Denise Landi

Gates in a Private Garden

2011-12-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

In the beautiful old cemetery near my house , these gates pose as entry to a wealth of family treasures . The small garden is classically laid out , quiet and graceful , yet each stone sings . Darks and lights flatter texture and shape . Our town loves these characters, so simple yet grand . The most honest of histories are the small stories .

Chandelier

2011-09-19T17:04:00.000-07:00

City Escape

2011-09-16T15:07:00.002-07:00

Stars in a Web

2011-09-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

Eating Outside

2011-09-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

2010-11-30T15:11:00.000-08:00

nyc

2010-11-30T09:56:00.000-08:00

2010-11-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

Behind the Garden

2010-11-13T10:14:00.000-08:00

At the end of the day the light divides into a million small suns . Bubbles of content fly about and upwards . We see through a shattering screen as jewels are formed from fragments.

2010-11-13T10:08:00.000-08:00

Blue Glasses and Sea Bass

2010-11-10T05:49:00.000-08:00

2010-11-04T11:44:00.000-07:00

Direct Descenants

2010-10-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

direct dec

The sounds of the party float up like bubbles from a glittering pool .

Interior ( late afernoon light )

2010-10-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

Last Light Labor Day

2010-09-30T06:36:00.000-07:00

Back Patio

2010-08-31T07:58:00.000-07:00

This is new . I'm going to be doing these up until the weekend tto show at first friday , sept 3rd. It is nice to just sit back and draw familiar spaces, no agenda.

reference

2010-06-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Greenhill Angel

2010-06-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

2010-06-08T22:28:00.000-07:00

show tonight

2010-06-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

2010-06-03T09:28:00.000-07:00

Announcement

2010-05-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

Drop Box

2010-05-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

Resting by the River

2010-04-01T21:25:00.001-07:00

Showing in Fisher Park

2009-12-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

Sunday is our annual luminaria celebration and for the first time four Fisher Park Studios will be open to the public. Come meet the artists in our unique and historic neighborhood . Check Triad Style and 99 Blocks for the locations of each studio and come by the Arthouse to see what we have going on.

come see our studio next weekend

2009-10-01T23:21:00.000-07:00

2009-09-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

one light, two teenagers ,three pears, four leaf clover

2009-09-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

2009-08-27T01:45:00.000-07:00

I will be starting class next Tuesday night (Sept.1st )and also starting my Wednesday morning class (Sept 2nd). I hope you can come. The classes are from 7-9 on Tuesdays and from 10-12 on Wednesday mornings . The session runs for seven weeks (through Oct 13th and 14th) and costs $100 for four classes to be used during that period .If you want to attend additional classes they are $15 on a drop in basis. I‘m doing this so people have a little flexibility but are encouraged to keep coming. Let me know if you want to attend.

The classes are small, 4-6 people ,and there will be lots of time to get individual attention .I will also have a still life of some sort of lesson for any of you that are interested.

My phone is 3365091381 Don ‘t hesitate to call if you have any questions. Later this fall I plan to do a couple of workshops and at least one intensive drawing class. There will be specific info out soon or come by the ARTSTOCK tour at our studio , 600 N.Church St, on October 9th and 10th.

As far as supplies go ,I usually ask people to bring their paint and brushes as well as a surface to paint on(canvas , board) If you look at http://deniselandistudio.blogspot.com/2009/03/supplies.html> there are a few suggestions.

deniselandi@clearwire.net 336--509-1381

2009-05-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

Supplies

2009-03-31T03:21:00.000-07:00

Here is a list.......

Painting Supplies

Colors To Start

Basic .... Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue,Cadmium Yellow, Titanium White , Phthalo Green, Ivory Black

Next

Cadmium Red Light, Magenta,
Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue,
Burnt Sienna, Van Dyke Brown

Brushes

It's your choice , if you have no idea buy an inexpensive Artists Set available at Student Supply or Art Stores for around 15 dollars (sometimes less)

Brushes have different characteristics and make different marks for different people . I love springy not wimpy brush es and prefer longer handles when working on canvas but it is up to you. I've been known to paint with a dried up sharpie so my word is definitely not gospel here.

Shapes are ..filbert , which looks like a little like a cats tongue
square, well that's obvious
angled, ditto
fan, like a ladies fan not noe that hangs from the ceiling
pointed , all different sizes and sharpnesses
and tons of others

I'm afraid brushes are a little like kitchen tools , seriously , sometimes they just have to be expensive to work but then sometimes they don't.My mother gave me a beautiful set of all clad pans almost 15 years ago and they still reign supreme , although the best omelet pan I ever got I think came from Big Lots.

Just try holding the brush in the store , pretend you are painting with it , you can brush it along one of the store's canvases if you like . I like to brush them on my hand or cheek to get a real sense of how it feels on a surface and how springy it feels . If you feel like a fool doing this and you don't yet know what you need ,buy a kit and be done with it . Lots of them come with neat little holders and stuff.

Don't spend more money on a brush than you would on a facial . You will be very sorry.

Canvas and Painting Surfaces In General
When I was in Art School ........... I like to begin a lot of disclaimers this way.
When I was in Art School no one would have been caught dead using a pre-stretched canvas . It would have looked lazy , indulgent , and well, worst of all, "anti archival ."Anti Archival meant that you obviously had no intention of ever being "famous" because there was no need to preserve your creations for hundreds of years. Hand stretched is still best ,especially for larger pieces but the ones in the stores are fine. I use them all the time and I'm quite famous already.

Size in canvas or other surface ( By the way I often paint on primed masonite , more about that later)
Pick what you want . don't start too small or you won't learn . Don't start too large or you will take up too much room in class . A good size would be somewhere between 16x20 and 24x36 to start . I love 30x30 and other square shapes as well.

As far as medium goes , for those of you painting in acrylic you need water and some kind of acrylic medium that won't yellow or crack later on . For this reason I suggest the ones made by fine art suppliers such as Liquitex , Golden ,etc. Some of these are thicker than others , some are matte and some are glossy. I use both these and water to thin and mix paint .

If you are painting in oil there are different kinds iof combinations for thinning mixing and applying paint. Some pre mixed mediums can be quite expensive and it is worth it to come up with a mix of linseed oil and varsol or turpentine that you like to use . Even cheaper is stand oil . If you are painting large heavily impastoed paintings price is important . For tiny paintings a little bit of expensive medium can go a long way.

2009-03-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=d2drrnt_26dkcsmmgv

2009-03-17T09:32:00.000-07:00

Pathway

2009-03-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

Sea Wall

2009-03-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

This is a view of a landscape in Ireland from an old fort .

Out Back

2009-03-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Late Lunch

2009-03-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

This room feels far away but it is a place I know . A place where you sit and watch as the light moves across the china , crystal , and wood. There would be the kind of uneven stone floor that chairs don't slide across . After lunch you would be forced to sit a while and drink sips of white wine gone a little warm and think about reading . Hills outside , and gravel paths , some work to do but later when you are rested and ready . My kind of place .

2009-01-31T12:38:00.000-08:00

This has all the things I love to paint , right here.

2009-01-31T12:36:00.000-08:00

2009-01-31T12:35:00.000-08:00

2009-01-31T12:29:00.000-08:00

2009-01-26T20:59:00.000-08:00

Seen (Another Bridge Painting)

2009-01-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

Defending the Fort

2009-01-08T07:15:00.000-08:00

2009-01-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

Interior Winter Afternoon

2009-01-04T14:38:00.001-08:00

Crossing Aycock (A Bridge Painting )

2009-01-04T14:38:00.000-08:00

This bridge calls me out. I paint it over and over and it is the scene of conflict and contemplation both . It is a metal skeleton of a spiritual bridge and feels older than the two neighborhoods it connects. The narrow track of the train lies like a riverbed deep below . The bridge holds court as trees and vines reach up the banks toward its stark and strong beams. The base of the bridge is a foothold for them , a footpath to me . The floor rumbles underneath like an awakening giant whose force might fling me skyward or shake me off.
But as I said, this bridge calls me out . It posts itself in the back of my paintings and curls around to the front . I consciously use it as a platform for figures in transition or as a ladder between earth and sky. I love the buildings around it , how they crumble and shine , setting off its structure as a garden would a house . It sits in air yet is buried in the deep mystery of the banks on either side , a place between two worlds , a stage of sorts, measured but free.

Christmas and all

2008-12-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas and all

2008-12-20T21:24:00.000-08:00

I'm constantly amazed at how the holiday season has such influence over how we think . Extraordinarily , it causes the most logical of us to look for meaning,personal reference, and even magic. People stop to receive gifts and give them too . Plans are made to congregate for the sheer purpose of enjoying the moment . We see, feel, touch, and taste. We greet each other with searching eyes and remark at the effect the light of the moment has on our faces . We mark changes and "are sedulous to take note of shadows"*

This is the way the best artworks are made . If the truth be told , art is time off to celebrate . It isn't always a party , or even always joyful , but it is a line around time , a boundary of light and sense and meaning.

*Virginia Woolf The Waves

It's hard painting a dream , I know this small town street its basement entrances , a lot like Mebane

2008-12-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

2008-11-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

In the corners of paintings are the favorite parts

Breakfast Room

2008-11-21T07:39:00.000-08:00

Beside the Red Addition

2008-05-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished this painting I had started the day before . Finally I got the right balance of abstraction and form by making myself be as responsive and honest as I could be . Where I saw a cylindrical yellow shape I tried to put down the paint as just that . I love this view . It is out my screen porch door and it is a quick look so it needs to be quickly painted.

Florence at NIght

2008-05-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

Basket full of Robins

2008-05-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

The discovery in the midst of a journey. This painting happened like that , the birds flew in on their own . They settled in the basket for as long as I needed them .

Peacock in the Art School

2008-05-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

This painting is about light , a friend I miss , spirit, and magic . The peacock is there to make a picture of a feeling you can't see . Only a peacock would work . I don't know why.

2008-05-16T11:29:00.000-07:00