Ruby Lane's Creative Hands March 2010

In This Issue

• JOIN RUBY LANE on Facebook and Twitter
  
• FINE ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Frederick Hubicki
  
• JEWELRY ARTISAN SPOTLIGHT: Connie Corey
  
• GARRY STREET GALLERY: Lighting your Art
  
• RUBY LANE: Get Paid to Blog
  
• Spring's gentle touch brings fresh looks
  
• Share Creative Hands With A Friend
  

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FINE ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: FREDERICK HUBICKI

I started my genre paintings of auctions, fairs and farmer markets while living in Vermont.

One Saturday I attended a local farm auction and drew, photographed, and watched as this elderly couple in their late seventies, or eighties, sat and watched while all their possessions on their farm were auctioned off. It so moved me that I had to paint it. Actually I did two paintings of this scene and sold the first right off. Since, I have painted auctions, fairs and farmer market around the US from Maine, Vermont and New York to Colorado and New Mexico.

The farmer's market in Santa Fe, NM inspired me to do several paintings of their market. It's so colorful and full of interesting people, activities, and of course, food and flowers.

Vermont's yield also included a couple of fair scenes of which my favorite is The Horse Pull. Yes, they also have tractor pulls but I find the horse pull much more interesting, because unlike a machine, the horses are motivated and it's apparent from their stance and attitude. Then there is the audience which adds a whole other visual interest. I also think the horses feed off of the audience reactions just like us humans. I don't get that from a tractor.

I have named this series, "A Little Americana," because the paintings are a view of present day middle class Americans, at their leisure, participating in native events. Working in oil on the genre paintings, I am somewhat influenced by the Ashcan School of painters, Bellows in particular, and the Regionalist's, but unlike them I am more interested in the American middle class at their leisure or at their work rather than the poor or a particular place. I employ composition, color, light and the speed or slowness of my brush to emotionally connect with the viewer.

About the artist

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I currently reside in Colorado but make frequent return trips to New Mexico and back East, and continue to express my wonder of nature, and love of the expressive qualities of paint, on canvas. I have extended my scope in genre paintings of farmer markets and auctions in which I also instill a decorative quality.

I began painting at the early age of twelve studying watercolor and oil painting at the Troy, NY Historical Society on Saturday mornings. I continued my art studies through high school and upon graduating headed straight to New York City and art studies at the School of Visual Arts and New York University.

I am a 1962 graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City. At SVA I studied design and painting with, among others, George Ortman and Alice Neel. For twenty years I painted, as well as practiced commercial art, in New York City working at various times as either a graphic designer, illustrator, art director or creative director for publishers, record companies and advertising agencies.

In New York I painted abstracts, participated in group shows and had a one man show at the Lynn Knothler galleries in 1967.During
this period my work was influenced by the abstract expressionist as well as Matisse. My work is in many private collections as well as among the collections of companies such as the Gruen Watch Corporation, the A&P Corporation, Leisurecraft Industries, and YKK Zippers USA Inc.

I also lived and painted in Vermont for many years showing at various local galleries and participating in the Vermont Visual Artist programs of 1989 and 1990 at the Vermont Studio School & Colony. During this period I painted in oil and began to devote more time to landscapes and genre paintings of farmers markets and country auctions.

From 1991 until 1996 I lived in Santa Fe, NM and climbed around the Sangre de Cristo and Jemez mountains painting the New Mexico landscape. My work was shown at the Estes Design International Gallery in Santa Fe and at the Gold Hills Gallery in Madrid.

1996 and 1997 found me in Maine painting seascapes in oil much in the manner of Homer, Bellows and Henri. I also continued my Genre painting.

2010 finds me living in Salida, Colorado and painting scenes of the Arkansas River and the Rocky Mountains.

I am a member of the Art of the Rockies Association, and the Arkansas Valley Art Center. My work can be seen on Ruby Lane and at the Spirit Run Gallery in Taos, NM.

Fredrick Hubicki

Please view more of my art at Hubicki's Fine Art Studio

Original signed drawings and paintings by contemporary listed artist

JEWELRY ARTISAN SPOTLIGHT: CONNIE COREY

Let's get this straight. I did not grow up fascinated by all the baubles in my grandma's jewelry box. My grandma lived on a farm, in a house without plumbing, cooked fabulous meals on a wood stove, and reared ten children by herself after her husband died in a hunting accident. She probably didn't even own a jewelry box.

In fact, if anyone had suggested to me, even ten years ago, that I would one day design jewelry, I would have rolled my eyes and said, "Yeah, right. Tell me another fairy tale!"

Then along came this birthday party. In searching for the right gift for the honoree, I suddenly remembered a Quan Yin pendant I had recently acquired on the internet. and said to myself, "I think I'll make her a necklace." (Where do these outlandish ideas come from? I knew nothing about making necklaces.) The piece was rather (make that "very") crude, but to my great surprise, it was the hit of the party, and soon other people were asking me to design things for them.

Talk about getting hooked! I leapt on the learning fast track and haven't looked back since (until I was invited to write this article.)

When the well began running dry (my circle of friends had all the jewelry they wanted for a while), I needed another outlet, and a friendly vendor suggested I apply to Ruby Lane. (Isn't serendipity wonderful?) Some time later, I contacted a psychic to ask, "What can I do to enhance the sales of my jewelry?" The answer came, "Bless each piece and channel a message to accompany it."

Me? Channel? So I did it. (Anyone can. We're all psychic, if we want to be.) Word spread across the country, and within a month a woman from Iowa wrote to ask if I channeled jewelry as well. I had to say, "I don't know. I'll get back to you." I meditated on it and, lo and behold, I was told what to make for her. She loved the necklace, and a new art form was born.

So what influences me, besides God and the spirits of the angel realm? I think, perhaps as much as anything, it is that I have been fortunate to live in vastly different cultures, including Thailand and the former Belgian Congo. You'll see a lot of Asian and African trends in my work. The greatest joy, however, comes when a particular piece strikes a chord with its new owner-to-be. After all, that's why I do what I do.

I have received the most heartfelt letters of gratitude from many customers about what the jewelry means to them, and I have become friends with a number of them. I hear less often about the channeled messages, but when I do, it's most often a comment such as this: "How did you know that that was exactly what I needed to hear?" Well, I didn't, of course, but "somebody up there" did. It is simply further validation for me that our angelic guides know us very well and always have our best interests at heart.

The creative outlet provided by jewelry design is fulfilling to a degree, but nothing beats the euphoria of being able to share it with others. So thank you, dear customers, thank you, Ruby Lane, and thank you, Universe.. I am blessed beyond belief.

And now a word from our sponsors. If you would like to have a piece channeled specially for you, please email me. Do not tell me what stones or metals to use or what the finished product should look like. (Otherwise, it will be a custom order, not a channeled piece.) When a piece is channeled, your angelic guides tell me what to use, because they know what is needed in your life at this time. All stones have spiritual and emotional qualities, you know, and your guides will select what will help you most.

I know this is probably a new concept for some of you, so please feel free to ask questions. I very much look forward to serving you and getting to know you. The Ruby Lane customer is of a breed called "really, really special."

Visit Connie's shop Auraeana Originals

Divinely inspired jewelry, created with love In'Lakech (Mayan for I am another you )

GARRY STREET GALLERY: LIGHTING YOUR ART

Recently, a client of mine purchased a work of art by M. Wheeler entitled "The Departure". Upon installing the piece in a place of honor in her home, she asked me about proper lighting and it occurred to me how important lighting is for art and the amazing difference it can make.

The following is my primer on lighting art.

The four types of lighting are:

• Incandescent
• Fluorescent
• Halogen
• LED

Incandescent – Pros/Cons

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Warm colors red, brown, orange are enhanced with incandescent light, Low UV. Incandescent light produces a continuous spectrum of light from near ultraviolet to deep in the infrared. Cool colors such as blue, green are flattened with this light.

Fluorescent – Pros/Cons

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Emit high UV rays which fade and damage art. Fluorescent light does not emit light across the entire color spectrum which can distort the colors in the artwork.

Halogen – Pros/Cons

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Halogen bulbs emit a strong, full spectrum white light with a higher effective color temperature. The light emitted complements both cool and warm colors greatly enhancing artwork. They also have a long life (up to 4,000 hours). However, halogen bulbs give off a lot of heat which can be problematic and do emit damaging UV and Infrared rays. That said, there are low wattage halogen lights that have UV and Infrared filters that are gaining in popularity. SoLux has developed a low wattage halogen bulb with a UV filter that is
being well received in the art world and is in use in many major art galleries. UVB radiation is clearly the most harmful radiation for art. SoLux has the least amount of UVB radiation of any light source on the market.

LED – Pros/Cons

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LED light has Zero UV, Zero Heat, Low Power and Long Life. The problem with LED lights until recently has been that they do not emit sufficient light for this purpose. However, Hogarth Lighting has recently developed a LED bulb that overcomes this obstacle.

POWERING YOUR ART LIGHTS<

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There are several options available to get power to your art lights.

• Direct Wire
• Invisible Wire
• Regular Cord/Plug
• Battery Powered (Not available for all)

Direct Wire

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This option plugs directly into a plug installed behind the piece of art.

Invisible Wire

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This option has a very fine wire system that runs down the wall behind the piece of art and over to the nearest plug. When installation is complete, the wall can be repainted and the wire is invisible. This option is great for older homes when you can't install cables in the wall.

Regular Cord

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This is the standard option that has a cord running behind the artwork and down the wall to the plug. The cord can be an eyesore, however.

Battery Powered

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This is an easy solution, but optimum light is generated for approximately six hours, sometimes up to 10 hours. The batteries will last
approximately 20-24 hours total. If you have a painting in a rarely used area, this would be an easy alternative; it can be an expensive nuisance if one has to continually change batteries. However, Hogarth Lighting has a rechargeable battery package that addresses this issue, but at a cost of $140.00 extra per light fixture.

There are other matters to consider such as the size of your artwork relative to the amount of light needed to best enhance it; the latest technology in lighting for art (there are some recent innovations) and where to buy the fixtures. I'll cover these in future posts. Please feel free to contact me through my shop Garry Street Gallery at Ruby Lane for any questions you may have.

Val Romanow of Garry Street Gallery

Fine Art Serious Whimsy Exclusively at Ruby Lane

RUBY LANE: GET PAID TO BLOG

Jewelry Artisans and Fine Artists of Ruby Lane we invite you to express your creative writing 'side' and submit topic ideas to be considered for publication in the Ruby Lane blog, Notes from the Lane

Need topic ideas? Here are a few to consider:

• Topics relating to artisan jewelry and contemporary fine art
• Your personal stories (not self-promoting infomercials)
• Your selling or show adventures
• Your observations on the state of the marketplace
• Your artisan jewelry or fine art craft and how you do it
• Your artisan jewelry or fine art studio set up
• Opinion pieces relative to Fine Art & Artisan Jewelry
• How to succeed as a seller in the online marketplace
• Best and Worst shows for your medium What's hot, what's not
• What is a "Call for Entry"
• What you are doing to go 'Green'
• Any other suggested topics are welcomed for consideration
• (Video submissions are also welcomed)

Before submitting a topic idea for consideration, please read the guidelines for submission in the Shop Owners Blog section of the Knowledge Base FAQ. What is the Ruby Lane Get Paid to Blog Program?

SPRING'S GENTLE TOUCH BRINGS FRESH LOOKS

Moxie Lane

Gertrude's Garden Gardening Themed Vintage Charm Bracelet

.Celebrate Spring with this one of kind vintage charm bracelet! Named for the legendary English garden designer Gertrude Jeckyll, this bracelet was ...

Silvertree

Two Green Dichroic Dots Pendant on Green Glass Bead Necklace

Dichroic dots in green and gold with flashes of blue on green glass hang from two strands of glass beads in matching colors. A truly beautiful ...

Galina Kirman

Cymbidium - Prasiolite, Chrysoprase and Cultured Pearl Y Necklace

The colors in this piece remind me of green orchids - the pastel hues of the prasiolite and chrysoprase mixing with the lavender and peach tones of ...

Modeste Parisienne

Spring Blush ~ Imperial Topaz Orange Sapphire citrine ~ 14K GF Necklace

~ Spring Blush ~ Subtle golds make up the palette of this delicate necklace. The pendant portion starts with a pretty Citrine briolette which is ...

Jonara Blu ~ Maui

Turtle Rainforest - Double Strand Asymmetrical Beaded Bracelet

A whimsical mix of dyed stabilized turquoise in different shades, lime chalk turquoise, lime dyed howlite, spring green dyed jade, dyed freshwater ...

Alicats

Cultured Freshwater Coin Pearls Green Flowers Earrings

Creamy white freshwater cultured coin pearls and delicate spring green lucite flowers on fine silver headpins. These earrings measure just over 2 1 2...

Linda Lou's Designer Jewelry

Purple, Green and Blue Flower Garden Necklace

You can feel that Spring is in the air when you look at this pretty little flower necklace. It has an 18 rubber cord with a 3 1 4 drop of Purple ...

Aries Designs Too

Morning Primrose Earrings Feature Poly-clay Pillows in Pink with Fucshia,Yellow Lavender Flowers

New !! From the Garden Collection................ Another pair of beautiful polymer clay pillows by The Color of Dreams are pictured in this pair of ...

Overfield

The Sophisticate Bracelet (with Black Vintage Button Top)

The Sophisticate Bracelet features a black vintage button top and pink glass cat's eye cabochons; gold-plated beads and glass pearl beads; Swarovski ...

btwisted Jewelry Designs

Rhodochrosite and Freshwater Cultured Pearl Necklace Sterling Silver

Nine gorgeous smooth jelly rhodochrosite almond-shaped briolettes are nestled between smooth rhodochrosite rondelles with clusters of 7mm white and ...

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