Sassy Crow

Crows are sassy and cocky and also mesmerizing. This giclee print evolved from my original acrylic painting. It has abstract twist to it now. That crow tinkered with all the filters in Photoshop and came out looking so pleased with himself. You can find him on: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MoxyFoxDesigns

Jazzy Blue Fruit

A bowl of winter fruit all in blue -- it didn't start out that way. My photo was a straight forward picture in yellow and reds. But with some digital magic, it is now rather jazzy looking and certainly more interesting. You can see it in its full presentation here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MoxyFoxDesigns

This is Oscar Peterson's jazz version of "Girl Talk" ... just the right tune for the calmness of blue. Peterson was one of my dad's favorite jazz pianists. I grew up knowing his music very well.

SIZZLING FIREY GODDESS

When a painting doesn't turn out the way I want it to, I shelve it until I learn something new -- some way to improve it.  This was one of those cases.  I took my original portrait into Photoshop and turned into a sizzling, fiery goddess.  Jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis enhances her power with his version of "Earth Wind Fire". 





 

Jazzy Summer Breezes

Is summer ever complete without a day at the beach?  It is especially cool if you are with the one who has your heart!

George Benson and Al Jarreau's rendition of "Summer Breeze" is so smooth.  Hope you enjoy it.

Are You In or Are You Out?

Jazz festivals are happening all over the world — yeah, right now! Musicians form groups and fill the air with cool sounds. Everyone loosens up and lets the music get deep inside. This is an abstract print of an original painting of mine. It’s all jazzed up for summer!







Ramsey Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ramsey Lewis, Sr. and Pauline Lewis.[2] Lewis began taking piano lessons at the age of four. At 15 he joined his first jazz band, The Cleffs. The seven-piece group provided Lewis his first involvement with jazz; he would later join Cleffs drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt and bassist Eldee Young to form the Ramsey Lewis Trio.




By 1966, Lewis was one of the nation’s most successful jazz pianists, topping the charts with "The In Crowd", "Hang On Sloopy", and "Wade in the Water". All three singles each sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs. Many of his recordings attracted a large non-jazz audience. In the 1970s, Lewis often played electric piano, although by later in the decade he was sticking to acoustic and using an additional keyboardist in his groups.



Lewis still lives in Chicago, Illinois, the city of his musical roots. He has seven children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.


—Source: Wikipedia

Night in Sicily Godfather Style

In the film “The Godfather”, Michael Corleone married his first wife, Apollonia, in the medieval town of Taormina. This abstract print celebrates that night and foretells the turmoil that encompasses the mafia family.

Here's an incredible jazz rendition of the theme from "The Godfather" played by Harry Connick, Jr. 

Are You Being Naughty?

In 1929 jazz pianist Fats Waller wrote "Ain't Misbehaviin'.  By this time it is considered a jazz standard.  Since this drawing has an air of naughtiness to it, I thought it would be fun to title her after Waller's song "Ain't Misbehavin'.   Hope you enjoy this rendition.  He wrote the music with  Harry Brooks and the lyrics are by Andy Razaf.

No one to talk with, all by myself

No one to walk with, but I'm happy on the shelf

Ain't misbehavin', I'm savin' my love for you.

I know for certain the one you love

I'm through with flirtin', it's just you I'm thinkin' of

Ain't Misbehavin', I'm savin' my love for you.

Like Jack Horner in the corner

don't go nowhere, what do I care

Your kisses are worth waitin' for . . . Believe me.

I don't stay out late, don't care to go

I'm home about 8, just me and my radio

Ain't Misbehavin', I'm savin' my love for you.

Are You In Love Today?

I can't tell you how many times I have listened to the Philippe Saisse Trio playing this song entitled "If I Ever Lose This Heaven". There are times when I find that I have gotten out of my chair and am dancing. Jazz is wonderful way to unleash the creative powers within.


This print expresses that feeling of being so in love with someone that the only way to describe it is "heaven". Here is the tune. It is for my pleasure and yours and it's okay with me if you dance!



 




This next video is up close and personal.  Saisse talks about making the music for the "Body and Soul" cd. Amazing that such smashing music can come from a basement studio, which is shown here in 2006. 

My Morning Coffee

I  have sketchbooks filled with mostly pen and ink drawings -- some are enhanced by ink washes.  This is a sketch of a coffee mug we have had for years.  Can't begin to count all the delicious brews that have been poured into this stout little clay vessel and sipped out.

I came across the sketch the other day and decided to give it a pop look.  Now it is trendy and modern and even has graphics. 

For your pleasure and mine, I have added an old tune performed by Frank Sinatra -- I remember hearing this as a little girl.  At that time, coffee was percolated.  You put water in the pot, filled up a small metal basket with ground coffee that had tiny holes in it, put on the lid and set it on the hot stove.  The lid had a glass dome so you could see the coffee percolating up through the basket with the coffee in it.  You could tell when it was done by the color of the coffee.

 

Secrets About Writing the Perfect Love Letter

Still waiting for that love letter?  Here's how to get just the one you want!

There is an old song written in 1935 called “I’m Going to Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter”. It starts with these words—I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter And make believe it came from you….
 
I created this pen and ink drawing on an old book page with text that  includes the words "letter", "postmark", "sat at home", "his-might-have-beens"... and it reminded me of Sinatra's song and that gave me an idea for the title of this artwork.  Thought you'd like to hear ol' blue eyes pour out his heart.  







Here are the lyrics:

I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter
And make believe it came from you
I'm gonna write words, oh, so sweet
They're gonna knock me off my feet,
A lotta kisses on the bottom,
I'll be glad I got 'em

I'm gonna smile and say:
"Gee, I hope you're feeling better."
And close "with love" the way you do.
I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter
And make believe it came,
I'm gonna make believe it came from you.

Blue Geisha

My print entitled "Blue Geisha" reminds me of all things Japanese.  Remember the film "Memoirs of a Geisha"?  I hope this video brings back fond memories of the love story.

How You Doin' ?

Whenever Joey on the TV program “Friends” was interested in a woman, he would put on a cocky grin and ask, “How you doin’?”


My painting of this offbeat, strutting male blackbird is on the lookout for a sultry springtime mate and uses Joey’s seductive line continually.  Don't think the girls are going to fall for it!
 
This is a one-of-a-kind painting.  You can buy it on my etsy website  http://moxyfoxdesigns.etsy.com/
 
 

 

Wow -- Look At These Changing Portraits

Since I usually paint on really large canvases, I thought I'd try a tiny one -- 5 x 7 inches. Here is an optical trick.  If you paint big on a small canvas, it makes the size expand and vise versa.  Paint tiny and the canvas will appear very small.

I found this vidio of changing portraits and thought you'd enjoy seeing them.

 

Isn't that cool?

Skylark an Impressionist Painting with Andre Previn at the Keyboard

Entitled "Skylark" this is an impressionistic style painting done in acrylics on a 5x7 inch canvas panel.  She was inspired by the song of the same name.

I love Renee Olstead's version of this song, which she sang on her 2009 album of the same name.  The lyrics are by Johnny Mercer; music is by Hoagy Carmichael.  This is considered a jazz standard and was published in 1942.

Lyrics:

Skylark, have you anything to say to me?
Can you tell me where my love may be?
Is there a meadow in the mist
Where he’s just waiting to be kissed?
Skylark, have you seen a valley green with spring
Where my heart can go a journeying

Over the shadows and the rain
To a blossom covered lane?

And in your lonely flight have you heard the music?

In the night, wonderful music.

Faint as a will-o-the-wisp, crazy as a loon,

Sad as a gypsy serenading the moon.

Oh, skylark, I don’t know, I don’t know

If you can find these things,

But my heart, my heart is riding on your wings.
So if you see them anywhere

Won’t you lead me there?

Paintbrushes by the Dozen

I have learned that buying quality brushes is the best way to go. Inexpensive brushes will always be a disappointment. Either the bristles will fall out or the brush won’t hold its shape.

Some of these brushes are over 15 years old – no, probably more like 20 to 25. You can see how the texture of the canvases has worn down some of the original shapes.

I keep my brushes on my studio desk. They have two psychological effects. They are a delight to see, but they also incessantly prod me to paint something new. In either case, they are my tools and they must be sturdy.

Taking Care of Business Greeting Card

Selling on etsy.com is a full time delight.  As an artist I am always looking for new projects to create.  When I am researching greeting cards, I find most of them aimed at people in their 20s and 30s.  Many are very childlike in their designs.

This newest card of mine called "Taking Care of Business" is particularly for the goal oriented woman -- the woman who has plotted her course and is working to achieve her purpose.  That's not to say she doesn't have needs for whimsy and a bit of mirth, but this creation is designed to carry her life theme into her casual correspondence. 

You can click the image of the card to see a bigger view.

Do you like it?

Bookplates --- Ex Libris

A cloudy February morning is a perfect time to sort through my books. Not one of them has an original bookplate that is really mine. By this time in my life, I should have designed my own bookplate. I am an artist after all and a book lover.

Doing a little research, I found that a bookplate is also known as “ex-librīs” [Latin, "from the books of..."]. It’s usually a small print or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the inside front cover, to indicate its owner. The earliest known examples of printed bookplates are German, and date from the 15th century.

Bookplates typically bear a name, motto, device, coat-of-arms, crest or a badge. None of these ideas would appeal to me. But art would. The image above is a collection of vintage bookplates that I digitally collaged together just for fun.

This a clip of that utterly charming film called "84 Charing Cross Road" with Anne Bancroft.  Of course, Netflix has it

DON’T MESS WITH ME

I dread the days I have to wrestle with someone on the phone. Today, I had to make an appointment with a doctor’s office which had been closed over the holidays. Since that time, they have had a phone message saying they wouldn’t be open until Feb. 9th. I have called several times just to see if the message was correct.

This morning when I spoke with Her-Highness-the-Appointment-Maker, she said there was no such phone message and I had misheard it. Here is an instance where a husband who has spent his entire life in business is very useful. I had him listen to the message to validate my point. Turns out she will now have to get permission for my appointment from my insurance carrier, which will take approximately two weeks. That puts my visit with the doctor a month out if I’m lucky.


Now what is the point of being rude to a patient? Okay, maybe she is at the end of her rope. Maybe her husband is in love with his receptionist. Maybe her kid is being a bully at school. Maybe her daughter is sixteen and pregnant. Maybe she totaled her car. Whatever the circumstances she was crabby today.


Here is one of my recent ACEO original cards entitled "Don't Mess With Me" that shows her feelings and mine. If she’d only realized that we had things in common, she might have acted been more cordial.

You Just Tango On

I love the scene from “Scent of a Woman” where U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade (Al Pacino), dances the Tango with the beautiful Donna. Slade and his young companion Charlie, find themselves at a restaurant, observing a beautiful young woman (Gabrielle Anwar), waiting for her date. The blind Colonel takes her for a tango on the restaurant's dance floor. This abstract print from my original painting seeks to capture the depth of passion in the Tango and the powerful feelings of the blind Frank Slade. I have used army colors and black for Pacino along with yellows, pinks and reds for his dancing partner. The paint is put down with bold strokes to express passion and the movement of the dance.

Time After Time

Such a beautiful song inspired my painting entitled "Time After Time". Here it is performed by the Larry Franco Quartet with guest Michael Supnick.