bevsbites | Beverly Shipko, Artist

Day 10. Strawberry Blueberry Tart

January 10, 2017 by Beverly

Keeping with the Grand Central inspired dessert theme (Day 9. Cranberry Cheesecake and Day 7. Rugelach), here’s a Strawberry Blueberry Tart from Financier Patisserie that I have been wanting to paint for a long time.

A few years back, I did this 3 x 4 food oil painting of Financier’s pastry display.

I always thought the heroes of this work were the brilliantly colored tarts. Painting a single strawberry tart was on my mind for a few years. This was my chance. Can you tell which one I was inspired to paint?

Although today’s tart painting turned out pretty good, most of the day was a painting fail. I was going to use the word “disaster” but it sounded too Trumpian.

The plan was to do a piece of key lime pie on a plate with a fork. However, I started putting paint on the 5 x 7 inch panel sketch before realizing the plate in my sketch looked distorted. I tried different lines, colors and backgrounds to camouflage it, but the painting couldn’t be saved. The structural problem might have been solved if I cropped the composition in a square format.

In previous blogs, you’ve heard me talk about paintings that I thought were lost, but were saved after I kept going. This time I decided I didn’t want to save this one. It wasn’t worth it when I had another painting sketched and ready to go.

Now I had 16 brushes to clean, and not a painting to show for it!

At 7pm after a dinner break, I refined the sketch, added a blueberry in the center, and fixed structural issues before putting paint to the panel (yes, I can learn from my mistakes!) I stopped painting at around 1am, satisfied that I had saved the day with a valiant if not rushed effort, and I could rest easy.

I picked up the painting again this morning on 6 hours sleep and spent over hours (my time limit) adding the seeds, completing the strawberries, and putting shadows on the pastry. Done. Proud.

This was a humbling experience, and a reminder not to get too cocky after having a good, relatively easy first week.

Sometimes failure is good, as long as it doesn’t happen too many times during the Challenge…

Day 9. Cranberry Cheesecake

January 9, 2017 by Beverly

I wanted to do something a little wild and crazy today. So I went with this mini Cranberry Cheesecake, my first selection ever from Magnolia Bakery.

For years I have been wanting to paint a Magnolia treat, but either the baked goods didn’t look “pretty” enough or there were too many people waiting in line crowded around the cases blocking the view. Magnolia Bakery is very popular in Manhattan!

In December, I took the train into Manhattan to meet my friend Dennis for lunch at the United Nations before he retires, and it was earlier than usual to allow time to go through extensive security checks.

I walked by the Magnolia stand in Grand Central Station and saw rows of these beauties – and no one blocking the view. Full disclosure: As you can see here, the proper title of this is Vanilla Bean Cheesecase with Cranberry Topping. A bit cumbersome for my purposes.

It was my lucky day. All the stores in Grand Central looked stunning and were stocked to the gills for the holidays. This was the same day I spotted the Day 7. Rugelach. I also found these multicolored olives, which I was considering for a painting, but thought it might come out looking too psychedelic to be believable.

Cranberry Cheesecake was much more fun to paint, although I admit to having doubts about this two hours into it. However, I kept plugging away with strong encouragement from Bonnie, who somehow knew this would work. After many hours it came together.

I experimented with the cascading berries and dripping juice, taking creative license and adding some of both. I picked a light blue background for some contrast to the cheesecake, but not too much so the cranberries could “pop”.

The trick was to paint the cheesecake itself in first so I could play with the translucent glaze. I uses various shades of red and layers of alizaron crimson, which is what made the darker berries 3-dimensional. The more alizaron I used, the more depth there was, and the more this painting came alive. It’s all about the highlights!

Thanks for coming by today!

Day 8. Plate of Cookies

January 8, 2017 by Beverly

I was thinking about cookies after all that Rugelach talk yesterday.

This Plate of Cookies is from our favorite bakery right, The Riviera Bakehouse, right here in Ardsley, NY. It’s our go-to bakery for paintable and edible baked goods, and has been for over 30 years.

Liv Hansen, the owner of Riviera, who is an artist herself, brought over a box of cookies. She puts her talent to work in the bakery designing the most gorgeous cakes. Two years ago during my first Challenge, Liz came over to see some of my work and talk art, and gave me productive feedback that helped me save my Box of Donuts painting.

That afternoon, Liv and I arranged some of the cookies on my purple plate and took photos before they were devoured. It took me a while to get up the courage to paint this one. Now I have a lovely painting to commemorate that day.

This photo was taken that day too. Liv is holding the cake topper that she made for my surprise birthday party (I won’t tell you how long ago; we have a second fridge in the garage…). There are several levels in it: Liv created the chocolate cake topper she is holding, which is based on a painting I did, whose subject was a black-out cake from Riviera that Liv made!

So we have a photo of a cake made from a photo of my painting, which was made from photo of a cake. Got that?

I am surprised I was able to finish this painting given its complexity and time constraint. It actually took a day and a half of painting time, plus sketch time a few days before. This was one of those paintings that you knew was going to work after a few hours.

The trick to this painting was planning, and thinking through the approach to the layers of color. I started with the light sugar cookies and rainbow cookie, which was key since it’s much easier to paint dark over light when oil paint is wet. Then the purple plate came next, followed by the highlights and finishing touches.

While I love this painting, I need to be more careful in my selection of complex subjects. There needs to be a mix of simple and complicated, or I’ll never make it through the Challenge. I was way ahead of schedule but not so much now, which could become problematic towards the last half of January when I have some commitments.

This means that shorter blogs will be better. Pithiness is a skill I would like to hone anyway.

Now I’m going to spend some time strategizing for the next few days. Thank you for stopping by!

Day 7. Rugelach

January 7, 2017 by Beverly

I didn’t realize it until just now, but after painting Cinnamon Bun swirls for Day 6, I followed with another spiral dessert in Rugelach.

“Rugelach” by Beverly Shipko, Oil on cradles panel, 6 x 6 inches

Clearly my subconscious is working overtime. I couldn’t resist looking up more meanings of spirals going back to Celtic times: balance, progress, centering, expansion, connection, journeying (the path from outer consciousness to the inner soul). Most of this made sense in the context of the Challenge.

Today’s painting is based on a photo I recently took at the Zaro’s Bakery stall in Grand Central Market. The Market in Grand Central Station is one of my favorite places to go and get inspired to paint food, and eat lunch after taking a train into Manhattan.

You should have seen me take this, standing on tiptoes holding my camera lens high above the glass, as the cashier was giving me the evil eye… However, I managed to take photos without hanging over the glass and contaminating the baked goods.

The first order of business was to zoom in on the rugelach and eliminate extraneous clutter in this sketch on wood panel. The primed surface is unforgiving, and doesn’t really allow for rough sketching. I tried to sketch lightly so the pencil lines wouldn’t be obtrusive in the final painting.

I don’t know if you can see it, but the table line on the left and right doesn’t line up in this sketch. Luckily I noticed it after checking the photo, and made the correction early on. Sometimes the camera lets you see details that you miss with the naked eye.

I started with a cool, light blue background to complement the cake stand, which I had been wanting to paint for ages, and to balance the color palette so it wasn’t too warm. Then I moved on to the combination of chocolate and strawberry rugelach.

When I first showed the painting to Bonnie after a few hours work, she said it reminded her of Wayne Thiebaud. That’s not a bad thing so I decided to stop. The next morning, I studied it in the morning daylight, added a bit of detail (the darker strawberries), and called it a day. After all, it is a painting a day.

As I was writing this blog post, I wasn’t quite sure how to spell rugelach. When I looked it up on Wikipedia, I found numerous spellings: rugelakh, rugulach, rugalach, ruggalach, rogelach (all plural), rugalah, rugulah, rugala. Since it’s a traditional Jewish pastry that rolls dough around various fruit fillings, the common spellings are a hodgepodge of English and a phonetic version of Hebrew. My initial spelling, rugelah, wasn’t even on the lis!. Zaros used two “g’s”.

Now what spelling should I use for hashtags?

Tomorrow I need to get up earlier and take advantage of the natural daylight. It’s always better to paint during the day. After the midnight kitchen leak incident, I managed to shift my days and nights again.

With that, off to my easel.

Day 6. Cinnamon Rolls

January 6, 2017 by Beverly

Frankly I’m surprised by how much I like this little painting.

“Cinnamon Bun” by Beverly Shipko. Oil painting on cradled wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

There’s something about the combination of the swirls and the stripes of icing interrupting the circular pattern that I find appealing, as well as the cropping buns around a central image. Do you have any thoughts on why Cinnamon Buns just works?

Perhaps I’m attracted to the ancient symbolism of the spiral, would can mean growth and evolution. It can also symbolize female energy, the womb and abundance.

I started with this photo, which in hindsight looks rather unremarkable. At this point, my expectations were very low (more like nonexistent) for a cinnamon buns painting.

Then I cropped it dramatically on my computer, and thought it had possibilities as either a square or rectangular painting. In the end, I went with the horizontal format, cropping the image further.

The photo was so unmemorable that I had absolutely no idea where I took it. Fortunately, we’re in the digital age and I could go back and look at everything I took that day.

It turns out the photo is from the buffet at The Samoset Resort where Jay and I stayed in Rockport, Maine last June. It was a lovely day outside with clear blue skies. We had a huge breakfast before walking out to the Rockland Breakwater Light, which is about .7 miles. We carefully navigating our way around these big crevises.

I could barely see the lighthouse as we approached.

Fortunately someone had the foresight to add a pontoon extension out into the water for picture taking.

I thought about painting the lighthouse, but found another one that is more dramatic. It may make an appearance in a week or so as I make my way to non-food paintings.

However, I’m not ready to leave desserts or food just yet. Maybe I’m simply seeking out comfort foods in this cold weather. Right now I’m thinking about a cup of warm tea or coffee with this cinnamon bun. Another time.

See you tomorrow!

Day 3. Stack of Oreos

January 3, 2017 by Beverly

My Challenge just wouldn’t be complete without Oreos, a subject that I can’t seem to resist.

“Stack of Oreos” by Beverly Shipko, Oil Painting, 5 x 7 inches cradled wood panel

Why do I keep coming back to them? When I think of Oreos, I think about many things, most of all being a kid again. They are iconic images with a touch of nostalgia. A rite of passage. A piece of Americana, like apple pie and and Chevrolet.

I had sketched Stack of Oreos a long time ago after my favorite redhead “biters” came to visit for our annual Oreo Cookie summer party, which I wrote about during another challenge. Jay and I make a great tag team at these get togethers. He starts by doing magic tricks. Then we take a studio tour, and I break out the Oreos for the boys. In 2014 Marsh and Graham came with Grandma Faye, my longtime friend who they were visiting during summer vacation.

Graham and Marsh both went all out biting and stacking. Just looking at this makes me smile!

As for the painting, here’s the original inspiration. I’m not sure whose handiwork this is since we forgot to write their name on the plate. Maybe the boys will remember.

I had to work hard and thoughtfully. There are lots of little details on the sides. At one point I thought I was done, and then stepped back and surveyed my progress. Surprise! The Oreos looked like they were bending.

So I straightened them out a bit, but decided to leave the top two a little curved since it added character and personified the Oreos. How’s that for overthinking?

As I write this, I realize that I’m already looking forward to next summer to see what my favorite biters come up with.

On to Day 4. Hope you stop by tomorrow.

Day 2. Macarons

January 2, 2017 by Beverly

Here’s another sweet treat, Macarons, that is more healthy than most. It has a delicate palette (and flavors!) that makes it an interesting composition. In that sense, it’s a slight departure from the more vibrant subjects I often paint.

“Macarons from DelRey Shop, Antwerp” by Beverly Shipko, Oil painting, 16 x 20 inches on cradled wood panel

And now it’s true confession time. This is a larger 16 x 20″ version of a small 5 x 7″ Challenge painting that I did in 2015. You can see the differences in scale below. It certainly took a lot longer than a few days to paint (try weeks!) because of the size, details, and the individually mixed macaron colors.

I recently finished Macarons and thought this was the perfect time for its debut – especially since it certainly was a challenge!

Macarons required a lot of patience. The more I looked, the more I saw. Every time I put more detail in on one macaron, I had to add more to the surrounding macarons. At times, it felt like this was the painting that was never going to end. Finally I reached a point when I knew it was time to stop (confirmed by Bonnie when she exclaimed “Done!” after work), although the temptation to keep going was strong.

Thank you to Betty Heller for thinking of me and taking the original photo at DelRey shop in Antwerp.

My intention was to keep Macarons in reserve for a day when I wouldn’t be able to paint, which happened yesterday when we spent a chunk of the day with Noelle, a good friend from my Kraft General Foods days, and her family in New Jersey. It’s one our our holiday traditions. I wish I had celebrated this painting in style by bringing macarons for dessert, but I didn’t think about it until just now.

See you tomorrow for Day 3. Time to paint!

Day 1. Apples and Honey

January 1, 2017 by Beverly

“Apples and Honey” by Beverly Shipko, Oil painting on cradled wood panel, 5 x 7 inches

I thought I would kick off the New Year with one of my favorite snacks, Apples and Honey. This tasty treat happens to be healthy and fits with one of my New Year’s resolutions to take care of myself.

This painting came easily, at least partly because I had been staring at the drawing and internalizing it so long that I had a clear vision in my head.

I started painting last week so I could take my time – but not too much time since it runs the risk of being overworked. One of the reasons I do the Challenge is to practice capturing the essence of a subject and stopping while the work still looks fresh.

It also helped that I bought a tube of turquoise oil paint, a vibrant color that I found almost impossible to mix with any consistency. And Bonnie’s friend, Christina, gave her this jar of honey with the wand as a bridal shower favor, which I kept close by. The wand with the dripping honey is my favorite part of the painting.

I hope you and your family all have a sweet New Year! I wish you much health, happiness and peace.

New Year’s Painting Challenge, 2017

January 1, 2017 by Beverly

A few weeks ago, I decided to participate in the January 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge (aka 30/30 Challenge), sponsored by Leslie Saeta.

My first Challenge was exactly 2 years ago. Some of my friends say I’m a glutton for punishment to do it again. I think I just love to paint, and am looking forward to creating art without distraction and the opportunity to explore new subjects.

I started preparing in December 1st by going through my photo archive (100,000 photos and growing rapidly) looking for a theme. So technically it takes at least 2 days per painting when you include all the prep time.

Of course, I thought about sticking exclusively with some aspect of food. I also considered travel, nature, sea shells, every day objects, and using old postcards (I have my mother’s collection that includes a dirigible!) or famous artists as inspiration.

This process took way more time than expected. I have more unfinished blogs in my head than ever before!

In the end, I didn’t settle on a single theme, as you can see from this table of prints in our family room. I am simply choosing subjects that spark joy. Sound familiar?

It’s a good thing I started early since most of my compositions are horizontal, and I’m short on 5 x 7 rectangular panels (vs. 6 x 6 square). Since my go-to art store, A.I. Friedman in Port Chester, is out of stock on this item, I just ordered 20 Ampersand Primed Smooth cradled wood panels from www.jerrysartarama, and velcro to keep the panels from moving (or falling off!) my large easels.

I also bought a few tubes of acrylic and oil paints.

Today my framer, Joe at Artistic services, cut some thicker, flatter wood strips to raise the panels higher off the easel. Thank you Joe for the quick turnaround! Now I can easily reach the bottom of the panels (to sign, and to photograph without pesky shadows from the “lip” of the easel.)

A brand new memory card just found its way into my camera, along with a fully charged battery.

Of course, no challenge would be complete without some technical glitches. This time it was my main email address, which is working again after spending a few hours deleting several thousand emails, with more to go tomorrow morning. Webmaster Laura is working feverishly on a mobile friendly version of this blog and website that downloads faster.

Tonight I’ll start organizing my studio between painting and watching the Fiesta Bowl (aka Playstation Fiesta Bowl but that’s not rolling off my tongue…). Ohio State is playing Clemson and I’m conflicted about who to root for since the Big Ten Buckeyes are arch rivals of my beloved Michigan Wolverines… So whatever you’re doing tonight, I wish you a….

P.S. Thank you Bonnie and Laura for creating my Bitmoji! Do you think it looks like me?

National Cake Day

November 26, 2016 by Beverly

Which cake do you want to eat today in honor of National Cake Day?

“Zaro’s Bakery at Grand Central Station” by Beverly Shipko. Oil painting, 24 x 36 inches.

I think this is one holiday that everyone ought to celebrate!

So even though you still might still feel a bit stuffed from Thanksgiving leftovers, you have my permission to indulge yourself today.

Enjoy!

Vlisco Surprise: A Feast for the Eyes

October 28, 2016 by Beverly

Just sometimes you get lucky when exploring new exhibits and gallery shows.

That was certainly the case this past Sunday when Jay and I visited the Perelman Building, an Art Deco extension of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, featuring special contemporary art exhibits.

As we entered a show dedicated to Vlisco, a company I had never even heard of, I didn’t know what to expect. An involuntary WOW! escaped my lips. To say this was a surprise is an understatement.

The vibrant fabric colors, the creative silhouettes, and the innovative African fashion designs for all occasions pulsated against rows of creative patterned fabrics manufactured by Vlisco – a name that I won’t soon forget.

It turns out that “Vlisco: African Fashion on a Global Stage” is an visual feast for the eyes. Only we’re talking fashion feast rather than food this time around.

While I’m not a fashionista like my daughter Bonnie, I was mesmerized by this room and walked around several times taking iPhone photos along the way. Somehow I left my favorite camera charging back in New York…

I kept coming back to this Gala Dress with its memorable silhouette, intense colors and patterns. The shape reminded me of a mermaid – but what a mermaid!

I found one wedding dress in this collection, the dress with the white veil (middle right) full of patterns and colors – but still clearly recognizable as a wedding dress.

This display features one-of-a-kind designs made specifically for this show. Atypically, I was told the mannequins were made (and later shaved off!) to fit the dresses, not the other way around (i.e. dresses made to fit mannequins). As a result, the exhibit installers had a unique challenge on their hands, and are to be commended.

After admiring my favorite dresses, I directed my attention to the resin fabric sheets on the wall. The wax print designs were pure fun, and included everything from abstract patterns, body parts (think symbolic eyes and hands), and pop culture images of shoes, rings, maps, and whatever else one can think of. The designers are only limited by their imaginations.

One wall the demonstrated the wax resin printing process (the brown plate is on the upper right), reminiscent of screen printing but using wax, which made me appreciate the intensity of the colors and rhythms all the more. It’s the wax process that preserves the bold, crisp colors and makes this the medium of choice.

While I was talking to Jay (who wasn’t as mesmerized looking at clothes as I was, no matter how creative), I remembered a New York Times article about this a while back (turned out to be July), which I just found here. The Times talked about the Vlisco show being the most vivacious show under the umbrella of 5 shows called Creative Africa, three in Perelman.

If you’re lucky enough to be in Philly before January 22, 2017, stop by and get a flavor of an exciting Dutch fashion manufacturing company with a clear design niche. Vlisco is a fascinating and unique company which has been creating Western African and Central African textiles in the Netherlands for over 170 years – a surprise since I assumed these fabrics came out of Africa rather than Europe.

You can see how active Vlisco is from their extensive website. A few pages that I thought were interesting included the news around the world and a limited edition fashion page (click on the swatches to see the dresses).

Certainly the traditional Art Deco design of the exterior had us fooled. Once again, I was reminded that you can’t always judge a book by its cover. Be open. Try new things. Sometimes you’ll be richly rewarded.

Photo Cakes…Forever?

September 12, 2016 by Beverly

Being obsessed with cake, I couldn’t resist posting this picture of a partially consumed photo cake from this past weekend’s celebration.

You may recognize Web “Master” Laura from my May post about her graduation weekend in Urbana, Illinois. She has since moved into her first apartment and started her new job as a Biomathematician at Mount Sinai Hospital. We decided to commemorate this special occasion with a photo cake.

After years of ordering photo cakes (this one is from Stew Leonard’s), I am still amused by seeing my original photography on a cake. It’s quite a change to have my art temporarily appear on a cake, rather than from an arm’s length perspective on a permanent canvas. Then I watch the evolution of its disintegration (brings to mind Dutch 17th century vanitas paintings with decaying fruit and flowers).

But I’m even more amused by how people cut these cakes. They tend to avoid the photo, especially the face and eyes, and frequently the words, until the very end.

Of course, there is the occasional oddball who decides to decapitate the head for dramatic effect… who may never be asked back again…

By now you may be wondering why I didn’t just post the whole cake. So here it is.

Ah, isn’t technology wonderful? It looks like all my own childhood cakes full of beautiful pink roses are ancient history. (Both daughters don’t even like pink. What is this world coming to?)

I have to give credit to Bonnie who ordered the cake (and balloons) with the Fighting Illini’s school colors, and wrote the line, “Welcome to the Real World” to mark Laura’s entry into the job market and the Manhattan apartment scene. There’s nothing like the sticker shock of moving from inexpensive Midwest rents to exorbitant New York City prices, something I experienced first hand in 1979.

While we had a spare moment, Laura re-enacted the photo on the cake.

Now I’ll close with the traditional family cake photo, without which any event would not be complete.

We look forward to celebrating many more happy occasions with photo cakes.

But maybe I spoke too soon… I have this nagging feeling we might be celebrating with video cakes in the future…!

Attention Artists: Beware of This Artist Scam

July 3, 2016 by Beverly

The purpose of today’s blog post is to:

1. To tell my own story as the target of a scammer
2. To provide tips to help other artists avoid being scammed (see list below)

My Story: The Anatomy of a Scam

The initial contact

Hello,

My name is John Murray from CA. I actually observed my wife has been viewing your website on my laptop and i guess she likes your piece of work. I’m also impressed and amazed to have seen your various works too, You are doing a great job. I would like to purchase the icecream painting from the cookies,cupcakes and icecream series (couldn’t get the name), if it is available and ready for sale as a surprise to my wife on our anniversary. Also, let me know if you accept check as mode of Payment.

Thanks and best regards.

When I first read the email below while Jay and I were vacationing in Maine, I was really happy I had a new potential buyer who had taken the time to look through my paintings online. Here’s the Cookies, Cupcakes and Ice Cream section on my website that John referenced.

My website and social media efforts were finally paying off!

I didn’t question this email which was remarkably similar to one I received a month ago from an old friend, Bob – except that the painting was a surprise for his wife’s birthday. Bob (full disclosure: can’t use his real name and spoil the surprise) even asked me to ship the painting to his friend’s home.

I figured that maybe I had met John’s wife during one of our recent California trips. Perhaps she had seen my work the the LA Dwell on Design Show, or at VMF Winery in Healdsberg, CA.

After hitting send, I realized John never asked me about the price. I decided to let it go until the next email so Jay and I could be on time for our ranger tour at Acadia National Park.

The second email. That night I wrote back describing the painting, and asked when his anniversary was. This was his response:

Thanks for the message, Yes, its the piece am talking about! I must tell you I intend to give my wife a surprise with the immediate purchase of the piece. If you’d like to know, I’m relocating to the Philippines soon and our wedding anniversary is around the corner, precisely on the 8th of July. We are having a few of our new friends over, so I’m trying to gather some good stuff to make this event a surprise, and am planning to make the unveiling of the piece the main event of the day.

As regarding payment, my wife handles the family credit card and Paypal transactions, so i will authorize a check to you for the payment as soon as i have your full name and contact address (preferably for FedEx delivery no P.O box). Also, as soon as you receive the check and it clears your bank, my shipping agent who is also moving my personal effect will contact you to arrange shipping/pick up of the piece from you (this is to avoid my wife receiving it, if been shipped directly to my address which would ruin the surprise for this event). You both have to sign a proof of pick up at the most.

I would have handled this much differently if I’d been at home but i am actually offshore and won’t be back for another couple weeks, and do not have access to a lot of cash over here to expedite this transaction… trying to kill two birds with a stone. 🙂

Have a Positive Day!
John

What a nice idea to celebrate this special occasion! I was flattered that my painting would be the center of attention. Sounds like a nice friendly email, right?

John’s explanation of why he didn’t want to use credit cards was just like my friend Bob’s. Both wanted to mail checks so their wives wouldn’t see the purchase on the monthly statement and ruin the surprise. And what a coincidence – July 8th is my anniversary too!

So I quickly and enthusiastically wrote back again, providing the price, along with my shipping address (Jay’s office) and cell phone number since we were on vacation.

That night, I looked up John Murray on LinkedIn and didn’t find an obvious match. I started wondering if this could be a scam. Immediately, I regretted giving a stranger my cell phone number, and telling him we were away (a robbery in the making?) I told Jay I was uncomfortable with the information I had disclosed, and glad I hadn’t said more.

The 3rd email full of red flags. This message waiting for me at 6am:

Hope you are good. Thanks for the details which I’ve noted down, it’s so nice to hear we share the same anniversary date, and I do hope you have a memorable one too!

My shipping agent is due in the U.S on Monday, so i have contacted a client of mine to issue out a check which will include my shipping agent fees to you right away. This is done to avoid delay or any inconvenience that may arise from his part and to allow check to clear before pick up. However, courtesy demand i must first appeal to your self interest and ask for your help in remitting the extra (after deducting your fee for the piece) to the shipping agent as soon as the check clears, I would have handled this much differently if I’d been at home but am a bit pressed for time as our anniversary is fast approaching and do not have access to a lot of cash over here to expedite this transaction… Kindly deduct any IRS tax incurred on the extra before giving the balance the shipping agent. As i do not want you to involve any of your personal funds in this transaction, that is why all fund is made available to you. As an aside, they are not sending any bill or hold you responsible for the payment of my shipping contract with them.

I am really sorry for the mix up and will appreciate if you get back to me asap to know if i can entrust you with this transaction.

Many thanks and talk to you soon

Did I read this right, I wondered? Maybe I just needed to go back to bed and clear my head…

I was thinking: What’s this about the shipping agent who just happens to be arriving in the U.S. on Monday? Why is John going to send a check for more than the purchase price? It struck me as odd this was the second time he mentioned he doesn’t have much cash, which he doesn’t need if he’s sending a check. With my accounting background, I zeroed right in on the “IRS tax” wording. Anyone living in California would know it’s called sales tax. And what’s all that gibberish about not holding me responsible for the shipping contract?

When I showed the email to Jay, he immediately googled “artist scam”. What he found was that this “purchase” has all the characteristics of a typical artist scam, My particular scam went beyond many in its ingenuity by describing my website and somehow coming up with my exact anniversary date!

I decided to shut this whole thing down by politely explaining that this transaction would have to be handled through PayPal. I never heard from John again – as expected.

Tips on How to Spot an Artist Scam

Here are some tips on what to look for in an internet scam, some of which probably apply to social media and phone scams too. Not all of these items by themselves would indicate an scam (e.g. Bob’s birthday purchase was legitimate; sometimes good things happen!), but taken together they make this scam easier to spot.

The scammer has a deadline coming up quickly. He is hoping that you’ll ship the painting before you find out his check has bounced.
The purchase is a surprise gift
Payment must be made by check
The scammer creates an emotional, heartfelt story that you want to believe (e.g. birthday, anniversary)
A third party is involved in the transaction (e.g. the agent)
The scammer is willing to pay more than the asking price. In the real world, this just doesn’t happen.
A “reimbursement” check is requested of the artist for the agent, before the buyer’s check has cleared
The scammer wants to handle the shipping (unlikely since buyers usually avoid having anything to do with shipping)
The scammer includes just enough personalized information to make this believable, the latest twist in email scams enabled by using sophisticated technology (e.g. a specific reference to my website was included)
The buyer lives outside of the U.S.
The message is poorly written with grammatical errors, misspellings, and inaccurate information (e.g. IRS tax)
Beware of coincidences such as shared birthdays and anniversaries. Don’t let yourself be sucked in!

I used to think that scams were reserved for the unsuspecting sick and elderly who didn’t know any better. I assumed I would always know better. Not any more!

Having said that, I won’t blame myself too much for not recognizing this scam right away since I was in vacation mode. And no damage was done. I just feel silly for letting it go as far as it did, which was 2 days.

Key Lessons Learned from a Artist Scam: How to Protect Yourself

Just remember to keep your eyes open and your checkbook shut
Only accept checks for the purchase price. Stay out of the check cashing business.
Make sure the buyer’s check clears before shipping artwork, or use traditional payment vehicles like PayPal. Be patient and don’t rush the process.
Stay objective and don’t let your emotions interfere with your judgement
Listen to that inner voice that’s telling you something doesn’t feel right. Find that balance between being too trusting and too cynical.

And read this excellent article on How To Recognize an Art Scam in the Agora Gallery blog, which describes my scam perfectly and reinforces everything I have learned.

There’s definitely an upside to this story. This was a wakeup call. I’ve learned some things that will carry over into my internet life for many years to come, if not a lifetime.

If I missed anything, please feel free to post comments that will help other people in the future. Thank you!

The Elusive Lighthouse Photo

June 24, 2016 by Beverly

Jay and I just came back from a 2 week vacation, starting in Nantucket and driving up the beautiful Mid-Maine Coast to Acadia National Park. Along the way, we decided to visit the infamous Maine Lighthouses.

I had an image in my head of brilliantly lit lighthouses perched on dramatic rocky cliffs. It didn’t seem like this would be too difficult to find since they appeared on every website, tour book cover and tourist center brochure. Wrong.

Little did we know that I wouldn’t take that iconic sunny photo until the last few hours of our trip to the Portland Great Light in Cape Elizabeth, ME before returning to New York. Even then, I only had 15 minutes of sunlight before the clouds and rain moved in. I love this view from the southern trail, with the craggy rocks so typical of the Maine coastline!

By the time we went up the northern path, the sun was fading and the entire mood felt more subdued.

Our previous effort to photograph this site by boat the night before was thwarted by unexpectedly heavy winds and choppy water, so the captain couldn’t get close. My chance at that epic Portland Great Light sunset shot never materialized.

However, I did get this beautiful photo of the Portland Breakwater Light (also called Bug Light) on the way back.

Our Most Distinctive Lighthouse Award went to Breakwater Light in Rockland, which we could see from our window at Samoset Resort (admittedly using my maximum zoom; the real view was quite distant and tiny). Jay and I walked carefully along this mile long breakwater, focusing on avoiding deep crevases (talk about having to be present! almost meditative), to reach our destination. It was a wonderful experience, and made this Jay’s #1 lighthouse of the trip.

Fortunately, the town thoughtfully installed a dock off the breakwater (thankfully no need to climb rocks!) that allowed photographers to get this view.

Our Most Disappointing Award went to the Bass Harbor Lighthouse in Acadia, perhaps because the park ranger over-promised iconic views. Or maybe because the trails weren’t well marked and we never found them. I was hopeful until we started walking up these stairs. Then I realized the lighthouse was perched on a very small cliff that offered only close up views of the lighthouse itself.

Coming back down, I was still determined to find the trail that would take us to a panoramic view of the lighthouse perched on its steep cliff. My optimism returned as we wound around to the northern path. However, my hopes were dashed as we were confronted with this intimidating pile of boulders at the path’s end.

I considered climbing out for just a second – until I remembered that a fellow photographer died in Acadia a few days before. No way, I thought. I’ll look at the views on the internet.

Other visitors were far more adventuresome, and rewarded with a better view (although morning would be optimal). From this vantage point – without climbing on big rocks – you can see a hint of the lighthouse in the upper right hand corner. It still wasn’t enough to tempt me.

More typical lighthouse views from the water were like these. The first was on the way to Little Cranberry Island in Acadia, and the second was Brant Point Light on Nantucket (never did walk out to the lighthouse because of the weather; next time).

So I have a few tips for your self-guided tour of Maine lighthouses:

Weather is most important. If you have a sunny day, make a beeline for the closest lighthouse. Don’t wait. The Maine weather changes so dramatically and quickly.
Time of day matters. Morning and late afternoon offer the most striking light. It also depends on where the lighthouse is situated.
Check the hours carefully to see if and when the lighthouses are open. Most had limited hours, some had museums, and all closed by 4pm. If we had visited in the morning, we would have gotten help with directions.
Look at photos ahead of time, see where the good vantage points are, and plan accordingly
Read the descriptions of the trails. Allow yourself extra time to explore the surrounding area. I still get the feeling that we missed a trail at at the highly rated Bass Harbor Lighthouse; so did the other visitors.
Take boat rides. Many of the most popular lighthouses – and mansions – were best viewed from a boat.
Look closely at the map for neighboring lighthouses. We almost passed up the Two Lights lighthouse (and Lobster Shack where Jay grabbed his last lobster roll), also in Cape Elizabeth and only 10 minutes from the Portland Head Light.

Most importantly, just enjoy the experience of the chase.

P.S. Here’s a great photo for my album, which was taken from the Nonamtum Inn in Kennebunkport. But don’t get too excited…

It’s a fake. Now I have a better understanding of why these are scattered all over the place! It gives us amateur photographers our easy photo ops! 🙂

Web “Master” Graduates!

May 25, 2016 by Beverly

Big news here at beverlyshipko.com.

My Webmaster and daughter, Laura Sloofman, was officially awarded her Master of Science degree in Biophysics and Computational Biology last weekend at the University of Illinois (UI) in Champaign/Urbana. Congratulations, Laura!

It was an action packed 5 day weekend for Jay and I, starting with a barbecue Thursday night at Sarah and Erik’s (oops! photo didn’t turn out), where I caught up with Laura’s friends, like Vishal.

Plus I met one of my most loyal blog readers, Pei-Chen. Here she is with Casey helping Laura prepare for our Friday dress rehearsal photo session.

So how many graduate students does it take to figure out how to put the hood on a graduation gown without the directions? At least 3 (4 if you include me!) plus the internet. Thank you Pei-Chen and Casey (shown searching for the answer) for your help – and patience!

Here we are on the plaza of the Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), one of the two places where Laura works on campus. For some reason, I love these sculptures, which are open to much interpretation. What do you think they are? For those of you who may be curious, click here to read the answer.

Friday night Bonnie (Laura’s sister in the pink scarf) arrived for the weekend festivities, and we got to meet more friends at Laura’s apartment.

Somehow Laura found time to make a delicious gourmet dinner for the four of us, including homemade noodles. The fresh pasta with pesto sauce was amazing! I’m salivating just thinking of it.

Saturday we got up early and spent almost 4 hours outdoors at the university-wide ceremony at Memorial Stadium, home of the lackluster football team. It was surprisingly emotional for me to see Laura in this setting. I kept searching for her on the big screen, but alas, she never showed up. I had to settle for more intimate photos.

We had never heard of the keynote speaker, Jeff Huber (formerly of Google) who recently founded his own firm called Grail to discover an early detection blood test for cancer that might have saved his wife. He gave such an inspirational speech that we momentarily forgot we were shivering from the 35 degree temperatures (not to mention the wind)!

Jeff Huber challenged the graduates to find a better way, a powerful theme he skillfully wove together in the tapestry of his carefully crafted message.

On Sunday we went to the indoor Convocation Ceremony for the Department Molecular Cellular Biology at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. This was Laura’s big moment walking across the stage. Can you find her? Fortunately, there was a professional photographer close by.

Afterwards we mingled outside with the other graduates and their families – and naturally took more photos. There’s no such thing as too many graduation photos, in my humble opinion.

For our final family photo, we scoped out the University of Illinois Quad, a setting that reminded me of Laura’s alma mater, the University of Delaware.

Speaking of alma mater, we went to take Laura’s photo by the Illinois campus iconic sculpture called Alma Mater, which was dressed for the occasion

Several hundred other people beat us to it. Apparently this is a long-standing university tradition since the 2 hour line kept getting longer and longer all weekend!

We never even considered standing in this line, and were amused by it the entire weekend. This is what we settled for.

Laura, we’re excited about having you back in the New York Area, and seeing you more often. We are all so proud of everything you have accomplished! Good luck with your new job at Mt. Sinai. Having said that, I’m not sure luck has as much to do with it as the brain power, hard work, and motivation that went into getting your degree and forging a new path for your future bioinformatics career.

We wish you all the very best that life has to offer!

Much Love Always,

Mom, Dad and Bonnie

P.S. “Enough pictures, Mom!”.