This book is a catalogue of my paintings arranged by subject matter. Each topic has a brief description before it describing the techniques I use for painting the painting or why and how they make me feel. It begins as an autobiography and how I became an Abstract Realistic painter. I am a self-taught painter although I did have a little help at the beginning. I met one person who taught me very elementary things about painting and the tools to use. He taught me how to stretch a canvas, the value of using good quality paints like Golden Paints and a special wall easel. Years later my husband and I set up our studio at our home in Pennsylvania. It is 20' by 30' and has 3 skylights on the east side. We have color corrected lights throughout. There are three drafting tables, one for my husband and myself and a framing table and three easels, one for him and two for me. I like to work on two paintings at the same time sometimes. I have a kiddie pool set up for pouring paints on to canvases, which works out well for smaller canvases. When I have larger canvases I take them outside and do the pouring there. There are racks for storing canvases and cabinets for tools, canvases and paints. I have fun painting in a studio filled with music and light. Whether I am in a small New York apartment kitchen, a large art studio in Pennsylvania or a redone second bedroom in Florida I always feel comfortable in my workspace painting. I am an acrylic painter whose paintings emphasize dynamic texture and color. My paintings make use of bright colors using " marks". A "mark-making" technique emphasizes visual brush strokes. These strokes of thick paint produce an almost three-dimensional quality of textures and movement, displaying an emotional abstract-realistic presentation. I started using this technique years ago when I first started painting. I just came naturally, effortlessly to me and it felt comfortable and natural. I have tried some variations of it but I have always come back to it like an old friend. Sometimes I employ glazing or transparencies of a color or layering of color. I also use a pouring technique of liquid paint to bend colors. They flow freely into each other and it is magical the way the colors seamlessly mix together. The individual brush strokes of color develop into a painting. I use lots of colors, bright colors and thick coats of paint. I use heavy body Golden Acrylic Paint and their liquid paint. Generally I paint right out of the jar with many values of a color to get the effect I want. The inspiration for my paintings comes from nature, plants, fish, and the sky plus other dream-like, creative states of mind. Other times the blank canvas inspires me. Sometimes I limit my palette to certain colors to develop my painting, using only those colors. Often I have a specific creative idea in mind and then attempt to reproduce it on the canvas. The finished painting is sometimes different from my original vision. The idea morphs and changes as I paint. Either way, there is a lot of creativity and spontaneity applied to the process. There is a chapter on my Moons and Suns, which I am best known for although Landscapes are also included. The Abstracts and Experimental chapter is next. As an Abstract Realistic painter the following chapters are done in a purely representational way of Flowers, Animals and Fish, Sumi'-e Chinese ink paintings, dedicating paintings and Weavings. The completed painting I hope emotes en emotion or memory. I want a painting to be ever changing to the viewer and pleasing to the eye. My favorite times are in the beginning and end of a piece, and then again when the painting finds a home. It is very inspiring and motivating when people connect with my paintings and want to live with them as part of their art collection. They appreciate my vision. That is my goal and a measure of my success.
About the Author: I am a self-taught Abstract, Realistic Painter. I live with my husband, who is a Portrait Artist, Bernard Hoffman. We have three children and five grandchildren. Having two studios, I continually paint in the summer in Pennsylvania and New York City and winter in Florida. I have been drawing, painting and sculpting since elementary school. In elementary school I helped design and paint two murals on the walls of the school's entrance hallway. One was very geometric and the other an underwater, aquatic scene. I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Philosophy Degree from SUNY at Stony Brook, Long Island, New York. I created a couple of Happenings, which included music, dance and environment. I also participated in a few Happenings through the NY State Council of the Arts at Carnegie Halls Little Stage and SUNY at Purchase, N.Y When I went to Canada I worked at the Veterans Hospital in Calgary, Alberta as an Arts and Crafts Instructor and learned how to weave and spin raw wool. I also graduated from the University of Alberta in Calgary, with a teaching degree and taught third and fourth graders combined. I was married in Canada to a Canadian who was part Blackfoot and Cree Indian. We had a baby girl. Eventually I got divorced and because it was so cold in Calgary I decided to move back to New York City. I began painting again and tried earning a living as an artist but realized I needed to earn money to support my daughter and myself. I became a Stock Broker and Financial Planner, specializing in Retirement Planning for 20 years. I also have a Master's Degree in Financial Planning and Retirement Planning from the College of Financial Planning During this period I met my husband. He had two boys from a prior marriage. After a couple of years we bought a weekend house in the Poconos' Pennsylvania and built an Art Studio. When I retired I started painting in earnest. My paintings are known for their bright colors and abstracts. I also do a lot of Moons and Suns. I like varying my subject matter so I have flowers and animals also but they are much more representational and not as realistic. I took one course at the Boca Museum Art School and continue to take courses at the Morikami Education Center for Sumi-e Chinese Ink Painting in Florida. My paintings have won several awards and I have shown in art galleries, exhibitions and Industrial films. I also take commissions that are now hanging in private collections.