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Last week's auction on Dulcinea was a great time - we're looking forward to Round 2! Before I say anything else: a big thanks to those who bid (and won!) and also to those who reached out to let us know what paintings they'd like to see put up for auction. If you haven't told me yet what your favorite painting(s) is/are, please do so now! Drop me a line at john@johnfolley.com! We haven't finished deciding what will come up next in this Crazy Auction series, so your input will be carefully considered! Without further ado: Today's 2nd Crazy Auction painting is Tea and Twine!  Tea and Twine 14"x11" oil on canvas frame included If you're familiar with my still life portfolio, you know that I tend towards painting more formal scenes. This still life was a little more playful for me, with the more casual elements and brights colors. Here I let the few simple objects speak for themselves. In keeping with my theme of spouted vessels, I chose the tea kettle mostly for its popping and vivid color! A sort of tea time feeling came through with the buttery color of the twine... A kettle and some twine have a practical feeling, but clearly there's time for enjoyment when it comes to stacking sugar cubes! I can see this painting in a kitchen, a breakfast nook, a dining room, a sitting room... and anywhere that could use some beauty and warmth and the kind breath of calm and cheer that comes with a peaceful pause on an afternoon. We have updated the rules slightly, so please read through below! Auction rules:
Good luck!
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This is the auction page! Please read the rules at the bottom of this post and leave your bids in the comments! Good luck!  Dulcinea oil on canvas 14"x22"   Please read the auction rules here:
This auction will close tomorrow, Friday the 16th, at midnight!
Last summer I received a message via Instagram from a woman who comes from a family which, I have since gathered, takes gift-giving very seriously. Mary had a concept in mind for a Christmas gift painting for her mother and wanted me to execute it. It was my honor to do so and the result is Ex Calibur.  'Ex Calibur' oil on canvas (13" x 16") The driving meaning of this painting is the long and loving marriage of Mary's parents. Deirdre and I had the pleasure of visiting with Mary when she took a mini road trip to my studio in order to hand-deliver these objects which are of great sentimental value to her and her family, especially her mother. During that visit, she shared with us about the pieces and their significance. In the painting you see an unusual sculpture that consists of two parts: a cut Steuben glass orb (if you will) and a beautifully crafted sword. The glass represents the Stone of legend and the sword is Arthur's famous weapon, Ex Calibur. Mary explained to me that this sculpture is a treasured possession and meant a lot to her parents (her father has passed away). The couple had discovered it in a shop many, many years previous but it had been outside their budget, so they kept it in mind and saved up for it while raising a large and busy family. They finally purchased it as a celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. To Mary, seeing it is a reminder of the virtue of patience -- not to be stressed when something takes time or has to be budgeted for, since her parents waited 50 years for this gift!  The rings are her father’s Notre Dame ring and a miniature that he had made for her mother - very important to them as a dedicated ND family! (You know I appreciated this, being class of '08, myself.) The cards are postcards which Mary and I agreed should be included in the painting. They are souvenirs from the Shrine of St. Anne in Quebec and represent the devotion Mary’s mother has to St. Anne (the mother of the Virgin Mary). Mary noted that her mother enjoys the fact that the feast of that saint falls on July 26 and that she herself also has twenty-six grandchildren. Working on this painting was an absolute delight, as Mary was an ideal patron. She was excited to share her story and to hand off the vision while also very kindly entrusting the composition and execution to me. We had a great time communicating with her throughout the process and then hearing about how the gift had gone over at Christmastime. She told us that reflecting on the painting has even been a reminder to some of the grandchildren to visit the grave of their beloved grandfather. On a technical level, it was an interesting challenge to communicate the metal and the glass in the medium of oil paint. It is my hope that this work will prove for many years to be a worthy tribute to a long and devoted marriage and the loving family it yielded. This world needs steadfast marriages and I was very glad to celebrate one this way.
Visit my Commissions page and read Mary’s kind testimonial here. Perhaps you’ve noted the two coins in the center of the painting, which were my addition (with Mary’s approval). I can tell you what their significance is, but first I’d love to know what your guess is as to their meaning -- tell me your guess in the comments below! Guest post by Deirdre M. Folley, John and I were so excited when we received an inquiry late last year from a potential patron with a vision. The email was from Jessica (name changed for privacy), who was finalizing plans for the renovation of her new home with her interior designer and needed just the right piece for the focal point of the dining room/living room area. Because the piece she had in mind was inspired by Masters like Caravaggio and de Ring, she needed someone with expertise in classical painting; and with a whole list of sacramental symbols in mind as subjects for the painting, she needed someone with an understanding of and appreciation for Christian imagery. Jessica had heard about John from a mutual friend. For an artist, there's nothing like getting a request for exactly the type of material he'd love to be doing in his own time! In a recent newsletter, respondents let us know you'd like to hear more about John's commissioned work. So here's an insider's account of the process behind this painting:  I connected with Jessica over the phone and we discussed the size, the budget for the painting, general expectations about the timing of the project, and how John's process works. She told me that she and her husband wanted a painting that would be a beautiful feature for their living space and also an image that would foster reflection and provoke conversation about the beauty of their Christian faith. Clearly, this was going to be a great fit! We agreed that he would work closely with Jessica to determine the composition and that he'd put a still life arrangement together for her approval. After a few phone calls and email exchanges, the process was underway! Early in the new year, John got to meet Jessica and her husband Tom at Tom's corporate opening event for which they hired him to do Live Painting. Soon after that, the hunt was on in earnest for just the right components of the composition. John worked closely with Jessica to hone in the objects that were going to come together to harmonize into the perfect arrangement for this still life. John took a long list of ideas (broken bread, a goblet of wine, grapes, nails, certain types of wood, a fish, coins, olives, a shell... among many other potential items) and scouted out various resources, primarily local antique stores, to find the right items. He had to balance having the particulars that were so meaningful to Jessica and her family with also gathering certain key visual elements that were going to give the composition structure and unity. Since Jessica was communicating from Florida, all of the collaboration on this happened at a distance. The two worked patiently together to come up with a final selection, which John then arranged. After discussing photos of that arrangement with Jessica and Tom, they were able to pare down to the most beautiful and essential elements. As part of John's process in laying out the still life, he completed a brown paper sketch to consider the values:  By late winter, John's patrons had moved into their new home and, with developments from the interior designer, we finalized the exact size of the painting: a grand, 33x39" masterpiece to hang in the living room. John ordered his canvas and stretchers and finally got to dig in on the actual painting process. This has been the main focus of his in-studio work for the past few months and we're finally on the home stretch of the commission. One note of interest is that the arrangement features a few food items, which had to be real to get the right visual quality. Working with real food adds an element of logistics to the careful planning of the painting. Can you identify the items and guess about the process?  The final painting is just a matter of weeks away, and we can't wait to see it settled in Jessica & Tom's home.
We're happy to answer questions about the process, below! Stay tuned for the final product! |
AuthorHello there, I'm John H. Folley. Thanks for visiting the Beauty Advocacy Blog, where it's my job to help you become a more discerning art appreciator. 
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