Take pride in your work. Take pride in yourself.

Irwin Greenberg

Times Square

Irwin Greenberg was born in Brooklyn in 1922. His watercolors have been widely exhibited in private and public shows, as well as in magazine and books. “Back at the beginning of time, when I was just a kid growing up, the area where I lived near Coney Island, was still open fields and farms with dirt roads. He was the youngest of the three sons of Phillip and Blanch Greenberg. By the time he was eleven years old, Phillip passed away and his mother was “a mother and father rolled into one body, who didn’t allow any fooling around.” He rarely got out of line as he had his mother and brothers to answer too. He loves his work because of “the feelings that art stirs in his mind as well as my heart”. His first sale was a drawing of his mother. He was able to get her to model for him in the kitchen and entered it in a school exhibition. It was purchased by one of his teachers, for about $35 dollars. It was about this time he decided to endeavor into the world of color. He had the thoughts that it would be “as easy as snapping my fingers”. But, upon trying it, found out it was more than he could handle at the time. He became disgusted and gave up because he was unsure of how much talent he really had.

http://www.danxiety.com/Art&Design/OldHat_Greenberg.html

Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.

Anna Mary Robertson Moses

The Thunder Storm 1948

Anna Mary Robertson Moses (September 7, 1860 – December 13, 1961), better known as “Grandma Moses”, was a renowned American folk artist. She is most often cited as an example of an individual successfully beginning a career in the arts at an advanced age. Moses had ten children but five died at birth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses

Be humble; learn from everybody.

Irwin Greenberg

A member of the American Watercolor Society, Greenberg has taught at the School of Visual Arts and the Art Students League NYC, and is well-known  for his gouaches and watercolors of urban scenes.  His work has been featured many times in the annual magazine “Watercolor”; and he has won many national awards including the President’s Prize at the National Arts Club; the Knickerbocker Artists Grumbacher award, and the Georgia Watercolor Society Gold medal.

http://www.kendallartgallery.com/bio-greenberg.htm

What you don’t need is just as important as what you do need.

Romare Bearden

Romare Howard Bearden was born on September 2, 1911, to (Richard) Howard and Bessye Bearden in Charlotte, North Carolina, and died in New York City on March 12, 1988, at the age of 76. His life and art are marked by exceptional talent, encompassing a broad range of intellectual and scholarly interests, including music, performing arts, history, literature and world art. Bearden was also a celebrated humanist, as demonstrated by his lifelong support of young, emerging artists.

http://www.beardenfoundation.org/artlife/biography/biography.shtml

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

e. e. cummings

Mt. Chocorua 1938

Edward Estlin Cummings (October 14, 1894 – September 3, 1962), popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in lowercase letters as ee cummings (in the style of some of his poems), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright. His body of work encompasses approximately 2,900 poems, two autobiographical novels, four plays and several essays, as well as numerous drawings and paintings. He is remembered as a preeminent voice of 20th century poetry, as well as one of the most popular.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings

Those who follow are always behind…

A. Y. Jackson

Red Maple

Alexander Young Jackson, CC, CMG (October 3, 1882 in Montreal, Quebec – April 5, 1974 in Toronto, Ontario) was a Canadian painter and founding member of the Group of Seven.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Y._Jackson

 

The artist is the person who makes life more interesting or beautiful, more understandable or mysterious, or probably, in the best sense, more wonderful

George Wesley Bellows

Summer Surf 1914

George Wesley Bellows (August 12 or August 19, 1882 – January 8, 1925) was an American realist painter, known for his bold depictions of urban life in New York City, becoming, according to the Columbus Museum of Art, “the most acclaimed American artist of his generation”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bellows

For anyone to dictate what is right or wrong in art, good or bad in art, is like telling us who we are, or should be.

Jane Freeman

Party Pair

” I was born and raised on a farm in western North Dakota where the prairie meets the sky. My parents had a cattle and wheat farm which is where I first became infatuated with light. Sunsets there in the summer can turn everything pink and gold and shadows are truely purple! My love for animals came from both my parents who took in all strays and showed such tenderness to them.

I graduated from the U. of North Dakota, was married and began raising two children . My husband and I have lived on a lake in northern Minnesota for 30 years and can’t imagine being any place else. We share our home with a cat, George, who was rescued from a fire and Gracie who is also a rescue and Millie our newest rescue a sweet freckled dog who is quickly winning our hearts. Everyday is an inspiration and a gift, even when it is 40 degrees below zero! I have a B.F.A. but had never worked in watercolors until 1989.

Being juried into a number of national and international shows has been exciting but even more exhilerating for me is being published in Splash 7, Splash 9, Watercolor Magic, International Artist Magazine, The American Artist Magazine and a book “How Did You Paint That” by International Artist Magazine. It is volume 2 of still life and florals. I have written a book for North Light which is entitled, “A Celebration of Light”.”

http://www.janefreeman.com/

It’s good to toss in a stone and begin our own ripples of influence.

Joy Cooper

West Virginia Flyway

It’s amazing what happens to you if you just go along with the flow. My husband Doug and I could never have predicted that we’d be living in West Virginia’s mountains (on a genuine country road) and hosting guests from all over the world in our Bed & Breakfast, Nakiska Chalet.

We’re native West Virginians and whitewater paddlers. We’ve enjoyed exploring our state and I enjoy sharing those experiences with my watercolors. I seriously began to paint in 1995 and offer my work on this site and in Artists at Work Gallery in Elkins, WV, Showcase West Virginia at the Charleston Town Center, Tamarack in Beckley, and several other shops and galleries. I have exhibited my work in state and local art shows and have been pleased that several have received awards. I’m a Juried member of the West Virginia Watercolor Society and Allied Artists of West Virginia.

In addition to all that, I love to plan “dates” with Doug, I’m a mom to two great young men, love my daughters-in-law, and adore our three grandchildren. They, as well as painting, keep me happy and busy.

http://www.nakiska.com/joycooper.htm

We cannot rely on it that good painting will be made one day.We, have to take the matter in hand ourselves…

Sigmar Polke

Autofahren 2002

Sigmar Polke (13 February 1941 – 10 June 2010) was a German painter and photographer.