount of years before it yellows, cracks or even becomes foggy.

Experts say that varnishes need to be changed (that is removed and re-applied without disturbing the paint beneath) every 40-60 years. If left on the painting these varnishes can damage valuable art work. In fact, I usually do not varnish my paintings unless I want to achieve a specific sheen or antique look.
Damar and mastic resins are still used popularly today. They are derived from plants but even though they are popular they behave quite badly over time. Stay away from water-based “varnishes” if you are painting in oils of course. Although they are fine for some arts and crafts painted with water-based paints and acrylics, you cannot use them on oil paintings. Traditionally these water-based varnishes are used not only to protect acrylic paintings, but also used to give them a shine that is similar to oils.

With oil paintings, it is best to use an acrylic-resin varnish (a solvent based varnish). So you’ll have to read carefully when buying varnish. Instead of dissolving the acrylic-based resins in water, these varnishes use solvents to dissolve the resin. Many of these varnishes have been examined by
accelerated age tests and also with tests for light and energy exposure. Knowledge is power, so buyers beware. If you’re really investing money and time in an important piece of artwork, you might want to re-think varnishing completely. If you decide to go ahead and varnish make sure you stick to solvent based (acrylic-resin) varnishes. Buyers of some more high-end art with varnishes will need to know that their art will need maintenance in years to come.

Turning Turpentine Into Wine

How One Artist Survived this Economy by Taking a Risk and Using His Talent

A good friend of mine (we’ll just call him Calem for now) and art lover from Phoenix, AZ is a full-time, self-employed artist. He sells his art in various galleries around Phoenix and competes regularly in local and regional competitions. However these days he tells me that people are not buying art as much as he would like and he has taken his art career in a new and exciting direction in order to maintain his lifestyle. Not only does a self-employed artist need to be darn good at painting, but he also needs to be able to weather the ups and downs of the economy. Also as Calem has shown us, the long-term artist must be able to step out of the studio and use his knowledge of painting, art, colors and design in different ways.

When I first met Calem, it was back in 2001 when I was visiting some friends of mine in Phoenix. We were out shopping; I spotted a gallery and made a dash in that direction. Inside I found a collection of his work on display. I asked the gallery attendant about the artist and she said that I should meet him myself and politely pointed in the direction of this gentleman who was hunched over a desk in the corner. We became quick friends and have kept in touch ever since. The sad thing is, Calem has fallen on some hard times since 2001 but despite his hesitation to spend less time in the Gallery, he has come out on top by taking his art skills in another direction.

Now I can’t wait to talk to Calem on the weekends to hear about his recent work in art conservation and restoration. Galleries handling art and museums need paintings to be cleaned and restored. Some ceramics, glass objects, and paper objects need special attention as well. Frames also need retouching now and then. So this is what Calem does for various galleries and museums. First he approached a local museum and asked if he could shadow their art restorer. This turned into an apprenticeship and eventually a full-time job. Each time we talk he tells me about some interesting place or gallery he has visited and another exciting show that I “must see”. He’s recently been involved with projects dealing with artists such as O’Keefe and Carmen L. Garza.

This is an inspiring and important story to share. Calem took lemons and made lemonade. Artists need not think that they can use their talents only by making and selling art. Other ideas for artists to make extra income are: photographing art, framing, or designing for furniture and interior galleries. I know someone who took one of her paintings into a furniture dealer in Columbia just to see if they would possibly offer to hang one or two of them for sale. These people ended-up hiring her as a furniture salesman! So the underlying theme here is that artists are naturally creative and can use their gifts to get ahead if they are willing to step outside the box. Moreover, this is a real lesson for everyone, not just artists.

Cold weather painting

Well hello again, it's been since August that I last blogged about art and I'm starting my winter vacation. I'm also preparing to do a little painting. So I went out to my storage room this morning and pulled out my painting box. I almost started to prepare my pallet but my paint tubes were like bricks because of the cold. So what does one do when one's paints are harder than bricks and cold?

Just move your supplies into a warm room, wait a couple hours and the paints will feel as soft as they were when you bought them. Watch out trying to speed-up the warming process. Remember most of the thinners and oil-based mediums that we use with oil paints are flammable. So no need to place them up against the heater or fireplace.

If you're working with a wooden or plastic pallet that's nice and cold, it's the perfect time to chisel-off some of the layers of old paint. Just take a stiff wire brush or even a screw driver and pluck those little mounds of paint right off.
Looking forward to a little winter painting!

Above: Painting with Rob Shaw from Havens Framemakers a few months back.