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Portrait of a French Pear Tart

by In Monthly Miniature Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

September has been a crazy month. As you may have noticed, my little garden gives me a lot of produce, and I’m a bit obsessed with not letting it go to waste. I feel like I jumped from a plum roller coaster right into an ocean of pears! I’ve canned 50 jars of pears (underestimate), eaten a million pears (overestimate) and baked a decadent French Pear Tart.

My mom gave me my pear tree 12 years ago, and it’s getting really big. Since our cherry tree came down, the pear is the new favorite for the birds. Our resident Steller’s Jays like to nip at the fruit on the top of the tree, so it felt perfectly natural to invite this Jay to the French Tart party.

Speaking of a crazy month, my own little bird (five your old son) started kindergarten, and talk about roller coasters. My emotions keep going up and down with excitement and fear. Except for a few school bus mishaps in the beginning, it’s been a pretty smooth transition. He is such a sweet little guy, and he really appreciates special homemade treats like this. He loved the tart, but he REALLY loves the canned pears. I have every faith that we’ll go through those 50 jars! The tart was incredible, but with a 21 step recipe, it’s a once-a-year occurrence.

I haven’t quite accepted that fall is already upon us and plan on staying in denial for as long as possible. I hope you enjoy the sunshine and warmth while it lasts and take some time to enjoy a special treat too.

Dutch ripple frame Still life French Pear Tart and steller Jay oil painting by Rebecca Luncan
French Pear Tart, oil on aluminum, 5″ x 5″
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Poison Garden, forest floor still life paitning for group exhibit

by In Exhibition Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Poison Garden, Antler Gallery, July 30th – August 23rd

Forgotten Garden, oil on aluminum, 9″ x 16″

In my “In Season” Monthly Miniature still life series, I studied and paid tribute to different artists of the Dutch golden age of still life paitning throught the year in which I completed that project. One of the artists I stumbled upon was Otto Mardeus van Schrieck. He created these incredibly detailed paintings that so perfectly contrasted the dark and light of the natural world. For that series I made a painting titled, “Forest Floor with Rabbits“. This painting was quite different than the others in the series that were more tradidional table top still life paintings. I think it was an important one to make for me to understand more fully the genere of still life in the 1600’s though.

I’d been toying with the idea of dedicating my next series of miniatures to “forest floor” paintings and decided on something different. When I got the invitation from Antler Gallery to participate in their Poison Garden exhibit I immediately knew exactly what I wanted to paint.

Years ago, I invited my neighbors foxglove flowers into my own garden when she was digging them up in fear that her dogs would eat them. The poisonous but beautiful flowers quickly bagan popping up in new places throught my garden and I encouraged them. When I had my son, however, I began to question that decision. Especilly since he loved foraging for different edible berries on his own. I began pulling them up, but there was no way I could get them all. The model for his painting is one of my survivors. My son still forages, but he’s a quick leaner and is very careful around the flowers. He actually held up a huge sheet of black paper behind the plant for me while I photographed it for reference for this paitning so that I could make the shadows and highlights more accuratly.

I included insects that are also poisonous, some with stings, others bites and I didn’t know this, but most butterflies are also toxic. Not that I’ve ever tried to eat one.

I hope you enjoy the painting and I hope you’ll go to the Antler Gallery website to see some of the other artists beautiful pieces for the exhibition.

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Portrait of an Alpha Rooster

by In Pet Portrait Tagged , , , ,

The rooster in this portrait, Jupiter, is the master of over 30 hens in his little slice of paradise at a friends little farm on Vashon Island. My friend Michael has so many beautiful chickens, but this guy demands respect and admiration in a way that only an alpha rooster can. I work from photos and he was happy to oblige. He stayed right in front of the camera, though he never stopped moving. 

My work is influenced by paintings made during the Dutch Golden age. Behind Jupiter, I have a background that is inspired by one of Rembrandt’s self-portraits. My intention in giving the painting of Jupiter a formal composition and background is not to anthropomorphize him, but to give him dignity of his own and to signify that this is his portrait, not just a portrait of a rooster. 

Jupter, oil on aluminum, 15″ x 15″. Go to my available works page to purchase Jupiter and to view more works in this series.

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Calf paintings and chicken drawings in Small Works Exhibit

by In Exhibition Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Bovine beauties and classic chickens have posed for two new paintings and three new drawings. On view July 12 – August 25th at Childhood’s End Gallery as part of a group exhibit featuring small artwork from nine northwest female artists.

Childhood’s End Gallery has been around since 1971 and they’re a leading source for fine art and American craft.  Located along the waterfront in historic downtown Olympia, step inside and you’ll find something for everyone.

I’ll have two calf paintings of Zebu cows from Holly Freeman’s herd about an hour outside Nashville, TN. She helps run the Columbia Art’s Building and raises all sorts of creatures. See these two painting and more from the Into the Country (larger works) series.

Calf oil painting in the realist tradition by Rebecca Luncan
Cheryl oil on aluminum 8″ x 8″

Though my primary medium is oils, keeping up a steady drawing practice informs and strengthens my technical skills. I’ve also always been fond of the medium. I have three affordable portraits of hens and roosters in the exhibition and plan to continue to make more throughout the year. My husband and I have been traveling around the Seattle area this summer taking photos of our friends chickens (one day we’ll have our own!). I’m making four painting for another exhibition opening up next month in LA, but there were so many incredible faces in the mix that I was eager to capture in a portrait. See them all in my gallery of drawings.

  • Graphite portrait drawing of a Plymouth rock rooster with a rose comb by Rebecca Luncan
    Clifford, graphite on paper, 4″ x 4″
  • realistic Graphite portrait drawing of a white chicken by Rebecca Luncan
    Sally, graphite on paper, 4″ x 4″
  • Graphite portrait drawing of a white chicken by Rebecca Luncan
    Martha, graphite on paper, 4″ x 4″
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ARC Salon 2019 awards ceremony at the MEAM – Museu Europeu d’Art Modern

by In Awards &. Competitions, Exhibition Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Earlier this month, I traveled to Barcelona to attend the 13th annual ARC Salon at the Museu Europeu d’Art Modern (MEAM). During the opening reception, they also had the official awards ceremony. Along with sever other very talented artists in the exhibit, I received my awards (Honorable mention and Arcadia Gallery Award) from Kara Ross, ARC Co-Chairman and Chief Operating Officer. The awards ceremony / opening reception was very well attended and good will and champagne flowed freely. It’s a lot of work to organize a traveling exhibition and the process couldn’t have been more seamless. The Art Renewal Center was exceptional to work with and I’m very grateful to have a painting in the exhibition. A huge thank you to collectors Steve and Carl for loaning the painting for the exhibition. And thank you Art Renewal Center and Arcadia Contemporary for the recognition and to the MEAM for being an exceptional host for the exhibit!  Barcelona is a fantastic city and the MEAM is a Mecca for contemporary realism.

European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM)

February 8 – March 31, 2019

C/ Barra de Ferro 508003, Barcelona, Spain

Rebecca receiving her ARC awards from Kara Ross at the MEAM.

Rebecca receiving her ARC awards from Kara Ross at the MEAM.