Happy Holidays!

May the peace and joy of the season be with you and yours now, and throughout the New Year! Hope to see you in 2009. For you pleasure, I've included the following image of Pranker's Pond in Saugus, Massachusetts. I grew up in this town, and skated many times on this pond. This was painted as we like to say, "en plein air" while sitting on a bench by the pond edge. It's a small pastel, 7x9, painted on watercolor board, toned burnt sienna. It's not on my website, at least not yet, and is posted specifically for you! Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

At this time of year, when setting is just so, family and friends come to mind, of times past and yet to come. As I reflect upon these times and anticipate those yet to come, I am thankful for you my friends and family and wish one and all, my heartfelt and sincere wishes for a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Artistically yours,
Jeff

New paintings online

Good Day All,

Just a quick note to let you know that I've posted a couple of new images online. They can be found at http://www.fioravanti-fineart.com/online.htm I've been busy, but mostly with placing a captcha on my web site contact page as I was getting a number of spam posts through my web site. Other things that have kept me busy is being a judge for the Danvers Art Association Autumn Show, and presenting my work to the Old Colony CWRT at their annual dinner. Lots of travel, which includes the pick=up of my work from the Connecticut Pastel Society Juried show down in West Hartford, CT., on 10/25/08. Whew! It's all good though as we travel about "Painting the Soul of America!"

I won an award in the Connecticut Pastel Society national show

Well, driving through the rain has its rewards. I found out today that the pastel painting “Winter’s Glow (Lynn Woods)” which I dropped off on Saturday for the 15th Annual Renaissance in Pastel National Juried Exhibition has won an award!! I won the “Allied Artist of America” award. I guess that’s karma, since my tagline it “Painting the Soul of America” I believe it’s a cash award too; always a good thing!!

As a reminder for any who might be in the area, the exhibition is sponsored by the Connecticut Pastel Society and is held at the Saltbox and Clubhouse Galleries in West Hartford, Connecticut. Gallery hours are 1-4 PM, Thursday – Sunday, and the exhibition runs from October 2 – 26, 2008.

All kinds of hazards await the artist

Being an artist is fraught with hazards, not only from the solvents and toxins which we breathe and often wear on our clothes and skin in our quest to bring inspirations to the world make-up the tubes, pans and sticks of colors, but there are of course the other hazards and challenges for finding that one angle or great image that often find themselves upon the canvas or paper. Then there are the other hazards we encounter in attempts to bring art to the people. Anybody who lives in New England and along the East Coast or anybody who might have been visiting this area of the country over the weekend will know just what was encountered as I traveled to Connecticut yesterday to deliver my painting to the 15th Annual National Exhibition “Renaissance in Pastel” to be held at the West Hartford Art League, October 2 – 26, 2008.

The normal travel time to this venue from my house is about one hour and forty five minutes. It took me more than 2.5 hours to and another 2.5 hours home yesterday as torrential downpours hindered driving, caused accidents, of which I was fortunately not involved, and turned highways into waterways. I had a tractor trailer pull into my lane without about four feet between my front and his rear, and another guy jammed on his brakes and stopped in the middle lane of the highway, forcing me to skid and maneuver into the next lane, which brought me up along side of him where I saw nothing in his front to merit such a move. The car in his front was at least four to five car lengths away. Fortunately I was even further behind him when he did this but still, it was a harrowing experience/ I had not driven in such rain since I got caught in a severe thunderstorm in Maryland on I-70.

All in all though, from what I saw, the show looks to be top notch, so I hope you get to visit. As always, thanks for your support and see you out “Painting the Soul of America!”

I'm In!!! Degas Pastel Society 12th Biennial National Juried Exhibition

Hurricane Hanna is dropping its final few drops of rain as I type. Despite the storm outside, good news is sitting here by my keyboard. Today’s mail brought notice that I’ve had two of my pastel paintings juried into the 12^th Biennial National Exhibition, sponsored by the Degas Pastel Society and held at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, in Laurel, Mississippi. My works accepted into this prestigious show are “Late Afternoon Surf (Bass Rocks)” (right) and “April Surf Along Marginal Way” (below left) It’s interesting to have two works depicting the rocky coasts and surf of New England accepted into a show in the deep south.

Approximately 107 of the top pastel artists working today submitted work for the exhibition of which 80 paintings were accepted. Having two juried into the show makes it that much sweeter for yours truly. This has always been a top notch exhibition, held at some of the finest visual art venues in the south, and I am fortunate and grateful to have my work as part of the exhibition.

Though the majority of you who reads this blog live in the northeast, if you happening to be traveling on business or please be sure to make a trip to view the show! The exhibition opens on October 7, 2008 and runs through to the 15^th of November. An artists’ reception is scheduled for October 11^th, with times TBA.

The Degas Pastel Society was founded in 1983, and is one of the most respected pastel societies in the United States. The Society is aptly named in honor of Edgar Degas, (1834-1917), the artist most widely recognized for transforming pastel from a sketching tool into a major artistic medium. Pastel painting blossomed with his touch and his works have inspired countless artists.

Thanks for listening, and see you out “Painting the Soul of America”

New Paintings Online

Just a quick note to let everybody know that I’ve added some new images to the online gallery at my web site; they are located toward the bottom of that page. Each image is noted by the word “New” in Red; two seascapes and two landscapes. Of course, all four images contain certain elements in common, most notably water, and three have rocks. These are areas that people have always appreciated about my work, so I hope you enjoy the latest creations.

Thanks for listening, see you out “Painting the Soul of America!”