Thank You

The art show at Darien Rowayton bank is over. Thank you to everyone who took time out to go see the display. For those who weren't able to get there, watch for news of future shows or contact Patricia Creedon

Cold Snow, Warm Candlelight

The recent blizzard here dropped 24 inches of wind-blown snow. We lost power for a while and lit the candles seen in this pastel, "Candlelight". The wet weather this week has reduced the snow but it's still beautiful as we begin Lent tomorrow. Happy Fat Tuesday everyone! 

Guest Blog: Why I represent Paul Creedon, Fine Artist

In 2010 I started a freelance graphic and web design business called Pat Creedon Design, Inc. I came up with the name (mine) and had it incorporated. The plan was to market my extensive abilities at branding and creative concepts to help small businesses grow. I got quite a few clients once word got around. I designed a menu, several business cards, several websites, postcards, PowerPoint templates, Social Media graphics, and logos. I also signed up with a few creative staffing agencies that placed me at area corporations for onsite stints. And I worked freelance for my previous employer. I even did some work for non-profits. Overall it was a sucessful company and still is nice to have as a sideline and back up to the fulltime employment I was offered in May 2012.

So why did I change my business model to focus more on Paul Creedon, Fine Artist? First and foremost, he’s my husband! But beyond that I am a great fan of his work. I always have been. But his recent work in pastels is really fulfilling his potential in my opinion. I want everyone to see it. To see it is to love it. Though many art collectors are drawn to a more abstract style and Paul may never achieve trendiness, he produces consistent, high-quality art for the lover of colorful, recognizeable still lifes and landscapes. If you fit that bill then welcome. Paul has a wonderful personality that really comes through in his blog and his art. Get to know him here and on Twitter, @pecreedon. I will be designing his branding and promoting his art to galleries and by entering local art shows. So look for his work on a wall near you or better yet, purchase a Paul Creedon for your own wall! To do so, simply email me, Patricia Creedon. Samples and pricing will be sent away!

Reflections on creating a still life

Three objects, a still life by Paul Creedon.

I think of still lifes and landscapes as being quite different in purpose and mood. 

(Digression: I drew plenty of human figures back in the day, and the day was about 25 years long, and now I just want to do other things. Nonetheless, the teachers were right in saying that drawing the figure is the best way to learn how to draw. It's true, I think, that if you can draw a person you can draw pretty much anything else. Michelangelo believed it. End of Digression.)

Lighting in a still life

Still lifes usually have one main source of illumination. The objects don't move, and the fascination seems to lie in recognizing everyday things like fruit and bottles and tables, presented in new and different situations. Sometimes I look at something I've owned for years, and I feel as if I never saw it until I painted it. 

The light reflects from say, an orange, onto a silver pitcher, and the pitcher becomes something brand new. But the light and the situation have to be constant, and the pitcher and orange have to be depicted realistically, because we have to recognize the them immediately. So I work in a tight manner, and use pastel pencils with occasional forays into the land of the big pastel stick (to get a splotch of pure color) to make the onlooker's eye go where you want it to. A lot of the work is done before hand, when setting up the objects in the scene, and the trick is to represent what is laying there quietly in front of me, pretending to behave itself. 

Of course there is another consideration. People like to go right up to a still life and look as closely as possible at the execution. I know I do. So the technique needs to hold up under inspection. 

To be continued.

Coloring outside the lines

Four Apples original pastel painting.

The first still life was framed and hung in the solo art show held last Fall. I had looked forward to seeing what it looked like up on the wall and was disappointed. It had been hung in the frame crooked because I had not colored in the part beneath the table edge all the way to the pencil guideline line I had drawn. Let this be a lesson to all: don't keep it between the lines. Let things bleed on past the borders a little. In other words, coloring outside the lines can be a good thing!

Second, as an in-law pointed out, the apples looked a bit like tomatoes. They were too shiny. You might say I was relieved it didn't sell so I could see if I could fix the problem. Later on the framer we use needed a favor involving taking the pastel out of its frame so he could use it in another project.

But then the apple/tomatoes still life was left on a shelf for a long time. I was sick and didn't quite know what to do with the picture anyway. 

A solution is found

Four Apples still life as it is now.

This week I sprayed fixative over the whole painting and drew a "new" version over the old one. This second edition is less colorful, (on purpose; maybe being ill affected my outlook on life?), and the apples were toned down, roughed up a bit, and simplified a little. Not too much, since the point was to have them look fairly realistic and a bit less like tomatoes! In any event, this is what it looks like now.* The picture was painted out to the edges and beyond, so when it gets reframed, the table edge should be level. I think it succeeds now as a pastel painting of apples. What do you think?

*When I was ten, my father had a very difficult time convincing me that tomatoes are not fruits, but rather are vegetables. I insisted that vegetables come in dull green and brown colors, and certainly not in cheery bright red. On the other hand, he pointed out that fruits taste good, and thus won the argument. 

Upgrades in the New Model

Was it last year's model or this year's?

The picture below is similar to one currently in a show. It has a tarnished piece of copperware, a dark background, and a copper spout curved toward the right side of the piece.

I went looking for a scan of the one in the show and found this. But it didn't seem right. Then I remembered the piece in the current show was completed at the last minute before another show several months back and there hadn't been time to scan it before it was framed.

Sure enough I checked the picture on my website, and it showed a similar, but better painting, and yes it was in a frame.

So what was this one? An earlier experiment concerned with the same themes which went in a different direction and then got pushed (literally) to the back of the closet. I did a newer version honing in on the same obsessions and forgot about the earlier one.

An artist's obsessions

What obsessions? Well, I love the look and feel of copper and the reflections created by other objects on it. The faint hint of tarnish on the short watering can later became a big spot of tarnish on a tall watering can. The wine bottle made it in again because I just thought I could do a better job with it, and the candle stick snuck into the right hand side of the newer version to echo the tarnish blotch of the taller watering. The red cloth got unfolded because it seemed too busy in the earlier piece.

Still, I had forgotten that I did the earlier painting. Possibly the little disappointments hung around in the back of my head for the rest of the year, and got a redesign at the end of it. They do it with cars every fall, why not with paintings?

Paul has a Still Life in an Art Show

You'll want to see this in person!

Go visit it at the Carriage Barn until October 3rd. It's the Member Show for the New Canaan Society for the Arts and if you click on the link you'll get an idea of the space and the hours. Drive in either driveway of the magnificent estate owned by the town and you'll find the carriage barn next to the powerhouse theatre and both are to the left when facing Waveny mansion. The artist members all get to enter one piece at no charge and no commission so the art can be very affordable. So do your walls a favor and go pick up some fine original art today!

Using Copper Reflections in a Still Life

Copper is a great element to add to still life pastels. Depending on lighting, how tarnished it is, or whether it picks up reflections from other objects, copper can assume many different co Copper is a great element to add to still life pastels. Depending on lighting, how tarnished it is, or whether it picks up reflections from other objects, copper can assume many different colors. I like the color red and I can always find a way to work some red into a copper still life pastel. Being metallic it usually has a vivid highlight picked up from the lighting. I can use that as an anchor to build the design of a pastel painting around. People invariably love bright reflections on a metal surface. It’s attractive to the eye and it gives the viewer a place to start, before looking at the rest of the painting. In other words copper in a stil life makes a great center of interest. Here’s an example of one of the many still life efforts I’ve done involving copper. It’s available for sale and the contact information to learn more is pmcreedon@optonline.net or visit my website: pecreedon.com

Camelias by Paul Creedon

The Best Drawings or Paintings

Usually the best drawings or paintings seem almost to draw or paint themselves. They pour out smoothly onto the paper and seem to fall into place. Pastel colors blend beautifully, the textures work together and there is a landscape or still life that has really come to life on the page. But this state of affairs is a culmination of a lengthy period of learning, trial and error, or   in other words, the best art is usually the result of a lot of frustrating failures that went before. I think one learns the most from the disasters, not the triumphs. The disasters tend to far out number the triumphs too, at least in my experience as a fine artist. So you could say, I'm able to learn a lot and often, but it's all worth it when a wonderful piece of art is sometimes the gratifying result!

What is your experience getting to the best in your work or your art? Was it worth the effort? Did you learn something?

The Need to Simplify or Abstract Art

Marble Quarry Pastel Landscape by Paul Creedon.

As a pastel artist I find that the most formidable challenge in the visual arts is the need to simplify (or abstract) the appearance of the object I intend to paint with my pastels or draw with sanguine chalks. My artist's instincts seem to resist the idea of leaving out some of what I see when I compose a new still life or create a landscape. But given my years of experience and training I know that I must in order to arrive at a better picture.

And it will be a better picture. That is because a lot of extraneous stuff will be left out that would only confuse the viewer and art lover. Even if they are someone who is used to looking at fine art. Knowing what to leave out also helps to convey the one major thought that I want a person to see and come away with. Perhaps it's the roundness of a fruit in a pastel still life or the light coming through the trees in a landscape drawing.  Either way I know the picture is enhanced when there are fewer distractions.

To see more of my pastel art and to make a purchase contact Patricia Creedon at 

pmcreedon@optonline.net.