March, 2015 | Beverly Shipko, Artist

An Unexpected Opportunity

March 24, 2015 by Beverly

Sometimes good things happen when you least expect it.

Last week, I was meeting my friend, Marge, for lunch in Rye, NY, when I walked by a gallery that does custom framing. Since I had a question, I left a postcard for the owner of Gallery 52, who is coincidentally named Beverly (maybe that was a sign…).

The next day, Beverly called. Before I knew it, she was coming over on her day off with her sister, Joan, to pick up some of my work to put in Gallery 52 at 81 Purchase Street in Rye.

We certainly had fun that morning. It’s always a good thing to get feedback (especially when it’s so positive!) and to see which paintings resonate with people. Beverly’s enthusiasm for my work was contagious!

From start to finish, the whole process took less than a week. On my birthday, I went over to see how my paintings looked in the store, and got this nice present.

The colorful display is eye-catching from the street, and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride at this unexpected turn of events.

If you’re in the Rye neighborhood, be sure to stop by.

Story Behind The Eggs

March 23, 2015 by Beverly

When people walk into my studio these days, they smile and ask me, “Why eggs?”. So I gave this a bit of thought.

Of course, the quick and easy answer is that eggs are a key ingredient for baking, which keeps the food theme going. But I usually leave the baking to Bonnie. Eventually I realized there was more significance to these eggs.

The immediate inspiration for the egg series was a carton of double yolk eggs from last year. I couldn’t believe the whole carton was full of double yolks.

I kept my camera by the stove and took photos every day when I made my egg (or is it eggs?). I missed a few photo ops before I realized what a gold mine of inspiration this could be. I took photos of the eggs in various states – from raw in a bowl, cooking in a pan, to sunny side up. During the 30/30 Challenge in January, I did small oil paintings of eggs for the first time.

Egg Series from the 30/30 Challenge, Oil paintings on cradled panel, 5 x 7 inches.

An Egg-centric Series from the 30/30 Challenge, Oil paintings on cradled panel, 5 x 7 inches.

After someone mentioned that double yolks were lucky, I looked up the symbolism on the internet. It turns out that double yolk eggs are considered omens of abundance (as in pregnancy and fertility, twins), good fortune, and the union of two people in marriage (double yolks in one shell = union of two people in marriage).

This last point got me thinking. Then it hit me – bingo! – and I realized Mom and Dad met over a carton of eggs!

My grandfather, Sidney Fishman, used to own a gourmet grocery store on McNichols in Detroit, called the Market Basket.

He got his eggs delivered from my other grandfather, Maurice Shipko, who started talking about his son in dental school. The two men exchanged phone numbers and my parents ended up going out on a blind date. The rest was history.

Dorothy and Albert Shipko, 1947.

My parents were married for 64 years because of those eggs. So now you know the whole story. Apparently my subconscious did too.

My Upcoming Open Studio

March 18, 2015 by Beverly

After looking at everyone’s else’s artwork for 3 days at 6 New York City art fairs in early March, I was inspired to hunker down and focus on my own painting for the fast approaching Open Studio. I am pleased with what I have accomplished so far. Today I hope to finish up the raw double yolk painting (on the right).

I will be opening my Ardsley, NY home studio to the public as a participant in the 2015 RiverArts Studio Tour. This event will take place on Saturday, April 25th and Sunday, April 26th from 11am – 5pm. The location is 36 Sheldon Street, Ardsley. So save the date!

You are all invited to enter my annual Oreo Cookie Contest. Come and take a bite out of an Oreo to submit your entry! It’s that simple. I paint the winning Oreo and name the oil painting after the biter since it’s your “portrait”. Here’s what my kitchen table looked like last year.

There were so many entries that were good, it was difficult to select one winner. While I did some oil sketches, I need to pick the winning entry (and stop procrastinating!) and finish a detailed oil painting before the upcoming Open Studio.

Some of my newest works will be on display, including the largest Oreo I ever painted, call Cosmic Oreo. (Gotta keep the Oreo theme going strong….) This work was started for my Just Desserts demonstration and art marketing talk at the Scarsdale Art Association in October, 2014 (see The Sheer Joy of “Just Desserts”).

I named this painting Cosmic Oreo since the finished work reminded me of the cosmos with its planets, stars, and even space debris. How’s that for a new take on crumbs?

The entire collection of small works from the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge will be displayed for the first time. In case you were wondering if I am totally addicted to painting Oreos and desserts, you can see that I explored a variety of subjects during the Challenge.

Of course, no Open Studio would be complete without desserts – real and painted! Besides Oreos, we’ll have some of our favorite cakes, pies, and tarts from Riviera Bakehouse in Ardsley on hand. Bonnie is already picking out the dessert menu. You can see for yourselves what we served last year. Maybe something you eat will turn into my next painting… One thing you can be sure of is that I”ll be taking lots of photos!

I always look forward to this weekend – and to seeing all of you