Art By Tali Landsman

Today we picked up the car that we rented to drive to Denver tomorrow. It was a lovely 67 degree warm and sunny. Tomorrow however, the weather suppose to be in the 30's and snowy. I hope that the I-70 will not be blocked at the passes. We have to make it to our flights. Since we have emptied out the fridge, we ate lunch at the Eagle's Dinner. A large spinach salad with avocado and home made raspberry vinaigrette and a berry -rhubarb pie- Delicious! On the way home I reflected on how much I love living here, surrounded with nature, embraced by the tall seemingly endless mountains. I love this area at all seasons, I love being here among people who fish, hike, bike, camp and ski. It is truly an outdoors wonderland. Today for example, I saw people fishing in the ponds, fly fishermen standing in the middle of the shallow river with their waterproof gear, I saw dozens of bikers cycling up our road and at the same time I know that it is a great ski day in Vail and the Beaver. In the ...

This is our last weekend before our trip to New Zealand. We will be leaving on Monday. I devote the weekend to packing and closing up the house the my studio. I have so many loose ends to tie and finish. One of the things I had to finish it the painting above "Leap Of Faith".

I have seen a DVD on the life and art of Alice Neel. I highly recommend you watch this documentary. She was a wonderful American portrait artist who lived in NYC and made some great painting, depicting the spirit and soul of the people she painted. I cannot put a photo of her art here as it is copy righted, so I put a painting of one of my trees instead.

This is a small corner of a large oil painting I just finished. This week is our last week in Colorado before our trip to New Zealand. I am finishing commission works, taking photos, making sketches, packing art to ship to clients and overall, getting ready. In the studio I am working on the 12 commission pieces of the landscapes of Northern Israel in oils. It is a landscape I know so well. I used to travel in this region at least twice a month when I lived in Israel. But for painting it takes more than "knowing" a region. Painting is collecting symbols that identify an area and its spirit. If my collector wanted a "real" representation of the area, he would have not chosen me to do this commission, or he would have framed some large photographs of the area. I am picking symbols of the area and creating what I think is interesting compositions. I use the olive trees, the sheep, the quaint houses, the tall thin cypress, the large oaks, the green pines, the blossoming...

I had a great day in the studio, making sketches and planning paintings. I listen to Chopin and painted. I also photographed some art to post on my web site. You can see it at: http://talilandsman.com/art42.html

I have been framing the oil paintings on my web site (the ones that are dry), and also packing a painting to ship to a client. Beside this, I have been painting for many hours daily, so today we are off to the mountains to ski. I got into the studio early to put some layers of paint on some painting in progress. We plan to ski in Beaver Creek for the first time this season. We have been skiing in Vail which is a much bigger mountains and therefore, despite the crowds, much less busy on the slops. If we will come home early, I will paint some more.

Today is "Purim" - a Jewish holiday. Purim is often considered the most cheerful and colorful of all the Jewish holidays. Its story takes place in Shushan, the capital city of the Persian Empire, in the 3rd year of King Ahashverosh's reign. The holiday celebrates the Jews' victory over oppression, the failure of Haman's plot against the Jews, which is recounted in great detail in the "Esther Megillah" (The Book of Esther). As always, it is celebrated with a feast. The Feast of Purim, established by Mordecai to commemorate the deliverance from Haman, a day of feasting and gladness. In Israel, as kids we used to built a large bone fire and place a figure of a man symbolizing "Evil Haman" and light it aflame It is similar to the "Burning Man Festival" in the USA. (Just not as grand.) I guess Purim is like "Burning Man", only without the fantastic art, sex, nudity, marijuana and wild people.

Despite the fact that I felt a little woozy today, I spent more than seven hours in the studio painting. Progress is very slow, but I really do not mind it. In fact, I do not even notice it until it gets dark. Only when I shed my oil stained working clothes and get ready to shut all the lights, do I look over what I have done this day. I love these days when it seems like I become one with the process of creating and any signs of my body disappears. I did not feel hungry all day, didn't even visit the bathroom much. This is not to imply that the work was flowing effortlessly. In fact I struggled with an oil piece for most of the day. It is just that the process was so consuming that I dissolved into it.

This weekend I painted, rested, skied and watched a wonderful documentary about an artist living on the streets of Manhattan, called "The Cats Of Mirikitani". I highly recommend that you rent this movie. Here is a little about it: Eighty-year-old Jimmy Mirikitani survived the trauma of WWII internment camps, Hiroshima, and homelessness by creating art. But when 9/11 threatens his life on the New York City streets and a local filmmaker ( Linda Hattendorf) brings him to her home, the two embark on a journey to confront Jimmy's painful past. An intimate exploration of the lingering wounds of war and the healing powers of friendship and art, this documentary won the Audience Award at its premiere in the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

Just when I was grateful for the warm sunny weather, it has changed. I woke up this morning to a snow storm. The sky was dark and milky gray. It had eventually cleared up and the sky had brightened up later in the day. In the studio I continued to work on some of the commissioned pieces. I started the day by working on the tree above and finished the day by working on a new piece from the series of twelve landscape paintings that I am doing for a prominent Florida collector. At first the tree above posed a bit of a challenge for me. I decided to paint the foreground with greens and yellows and to insert patches of colors in light magenta-purple as impressions of flowers. When I was done, it looked flat. So I added some highlights in white and pale yellows. It still looked flat and uninteresting. I added some medium red and deep orange to the flowers and many more tones of green to the grass around the flowers. Later I added some black and dark umber to the spaces between the flowers to...

It is a good thing for me that the weather here in the mountains is so warm. (50's to 60's F) My studio is full of oil paintings now. Some are resting on drying racks to dry, others are on easels, awaiting for me to continue working on them. The smell of oil is overpowering, but because of the warm weather, I keep my windows and door open while I am in the studio. If it was 25 degree Fahrenheit, as it was last winter, I will not be able to do this. I am making progress with the art I am working on. It is so calming to work slow, taking my time to mix colors and to apply layers of texture.

I have just shipped a painting to a client in Boca Raton and packed another painting for a client in California. I plan to ship this painting Tomorrow. Later in the day, I spent hours in the studio working on a commission piece, applying multiple layers of thick oils and building up texture in the sky around the trees. I love all the commission work that I have at hand. I just got another commission of a painting today. It give me a sense of purpose to go into the studio to work on a painting that have a home and a collector waiting for it. It is so much nicer than aimlessly working in the studio. I love the sense of confidence and assurance that it gives me.

I woke up early this morning and after my breakfast, went straight to the studio. I enjoyed reworking some of the hills in an oil painting that I have been working on. I have been using my knife and a wide brush to apply thick layers of oils on a landscape painting. At midday, I took a break from the thick oils and spent a few hours working on the Sketchbook series. I needed to do something different. By the afternoon I was back to the commission piece of the landscape. I like how it is progressing. I am using the knife to apply small globes of paint that create an effect similar to pointillism. Tomorrow both Jules and I have a dentist appointments, so I wanted to get as much work as I could today. The time in the studio had gone by so fast, I only noticed that it was getting late when the light turned dark outside.

It is the weekend and the weather here in the mountains of Colorado, is glorious sunny and mild. Since I spent yesterday painting in the studio, we decided to go skiing today. It is such a luxury to ski in 54 degrees Fahrenheit when it is sunny. I stood there on top of the mountain's ridge, looking around me at the breathtaking scenery. The sky was deep blue, the air so clean and crisp, and the panoramic views stretched out forever, unspoiled, untouched by human hands - it was almost a spiritual experience. Skiing down an empty black run in full speed, is the closest I ever came to flying. Tomorrow I am back to full days in the studio. I just got a notification that I got accepted to Chicago's 57 Street art show this June. It is one of America's best show and a very hard one to get into. I am still waiting to hear from other shows I have applied to do this summer. I have my hands full with commission works and with preparation for the shows. Skiing today in the mountains, r...

This morning I got my art supplies order. Canvases for all the commission work I have at hand, many dozens of large tubes of oil paint, paper palette that I can just peel off at the end of the day and dispose off. Because it did not snow for so long, Jules was able to drive the van to meet the freight driver and collect the shipment. Now I have to count the inventory to make sure I was charged what I actually received. I also framed two painting that I need to ship next week to collectors.

You hear about all sort of scams all the time. The Internet is full of them. Almost daily we get notification of a fake lottery that we "won", Nigerian or Eastern European people ask us to assist them in "transferring" money. etc. Usually I simply click delete and does not give it a second thought. Just before our trip to India I received via regular mail my Colorado Corporate registration form, requesting the annual $150 fee and a detail of the Corporation officers. The deadline was in two weeks, and since our India trip was three weeks long, we filled the form and mailed a check for $150. Yesterday we showed a copy of the form to our accountant and she pointed out that it is a fake letter - a scam, with a fake Colorado State seal and everything. She made us promise not to send any money to Federal of State, without showing it to her first. I was dumbfounded, angry at my carelessness and frustrated at all the scamming people around the world. On our way back, I m...

We are finally back home in Colorado. Our trip to India is behind us with its many adventures. Now we concentrate on the task of adjusting to the mountain time zone and catching up on our correspondences and work. I have already spent some time in the studio yesterday and today, drawing and painting. I have placed a large order of art supplies while in India, expecting to cut back the waiting time for its arrival. Some should arrive tomorrow and the rest should arrive next week. It has not snowed much while we were away and the mountains across my studio, lost their snow dusting.

Some of the people we met in India

We are finally going to India. We will be back on February 24th. 2009 I will try to blog as I can during the trip. Take care all! have fun and peace to all!

This is the new piece in the "Sketchbook" series that I've just started. I like the "leap of faith" that the figure is taking. I will name it "I believe I can soar". I made the upper hand larger than what is proportionate for the body, but this is intentional. Tomorrow, when I will be closing my studio before out trip to India, I will spray the charcoal drawing with fixative. The next step will be to draw the sketchbook grid and keep on working on it.

You probably heard many times before that painting is all about problem solving. It is so very true. "Problems" during the process of painting, is suddenly becoming aware that something just "doesn't work". It may be a form that was drawn incorrectly, a disproportion, a wrong perspective, colors that don't "sit" well together etc. Spending time in front of the canvas and trying to figure what is the best way to fix these issues, can be very rewarding. It is important to pay close attention to every corner and area of the canvas equally. Regardless of how minuscule it is, it is advisable to scan it all with the same scrutiny and attention to details. I had a great day in the studio today, working and reworking on a large painting.

I have been doing a lot of paperwork in the last two days. Applying to shows, galleries and getting together a large order of paints and canvases for a commission that I got. I was commissioned to paint 12 large paintings for an art collector. This will take me some time, especially with my upcoming trip to India and then to New Zealand. But I am excited for the opportunity and my mind is buzzing with ideas that I am itching to put on the canvases.

Today was a short day in the studio. I photographed more art and posted it on my web site and completed the piece showing above. I will name it "I rise". I also finish the painting "A Boy with his toys." I added some swirls and circles of paint. I am in the process of applying to galleries and submitting work to competitions. It is a time consuming process that bring up a lot of self doubts and fear of criticism. But I am planning to be strong and not thin skinned and to take what comes with a level head. It is no use putting your emotions on the butcher block. And if fear paralyzes us, we simply do not move ahead, beside, my art is fabulous!

We are having the most peculiar weather here in Colorado. It has started to rain on Friday and it has been raining on and off all weekend. It is a rarity that it rains in the middle of winter, so high up in the mountains. Usually it simply snows. Instead of skiing, we went swimming yesterday. This is our last week in Colorado before our trip to India. We will be leaving next Sunday and will be exploring Rajasthan for three weeks. I can hardly wait. At times, it feels like I run in a small circle between my studio, my office, the kitchen, shower, up to vail to ski and back on the wheel again. I welcome the change in routine. It will be our first trip to India. I have been intrigued by the country for years, but never took the opportunity to go there. I plan to blog as often as I can and to post images of the trip.

Oh, the delights of dealing with UPS freight.... Yesterday morning I spoke to the UPS Freight truck driver. He promised that he will come by to pick up the large art by the afternoon. Needless to say he did not show up or called. When we called the UPS office early this morning, we were told his truck is full and he has no room for our boxes. He has to drive to Denver to unload. We were promised a pick up tomorrow afternoon. We shall wait and see.

This is the painting from the Sketchbook series that I am currently working on. If you look closely, you can see that I have entered some boxers among the toys. It is so interesting to draw boxing matches. They twist their bodies into interesting positions and they look so painterly with their large shorts, long laced boots and colorful gloves. This painting is still in progress. I have to enter a lot of doodling all around the symbols and toys. Today I am waiting for the UPS Freight truck to come and pick up the large boxes to be shipped to the collector in Florida. We are having trouble getting the Freight company to drive up our road. It is a gravel road, and even though it did no snow for awhile, the semi-trailers do not like our narrow road that snakes around the creek and has only a few spots for them to make a U-turn on. We tried to shovel the snow blocking our van, thinking that we can drive the boxes to the UPS depot, but our van does not have a four wheels drive and it procee...

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and very mild. We drove to the slopes of Vail and had a great time skiing in the sunny day. Today I continued painting the "Sketchbook Series" in the studio. I have been looking at the piece I've started for over a week, contemplating how to proceed with it. Today seemed to be a good day with a lot of fluidity. I added colors to the toys around the central figure, that I only outlined before. I also painted the boxers that I entered in ink before. I only painted their boxer shorts, their gloves and long laced shoes. I left their bodies in black and white. Tomorrow we plan to go skiing again since it is Martin Luther King's day. But I plan to pack a painting for a collector that won my art auction that ended yesterday.

I have painted in the studio all day. I am running out of some oil paints and I plan to take the long weekend off. I have placed a rush order of more oil paints, but it will not arrive before the middle to the end of next week. But I need the break anyway. I find that I am planing paintings in my mind all evening, hours after I left the studio. Even before bed time, I see globs of paints, colors and compositions in my mind's eye. This weekend we intend to go skiing, to lay around on the sofa, read and basically waste time. I am not very good at wasting time any more. I used to be an expert at it, but now I sometimes work for 12 hours a day or more. Granted, it is a creative and invigorating work, but still it is lovely to have a quiet mind with not much ideas or errands to memorize.

It is done! I have finished packing the majority of the art to be shipped to the collector in Florida. On Tuesday the UPS freight truck will be picking up the very large boxes from my studio. Needless to say I did not paint today. I spent the day wrapping, packing, boxing, taping and sticking labels on very large boxes. Tomorrow if we will not go skiing, I will go back to the studio to continue painting. I have primed and brought into the studio more medium size canvases and boards to paint on. For now, I am taking a break from the "Sketchbook Series", to paint the landscapes in thick oils. They will have to dry for a long time, and I want to be ready for the summer art shows. I am not sure about the economy, which is unpredictable, but I want to have a good selection of strong work in case the shows will turned out to be good.

This morning I woke up to a snow storm. At first I felt a bit worried because I was expecting the delivery of my packing supplies. Usually we do not get freight deliveries on very stormy days, but today everything went fine. I started packing the larger art, making sure to prevent any possible damage. In the studio I continued painting in thick oils. It gives me a nice break from the very labor intensive "Sketchbook Series". I also worked on my web site and added more images to the "Landscapes In Oils" section.

I spent the day in the studio painting the series of the landscapes of Israel. It is such a pleasure to play with the thick oils again. It provides me a nice break from the Sketchbook series. I also spent some time photographing the paintings that I had finished.