Open Studio 2018

Welcome to my Virtual Studio Tour!

Thanks to popular demand, I am posting photos from my Open Studio. The original post never made it up since it was scheduled for 2019… (my bad).

It was a glorious weekend! The weather was great, as was the turnout. The week leading up to the Studio Tour was less hectic too than in previous years; we learned from past experience.

This year’s guests were greeted by this Oreo themed display, including oil paintings, pencil drawings and original giclée prints, covering a span of over 15 years. Thank you, Bonnie, for putting together this visually pleasing retrospective. It made quite a first impression, especially for first time visitors. 

My studio never looked so clean! I had plenty of room to show my latest vending machine paintings. I discovered I could fit eight 20 x 10 inch panels over the fireplace, which turned out to be the most requested spot for picture taking.

Vending Machine Series by Beverly Shipko

Husband Jay Sloofman, Beverly,our friend  Rhonda, Daughters Bonnie and Laura

My friend Linda

Annette and her students

Work was scattered all through the house. At times, it was really packed with visitors. We somehow never get photos of those moments since we’re all so busy… It would have been smart to ask other people to take photos. I guess there is always more to learn…

The Three Muskateers from Central School

Desserts waited in the dining room for guests who were craving sweets after looking at so many food paintings.

The dessert table from Riviera BakeHouse in Ardsley

The very first arrivals

A lot of the fun comes from being surprised by who walks through the door, from different times and places in all of our lives. I’m happy to say the Shipkos were represented by my first cousin Robert, who I grew up with in Detroit, and his son Harrison, who grew up in New York like my two daughters.


Every time I looked at Harrison, I kept seeing my brother Stuart in my minds eye at the same age. It’s funny how strong familial resemblances can be.

I was delighted that my Heart Shaped Box of Chocolates found a happy home with Sarah, who had been admiring it since first seeing the painting in the Hudson River Museum exhibit called  I Want Candy.

And I can’t end this blog without moving into the kitchen for the annual Oreo Cookie Contest – where we had the unexpected pleasure of being entertained by Samantha’s  amazing flexibility.



Finally, this year was a first when Charli and Jack brought their own work – and gave me an art show! That was just plain fun. I look forward to seeing more of their creations in the future.


As usual, I enjoyed Studio Tour weekend. Thank you all for coming!

Thank you to the team – my daughters, Bonnie and Laura, husband Jay Sloofman, and friend Maritza – for helping make this event a success. I could never do this without all of you! A special shout out to Doug Marouk-Coe and RiverArts® on the 25th Anniversary of the Studio Tour.

P.S. Despite our best efforts, there were several surprises that were out of our control, creating some concern in the weeks leading up to the Open Studio (an understatement…). I leave you with these two photos, when we were working on Plan B, just in case…

Egg-licious Breakfast

Every once in a while, you open up a morning email and read something that starts your day off right, just like a delicious breakfast does.

When Patricia, an artist friend, sent me an email with the subject “Breakfast”, I was intrigued and happily opened it. There was a short message and surprising visual in it

 

Beverly-
My steel cut oats (gluten free) with eggs and salsa!
Happy Breakfast Club!
XO
Patricia

I laughed so hard – for several minutes – at the real life egg which was paired with my Three Double Yolk Eggs print. How clever – and unexpected!

Here’s the entire Three Double Yolk Eggs Limited Edition Gicée print, showing the double yolk eggs in various states of preparation.

“Three Double Yolk Eggs”, Limited Edition Giclée Print, Beverly Shipko. 20 x 10 inches unframed

A few years back, I was fortunate enough to buy an entire carton of double yolkers. After a few mornings of cracking open double yolk eggs, I kept my camera near the stove, open and ready, as I cooked breakfast.

And the Egg-centric series was born. (Day 22. Egg on Stove,  Day 8. Eggs In-Sink,  Story Behind The Eggs,  Day 30 of the 30/30 Challenge – Egg).

I hope Patricia’s Egg-licious email started your day off right too. After all, laughter is the best medicine.

Vending Machine Series: Choices

With half of 2018 gone, I wish I could go back to April. I was totally focused, centered, and excited while working feverishly on my largest, most complex vending machine painting.  I called this Choices, for those of us who would need time to ponder what to buy from this fanciful machine.

Vending Machine Series: Choices, by Beverly Shipko, Oil and acrylic, 30 x 30 inches, Work in process

I spent a full week sketching the composition. First I decided on the scale and proportions of the painting, and the products to include in each row. 

Then I played with the position of each item. Would they lean left, right or stand up straight? For example, take the corn. I experimented with a few packs and took photos to get some answers. As you can see, I went with a single ear of corn with lots of silk.

Lastly, there was the pricing. I wanted to make people think about how they make food choices when faced with alternatives. I wondered: Would people ever select healthier vegetables from a vending machine? Would bargain hungers buy veggies because are larger and perceived as a good value compared to smaller, more expensive sweets?

Once I had the initial sketch, I started painting the black background using Liquitex Acrylic Heavy Body paint. I kept thinning the paint with water to avoid having little patches of black paint clump on the surface.

I commandeered the kitchen table so I could paint on a flat surface and better control my brush strokes and avoid dripping paint. I began with the sides so they could dry first, and I could easily move the painting.

Once in the kitchen, I turned the canvas to different angles to check the paint coverage. Even though the canvas came pre-primed, it frequently took 3-4 acrylic coats to cover those irritating little white spots peeking through the textured canvas.

I was so glad to be using quick-drying acrylic paint (15 minutes vs. many days for oils)! It was the best way to go to keep the background smooth, like the metal of the machines, without having to wait between painting sessions.

Since it was easier to make compositional changes at this stage, I spent an extra day or so painting in the numbers with white acrylic paint. As the black background progressed, I moved the canvas back and forth between the flat kitchen table and the vertical refrigerator – to step back and get a better idea of how the finished piece would look

I knew from past paintings that if you can get the black background right at the beginning, the rest of the painting falls into place. It almost paints itself! (OK, not quite…)

Now I was ready to move Choices back to my easel permanently and paint the products in vibrant colors using oils. I think oil paint has a richer look and distinctive texture that helps the products pop off the black acrylic background. I worked from the top down to minimize the possibility of smudging. 

The top row of chips was coming along pretty well, as were the bananas. Then I struggled with making the asparagus and broccoli distinctive, and went to the grocery store for guidance – a frequent occurrence with this painting. With two green vegetables next to each other, I had to differentiate them better using color, shadow, and texture.


I expected the carrots to be easier given their orange color, but that wasn’t the case. This was my first time painting carrots (and most other veggies), and they didn’t look convincing until I added significant texture. And similar to the green vegetables, I wanted to make the yellow banana color distinctive from the corn. Again, texture played a big role in the solution.


Finally, the veggies were finished and I cranked my easel higher so I could paint the bottom row of sweets without hunching over. I love my crackable easel!


Choices was by far the most ambitious undertaking so far in this vending series. I had painted chips before, but this painting included only 6 chip bags. The Choices composition has 5 bags, 5 vegetables and 10 candy bars – with 20 complicated logos.

“America’s Favorite Vending Chips” by Beverly Shipko, Oil painting on canvas, 20 x 20 inches

I had painted candy before too, but only 5 bars – not 10.

“Iconic Vending Candies” by Beverly Shipko, 10 x 20 inches, Oil on canvas

Last year, I even slipped in a single piece of broccoli. 

Beverly Shipko, Vending Machine Series: Super Foods II, Oil and acrylic, 11 x 14 inches

However, I had never tried them all together as I did in Choices.  When I showed this painting to a few people, they volunteered that they can see themselves standing in front of the vending machine trying to figure out what to buy. They related themselves to other indecisive people, often analytical people, weighing the pros and cons of the different eating experiences, and their relative prices. One of the neighborhood kids looked at Choices, and surprised me by picking broccoli as his favorite item! You never know…          

My frustration right now is that this painting is unfinished, and I can’t focus on it at the moment. However, since attending the Met Breur’s inaugural exhibit Unfinished, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

When I do complete this, you’ll be the first to know!

Happy 75th, M&Ms!

Here’s a little painting that I had sketched for the January Challenge. It was just waiting patiently on its easel, crying out for me to finish it before this weekend’s Open Studio.

Happy 75th, M&Ms! by Beverly Shipko, Oil on wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

This painting turned into a commemorative painting marking M&M’s 75th birthday, and the special pack marking this milestone.

It took a few mistakes for me to internalize how much the package changed. At first, I didn’t realized that the logo color has been reversed. The M&Ms logo in the special pack is white instead of the standard brown.


Out of habit, I started painting the logo brown late last night. I was struggling and I didn’t know why. When I finally figured it out, I wiped off the brown. This morning I repaired the damage.

Happy 75th, M&M! makes me smile. I’m not exactly sure why. Do you?