Thursday, October 28, 2010

Bahamas Out Island Beach Day

Bahamas Out Island Beach by Phyllis O'Shields Oil ~ 18 x 24



BAHAMAS OUT ISLAND BEACH DAY  Oil by Phyllis O'Shields
Oil Painting on Gallery Wrapped Canvas 18 x 24 with 1.5" edge (can be framed or unframed, painting continues around edges)

The Bahamas Out Islands provide many places for your own private beach to spend the day. This is one of my favorites.  The morning clouds usually have a delicate pink in them which is perfect to paint from.  I have spent many days on this beach painting in perfect peace.

Mahalo for visiting…..Price includes professional packing, shipping & insurance within the continental United States. For Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and  international areas outside the continental  United States please phone for shipping cost.
You may reach P. O’Shields regarding her available artworks at the studio 704.394.7382
or by emailing her at OshieldsFineArt@gmail.com
World Fax 866.433.8816    Skype: p.o.oshields.jones

Key West Florida Image of Hurricane Approaching Oil by Phyllis O'Shields

Key West Storm Approaching by Phyllis O'Shields Oil ~ 30 x 40



KEY WEST FLORIDA IMAGE of  HURRICANE  APPROACHING
30 x 40 inches .05 inches deep
copyright 2010 Phyllis O'Shields
 
This painting was done on location before a hurricane reached shore. The emotion of incrediable cloud formations and the smell of an approaching storm was overwhelming.  The location here was being scouted for an outdoor painting workshop at a later date. Oil Painting 30 x 40 inches.

Mahalo for visiting….
www.oshieldsfineart.com /tropical paintings - for more information on painting and purchase
Studio 704.394.7382

.Price includes professional packing, shipping & insurance within the continental United States. For Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and  international areas outside the continental  United States please phone for shipping cost.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Honoring Toulouse-Lautrec International Artist Day by Phyllis O'Shields

Honoring Toulouse-Lautrec Images International Artist Day by Phyllis O'Shields


            
MY INSPIRATION: The strong contour and gesture captured in the  line work  of Toulouse-Lautrec. Strong Japanese influence in line and colour which I love.   Toulouse-Lautrec created and saved imagery of private and quiet moments, exalting the soft-spoken. 

Later today I will post one of my pastel sketches re-visiting the work of Lautrec.

Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa
 or simply Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ʁi də tuluz loˈtʁɛk]) (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, and illustrator, whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of fin de siècle Paris yielded an œuvre of exciting, elegant and provocative images of the modern and sometimes decadent life of those times. Toulouse-Lautrec is known along with Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Gauguin as one of the greatest painters of the Post-Impressionist period. In a 2005 auction at Christie's auction house a new record was set when "La blanchisseuse", an early painting of a young laundress, sold for $22.4 million U.S.
GREAT ART IN SPITE OF HIS DISABILITIES:  
Physically unable to participate in most of the activities typically enjoyed by men of his age, Toulouse-Lautrec immersed himself in his art. He became an important Post-Impressionistpainter, art nouveau illustrator, and lithographer; and recorded in his works many details of the late-19th-century bohemian lifestyle in Paris. 

Toulouse-Lautrec was drawn to Montmartre, an area of Paris famous for its bohemian lifestyle and for being the haunt of artists, writers, and philosophers. Studying with Bonnat placed Henri in the heart of Montmartre, an area that he would rarely leave over the next 20 years.

Toulouse-Lautrec, a misshapened and ridiculed small man whose parents were aristocratic first cousins, used his artworks to promote empathy for non-idealized, ordinary people. Behind the bright lights, mirrors, and festivities of the Rue des Moulins, Toulouse-Lautrec emphasizes the realities of working women. He paints women who don’t have traditionally perceived “feminine” and young hourglass shapes.  Some of the arms on these women are bigger than most men’s arms.  He does several paintings where the women are clearly struggling to squeeze their bodies into undersized corsets.
He created some idealized renderings of idealized women – the headlining singers and showgirls of his era.  And these paintings and posters are also beautiful.  But they are not beautiful because of their symmetry, smoothness, and perfection.   They are more beautiful because of their individualized characterizations, expressiveness, and striking graphic strength.
His lines are loose, his borders intentionally imperfected.  The women rarely “pose.”  Rather, Toulouse-Lautrec took great care to allow them to move freely while he captured their natural postures.
Unlike most paintings of ballerinas, where the women are striking extreme poses, toes pointed, backs stiff & arched, and arms extended, Toulouse-Lautrec instead shows ballerinas at rest with their energy spent from working long, hard hours. 


Monday, October 18, 2010

Florida Everglades Twilight Solice Oil Painting by P O'Shields






Florida Everglades Evening Solice

24 x 36  Original Oil on Canvas - 
Gallery Wrapped Canvas painted around edges
copyright 2010 POShields

Evening approaching in the Everglades is one of the most peaceful times of the day. Birds rush about catching the last rays of sun or their last evening meal.

The Everglades sky changes colours constantly as the light filters through the last clouds left over for the day after the daily afternoon rain. Early morning or late afternoon are my favorite times to paint in the Everglades. This oil painting required many layers of glazes to achieve the glowing tones of colour present. I love painting the Everglades and all Marsh Eco Systems with wide open vistas, there is a feeling that you can see forever.
These fragile systems are critical to preserve in their natural state for all wildlife.

Mahalo for Visiting..............
You may reach P. O’Shields regarding her available artworks at the studio 704.394.7382            
or by emailing her at POshields@OshieldsFineArt.com 

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Koi Images of Hawaii Pastel by P O'Shields Contemporary Artist



Koi Images of Hawaii by P O'Shields Contemporary Artist
12.5 x 19.5 Pastel on Archival Paper
copyright P O'Shields 2010

My Inspiration: Koi are the image of Serenity and Peace. 

The history of Koi is as mysterious as they are beautiful. Popular conviction would have us believe that Koi are indigenous to Japan. In fact, they are even mistakenly called “Japanese Goldfish”  They are actually from the Carp family.


Koi are believed to originate from eastern Asia, in the Black, Caspian, Aral Seas and China. Carp fossils have been discovered in South China dating as far back as 20 million years ago. Some varieties are known for their hardiness, which records claim can live for long periods of time if simply wrapped in wet moss continuously kept damp.

The earliest written records of Koi, or Nishikigoi, (Japanese for "brocaded" carp) were first described in writing from a Chinese book written during the Western Chin Dynasty, around 265-316 A.D. At that time they were described as white, red, black and blue.

Koi are believed to have been introduced to Japan with the invading Chinese and a first account of them being kept by an emperor in Japan, apparently dates Back to AD 200.

I hope you enjoy these images of Koi.  I paint them en plein air from ponds in Hawaii.  This should be framed using a mat covered in rice paper with Japanese scroll proportions, the frame should be black matte hand rubbed and narrow.  I can give you references on a framer for this traditional method.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Tuscany Sunflower Series VII Pastel by P OShields

  


Tuscany Sunflower Series VII
 

Pastel 12 x 16 without mat
 Canson Mi-Teintes

copyright 2010 PO'Shields


 
My Inspiration: Last of Summer  Sunflowers on the back roads of Tuscany.
When visiting Tuscany each year I paint Sunflowers, Lavender and Olive Trees.  Each Tuscan Sunflower is  different with it's own personality,  thus I usually sketch en plein air
 the one that jumps out at me.

There is nothing more beautiful than the Tuscan fields of golden sunflowers surrounding a golden rustic house with a terra cotta roof.  These are views that I use in large paintings, but for the sketching en plein air there is always one sunflower among the many that calls out to be drawn. I will be posting over the next few weeks series of these plein air sketches. 

Bravissima!

For more information on this painting please visit my
website - click into the European Collection

Phyllis O'Shields Artist , Contemporary Impressionism

You may reach P. O’Shields regarding the purchase prices  her available artworks at the studio 704.394.7382 or by emailing her at    poshields@oshieldsfineart.com  
 Skype: p.o.oshields.jones