Eggplant and Brick

Eggplant and Brick

On sale, $50.00 plus shipping

I was intrigued with the smooth shininess of the eggplant and the rough hard surface of the brick.

Oil on canvas board

8" X 10"

$50.00, plus shipping

Leighann Foster, foster3@gvtc.com

Website, www.leighannfoster.com

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Study in Blue

Study in Blue

On sale, $50.00 plus shipping

This is a study of a cup with colored paper used to add reflection, background and space.

Oil on canvas board

8" X 10"

$50.00, plus shipping

Leighann Foster, foster3@gvtc.com

Website, www.leighannfoster.com

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Study of a Radish #2

Study of a Radish #2

On Sale-$50.00 plus shipping

This is another study using transparent, translucent and opaque paint to create space. The foreground and hightlight is the only place where I have used white and thus opaque. The brown background is translucent to help it go back in space. And the radish is also translucent with cast shadows and form shadow areas painted in transparent paint. 

Oil on canvas board

8" X 10"

$50.00, plus shipping

Leighann Foster, foster3@gvtc.com

Website, www.leighannfoster.com

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Website, www.artistswhoteach.org

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Blog, www.leighannfoster.blogspot.com

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Study of a Radish

Study of a Radish

On Sale-$50.00 plus shipping

This is a simple study using transparent, translucent and opaque paint  to create space. I am using transparent paint in the dark areas and the shadows. In the half tones I am using translucent paint and in the lit areas and highlight I am using opaque paint. The only place I have used white is in the lightest area of the foreground and in the highlight on the radish. Other light areas are created by thinning the paint or using a lighter paint.

Oil on canvas board

8" X 10"

$50.00, plus shipping

Leighann Foster, foster3@gvtc.com

Website, www.leighannfoster.com

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Website, www.artistswhoteach.org

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Blog, www.leighannfoster.blogspot.com

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Lucienne Day

Lucienne Day

In this painting I started with the fabric. It is designed by British designer, Lucienne Day and is called Calyx dated 1951. Since sewing patterns are plentiful from the 1950s, it wasn’t difficult to find one suitable for the fabric.

I copied a photograph of Day and cut out one of the pattern pieced in white paper trying to match the curves of the material design and the structure she is leaning on to give the painting flow.

The style of fabric and wallpaper designs in the post WWII years enjoyed the freedom of creating dynamic and stimulating patterns inspired by art, architecture and science. And it was called “Contemporary” style.

The cartoons of Saul Steinberg, paintings of Miro and Klee, and the mobiles of Alexander Calder influenced Day. Her design vocabulary was imaginative, inventive, playful, and colorful and exhibited a high level of artistic awareness.

Oil on canvas board

14" X 11"

$770.00, plus shipping

Leighann Foster, foster3@gvtc.com

Website, www.leighannfoster.com

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Website, www.artistswhoteach.org

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Blog, www.leighannfoster.blogspot.com

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The American Weekly

The American Weekly

My interest in this painting started with a mail order dress pattern I found in an Antique shop, which was originally bought through American Weekly Magazine. The American Weekly was a Sunday newspaper supplement published by the Hearst Corporation from November 1, 1896, until 1966. During the 1890s, publications were inserted into Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. Hearst had the eight-page Women's Home Journal and the 16-page Sunday American Magazine, which later became The American Weekly.

This pattern came from the pattern department of The American Weekly and was bought by a Mrs. Lester who lived in Devine Texas. The pattern was for a little girl named Carolyn, size 4. Mrs. Lester wrote the girls name on the pattern envelope. The pattern pieces are unprinted and it came with sewing instructions.

I tried to date the pattern but there isn’t postage. Apparently undated meters date mail order patterns. This one falls between 1930 and 1950 and costs about one to one and a half cents. It also has a serial number that narrows the date down from1933 to 1940.

Curious to see if I could fine any more clues to date this pattern I looked inside and found Mrs. Lester had used the local newspaper to make a copy of some of the pattern pieces. Because the tissue paper is so fragile, I can understand why she did this. I thought, great, I certainly will find a date on the newspaper pieces, but didn’t. Then I found a most unusual article about a man named Mr. Thorn from Taylor Texas who vowed to stay on his diet of dehydrated cereal grasses as a means of expressing his individual support of the European Aid Plan. I looked this up on Wikipedia and the closest I could find was the Marshal Plan, defined below.

The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was the American program to aid Europe where the United States gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of World War II in order to prevent the spread of Soviet Communism. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1947. The goals of the United States were to rebuild a war-devastated region, remove trade barriers, modernize industry, and make Europe prosperous again.

 

After the aid bill had been passed Mr. Thorn had to taper off his grass diet and increase his daily caloric intake from 200 to 1200 calories. As they say, you can’t make this stuff up.

So the date of the pattern is in the 1940s. After establishing the date, I found some vintage fabric, a ribbon, and old buttons I thought would be appropriate for a little girl’s dress.

Oil on canvas board

14" X 11"

$770.00, plus shipping

Leighann Foster, foster3@gvtc.com

Website, www.leighannfoster.com

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Website, www.artistswhoteach.org

Artists Who Teach

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Blog, www.leighannfoster.blogspot.com

Find drawings and paintings on SALE.

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