cedar’s blog

Cedar May 28th, 2007

Anytime I visit home I get inspired by the beautiful mountains.

Today I decided to paint 3 winding roads…well, by the looks of them, maybe they’re just different parts of the same road.

Winding Road 1
12″ x 16″

(Notice how the colors of the landscape change from the distance to the foreground.)

Winding Road 2
12″ x 16″

(I like the deep lush greens in this one–can you smell the clean country air?)

Winding Road 3
8″ x 10″

(I like how the highest mountain in the distance is off-center, and I like the little cluster of flowers under my signature.)

Tomorrow is my sister’s graduation from middle school. (I am 12 years older than her.)

Last night I talked with one of my oldest friends, Tania, for many hours. We realized that when I met her, I was 14, the same age my sister is now. I’ll be 26 in July. Tania is 27 and expecting her first child. I have been a professional artist for years now. I went to college. I own a home. I have a dog. I’ve been married for 8 years. I feel SOOO old.

I am assuming this phenomenon only gets worse the older you get. (I’m sure all you people who are older than me are laughing right now, because I don’t even know the half of it.) =)

Luckily, I don’t think I’m going to have a quarter-life crisis anytime soon–I’ve been too busy.

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Cedar May 26th, 2007

I have a renewed obsession with mountains:

Swiss Lakefront
18″ x 24″

Autumnal Outlook
20″ x 20″

And there are 2 new paintings in my “Looking Up” series. These turned out super-charged with intense green–I guess I went all out with the chlorophyll this time.

Reaching for the Sky 3
24″ x 18″

Upward Glimpse
16″ x 12″

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Cedar May 23rd, 2007

So, I just signed with a new art gallery! It’s called Twigs and Leaves and it’s located in Waynesville, NC, about 35 minutes from Asheville in the heart of the beautiful Western North Carolina mountains.

Visit their website

They sell all kinds of artwork (paintings, sculptures) as well as jewelry, handmade furniture, pottery, and other crafts. They’re located on Waynesville’s Main Street, along with several other art galleries and different types of shops. It’s a nice place to take a walk. I went all up and down the whole street, and Twigs and Leaves stands out from the crowd. It’s really a beautiful gallery–excellent lighting, a clean, sunny atmosphere, and 2 floors with lots of wall space. The owners, Carrie and John Keith, are truly nice people, and I’m happy to start this business partnership with them.

They should have some of my paintings up on the wall by next week, so if you live in the WNC area, you ought to pay them a visit if you get the chance.

And if you don’t live in the WNC area, and you feel like taking a vacation, Western North Carolina is where it’s at! The Blue Ridge mountains are breathtaking, (you may notice they are one of my big inspirations) the people are friendly, and the atmosphere is thoroughly charming.

I’m working hard. New paintings coming soon…stay tuned…

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Cedar May 20th, 2007

This painting is called “Ischian Vineyard.” It is based on a photo I took of a beautiful vineyard on the island of Ischia off the coast of Italy (pronounced “iss-key-ah” for those of you who don’t know Italian phonetics.) My husband and I went to Italy 2 years ago for our second honeymoon and to visit my aunt and uncle, who live in Verbania, a village near the Italy/Switzerland border, about an hour from Milan.

We got to spend a few days on this incredible island towards the end of our trip–the island comes straight up out of the sea, and it’s very dramatic, like mountains piled on top of mountains. They have these narrow roads that wind up and up and up like corkscrews. (There was one scary moment I remember when the bus we were on seemed like it was about to topple off the face of a cliff as it passed another bus going the other way with about a millimeter between them.) It’s a very precipitous place. We got a workout just walking from our hotel up the street for a couple minutes.

Anyway, this painting has nothing to do with all that (it’s just a pretty vineyard we passed by) but to give you some background info on the location, we were walking up one of those steep hills when we passed by it.

Ischian Vineyard
18″ x 24″

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Cedar May 16th, 2007

Yesterday I was playing around with paint, and what started out as an aimless play session (which I sometimes do to loosen up and stop being so serious) ended up yielding some abstract paintings that I rather like. I call them “cells” because they are made up of rough rectangular shapes fit together, and remind me of plant cells under a microscope.

These are all 16″ x 20″ and oil on canvas:

Cells 1

Cells 2

Cells 3

They are not for sale just yet, but probably will be in the future. (I like them and want to keep them for myself for a while.)

I planted a rosebush in my front yard last week. The variety is called the Peace Rose. When I planted it, it had a few tiny little green flower buds. All I did was plant it, give it some compost, and water it every day. Now look at it!! I think I want to grow some different kinds of roses now.

My Peace Roses inspired this simple little painting, which was also part of the play session, which also turned out to be something worth keeping:

Rose
28″ x 14″ Oil on Canvas

If you’ve ever heard the term “gallery-wrapped canvas” and you don’t know what it means, this is an example of a gallery-wrapped canvas. The canvas is stretched around a deep wooden frame, (made of “stretcher bars” or “strainers”) and stapled on the back rather than on the side, so that the side is covered in staple-free canvas. Normally when using a gallery-wrapped canvas, I continue the painting onto the edges of the canvas. I really like the visual effect of this–simple, clean, and modern–when hung on a wall.

No frame is needed for this type of canvas. If I frame a painting, it will be either a simple wooden or satin black strip frame. I have some kind of deep-seated revulsion to fancy, ornate frames, especially if they’re gold-tone. The more ornate the frame, the stronger my revulsion. I can’t explain this–it just doesn’t mesh with my aesthetic.

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Cedar May 15th, 2007

I just sent this out to my email list, but in case you are not on my email list, I am posting it here too…I can never get too much feedback, right?

Here’s what I want to know: What is your all-time favorite painting by Cedar? The one painting that you could look at every single day…the one you would hang in a prominent spot in your home if you owned it. The painting that makes you say “wow” or makes you happy every time you look at it.

If you can’t choose just one, then give me your top 3 choices. You don’t have to tell me the reasons for your choices, but if you can tell me why, that’s a bonus.

You may already know the answer, if you’ve been following my work closely. If not, just go to my website, www.ArtByCedar.com, do a quick browse through the galleries, and figure out your top one, two, or three favorites.

(Excluding portraits of people! I generally do portraits by commission only, and right now I am looking for feedback on artwork that could be sold to anyone, anywhere.)

I am very interested to see what your answers are, and I am very grateful to you for taking a moment to answer this question.

Once I receive enough responses to recognize patterns of what people like the most, I will work on making more paintings featuring the favorite subject matters, styles, and colors of my respected patrons and friends. (YOU!)

Oh, and you may email your answers to me (Cedar at ArtByCedar dot com.)

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Cedar May 10th, 2007

Mothers Day is this Sunday…don’t forget to call your mom!

My own mom is an expert in all things motherly…she is currently a nurse who works with new mothers and babies, and she will be a midwife when she gets her Masters in midwifery. She taught childbirth classes for years, and used to run a home business as a supplier of baby products. Have a question about vaccinating your child? Cloth diapers vs. disposable? Nutrition for little ones? She’s the one to ask.

More impressive than all of this, though: she had 5 kids (of whom I was the first) and has spent many many years making sure we have everything we need, teaching us, talking to us, and loving us unconditionally. Here are the fruits of her labor:

This is a portrait commission that is being given as a Mothers Day gift:

Erin & Her Mom 20″ x 20″

The woman on the left is Erin, who was my best friend in 7th grade. When I moved away from her, we fell out of touch, and last year I found her on Myspace. (The Internet is awesome!) The woman on the right is her lovely mother.

Here is a work in progress that’s been sitting untouched on my easel for the past few days:

I’m not sure what it needs exactly, before it’s finished…but it will have to wait, at least until after this weekend.

We are in the final dramatic throes of our kitchen remodel. Being overeager, last week I scheduled a party for this Saturday night–to celebrate the finished kitchen, it will be a cooking party, followed by eating and movies. So now we are scrambling desperately to meet this looming deadline. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about the party, but who knew the tiling would take me so long?!) It turns out the “finishing touches” are more work than we had thought. So that’s why I’ve been neglecting this blog so badly.

Once this all blows over–well, things will still be crazy, but at least I will stop talking about my kitchen.

And I will be able to start spending more hours in the studio again.

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Cedar May 1st, 2007

I just returned from 6 days in sunny Miami–we were there for a very joyful, very big family event, as well as a much-needed vacation. I had a wonderful time and got to see a lot of people I love but rarely get to see! I now have a tan and feel energized.

It was really nice to come home to my dog and cat today (both of them were overcome with emotion when we first got home and are currently hovering around my feet, vying for my attention).

I have a ridiculously long to-do list, including both work catch-up and home catch-up. I’ve got to ship out some artwork to its new owners, tile my new kitchen, renew my driver’s license, mow the lawn, deliver new work to the gallery, and of course make as many new paintings as I have ideas for, which is a goal I never really reach, but still.

We rented a dumpster to get rid of the demolition refuse from our old kitchen, and while we’re at it we’re taking the opportunity to do some massive spring cleaning.

Wish me luck because this week is going to be crazy! Perhaps I will post pictures soon…

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