Monday, July 30, 2012



BROOKLYN VICTORIAN #2
Nancy Herman
6" x 8"
oil on canvas board

Although most Victorian homes were painted in earth tones, because of the era's interest in nature, there are a group of homes in San Francisco that are painted in shades of pink and purple.  They are called "Painted Ladies".  In parts of Brooklyn this tradition is exuberantly embraced as in this Ditmas Park beauty.

$125.00

Monday, July 23, 2012

Brooklyn Victorian


Brooklyn Victorian
Nancy Herman
6" x 8"
oil on canvas board

This lovely old Victorian house is only one of the many in Ditmus Park which is part of Flatbush in Brooklyn.  The Ditmas Park Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.  I am collecting paintings of Brooklyn for a show I will be part of there in September.

I love round rooms.  How nice to be almost surrounded by windows!

$125.00

Wednesday, July 18, 2012



         COLEUS AND PETUNIAS
Nancy Herman
6" x 8
oil on canvas board

Ordinary plants that one sees everyday lining the streets of suburbia or gracing the corporate corridors take on a new vitality when they are unexpectedly paired.  These very prolific dark purple petunias together with sun loving coleus are really perking up my garden this year.

$125.00








Monday, July 16, 2012


CLEOME AND LARKSPUR
Nancy Herman
oil on canvas board
9" x 12"

Today's painting is the one that had me bogged down for so long.  All the intricacies of the Cleome taught me several lessons that I should have learned by this time.  One is not to tackle such a complicated subject in such a small space.  Two, use a separate brush for each color - I am naturally rather parsimonious but the various shades of pink and purple in these petals had me constantly washing my brush and interrupted the flow.   I am off to purchase many brushes of my preferred size.  Three, mix a new batch of colors every day.  The difference between paint that is freshly mixed and a pile that sits for even one day is the difference between happy sailing in a light breeze and sitting in a row boat without an oar.
I was dimly aware of all these things for some time, but it was only after suffering through this painting that simply would not move along that I vowed to act on this awareness.  Nice to know that I am not too old to learn something, even if I am a very slow learner.
I like one of the nicknames for this flower, Grandfather's whiskers.  It could as easily be called Grandmother's whiskers I might add.  The many, many seed pods carried on its long "hairs" makes it a constant uninvited guest in all parts of the garden.

$300.00








Wednesday, July 11, 2012

I have been bogged down in one painting for the past week.  Don't know why but I couldn't get my brush around it happily.  I finally finished it today and will post when it is dry.  Meanwhile here is some news about a show I am in at the Graver's Lane Gallery.  Hope you can make it.
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs003/1104954455098/archive/1110445809200.html 

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Here is a link to REAL ART AT REAL PRICES a wonderful blog from
Sheila Vaughan a painter in England.  I have admired her art work for quite a while.  She keeps trying new things and always has something interesting to say about what she is doing.  As a result we have an internet friendship, though we have never met in person.  In her latest project she is painting a portrait of "60 Women Who Know Something About Me".  You can check out the whole project from the link.  I have sent you the one that I am pretty sure is me.  How grand to be included in such an interesting project by such an accomplished artist who is so many miles away. The internet brings people together because of real interests and enthusiasms in a way that has never been possible before.

Thursday, July 5, 2012


NORTH PHILADELPHIA STATION
Nancy Herman
oil on canvas board
8" x 6"

From the Amtrac train window North Philadelphia Station looks as if it is closed for good and I have never been on a train to New York that stopped there.  Upon checking the Amtrak schedule I see you can board twice a day, but there is only one coach seat available for all the dates I checked and that is at 5:57 in the morning.  Coming from New York you can get off there 3 times a day but again only one seat available.  Seems Amtrak doesn't want to stop there.  Checking further I see on Wikipedia that there are around  389 people a year who use the station so I can see why they don't want to stop as a routine, but the schedule would seem to make that inevitable.
Just one of the mysteries of train travel I suppose.
When I was in my early teens I went to New York on the train several times and since we lived in the country my parents picked me up at North Philadelphia Station since it was the closest to our farm.  I remember it as being a very scary place, especially at night, as it was pretty run down, there was hardly anyone who got off the train even then, and it was very poorly lit.  It was refurbished in 1999 and looks like so many places that have been fixed in time, if not fixed for living... like a ghost.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

"This just in -  someone was shot near North Philly Station just after noon today.  Maybe it is just as well there is limited access to this spot."



$125.00