Provenance - In the Studio

"In the Studio," 30"x30" oil on linen © Brian Kliewer (Available)

I haven't done a "Provenance" post for quite a while (can't believe it's been a year). So I thought I would write about "In the Studio," and its inspiration.

Pepper was a great cat. A Maine Coon Cat, he weighed 20 lbs at full growth. He used to keep me company as I painted, preferring the chair in the window as you see him in this painting. In the painting, it's a foggy sort of day but with the sun burning through. The composition set up naturally with Pepper being "pointed to" by the way the window frame forms its shape around him. I also like the way the power lines outside balance the blackness of the chair and its shadows. Another point worth mentioning is how the hard and sharp angles of the woodwork are balanced by the soft nature of Pepper's fur and shape. I've been extremely pleased with this painting on several fronts. So much so, it hung in my studio for ten years before I ever showed it publicly.

He was a very friendly cat, almost to the point of being obnoxious. One time he got into my studio ahead of me. I didn't realize the door was open and when I arrived, he bolted down the hallway. But he left a trail of red footprints behind. At first I thought he'd cut himself on something but, further investigation revealed he'd gotten into my palette. I wasted no time in tracking him down and cleaning his paws. He was OK, but I worried about him for a time after that, afraid he might have ingested some of the paint.

We had a good relationship. I've mentioned on my site before that he would lead me to the studio each morning. But it went even further than that. We developed a game. One time, I was standing in the doorway half watching TV, and then looking back at Pepper as he was at the other end of the hall. When I looked back toward the TV, and then back at him, he'd be a step closer. Each time I looked away and then back, he would be closer again. I never saw him move. Eventually he traveled the full length of the hall until he was at my feet. Not once did I ever see him take a step. After he'd come the full distance I would pick him up and give him a big hug. This became part of our routine.

His sister, Sissy, was quite a cat herself. She had to fend for herself around him because he always wanted to roughhouse with her.

More proof of just how smart cats can be....

Pepper would often get into chases with Sissy all over the house. He could have killed or badly injured her quite easily, being twice her size. Anyway, one time they were galloping full throttle throughout the house. They both ended up on the living room floor panting heavily. But the chase wasn't over... Soon, Pepper was at it again. By this time, Sissy had had enough. So, as they came running from one end of the house, they both were headed full steam toward the front door. With Pepper on her heels, right at the very last moment, Sissy jumped into the air and pushed off the door with her hind legs as Pepper went smashing into it below her. She had had quite enough at that point and she was going to finish it one way or another. Pepper looked dazed and got up slowly and planted himself on the carpet beside her. That was the end of the chase.

If I hadn't seen this happen, I wouldn't have believed it. This is kind of an example of "tool" use among animals. I guess you could say that this was Sissy's way of showing Pepper the door!

(black frame)

Sissy was a gray Coon Cat. I never did get any paintings done of her. I'm sorry for that. Pepper died in 2002 and Sissy followed in 2003. Both sadly missed and fondly remembered.

Tip - Have a Favorite Artist...?

Do you have a favorite artist? Artists? A favorite website? A favorite person? A favorite place? Enough favorites already...here's a simple tip for keeping up with them online...

Create a Google Alert. From the Google Alerts page... Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:

• monitoring a developing news story
• keeping current on a competitor or industry
• getting the latest on a celebrity or event
• keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams

I have several that I follow. You can keep up with what's happening with ease. I even have one set up for my blog and website so that I can see who's linking to them. For the most accurate results, when setting up your alerts, use quotation marks with the subject you want to keep up on, i.e., "Brian Kliewer." You can even set the frequency of the alerts - as it happens, once a day or once a week. I've had mine set up for over a year now and find the service very useful. Try it.

Ronald Frontin and Me?

"True North" 30"x24" oil on canvas © Brian Kliewer (Sold)

(Click image for high resolution version)

Well, I guess you could say I just received praise of a very high order. I certainly will take it that way. When your work is compared to Ronald Frontin's, I don't know how else to take it. I've been a fan of Ronald's work for years, but I've never attempted to emulate it. I just do what I do. In fact, I don't paint portraits or people that often, so maybe that's why I haven't been as quick to see the similarity. But, I just got dates for my solo show at Mars Hall Gallery later this year...September 12 - October 13 (tentative). Ron's show is going to be earlier. One of the reasons given for my later show dates was, "since your work is so similar, we wanted to do a show in between his and yours." So, how would you take that? Frontin's been the "gold standard" around here. I can only smile. My show title by the way is, "Four Seasons & A Few Nights."

Speaking of Ronald's work... I've always admired how he stuck to his guns and painted what he wanted to paint. That's what got him well deserved attention and sell out shows in NY. I've left galleries in the past feeling like I didn't want to do just touristy scenics. So many galleries in Maine go that route. For me, if it's scenic, it has to be with some sort of an edge. I don't always achieve that but it's what I strive for most of all. I think you'll see that in the coming months. More portraiture/figure work will come as well, I expect. I have always enjoyed that kind of work. But landscapes like "Traceries" (below) will be posted soon.

"Traceries" 30"x48" oil on canvas © Brian Kliewer (Available)

If you would like to see my show from afar, keep watching this blog... It's going to get heavy with updates, be they drawings or paintings, as my show gets closer. Brian

Tip - Saving Your Photos With Specific Titles

(click image for screen capture)

Since Blogger allows images to be posted with their original titles, I've wondered why artists and photographers who blog often don't list their own names with their work. Perhaps it's because they don't know how. Here's how I do it...

Whenever I save an image of one of my paintings to my hard-drive, I save it with my own title rather than allowing the software to write things like "Picture 746." This allows for easy locating later and, it gives me due credit as the producer of the work. In the case above, the original title given by Windows was..."Picture 739." I then saved the original large file as "Starlings." The smaller version used for the blog became, "Starlings_On_A_Wire_oil_on_panel_by_Brian_Kliewer."

In Windows, you can do this by highlighting the image you want to edit and then "right clicking" on it to bring up the Options Menu (below). Scroll down to "Rename" and click on that and make the changes as you wish.


I prefer a descriptive sentence or "Tag" or "By Line." Whatever, a title with my name included is the goal if the image is a painting or drawing that is going to be uploaded to the Web. As I write, I use an "underscore" between_each_word by pressing the "Shift" key. Using this technique allows me to save each jpeg with a descriptive phrase or sentence right in the image title itself.

The benefit of this approach is obvious. Not only can I retrieve images on my computer with ease, but I get a "By Line" with each image as well. This helps with search engines and gives me the credit I deserve as the creator of the image. Oh, yes, I also never see a "File already exists" warning when saving to my computer!

People most likely will be saving images that they like copyright or not. So I say, give yourself some credit! Include YOUR name in the title of your image. Let the world know (and remember) who created (or snapped) it in the first place.

If this tip was helpful, feel free to email it to your family and friends. If you don't see an "Email link," right click on the post title and select "Copy Shortcut." Then paste the link into your email program. : )

Original painting photo in my earlier post.

Speaking of Birds...

"Starlings On A Wire" 61/2" x 16" oil on panel © Brian Kliewer

"Starlings On A Wire" was inspired by an artist I know who paints birds. She came up with an interesting approach to try to represent the iridescence of the feathers. She would mix powdered glass and other sorts of things into her paint to make them sparkle. I tried to capture the look with oils alone.

This was right outside my window. The idea that every painting must be some sort of grand and dramatic scene gets old for me. Sometimes the simplest scene says enough. My original idea involved painting it approximately 6" by 36," and including a roofpeak in the background. I might do more with this at a later date, but I think I would follow this theme more or less as it stands now.

I like this view well enough. So much so, I don't know if I'll ever sell it. Not to say that those I do sell I like less... I just think an artist needs to hang on to some things. This piece is rather personal for me.

Using a Mirror and Flipping the Bird!

Over the years I've had some odd experiences when it comes to painting. I might have mentioned this before but, one time as I was out looking for a scene, I remembered a place that I was holding in the back of my mind. I kept thinking about it and had to check it out. When I arrived, it immediately hit me that the buildup in my head was quite overblown. I remember thinking, "Boy, what a dog this place is...I would never paint that! What was I thinking?!"

So I kept on going... Then I found this scene that was absolutely perfect! It was about 10 miles away from the other location. It had all the elements I was looking for. So I did a painting that was about 36"x48." I really liked the piece, but there was something about the scene that I wasn't sure about. Something kept nagging at me. So, I viewed the painting in a mirror. I was nearly floored when I saw it in reverse. There right in front of me was that same view that I couldn't stand before! It's true...except for a tree or two, it was that same scene that didn't work for me at all earlier. You never know.

Flipping the Bird! (not what you think) I did a painting of some Belted Galloways on a foggy day. The painting looked good enough but there was an empty spot since most of the background was obscured by fog. It finally hit me that maybe a bird would help. So I painted one in. It did work, but...with the fog, the bird didn't look real. It looked pasted on rather than being in the sky. So, without giving much thought to it, I pressed my finger against the bird and lifted it back off again. The idea was to reduce the opacity of the paint so that the bird would appear more "in" the painting than on it. It worked! Then I looked at my finger... I had a nearly perfect image of a Barn Swallow left on it. Sooo... I pressed THAT on another area in the sky and I had an instant swallow! All that was needed was a little touch up. They both looked great.

Save on Shipping Costs

In these days of higher and higher prices, who wouldn't want to save on shipping costs? I'm always looking for good deals. One way I found is to ship my things through Staples at their UPS counter. Locally, it's even more cost effective than shipping at the UPS Store itself.

But here's a website that you might be interested in as well. ShipGooder.com The title is a little odd - the nature of the Internet with websites constantly vying for attention - but you can compare prices of many shippers. Just add your own zip code along with the zip of the package destination and its weight and your off. You'll get a quick price comparison. It's free and requires no account registration. I can't vouch for how accurate the prices are but it has the look and feel of a very useful tool!

Just For Fun - Remember Wacky Packages?

I sure do remember these things. Wacky Packs or Wacky Packages stickers were so hot in my school back in the early 1970s. But who ever would have thought that they'd become real collector's items someday? Not me, but they apparently have. You can find more of them at the Wacky Packages Website. I remember collecting them in school when I was 9 or 10. We'd stick them all over our notebooks and things. I particularly remember the one above for some reason but there are all kinds from the 70s, etc. Reissues are available and, I believe, original sticker sets are also for sale. Here are some of the best.

Now, if I had only saved my Adam 12 Lunch Box... I heard that some of those are going for $500! Anybody got any Pop Rocks?

Addendum

I just saw a report on CNN about collectible comic books. It mentioned that an original Batman comic book that sold for 10 cents in 1939 is now worth $485,000.00! How's that for appreciation in value?! And what's the backbone behind it all? I think we know....this is an art blog. If you're interested, check out Metropolis Collectibles' website.

Word of the Day - Menagerie

Every once in awhile you catch sight of something that is just too good not to share. I just read some of an article on the NY Times website in the Art and Design section with the headline...

Sigh of Relief From the Nervous London Auctions

Interested, I decided to email it to myself for later perusing. The resulting view in my inbox couldn't have been any more fitting...

The "word of the day" was right on target! With the stock market situation as it is, it is a MENAGERIE for a certainty. My opinion, if you like art, buy it because you do like it. Period. The one thing that stood out to me most in the Times' article was this quote..."As is so often the case the results were driven by the quality of the offerings, the estimates, how flush collectors were feeling and tastes and fashions." And, yes, I do subscribe to Dictionary.com's "Word of the Day," but I already knew the meaning of the word Menagerie.

Good art sells. If nothing else does, the good will or else I'll see you there the next time I shop for clothes. We might have company. At any rate, my advice to young artists...paint or create what you feel and do your BEST at it. And do THAT because you like it, too. Along these lines, I enjoyed reading Robert Genn's recent comment on Art In Bad Times.

Who knows...if we meet at Goodwill, you might find a Bill Blass suit there like an old acquaintance of mine did. The pockets were still sewn together....apparently, it had never been worn. He bought it for $8!

Sorry to be so sardonic here but I for one am quite sick and tired of all rancor in the news. More to come probably, but, for me...it's time to paint!

More Snow Tonight - But That's Maine

Well, it's pretty anyway. It's been snowing here for the better part of a week. We haven't gotten a lot because it's mostly been light snow but this is the first time I've seen blue sky for about a week. The weather people say more is on the way for tonight and then again on Tuesday. I think they like saying that. It seems to bring them joy to make people miserable. But I'm being too harsh. Most of the time it does seem that they get as excited as children peering out the school window at the first snow of the season, I must say.

Okay...appetites have been "whetted" long enough. I WILL be posting new work of some kind (not sure just what yet) this week. So that gives me until next Saturday... ; )

BK