Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was born December 31, 1869 in France and he died November 3 1954
at the age of 84. He was influenced by Paul Ce'zanne, Paul Gauguin and Paul Signac.
He was a draftsman, printmaker, sculpture and a painter. Of course he is really well
known for his paintings. Originally, Henri went to study law in Paris. It was 1887. Then
in 1889, he had an appendicitis attack and needed much rest so his mother bought him
some art supplies. The painting fever caught on and he described this period of time
as " a kind of paradise". He decided to leave law school to become an artist.

Matisse's style of art changed when he met Peter Russell after Peter introduced him
to impressionism. He married a model and had a daughter with her her whom they
named Marguerite. He married again and had two sons they named Jean and Pierre.

Fabric Painting for fun and profit

I started my fabric painting business about two months ago and I am really loving it. I haven't sold much. I sold a t shirt to a friend but I'm not trying to get my family and friends to buy things. I would rather give them away to people I know. I also have the feeling that it's more of a favor to me than purchasing something that they really want.
Money is not the primary goal for me. Although it would be nice to make some extra cash, my husband and I are in that group of fortunate people who still have a job. I'm so blessed. I think about what is happening around the world such as Haiti, Japan and Sudan and count my blessings. We are fortunate people in this country and I hope we stay that way. Things look a little gloomy for the USA but we've been in hard places before and have rebounded. Anyway, back to the topic. I have been having a great time painting on fabric. I want people to enjoy my artwork and it's much faster and fun to do it on clothing than on a canvas. Little artworks! I just finished a design for a friend's daughter. She's 5 years old and loves horses so she wanted me to paint a horse for her.  I really hope she enjoys it.

My artwork

My artwork, a set on Flickr.

Here is some of my artwork.
A gift bag that I created for a friend.
Two women farmworker with Prismacolor pencil and an oil painting of my niece.

Claude Monet

One of my favorite artists is Claude Monet. I love his style of impressionist work. He had such an eye for color and light.

St. Augustine, Florida

My husband and I went to St. Augustine for the 4th of July holiday. Anyone that hasn't gone to St. Augustine, Florida should really try to find the time to go. St. Augustine was the nations oldest settlement in history and was settled in 1565. On Sept. 8. 1565, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles came ashore and named the section of land in honor of Augustine, a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. The history of St. Augustine is so interesting and there is far more than I have the time to detail in this blog. There are tons of things to do art walks, old town, history museum, ghost walks, the old fort just to name a few.

Government Control
Spanish (1565 to 1763)
Britain (1763 to 1784)
Spanish (1784-1821)
United States (1821-present)

Edgar Degas

I'm thinking that I'll start a little information of some of our famous artists and I'll keep updating this from time to time.

Edgar Degas
Born in 1834 in Paris, France
He was one of the founders of the impressionist movement.
He was known for his Printmaking, painting, sculpture and drawing
Some of his famous works include:
The Belleli Family, Woman with Chrysanthemums, Chanteuse de Cafe'


He was a bachelor who believed "The artist must live alone"
Degas was conservative in his political opinions, opposed all social reforms and had no
use for technological advancements.
He exhibited several works at the Salon in which views of his art were controversial.
Degas lived for a while in New Orleans, Louisiana where his brother and some relatives lived.

Lake Worth Sidewalk Art-2010