There is an immediacy in pastels….

Steven Gordon

Steven Gordon recently brought in a new pastel landscape for us to scan & proof.  Steven is an extremely talented artist from Yountville, California. He has been working with Skylark Images for over ten years and has partnered with us to print Limited Editions of more than thirty of his paintings.

Steven’s artwork is done in oils, pastels and watercolors. When asked about his creative process Steven said, he used to paint more in oils and was concerned with realism, but when he began working with pastels he realized that he liked the “looseness and freedom” of his sketches.  Steve said, “There is an immediacy in pastels that I find very satisfying… I start from photographs I’ve taken and work on re-framing the lines and composition, so that it moves the viewers eye around the painting.”

"Napa River Red"

After being asked to create “a red painting”, Steven chose this brilliant sunset view toward the Carneros region of South Napa along the Napa River. “I exaggerated the already intense color and pushed it as far to ‘red’ as I thought I could while still keeping the reality of the experience.”

Steven Gordon grew up in his native town of Waukegan, Illinois and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art in 1973. After receiving his Master of Fine Arts Degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1976 he came West to settle in the Napa Valley.

Steven’s works have been exhibited in galleries from San Francisco and the Napa Valley to Los Angeles, Chicago and New York. He currently exhibits his work in his own Yountville gallery, The Gordon Gallery, which is located in the Piazza Quercia complex at 6484 Washington Street across from Villagio Inn and Spa. The gallery is open to the public Thursday through Sunday from 10:30am to 5:30pm.

The Wine Poster Collection….

Gerald Reis is a California designer and artist who has enjoyed a distinguished career in art and design. With a studio in San Francisco for many years, he received numerous awards in national and international design competitions. Over the last thirty years his work has appeared in many international publications. He has exhibited at the Museo Fortuny in Venice, Italy, at the Gallery of the University of Ohio, and was one of four designers featured in San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit: “In the Public Eye.”

Gerald has been printing with Skylark Images a number of few years. Last week he brought in a new original canvas painting to be scanned and printed as part of a collection of Wine Posters created for wine festivals in Anderson Valley and Yorkville Highlands appellations. Each print is reproduced on 100% cotton rag paper.

Gerald studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and has been a member of the design faculty at the California College of Art. He relocated to Mendocino County’s Yorkville Highlands in 2001, where he continues working on projects with international clients and creating art constructions and drawings.

In addition to his work as a graphic artist, Gerald is co-owner in a Bed & Breakfast called Ravenridge in the scenic Yorkville Highlands. These beautiful cottages reflect the elegance and taste that one would expect from someone with Gerald’s design sense.

To view more of Gerald’s art visit his website.

I pushed the button….

Last night, I finally did it…. After many hours, evenings and weekends, I pushed the button to send our first Official Email Newsletter!

Subscribers to our Monthly Email Newsletters will benefit from exclusive savings reminders. They will get acquainted with ways that Skylark Images can better serve and partner with them.  They will hear about other Artists and Photographers using our services and learn about resources that can help them self-publish their art.

If you are able to read the reprint of November 7, 2009 – Vol 1, Issue in this post you have extremely good eyesight! If you can’t read it you may have to wait until it’s archived on our website at the end of the month. But second thought, that will be too late to take advantage of the holiday savings!  If you sign up soon, I will forward you your very own copy.

If you didn’t receive our Email Newsletter this month and don’t want to miss another, click on the image below.

A package for Julie Higgins….

Julie Higgins is an artist currently living on the Mendocino coast. If all goes well with FedEx, she is going to receive a package from Skylark Images tomorrow.

Julie’s vivid pastels have been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums. Many will recognize her art having seen it at The Girl and the Fig Restaurant in Sonoma, California.

Julie regularly orders her Giclée prints on Fine Art Paper and frames them behind glass, but recently had a request for a canvas reproduction.  Because Julie had her image on file at our studio, we were able to print “Garden Paridise” without delay on our new Lyve™ Aqueous Canvas at 22 x 32″ with gallery wrapped mirrored borders on 1 3/4″ stretcher bars.  See more of Julie’s art by visiting her website.

Artist inspired by ancient sculpture….

Kimberly Howland brought a new painting in today for our large format scanning.  The untitled work was done on commission for a local spa.

Kimberly’s art always conveys a sense of sacred mystery. She says that she is inspired by ancient sculpture. This old world quality is carried further by the beautiful varnish finishes on Kimberly’s paintings. The uniquely crackled surfaces are distinctive of all the paintings we have scanned for Kimberly. She is often asked how she creates the distressed finishes. She told me that she never tells, but that part of the process does include leaving her canvases outside exposed to changing temperatures.

Kimberly lives and works in Mendocino county and her gallery is in Yorkville, CA. The gallery is open by appointment, but you can also see more of Kimberly’s art by visiting her website.

Skylark Images has recently added the service of canvas stretching for those who are printing on our new Lyve™ Aqueous Canvas.  We offer custom kiln dry poplar stretcher bars and in-house stretching.  Kimberly recently had us print dark brown or mirrored borders on a number of her canvas giclées to be gallery wrapped on our heavy-duty 1 3/4″ stretcher bars.

Before stretching, we sprayed her prints with two coats of Glamour II water based protective varnish. Kimberly requested our custom satin finish. Because the Lyve™ Canvas is a micro porous substrate the coating actually bonds to the canvas encapsulating the ink. We print with pigmented inks and all our finishes have UV inhibitors for exceptional print longevity.

New paintings by Don Hatfield and Marge Mount….

It was a busy day at Skylark Images, but I managed to convince two of our artists to stop long enough to snap their pictures with my iPhone. We are privileged to work with many fine artists and being with Don or Marge is always fun!

Don Hatfield is best known for his painted beach scenes. His unique impressionistic style has brought him great acclaim in the art community and around the world. Don’s paintings hang in many important private and corporate collections. Don also has a Masters of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.

I became familiar with Don’s work long before I met him, having seen his art advertised in the trade magazine Art Business News.  For years, Don was one of Colville Publishing’s top selling artists. Now Don paints commissions and is self-publishing his art, Giclée printing is a large part of that. Don has been printing with us for a number of years and we have digitized close to one hundred of his paintings.  You can see more of Don Hatfield’s art at his website. Don and his family live in Napa, CA.

Marge Mount also came by Skylark Images to proof her new painting today. She shares my love for dogs and many times brings one of hers to our studio. Marge’s appreciation for the beauty in nature and wildlife is translated to canvas. We have reproduce Marge’s paintings primarily as Canvas Giclée. She usually sets her limited edition quantities at no more than 20 prints each.

Marge did her graduate studies at Stanford in their Fine Art Program. Having been and academic teacher for years, Marge is now concentrating on her art. Marge lives in Sebastopol, CA, but is considering a move to Marin. She assured me today that although she is moving, she has no desire to go elsewhere for her printing.  You can see more of Marge Mount’s art at her website.

The aftermath of ARTrails 2009….

Many of our Artists are breathing a sigh of relief in the wake of two weekends of Sonoma County’s ARTrails Open Studios.  After all the planning and work in preparation leading up to the event, we congratulate those of you who made it another successful year.

The most difficult thing about ARTrails is deciding who’s studios you have time to visit.  Of course, I never get a chance to see everybody.  I have found that I have to pick an area and limit my time in visiting studios that are geographically close to each other.  This year I chose Santa Rosa as my starting point.

One of my visits included the impressive studio of Popi Tyler.  In preparation for ARTrails Popi had Skylark Images reproduce a number of her paintings in multiple quantities and sizes, so she could offer other options for those who could not afford her originals. We printed Popi’s reproductions on Elegance™ Velvet Platinum Edition Fine Art Paper. This is a 310 gsm, Bright White, water-resistant Fine Art Paper made from 100% cotton fiber and is acid free.

After ARTrails, Popi thanked us for our help and said she had received many complements on the excellent quality of the Giclée prints we did for her.

Downtown Santa Rosa, I visited the studio of Artist Susan Greer, who  has been a long time friend of Skylark Images.  Some of Susan’s beautiful landscapes have been reproduced as Giclée prints over the years. I am grateful for her continued enthusiasm for our services. You can see more of Susan’s art by visiting her website.

In the building where Susan has her studio, I had the opportunity to visit with a number of other artists who have studio space in the same building.

One of these Artists was Pat Haley, who has in the last couple years had many of his paintings reproduced as Giclées at Skylark Images. Pat’s art has been printed on both Elegance™ Velvet Platinum Edition Fine Art Paper and our new Lyve™ Aqueous Canvas. I enjoyed seeing some of Pat’s new work, and he assured me that I would see it again soon, when he brings it in to scan and have prints made.

A passion for painting and the best haircut in town….

I saw a long time friend today, Bill Cutler of Cutler’s Gallery in Sebastopol. My visit reminded me of what I want this blog to be about… reflections on community, art, photography, digital imaging, and whatever else…

Bill Cutler is an amazingly talented artist who paints five days a week, while applying the same artistry cutting hair by limited appointment during the week and all day Saturday. When we’re together we talk about life and the art scene while he gives me the best haircut in town. There’s an antique barber’s chair in one corner of the studio (Today, I overheard Bill tell another client that he sat in that same chair for haircut’s when he was a kid), in the opposite corner of the studio there’s an easel with a current work in progress. The studio walls are covered with paintings. Painting is Bill’s passion.

I always feel a great sense of connection to local community and a renewed appreciation for local economy at Culter’s Gallery. I’m not only Bill’s patron, he does business with Skylark Images too. We digitally capture and archive his original paintings. We’ve also had the opportunity of making Limited Edition Canvas Giclée prints for Bill.