Gallery Show

At the Beck Center For the Arts

17801 Detroit Ave

Lakewood, OH 44107

216-521-2540

My husband, Norm, and I will be doing a show together! Our work is cut out for us the next couple of days! Lots to think about and lots of work to hang!

I am rather excited though, even though we have had a lot of snow. 

Cross your fingers...sure hope it is a success!

You can see my work at: Picture Diary

A Christmas Gift

Man's Best Friends

One of the nicest things about doing portraits are when they are commissioned as a gift. This painting was completed just a couple of weeks before Christmas to be a gift to a loved one. There is a story behind every portrait that Norman illustrates. We listen to their stories before starting a painting. In this case it is about a man and his dogs. 

Nothing better than a mother's smile of approval on this one.

Working in Black and White

A client came to us with an old small black and white photograph of herself and her mother that she though would be nice enlarged to a 14" X 11" size. The photo was time warn and not sharp. It would look all the less sharp when enlarged. With old black and white photos, unless we know the coloring of our clients and are given some creative room, doing a full color painting becomes problematic.

So Norm and I suggested to render it as a highly rendered black and white pencil drawing as shown. It would keep its softness and look beautiful on archival paper.

All the better for a Christmas gift!

Winter is Coming!

A Winter's Walk

It has been a long time since I have written about Norman's work.  Norman and I have been off line for multiple reasons. One is he has been helping me get my artwork ready for the Lakewood Art Festival this August 3rd, in which we both will show our work. Two, he took a spill on our roof while fixing the chimney, dislocating his finger and tearing a ligament in his shoulder which meant rehab so he could move his arm. Then there was my mother's illness, passing, and funeral. And of course the delightful addition of my grandson who we watch for part of the week. Of course that means we get little done except for diapers and bottles. Somehow I never thought retirement equaled being busy, but so far it has been just that. Now Norman is thinking of getting back in his groove and doing some personal work along with work for clients.

This piece was done for a client based on some of her photography of scenes that she loves. It is always interesting to see what images a client connects to. What memories it stirs. I always think of a painting as the rose colored glasses of our imaginations of the past. They add a bit of romance or atmosphere. Where photos are like a recording of a past moment, a painting captures a dream. 

Being July, winter seems like a long way off, but has author George RR Martin writes: "Winter is coming!"

Ode to Cousin Gordon

Norm told me many stories of his cousin "Gordie". He was the bad boy all the girls would fall in love with. He was kind of a family legend that died along time ago in a car accident.  

Norm found this picture of Gordie on his motorcycle which became an inspiration of his most recent painting: Lost Rider.  

Hopefully we will have it framed for the Rocky River Fall Arts Festival this Saturday in Rocky River, Ohio.

Hope to see you there.

A Day at the Beach

Part of the fun of going on vacation is taking pictures. Some of our pictures inspire paintings, like in this case of a cute little boy digging for treasure. He was so cute Norm and I knew he'd be a great  subject for a painting. We hope to be able to display him in the upcoming Lakewood Arts Festival on Saturday, August 4th.

Second Thoughts

When we printed the original version of this painting their were four people on the beach. It is funny how you can like something on screen and then when you print it, you have second thoughts. 

Norm and I both came to the conclusion to take out the sitting fisherman and change the clouds.

You can see the original on the March posting of this year and let us know if you like this version better. 

We have just come back from Emerald Isle, NC where this painting was inspired from. Norm had taken many pictures of beach with and without people. 

Here is a close up of the guys on the beach where Norm used suggestive detail.

The painting is 30" X 20" in size.

For me it captures those times we'd walk the beach seeing those who love to fish by the breaking waves of the ocean.

Sweetness in Pink

I confess it has been a busy May and I have had no time for blogging. Finally I have time to post some new updates. 

Here is a portrait Norman did of a precious little girl. Occasionally we offer a portrait in a charity donation as this one above.  We offered an 14" X 18" size which was a great deal.

This was a fun one and a pleasure to do working with her mom to capture the true sweetness of her daughter. Check out our children portraits on http://yourpreciousportraits.com Look for the link for Children Portraits on the home page.

Going Italian Style

It was quite a surprise to get an email from a book publisher in Italy that was interested in purchasing rights of one of our paintings for a book cover. Let me tell you it was quite a thrill.

Vladimir Nabokov is known for writing "Lolita" which later became movie staring James Mason. L'Incantatore is one of his lesser known works.

So "The Young Girl with the Red Umbrella" has made her debut in Italy.

 

Thinking of Summer Vacation

One of our favorite places to go on vacation is Emerald Isle, NC.  The beaches are beautiful and it is not uncommon to see the dolphins play in the water. 

Norm and I have taken many a walks on this beach and this painting he just finished captures the fishermen we would encounter. I can still hear the sounds of the ocean and seagulls.

This painting is 30" x 20" and prints are available on Fine Art America.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/fishing-at-the-beach-norman-drake.html

Second Thoughts: Making a Bigger Statement

Sometime Norm and I take a second look at a painting.

We felt something was missing.

It was The Flag.

We are very proud of this particular marine and his service to our country.

Thank you Joshua!

Latest Painting: The Marine

Norman loves to paint portraits of his children. His latest is of his youngest son Joshua entitled "The Marine".

Joshua in particular has been a favorite study. Maybe because Joshua is the youngest.  This is his third painting of him.

This one was of Joshua when he entered boot camp. 

This is his first one of Joshua before his decision to enter into the Marines. He calls this one "THe Dreamer"

To see other portraits of illustrated by Norman Drake click on the following link:

http://www.yourpreciousportraits.com/index.php/gallery/family

Just in Time for Christmas

Gazella Bethlenfalvy

Years ago, our neighbor Marta had brought back a photograph of her grandmother from Europe. Unfortunately the fragile photograph became damaged in the trip home. When viewing Norman's work she brought the picture to Norman to have it restored.

Usually this would be easy, however a ghost story is involved here. 

The original photograph was quite large so my husband Norman set up the camera on an overhead boom to keep the camera steady and to get a good shot of the fragmented picture. Norman is a bit psychic. He started to feel a female presence and noticed that the batteries in his camera kept draining. Often the shots turned out black. He managed to get one but the picture looked twisted at an angle.

I could hear his frustration from the other side of the house and came down to see what all the commotion was all about. 

He told me that she, "the hot grandma" as he calls her, was messing with him and he didn't know quite what to do. 

After giving it some thought I suggested a theory. If it was her, she was probably upset seeing her portrait in pieces in a strange house with strange people and not knowing what we were doing. I told him to talk with her and put her at ease; telling her that he was restoring her portrait for her granddaughter and making copies for all her grandchildren and great-great grand child.

Norman did just that and then shot the fragmented photograph with no problem. That was the end of the ghost part of the story.

Norman restored the photograph and printed it on archival paper and framed several versions for Marta's family for Christmas.

One large one that measures 20" x 24". Four medium at 9" x 12" and the small one for the great-grandchild at 5" x 7" with a tighter crop to keep the detail of the face.

A Christmas ghost story with a happy ending.

PS: Feedback from the Schar Family

It is so nice to get a picture and a note of praise from our clients!

Congratulations! You Won A Family Portrait!

Every once in a while we will donate free individual portrait to charity within a certain size range. It not only helps charities raise money, but it is like free advertising.

That is how we met Vicki and Gary Schar. 

They won the bid for a free portrait.

But what we discovered was, the portrait they wanted was of seven people! They wanted a portrait of their whole family. They brought tons of photos, but what was important was that they were all together.

After going through several photos we found a  photo of the Schar family all together by the lake. This seemed like a winner.

Even so the photo we selected to use as reference presented some challenges.

But then again we love a challenge and that is where the fun comes in.

 This is what we came up with.

 The portrait measures 30"x 24".  A family summer memory down by the lake now captured on canvas to warm and grace one of the walls of the Schar's living room.

T H A N K S   T O   G A R Y   A N D   V I C K I   S C H A R !
and to their beautiful family, for sharing your story and allowing us to paint your portrait.

Rocky River Art Festival

I can't believe it is October and I am finally posting these pictures! Here is Rocky River's Art Festival that was held in mid September.

We had added some new paintings, reframed some older ones, and reprinted some on our Espon 9900 which has a wider color gamut and boast of eleven in colors. We were busy! We did a dry run the night before to see how the mix of paintings would fit on the lattice walls of our tent.

Norman also worked on reinforcing the latticework on the walls of our gazebo like tent which paid off in the set up early Saturday morning. We got our favorite spot which is on the end or the beginning depending where you enter the festival.  This end affords us a little more space as well as charm.

Norm kept watch while I took a break to check out the other venders. 

Here are some shots of the interior of our tent. 

Here are two framed prints of some of Normans more personal paintings. The top is one is a painting of a small town on the outer banks of North Carolina and the bottom is of the metro parks in Bayvillage, Ohio.

This is a close up of the interior folding wall that shows two of Norman's three children on the right.

This wall features many portraits that Norm has done for clients.

Here Norm catches me on camera above getting ready to talk with visitors.

Finally a chance to chill. All in all we couldn't have asked for better weather. We even got a chance to meet and talk with the Mayor of Rocky River! At first Norman thought I was kidding when I went to introduce her to him. I wonder if he thinks I am a bit of a prankster. 

All in all is was a beautiful day.

Last Touch

I have to admit it is always nice to see a finished piece framed. It is here in our studio till our show in September.

Getting Ready for Autumn

Some one said to me that August was the new September. With that in mind, I took it to mean that Fall is just around the corner. Although I am still clinging on those last days of Summer, I love the colors of Fall!

Last year I shoved Norman out the door to shoot some of those beautiful colors so he would have reference to paint some Autumn paintings in between clients. This is a painting he finished last week of trees and a creek in a small park in Bayvillage, Ohio. It is one that we are framing to display at the Rocky River Art Festival on Saturday September 17th.

Hope to see you there.

Here are more links on the painting:
http://www.yourpreciousportraits.com/index.php/gallery/scenic/ and http://fineartamerica.com/products/autumn-in-the-park-norman-drake-canvas-print.html

Parklawn Beach: Update from Behind the Scenes

Here is the painting that resulted from the photo shoot. This is a painting of Parklawn Beach which is a small private beach along the coast of Lake Erie in Rocky River, Ohio.

The beach holds special memories for our client and her family. The stairs were a special request to be included in the painting. This created a challenge in that the painting needed to be a horizontal layout to fit in the wall space over our clients fireplace. Our clients photographs were all vertical shots, hence we needed to reshoot the beach area to come up with a horizontal layout that would be pleasing to the eye.

Behind the Scenes

Sometimes in creating a painting for a client, the photographs we receive do not provide us with enough to paint from. So when such cases arise, Norm goes out to reshoot the site or person that he is going to paint.

This time I tagged along with my camera.

Norm had to shoot a beach scene that included the steps down to the beach which was a bit steep.

While he stood in the foliage I kept thinking things like poison ivy and snakes. I am such a wimp.

After being away from the lake during the winter, I forgot how beautiful Lake Erie can be. Here is a shot I took of the private beach of a home that adjoins the site Norm was shooting. Some of the beach fronts are steeper than others. 

It was a beautiful peaceful day. The driftwood on the beach was a subtle reminder of the earlier storms of the year. 

Finally it was a wrap. The sky disappeared into the water at the horizon. It was time to go. I know I should go down to the lake more often, but my to do list seems to get in the way. We are lucky to have such a beautiful lake near by.

We are still working on touch ups on the Shar Family portrait. I hope to have their story next. The beach painting will be next. After that are weddings! This time two of them in our own family this year!

We will keep you updated.