wnc-galleria:Home of Willow Wisp Farm Studios Auction Store

To celebrate the 4th of July, Mike Taylor is offering a marquetry art card that is the head of an American eagle. The contrast in values from the colors of wood make this small work very dynamic. Check it out! Mike will also have two other works offered this week; a flower and an oak leaf. PH Taylor is offering an original oil landscape painting reproduction of Theodore Robinson's, "Val d'Aconville." Robinson, an American artist, was a guest of Monet at Giverny back in the day of the Impressionists. This painting was of a nearby neighborhood. Happy 4th of July! Don't forget the hamburgers, hotdogs and all that good stuff!!!

I'm sure a lot of artists out there are wondering what items are hot these days??? I know the area we are in is very depressed in the art world these days, so everyone is doing whatever they can to stay afloat. Some folks are going back to work, some are moving away, some are working longer hours at their real jobs, and all of us are hoping for a swift change. Peggy and Mike decided to start doing these little art card works because large works are not is big demand right now. We may not be getting rich by doing it, but it keeps our names out there on the web, more people are finding out about Willow Wisp Farm Studios and the sort of things we offer as a result of this effort. If you visit Willow Wisp Farm Studios you will see a large selection of beautiful wood items made by Mike. In addition, Mike still makes and sells those great pochade boxes for both oil and pastel painting. Peggy is still painting, but her work has shrunk to a more affordable size to suit the troubled economy. She is taking advantage of the slowdown in the art world to redo websites and get things situated for the upturn which is sure to come. Willow Wisp Farm studios is also offering art classes for both adults and children. And the apartment is also available for rent for anyone interested in a short term rental. Come and see us. We know all the great plein air painting locations in the area!

Many years ago, a very vise old artist told me "once you have paid your dues; spend years outside on location painting, you can paint in the studio and fool the best of them." Twenty years later, I like to think I have paid my dues and learned a little about what happens outside as the light moves across the sky. I don't expect any of us will ever know all there is to know, and so we keep on plugging in an attempt to master the art of seeing the color and light. My years of experience have given me the skill to paint miniatures and art cards in the studio and make them look like plein air works. I also believe I do a fair job of painting my miniature reproductions of impressionist work. One thing I can tell you for sure, there is nothing like seeing with your own two eyes. The camera just can not capture what is happening outside in nature. And the pictures of those famous old impressionist paintings in books do not look anything like the originals; it takes a trip to the the museum to see what Monet and his impressionsit contemporaries saw. I believe the ability to paint is not dictated by the quality of your tools, or how swiftly you move you hand, but by your ability to see what is going on before you. It takes years of practice and years of seeing to master the art of painting. Anyone can learn how to paint, but few people do it skillfully. Keep Painting!