Month: March 2016

Open Studio Invitation

It’s that time of the year again – Open Studio time – and you’re all invited!

POSTCARD

Saturday, April 16th & Sunday, April 17th
11 am to 5pm 

Beverly’s Home Studio
36 Sheldon Street
Ardsley, NY 10502

This is one of my favorite weekends of the year, when I get to spend all weekend talking about art with like minded people. What a luxury! I always enjoy the dialog and especially the feedback. There hasn’t been a year when I haven’t walked away feeling reinvigorated and brimming full of new ideas.

You’ll be able to see my latest vending machine paintings, including a new series of oversized single candy bars. I have been working hard on this series so the paintings can dry in time to hang for the show. And you can see all the paintings from my last 30 Paintings in 30 days Challenge.

I just started a vegetable painting (horror of horrors! a healthy food), featuring a line of cut avocados from a Manhattan salad bar. With its dramatic composition, this image was practically crying out, “Paint me, paint me,” and so I am. It is my first full size vegetable painting in a very long time.

Of course, I will be sponsoring my annual Oreo Cookie Contest. Everyone can enter by just taking a bite. Come one, come all, and bring your kids and grandkids! They always have a great time. Where else can you bring your whole family to eat Oreos and look at art in one visit? I paint the winning Oreo bite, and name the painting after the biter. You can see a table full of past entries and the 2015 winner, Blake’s Bite, in previous posts.

For those people with more sophisticated palates, we’ll also have our favorite desserts (what else?) on hand from Riviera Bake House in Ardsley. Thank you, Bonnie, for handling this every year!

My Open Studio is part of the 2016 RiverArts Studio Tour, and I’ll have maps on hand which show the locations of the other 80 participating artists.

I’ll post a construction update closer to the event to help you navigate around the Ardsley bridge construction. Right now, this only effects people coming northbound on the Sawmill River Parkway (take Exit #16 at Lawrence Street since Exit #17 to Ardsley is closed). So please check my blog a few days before the tour, and contact me if you have any questions.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

The Winner!

In honor of National Oreo Day, I would like to announce the winner of my 2015 Oreo Cookie Contest, Blake’s Bite. Congratulations, Blake!

"Blake's Bite - Oreo Cookie" by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradled panel, 6 x 6 inches

“Blake’s Bite – Oreo Cookie” by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradled panel, 6 x 6 inches

In case some of you haven’t met the winner before, let me introduce you to Blake The Biter, from my hometown of Ardsley. Here he is proudly submitting his entry, right after taking the winning bite. It showed promise from the very beginning.

DSCN8678

This year the selection process was daunting with over 75 entries during my April Open Studio, even more than last year . After all, I wanted to be fair to all contestants. You see, Blake is one of my most loyal fans who has entered repeatedly. And my heart was with him from past years when he didn’t win, which you can read more about here.

I narrowed the field to these 3 Oreos, which were the first works I painted during my September 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge (Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3).

Days 1, 2 & 3 of the 30/30 Challenge

Days 1, 2 & 3 of the 30/30 Challenge

Just to be sure I wan’t biased towards one of my favorite Open Studio attendees, I posted this photo on Facebook for a vote. Blake’s Bite was the overwhelming favorite!

So now it’s official. Well done, Blake! You earned this recognition in honor with your persistence and enthusiasm, in addition to your distinctive bite.

I’m looking forward to seeing you again in mid-April, so please mark your calendar. Maybe you can go for a record two consecutive wins…