Tina Corbett Pet Portraits and Fine Art, Includes Landscapes and Still Lifes.

If you build it they will come.......

2012-01-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

You can see the bird on the roof and the bird to the left of the house in the tree.


One bird was already in the house and here goes another one! They were all over!

Just like the movie "Field of Dreams", except I didn't build this, I bought this birdhouse over a year ago, painted it like a country tudor house and had my husband put it outside and the birds have finally come! I bought it from my friend, Bonnie, at her beautiful store in Alachua, The Garden Galery. My husband complained because it was "too nice" to put outside and he didn't feel like building the pedestal. Well look at it now, there is a Bluebird orgy in the house!!! Soon I may have little Bluebirds nesting in my house. Of course, negative Nancy, my husband, says now there will be bird poop on the cars. I am excited. This is what happens when you live in the country, you learn to take the time to enjoy the lovely things around you!

Happy New Year! 2012 here we come!

2011-12-31T07:46:00.000-08:00

Check out beautiful Scooby, posing for another pet portrait!

Hope your holidays were wonderful and blessed. Mine were, had a great Christmas with my husband, kids, dogs and my fabulous grandgirls! For Christmas, my husband bought me Pro Panels for my art display tent for future festivals. Now I can have a truly professional look at the art shows. They are extremely light, which I was surprised. That makes it so much easier to set up.

I did get accepted to the 2012 Winter Fine Arts Show at Tioga again this year, so looking forward to that event. It is the weekend of Feb.34-26, in the town of Tiogo in Newberry. If you remember this past fall I painted three small 6" x 6" paintings for the fundraiser at the new Doris Art & Cultural Center in Gainesville. They sold them for $25 a piece and all three of mine were sold in the first 5 minutes. That was very flattering for me. It was really fun to paint them. I paint them on the wide art boxes that can either hang or sit on a dresser. Those canvases are so versitile. I plan to paint several of them this year all priced under $50 and will be ready for Tiogo. They make great gifts and you can put them anywhere, even if you don't have anywhere to hang any more art. Keep checking out my blog for updates on that work.

As I did 3 years ago I plan to use 2012 to improve my art with several workshops and studies to continually improve my craft. I love old world style of painting and constantly am striving to imitate the style.

Check out my art at the High Springs Art Coop, main street High Springs!

Bullwinkle chillin by the Christmas tree.

So stay safe this weekend and have a wonderful Happy New Year!

Lobster Season

2011-11-13T17:56:00.000-08:00

Worked at the Coop today. I plan on entering this pic in a Gainesville Fine Arts Association competion this week. I figured I would enter "Woman in a White Dress", "When We were Young II" , and this one, "Lobster Season".

Saturday I went to the big Gainesville Downtown Art Festival with my friend. We had a great time, there was some really nice art and yummy junk food. The weather was fabulous. I bought an adorable framed Giclee of a water color Giraffe for granddaugher's birthday. Hopefully my daughter will hang it in her room!

Plein Aire Paint out in Gainesville

2011-10-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

Recently I was invited to participate in my very first Plein Aire event. Yesterday we painting around 5th avenue in Gainesville. An older area slated for renovation the neighborhood is mostly African American. It if filled with history and hidden treasures of lovely cracker style homes and interesting architecture. I have never had so much fun painting. All the other artists were so warm and welcoming to me the new comer. My friends Sue and Tim are veteran Plein Aire Artists and invited me to join their group but with Post Office obligations time does not allow it for now.

Here you can see my first painting. I was able to finish it in 2 1/2 hours a first for me. It is Fletchers's Bar. I choose that place because of an old friend, Charlie, who used to tell us of his funny stories of his escapades in that bar. While I was painting outside lots of the local people and the owner came around to talk with me and loved my painting.

Then second picture is of an old fire station, then Health Dept. building and now the Willimena Johnson's Art Cultural Center. It is a fabulous building but as I started painting it, I realized it was quite the challenge with all it's architectural aspects. It is definitely more work that a few hours so I took it home to finish it. We have until Monday to hang it at Central Office Product's Gallery off of 6th Street in Gainesville. It was such a beautiful day, I can't wait to do it again!

I have not posted in awhile because I have been so busy. Three weeks ago I exhibited at Thornebrook Art Festival. It has taken me this long to mention it because although it was a lovely festival it wasn't very profitable for most of us artists. They had moved it up 2 weeks into September and it was soooo hot I thought I would pass out. My booth was in a great center location but in the full sun. It was exhausting.

Getting it done!

2011-08-27T12:31:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law has been staying at our house for a few weeks and during that time I lose my little studio. I had set up my son's empty room into an art studio since he went to college by moving stuff around and putting a large sheet over the carpet. It is a small space but it works for my easel, table and supplies. Plus the lighting is not too bad and I have a huge TV in there. Whenever we have guests it becomes a guest room and I pull my art stuff out. So recently I have actually set up my easil in my kitchen. I have been painting almost every day after dinner and after I clean up my kitchen for about 2 hours. Surprisingly I have gotten stuff done. I finished one 6"x6" , the Elephant, and started another one for The Doris Center fundraiser, finished a small but fun, painting of Ginnie Springs, and the Paris Street scene I started awhile ago. Both are pictured below.

The week before I also did a day at my friend, Bonnie's beautiful store, The Garden Gallery on Alachua's main street. I painted live and she set up a great display of my stuff. It was fun to spend the day with Bonnie. She is featuring a different artist every week that sells art at her store.

Figurative Art for Thornebrook Art Festival and a 6"x6" for the Doris Center

2011-08-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

These are the newest work I started at the Coop. The first one is of Heather and her childhood best friend, Courtney. They are hanging out at a sports day event at school. If you remember and want to check it out on my website, www.tinacorbett.com I did another one of the two girls at Fisheating Creek.

The second painting brings back warm and fuzzy memories. It is a pic of my husband, Jay, in the white shirt and our good friend, Scott, in the red shirt. They were cleaning lobster that they caught on one of our many family trips to Key Largo and Moon Bay Resort. Those were wonderful times of beautiful weather, great friends and family times. It usually included several families with all their kids. We all loved those days. My kids adore those memories. Great eats were had too.

The last painting of the Elephant is actually almost done. This October 22, there will be a fundraiser at the new to open , Doris Cultural Center in downtown Gainesville. It is an event where all the art will be 6"x6" and sell for $25. Many artists and others are participating in this and it will be a great event. I will post more about it in the future.

One done...One started!

2011-08-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

Last week was a very productive day at the gallery. I finished my Girl in a White Dress. The photo is not the greatest, I will have to get Carl my photographer to take some good shots of her. She will make a good partner next to the Girl in the Pink Dress at Thornebrook Art Festival next month. I have lots to do the show is only 6 weeks away. I started 3 other paintings. One is above a large pic of my husband and our good long time friend, Scott. They were cleaning lobster in Key Largo on one of our yearly family vacations in the Keys. We always had so much fun and ate lots of great fish. We all have so many memories of those great times with our best friends and all the kids.

I need to get back to work!!! Painting that is.

2011-07-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was spent at the springs with the family. The grandgirls and all the my kids came up and my cousin came from up north. We had a great time. Little Isabella was like a fish in the water at Blue Springs swimming all over that cool spring water. The adults couldn't handle the cold water.

Baby Addison just grew so much she is 2 months old already and showing lots of personality. Smiling a beautiful smile. She is so different from Bella, dark hair and blue eyes. A little Elizabeth Taylor!

Monday after most of the kids went home, my best cousin, girlfriend and I went to the Historic Hippodrome Theater in Gainesville for the 60's style play, Suds. It was so entertaining. It was fun to hear all those fun 60's songs.

The last time I was at the coop was two weeks ago. I hung the two pics of French alleyway and this one the mime in France, I now call "Andre". You can see them on my website, www.tinacorbett.com

I also worked on the "Girl in a White Dress" She is almost done. Her face needs work and her dress needs more contrasting values. The chair is also weird. I need to fix that. The original chair is clear acrylic and when I made it red the top part need to be filled in and not a clear hole. I will fix it this weekend. I need to work!

Progression of a Painting

2011-06-26T19:32:00.000-07:00

This was a fun painting to do. I enhanced many warm colors and played with the shadows in the side street. This pic was taken by my brother-in-law, Russell, while he was traveling through Europe last year. It is a small medieval town in the mountains above Monaco, called Roguebroune,
France. It is framed and hanging at the High Springs Art Coop and available on my website, www.tinacorbett.com.

Exercising with the Boys!

2011-06-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I have posted stories of the boys, Rocky, Bullwinkle and Scooby. They have been so bored. Involvement with the High Springs Art Coop. working at the Post Office and taking time off to be with family left the boys home and alone. So recently I started a walking regiment with them. Even thought the heat is almost unbearable . I usually walk Rocky and Bullwinkle first and then Scooby. Scooby goes without a lease because he is so good he hangs with me and doesn't run off. We walk from the house, around the horse pasture and then back, one time around for each dog. A pretty good work out for me.

Here is Bullinkle and Rocky as we start out.

Then Scooby, checking out the Pines and then coming to a finish. One day I walked Bullwinkle past some neighboring horses. I don't bring Scooby over there because he gets too radical towards the horses. These horses are beautiful.

Progress at the Gallery

2011-06-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today customers were waiting for me at the door of the High Springs Art Coop, to open at 11am. I sold one of these huge bells made out of recycled diving tanks. People love them and they have a fabulous sound. I often thought of getting one to call the dogs in from outside. They have a cool vibrating gong. There was a very nice woman in their group from an art coop in New Smyrna Beach and we compared notes and had a great conversation. So I didn't start painting until way after lunch.

I worked on the street scene of Italy, that my brother-in-law took the picture of, and the Paris Mime from Karen LeMonnjer's trip to France. I actually just finished the Italy pic when I got home but don't have a recent pic. I will take the finished pic and then put all the pics up to show the progression of that painting. It was a productive day. I am trying to get a few new pieces up at the gallery so I can move some of my local stuff to the FireHouse Gallery in Newberry. They want some fresh stuff. I will keep you posted on whats there.

Beautiful Savannah!

2011-05-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of weeks I have been everywhere. Down to South Florida with the grandgirls and up to Savannah GA. with my husband to a lovely Bed and Breakfast. Let me say first that the food was phennominal in Savannah. Lots of great restautants. A favorite was Mrs. Wilkes, which is a family owned restaurant in the basement of their old boarding house. You have to wait in line and it is only open from 11am until 2pm. It is an old fashioned family dinner where you sit with strangers and share about 20 or more sides and then unlimited country fried chicken. It costs only $16 per person and more than worth the wait. We were going to checkout Paula Dean's place but her wait was much longer and our hosts at the B&B said her restaurant was good but Mrs. Wilkes was better.
I managed to take lots of fabulous pics for possible future paintings. I posted a few. The weather was super with cool nights and comfortable days. My son said it was the same way here at home, we are only 3 hours from Savannah. I guess that was the last of the cool temperatures.
Yesterday I spent the day at the High Springs Art Coop and managed to start and work on a several paintings. I started two, one of a street scene in Paris and one a street scene in Italy. Both pics were taken by vacationing family and friends. I also worked on the other Paris pic of the mime I started a few weeks ago. I guess this can be my Europe series. I love so many things to paint and some people tell me I should focus on one subject but that is so boring. Switching around to whatever inspires me makes life colorful. Look at the older Masters and their subjects they were always painting scenery, flowers and people so, hey I can too!!!

Painting a Mural for Addison, my new granddaughter!

2011-05-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had a great time, Sunday, was Mother's Day and I spent it will all the women in our family. My mom, mother-in-law, daughter, and two granddaughters. Addison is only two weeks old and I had to paint a mural for her room. I did one last year for Isabella if some of you remember I did a huge giraffe and tree with hearts. So this mural has a blonde monkey, Bella, and a brunette, monkey, Addison. The middle monkey is a boy monkey, maybe the future....

Around the World ... to Paris!

2011-05-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

A fellow artist at the coop went to Paris with her husband last year and took some great shots while she was there. She is letting me paint two of her pics and this is one of my favorite. She had a great time with a street mime, shown here. I am pretty pumped to be painting him. This will be part of my figurative paintings. Sometimes I am all over the place with my painting subjects but I just paint what I love. Florida, Dogs, New York and now Paris. When I was a kid I dreamed of living in a one room flat in Paris, drinking coffee at a local cafe and being a bum artist. I never wanted riches just the life style of the struggling artist. Now that I am close to retirement from the US Postal Service, I am glad I will have a pension as a struggling artist. I like to eat, Ha! Ha! Watch the progression of this painting and next week I will post more of the Girl in a White Dress!

2011-04-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

The Cracker Horses of Alachua are done. I finished it today at the High Springs Art Coop. It was a slow day for business unfortunately so I got a lot of painting accomplished. The picture I took is not so great. I will get a more professional one taken for my website by Carl, a fellow artist and photographer.

I also did some work on my newest painting, Girl in a White Dress. I am doing it the same size as Girl in a Pink Dress which is on my website. I am keeping the palette towards a black and white theme to be part of our November Black and White Party at the Coop. I am also creating pieces to enter into future competitions and to continually work on improving on my figurative work. I decided to add the red sofa seat to give the painting a unique contrast.

Florida Cracker Horses

2011-04-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was Pioneer Days in High Springs and lots of people flowed into the Coop. I did manage to work on the horse painting although I has many customers. The painting received a lot of attention and one lady in particular had interesting info on Cracker horses. She told us they were originally introduced by the Spanish. It was voted to be Florida's official state horse in 2008. The horse has an interesting history and at one point with the emergence of the quarter horse became quite rare almost extinct.
I found this website where you can learn all about the Florida Cracker horse, http://www.floridacrackerhorses.com/history.htm "Florida cowmen were nicknamed "Crackers" because of the sound made by their cow whip cracking the air. This name was also given to the small agile Spanish Horse essential for working Spanish cattle...."
My two horses that I found in Alachua, are really unique looking. The white one almost has a fantasy look to him. He reminds me of a unicorn from some fantasy movie. He is so different. It's been pretty cool to paint him and they are almost done.

New works in progress

2011-03-30T05:53:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I finally started some new stuff. The "Girl in a White Dress" is my second endeavor of this type. If you remember I did the "Girl in a Pink Dress" on my website, www.tinacorbett.com. This is just the basic layer of the oil painting.
The other painting is again in honor of "Pioneer Days" festival in High Springs this coming weekend, April 2 and 3, located in the sinkhole in the center of High Springs. I took some pics on my way from The Firehouse Art Gallery in Newberry. I had just dropped off some paintings when I saw these cracker horses grazing alongside County Road 235 in a pasture. I pulled over and took a lot of pictures of them as they posed for me like movie stars. They loved the attention. I am using a winter palette since this pic was this past winter. Both these paintings will have a mostly black and white theme. I want to do these because we are planning an Annual High Springs Art Coop later in the year and the theme will be "Black and White" Art. Below is the original pic. Remember both paintings are just the initial layer of paint and both need a lot more work. I will post new pics as I progress with there work.

Catching Up!

2011-03-23T06:02:00.000-07:00

Life is so crazy, since the art show in February. I have been down to South Florida twice. My mom had major surgery and then had a set back. Plus I attended a really great wedding. So I haven't had time to post the finished paintings I have done. I called the first one "Her Father's Violin", a commission work for my friend Susan, who's son's wedding I attended. She loved it. Her father died tragically in a car accident years ago. This violin was his and he was a professional musician in a Miami Orchestra.

The last two paintings are of "Grady House" a lovely Bed and Breakfast in High Springs. It is a miniature, 5"x7". The other is a group of canoes at Blue Springs. I took that pic at the springs, last year when my daughter, cousin, and granddaughter were swimming and enjoying a hot day. Both paintings are for sale now at the High Springs Art Coop gallery in High Springs or on my web site, www.tinacorbett.com.

Wow what a day at the art fair!

2011-02-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

The fair started last night with a super jazz band which played most of the evening. There was this painter who painted portraits of famous rockers. While their song was playing he finished the painting, in about 5 minutes. Pictured here where he was painting Jimi Hendrix. So cool to watch.

With the super weather it made for a great artsy atmosphere. I love my spot right next to the main circle and with great booth neighbors on both sides, Mike and Marvi Segal on one side and Steve Huss on the other. Pictured here is Mike's booth with his wonderful folk art of subjects you would love. The Segals are always great fun. They share their wise art fair advice but I expecially want to share their special song, called the be back song. I love it!.......

"Got Them Be Back Blues" (To the tune of Be Bop A Loola)

Chorus -
Be back a loola, I want that painting
Be back a loola, I don't mean maybe
Be back a loola, I got them be back blues

Stanza -
Well - who's those folks with the matching blue jeans
They want my painting and they offer me beans
I say OK and don't make a fuss
Then they tell me they left their checkbook in the buss

Chorus -
Stanza -

Been here all day and ain't sold a thing.
Suns going down, mosquitos startin to sting
Then a high falootin' art dealer starts to holler
I'll buy all your stuff for ten cents on the dollar.

Chorus

Super funny when Marvi and Mike sing it.

Also seen here are a few samples on my miniature paintings. I just finished the two on hard board, Melrose Bay and a hayfield in Alachua.

Pics of my booth, I sold the "Wild Tulips" painting on the bottom left. A great couple from Alachua bought it. I was so excited to meet them. They bought from me before at the High Springs Art Coop. Another artist sold a small hayfield pic for me but never got their personal info so I couldn't keep in touch with them and thank them. So now I will have their address. It seems most of my patrons come out of my home town area. Can't wait until tomorrow!

Getting ready for 2011 Winter Fine Art Fair@Tioga

2011-02-17T06:46:00.000-08:00

Friday evening, 5pm-10pm with wine tasting and jazz music.

Saturday thru Sunday, 10am- 5pm.

With 70 different artists, food, music and kids activities.

Tioga Town Center, 105 SW 128 Ave, Newberry, FL (west of I-75 off Newberry Road)

As usual I wait until the last minute to get ready for these big festivals. Trying to get my newsletter out on my website is always a challenge. It is not an easy program so I may have to look around this year for a better set up for my Website and newsletter. I am almost finished with the High Springs Canoe pic below. I have some very small works in process, too. Then of course there is my physical post cards that should be coming in the mail today. I hope to have them mailed out this weekend.

Recently I have been invited to participate in a new startup gallery in the town of Newberry. Located south of High Springs and west of Gainesville, this town is getting ready to explode with families attending future sporting events at their new baseball training complex and their archery facilities. They expect hundreds of people in the next 6 months.
Newberry's Main Street Program is working hard to establish a great little tourist stop for all those future visitors. They have renovated the old firehouse and are about to open the new Firehouse Art Gallery. I have one oil painting of the raccoons, "The Three Stooges" in the gallery, but have not put any more paintings there since they are all hanging at the High Spring Coop. I do have some new interesting pictures instead to put there that are a completely different medium I am experimenting with. I took many of my reference photos for my paintings, converted them into Black and White photographs, double matted and framed them. The ones I choose for the gallery are all local scenery from Alachua to Payne's Prairie and under $50. It will be interesting to see how they do. The show's reception with be this Friday evening, Feb. 18, 6-9pm. I will be there a little late but it will be fun and exciting to get in on the beginning stages of a new art location. Here are a few samples of the photos I am showing at the gallery. The originals do not have any dates on them.

Touching Base with the local scenery

2011-01-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

It is a new year and with my commission Portraits almost completed, it is time to start new work. I have been out of it too long. I need something to pump me up and excite me. So I looked into my photo library for a cool pic to paint. I have been itching to paint more boats when I came upon my pic of Blue Springs. I took it while my family and I were swimming at the springs. It is a row of red canoes that just draws you in. I love the color of red, I would put it in every painting. I started this painting before the holidays and it is almost finished. It is a small painting and I plan on more of the same to make original art more affordable. The other factor is to paint more of the local scenery for sale at the High Springs Art Coop. Many gallery visitors are always looking for paintings and objects of the local area.

You may have noticed that I keep working on improving Robert's mom and dad portraits. But I plan on framing and wiring them this weekend and giving Robert the paintings. New projects are awaiting my attention, such as several workshop painting DVDs I want to work on. They should be very exciting since they show you how to paint in the style of the old master artists. I can't wait to share that with you.

Another painting I started before the holidays is almost completed. The violin painting for my best friend, Susan. She took the pic of her dad's violin and I am painting it for her as a gift for her retirement from the postal service. I am not sure I am happy the blue curtains behind it and may change that. I will post the finished paintings hopefully very soon.

"Bring in the New Year" Sale

2011-01-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all my friends! The holidays were a whirlwind of family, food and work at the Post Office but now it's time to get back to art. I finished the commission of "Murphy" and sent it to my daughter's friend for a Christmas present to her husband. They were very happy with it and I was very happy to paint it. I think I will use it for my holiday cards next year. The funny thing happened though. I mailed it to her Express Mail to make sure she received it before Christmas but the last thing she was interested in was the painting. When I called her to let her know it was in the mail she had just had a baby two hours before I called! What a shock, I was one of the first people to talk with her after her delivery!!!

I decided this year, sometime soon, to take a couple of days off from the Post Office to dedicate time to study. I had bought a couple of art workshop dvd's that I would like to work on, non stop and without distraction. I will set up my time as if I left town for a workshop and do nothing else. This will allow me to develop and create new and exciting new work this year. So, I have put several paintings on Sale to get ready for new work thus my....

"Bring in the New Year" Sale to get ready for new art. Seven paintings have been put on sale most with as much as $20 off and one with $35 off. They can be viewed on my website, www.tinacorbett.com, by clicking on the names below, and are located at the High Springs Art Coop. The paintings on sale are;

Forest Serenity - $155
Dream Path - $155
Sunset on Fire - $355
Blue Springs I - $145
Blue Springs II - $480
Butterly in Wildflowers - $300
El Color De South Beach - $750

Come see me at the Coop this Sunday. I will share free hot coffee with you and good conversation, High Springs Art Coop, 115 North Main Street High Springs, FL 32643.
Also, tomorrow night is out "Artist of the Month" reception, 6-9pm, with free wine and cheese. Come check out the superb watercolor work of the Colored Pencil Society of America - Gainesville Chapter.

Christmas is right around the corner!

2010-12-16T19:07:00.000-08:00

Time just seems to get away from me. This is always the craziest time of year for me. Working full time at the US Postal Service takes over my life. Mail is overwhelming, and my family comes and stays at my house several days and weeks starting with Thanksgiving. This year we had 6 dogs at the house, my 3, Bullwinkle, Rocky and Scooby, my daughters' s two, Louie and Zoe, and my son's new puppy, Moto, 8 months old. Baby, great grandma's, kids and dogs it was a zoo at my house. To say the least I am blessed by a household of family! After Thanksgiving, I attended my granddaughter's first birthday, ALREADY! The year went by so fast and even attended my first Hanukkah dinner at my daughter's in-laws house. It was really fun and the food scrumptious!

Through all this I have gotten behind on my artist committments. One is this pet portrait of Murphy. It is about 90% done and I will finish it at the gallery this Sunday. Here I show the original photo given to me and then the almost finished painting.

Murphy was the beloved dog of my daughter's friend. This is a gift to her husband for Christmas. Of course Christmas is only 9 days away! I will also have to work on Robert's mom portrait. His dad pic is done except for one correction I have to make to his chin. I will post all the finished pics next week.

Next year I think I will dedicate some more time to the study of painting. I have several dvd's to work on that are workshops in painting figurative and portrait painting like the old masters. I also would like to devote more time to drawing and the study of anatomy. I have purchased some good books by artists on anatomy. The more you study your craft the more accurate and easier your art becomes. Life is a continuing learning process. I wish to improve my art and expand the way I paint. The more I understand others painting technique the better I can become. Everyone can teach you something different.

I have also been in charge of the High Spring Art Coop blog so some of the latest things happening with the coop gallery can be read there. I was voted in as chairman for next year. so that will keep me very busy.

Check out the Art Coop, 115 North Main Street, High Springs, FL, if you are in town. I am usually at the coop on Sunday afternoons and serving hot coffee! I hope your holidays are shaping up well. Stop by the gallery and see some of the wonderful art. There are so many great things there in all price brackets no matter what your holiday budget is. I made some hand made ornaments with prints of some of my Florida paintings.

Until the next time we talk, Have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

Chair art and Commissions

2010-10-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

It has been so crazy since Thornebrook Art Festival. The festival was great, I sold two paintings and other small stuff. "On the Way Home" sold to a lovely couple from Gainesville. You can see that painting on my website, www.tinacorbett.com . So the shows sales are improving and it looks like the ecomony is on the way up, finally. I saw more people buying art than other shows in the past few years. The weather was breathtaking here in Northern Florida and it looks like fall season is beginning. I am now working on two commissions and a charity fund raiser.

The second portrait commission from my friend Robert is in progress, I am painting his mother. The photo he gave me is very old and I have to improvise on the skin color for his mom. I have to draw on my personal family history. Robert is hispanic and so his mother looks as if her skin color is a light olive tone. You can follow along with the progress on this painting. It is only in the first phase of painting.

I am also working on doing the Melrose Palm tree again. I sold the one at the Coop and now I have a customer who wants to buy that painting from Vero Beach and I am painting it again you can view the other painting sold on my website also.

The fund raiser is from the town of Newberry, which is down the road, south of High Springs. They are trying to build their Main Street program and have gotten local businesses to sponsor artists to paint old chairs to be auctioned off to raise money for their program. Several of us, coop artists are participating.

My chair is a "Country Harvest" theme. Check it out!

Getting ready for the Art Festival at Thornebrook

2010-09-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

Don't have a lot of time but friends wanted to see the progress of the last two paintings. Both were finished tonight but I don't have any updated photos. These photos were taken a week ago and much improvement has been done to both paintings.

The first is the large painting, " Needle in a Haystack" and the other is the picture our friend, Michelle took in Key Largo, Florida of a friendly Egret, they called him, "Artoneous", so that is the name of the painting too.

2010-09-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

I photographed the portrait commission I call "Robert's Dad" the colors online are not as accurate as they actually look. I am not sure I like the background it has been changed so many times. I am going to show it to Robert and see what he thinks. I was going to add a subtle American flag draping downward in the background. I will talk with Robert and then decide.
I am also ready to place my Central Park picture I named "Crossing in the Park" on my website for sale.

Things are coming together for the Thornebrook Art Festival on Oct. 1,2, and 3. I will post the pics of Florida Keys bird and the over sized Haystack during the week. Spending the day at the High Springs Art CoOp I got a lot of painting done and met some very nice customers. The end of the day let loose with a deluge of rain so I couldn't take pics of the work I was doing. I will go back there during the week with my camera.

More A Dog's Life pics

2010-09-10T06:24:00.000-07:00

Scooby and Bullwinkle taking life easy.
Getting ready for the festival at Thornebrook, Oct 1,2 and 3. I finished "Crossing at the Park", the pic of Central Park and "When we were young" the pic of Heather and Courtney. There is still so much to do. Prints and labels, I already ordered more business cards and framed all the paintings done except for the park pic, but I just ordered a frame from ASW, Art Supply Warehouse. They have the best prices. If you need art supplies check them out they are great. One price for shipping and they arrive very quickly!

I haven't posted the portrait I have been doing because I am unhappy with the background I will post all the new pics next week. So I started a big haystack pic and this one from the Florida Keys. My friend Michelle took this picture while vacationing in Key Largo. I loved it and so here is the beginning layout. More soon!

A Dog's Life

2010-08-28T10:06:00.001-07:00

Everyone should have a dog's life. At least my dogs. Bullwinkle's usual position on my leather couch! I had to post this pic of him. He looks so relaxed. I will take all the boys for a walk later and will try to put up more pics of the boys, Rocky, Bullwinkle and Scooby. They are so blessed. Yesterday we saw this dog in front of the house he was sooo sad. He was severely skinny and his hind leg was tucked under him as if broken. He hobbled into the woods. I tried to coax him to come to me with food but he looked back at me and continued on. He looked about medium size and maybe had Pit Bull in him. I would have been careful in case he was aggressive but I was hoping he would come and eat. If I got him into the back yard I would have tried to get a Pit Bull rescue group to take him. Lord knows I don't need another dog but I wish I could have helped him. He disappeared and his sad eyes are emblazoned in my memory forever.

Painting update; I am just about finished the The Bridge pic of Central Park in New York City. I am really enjoying painting this one. It is very big for me but I like the values. I gravitate to warm colors. You can compare the progress with the previous posts.

Getting work done!

2010-08-15T19:07:00.001-07:00

Another great day at the High Springs Art CoOp. Customers were a little scarce perhaps because summer in winding down and people are preparing for school next week. Not too many strollers and shoppers in High Springs today. August has been slow and the record high temperatures may be the cause. Although I heard our "Artist of the Month" reception at the coop, two weeks ago was a great success with about 200 people. I was down south visiting my granddaughter.

I got lots of painting done as you can see if you compare the pics of these two paintings from last week to this week. The Central Park picture is coming along nicely and I think I will call it "The Bridge." Unless someone can comment with a better name. Give me a suggestion and if I pic it I will send you a notecard, free by mail!

The other painting of fisheating Creek is giving me a bit of trouble on the tiny faces of Heather and Courtney. I will let it dry some and then work on it again.

Both paintings still need work. Talk with you again soon!

Back on Track

2010-08-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

We have recently come back from vacation in Williamsburg, Va., and I need to get back to painting. These two pics I started before I left, the left one is roughly laid out of a large version of my Central Park pic. I had done that as a miniature and our cousin, Daphne, purchased it several months ago. The other one is almost done of Fisheating Creek in Florida. It is a pic of my daughter and her friend fishing at the campout, soon to be a part of my figurative art collection.

After some errands yesterday I started 2 more pics, I will post later. I have to finish Roberts portrait commission. There is only some details to do on the portrait. I did get excepted to the Thornebrook Art Festival in Gainesville, Fl the first weekend of Oct. I will give more details on that later. So lots of work to do to have some new work for the show!

Family Time

2010-07-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks I haven't done any painting. The Fourth of July was spent with family and watching great fireworks in Alachua. This weekend was my birthday weekend and my family gave me a great weekend. My daughter, granddaughter, my sons, my husband, and a surprise visit from my cousin from New Jersey made a fabulous celebration. We ate lots of good and fattening food and finished on Sunday with a fun day at Blue Springs Park. I took lots of possible pics for future paintings.

On my website, www.tinacorbett.com you can see the two paintings I have done of Blue Springs in the past.

Here are some cool scenes from the weekend.

Dillon and Heather jumping off the pier at Blue Springs. The water was really cold even if the day was so hot!

A Portrait in Motion

2010-06-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of weeks I have been working on a commissioned portrait from my friend, Robert. He asked me to do his mom and his dad. Both photos are very old, of his parents. The pic of his dad is in better shape so I chose to do that one first. It is much easier to see. I thought it would be interesting to see it's progression. Remember these first photos were first weeks work and I have worked on it several times since these photos.

I will post the newest photos during the week. I forgot to bring my camera to the gallery today. Plus I worked on an old painting of my son, improving the values of that painting and a few others that were bothering me when I looked at them. It is funny as an artist and I am sure other artist's feel the same, a painting is never finished. You can work on it forever!

The first pic is the original photo of his dad, and then I show them at the High Spring Art Co-Op gallery as they are progressing.

"Diamond and the Ruff"

2010-06-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

I finally finished this painting. I painted it at the High Springs Co-Op and it is available and hanging there. You can see it on my website, www.tinacorbett.com. This was the picture I put together. Diamond our quarter horse was looking at Scooby and I when we were doing one of our daily walks. Scooby, our Great Dane, checked her out but he was not that friendly because on another day he actually stuck his head through the fence and tried to nip at her belly. Not smart on his part. She got upset and started to kick almost hitting the fence. I reprimanded Scooby hoping he will learn that biting the horse is definately not smart and dangerous. I really don't want him to learn the hard way if Diamond ever gets the opportunity to nail him with a kick.

For everything there is a season.......

2010-06-10T08:07:00.000-07:00

So my time at LaCrosse Post Office comes to an end. this week I go back to Alachua, the detailed position has run its course, four months. I have come to realize how much I have gained being here in this small town. When I first came here the town appeared ragged and small, and the people perhaps a little strange. Now my eyes see it with affection, as a lovely untouched spot in this busy world. The people sweet, each with a story. The elderly lady in her 90’s with a lovely smile, pleasant conversation, and dressed in her pastel cotton dresses; she drives her Chrysler every day to pick up her mail. I miss her when she doesn’t come because I know she’s not feeling well. The little ladies that come in every week to pay their bills, a mobile veterinarian, a few local Hare Krishna’s who mail their little packages overseas, always kind, bringing me homemade cookies. I’ve gotten to know the daily customers from the Radio supply company across the street, that keep this little post office open with their big mailings, like an old friend. In a short, spring season a pleasant life was created here.

My lunchtime walks through town are the highlight of my day. You actually can smell the blooming flowers which grow wild amongst the overgrown trees and weeds that line the streets. It is amazing. The rusted tin roofs of the houses, the missing jalousie windows, the makeshift curtain of a confederate flag that makes for a garage door, these are my sights as I walk. The little green house with the fabulous flower garden and the house that sells the earth worms. The lonely horses, roosters, dogs, that live along the route. Even though State Road 121, a major country road for tractor trailers is a block away, the area still has that rural charm. The old beat-up cars and trailers in the back yards may look bleak to some but to me it shows that a story was once here.

This old post office building is owned by a lovely white haired woman who was postmaster for over 30 years here. She always comes in with lots of spunk and has handled every problem I have had. With roof leaks to bumble bees, that made my back room a home through a broken screen.

I was thinking back of those who have worked at this little post office and their were varied opinions. Some employees that have spent a season or two here have seen this place as a stepping stone to greater positions, others as a hindrance to future promotions. For me, it was an inspiration. Learning to appreciate the simple things around you and to take the time to see what is here in a different light. The place matters to the little people who give it life. As the years go by I may not be back and small post offices’s like this may disappear from the landscape. Perhaps because of technology and the importance that the bottom line is all that matters.

For just a season I got a taste of something special. I will remember it long after I retire as a,refreshing time, a haven. A time when working at the Post Office is the most stressed out then any other period in it’s history. It was like having a french vanilla ice cream cone on a hot summer day.

Paynes Prairie, Gainesville Florida

2010-05-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted this sooner.

My husband and I spent Memorial Day checking out a local site. I had often heard of many fellow artist's speak of Paynes Prairie and saw their beautiful paintings of the many animals and plants that reside there. I have been wanting to go there since we moved here. We found the trail off of St. Rd. 441 just north of Micanopy. The sign said it was 2 1/2 miles long and that the prairie is 170 acres. I knew you could see wild horses and buffalo I just never knew how really "free" they were. It was a little intimidating. They just walk where you walk.

Jay and I made it through the horses to the look out tower. You can see the massive prairie spread out on all sides, it is lovely. Just as we got up there I said "I wish I could see Buffalo. " Out of the bushes come two huge guys. They looked so hairy and hot! Quite amazing. Then it was time to leave, which meant we had to walk from whence we came, but there were those buffalo. I asked Jay, "Are buffalo dangerous?" I had no clue and knew nothing about them except that the Indians once depended on them and they lived out west. Jay decided to start walking back and I said "what happens if something happens to you", he just said "use you cell to call for help." Great!
After I saw that they moved into the bushes when he got close and safely walked past I followed. Though I did see them eyeballing me through the bushes. By then I was hot, starving and forgot water so I was barely able to trot the 1 1/2 miles back to the car. It was a very cool experience.

BIG little Auction at the High Spring Art Co-Op

2010-05-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night we had a fun time at the auction in High Springs. Lots of people bid on many treasures. I won three items, a pen and ink, Schooner from Bob Dunn, a watercolor abstract from Tina Prizament and a watercolor print from Ron Baughn. I was outbid for a watercolor painting by Diana Fava that I really liked of a parakeet in an adorable position.

Here are the three miniature paintings I did for the event. These photos are not too good since I took them at the last moment and not with my best camera. Some friends came and won some cool stuff. My buddy, Rhoda and her daughter fiercely bid. Rhoda won my "Squirrel" painting and her daughter won my "White House." The squirrel was one of the ones I painted from those pics I took at LaCrosse Post Office when I first went to work there. The last pic is of a flower bush in St. Augustine at the historic site for the Fountain of Youth. High Springs artist, John Sterpe, won that one.

They were small 4"x 6" miniatures with little table easils. You can see more miniatures on my website, tinacorbett.com

Gainesville Fine Arts Association Summer Show

2010-05-24T19:46:00.001-07:00

Recently entered in the Gainesville Fine Arts Association Summer Art Show. It is being held at the Central Medical Plaza on Newberry Road in Gainesville, Florida. Anyone can view the exhibit in the Medical Plaza. These two are my entries. The portrait of "Scooby" and "Grandpa and Me" . With the Pet Portrait of "Scooby" I worked to portray Scooby's amazing expressive face. It is hard to imagine only a year ago we rescued him from being taken to the pound and destroyed.

With "Grandpa and Me", I am doing more figurative art because the subject matter always tells a story. This pair was taken on Daytona Beach last year when my family vacationed there. It was a very poignant scene of two generations sharing this moment.

More Daytime Doodles

2010-05-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

These are a few more drawings. The cowboy was from one of the newspapers and the I took this pic of the cow at Morningside Nature Center in Gainesville, last year. And of course you all know Bullwinkle. Here he is in his favorite chair. He always lays there when I am on the computer. He used to fit on the lounge chair as a puppy but he has squeezed his huge 170 pound body on it his entire life. If you happen to sit in the chair he will sit on you until you get off.

We went for a walk after dinner. First I took Scooby and Rocky and then Bullwinkle alone. We had an interesting conversation... I told him he was the finest dog that ever lived, Ha! Ha! that he was the Mona Lisa of dogs, the statue of David, and the Sistine Chapel. That God outdid Himself when he created him. I also told him I have loved many dogs and will love dogs in the future, but he will always be the most loved dog of all. You think I need therapy?

Maybe I sniffed too many fumes today when I spent the day painting at the gallery. Jay and I went to breakfast for Mother's Day on Saturday to beat the crowds, so today was free. Friday my "Hayfields II" sold at the gallery, so that was exciting. The couple who bought it came by and talked with me about a commission of their farm so that would be fun. I also managed to finish the portrait of "Scooby" and the painting, "Grandpa and Me." Both paintings will be entered into the Gainesville Fine Arts Association Summer Member's Show at the Central Medical Plaza next weekend. Then I added a little spice to the Central Park painting, that one, and "On the Road Home" have been entered in a competition at the Thomas Center in Gainesville. I will keep you updated as to the results of both competitions. As soon as I get good photos of the two newest paintings you will see them. I also have to add them to my website.

Day Time Doodles

2010-04-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

For about 2 months now, I have been at LaCrosse Post Office, a little place in the middle of small town about a mile long. I have a long lunch time, about 1 1/2 hours. The first half hour I eat lunch, the second half hour I do 10 to 15 minute drawings. I usually pick a variety of subjects just from interesting things that I find. Photos I have, magazine pics, newspaper photos, whatever I have. I try to draw whenever I can. I really need the practice. The last half hour I walk around the town for exercise.

I showed you a few doodles a few weeks ago and here are a few new samples of my "Day Time Doodles"

The first two pics are from a magazine with a story of the devastation in Haiti. The last one is a pic from the cover of a Hari Krishna magazine of a woman and child in India. These are quick lunchtime drawings so they area a little skewed at times. I will post more later in the week.

Sundays at the Co-Op

2010-04-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks I have gone back to painting animals. This first pick is a portrait of Scooby. It is still in progress but it is coming along. I needed to put him on canvas like I did Bullwinkle and Rocky. Then I took a very bad photo of the other pic I am doing of Scooby and our horse Diamond checking each other out. I am looking for a name for this painting. So I will have a little competition when it is done for a cool name. Stay tuned for that announcement.

Still in it's beginning stages, this painting with it's western theme, is in honor of Pioneer Days in High Springs this weekend, Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25. It should be great time and everyone should come check it out. There will be great booths with lots of interesting crafts, art, food and stuff for sale. Plus the western gunfight is always fun. I will be working at the High Springs Art Co-Op on Main Street both days some come and say "Hi!"

He's still the King

2010-04-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was lots of fun. It is great to be off on the weekends. I brought Bullwinkle to the High Springs Mutts and Pups Show. There were so many great looking dogs, including this amazing Russian Mountain dog. He was not as tall as Bullwinkle but twice as broad. He was huge. Bullwinkle almost lost his top spot as Biggest Dog. Which he won first place of course. He is pictured on the front page of the North Florida Herald, the front page of the Observer, and I was quoted in the Alachua Today newspaper, “He always wins the biggest contest,” said owner Tina Corbett, adding that he’d won the Best Dressed contest before, but had since outgrown his costume. “Somebody said, ‘Why do you keep entering him?’ I said, ‘Cause he’s still the king.’You can read the article by just clicking onto Alachua Today.

Then this Saturday I decided to check out the Santa Fe Spring Art Festival. I knew past festivals in Gainesville did not allow dogs at the show but I checked out the Santa Fe College and the Gainesville events websites and found nothing that said no dogs. So, I grabbed Bullwinkle and off we went to the show. It was a breathtakingly beautiful day. We first stopped at Jean's Grooming to visit with Jean, Lisa and Linda, and bought dog food. He is always so excited to go for a ride in the car. Once we found parking at the festival, we were only there five minutes when a cop made us leave. No dogs allowed!

I was bummed. Some nasty lady, I think was an artist, goes "doesn't anyone know how to read?" Apparently it was in the Gainesville Sun newspaper but I don't get that paper. I secretly cursed the nasty old biddy and hoped she had no art sales for the entire weekend. Bullwinkle and I turned around and went back to the car, I swear he knew and was just as upset as I was. I still wanted to check out the show and did not want to go all the way home to High Springs so I called Jean at Jean's Grooming since she was close. She agreed to dog sit for 2 hours. I brought him back and Jean put him into her largest, gated cell, where they board dogs. It was awful. He looked at me with his soulful eyes as if to say "why are you leaving me, you promised to take me out." It was just like leaving my kids at the babysitters when they were little and they cried and I felt like a heal. I did go back and hurried through the show and was back in 2 hours. When I opened the gate, Bullwinkle, bolted from the room and practically dragged me out of the store, he was so happy to see me and get into the car. Jean said he is very spoiled but well behaved. He did bark a little when I first left. I can never leave him in a strange space again!

Talking with the animals

2010-03-24T18:04:00.001-07:00

In the past 2 months I have been temporarily detailed as Officer in Charge (temp for Postmaster) to the LaCrosse Post Office, which is in the small town of LaCrosse, just north east of where I live in High Springs, Florida. The mail volume is not as crazy as my other post office in Alachua, so when I get to work extra early I have some down time. I noticed on warm days there is a squirrel party that goes on in the morning. So I started bringing nuts to work so they would hang around more. I managed to get some cool pics of them for future paintings. They are beautiful!

I also manage to get some pics of some locals that come by. One dog lives behind the post office and comes by to hang out and the other comes with his owner in the back of a pick-up truck. He is so adorable I asked his owner if I could take the pic of him. He may be my next dog painting!

!

Sunday at the Co-Op

2010-03-14T19:39:00.001-07:00

First I would like to thank a new friend to my blog, 過分 . I am not sure what your name is since you are writing in oriental characters, but I would love to know your name. Your comments are very much appreciated.

I did a lot of painting at the co-op this Sunday. My son-in-law. Scott will be so happy to see the progress on his Italy picture. It is almost done. I need to work on a few more details. Mostly concentrated on the water and the sky, I wanted the water to look like you would want to jump in it and the sky to reflect a beautiful sunset at dusk. I used a lot of medium to get that wet look. Wouldn't it be lovely to be there in Port-O-Fino right now, watching the boats come in and sipping some wine!

Then I worked on my cousin, Denise's pic, I am calling it, Denise's Garden. I promised her 2 years ago that I would give this to her for her 50th birthday. Well she may get it for her 52nd birthday! I actually painted this one before and sold it to a friend, but Denise liked it so much I repainting it for her slightly smaller. I feel it is finished but I may put in a third basket that was in the original painting that I left out of this one. I will decide that Sunday when I work at the co-op. Then when it drys I can finally give it to her! Her birthday is soon, April!!!

I also improved the pic of Central Park, it was too dark and the water wasn't quite where I wanted it to be. I may improve the values in this one also on Sunday.

I haven't painted at home lately, my son, Stephen, is a dirtbike racer and a college student who called me from the emergency room last Tuesday. He broke his shoulder riding and had to have surgery. He is recovering nicely and back at school. He is young, so they recover quick. Check out his cool website for his team, GSR, at http://www.gsrmx.com/ and his blog, http://gsrmx.blogspot.com/. He was on spring break. He is a great kid but his love of extreme sports is making my husband, Jay an I, old, Ha! Ha! Talk with you soon.

Froze at the show

2010-03-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

I need to update you on the show at Tioga. It is always a lovely location and the first night started out really great, I sold a painting. A lovely customer came by and told me she remembered me from last year and wanted the Mount Dora painting. Evidently her parents lived in Mount Dora which is a wonderful area in the middle of Florida. It is surrounded on three sides by lakes and the town is very vintage and quaint. Great restaurants and little interesting shops line the main area of town. The painting made her feel very nostalgic and she had a very touching story. It was very exciting to sell it to her because she loved it so much. The rest of the show was decent with some prints selling but Sat. morning it rained and we froze. I was just so tired of being cold. Sunday was better, the weather was still cold but sunny.

Outdoor shows always take so much out of you physically. The set up and take down are a lot of work. I enjoy the interaction with all the new faces I meet and the fellow artists, and it does get my work out to the public but it can be tough. I wanted to bring Bullwinkle but I knew he would be uncomfortable on the concrete and with the cold and rain. He would have been miserable. I think he would rather be in his favorite spot, my couch!

The Winter Fine Art Fair at Tioga

2010-02-21T16:59:00.000-08:00

Today I worked at the Co-Op, we had a decent amount of traffic today but not overwhelming. I was able to work on my "Lady in a Pink Dress." For some of you who have been keeping up with this perpetual pic, I changed her face. I put the models face back on her correct body. When I started this painting I had my daughter pose in the same position and tried to paint her face on the body. It was awful so I redid her face. I think it much better now and will show it at Tioga next weekend. I got a lot of positive feedback from our customers today. There was even another artist I just met gave his opinion and really liked it so I will bring it next weekend. She is for sale but if she doesn't sell she goes beautifully in my "Barbie" guestroom. There is a lovely cherry wood day bed with a pink bedspread, and a queen Ann antique dresser in there and she fits in perfect. That is the reason I painted her in the first place.

I worked on a couple of small pics which I will show you later in the week, but I finished "Central Park from 5th Ave" today too. This was a pic I took from the street looking over the wall from the east side of Central Park. We were rushing to try to make it to the Museum of Natural History before they closed and it was drizzling on and off. It was very misty out but the park was still so beautiful. Amazing that it is in the middle of New York City!

So now I have a few new paintings for Tioga. I hope the weather is as nice next weekend as it was this one. Last year we had that huge rain storm and the wind was horrible. So lets hope for the best. I hope some of you can come to the fair. Great music, beautiful location and lots of fabulous art!

2010 Winter Fine Art Fair at Tioga

Friday Feb 26th 5 - 9 pm

Sat. Feb 27th 10 - 5 pm

Sun. Feb 28th 11- 4 pm

New works and the Co-Op

2010-02-10T18:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of opening night last Friday. It was a huge success. Lots of people stopped by and I made some new High Springs friends. I am bringing a guest Thursday to the Gainesville Fine Arts Monthly meeting that I met at the opening. The weather was damp but at least the monsoon rain stopped from earlier that afternoon. You can now see the glass and pottery displayed around the gallery.

Managed to get Larry and Bob's pic at the opening. There are some other cool shots that other people took with me in them but they haven't emailed them to me yet. I will post them as soon as I get them.

Today I worked my second day at the co-op. I usually work Sunday afternoons but I had to cover Karen's day, she is in Disney this week. I had some brousers at the gallery today, and did a lot done on painting. It was very cold out so I don't think their were too many people strolling about.

Almost finished my Central Park pic, and started a new small pic called "Grandpa and me at the beach." It is a random photo of a man and a boy I took at Daytona Beach two years ago. I am trying to produce some new and exciting new works for The Winter Fine Art Fair at Tioga this month, Feb. 26,27 and 28. The Co-Op's working area has great light and it was a very productive day!

Co-Op Grand Opening Friday, Feb. 5!

2010-02-03T18:53:00.001-08:00

This was the early set up of the gallery. I was so thrilled to be able to show on two walls. As we get more artist's we will have to tighten up, depending on the art available to show. It was very exciting Sunday to hang our art in the new gallery. We would love everyone to come check us out. Friday, Feb. 5 is the grand opening and will coincide with Fantastic Friday in High Springs, FL. The gallery will be open from 5 to 9 pm.

Gallery is located at
115 N Main Street
High Springs, FL 32643

We have a wonderful variety of work. Karen Lemonnier, oils, Ron Baughn, painter, Tina Prizament, photography, Diana Fava, watercolors, Susan Margaritondo, pottery, Larry Behnke, mixed media, Bob Dunn, drawings and of course, my oils. We also have many fine pieces of art that are still for sale when the place was High Springs Art Gallery. I took pics of most of the artist's display. Susan's pottery Bob's drawings weren't set up yet. I will take more pics of the opening for those who cannot make it.

Pics are as follows:

Diana's watercolors
Tina P's photography
Ron's acrylics and Larry's multi media
Ron's two acrylics
Karen's oils

High Springs Art Co-Op

2010-01-18T15:49:00.000-08:00

A very exciting thing is about to happen here in High Springs in the next month. So far, six other artist's and myself have an opportunity to become the leading artists showing at a local gallery. Here in High Springs we have had a lovely gallery serving our community. Since the down turn in the economy the owner, Chuck Sapp has had a hard time keeping his two gallery's going. His other gallery is a larger, more prominent store in Gainesville, Paddiwack Gallery. So he has offered us an opportunity to fill the gallery with our art and to work the gallery as an artist's co-op.

Ever since I have moved to High Springs, I have always looked at the open store fronts and dream of owning a future gallery with my art and other peoples art. Maybe with a small area selling art supplies. This co-op is much closer to that dream. Being part it will be a life long experience. I can learn the gallery business and have a 7 day a week venue for my art to be out in the public. The great thing will be that we will be painting on location at the gallery for the public to view. This way I will not neglect the only full day I can paint, which is Sunday's. Since I still work full time at the postal service, Sunday will be my day to work the gallery. Hopefully this will entice the public to visit the gallery to observe working artists. The new name will be High Springs Art Co-Op Gallery, located at 115 North Main Street, High Springs, FL 32643.

Today I finally painted on my daughter's, Heather, and son-in-law, Scott's, Italy painting. It is coming along. It still needs more work but I am happier with it now. Boats and buildings still need tweeking and lines straightened. Hopefully it will be done with a few more hours. Then I need to start new work for the Winter Art Festival at Tiogo in Gainesville. That show is the last weekend in Feb., so I would like some new work for it. I am leaning toward more figurative work and a pet portrait of Scooby.

Back on Track

2010-01-14T07:49:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone has had a safe and wonderful holiday season this year. Ours was very nice, the time when my kids were all home and little Bella was here was fabulous. Work was a pain, but not too bad this year as compared to past Christmas's. The mail was a little heavy but nothing like in the past years of tons of letters and packages for weeks at a time. It only lasted a couple of days this year. Sign of the times I guess.

I haven't done any painting! With relatives in and out, I am a bed and breakfast during December. I did manage to draw some to keep up with my skill. Little 30 minute sketches during my one hour lunch at the Post Office. They are just quick drawings of photos. Of course it would be better to draw from life but I do not have that luxury of time so photos have to do.
This was a pic I caught of my daughter Heather's friends dog on her couch. She sat so regally that I snapped this photo during Heather's baby shower.

This one of Bullwinkle was a charcoal drawing that is very primative because, of course, he jumped off from the couch because Scooby started barking at something outside.

This one is a sketch of all my co-worker Janet's miniature dogs. They were so tiny compared to my beasts, I couldn't resist drawing them. A young girl, who is a friend of hers, was holding them all!

The next is a photo of my son, Stephen, that a friend, Marie Spencer, of Essence Photography, took of him in his dirt bike gear. I really liked the photo so I drew him.

I have to go to the PO now but later on this week I have the exciting news about a new artist's co-op starting that I am now a board member on, in High Springs. Lots of great events coming up!

The Three Wise Dogs

2009-12-19T19:01:00.000-08:00

This week was so busy at the Post Office but I want to make sure I wish all my friends a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. For all my Jewish friends and relatives I hope you had a Happy Hanukkah! I did get my shopping done, decorated the house, and sent out some cool cards. I put the boys on the cards and spent an afternoon with Jay trying to get them to pose with their holiday garb. I finally got 3 photos. Check them out. You can see how they were not too thrilled with their head gear! Here are the final three pics on my holiday cards, I call them the Three Wise Dogs! That is a joke. They are more like the Three crazed dogs!

I have some great news coming soon and I will pick up with the painting after Christmas. There is a possibility of 2 new commissions, The Winter Art Fair at Tioga in February, and I will be a part of the new High Springs Artist Co-Op in January. As soon as I have some final details I will fill you in. In the mean time, have a blessed, safe and happy Holiday Season.

The Ultimate of God's handiwork, Bella has arrived!

2009-12-12T09:16:00.000-08:00

Well I haven't spoke with all of you for a month now because I was very busy. Not painting or with the US Postal Service but helping my daughter, Heather, and son-in-law, Scott, welcome my new granddaughter, Isabella Kay into this world! Remember her name since she may be the subject of future portraits. She is beautiful, and was born a healthy, 8 pounds. I was in the delivery room and helped with the birth. It was a very exciting time for our family. Check out how lovely she is

I recently found out I was not accepted into the St. Stephen's Art Festival in South Florida for the 2010. They told me that my subject matter was an extremely popular one and so my scores were low. To a certain extent this was disturbing but a relief just the same. I really am not prepared for such an big show like that. I was stressing out on how I could prepare enough big quality work in the short time frame until it occurs. So, actually it is for the best. I would really like to prepare big and unique paintings for the more expensive and popular art shows. This year I plan to work on more figurative art, unusual pet portraits, and perfecting my skills. I will still paint landscapes but concentrate on creating one-of-a-kind paintings. I am entering the art festival at Tioga Town Center in February put on by my club, The Gainesville Art Association, look for further details!

Exhibition and Reception at Melrose Bay Gallery

2009-11-07T18:59:00.001-08:00

I haven't posted for a month, sorry but life was so crazy busy. I went down south to Delray Beach for my daughter Heather's baby shower. That was very fun. My cousin Denise, flew in from New Jersey to attend and lots of family and friends were there. Food was delicious and we had a great time. Then my daughter began to have labor pains a week later. The baby is not due until Dec. 5 but now things have been revamped and I could become a new grandmother in Nov.! My bag is packed and I am ready to head south as soon as I get the word. We are very excited!

A little dark but this is how my art is displayed at Melrose.

This past weekend was the reception for the "Small Works, Big Ideas, Thinking Inside the Box" Exhibition at Melrose Bay Gallery. It was fun. Lots of artist's and friends came and all the small art was so creative. It was so interesting to see how other artist's conquered this challenge of producing small affordable art. My pieces are all priced under $100 and are available for purchase at Merose Bay Gallery, but if you are interested in any piece and cannot get out to the gallery contact me by email or you can see them and the prices on my website, Fine Art Oil Painting by Tina . I can set it up so you can get it from the gallery. I have added some new categories to the site, with miniatures, so check it out. Also while you are on the website, sign up for my free newsletter on my website and get all the latest info on my art, art history and stories of "On the Dogside".

The above pic is of abstracts by Roz Miller . Her work is so unique. She uses mixed media and is always happy to share her secrets with you. I love her colors they are so vivid and beautiful. The photo does not do them justice.

I wish I had taken more pictures. I guess those of you who live close need to go check out the Melrose Bay Gallery to see all the wonderful artwork!

The following are my 7 miniatures in the Melrose show.

After the Rain - This is the view outside my front window on my property in High Springs Florida. The two trees in front are my favorite, one is maple and I am not sure what the other one is, but it is just beautiful. I always love to look outdoors through my bay window and one day after the rain, it just glowed. The rest of the property is filled with pine trees. Three open areas exist and this painting shows the one in the background where we plan to build our house.

The Beauty of Central Park - This past summer my family and I visited the lovely Central Park in New York City. It rained the entire time we were there but I managed to capture this beautiful scene when we were walking through the city. It always amazes me how such timeless beauty exists amongst one of the largest and busiest city's in the world.

Ill Colore d' Italia- This group of buildings in, Portofino, Italy was a variation of a larger painting I am doing for my daughter. Italy has drawn me to it for years, my father was Italian and I have family in Italy that I have never seen. I long to visit Italy and the land of my ancestors. Before my dad died in 2001, we had talked about traveling there so I can meet our family. My father had gone several times and had gotten to know them. One day soon, I plan to do the visit Italy and meet my family so many miles away.

Hollywood Beach Boardwalk - This is a spectacular beach area nestled between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. South Florida's best known secret. Condo development had tried to overtake it but the locals have fought hard to keep out the concrete, leaving it to remain quaint and lovely. Small mom and pop Canadian, Greek and Italian restaurants and businesses line the boardwalk, people bicycle, skate and walk day and night. As a teenager, I frequented this beach every summer day, getting as dark as baby oil would let me. As I got older and my kids were little, I would take them skating down the beach and for an ice cream, afterwords. It is still my favorite beach in the world even after visiting other more famous beaches.

Hayfields 2 - This is my second painting of local hay fields. One of the things that attracted us to this area of North Florida was the rolling hills. Different from any other Florida landscape, they all look so majestic with hay bales spread across the fields and soft clouds filling the expansive skies, making them irresistible to paint. It is why my husband and I love this place. My first Hayfield's sold during the first art exhibition at Art in City Hall in High Springs to Commissioner Shupe.

Ponce Inlet Lighthouse - In 2008, we stayed on Daytona Beach and on the day my husband, Jay and my son, Dillon went golfing, I explored Ponce Inlet. This a pretty little area just south of Daytona Beach. I never knew this breathtaking lighthouse existed and it is so well preserved. It is the tallest lighthouse in Florida and the second tallest, masonry, lighthouse in the nation. I was so proud to say I climbed the 203 stairs to the top of the 175 foot tower and even got a certificate for doing it! What a view it was!

Miracles Found Here, Ground Zero - This painting is probably my most emotional subject I have ever painted. This summer we went to NYC and stopped to gaze emotionally at ground zero. As you know this is where the World Trade Center came down in the worst non-military disaster in our country's history, on Sept. 11, 2001. We noticed this lovely church tucked between modern skyscrapers and across from the hallowed ground of the new construction site of the World Trade Center. St. Paul's Chapel, an Episcopal Church, is beautiful inside and is filled with memorabilia from the many first responders who used the church for refuge during that dreadful day. It is also the church George Washington attended in 1789, for the short time New York City was our capital. His original pew was there to view.

In a couple of days I will post the pics of the Halloween Party at Hilltop Animal Hospital, a little late, as I confessed before. Lots of cool dog costumes. Talk with you soon!

"Small Works/Big Ideas Thinking Inside the Box"

2009-10-11T15:57:00.001-07:00

Pic 1 - Italy - A place of my ancestors and distant family and where I aspire to go soon!
Pic 2 - "After the Rain" This is outside my front window and our property in High Springs, it looks so pristine right after the rain. The two trees in front are my favorite, the left one is a lovely maple and I am not sure what the other is.
Pic 3 - "Walking through Central Park" I took this pic as you remember from our family trip to New York City in June. Central Park is a little bit of heaven in the middle of exciting and crazy NYC.
Pic 4 - Hollywood Boardwalk - This is my favorite beach on earth, where I spent my teenage years and took my kids skating at night on the boardwalk. The water is as blue as the pic and one of the rare places in South Florida where high rise development failed to take over.
Pic 5 - Hayfield 2, This is my second hayfield pic from State Road 236 in High Springs.

So lately I have been feverishly working on miniature paintings. They have actually been very fun to do and a challenge. I think I will call this collection "Favorite Places." I have been doing tiny paintings since I entered the Winter Fine Art Fair at Tioga, in Gainesville, Fl. last year sponsored by Gainesville Fine Arts Association . I originally did them as low cost simple pieces of art with small wooden easels packaged in a small bag and sold for under $25. I still have some of those on sale at the Garden Gallery on Main Street in Alachua Florida. These latest paintings are much more advanced and I have spent many more hours on them. Most will be framed in Plein Air gold frames or painted on gallery wrapped canvas and wired. I took all the photos that they are taken from except for the Italy pic,which I actually designed from my daughter's large Italy painting.

The exciting thing about the collection is that I was invited to participate in an art exhibition at The Melrose Bay Art Gallery located at 103 SR 26 in Melrose, Florida, Nov. 9 - Dec. 9, 2009. It is called "Small Works/Big Ideas Thinking inside the Box." The requirements for entry are very specific and your work, including frames, must fit within a specific criteria of space. The first 3 pics I produced for it are for the most part complete. The last two you can see are roughed in

and require more work. I will try to finish them this week.

These last two were roughed in while I was sitting at Reddick Dirt bike track where Jay and I hung out today with our son Stephen. He raced with all his GSR Team buddies. It is always exciting and nerve racking to see him race. Check out his new website with his newly formed team GSR at gsrmx.com The site is soooo cool.

I am off again from work again tomorrow YEAH! I plan on working on Heather and Scott's Italy pic finally!

Art Class comes to an end!

2009-10-07T14:33:00.000-07:00

Nine weeks went by fast and what a great experience it was. Melanie Peter is an excellent teacher and she was very helpful in improving my portrait skills. I would recommend the workshop "Building A Better Portrait," to anyone wanting to improve their painting skills. Melanie teaches you the basics you need to start and finish a portrait from a live model or photos. She is very informative and paints with you so you can see how to do it. She critiques and compliments and makes you feel very comfortable. These two photos were of the last two lessons. Now they are both done in less than three hours. The one of the male model is a color study with two different lights, one pink and one yellow. The other is of the female model wrapping up all that we learned. They are very primitive and I may finish the one of the woman since Melanie took photos of the models and emailed them to us if we wish to work further on them.

So now that my classes are over for this year, I plan to work on Sunday get as much done on my daughter's pic of Italy and also work on an upcoming show at Melrose Bay Gallery. I will fill you in later on in the week and tell you about the reception at Art in City Hall and High Springs first art walk!

Art in City Hall and High Springs Art Walk

2009-10-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

Friday night was truly an art night in High Springs. The night started with the art reception for all the artists that exhibited their art in the city hall. Sandi Richmond did a great job as always and Commissioner Diane Shupe was responsible for art being front and center now in High Springs. Mrs. Shupe and her husband Ed are great art lovers and fill their home with it. My "Hayfield in Winter" picture now resides there! It was fun to talk with fellow artist's and many friends who attended. The mayor even said a few words. I have "Keeping the Watch" and "On the Road Home" on exhibition there and you can view my work and the entire exhibition in High Springs City Hall. The show runs until Dec. 2, 2009 in the City Commission Chambers located at 110 NW 1st Ave. You can view it everyday from 8am until 5pm unless there is a meeting going on.

The second part of the night was the Art Walk that was part of the monthly Fantastic Friday that goes on in town. Several stores stayed open late for shoppers and sponsored artists to show their work in their stores. Everyone walked around town and checked out the stores and the art. I had my paintings displayed upstairs above the Great Outdoors in what was the historic, "Opera House" while another reception was held with a wine bar. I sold a small pic called "Three Peppers" and I had so much fun getting to know a friend of Sandi Richmond's, Nancy, a jewelry artist and designer. We truly bonded over a glass of wine and we sat near our art.

I also bought a fabulous print from fellow artist,
John Strepe, he does wonderful deep color landscapes of our local area and springs. He did a lovely rendition of mainstreet in High Springs, I love it.

Bella' s Room

2009-10-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

Last week I had vacation and spent it down in Delray Beach with my daughter, Heather and son-in-law, Scott. It was a great week, the weather was as always, beautiful, sunny and hot. My plan was to paint my future granddaughter's bedroom. I drove down early Sunday morning and had a super brunch at the country club in Boca Raton where Scott's parents live. The spread was amazing. Every fruit possible, the
blackberries was huge. Delicious breads for sandwiches with every possible salad combination. Plus bagels, eggs, and the usual breakfast fair. Later Heather and I found Jerry's Artarama. A great art store where I found all the
paints and supplies for the job. Monday I got up early and started on the room. It was a little tough starting since the walls are plastered with the knock down finish. As the day wore on it worked out great. I managed to complete almost the entire scene in 2 full days! Which left the last day to play. My mom came up and hung out with us on
Monday while I worked.

Each night it was fun to spend watching all the new TV shows with Scott and Heather since last week were all the season premieres. The last day I found a small window in time to get lunch with my favorite postal buddies from South Florida. We girls had a delicious lunch at Las Vegas a great Cuban restaurant in Pembroke Pines and then I had dinner at my best friend Susan's house. She made me more Spanish food. It is hard to get good ethnic food here in Gainesville so it is always a treat.

Bella's name and the spots on the giraffe are the exact colors of the spots in the pock-a-dot design for the baby's crib bedding set. I thought that would accent the whole room design. It is hard to tell in the photos but there are little hanging berries in the shape of hearts.

If anyone is interested in a wall mural such as this I would enjoy doing it. Of course price would be determined by the complexity of the design. I paint with quality acrylics so there are no fumes and easy clean up. I sealed the wall with acrylic varnish so the wall can be cleaned with a wet sponge, in case my granddaughter becomes and artist while in the crib! You can contact me and if you live locally it would be great. If you live in Florida, we can work something out since I have family all over the state that I can stay with. If you are out of state we can also make arrangements. I have lots to blog today, since I am way behind, so talk with you soon!

The Boys are back

2009-09-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

Rocky looks happy .................but doesn't Bullwinkle look bored?

I haven't talked about the boys for awhile. I feel kind of guilty. Rocky, Bullwinkle and Scooby have been stuck in the house a lot lately. They haven't gone anywhere but to Hilltop Animal Hospital for their annual check ups. Between work, painting and housework they have been very neglected. This coming week I will be going down south to my daughter's house to paint my, soon to be, granddaughter's bedroom wall with a cute scene and I may take Bullwinkle. He travels better than the other two and is the best behaved. He will just hang out in my daughter's house and not bother my daughter's dogs, Louie and Zoe. He has recently developed a rash or bites on the right side of his body. I think he laid in a bed of ants. He is not scratching too bad, he is eating and seems to feel okay, but he looks like he has a disease. He has to look lovely to travel by Sunday!

I took some recent photos of the boys. This one might be a candidate for a great pet portrait of Scooby, he is so photogenic. I will probably start sketching it soon. He has a great coat, when it is not shedding off his body and his coloring and muscles are fabulous.

I have definitely benefited from my art workshop with Melanie Peter. The past two weeks included doing color shapes in a quick portrait study and 60 two minute sketches of facial gestures. That was very hard. After the first 20 sketches my hand was tired but it was a great exercise.

Here is the portrait color study and then a samples of the the facial gesture drawings.

Italy in progress

2009-09-07T17:39:00.001-07:00

I am finally making some progress on my daughter, Heather's Italy pic. I thought I would show you the stages of my work. It still needs much refining as you can see but it is coming along. Lines need to be improved and details enhanced. I have only had time to work on it for short periods. I hope to have it done by my vacation at the end of this month but most likely it will probably be done by her baby shower in October. If I could retire with the early out that the post office keeps dangling like a carrot in front of us I could finish lots of paintings! But the USPS won't let go of the 2% per year cut we would take if we leave before age 55, I am only 51. So I only have to sweat out 4 more years! I don't want to give up any of my retirement since I have made it this far. This Oct. makes 30 years with the PO!!! The best years were the seventheen I spent as the Postal Illustrator in South Florida, I miss those weekends off.

The images go from the latest work back to the beginning as I am sure you can tell.

Next time I will update you on some miniature paintings I
am working on. Melrose Art Gallery has invited me to be in a holiday exhibition I am very excited about.

Don't forget the holidays are right around the corner and if you are sitting on the fence about a commission now is the time to order one. I will work out a convenient payment plan to suit your needs and will in turn give you a quality Original piece of art made from only the best quality products. And don't forget if you are not completely satisfied I will refund you money within two weeks of your purchase. Let me know and check out my website for all finished new work. www.tinacorbett.com

Shadow shapes and 5 minute sketches

2009-09-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day. It was super to have two days off in a row. I never got around to blogging last week so let's catch up. My Building a Better Portrait class was a week ago yesterday, Sunday. The subject was shadow shapes. We had to sketch the bust of the statue of David, by Michelangelo and a woman, with different lighting's just using shadows to depict the image. It was very helpful to get you to squint to see the shapes of the face in different light making your drawings more accurate.

For the last half hour we had to model and sketch each of us, students with 5 minute sketches. Melanie Peter, our teacher, said I did good. It was harder than I thought, and I need to practice this often. I plan on buying a small sketch book and maybe drawing the people I work with at the Post Office as I eat my lunch during the week. I will keep you posted. Modeling was a challenge too, try sitting still and not moving a muscle, five minutes turns out to be a long time. It makes you appreciate when you have someone model for you who sits for 15 or 30 minutes at a time.

This weekend was a free weekend, no class!

Portrait Workshop

2009-08-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday for the past 3 weekends I have been attending a workshop as I have told you with artist, Melanie Peter, http://www.pineywoodsstudio.com/. This has put me way behind on my painting. I have done little on my daughter's Italy pic and barely started my pic of the church across from Ground Zero in NYC. But I thought I would share with you my learning experiences. The class has been a challenge and I always begin the class slightly frustrated. Not in a bad way though, it is just that the drawing lesson's are a challenge and I am constantly learning. Melanie is a great teacher and each week I am learning something new. The main thing this whole experience has taught me is that I have to practice drawing every chance I get. I remember reading in Linda Blondheim's blog how she talked about that very same issue. Here are some samples of my class assignments. They look a little strange, because of the different use of charcoal, and oil paint, and exactly what we are drawing. My shadow drawing of the woman model, I felt I made her look like Geronimo, the American Indian, but Melanie, my teacher seems to think I did a good job.

The first pics were of plaster casts of lips, nose and an ear, I did not have time for the eye. Then of course my "Geronimo" and this week was a lesson in the planes of the face and scull. This was hard to get all the right values of the many planes. The eyes look strange because the cast had one eye more developed than the other. I call him "GI Joe". We will see how I do next week. I look forward to it!

Tubing on the Santa Fe River

2009-08-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

Finally, some cool pics of my family tubing down the Santa Fe River. I have been so busy with work and my portrait workshop on Sunday's that I haven't posted for awhile, so sorry. We started our trip down the river at beautiful Ginny Springs. The camera was a cheap water camera so the quality is poor on the photos. I thought I would get some good pics to paint but they are just not nice enough. I need to go there with my good Canon to get some painting shots. I will share these with you anyway. The first two here might be possible painting subjects, I would have to work with them. There are so many colors in the water, it was gorgeous, cool but not freezing, except by the spring itself. As you can see the water is a beautiful turquoise by the actual hole of the spring. Lots of people dive into the hole into the underground caves, but it is very scary. It is actually considered the most dangerous sport in the world. Not only is it very dark below the surface but the force of water that pushes you out of the hole is exhausting. The sights must be amazing though. You can check out more on the springs site, http://www.ginniespringsoutdoors.com/ . I did see some cool turtles sunning themselves on the shore that would have made great subjects but the camera did not capture them well. Then the boys saw a gator slip into the river close to where Heather and I were floating, that was scary. The worse part was that two teenage girls saw it too and started splashing and screaming, which would only bring attention to themselves with the gator. I wanted to drown them myself. To the best of my knowledge there has never been a gator attack with the floaters. Hopefully they are more frightened of us than we are of them. Yeah, right!

My son-in-law, Scott and daughter, Heather, had a great time and found it very relaxing. The river naturally takes you lazily down. Lots of people take advantage of the river in the summer, it was quite crowded when we rented our tubes. Other people get quite ingenious with their floats and there were all kinds of shapes and sizes. Some even put their coolers on floats with their refreshments, beer! Some huge floats were multi contraptions for several people with drink slots for each. We will definitely look for floats that can enhance the experience in the future and our whole family plans on doing this again.

My husband Jay and son Dillon went with us so that was great. Then my son, Stephen came home for a quick overnight visit from University of Central Florida to join us so that was a surprise. The whole family was together for a spectacular day!

Art in Public Places

2009-08-02T17:40:00.001-07:00

This year I have only done one Art Festival. They are great fun and exciting but a lot of work and demand an immense amount of preparation. Instead I consider this my year to educate my self artistically and to improve my craft. I have been participating in an Art Inspire Marketing Think Tank with Linda Blondeheim, http://www.lindablondheim.com/ for marketing, reading several library books about the Masters, such as Renoir and Degas, and today I started an art workshop for Portraits with Melanie Peter in Gainesville http://www.pineywoodsstudio.com/. The workshop is Building a Better Portrait and runs until Sept. 19, my daughter, Heather's birthday. I really enjoyed my first lesson which was getting back to basic drawing, which I need to discipline myself to do more often. Each lesson will build our skills along with teaching anatomy, which after "Girl in a Pink Dress" I realize I need desperately. I struggled so much with that pic that it inspired me to study human figures more intensely.

I did hang "Girl in a Pink Dress" at the exhibition by my club, Gainesville Fine Arts Association http://gainesvillefineart.com/ at the beautiful Thomas Center in the Duckpond Historic District in Gainesville for a few weeks. I went to visit it last week and took this pic I think it fits in that house. The house if fabulous. This is an description of the house from Gainseville Cultural Affairs website

http://www.gvlculturalaffairs.org/website/facilities/facilities.html

"The Thomas Center considered Gainesville's cultural center, is housed in a beautifully restored Mediterranean Revival-style hotel. The Thomas Center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and contains art galleries, 1920's period rooms, local history exhibits, performance space, banquet rooms, and meeting rooms. The Thomas Center is surrounded by the lovely Thomas Center Gardens and the Grace and Sidney Knight Children's Theatre. The center is the site of a variety of art exhibits and musical programs. The Thomas Center is located at 302 NE 6th Ave."

I also delivered a commissioned landscape to my friend Ava's friend, Myrtle. I called this one "The Homestead." It has a great story. Meeting Myrtle was a blessing, what a sweet woman. She is over 90 years old and smart as a whip. She saved her money to pay me to paint this commission as a birthday gift to her daughter. She was so cute. It was a pleasure and I enjoyed painting it for her. I especially enjoyed sitting and talking with her when I delivered it. She told me the story behind the house where her husband grew up.

It is located near Bushnell, Florida, built by her husband's father. His mother was pregnant with Myrtle's husband and told her husband to hurry up and finish this house. She said she would not give birth to their baby until the house was finished. On the very day they moved into the house she gave birth to her son inside the house. I thought it was a pretty cool story.

If you have a story to tell or just a family photo, a fun place or memory or just a photo you love, why not order a custom painting or Pet Portrait for a loved one for the holidays. They will be here before you know it. You can have it taken care of and paid for before the Holidays get here. I offer a convenient layaway plan and Visa and Mastercard. All my paints and canvases are quality products and the paintings will last more than your lifetime, to be handed down to the next generation. Preserving your memory or loved one. Email me or call me and we can talk! Remember, also that I will give 10% off to any blog followers. It is free to sign up!

I talk with you soon, next entry I will tell you about my great weekend with my husband, Jay, sons, Dillon and Stephen, my daughter Heather and son-in-law Scott, and our tubing adventure on the Santa Fe River. I also finished my pic "On The Road Home"

Commission work

2009-07-08T20:15:00.001-07:00

This is a commissioned painting that I am in the process of doing. The photo is a very old pic of a lady's original homestead. She wants to give this to her daughter for her birthday. I had to improvise on the landscape since it is a bad photo and I have never seen the house. Lets say I embellished the background some to reflect a Florida landscape. I am almost done with it. I have to correct some lines and make improvements on the house. I think I may even make the house longer and a little more true to life. I chose to leave out the side building since you cannot see it and it doesn't seem to hold any significance. It really helps to look at the original photo and the photo of the painting to see where it needs work.

As I mentioned earlier. Gift giving for the holidays can come up faster than you think so if you are needing a special gift and want to commission a painting now is the time to do that. Paintings take time to get them right. A painting is that rare and one of kind gift that lasts a lifetime. It becomes an heirloom to be handed down to future generations. Remember I do Pet Portraits too and you can give a gift that helps someone capture a part of that beloved pet they lost. I have Layaway, and credit through Paypal. Paypal will offer you convenience and security in all your online transactions. I also offer a 30 day money back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied. I paint with quality oil paints on wood backed canvases and mail anywhere the USPS or UPS deliver too.

I haven't talked about the dogs for awhile and I feel bad. They haven't received much of my attention or time and they are bored and frustrated. It has been so hot I haven't even taken them on any outings either. Next weekend there is a Great Dane Meetup meeting at an ice cream parlor in Ocala I will probably attend with Bullwinkle and maybe Scooby if I can handle it. I may try to walk them both this week together to see how they behave.

At the Art at City Hall reception I met a great guy, Albert Isaac, who is the Editor for the local magazines, The Senior Times and Our Town Magazine http://seniortimesmagazine.com/,

http://visitourtowns.com/. After talking with him and getting to know each other through email, he discovered a picture he took of Bullwinkle, his son, Trevor and me. I think it was taken at the Dog show this year. I think it was pretty cool, check it out.

He is doing a story for Our Town Magazine about the Art in City Hall. I look forward to when it comes out. It is a great little book that gives lots of great information about our local area. It tells of all the festivals in Alachua County, along with great and interesting places to go and things to do during all times of the year. It also gives you great updates on all the local schools for those of us who have kids in school. It is a wonderful resource for us, it goes out to all the households, I know because I distribute them at the Post Office and the carriers deliver them.

Next time I will post the finished painting of the homestead and the finished painting of "On the road home" Now I have to go work on Heather and Scott's Italy pic. They are coming up to visit in two weeks so I would like to show them some progress!

Art at City Hall, High Springs Florida

2009-07-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to share the news I recently had my first "press release" and shared an art exhibition at city hall in High Springs with 5 other local artist. It was this past Tues. night and a great success. Lots of local people showed up and the finger food was delicious served by the lovely Bed and Breakfast in High Springs http://www.gradyhouse.com/, The Grady House. Sandi Richmond, who works at City Hall, did a great job in organizing it. The coolest thing is they featured my latest painting, "Hayfield in Winter" on the flyer. It was a great honor for me. This pic was taken a short distance from my house, in High Springs. A beautiful field just off 1-75 on Cty. Rd 236. I admire it everyday when I drive home from the Post office. It is just a sprawling field and they keep it well maintained. In the winter hay bales decorate it's landscape.

I may even have a sale from the show! I really want to give a shout out to the City of High Springs for trying to find ways to incorporate the arts into our town. It would be great if this is a start to getting our town on the map, not only known for it's quaint shops and beautiful springs but also as a forefront for the arts. I entered four paintings all of local areas. Two of Devil's Millhopper,(Forest Serenity and Dream Path), Hayfield in Winter, and Blue Springs II. You can view all of them on my website, http://www.tinacorbett.com/

Some of the comments at the exhibition were quite flattering, One art admirer said my work was very romantic. Another said my stuff was old fashioned like the old masters. WOW that was super. I always go to museums and admire old masters. I get very close to the paintings and look at them to see how the artist's painted them. My daughter has a very valuable painting hanging in her home, a gift from her husband's grandmother to him, and I stare at it the entire time I am in her house. To even think that my work can have that look is a fabulous compliment.

This is the latest painting of local landscapes, I am working on and it is almost done. Just a little more tweaking and it is finished. I said before that I may put in a deer but I think I like it the way it is. My friend Susan said it would take away from it. She said it tells a story. It makes you dream of the what is at the end of the road. So I think I will leave it like this. I think I will call it, "On the Road Home."

This weekend I will talk about my latest commission. I will show you how I go from the photo to the finished product. Christmas is just around the corner. If anyone is interested in a commissioning a painting they need to now so I have the time to complete it. My day job, USPS, keeps me pretty busy as we get close to the holidays. I will give 10% off to any blog followers. It is free to sign up!

Vacation is over with lots to share

2009-07-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

This my first blog entry in quite sometime and I apologize for the long absence. I have been on vacation for two weeks now and it has been great. I love going places, painting when I want and visiting with friends and family. Working for the US Postal Service has served it's time and after 30 years of service this Nov., I am tired and bored with it. I retire in 4 years and can not wait. The first week we spent in New Jersey and New York. My husband Jay's first trip to NY, he has resisted this visit for over 25 years that I have known him. It rained the entire time as you can see by my dark pics. I am excited because I managed to get several great shots for potential painting material. The above pic is one taken of West Point Military Academy overlooking the Hudson River. It is a spectacular spot where George Washington halted the British from taking over the river and controlling the Revolutionary War. Just to the right of this opening he and his men managed to string a huge chain across the river and stopped the British Ships! I would have to work on the lighting of this pic when it becomes a painting because of the gloomy weather.
Another great spot is this historic church and graveyard that sits miraculously across the street from Ground Zero where the Twin Towers used to be. Construction is now taking place on that hallowed ground and this church was not supposed to survive the destruction but it did. Inside you see pics and items related to the people who escaped and sought haven in God' s house. It gives you chills and you cannot help feeling intense emotion as you walk there.

We also toured the Fire Museum. I found was great art there of the history of fire fighting in NYC and a room just dedicated to 911 and all the fallen heroes. It was very moving. The last time I was in NYC was in July, 2001. Two months before the disaster and a block away from the Twin Towers. So it was emotional to say the least.

The third pic I thought would make a great painting is my favorite. One of the most picturesque places on earth, even though it is man made, it is a master piece. Central Park. The bridges and walk ways are lovely even in the rain. I am really proud of this shot that I took with Dillon's tiny Canon, my camera is being repaired. Check back in the future for the paintings that will evolve from these pics!

A Painting is never done and New piece in the works!

2009-06-17T17:25:00.000-07:00

I haven't had too much time to dedicate to painting in the past couple of days, the Post Office has been exhausting. Then I am trying to get ready for our family trip to New York. For the first time after over 20 years of marriage my husband has agreed to travel to my birthplace! More on that later. I did manage to really look at some recent paintings and improve them some. I worked on my commission landscape of Vermont, "1881" , cleaned up alot of lines, improved dark values and highlights and made the background values not so symmetric.

I also improved the"Big Oak" painting. Cleaned up lines and values. Then my husband said the painting was boring so I added one of the many deer that roam our property. My husband has a deer feeder right where this oak tree is located and deer and turkey are always in our little nature cove on our place. It is a small painting but I think it tells a story now. Paintings are so much more interesting when they tell a story.

Below is my new pic of the road to my house. It is only half done and I plan on adding some deer to that one too. I drive home on this road that leads to our property every day and so often there are deer on the side of the road. They don't seem to be afraid of me until I get real close. They run when they see my husband. I told him they are very smart, they know I only shoot them with my camera and he shoots them to eat them. Ha! Ha! So they know I am harmless! I may not be able to talk again until after my NY trip. I will be back home in a week. I have off two whole weeks from the Postal Service I am soooo excited. I have ticket to my favorite movie, now a play on Broadway, West Side Story. We are also going river rafting in upstate NY with my cousin and I will get to see lots of my family at a co-ed baby shower for my cousin's new baby on the way. And have I added I am going to be a grandmother soon myself? My daughter is pregnant. Guess I need to brush up on my portrait skills since I will soon have my greatest subject around to paint! See you soon!!!

New Friends!!!

2009-05-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

This was a busy weekend. First my boss gave me off on Saturday, YEAH! I really miss having regular Saturday's off, those were the days! I recently joined a Meetup group of Great Danes lovers. It is a great social network to meet and have social activities people of similar interest such as Great Dane owners. It was held at Harry's Restaurant in Ocala. It has great seafood and is set in a New Orleans style. We have one in Gainesville that my husband and I have been to. The Meetup group sat outside on the patio and I enjoyed two appetizers, clam chowder and muscles. Bullwinkle enjoyed my garlic bread. The waitress brought all the dogs water in pitchers. She had a bit of a hard time manueving around the dogs. Customers were awed at our movie star dogs. Bullwinkle met some new friends. At first the mood was a bit intense between a few but then all settled down to a lovely afternoon. Bullwinkle really liked the women but one was not too keen on him. I brought only Bullwinkle because being my first meeting I decided to see how he acted before I bring Scooby too. He was great. Check out pics of some of Bullwinkle's new acquaintances:

Razzle and De who I first met at the AlachuaSpring Festival, who invited me to the group.

Revised

2009-05-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I reworked the Girl in a Pink Dress, and I am still not happy with her face. The mouth bothers me now. Unfortunately I want to enter the Thomas Center Competion and the deadline for the postmark is tomorrow. I am going to the GFFA meeting http://www.gainesvillefinearts.com/ tonight and they are having a painting critique session and I am going to bring this painting and get other artist's opinions. This is great that the club may be incorporating this critique idea, sometimes it is very helpful to get those outside suggestions. I will let you know how it goes.

My son, Stephen came home for a couple of days, the dogs are thrilled. They love him, he has a gift with kids and dogs. He played with them outside yesterday and they slept throughout the night. Not waking me once to go out. Dogs are like kids if they hear you get out of bed for any reason they all wake up getting excited, thinking it is a party. They are so funny, I keep my door to my bedroom cracked when I sleep to hear if anything my be wrong in my house at night when I sleep. A little neurotic I know. When I used to work nights they would wake me too often and once I jumped out of bed and yelled at them all to "GO TO BED." Bullwinkle and Rocky ran, jumped on the couch and cowered, never bothering me again. Now when they think I am stirring I see them peek through the crack in my door and they only burst through when my alarm finally goes off. Then they know I am getting out of bed. Of course now we have Scooby and he has changed that since he sleeps on the floor in my bedroom, but he too has learned to sleep through the night. Dogs are so smart!

Finally Finished!

2009-05-10T15:20:00.001-07:00

I renamed this painting from "Girl in a Chair" to "Girl in a Pink Dress." Mainly because I really loved the dress. As I explained before this piece was inspired by the well known Florida Artist, Rachel Stearns and by my need for a lovely picture of a woman for my Guest Room. (Which by the way for all of you who know me it is tastefully decorated with Barbie, the doll, I am a closet Barbie Doll Collector! ) Rachel Stearns was my husband's great aunt and was a prominent artist. In his family's living room is a painting of a woman in a chair. I would love that painting but my brother-in-law covets it. So I decided to paint my own pretty woman, thus "Girl in a Pink Dress." I always wanted to paint like the great masters and how they portrayed portraits, so here is my attempt at my "Mona Lisa."

I used a models face and my daughter as visual aids but it is my own invention of the two faces. I have been reading alot about glazing and multiple layers on a painting giving it great depth. I experimented with it and love the results. I feel it really gave her dress a rich look. What do you think? I welcome comments! I want to enter this piece in competitions to build my resume and have something to put under awards on my website. What do you think of my "Girl in a Pink Dress" ???

This week I will enter a juried show at the Thomas Center. It is a lovely historic home, located at 302 NE 6th Ave, Gainesville, FL 32601. It is in the historic area of Gainesville and many cultural events are held there. You can even book weddings and parties. The grounds are beautiful and the house is a museum also. Wish me luck!

I also finished two small paintings I mentioned before I named them

"Big Oak" The pic of a huge oak tree on our property and the beach scene in Fort Myers, "Storm Brewing." I added these to my website which you can check out, http://www.tinacorbett.com/ If anyone signs up for my email newsletter, I am giving a 10% off coupon for any piece of artwork purchased even prints. My other special offer is if you recommend me to a patron who purchases a piece of art from me I will pay you a 10% finders fee in Cash!

Talk with you, soon!

Tina

New works in the wind

2009-05-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have finally started work last week on my painting of Italy for my daughter. She has a great house and this will be perfect for it. Right now it is just laid in and needs lots and lots of work. It is an early evening or dusk time of day in Port O Fino. So I may be working on this one for awhile it is fairly large.

I actually worked on it last week since I was in Orlando celebrating Jay's 50th Birthday with friends and family. We had a blast at Island's of Adventure and City Walk. I also had a new pet sitter for the dogs when we were gone and she worked

out great. All the boys seemed like they did very

well with her but they were very happy to see us home again. We arrived home on Sunday afternoon and I was exhausted but I did manage to work a little on two small paintings, a big oak on my property and one of Fort Myers Beach.

I actually started the Big Oak, at Linda Blondheim's studio but haven't messed with it for awhile. They are only 8 1/2" x 11". The other one is a pic I took while at a family wedding weekend in Fort Myers beach several months ago. We were riding on a boat with my husband's cousin's new husband on our way to Sanibel Island and a storm was brewing in the distance. We stopped to get gas and I took this pic. I am always fascinated by the great skies we have in Florida especially when the skies are stormy. The crazy thing was we headed right in the direction of the storm and went swimming and barbecued in the water at Sanibel. Yes, in the water, we set up a barbeque off the side of the boat and ate while floating in the water off the shore. The skies

stayed grey and gloomy most of the day but the storm

managed to avoid us for most of the day. It did

occasionally sprinkle on us.

"Storm Brewing In the Distance", still needs some refinement. Maybe tomorrow since I am off of work one more day! Yeah!

Weekend work

2009-04-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you have just stay home! Today I did not go to church, I worked a long day on Saturday and just was tired and felt like never leaving the house. I woke up early with my son, Stephen who came home overnight from college at UCF. He was racing his dirtbike at Reddick and his bike messed up so he came home hoping it could be fixed. He did not fix his bike and instead rode his friend's bike. He called me later and did not do so well so it was a bust for him. Check out a pic of my middle son.

I did paint today alot. I worked on a small landscape I started at Linda Blondheim's studio of a big oak tree

on our property, a seascape of a pic I took in Fort Myers. And

I finally did a lot of work of Heather's Italy pic. I will post the

Italy pic during the week to show that progress.

2009 Alachua Spring Festival

2009-04-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

Had a great time last weekend at the festival. Alachua does a great job and a very eclectic group of vendors. I didn't have a booth this year because although it is fun to do it, the last two times I had a booth in the festival I did not make any money. People seem to go there to browse and have fun so I went this year to do the same. I took Scooby for his first socialization outing. He was nervous at first but then he did great. Just like when I bring Bullwinkle, he was a star. All the kids love to pet him and admire what a spectacular creature he is. He is such a handsome dog. It is amazing that he turned out to be such a great dog since we rescued him. The previous owners had no idea what a prize they had. Their lose our gain. Of course, Bullwinkle was not happy that I left him behind, and I did feel bad, but I cannot control two dogs over 100 pound each. Between the 3 dogs they total 370 pounds!

I need to get over to the Garden Gallery, they have several of my paintings, notecards and prints and see what has sold during the festival.

Newest pic of "Girl in a Chair", My Mona Lisa in the works

2009-04-17T09:34:00.001-07:00

I managed to work on the chairs yesterday. They need a little more refinement. I also put transparent gloss on the dress. I really want the dress to look like flowing folds similar to how the famous Renaissance artist made their flowing robes. This weekend I will put back her left hand. I will have to use my projector with the original pic of Heather's face so I can see what it is that is not correct on her face. It looks a little like Heather but I want it to be unmistakeably her face. Of course I will work around my weekend plans. The Alachua Spring Arts Festival is Sunday. I decided not to participate in it this year but I do have 2 paintings, several prints and notecards on sale at the Garden Gallery on Main Street in Alachua right in the heart of the festival. So hopefully the weather will be fabulous. Saturday I am going out to dinner with a couple of girlfriends!

Hope I see you at the festival!

Works in Progress

2009-04-12T13:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend was really great. My mom, Rose and daughter, Heather, came up for Easter weekend. I took off from work Saturday and we went to Saint Augustine, which to me is the most beautiful place in Florida. We had lunch at Scarlett O'Haras which is just off of the main drag, in the Spanish Quarter near Saint George's street. It was really cute with a solest singing old rock and playing the guitar. The weather was fabulous, sunny with a wonderful breeze off the water and the sandwiches were delicious. After we ate we went over to the outlet stores off of State Road 16 on the way home and found some great deals on great design label clothes. I wish I knew about that place when Heather was getting married last year. I could have found lots of stuff to wear to all the showers, and parties we had leading up to the wedding.

Today I may paint on my "Girl in a Chair" painting. I call this my "Mona Lisa" I have been working on this for awhile on and off. I was flipping through a fashion magazine sometime back and came across a fabulous pic of a lovely girl in a gold dress sitting on gold chairs. The girl is built just like my daughter and I thought my daughter would look like that in that dress. So I had her pose in the same manner and took her picture several times. I used the same dress in the photo and a few of the same chairs and painted my daughter in that dress. I did change the dress from gold to a rosy pink one. This was started as a painting for myself to hang in my "Barbie Guest Room" (I am a avid Barbie Doll Collector). It would fit perfectly. Originally my brother in law, Russell and I both coveted a painting of a girl in a chair at my mother-in-law's house. It was painted by his aunt, Rachel Stearns, a famous Florida artist, now deceased, who painted throughout Florida over 30 years ago. She even had her paintings hanging at the Smithsonian in Washington. So since I don't have that one I am painting my own.

I hope to enter this painting in show, museum and art contests in hopes of building my resume. I plan on making it one of my best. As you can see it needs work. Hands are a problem for me and my daughter's face needs more work. I took out my chairs and need to put them back. Stay tuned and see how this painting unfolds.

The Dog Show was great fun!

2009-04-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

Well we had a blast at the dog show. I didn't make any painting connections but sure had great fun with the dogs. My friend, Marie Spencer, Essence Photography, made some connections, though.

There were so many dogs of all kinds. I met my new friends Vinny and his wife again and they had their beautiful Great Dane with them.

Unfortunately Bullwinkle snapped at

the younger dog. He is getting so

grumpy as he gets older. Since we

brought Scooby into our home he is

not so tolerant of new male dogs.

Here are the pics from the High Springs Herald. Rocky made the front page! Although he does not look too happy. I did lift the hat up so he could see. Rocky and Bullwinkle won third place for best dressed as the Blues Brothers. And Bullwinkle won second place for most unusual. He was beat out by one of those Mexican hairless dogs.

Their costumes were not so user friendly. They were

hard to construct. I made them out of actual men's

suits from the Goodwill store and they kept falling

off of them. Let's face it dogs are not meant to wear

clothes!

Bullwinkle is pictured at right with Marie's son, Trevor,

leaning on him. Trevor was lots of help with the dogs.

Mutts and Pups Dog Show

2009-03-22T08:16:00.000-07:00

For all of you dog lovers out there, check out the dog show in High Springs next week. I will be there with my friend, Marie Spencer a photographer. She will take pics of you and your dog or you and my dogs for about $8 a pic. The pic will be ready to for you to take home by the end of the day. Print out an application at the above link (click on the title above or the website, http://farmersmarket.highsprings.com)

to enter your dog in any of the contests. I am going to enter Bullwinkle and Rocky in the Best Dressed and another category, I haven't decided yet which one. It is great fun. Two years ago they one Best Dressed as Batman and Robin. This week I have to put together a new costume for them. Bullwinkle is so big it is hard to get that together. Come join us it is a blast and the dogs are so funny! I will also be giving out flyers for Dog Portraits for 10% off if you sign up at the show.

Here is a pic of Bullwinkle as Batman. He was not so thrilled to wear clothes. I have a better pic of Rocky as Robin but could not find it, stayed tooned.

Dudley Farm Paint Out

2009-03-16T19:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend I decided to check out the Paint Out at Dudley Farm in Newberry, Florida. I really am interested in Plein Air painting but have never had any official training for it so I went to this to observe the working artists. I was very impressed with most of the artists there. One of my favorites was an artist from Saint Augustine, Charles Dickenson, his work was fabulous. My friend Sue Johnson also was doing cool work and it was great to talk with her. She had a nice painting of a cow that I liked, along with her usual horses. I went to paint outdoors with her once and found it fun. I did feel like a fish out of water but I will do it again as soon as my schedule allows just to get the hang of it. It is very special to observe nature and try to capture the colors and values as they truly are. Photos tend to mute the colors.

Hiltop Animal Hospital invited me to attend their open house celebration of their new building. I have hung my "Keeping the Watch" painting of Bullwinkle and Rocky there and placed my cards, so it will be a great chance to meet people and their pets. I will probably bring my top model, Bullwinkle.

2009 Winter Art Fair @ Tioga

2009-03-04T17:19:00.000-08:00

Well I have survived the weekend! My cousin Denise flew in from NJ to hang with me at the art show so that was great fun. Friday afternoon my husband Jay helped me set up my tent and display. The weather was great that night and customer traffic was okay. I actually sold a couple of small items, prints and a miniature oil painting. The miniatures make great gifts for friends, teachers, co-workers, etc. I usually keep them under $20 so anyone can purchase them. Sometimes kids buy them and I think it fosters future art collectors. Maybe when they are older they will look me up to buy a big painting, Ha! Ha! We met some cool people from NY. A cool couple, Vinnie and his wife, Viola, bought a small card of the "Keeping the Watch" print of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Denise and I had so much fun talking with him and his family about Great Danes and NY. Laughing for at least a half an hour.

Saturday was great fun, met lots of cool people, ate lots of junk food, listened to an eclectic array of music and sold some more small stuff. I have noticed at the past two art shows I have done that not all artists like music at the shows. I personally like all music and think it adds to the spirit of the event. No, it does not improve sales but whether I am a customer or exhibitor at the shows I like the music. Once an artist actually left because the music was too much for him, and it was lovely classical music. As the day wore on the topic of conversation was the weather forecast. The weather was destined to take a severe turn for the worse. High winds, rain and very cold temperatures were to come overnight and into Sunday morning. The Tioga Center offered the artist's one of their enclosed empty buildings to store our artwork overnight. Several of us took advantage of it, but many artist's packed up their entire setups.

Sunday morning I awoke at 5am to howling, scary wind and rain. I told my cousin Denise that I hoped my tent was still standing. We finally rolled out of bed at 8 am and decided to check out Tioga, getting there at 10:30am. It was very, very windy, but everything looked really good. My tent was in great shape, so we stayed along with many other artists. The bad thing was that quite a few artist's left without even giving Sunday a chance. The day actually turned out to be beautiful. It was a little chilly but the sun was so bright and the sky so phenomenal that it was a blessing as Virginia Chen, one of our talented, watercolor artists, said to us. We had a great day. I did not sell any big oils which was a little disappointing but I sold more small stuff, made great contacts and have a possible commission, from a lady named Barbara. So if you reading this Barbara contact me and I will paint your adorable pug.

Elizabeth came by with Gizmo. I did her portrait with her beloved dog, Gizmo recently. Her husband, my co-worker, Buddy, commissioned the pic as a Christmas present for her. I was so pleased that she was so happy with it. She wants me to do another but this time a pic of her three mules.

Monday I was back to work, Denise left to fly back to NJ. It is always a bummer when she leaves because we have so much fun together. Of course back to work at the Post Office is always a let down after an art show not because the people I work with aren't cool but not being able to work full time as an artist is disappointing. I always want to paint some more.

This weekend I will work on laying out the drawing and first layer of Heather's Italy pic. It is a pic she gave me of Portofino. It is going to be a big project. I also need to start a new dog pic I plan on doing of Scooby and Bullwinkle. About the dogs, I need to research a little bit about dogs and shedding. Scooby is such heavy shredder. I have dog hair everywhere. I did not notice it as much with Rocky and Bullwinkle but Scooby sheds alot. I called Jean's Grooming in Gainesville and talked with Lisa, the owner and a groomer. She said to put a little canola oil in his food, that perhaps his coat is dry. For all you local dog owners, Jean's Grooming is a great place. They have healthy dog food available for all dogs, and Jean and Lisa are wonderful people and very professional. Check them out, they are behind 84 Lumber off of State Road 441 in Gainesville right before it turns into 13 Street going south. I buy all my dog food there. After some research I found that Eagle Brand dog food is the best and the safest dog for Great Danes. You can obtain a lot of info about Danes and dogs in general on the Great Dane Lady website, http://www.greatdanelady.com/ She gives good advice about a variety of subjects and situations concerning dogs. We will have to talk some more in the future about caring for Danes.

Talk with you soon.

A day with the Dogs!

2009-02-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

This weekend I tied up a bunch of loose ends getting ready for the Winter Fine Art Festival at Tioga next weekend. The weather was fabulous. I went outside with the dogs to take some pics of them. After the show I plan on painting my daughter, Heather's pic of Italy first but then I plan on painting several dog pics. A couple of portraits and then a couple of dog action paintings. For all my dog lover friends I want to capture just how fun these guys are. My two Great Danes and my Rott/Doberman mix are the ultimate cool dudes. Bullwinkle is the king, Rocky is his best buddy and side kick and Scooby, our dane rescue dog is the happiest dog I have ever seen.

I think he will make a great pet portrait! Great Danes have incredible bone structure and are such unusual creatures. They are so loving and such people dogs. I have found them easy to train and do very well in the house. Even Scooby who was raised as an outdoor dog has adapted well to our home.

2009-02-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

To the best son-in-law, and to answer my daughter's comment below, I have the canvas, and the pic I want to do, so after the show at the Tioga Center I will start it. Of course I did start my "Mona Lisa" which I will post here over the weekend.

A Very Productive Weekend

2009-02-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

This was a great weekend. I worked a half a day on Saturday at the PO, and was super tired when I came home but still managed to start working for the Winter Fine Art Fair @ Tioga. I printed out all my mailing labels and labeled 190 postcards from my newly made mailing list. This was on only a few hours sleep since I went in to work at 4:30 am. Just to inform all of you I turned 50 this year and found out I am in full menopause, so sleep is a gift. Sometimes I can't fall asleep for awhile, and sometimes I wake up at 3am, "the devil's hour." I call it that because I once saw this horror movie where the devil caused things to happen at 3am. Since this whole menopause thing started, the devil has had his way with my emotions and my sleeping habits. Maybe I will be a tortured person and that should make me a better painter, ha! ha! Weren't all the famous artist's tormented in some way? That brings me to my work this weekend.

I finished Ava's landscape of Vermont. I think

I will call it "1881" She told me that years ago

when people built their barns they painted the

year it was build on the roof. The photo of it is not

that good since I took it in poor light in my living room tonight. The colors do not do it justice, but I am happy with it and she was thrilled when I showed her the unfinished pic the other day.

Below it is the pic of High Springs, I still feel it needs some refinement. I will try to do that this weekend, although it will be tough since I will have a house full of guests. Some friends are pit stopping at our house.

Update on Scooby, I mentioned before that I was

worried one night that he did not eat. Well he

is back to his old self and cute as ever. Except the other night I let him stay loose in the house and out of his crate while I slept. He was great until the "devil's hour" and I heard some commotion in the kitchen ... he was having a party with the garbage. I yelled loud enough to scare the crap out of him and chased him outside, which scared the crap out of Bullwinkle and Rocky who were asleep on the couch. They soon followed him outside. So by the time I cleaned up the kitchen and brought them all inside, it was hard for me to get back to sleep, so another tired day.

Sunday after church was when I finished painting the Vermont painting, the High Springs pic and worked on my "Mona Lisa". I will tell you all about that painting in the future. This is the painting that will be my masterpiece, the pic that will win awards. Stay tuned!

Monday I managed to matt all my prints for the show. Unfortunately I cut my matts sitting on my living room floor watching "3:10 to Yuma" on DVD from Netflix's. So today my back was killing me at work at the PO. It was a crazy busy day at Alachua Post Office. The day after a holiday is always nuts.

Someday I will have that studio where I will have a real working table and a place for all my art equipment so I am not working on my living room floor, or beside my dining room table or stealing my son Stephen's room while he is in college.

See ya soon!

JumpstART: A Workshop in Creative Entrepreneurship

2009-02-13T16:31:00.000-08:00

I have yet to comment on the workshop I went to at the Harn Museum on Feb. 7. It was really super. I saw lots of fellow artist from GFFA, Gainesville Fine Arts Association. There was several very good speakers covering all subjects pertaining to starting your own business in the art field. It gave us marketing ideas and professional business information. They fed us a very nice lunch and then we had breakout roundtable discussions. I of course attended the session concerning the Fine Arts which included the photographer, Randy Batista, the digital artist, Maggie Taylor and the oil painter, Dennis Campay. They were really helpful and gave great tips. They stressed the importance of being professional when approaching a gallery. They gave advice on talking and communicating with your customers and ways to discuss payment for your work. The subject of donating artwork to various charities also came up. The fact that artist get hit up more than anyone else. To the point it is abusive. When approached by a charity, we should come to an agreement with the organization for a set price for our work and at least 50% of the our cost to produce the work. Many times they auction our work for way less than it is worth and the guest artist's said sometimes they found that people go to these auctions to get their work at bargain prices. And when a hospital asks for a donation, ask that hospital to give you half off your MRI if you need one in exchange for your artwork next time they want a donation, and see what they say.

I did bond with fellow GFFA artists, especially, Ellen West. I found out that she and I grew up down in South Florida and attended Immaculata-Lasalle High School in Coconut Grove Florida. I only attended there for 1 year and then I went to Killian High but it was fun to reminise. She is a really great person.

This weekend I plan to paint, clean and do my mailouts for the Winter Fine Arts Fair @ Tioga.
I have to find the time to clean my house, some close friends are coming to stay next weekend and the house is covered in dust. I have to finish Ava's Vermont painting and my High Springs pic. Got any name suggestions for either one? Comment on my blog and help me out.

Also before I go to bed, I have to go into work at 4:30 am tomorrow for half a day, if anyone refers me to another friend and I get a commission or sell a painting from that person, I will award my friend with a miniature painting or a 8" x 10" print of any of my Florida Series paintings. And if you really like my pics I do have lenient layaway.

Talk with you soon!

Projects in the works

2009-02-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

My photography is not the best something I have to work on. Today was a crazy day at the Post Office. Monday is always busy. So no painting today. Here are the two painting I am working on that I talked about yesterday. The picture of the barn was taken in Vermont. I asked Ava today. We are very excited about it. It is about 3/4's done. It needs refinement, highlighted areas need work. The other pic is of High Springs and that one is about 1/2 done. It needs alot of finishing work.

The dogs are a little laid back today. Scooby wasn't his usual crazy self and did not scarf down his food. I hope he is feeling well. He did eat eventually, so I guess he is fine. He is always a crazy hog with his food.

When we rescued him we found out that he has heartworms. He was an outdoor dog and never was on any heartworm medication. In the state of Florida there is such a high risk of heartworms with the high mosquito population. Every dog and cat should be on heartworm medicine. There is a treatment to rid a dog of heartworms, but it is roughly about $800 and can be dangerous to a dog. It is like chemo therapy. Not only can we not afford it, but are sceptical about putting Scooby through it. Sometimes keeping a dog on the original heartworm medication, Heartgard can cure the problem over time but a vet told us that the worms in Scooby are past that stage. Although, she told us he is extremely healthy at the moment so the heartworms may never effect him in his lifetime. Great Danes traditionally only live to 8 or 9 years. Of course, I plan on keeping mine alive for more years than that with good, healthy, food and living in luxury on my leather couch. So for now we are going the Heardgard route and I pray over him all the time. God cures cancer and all kinds of amazing things, I know he can cure some worms. Keep you updated.

A Day Off

2009-02-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

Today was a very productive day. The bad thing is I did not make to Church. Going to Church always starts my week out right but I got lazy and stayed in bed too long. I did work on a new landscape I started. It is a great pic that my friend Ava gave me of a red barn, hillside and rows of corn. She took it on her vacation. I hope to have it for my next show at The 2009 Winter Fine Art Fair @ Tioga on Newberry Road in Gainesville, Florida from 2/27/2009 - 3/1/2009. I will have a pic of it uploaded soon. I also worked on a country scene with hay bales, from High Springs. I started it last week at Linda Blondheim's studio. She helped me alot and showed me a basic palette, good values and how to design a good painting. Things I had forgotton from my training years ago. I found her very inspiring. She is very knowledgeable and always helpful with good advice. She has a great website and super blog. http://www.lindablondheimartnotes.blogspot.com/

I did not realize the pic of Rocky did not upload so here is his pic, isn't he a movie star?

I also took some recent pics of all the boys. After I finish the above landscapes I am going to start some pics with the dogs. I plan on doing an action shot of them and then a portrait of Scooby. I will start to place them as examples to sell my work at the local vets. Of course I also need to start my daughter's huge landscape of Italy for her family room. That is a priority.

I received an email from my friend Rebecca, she lives in Virginia, and it was great to hear from her. We were involved in Scouts when the boys were young. She is going to pass the word around about my Pet Portraits to her friends who show dogs. That could be promising!

Beside having a very positive painting day, I took off yesterday and attended a seminar at the Harn Museum called “JumpstART: A Workshop in Creative Entrepreneurship”. It was very informative and geared toward getting your art business off the ground. It was great and there were many artist friends from the GFFA, http://www.gainesvillefinearts.com

Next week I have to concentrate on finishing those landscapes, getting my notecards matted Florida Scenes Prints printed and other stuff for the show at the end of the month.

For anyone ordering a Pet Portrait, I will give them a free 5" X 7" print of "Keeping the Watch" and I will give a set of 6 notecards of the "Florida Scenes" paintings if you order any of my landscapes. Check them out on my website, www.tinacorbett.com.

Well work is tomorrow at 7:30 am and I still have to clean up the kitchen. Talk with you soon.

2009-02-07T17:08:00.000-08:00

For all you pet lovers out there especially dogs, especially Great Danes. I have my number one man, Bullwinkle. He is 170 pounds, a merle dane with a fabulous personality and he is king in our house. There is Rocky our 80 pound Rottweiler/Doberman mix who is the sweet heart of the crew and Bullwinkle's faithfull sidekick. Then there is our newest edition, Scooby Doo. We rescued him from being taken to death row, (the pound) by irresponsible owners who did not love

him. He is the teenager in the house. Bullwinkle is not buddies with him yet, but we are working on it.

You can see that Bullwinkle and Rocky are my best models, here
they are in "Keeping the Watch" (http://www.tinacorbett.com/).
This is what they do everyday as they look at the picture window
at the deer, turkey's, the neighbors dogs and cats that

visit our property.

And so it begins.....

2009-02-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

Hi, to all my friends!!! Well here it is I am now a blogger. I invite all that I know to share in this experience with me as often as possible. Let me introduce myself. My name is Tina Corbett. First and formost I am an struggling artist, a disgruntled Postal Employee of 30 years, a mother of three fabulous and unique kids and a wife to the best husband any one can have. I have the good fortune to still have my mother alive and she loves me, she's Puerto Rican so of course she worships me, and my Italian father is in heaven. So I am well adjusted!

This is my blog which I will dedicate to four things, art, family, pets and the Postal Service . One day I will be retired and the Postal Service will no longer be an issue.