Special Online Event

 New file online..... on the website.
Current event for  Rotating abstracts .... See details on this link:

 Special Online Event  

Small Works - Additions to my website

Gentle Hills,  Oil on canvas

 I love small studies of landscapes.....to work out the details of a landscape before moving on to larger versions.   Simple prices,  and simple shipping details.  Perfect for online purchasing.   Prices are listed and are the same if shown in galleries.

 So check them out.  They make great gifts.  If they are labeled with a notation that says "Out at Gallery show),  I am happy to give you the name and address for the gallery where it is currently showing.    This is my way of making sense of the gallery vs. online issue.

Here is the link:

Contemporary Paintings by Chester County Artist Janeice Silberman

Two artists now showing at Starbucks in Kennett Square

Landscape art by two local artists currently showing at our local Starbucks coffee shop in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

 If you live in Chester County,  stop by the local Starbucks to see a few works by myself and my local artist friend Jack Marshal.

Both of us started our creative careers in other directions before turning to the paint brush.   
It is interesting to see how the creative force can manifest itself so differently.

Open space Landscapes by Janeice Silberman, www.janeicesilberman.com 

 Landscape by local Kennett Square musician, Jack Marshal.

E-Train to Masada, newly published by Eli Silberman

Eli Silberman,  Author of "E-Train to Masada"

Eli Silberman's newly published novel "E-Train to Masada" has  just been released on Amazon....and there will be a special book signing event  with refreshments.


Reception to be held at  the bookstore:
BOOKPLACE, 2373 Baltimore Pike,  Oxford, Pa. 19363

Date:  Sunday, April 14th, 20013, 5 - 7 PM


BOOKPLACE directions:
Route 1 south to exit 472.  Left on 472 to light.   Right at light onto S. 3rd St. which becomes Baltimore Pike.  Bookplace is on the right 1.9 miles from 472 light.


Contact:   Richard Beards,  717-951-6418
    or rbeardsbookplace@gmail.com
    on Facebook:  rbeardsbookplace

Available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle versions

"E-Train to Masada" is the story of a young "Mad Man" in the year 1968, who creates an award winning TV commercial that is seen by a severely depressed President of the United States.  The President proceeds to recruit the astonished ad man to write his farewell speech, and includes a bizarre request.  

Prairie and Plains Often in my Work

"Plains"  A larger work.. 36" x 48"

Prairie and Plains.....often figure into my work.  My early days in Iowa.....take me there regularly.

Frequently, the subject is more about Sky.  New understanding for the expression, "Big Sky".

Color takes center stage.   And above all, simplification.


 I continue to explore landscapes from "sea to sea"  and from realism to abstraction.

Sing a Song of Grasslands

My earliest memories of life on a farm in Iowa were of the grass filled natural countryside.  Hay making season, grass cutting, wandering the fields and observing the natural world.  Birds, animals, and even a magazine on my Grandmother's table called "Friends" brought me to a keen sense of the natural world around me.   I remember tearing out pictures from these thumb worn magazines and saving them.

Roadside grasses, cattails, and corn,  Iowa.  Photo by Janeice Silberman

Long viewsheds with rolling hills and fields of Iowa.  Photo by Janeice Silberman

At some point in this journey,  I moved first into the heady design world of New York City.
There I had a career in the magazine and design world....In a place as far away from grass as one could go.   I managed to meet my husband, New York born and raised,  and together we drifted back toward the country.  First we spent weekends in Massachusetts on a beautiful farm with an antique house.   In my mind however,   I yearned for more open space.  The trees of Massachusetts, although beautiful, gave me a desire to get back to open space.

Grasses waving in the winds,  Open space of Chester County.  Photo by Janeice Silberman

Rolling terrain of Eastern Iowa.  Photo by Janeice Silberman

Out walking in Chester Couny, Pa.  Local grasses inspirations

Eventually we moved to  Chester County Pennsylvania,  yet another gorgeous countryside. 
No matter where, this image of waving grass and grain never ceases to be my companion. 

Over time, I have painted many grass filled landscapes in styles from impressionism to abstraction.   I find the inspiration for these works from my memories of childhood in a land of waving grasses.  Even today, I am subconsciously drawn to grasses in the landscape around me here in Chester County.

An interesting note,  I have met several mid-western ex-patriots who have expressed similar yearnings.   The sea of grass has left us all with a filtered sense of the world.   One that often replaces the many trees that we see directly in front of us, with grasses. 

"Summer Grass" a recent abstracted grass painting,  Janeice Silberman

 
Visit my website....for more grass related images.  Everything from realism to abstract.
Link:   www.janeicesilberman.comwww.janeicesilberman.com

Small Art Gems...& their Display

Small Animal Portraits...for collectors

A small work included in a table top display
 

Classical bookshelf display..take note of the small easel used here

For the classical collector.  Display your ART amidst other collections.

Small works or "Small Gems" are often preliminary studies for larger works.   Mine are often highly detailed and not what you would call "daily paintings".....so I give them the "Small Gems" name instead.   Over time, they have covered the gamut from small landscapes, to animals, and abstracts.
Sizes start in the miniature area, and include 6" x 6",  5" x 7",  8" x 8" and similar.

These are frequently purchased as gifts or even works that fit nicely on a small table top easel.

An example of an organic or traditional small table top easel.

Wall Shelves for the "collector"  with more contemporary leanings.

So take the time to visit my website to see current offerings.  I  invite you to view the works in this file.

SMALL WORKS FILE LINK (click for my website)


Here are a few more examples of creative ways in which to display your Small Gems collections.

Small works approximately, 8 x 10 inch size, leaning on a kitchen counter.

A sleek contemporary tabletop easel that works for the contemporary collector.

   Consider buying the easel and the painting online to save your precious time.   Makes a great gift or collectible and will give you a simple way to evaluate the quality of the art too.
And don't forget that all important frame....it will be adding to the overall size of the art.
                       

Animal Art collectors, shown here in a kitchen by Charles Laudree.

Brandywine Valley, Rea Redifer as a teacher

Having a strong penchant for the abstract,  I was particularly drawn to a local artist named Rea Redifer .  Rea studied under the Wyeths, and was known for his abstract approach to watercolor.     I was particularly drawn to his work,  especially a painting of a soldier that first got my attention.
Rea loved dark build-ups of paint in much of his work.  Layer after layer,  until the image revealed itself.  It was facinating to watch as he demonstrated his work.  He taught many a painter here in the Brandywine Valley.   All of us eager to witness his approach.

After a recent trip to see the film "Lincoln",  I decided to dig out this image from an old file and share it.  As you can see, it was not a classical approach to watercolor.  The moody somber colors of this watercolor interpretation of Abraham Lincoln, won Redifer an award.  Had to share it to give you some idea of the depth of soul that this particular painting held for me and countless other painters and collectors.

Abraham Lincoln by Rea Redifer   (watercolor)

Sport of Basseting....a favorite part of my life

I participate in a wonderful sport called Basseting.
Walks over lovely countryside on foot often inspire art work in the sporting and landscapes.
Here are just  a few of my picture.  Related art will be on my website in the "animal file"
There are always a few works related this sport on www.janeicesilberman.com  

Working the covert...or the brush.   Looking for rabbits.

A lovely walk through the Fall countryside following hounds. Chester County, Pa.

One of those muddier days out hunting.

Sniffing for rabbits

Love it when the green fields turn to a mellow straw color

Catching up with friends out hunting

One hound decides to follow his own instincts.

Original oil Portrait...PBGV...French Bassett Hound, SOLD

LINK (clickable) ........More Paintings...related to animals and sport...

.."Painting What You Love"...Some thoughts

Photo by Janeice Silberman

Beautiful Chester County....home of artist Janeice Silberman

Welcome!

I live in beautiful Chester County......and it is from here that I
gain my inspirations for my art.  Having trained as both a
designer and an artist....I move back and forth between two
artistic forces: Realism.....and Abstraction.

I hope that this blog will give you a better idea of who I am as an artist.

PAINTING WHAT YOU LOVE...

Sage advice for those who desire painting as a means of expression....
As an artist you have to ask yourself just what is it that you LOVE.
After a number of years at this particular craft, I have narrowed my particular passions down to a core group of subjects that tickle my fancy.

COLOR.....I .dream in color, have memories of color and continue to look for subject to hang this particular passion on.   Sometimes, I like to address even the monochromatic nuances of color.  Or the subtle  "grayed-off" colors that designers and the French love.  Even flowers are a means of hanging a joyous feel for a particular color.

DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE...Although I have moved away from design as a profession.....I continue to love all the nuances of good design.  The 3 dimensions of it will always excite me.   And I love nothing more than getting into a space for the full experience.  Having worked with restoration, I learned to love the colors of that period as well as the fashions colors of the day.

COUNTRY PURSUITS....I love a country lifestyle. The beautiful landscapes,  The dogs, the walks in the fields, following Bassett Hounds in the chase of neighborhood rabbits. Following the foxhunt.  Sparkling sunrises and sunsets.   The smells of the newly plowed fields and hay making day.   All of these sensual pleasures inform my work.

ANIMALS ...The expressions, the eye contact, the personalities.  There is a reason that they are called "Man's best friend" (& woman's!).  I have the same feelings for the human figure, and continue to explore this area.

ABSTRACTIONS.......Always loved getting off the track for a little serendipitous exploration.  This is probably the most visceral pleasure of all.  Tapping into your subconscious and just letting it flow....following the paint to see where it will take you.  I believe this helps strengthen an artists work.......so I let it flow.

MUSIC........When in the abstract mode, my early days singing and playing musical instruments........seem to step into the picture.  The "beat"  moves into the painting process.   And frequently, the names of these pieces end in musical notations.  Improvisation reigns.   And city memories and atmosphere come into the picture.

STYLE...From realism, to impressionism, expressionism and  abstract.  I love them all.  And I doubt that I will ever be a perfect fit for just one regimen.   Each has a different form or means in which to express the nuances of a painting.  Perhaps training as a designer, we learn to appreciate and work with so many different periods, that it is only natural that we desire an exploration into these areas on a regular basis.  I have many architect and designer friends, that express the same thought.

INTERIORS......This is an area that I have a love/hate for as an artist.  Perhaps it is just TOO close to my life as a professional designer. All those years at the drafting board......

STILL LIFES... Occasionally I have been inspired by a particular grouping of colors or memories that particular items might bring with them. 

ANTIQUES... This is probably the driving force to explore traditional dark colors as backgrounds for some of my figurative paintings.   These dark backgrounds look so "right" to my brain in a multitude of situations.
________________________________________________________________________


Follow me on Pinterest
or my website.   SEE LINKS on the right
 

A Visit to Falling Water....for new ART inspirations

A recent visit to Falling Waters inspires my interest in water paintings.  See them on my website.

My photo

.....Guess you might call this a "busman's holiday" for a designer/artist.

It has been over 11 years since I last visited.  This time, my traveling companions were not designers, artists or architects.  Perhaps I loved it all over again, as I saw it through their eyes.

The calm and restive nature of the setting.  The sound of water,  the spectacular green scape, and even the moist air of a hot day had a way of rejuvenating the spirit.   We were a little too early to experience the blooming of the rhododendron.  But the landscape was still spectacular.

The timeless appeal of this organic house and it's setting appealed to all.  Even those not primed with a previous lecture or study of architecture...responded to it's universal appeal.

Falling Water from the foot path, my photo

I noticed a lot of details that I had forgotten.   The low ceilings,  the cork tiles in the bathrooms.  The sense that a 1930's construction could still feel so current.  And more.

But one thing particularly stood out for me.   A reminder of the necessity for integration of all the elements of architecture, art, landscape and collectibles.   No one particular element being allowed to take precedence.   This highly choreographed and masterful integration is what creates the sense of peace that is Falling Water.   Something we all yearn for in our everyday lives.

As I meander my way back to the studio,  I will be mindful as I apply the paint to my canvas.

Back entrance to Falling Water,  my photo

"You listen not to any noise whatsoever although the music of the stream is there.  But you listen to falling water the way you listen to the quiet of the country".....Frank Lloyd Wright, lecture at Taliesin, 1955.

Organizing my Painting Studio

Art studios seem to be something that people love to visit.   Something about the environment where all the dreams of art creation and the actual work takes place.   Whenever we have visitors to our house,  I am constantly reminded of this, as people slip off for a few minutes to wander by my studio door to see what is currently on my easel.

Framing Area

Painting Studio Organization

So I thought I would share with you a few of my favorite details and how I organize.My painting studio space is approximately 11' x 20'.  It has northern light.   The ceiling height is 7' 6".....a little too short....but such is life in this cottage-scaled section of the house.

The overall space was not ideal, since it has 3 doors and 3 windows that manage to cut up the space.   My solution, was to use pocket doors,  cafe doors that swing into the closet,  and putting a canvas storage unit on wheels in front of an unused door...that now remains shut. 

The shelf at the back I designed originally for my husbands office to match an executive partners desk. The top and the back are separate units, which make moving it easy.  In addition I have framing tool storage in a metal cabinet from Sears (barely visible on the left).  My framing table with the drop cloth cushions the frames when I am working on them (on the right).

I have three different easels in this studio.  One floor piece, and two table top pieces that float around the space.  I use dish racks made of wooden dowels to store small wet paintings as I rotate through them from day to day.  Dry canvas paintings are stored in the metal canvas cart.  And smaller works on panel are stored on the sheves of the shelving unit at the back of this picture.

Every artist needs a chair to sit back and evaluate the progress.....so you can see a portion of that in the foreground.   A small leather chair, easily cleaned if I accidentally smudge it with oil paint.

Not seen in this picture is my desk, computer, and file storage at the opposite end of the room.  Although nothing really matches, they stack and are small in scale, so they are easy to move and always ready for the day when I want to change things around.

I am fortunate to have access to the outdoors within a few feet of the studio.   So when the weather is nice,  I can haul an easel outdoors and paint there.  Also nice if one of the paintings needs to get the drying fumes temporarily out of my working space. 

The windows are banked in sets of three.....and again cottage scaled.  So when I need more hanging space, I put small nails in the trough edge of the molding, so that I don't have to put holes in the front of the molding.  I love the molding so I would not want to mess it up with lots of nail holes.  This allows me to hang small works that are framed or empty frames.

The windows are an asset in the summer, when I can ventilate the space by moving the sashes at the top and the bottom for air flow.   The ledges of the windows, sometime act as a shelf for display.

Saw Horses with drop cloth when I want to work "Flat"

Inexpensive dowel plate rack

Studio Door to the outdoors

Rack for storage of paintings..on wheels.  I have the one on the left.

 

A companion piece on the right would be nice for flat storage.  Don't really have this one but would love to have the space for it!

All artists perhaps dream of a larger studio......I have a number of ideas in my file on Pinterest for art studios.

My early days in the Magazine Business, NYC

JoAnn R. Barwick, Designer and former Editor in Chief of House Beautiful Magazine

Before.....I took up painting...my first career in New York......

In my early days in New York in the magazine business,  I managed to encounter a wonderful designer who became a mentor,  friend, and colleague.   In fact, I worked for JoAnn Barwick for several years at Modern Bride magazine.

We had such fun in those days.  We designed room settings in studios for photography stories.  We scouted for locations where we could find lovely settings that we could use for design stories.   We  attended countless press functions as editors for many different manufacturers and organizations.   We hired photographers to ramble with us around the countryside looking for interesting visuals.   We visited the furniture markets in North Carolina twice a year, where we would see all the new introductions.
We coordinated the writing of stories and the layouts with the art department.  An all consuming job it was indeed.


JoAnn had a love for blue and white.....I show an example of a recent home that she designed above.
It was interesting to watch her sculpt the blue and white elements into soft and inviting rooms.
To this day, I too am a lover of all things blue and white.  

JoAnn moved on to Good Housekeeping and finally House Beautiful magazines.   I assumed her mantel at Modern Bride for a few years before my husband and I decided to move to Chester County.
To this day, my life as a fine artist, in continually informed by those early days.   The spacial planning for paintings is always there.....subconsciously.   And the blue and white dreams continue.

Room Picture:  courtesy of Traditional Home Magazine.

Pictured below,  a shot of me shopping for "props" for a magazine story that eventually appeared in Modern Bride Magazine, when I worked with JoAnn.

Prop shopping for a story.

Hydrangeas: The seeds of a series.

When we moved to our farm, there was an unloved, hydrangea  bush in our backyard. As a part of the initial clean up,  I clipped it back.  The pruning brought lots of new growth.  I waited patiently to see what might unfold. I was thrilled when a gorgeous old fashioned hydrangea appeared.  The initial flower was white.  Then is moved into a pink and green mode....and eventually toward a wonderful soft brown in the fall.

Since then, Hydrangeas have been a periodic source of inspiration for me.  The colors ramble all over the color palate.  The structure of the vegetation changes.  Size, mediums, abstracts, realism, and experimental modes.
It has become a "muse" of sorts.   They may not always be showing on my website.  So just ask for them.  Contact me through the website.

Hydrangea from our farm,  mid summer.  Photo by Janeice Silberman

Hydrangea bush on our farm, in early early summer. Photo by Janeice Silberman

 

Recent White Hydrangea work, mixed media on canvas.  Available. 12" square.

MORE:         Floral Botanical Works (Clickable)

Press Coverage, by John Chambless..."Making the most of white at the Oxford Arts Alliance" (transposed to readable format)

I have been asked to transpose a recent article in the Chester County Press into a larger readible format online...from the original local newspaper..........Go to a previous blog for details on who the participating artists are in this event.

 Making the most of white at the Oxford Arts Alliance
 by John Chambless, Staff Writer
Chester County Press, Wed. January 11, 2012

Given the mild winter we've had so far, there's a lack of white outside, but inside the Oxford Arts Alliance, "The White Show" reflects an admirable broad range of media and styles.

Acrylics on paper by Tom Hlas are showcased at the door.  The abstracts explore circular shapes applied in white, with dark shapes and circles adding contrast and depth.

Among several works by Janeice Silberman,  "Land Square" is a perfect application of white acrylic and shadowy gray underlay that suggests distant mountains in an arctic landscape.  It's completely successful painting that makes its points with subtlety and grace.  And don't miss Silberman's small "Study in Black and White," elsewhere in the gallery.  It suggests a shadow cast on a snow bank.

Favi Dubo has three abstract works that have a high-tech edge and undeniable impact.

Bill Shimek shows fours shadow boxes - for lack of a better term - that frame a jigsawed white wooden panel in a deep black background, giving the female subjects a startling dimension that pops off the gallery wall.  They look like '60's film stills come to life, and they're among the show's most striking works.

Lisa Baird has six intriquing puppet-like figures displayed on slender rods, blending elements of rabbits, human faces and a spirit of off-kilter whimsy.  They are fascinatingly odd, yet sweet.

Peter Willard's two watercolors are subtle but powerful.  "Squall" is a blue-gray swirl that suggests wind-whipped snow against a thicket of trees, and "Kim's Tree" is a wonderfully painted study of a bare trunk and branches against a wintry sky.  The surface is etched and dappled with paint, but it looks like an ordinary watercolor when you take a couple of steps back.  It's a magical little piece.

Susan Myers shows a nice pastel winter landscape that's skillfully done, and Patty Moshanko's two encaustic panels have fascinating surfaces that look like autumn leaves partially encased by a layer of ice and frost.

And you' want to linger over Dan Miller's three large contructions of intricately cut white and tan mat board that are layered and pieced together like three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles.

In a cold month, it's great to see the Arts Alliance making the most of the season's start hue.  Make sure to visit "The White Show" to see how much can be made out of whiteness.

The Arts Alliance is a 38 S. Third St. in Oxford, Pa.  "The White Show" continues through Jan. 28.  The gallery is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m, and Friday from noon to 5 p.m.

Call 610-467-0301 or visit www.oxfordart.org.