Ancient Egyptian Glass Vessel with Aubergine

Ancient Glass Egyptian Vessel with Aubergine from Old Hook Farm. I love the opalescent bloom on this glass that has amazingly lasted centuries. The eggplant may last 15 minutes on the dinner table. Heirloom #15, Egyptian Glass Vessel with Aubergine, 5 x 7", acrylic paint on panel, © Maud Guilfoyle

Fire island, only red wagons and bicycles allowed

My mother and I lived on Fire Island, off Long Island, NY, until I was 3. I knew not to go in the water over my ankles and had incredible freedom wandering up and down the beach by myself. My mother would keep track of me by hearing screams as people discovered the gift of sand crabs I would dig up and present. Fire Island is still a special place, although it has been built up quite a bit since then. The only wheels allowed on the island are red wagons and bicycles. No roads, just boardwalks connecting the sea to the bay and all the houses. People arrive by ferry from Long Island. 
Fire Island, watercolor, 9 x 12", Maud Guilfoyle

Art from the past is like a time capsule

River and Sky, watercolor, 4 x 6", Maud Guilfoyle
Going through a storage locker this morning was like opening a time capsule from my 20's and 30's. I found art, books, journals, clothes and beautiful crafts I collected when doing craft fairs across the country. It was bittersweet to encounter my younger self with impossible dreams and roads not yet taken. This watercolor was done when I accompanied my husband while he was doing archaeology in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. I remember sky, pink mountains and rivers running through the land.

Make art a practice and you will have a treasure that can't be lost or taken away

The thing is, I can't not make art. Even when it is iconvenient, lonely or boring. It is a constant part of how I navigate the world from the time I walk in the morning and look at the sky thinking how I would paint it in watercolor or on canvas, throughout the day. I might notice someone in the market and want to draw them, or, if dinner comes out (I haven't burnt it because I was painting in the next room) I might want to paint the food. If you make it a practice enough to reach a level of mastery there little that matches the thrill when you get something right.
Art Student, watercolor, Maud Guilfoyle.

Blue Feather with Nasturtiums painting

 Blue Jay Feather with Nasturtium Leaves, 5 x 7", acrylic on panel, Maud Guilfoyle

I plant nasturtium seeds because of the beautiful leaves as much as for the flowers.

Bee Balm, Bergamot from my friend's garden

Bee Balm, love the scent of Bergamot, citrusy and fresh. This is from my friend Shannon's garden. Bee Balm, 12 x 9", acrylic on canvas panel, © Maud Guilfoyle

Artists Are Collectors

Autumn Studio detail, watercolor, 30 x 22', © Maud Guilfoyle
Artists are collectors. Their collections might include tiffany glass, birds' nests, sea shells, fruit, books, pretty leaves and whatever catches their eye.

Just having fun with watercolors and moleskine journal

Tomatillo and Rose of Sharon, watercolor, 6 x 9", © Maud Guilfoyle
Love the delicate nuances of color in the petals of the Rose of Sharon Bud and translucent skin of a Tomatillo. The tomatillo was found in Whole Foods, the Rose of Sharon Bud appeared in my path during my morning walk. Some of my best reference material is in sketchbook studies such as this.

Hudson River, Piermont, New York at Sundown

Hudson River Sunset, watercolor, 9 x 6", © Maud Guilfoyle
The light at what Galen Rowell called 'magic hour'. The reflections of the sky and sunset in the water is beautiful.

The Artist's Eye

Night Window Still Life, 8 x 10", acrylic on panel © Maud Guilfoyle

The artist's eye ... you never know what will attract it. Three beautiful objects on this window sill and what caught my attention? the tangle of roots of the hyacinth bulb and the way they held the reflected light.

Hudson River, City of Dreams, plein air oil painting

Painting in Piermont, New York. If you walk down the pier you can see Manhattan in the distance around the Palisades that jut out into the river. Glad I painted this yesterday, today it is supposed to reach 100. With the high temperatures, paint starts to drag.

Draw with whatever you have on hand ...

In the chapter Drawing For Painting, Drawing In Life (August, 2015) I show my first rough sketch of the idea for "Whale Dream". I would like to say how organized I am with my sketchbooks, but truth be told, I have a variety of sketchbooks and journals with different sizes and papers scattered around my house in various bags and on different shelves. And, though I encourage my students to always carry a sketchbook with them, at times I find myself drawing on cafe napkins or in my agenda book.

to draw in life, like a breath

Definition of draw in: to take something such as air into your body. Drawing in Life is part of a collection of images and thoughts I have gathered as an artist and teacher. While drawing, I achieve an elusive state of mindfulness and connection unavailable to me by other means in a busy life. With desire, commitment and time, everyone can draw.
This is the over of my fifth ebook, to be released on kindle August 1, 2015.

Baby rabbit from the Garden

Clover Dreams, acrylic on canvas board, 8 x 10", © Maud Guilfoyle
A friend of mine, Iris Orsini, fosters orphan baby rabbits every summer, helping them become independent. This painting was inspired by her photo on Facebook. 

Heirloom 8, Blue and White China with Daffodils on Artist's Table

Heirloom #8 with daffodils in Blue and White Pitcher, acrylic on panel, 7 x 5".
This is the eighth in a series of paintings with an heirloom. In this case the heirloom is a blue and white porcelain pitcher with daffodils. The table is in the studio and has paint on it from previous paintings.

Portrait in a Still Life

Grandfather's Gloves © Maud Guilfoyle, watercolor, 8 x 8"

Posing for Peregrine

Memory of Dragon Shadows

I am four. My mother and I are hanging paper dragon mobiles from the ceiling that we”ve just finished painting and cutting out. We are in an upstairs room that is Peregrine’s room at my grandparents. I am watching the dragon shadows floating across the walls as the air currents gently move the mobiles. The shadows swell and flow across my mothers art and a series of beautiful Indian miniature paintings. 

Posing for Peregrine © Art by Two

Memories of Posing for my Mother

Peregrine complains that even my eyelashes move! To this day I cannot be still if confined to a small space, whether it be on a car trip, in a plane or camping out in a 'mummy bag'. I have to flex my knees, elbows, roll my neck ...

Memory of Fire Island

Fire Island Path to the Sea by Maud Guilfoyle, acrylic 36 x 48" © Art by Two 

Memory of the Sea

I am two and a half. It is a summer afternoon and my mother is climbing steps, with me on her hip, to the top of a fire lookout tower on Fire Island. When we get to the top, I am drowsy from the heat and soon fall asleep to the sounds of the waves and the scratch of Peregrine's pen on paper as she draws the ocean.

Draw and Paint What is in Season ...

Jar of Violets, 5 x 3.5", ink, © Maud Guilfoyle

Draw what is in season for an endless parade of subjects. while each one may last only a week, something else takes it's place.

Make small color charts to save oil paint

Color chart set up for 5 x 7" oil chart on panel © Artist to Artist Handbook by Maud Guilfoyle

When I begin a color chart everything looks organized and tidy.

by the time I finish (see chart upper right)  only I can see the order. By laying out the dabs of paint at first rather than one square at a time, it saves me time and keeps me on track.

This chart is my greens, I also have charts in reds, blues, flesh tones and violets.  Sometimes I will do a couple of these before working on a large painting. This definitely saves me time and paint.