some recent and not so recent work...

The work on this site is for the most part from life. This is my main focus to paint from life as much as possible. Sometimes I will do a painting in one sitting, and sometimes I am working over an extended period of time. The thing that excites me is finding inspiration in the ordinary things around me and places that I come in to contact with.

"Life's too short and I have tomato to paint..."

All work is for sale, if interested please contact me at
freedner@verizon.net

Frank Herbert Mason (1921-2009)

Frank Mason passed away this week on June 16, 2009 at the age of 88. He was the my painting teacher when I studied at the Art Students League in New York. Frank taught at the league from 1951 (taking over the class from Frank Vincent DuMond, Mason's teacher) until 2008 when he retired from teaching. His dedication to teaching mopes like to paint was unwavering. He was inspiring and I remember watching him paint crits and thinking this man is a magician. It was not magic however, but great technique infused with love of the old masters and life. One of the many things he instilled in me was a love for painting. Frank was force of nature, an amazing painter of great passion.
I never forget his infectious laugh and the those huge hands which would slap you on the back sending you forward foot or two afterword he would say, "so Jeffrey what do you think?" He was free spirit and one hell of a painter and will be remembered for his dedication to teaching and to preserving the legacy of the great masters.
Rest in peace Maestro.

Route 15, Vermont, AM

Route 15, early morning, Vermont.
Oil on linen
9" x 12"

Blue Hills-Pond AM

Blue Hills, MA
Pond, morning.
Oil on linen panel
8" x 10"

Blue Hills, Pond PM

Blue Hills, Pond,
early evening.
Oil on linen panel.
8" x 10"

Isaac Ilyich Levitan, Evening Bells-1892

Isaac Ilyich Levitan, Evening Bells-1892
Oil on Canvas

I have recently been looking at some Russian painters from the late 19th and early 20th century. Issak Levitan is one of them. I first discovered him through Marc Dalessio's blog.www.marcdalessio.com
Marc also happens to be one amazing painter as well, check out his work.

This landscape by Levitan is one hell of a landscape painting. For students of landscape painting this work has a lot great things to study. How he massed the middle ground trees to how the painting is pitched. Check out how he uses different brush strokes to create the illusion of the grasses and bushes and the simplicity of the river bank lead up to the horizon. Not to mention the reflections on the water.

The work of Isaac Ilyich Levitan belongs to the highest achievements of Russian culture. Its significance is compared with the works of such classics as Anton Chekhov, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Konstantin Stanislavsky.

Levitan was born in 1860 into a poor but educated Jewish family. In the late 1860s, the family moved to Moscow, where Isaac studied at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture from 1873 till 1883. He lost his mother in 1875 and his father two years later. He was left penniless and homeless in Moscow, sleeping alternately in the homes of relatives and friends, sometimes spending the night in the empty classrooms of the school. A nightwatch took pity on the youth and let him sleep in his cubicle. The School waived his tuition fee “because of extreme poverty and in recognition of his singular success in art”.

For more of Isaac Ilyich Levitan work check out Olga's Gallery

Blood Oranges and Lemons

Blood Oranges and Lemons
Oil on Panel, 2009
11" x 14"

I used Munsell chips to find the averages and then I used my palette knife with the hues to check on the HVC of the objects.
I wish I had the room to do sight size, I tired to sight size in the beginning but I could not get back far enough in my room. I realized that I can only do relative measuring in this environment.

Pond trail, late afternoon

Pond trail, late afternoon
Oil on linen panel
10" x 12"

This is a sketch from a nice spot near my house, first of the spring season. 2.5 hours give or take.

Ipswich Salt Marshes 3 PM; sketch

Ipswich Salt marsh: 3 PM 4-29-09
Oil on linen panel
8" x 10"

I went out to Ipswich to paint and found this nice spot which part of the state park system. There was not a soul around, which was great and parking was free. I did this sketch in about 2 hours.
The problem with this area is that there is no place to park and go painting. The entire place is posted with no parking signs.
I will be going back as there is this really nice bunch of old apple trees that are crying out to be painted.

I was also was bitten by a tick which was not fun. The doctor thinks it will be alright as it takes 24 hours or more for the disease to pass from this vile insect to humans, and I removed it within 6 hours. I should know in about 10 days if I have Lyme's disease which will mean a course of antibiotics. I was wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt and the little bugger still found a way to my flesh.

I will have to add Deet to my outdoor painting kit.

Frank Duveneck

Bavarian Brigand
Oil on wood panel, 20 x 15 inches
by Frank Duveneck.

I found this image on the Vose gallery web site and I pinched it.
Sorry Vose.
I love this painting, it's tells this man's story and the expression on his face is great.
Frank Duveneck has always been a painter I admired for his ability to get a good painting done and to do it with a lot of economy.

This is from Wikipedia. Frank Duveneck
Duveneck was born in Covington, Kentucky, the son of a German immigrant Bernard Decker. Decker died when Frank was only a year old and his widow remarried Joseph Duveneck. By the age of fifteen Frank had begun the study of art under the tutelage of a local painter, Johann Schmitt and had been apprenticed to a German firm of church decorators.[1] While having grown up in Covington, Duveneck was a part of the German community in Cincinnati, Ohio. However, due to his Catholic beliefs and German heritage, he was an outsider as far as the artistic community of Cincinnati was concerned.[2] In 1869 he went abroad to study with Wilhelm von Diez and Wilhelm Leibl at the Royal Academy of Münich, where he learned a dark, realistic and direct style of painting. He subsequently became one of the young American painters — others were William Merritt Chase, John Henry Twachtman, and Walter Shirlaw — who in the 1870s overturned the traditions of the Hudson River School and started a new art movement characterized by a greater freedom of paint application.

Lemon and Clementine

Lemon and Clementine
Oil on panel
8" x 10"
2009

life drawing, the block in

I am taking a drawing class with Dennis Cheaney who teaches the ideas of Ted Seth Jacobs.
This is a new idea on drawing for me and I love it. It has opened my mind to a way of drawing that I was aware of for years, but for some reason I never tried. Better late then never.

This is the block in stage, this is first time I tried this and it's real learning experience for me.

It's 2H pencil on paper, 14" x 17"
2009

life drawing, the block in 2

In this drawing I later noticed some issues with proportions.
The interesting thing about doing this kind of straight line block in is that you can see the problems right away. The other thing is that you can find the angles, tilts and gestures in the figure pretty quickly.

Life drawing

Nude Study, work in progress.
Pencil on 14" x 17" paper

Cecilia Beaux

"Art is not born of beauty, It is born of life—and in one form or another, vigorous, developed life always turns toward beauty."

"I can say I have a passionate determination to overcome every obstacle. Work is a struggle to conquer something. And I do my own work with a refusal to accept defeat that might almost be called pitiful."
- Cecilia Beaux

Cecilia Beaux is a painter whom I admire and who is very under rated in my view. She rivals Sargent and Chase and many others of her generation.
Here is a link to Armand Cabrera's (who's blog is well worth checking as he's a fine painter) blog and some more info on Cecilia.
Cecilia Beaux

Vermont, early morning, fall 2008

Fall in Vermont
Oil on Linen
14" x 20"

I have been working on this on and off for a while, I think it's done.

Encore: Cecilia Bartoli, Agitata da due venti, Vivaldi

What can you say, Cecilia Bartoli is a master, the true meaning of the word.
I love this hall, The Teatro Olimpico ("Olympic Theatre") is a theatre in Vicenza, Italy.
It was designed by the Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio as his last work.
The reaction of the crowd is fantastic.

I love the mural behind the musicians.
The background of the stage painted to
give the illusion of a city in ancient Greece.
Thanks to anonymous for the information.
The seats look a tad uncomfortable,
I guess it's a bring your own cushion type of hall.

Excellent music, she is a true artist.

Cecilia Bartoli -Anch'il mar par che sommerga (Vivaldi)

Cecilia Bartoli's singing on this is amazing.
I have never put a video up before. I thought this being the holiday season some music would appropriate. It's a quick-time movie so if you don't have this plug in the video wont play.

Her control of the phrasing in this Vivaldi piece is outstanding.
When she moves through those arpeggios it is one of those moments
in music when you just have smile, it feels so good to hear her do this.
I love how she looks like she is in total ecstasy when she sings.
This is high art, this kind of perfection and flawless technique
that is also married with soul and passion, high art.

Bella, Bravissimo!

The Ship of Fools

The Ship of Fools
Oil on Linen, 52" x 62"
1996
Some old work...
This painting was done 12 years ago.
I had fun doing this, I worked out of my
head a lot during this time period.



Samson and Delilah
Oil on Linen
40" x 50"
1995
I did this painting based on the story of Samson and Delilah.
I thought of Delilah as the classic femme fatale from the film noir era.
Samson is taking the fall, he fell for the lady in red and she betrayed him.
The view point is from Samson just before they take his eyes out.
If you think this is violent, check out Rembrandt's version, that is one amazing painting with a lot of gore.

Tomato and Peppers

Tomato and Peppers
Oil on Panel, 2008
10" x 12"

This is almost done, a few touches here and there are to be done.
I sacrificed one of the tomato's from our garden.
I wish I had thought of taking a photo of the tomato as it started to rot.
It was very interesting and took on some fascinating shapes.

Turnips

Turnips
Oil on board, 2008
8" x 10"

eggplant 3

Oil on board, 2008
5" x 7"

Turkish Eggplants

Turkish Eggplants
Oil on linen, 2008
6" x 10"

I grew these interesting eggplants in my garden this summer.
The color of these vegetables is amazing.

Egg shells

Egg Shells
Oil on panel, 2008
5" x 8"

Grapes

Grapes
Oil on wood, 2008
7.5" x 7.25"

Antonio López García

"Studio with Three Doors"
1969–70
Antonio López García, Spanish, born in 1936
38 9/16 x 44 1/2 inches (98 x 113 cm)
Pencil on paper



"Sink and Mirror"
1967
Antonio López García, Spanish, born in 1936
38 1/2 x 33 in. (44 1/4 x 39 x 2 1/4 in. overall)
Oil on wood

I went for the third and last time yesterday (Thursday) to see Antonio López García's work at the MFA in Boston, the show ends on Sunday July 27.

I can only say that I love this mans work.
García is a Spanish painter from Madrid in his mid seventies.

His drawings and paintings are amazing for a lot of reasons. The ascetic, his commitment to the moments he is drawing and painting, some of which will last for years. He is ruthless sometimes in rendering the reality of these rooms and landscapes.

There was one drawing which was about 6 feet high took him 4 or 5 years I think; of this messy bathroom. The value ranges he gets out of pencil and graphite is astonishing. I stood there in awe of this drawing. For me it is an astonishing drawing that transcends the medium. What I mean by this is García pushes drawing into the realm of painting. Graphite and charcoal are both tonal mediums so the transition into the realm of painting is close. However García goes to the edge of his abilities and is always pushing himself in regards to what is needed to make the image work.

There were paintings of Madrid one called "View of Madrid from Vallecas Fire Tower" is 98" x 159", a huge wonderful painting that is unfinished but that he worked on from 1997 through 2007. García only works from life and sometimes he just stops and leaves it that way. He works until it seems he has done enough. I like this myself, he lets the idea flow until it resolves itself or it does not.

"When you like a subject, it's worth the effort, no matter how difficult": Antonio López García.

It is amazing how he can create an emotional response with a drawing of a toilet.

Route 15 West, VT

Route 15 West, VT
Early Morning
Oil on Panel
10" x 12"

I did this painting on Sunday morning at about 7 AM, I did not get to finish it.
It was off of route 15 towards Jeffersonville, Vermont.
It was a gray overcast morning and about hour into painting it started to rain.
I kept on working for a bit as it was a light rain, but it started to pick up.
Just as I finished putting my gear away it started to pour.
Lucky me as it turned out to be a pretty big storm.

Cambridge,VT

I re-worked this a little, I changed the hills in the distance and the trail.
Cambridge,VT
Early Morning
Oil on Panel,2008
10" x 12"




Cambridge,VT
Early Morning
Oil on Panel,2008
10" x 12"

Painted this on Friday morning with Karen and Jack Winslow.
They took me to this spot near their house in Cambridge, VT.
It was a good morning for painting.
Karen and Jack are fine painters who deserve a wider audience.
Jack does these large landscapes that are just amazing.
He goes back to spots over and over again. Something I want to start doing.
They also are two of the nicest people you can hope to meet.
Check out Karen's blog:
brushwork.blogspot.com

I am still working on this, I will post an updated photo.
What I did was to float a gray/violet haze over the background to pull it back.
This was mixture of violet and gray at about value 6 and I worked with this moving up and down according to how I wanted the effect to look.

Tree studies

Tree studies
Oil on panel, 2008
10" x 12"

I did this study in about a hour and a half.
The sun was going down so I ran out of light.

Early Morning, Fall/Vermont

Fall in Vermont
Oil on Linen
14" x 20"

I worked on this some more, I was not happy with the area in the middle of the painting as it was pulling to much towards yellow and was creating this problem and pulling forward instead of back into the hills.
It was also in the middle of the painting and seemed to make this yellow hole in the middle of the composition. What was I thinking! Sometimes one has to be ruthless.

I feel this is more unified as a composition. I could keep working on the painting but feel good about it for now.



Fall in Vermont (older version)
Oil on Linen
14" x 20"

I did this from a outdoor study.
It went through a lot changes as the original study had
fog an low clouds in it.

Sometimes one just has to invent, compose as they say.

Pond at Twilight

Pond at Twilight
Oil on canvas
8" x 10"

I did this sketch near my house I spent about 2 hours on the painting.
It's a nice small area of wilderness in the middle of
suburbia.

Yellow Tomato and Garlic

Tomato and Garlic
Oil on wood
6" x 7"

Yellow Tomato

Yellow Tomato, from the garden
Oil on wood
4.5" x 6"

Mushrooms

Mushrooms
Oil on Panel
8" x 10"

Clementine slices

"Clementine Slices"
Oil on panel, 6" X 8"

Studio 7

"Studio 7", oil on wood, 10" X 14"
NFS

I did this painting many, many years ago at
the Art Students League in New York.

It is a painting of Studio 7 in the ASL which was a great studio to paint in.
This is where I learned how to draw and paint in Frank Mason's class, it was full of history and the smell of that room was amazing, so many years of paint and turps.

Frank Vincent DuMond, Frank Mason and David Leffel all held their classes in this great space, Frank is still teaching in this very studio at age 86.

I loved that full sized plaster cast of Donatello's David that Frank rescued from the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. They were throwing out all these amazing plaster cast! It was the first thing that greeted you when you entered the class, it had seen a lot of abuse over the years, but it was great to paint and draw.
Also in this painting are the cast of Donatello's Dante, and Michelangelo's Day.

Michelangelo's Day

Michelangelo's Day
Oil on wood, 6.5" X 7.5"
NFS

This is a small oil on wood study that I did during my years studying with Frank Mason at the Art Students League in New York.

The painting cracked, I am not sure why this happened but it started doing this a few months after I painted this and it's been stable ever since.

We had a lot of great plaster cast to draw from and paint.
Frank did not teach site sizing, we drew and painted to get the action, proportions, perspective and light effect.

I think if I remember correctly there was something in the order of 10 to 15 casts, the largest was Mercury seen in the interior.

Small Oranges

Small Oranges
Oil on panel, 2007
7" x 5"

Red Tomato

Red Tomato from the garden.
Oil on panel, 2007.
5" x 7"

Landscape sketch

Landscape sketch, Vermont late afternoon, 2007
Oil on linen.
4" x 5"

Vermont storm

Vermont Storm
Oil on Wood.

I reworked this painting recently, the older version is lower down on the site.

Plums

Plums
oil on panel, 5" x 7"

Painted this last week using Spike oil, Canadian balsam, and Stand oil medium.
Which is the best smelling medium I have ever used, smells of lavender and balsam...

Peaches

Peaches, oil on panel
5" x 7 "

I made a few changes, I think it's done.

Late in the Day
Oil on linen, 18" x 26"

I did this yesterday in the afternoon from memory and a sketch.
I was also thinking of George Inness who I have been looking at a lot lately.
I'm still working on it but I like the effect so far.

Aziza

Aziza, charcoal on gray paper
9" x 12"

I did this of one of my students while she was drawing.

life drawing

Life drawing, charcoal pencil on paper
20 minute poses.
11" x 17"

I did these drawing in the life class I teach.
Sometimes I do demos and sometimes
I just draw with the students.

Early evening

Vermont oil sketch #3
Oil on board
9" x 11.3/4"

Vermont oil sketch

Vermont #1
Oil on wood
5"x6"

6 in the morning

Vermont oil sketch #2
Oil on board
8"x10"

Lightbulb

'Light bulb'
Oil on wood
5"x6"

Broken egg

'Broken egg'
Oil on wood, 5"x6"

life drawing

From life 10 minute drawing.
charcoal and conte on gray paper.
9.5" x 12"

pear, half eaten

Pear, half eaten/oil on copper
3.75" X 5.25"

Towards Mount Fuji

Oil on wood work in progress, 8"x10.5"

west cost lemon

Lemon
oil on wood, 4"x5"

Dog Knowledge

Oil on canvas, 4' x 5'

Clementines 1

oil on wood
5" x 4"

Clementines 2

clementines
oil on wood, 5" x 4"

man calling

oil on wood, 12" x 15.5"

Vermont

oil on wood, 8"x12"

marigolds

oil on wood, 10"x7"

landscape 1

oil on wood,13.5x"12"

landscape 2 (Vermont)

vermont storm

landscape 3

vermont field

moon rise

smoking books

dark landscape(homage to david linch)