Whitbeck Notes
Summer 2021
Royal Bouquet
36" x 48" oil on canvas
Welcome to the Summer 2021 Whitbeck Notes
Thusfar into the 2021 art show season has been quite successful. But one thing I did not know at the start was what kind of attendance I would find at my fist shows amd if people would be in a mood to purchase art. What I did know, however, and had much confidence in, was the fact that I had put in a lot of energy during the winter months creating new paintings and that I had many new paintings to hang after missing a whole season. So for myself, I was positive, but the question mark was with the show attendance. It turned out that worried I need not be! Kicking things off with the well established and popular Old Town Art Fair in Chicago the people did indeed come and it ended just as successfully as the 2019 show, and then, once again, in Des Moines two weekends later.
Floral Basket
16" x 20" oil on panel
Back in the studio now I have a few weeks before my next, and last show of the year, Longs Park in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. So back to it then! And I am very excited for I have so many ideas floating around in my head. Talking with visitors to my booth throughout a show weekend I get to hear their comments on certain pieces and feel their enthusiasm for this one or that. And that gets the gears going for new ideas or the tweaking of previous ones.
I was also fortunate during this first trip to visit Los Angeles' Getty while visiting family there after the shows. This was my second visit to this amazing museum, which had been many years ago, and was, once again, greatly inspired as I walked through the rooms of my favorite periods, 16th and 17th century European painting. From the truly honest portrait of a woman by Michael Sweerts to the scientifically detailed flower still life by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder and also the candle-lit scholar done by my forefather, Rembrandts pupil (maybe the subject of an upcoming Whitbeck Notes?) the Leiden Fijnschilder Gerrit Dou, I was beside myself with excitment to get back to the studio and start painting. I know I have said and written this many times before and I will write it again now just for a bit more reinforcement; my best learning has come from the direct observation of the canvases and panels of my favorite painters. From this has come the biggest strides in my work. And so to stand before these inspirations was a perfect way to end the start of the 2021 art show season.
I know my schedule is short this year and many of you will not be able to attend one of the three shows, so keep an eye on my website www.jameswhitbeck.com for new work and the possibility of purchasing on- line. I can ship to anywhere in the U.S. and abroad. Studio visits are also welcome.
Lotto Floral
24" x 18" oil on panel
Fortune Teller
18" x 24" oil on panel
