Artists of The Boston School, Inspiration, Landscape Painting, Ruminations on Art No comments yet

As The Artist Sees It

By Melody on January 22nd, 2012

Dennis Miller Bunker

Roadside Cottage by Dennis Miller Bunker

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I recently came across an article with a photo of the house in Medfield painted by Dennis Miller Bunker. I find it gratifying to see how an artist beautifully pictures a most mundane subject.

I admire Bunker’s work and have always enjoyed the light-splashed cottage and soft grasses in this painting titled Roadside Cottage. I can hear crunching footsteps along the pink-with-sunlight path in front of the house. It is an idyllic scene, the kind of vision that one might encounter as a wayfarer, happily enjoying the path on the journey.

I grin to see the photo of the house today certainly not much different than it was when Bunker painted it. It proves to me again that artists provide a useful teaching by showing us how to view daily life with enchantment.

Bunker's Home in Medfield

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Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Phaneuf maintains a studio at Fenway Studios in Boston, where she paints and holds workshops, continuing the Boston School lineage.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

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Landscape Painting, Painting Light, Winter Snow Paintings No comments yet

A Painterly Vision~ Walking in Winter

By Melody on January 13th, 2012

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf, Winter Painting

Walking in Winter, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

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The diminished light and softened atmosphere of winter months presents our eyes with intriguing visual patterns. Lower light intensity blurs edges and subordinates minor details. It is a broader view of the world, one that halts us with emotional impact, widening our eyes and resting the reasoning mind.

I see many scenes like Walking in Winter in the early morning and late afternoon at this time of year. I love the softness and the focus on spots of light that arrest my attention. Walking in Winter is a scene that draws me in by the abstraction first, then the recognition that there is something, a figure walking in a hilly, snow-covered environment second. This to me is the exciting bit of experience that I try to communicate with the viewer.

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Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Phaneuf maintains a studio at Fenway Studios in Boston, where she paints and holds workshops, continuing the Boston School lineage.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

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Inspiration, Ruminations on Art No comments yet

New Year 2012

By Melody on December 30th, 2011

Self Portrait of Melody Phaneuf, oil painting

Humoresque, Self Portrait by Melody Phaneuf

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All good things must come to an end. I am grateful to have had a year of continued good health, energy, and the desire to chronicle positive moments in paint. We live in a changed world that continues momentum forward. It seems to have been an opportunity to reflect on things that money cannot buy.

It all goes by very fast and I remind myself that each day I am constructing memories as I continue to pursue the light and the meaning of things with brushes, paint, and inspiration.

May we appreciate the beauty and find joy in every moment this coming year. And may we consciously build the memories that we will look back on with delight~

~

Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Phaneuf maintains a studio at Fenway Studios in Boston, where she paints and holds workshops, continuing the Boston School lineage.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Winter Snow Paintings No comments yet

Painting in a Minor Key~ Village in Snow

By Melody on December 24th, 2011

Oil Painting of Snowy day in Gloucester, MA

Village in Snow, 30 x 25 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

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I am fascinated by the expanse of color that lies in intermediate minor keys. In the narrow interval subtlety seems to expand. It seems infinity can’t be stopped; tight boundaries cause it to spread from the center.

In Village in Snow, minor key conditions are chronicled. From a high Gloucester vantage point, Village in Snow overlooks little houses and Our Lady of Good Voyage bell towers against a backdrop of the harbor blanketed in snow. Within the narrow range of neutral color, the subtle shifts unfold.

The diffused light from cloud cover, along with a haze of fluttering white flakes muffles visual noise. These are the circumstances of light and atmosphere, which seem to kindle an inward gaze. The buildings in the painting appear to huddle together in closeness, as if to stay warm. The people they house are surely at peace. Village in Snow is a quiet moment, a symbol of winter reverie.

Village in Snow, 30 x 25 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
Also available in Open Edition Print and Handmade Note Cards

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Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~

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Boston Art, Gift Ideas, Inspiration, Still Life Paintings No comments yet

The Creative Spirit~ Con Spirito

By Melody on December 7th, 2011

Oil Painting by Boston Artist Melody Phaneuf

Con Spirito, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

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Con Spirito is the joyful expression of the creative spirit that communicates through art and music. Candlelight bathes the instruments and is symbolic of a Divine spark that is the source of inspiration.

If it is true that visual patterns energize us in particular ways, the structure of Con Spirito is certain to move us with dynamic flow. Buoyant rhythms result from contrast in line and shape. The sense of illumination radiating from the center gladdens the heart as it penetrates the darkness.

In many ways I regard Con Spirito as a mandala in square form. Encompassed by movement, the design keeps one returning to the center. The objects in Con Spirito do tell a story, but the abstract image is useful as a focus of contemplation.

Con Spirito, 34 x 36 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
Con Spirito is available in Botticino tile coasters, fine art print, and handmade note cards

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Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Art Exhibits No comments yet

The Painterly Voice

By Melody on December 1st, 2011

William Lathrop painting of Martha's Vineyard

Chilmark Moor, Martha's Vineyard by W. Lathrop

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There have been a handful of exhibits that I have seen through the years that have truly inspired and stayed with me. The Painterly Voice at the Michner Museum falls easily into this category. Granted, timing is everything and it could just be that I was longing to see the world through such variety in temperament, but I am left with a sense of having experienced an honest and spirited response to Nature.

These Artists from Buck’s County seem to be not-too-distant relatives of the Boston School of painters but in terms of paint handling, much more gutsy. They appeared to be less concerned with emulating Nature than expressing it. Though some paintings were “quieter” than others, I noted an insistence to many, as if the Artists were impelled by divine force to paint.

Chilmark Moor, Martha’s Vineyard by William Lathrop is a sparkling expression of light and shadow so typical of conditions in coastal New England. The buoyant design is perfectly supported by lush exuberant brushstrokes; one can feel the day. An untitled work by George Sotter combines eloquent brushstroke with a quieter key, resulting in a more silent moment that conveys hunkering down in winter. Despite the snow, there is warmth to the painting, a feeling of comfort.

Both of these paintings as well as many more can be looked at for a long, long time. If you love landscape and the texture of paint, it is well worth the trip to Doylestown, Pennsylvania to view The Painterly Voice.

George Sotter, Winter Painting

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Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Landscape Painting, Painting Light, Winter Snow Paintings No comments yet

Painting Winter Twilight

By Melody on November 15th, 2011

Oil landscape painting of snow by Boston Artist Melody Phaneuf

Winter Twilight, 16 x 12 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

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Painting Winter Twilight was a quieting experience. I especially enjoy the delicate drama of these silvery scenes illuminated by the comparative brilliance of transitional light. The combination places focus on emotional and spiritual qualities of the landscape. It gives me great appreciation for the light.

Blankets of snow unify, leaving only structural evidence. The concealment of unimportant detail minimizes distraction, drawing me deeper into silence. The snow mirrors the sky, immersing the scene in color and light.

I love the simplicity of Winter Twilight; to me it is a symbol of peace.

Winter Twilight, 16 x 12 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

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Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Painting Light, Ruminations on Art, Still Life Paintings No comments yet

Painting Inner Light

By Melody on October 28th, 2011

Still-Life-Radiant-Vessel-Phaneuf

Radiant Vessel, 24 x 36 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, in private collection

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As autumn’s light diminishes I find myself in a contemplative and sometimes, vulnerable state of mind. Something has to be done to hinder the enveloping darkness that exhausts my spirit.

I search for combinations of colors that glow. I’m looking for the vibration in color that simulates the radiance of absent sunlight. When the relationship is flawless, color effectuates brilliant inner light.

Experiencing the presence of inner light in a painting is as powerful as repeating a mantra to focus my mind and refine emotion.  Surrounding myself with illumination lifts my spirit. It is my remedy for transforming winter darkness.

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Radiant Vessel, 24 x 36 oil painting, in private collection
Radiant Vessel is available as handmade note cards and holiday ornament

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Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Phaneuf maintains a studio at Fenway Studios in Boston, where she paints and holds workshops, continuing the Boston School lineage.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Art Exhibits, Boston Art, Inspiration No comments yet

Admiring Degas, Master of Pastel

By Melody on October 18th, 2011

MFA Boston Degas and The Nude

The Tub, pastel by Degas, on view at MFA, Boston

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Viewing Degas and The Nude at the Museum of Fine Arts reminded me how much I love the medium of pastel. Though I have seen more worthy examples of his bathers, it was engaging to see his process of working in mixed media, layering pastel over monoprint.

It is validating to see a master experiment, to observe the process through his eyes, and to witness an unwieldy drawing corrected with a single expert stroke.  But it is in Degas’ handling of pastel that one may delight in the delicious quality of buttery layers of pigment topped with calligraphic fluency.

I, for one am relieved that Degas never found his niche in history painting as the chronology states. What a pity it would have been to subordinate  such soulful expression to dispassionate statement of fact. The world Degas reveals to us in his nudes may be somewhat harsh, but it is ever so lovingly caressed by the light and the hand of a master.

Degas And The Nude is on view through February 5, 2012 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Phaneuf maintains a studio at Fenway Studios in Boston, where she paints and holds workshops, continuing the Boston School lineage.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Schedule a studio visit
Commission a painting
Online shopping
Join a workshop
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~

Color, Still Life Paintings No comments yet

Autumn Table~ Demijohn & Suzani

By Melody on September 28th, 2011

Demijohn and Suzani, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

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The earnest, handmade beauty of this Turkish suzani inspired me to compose a painting around its design and color. It seems especially appealing at this time of year, when I yearn to see more of the color red and taste the sweetness of seasonal fruits.

The presence of the human hand is evident in the variety of objects in the arrangement. Hammered metal, thrown pottery and molded glass share the spirit of the embroidered suzani. Fruit & bread echo the color scheme, offering nourishment for body and soul.

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Demijohn and Suzani, 30 x 18 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

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Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Phaneuf maintains a studio at Fenway Studios in Boston, where she paints and holds workshops, continuing the Boston School lineage.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Schedule a studio visit
Commission a painting
Shop Online
Join a workshop
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