New York Skyline Image Available as Prints

I am releasing special images to the public to be available on FineArtAmerica as prints in many choices.  Here is one such image:

Titled "Manhattan Sky After Rain" 
See it here on my gallery page under artist E Williams on Fine Art America.   Or on Fine Art America, under New York Skylines. 

Drive over to Peet`s Coffee & Tea shop in the Ocean Ranch Laguna Niguel location to see the last week of my art exhibition.  There are seven works hung on the walls in the sitting area, have a cup of your favorite beverage and view the seascapes and landscapes of Southern California.  Oh wait, there is one High Sierra landscape.   This is my annual exhibition there.  It is my neighborhood and I`ve been a customer of theirs for 10 years.  So, if you are not busy and can get over there before March 14th, you can see a collection of my art.   Here is a link to the store, Peet`s Coffee.  Here is the address to punch into your Navigator or Google Maps,

32371 Golden Lantern Ste H Bldg 6, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677.  Cross street is Camino del Avion.  Phone (949) 325-0540 Hours are from 5am -8pm everyday except Sunday when it opens at 6am - 8pm. 

Below are some of the pieces, they are hung framed:

Rocky Seas, 9x12, oil,   $400

Sunny Aspens on a Snow Blanket, 6x6, oil,  $250

Sunset Summer Dreams, 24x12, oil on canvas or linen.   $900

Cares Falling Away, 24x18, oil on linen,  $1,500

New Still Life of Stargazer Lilies in Vase with other Nostalgic Objects

I received a bouquet of Oriental Stargazer Lilies for Valentine’s Day from my husband, he knew I loved these flowers from long ago and surprised me with them.  He is very sweet that way.  Their fragrance is intoxicating and they filled half the house with their scent for over a week. I set them on my kitchen table which is an oriental fish pot with a heavy beveled glass top.  The Irish lace curtains in the window allowed much filtered light to cascade in.  I had to paint them, so I looked for a few more items that I felt related to their color.  After I played with arranging the Fenton Glass candy dish and the Caribbean Queen Conch shell, I felt it needed more, so I added the Chintz plate under the vase.  They all appeared so old world like a kitchen from the past in Europe. Combining all these on a glass tabletop with sheer lace curtains was an eyeful to enjoy.  Only I had to do more than that being an artist, it had to be painted.  I wanted to paint a large 24x30 canvas, but I changed my mind knowing the flowers would not last more than a week.  I felt stressed to capture the flowers by painting them from life, the impulse was so strong, I just dived in one afternoon when the light was just right.  I could only work in a 2-1/2 hour time span each day because that`s when the sun hit this composition perfectly.  After that the sun would sink down below the rooftop of the next door neighbor`s house.  My kitchen dinette served as an art studio for one week while I enjoyed painting the Stargazers and the other lovely objects. Below is an image of the painting in it`s beginning stages in my kitchen dinette.  You can see how much light pours in on a sunny day, the camera overexposed the light a bit on the table.

I kept thinking about relationships of everything the whole time I painted it.  I was painting structurally at first.  Design relationships of shapes, of color notes, of unity, of reflections, of values, of linear direction and so on.  Then I thought about how I relate to each object, these were things I loved and probably things my grandmothers and their mothers would have loved.  So, there was a spiritual connection going on both inside and outside; how the objects stood alone as design elements. I refused to paint them pretty and all neat like because I am an impressionist artist and I have the preference to make an artistic statement not a realistic one.  Plus, I like to paint with a loaded paint brush, thick and gestural strokes.   This whole painting experience was like an exploration of visual textures, shapes of color, figure to ground relationships, movement, rhythm, depth reflections and color harmony. In the end I felt I was crazy to take on lace curtains behind all this matrix of flowers, a glass vase and tabletop, let alone the other objects.  The painting really possessed me for a week, I was constantly mesmerized by the compositional arrangement and how complex it was.  I had to simplify in an artful-beautiful way that would make these flowers last forever in my mind.  The lace curtains had to be an impression, not painted like a thing.  I wanted them to interweave with the flowers in a lower contrast, which was a challenge.  They were painted last after all the grid-like floral arrangement was painted in.  It turned out quite French in appearance, who knows maybe I had one of the French Impressionists invade my soul, like Camille Pissarro.  The link will take you to a painting of his from 1875 which is a vase of pink peonies.  I loved his simple, direct statement when painting still lifes.  I loved his organic choice of colors.  I have admired his works greatly, besides all the other famous French artists like Monet, Renoir, Degas, etc…  Or maybe it`s all the influence from visiting their works in museums and reading about each for decades.  Whatever the case is, artists place their influences from their life, family, experiences and studies into their art.  I never know how a work of art is going to turn out because I paint intuitively as the process evolves.
I like how this turned out and am feeling it needs to be kept as a family piece.   The next time I get a bouquet of flowers and paint it from this position, I will sell it.  Or if you have some highly regarded objects that you would like to commission me to paint, let me know. 

Painting in the Sea

My latest You Tube video of a high tide experience while painting at Crystal Cove Beach.
artistofnature on You Tube

Here is one of the images:

Solo exhibit at Peet`s Coffee & Tea

I was granted a 3 week solo exhibition at Peet`s Coffee & Tea in the Ocean Ranch plaza, Laguna Niguel, CA.    Here is an image of one of the coffee house with several pieces hanging, 7 in total are hung.

You can read more about it at my blog posting on my website:

http://estherjwilliams.com/blog/51498/solo-artworks-exhibit-and-sale-at-peets-coffee-and-tea

The above large painting is "Reflecting on Crystal Cove" a 48x30 oil on stretched canvas.  The exhibit will run through November 24th. 

Morning Rain Clearing

 I just posted this blog on my website about a plein air painting done at Crystal Cove after a rainstorm.  Click on the link to view it:
Morning Rain Clearing

Blog from my main art website

Read my latest blog on a new seascape of the Montage Resort Hotel.

Here is the painting.

"A Montage Point"  14x11, oil on linen.  $400 framed.  S&H & insurance is extra.

 Click on the link above to lead you to my official website, click on the contact link there to inquire.