food paintings

feasting on noah verrier’s food paintings

~ jama ~ 7 Comments

“For me every painting is like a prayer to God, I can be still, look closely, and interpret the colors, shapes, and emotion before me.” ~ Noah Verrier

Hungry? If you’re craving a little comfort food, whether fast or slow, you’ve come to the right place. Florida artist Noah Verrier’s realistic depictions of classic favorites hit the spot every time.

Feasting on one of Verrier’s mouthwatering, calorie-free still lifes comes with an added benefit: zero guilt. So go ahead and lick off that cupcake frosting to your heart’s content, polish off a syrupy stack of fluffy pancakes, or wolf down a cheesy Big Mac with fries. You’ll feel satisfied and have fun doing it.

Though now based in Tallahassee, Verrier was born in Salem, Oregon, and moved to Florida with his parents when he was six. He loved art as a child and began drawing and painting in watercolors by the age of ten in order to emulate what he saw.

photo of Noah Verrier in his studio by Chasity Maynard/Tallahassee Democrat.

He was fully immersed in art in high school, inspired by Impressionism. Van Gogh and Monet were big influences. He then studied art at Florida State University, taking an interest in 19th century painters Manet, Sargent and Sorolla, as well as 20th century artist Wayne Thiebaud, admiring them for their realistic imagery and brush stroke styles. He also taught painting at FSU, first as a graduate student and then as a professor after earning his MFA. In 2017, he took a leap of faith and quit teaching to become a full-time artist.

Noah specializes in oils and always paints from real-life subjects. He typically begins by sketching an image, then setting up a composition in his home studio. He uses a wet-on-wet painting technique, also known as alla prima painting. This allows him to apply a layer of wet paint on top of another wet layer, all in one setting. Using unique brush strokes and blends of color, he’s able to complete a painting in one day.

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Eric Joyner’s Fantastical Robots and Donuts

~ jama ~ 5 Comments

Hungry for a donut? This friendly blue robot is ready to take your order. Thanks to San Francisco artist Eric Joyner, they’re all baked to perfection fresh on the premises.

Pre-Joyner, I was pretty ho hum about robots. They seemed cold, mechanical, and well . . . robotic. Nothing warm and fuzzy there.

But the more I looked at Eric’s playfully surreal, uber imaginative, sometimes bizarre paintings, the more fascinated I became with his pop/sci-fi/nostalgic world showing robots and donuts interacting in all kinds of fascinating scenarios.

So why robots and donuts, and how did they become his signature motif?

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twice as mice: Stuart Dunkel’s classical whimsy

~ jama ~ 7 Comments

“My life has been dedicated to the pursuit of beauty. It is an exciting, never ending challenge with prismatic possibilities.” ~ Stuart Dunkel

Mouse in the house! Actually many mousies, thanks to Boston artist Stuart Dunkel. Recently, I was minding my own business browsing the internet when I heard a distinctive “squeak” and could sense the animated twitching of tiny whiskers.

Oho!! There he was, my new little friend, raising a single raspberry in glorious triumph:

I have been obsessed with him ever since.

Who is he, and how did he become Dunkel’s muse?

Artist and oboist Stuart Dunkel.

Art is actually Stuart Dunkel’s second career. Born in New Jersey (1952), he’s also a classically trained oboist (Juilliard School of Music) who’s performed with top orchestras in Boston, New York, and Hong Kong. After retiring from his three-decade musical career in 2002 at age 42, he transitioned to fine art.

Up until then, he’d been painting in his spare time and had started a small company to produce reeds for the oboe. Just as he had with music, he took a disciplined approach to his craft, receiving formal training (The Boston Museum School, The Academy of Realist Art, Seattle, WA, and private study with other realist painters).

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nine cool things on a tuesday

~ jama ~ 19 Comments

1. Happy May! April showers bring May flowers, so here’s a pretty bouquet just for you, compliments of UK artist Louise Pigott. 🙂

Can’t think of a better way to celebrate the new month than with Louise’s cheery, colorful pictures. 

Louise lives in Cambridge and has been working as a freelance illustrator for about a decade. She’s done children’s books and has created art for the greeting card and stationery industries.

She’s inspired by nature, animals and all things magical, and likes countryside walks, making crystal jewelry, meditating and playing guitar. She also practices astrology and reads Tarot cards.

Also cool: she’s a “self-controlled” chocoholic with “occasional, willing relapses.” My kind of girl! You can’t help but feel happy when looking at her art. 

For more info and to purchase prints, check out her Official Website and Etsy Shop.

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2. New Book Alert!! Officially out today: Sloth and Squirrel in a Pickle by Cathy Ballou Mealey and Kelly Collier (Kids Can Press, 2021):

A speedy squirrel and a sleepy sloth try to get the job done in this funny, heartwarming tale of two lovable, but unlikely, friends. Though Sloth and Squirrel are good friends, they have different ways of doing things — and different speeds of doing them.

So, when Squirrel gets them jobs as pickle packers to earn money for a new bike, things don’t go according to plan. It seems that the contrasting skill sets of a fast-as-lightning squirrel and a slow-as-molasses sloth can make for a mess of an outcome, and before long, the friends are shown the pickle factory’s door, along with the 677 1/2 jars of pickles they packed incorrectly! Now the pair are bicycle-less, with only pickles to show for themselves. Or so they think — until the resourceful pair come up with an ingenious plan!

This delightful story from Cathy Ballou Mealey is a celebration of friendships of all kinds and a testament to ingenuity and hard work. Packed with funny details that aren’t in the text, Kelly Collier’s engaging illustrations are full of personality and silly, emotionally expressive humor. Together they create a hilarious picture book that’s perfect for a fun and lively read-aloud. At the same time, the positive themes in the book highlight a growth mindset and character education lessons on teamwork, perseverance and initiative.

I’ve read the PDF of this one and it’s rollicking good fun. 677 1/2 jars of pickles ain’t nothing to sneeze at! Have I mentioned that I have a thing for sloths? Just like Sloth in this story, I am s-l-o-w (but still adorable). Love the alliteration in the plucky text and the fun illustrations. Only one pickly problem: My mouth keeps watering and my lips won’t stop puckering. But I love this book. Whether you go fast or slow, score your own copy pronto. Just curious: dill, sweet, or bread-and-butter for you?

Congratulations, Cathy and Kelly!!

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