Wednesday, December 29, 2010

My Baby Loves Me - Palette Knife Artist Judy Mackey

"My Baby Loves Me"
8 x 6 inches, Oil on Board
Available

Out of the blue there's a knock on the door and a vase of flowers are thrust into my hands as they ask if I'm Judy...Flowers for me!!  No occassion, no special reason, no apologies, no birthdays, just because!  I love just because flowers.  A bright mixture of pink roses and carnations and yellow lillies and green mums!  Surely, my baby loves me!!

If you are interested in this or commissioning me to paint something similar, please EMAIL me. (click on the word email).  Visit my website:  http://www.judymackey.com/

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Pet Portait Commission for Christmas



I was blessed by having a few commissions this Christmas season.  Since I paint in oils, the dry time is a real concern, in order to get the paintings done in time to put in the mail.  I found a product that really help speed the drying of the oil paints.  My friend and fellow artist Nancy Medina got me started with the Archival Mediums and after some experiementations I am in love with the Smooth Gel Medium which comes in a tube.  I mix a little of this into the whites, yellows and reds which takes forever to dry.  I've notieced the Cerulean is another color that takes long to dry.  Another from the Archival line by Chroma is their Fast Drying White Oil Paint.  It really does dry a lot faster than most white.

Do you have a favortie medium?  Let me know what works for you.

In the spirit of Christmas, here is a sweet Christmas story I received via email, enjoy:


Great Gift Becomes a Classic-----The True story of Rudolph




A man named Bob May, depressed and broken-hearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night. His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bob's wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer. Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?"

Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob. Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in.


Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums. Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.


Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined to make one - a storybook! Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling. Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form.


The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day.


But the story doesn't end there. The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book.


In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter.


But the story doesn't end there either. Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore , it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas."


The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.

* MERRY CHRISTMAS! *




Wednesday, December 8, 2010

A Square Vase of White Flowers

"White Flowers 2"
6 x 6 inches, Oil on board

I'd painted this subject and in these similar colors earlier this year and  it sold.  You might have seen me post it here or on my website.  But the painting caught the eye of a Photographer friend in Massachusetts so I painted him this one for him.  I've painted several like this in different color schemes and probably will paint more.  I love grays; love mixing them and seeing the various colors of gray.

I'll be posting another painting, very similar to this in the near future - it is a bit more abstract.  

If you'd like a painting like this please visit my website at www.judymackey.com for more paintings and contact information.

Contemporary Palette Knife Artist, Judy Mackey