Archive for December, 2010
Museum lauds winners of agricultural art show
December 30th, 2010 | 
Author: Winning pieces are among the works on display in the 2010 Art About Agriculture exhibit at the Santa Paula Art Museum. The exhibit, which runs through Feb. 6, features images that reflect issues and ideas related to agriculture.
Published Dec 28, 2010.
Read more: Ventura County Star
Posted in 
Fine Wine Art – How to Paint a Wine Glass
Fine Wine Art has always been a passion for the English born artist Peter Kotka. In this Article Peter shows you the secret of how to construct a picture of a wine glass. You will find all of his tutorials available on his website at www.peterkotka.com which are available to download as PDF files.
Follow these simple instructions to create your perfect wine glass painting in oil.
FIRSTLY DRAW YOUR OUTLINE IMAGE IN A SINGLE COLOUR. I LIKE TO USE BLUE BUT THE COLOUR DOES NOT MATTER.
USING A LIMITED PALETTE OF BURNT SIENNA,ULTRAMARINE BLUE, YELLOW OCHRE AND TITANIUM WHITE ROUGH IN THE COLOURS OF THE GLASS.
STRENGTHEN THE DARKS WITH A STRONGER COLOUR AND CREATE MORE DIMENSION STILL USING YOUR LIMITED PALETTE.
USING A FULL COLOUR PALETTE, PAINT THEGLASS AND BACKGROUND TO CONCLUSION.
A Profile of Peter Kotka
I started painting full time during the 1980’s. I then took time to read about painters and their techniques and was inspired by the landscape paintings of John Constable. Infact, this was time well invested as many years later I copied Constables ?Haywain’ for an American client, half full size.
After some surprising success with a Gallery, and early commissioning of works which sold quickly, successful Exhibitions followed and my professional career had started. I explored different techniques and followed the detailed style such as that of Dutch Landscape painters of the 16th Century, Jacob van Ruysdael in particular. Royal Doulton also requested him to paint a series of designs for collector plates entitled ‘Harvest Home’ and numerous card designs followed for Hallmark and Polytint. I also started undertaking an adult education teaching post with a local College, and the classes proved so popular that I still run local classes to this day. Occasionally, if requested, bespoke ?painting holidays’ are organised for small groups of artists in fine wine areas of England, France and the US.
I decided to find a new challenge and direction and focused on perfecting ?Still Life’ painting specialising in wine, which was also something that I was starting to take a great interest in. I have developed a unique blend of working with both contemporary and traditional styles, colours and techniques, and this gives my paintings an individuality, detail and atmosphere. I don’t try to recreate a photographic style like others in the field. To me, art must be art and creativity even in realism and should envelope each work in a different way and is an exploration of an idea.
In 2004 I was invited to take part in a prestigious Still Life exhibition in California, where I was the bestselling artist in the show. I have continued to paint fine wines in a still life style and have achieved much acclaim and recognition for my work.
Why not visit my website and review my latest blogs along with fine wine updates and the galleries of my current and past works of art.
Originally published here.
Fine Wine Art
High Style: Masterworks from the Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
In 2009, the Brooklyn Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art entered into a groundbreaking long-term partnership to steward Brooklyn’s collection. The objects were transferred to The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan, with Brooklyn maintaining curatorial access. Exhibitions of costumes from the collection will be held at both institutions in early May 2010.