scott shiffer studio art blog

Fishing Without Bait

2012-01-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

Fishing Without Bait

Charcoal and watercolor on 10 x 10 inch paper on panel (Aqua-Fuse from Signature Canvas). Child wearing a hat while fishing without bait with toy fishing pole as parents and two ducks watch nearby. Sign reads, "No Fishing."

Peacock

2011-12-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

Peacock

Toward the end of the Summer, a peahen strolled across the front porch. A few days later, a peacock showed up. [The male is called a peacock and the female is called a peahen.] They never left. These magnificent birds come and go, sometimes spending the day roaming the yard or just sitting in the gazebo. Some days they are not around at all. There's a lot of symbolism associated with peacocks reviewed at this blog. I did a couple paintings of the peacock. I left the background unpainted leaving the Claessens linen exposed on the one above and painted the peacock with oil [canvas panel 20 x 16 inches].

Winter Scene

2011-12-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

A painting to match the approaching season. Under a Winter sky, a horse-drawn sledge returns home through the snow accompanied by a Golden Retriever. Distant leafless trees surround the home. 16 x 12 in oil on linen.

3 Trees

2011-09-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

3 Trees

Along the shores of the San Francisco Bay just west of the Saint Francis Yacht Club, there are 3 large trees that have been there as long as I can remember. The wind blows off the Pacific Ocean through the Golden Gate toward Berkeley and over the years, these trees have shown the effects of the prevailing wind by growing up and bending toward the east. The trees could symbolize how in life we yield to forces surrounding us. This piece was done on a 16 x 12 inch linen panel drawn in the "peinture à l'essence" technique that Degas (briefly) and Toulouse-Lautrec used with oil paints.

Museum Exhibition

2011-07-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Pandora's Pythos

Two paintings I completed earlier this year were juried into the Pensacola Museum of Art and will be exhibited until the middle of August. The juror for this special exhibit was the Chief Curator of the Savannah College of Arts and Design, Erin Dziedzic. The paintings are Fly Away and Pandora's Pythos (24" x 36" oil on canvas, shown above).

Dogs in Art

2011-06-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

Pets are a frequent subject of art. A few weeks ago, I came across a book that reviewed dogs in centuries of art. Francisco Goya's "The Dog" is at the Prado in Madrid. a discussion of this piece is at Wikipedia and can be seen here. American artist, Andrew Wyeth had one named, "Ides of March."

The painting above is a scene of a Golden Retriever played out nearly every time I leave the house. She looks around the corner as I go to the door asking, Can I come? Are you taking me? Let's go play. The painting is oil on linen 12 x 16 in.

Sailing the seas

2011-03-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Sailing

Oil on 16 x 12 inch canvas panel. I divided the canvas diagonally painting the gathering gloom on the left side and the lighter golden tones on the right side and placed the horizon a third of the canvas height above the bottom edge and positioned the cutter sailing vessel about one-third of the width of the canvas from the right edge with the sails jutting through the horizon. Mussini semi-transparent oil paints in layers along with burnt sienna and umber for the darker tones were used. Flake white oil for the sails.

Sunrise

2011-03-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Blackwater Sunrise

The beginning of a new day as the sun rises over the Blackwater River. Oil on canvas 24 x 12 in.

Fly Away

2011-02-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

Fly Away

Oil on canvas panel 20 x 16 inches. Blue skies. Sunshine. Birds winging in unbound escape in the gentle breezes above the seashore. Waves gently lapping the sands. Everyone deserves a day at the beach.

Bowl of Oranges

2010-11-27T20:52:00.000-08:00

Bowl of Oranges

Still life, oil on linen, 16 X 12 inches.

Autumn Scene

2010-10-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

Cooler weather and a seasonal still life for Autumn - a white pumpkin with 2 smaller orange pumpkins and gourds.

Pumpkins and Gourds

Still life, oil on linen, 16 x 12 inches.

A Basket of Tomatoes

2010-08-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Basket of Tomatoes

The garden was overflowing with tomatoes earlier this Summer. I grabbed up some cherry and grape tomatoes and filled up a basket and put a few Roma tomatoes into the scene as well as a green pepper for contrast. This piece is painted oil on panel 17 x 11 in. (43 x 28 cm). The basket was painted in heavy impasto style to capture more texture. It is a companion to Still Life with Hot Sauce.

Seashore

2010-08-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

With the sweltering Summer heat, I seek respite in a pleasant place, at least in my memories. This scene could be just about anywhere on this planet where the sea touches the shore. Wandering down the beach where the salt air is sweetened with cool breezes to stop and rest against a forsaken boat. This painting is oil on panel 16 x 9 inches (40 x 23 cm).

Beached Boat

Museum Art

2010-08-15T12:10:00.000-07:00

These two pieces are currently featured at the Pensacola Museum of Art. The juried show has been extended an additional week until August 21st for anyone who has been waiting 'til the last minute.

I painted this one earlier this year to capture the mood at the end of the long Winter months. It is oil on canvas 30 x 20 inches.

Threshold of Spring

My friend, Janice, has Rhode Island Red chickens and brought me a few to paint. Eggs can be one of the most challenging subjects to paint. I kept adding more items to the scene - a green glass carafe with olive oil, vegetables including tomato, green pepper, garlic, a block of cheddar cheese, yellow squash, and an onion. Oh, and the hot sauce bottle in the background. I originally called it Still Life with Rhode Island Red Chicken Eggs, but that title was too long so eventually changed it to Still Life with Hot Sauce. This scene is oil painted on 18 x 24 inch panel.

Still Life with Hot Sauce

Review of this piece by a local art critic was published in the Pensacola News Journal July 23rd, 2010:

"Scott Shiffer keeps it real with his "Still Life with Hot Sauce," a detailed study of vegetables, a canter of oil and a bottle of [hot sauce] hiding in the pile. The oil painting is a strong example of representational work, despite some of its bright, tempera-like colors."

Reading in Art

2010-08-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

Reading and writing have been the subjects of art probably since the beginning. The Egyptian limestone sculpture, Seated Scribe found in the Louvre is thought to be made somewhere between 2600 - 2350 BC. The subject is writing on rolled papyrus seen below.

Jean Jacques Henner (1825-1905) oil on canvas, La Liseuse (The Reader) painted in 1883 and is hung in the Musée d'Orsay seen below-

Yesterday I was talking with a woman who told me she is a voracious reader and recently bought an iPad to read her books and really liked the convenience of the device. This led me to consider - will future artwork abandon paper books for painting and sculpting electronic reading devices? I completed a charcoal/pencil drawing (14x17 in. on smooth Bristol paper) of a woman reading from a wireless device propped up by traditional books, Shakespeare's As You Like It and Balzac's La Comedie Humaine. I like the irony of the juxtaposition of the books supporting the reading device.

Art Inconnu is a blog devoted to 19th and 20th Century under-appreciated art. At that site, there is a whole folder of art devoted to reading here. It's an interesting collection.

Fog at Sunrise

2010-08-01T18:03:00.000-07:00

If visual art has a purpose, it's to convey ideas like written words would tell a story or a musical score or lyrics in a song. Just as music evokes emotions, visual art should inspire the spectator. In Spring and Summer, the early morning fog hangs in the air at sunrise. While standing on a dock, I found a balanced pictorial composition with the trees on both sides and water flowing from the bottom edge of the paper. It takes us on a trip down the river toward the center of the drawing. I observe the scene constantly change as the fog quietly thins and thickens causing the sunlight and morning commute traffic noise to wax and wane. The dynamic vanishing point sometimes obscures the distant trees and will even change the reflections in the water. Fog offers a great visual experience and easily lends itself to charcoal.

Charcoal and pencil on white Canson vellum art paper 24 x 18 inches (61 x 45 cm). The paper worked well with this medium. The slightly irregular surface worked suited the flora. A jet ski was replaced with a more traditional boat. A jet ski wouldn't work well visually and would have worked against the sense of tranquility I was striving for.