Added May 19, 2021
What's on the Easel December 2020
What’s On The Easel
December 2020, Vol. II, No. 12
A monthly newsletter from Jim Fischer
Odds and Ends
Yup, I’m still waiting for a ‘big idea’ but there are some things ‘on the easel’.
I am sure every artist has unfinished pieces and projects just hanging around the studio and I’m no different. So, while I diddle around on deciding on a new project, I gathered the older ones to keep me busy. They are an odd lot of little things…
A. These are two small oils that were to be test paintings for the larger Jones Beach piece recently finished.
B. There are three small portraits of Kruse family women ready to be done, as a challenge to my skills, in water color.
C. Then, there’s the three judges. Watercolors from photos of a Irish festival we attended in upstate New York some years ago. I had planned to send each judge their piece, that is, if they are still alive.
D. The same with a series of bird watercolors. The New York State museum in Albany had a great collection of stuffed birds in very good dioramas. Four of the pieces are ready to go.
And, finally, in the 1980s I decorated a number of clocks with famous artist themes. The two finished are Monet and Van Gogh, the one remaining (it’s been sitting around for 30 years) is to be based on Rousseau’s jungle paintings.
So, with all these projects now scattered about the studio I’m hoping to get something done, keeping up my skills and moving stuff along.
The Devil is in the Details.
Work continues on the Volante.
This piece is called a Peterson’s Patent Anchor Windlass. It was developed and patented in the late 1830s and is still in use today. In the 1880s a marine engineer accommodated me by making a detailed drawing of the equipment (gotta love the internet for research, his huge book on shipbuilding in the 19th century was digitized and posted free). There are over 30 parts to the finished windlass, now installed on the Volante.
And now for something completely different…
(A good friend passed along a photoshop contest challenging me to do something. This is what I came up with).
What if…
Finally, my birthday gift has arrived.
It’s called a Van Moof, manufactured in Holland, it is the most advanced ebikes on the market. With it’s on-board wifi connected computer, it features an electronic transmission (no traveler), built in front and rear lights, an LED panel embedded into the cross bar with speed, battery life, and gear engagement, and an anti-theft locking back wheel with an alarm should anyone try to steal the bike and a gps locator to find the thief. The batteries are in the frame, gets 50 miles to a charge, takes only two hours to fully charge and weights only 40lbs. This is truly ‘state-of-the-art’ in ebike technology and, for the curious, yes, very expensive (but it was a gift from my father, a story for another time). I took it out the other day for an extended ride and can report, it is truly the Tesla of ebikes. I love it.
That’s all for now. Be well and have a happy holiday season. And what’s on your easel?
Jim