Velvet & Linen

steve's art giveaway winners...

Steve and I really can't thank all of you enough for all of the 586 wonderful comments you wrote about Steve's artwork. Steve's art is his passion and your comments are a gift that validates his work.

The two winners of the giclees of his art are:

Hilde, we are so excited to send you a giclee of #79!

Congratulations Natasha! A giclee of #37 is on its way :)

I hope you have a wonderful Monday. Oh, and please stop by on Tuesday. Steve and I have some very exciting news to share with you!!!'

One last important note:

I want to let all of you know about a fantastic sale over at Artie's beautiful blog Color Outside the Lines. 

From his handmade crystal and shell soldered antique bottles to kooboo wicker and zinc flower baskets at just $20, you'll find something unique and beautiful to decorate your home, store, or stock the gift closet at Artie's big sale Tuesday March 1st. Velvet and Linen readers can get a sneak peek and opportunity to buy it before Monday. Email Artie at [email protected] and put V&L reader in the Subject Line.

 

 

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

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v&l 500th post and the steve giannetti art giveaway...

Steve and I have been trying to figure out a way to thank you for all of your support of our work and our creative process. We knew that we wanted to do a giveaway for our Velvet and Linen 500th post, and your incredible response to Steve's paintings in our recent project made the object of our giveaway clear...

Steve's guest post about his paintings was one of the Velvet and Linen most popular posts. 

Recently, Steve has been working on some different ideas, incorporating images of the sky into his Water Series. 

In Steve's own words: "The latest paintings are taking inspiration from images of a cross country flight.Blending the new sky series with the old water series. 
Painting a place where no easel can be set up ...30,000 feet. These photos provided inspiration for my latest paintings."

"81 is my latest favorite. I am working on creating some transparency in the bottom of the image possibly seeing through the waters surface to the bottom or thru the atmosphere to the ground below. I am seeing both at the same time in the image, both the sky and the water. The reflection of clouds and the clouds  themselves."

Painting 80 
"This painting and 81 above are really about the abstraction of the image more than the image itself...I am really going for an emotional tone that comes from a vague memory. The Idea is to paint from an emotion and to create the same emotion
when the painting is seen. It's less about what you see than what you feel."

As he learns more about his art process, Steve is saving his originals, but we have created a series of giclees (reproductions on canvas) that capture the calming emotion of the originals. 

For our 500th post giveaway we are going to give away a giclee to two V&L readers. To enter the give away all you need to do is visit our Giannetti Art website and select your favorite. After you've made your selection, come back to Velvet and Linen and leave a comment on this post (for V&L fans, twitter followers, or email subscribers, click here to leave a comment) letting us know the piece you love and why. If you win, we'll send you the giclee of your selection (free shipping within the continental US only). How easy is that?

On Sunday, February 27th we'll randomly choose the winners. 

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services. You can also purchase many items found here on Velvet and Linen as well as "to the trade" furnishings through Giannetti Home. Email Kelly about the details.

 To Subscribe to Velvet and Linen click here.

To Become a Fan of Velvet and Linen on Facebook click here. 

 

 

travel sketches...

When Steve and I started dating, I quickly realized that he saw the world differently. This became even more apparent when we started taking trips together.  You see, Steve sees the world through his drawings. 

His travel sketches serve many purposes. Sometimes Steve will draw buildings in order to figure out what makes them so charming. What are the proportions or patterns that were used?

Drawing of Beach House Rehobeth, Delaware 

Travel sketches allow Steve to slow down the world and really experience a space. It shuts off all of the voices in his head and allows him to focus one something for a long period of time.

Pencil Sketch Le Corbusier House, Paris 1984 

Although Steve is drawing on paper, he is really sketching the images permanently on his brain.

Pencil Sketch Paris, 1984

 

Some of the first travel sketches Steve ever shared with me were these wonderful pen drawings of Roman Ruins in Ceaserea, Israel.  

Pen Sketch of Roman Ruin, Ceaserea, Israel 1984

 
 Pen Sketch of Roman Ruin, Ceaserea, Israel 1984

Pen Sketch Roman Aqueduct, Israel 1984

After years of doing these drawings, Steve has trained his mind to really see the details of what his is looking at. 

Pencil Drawing Foot Bridge, Bern 1984  

Steve's watercolors  enable him to capture the palette of a beautiful place and lock the colors in his head. 

 

All of Steve's watercolors are done with this little Winsor Newton Cotman Watercolor Field Box. It's the perfect size and has everything he needs including water, pigments, and a place to mix the perfect color!

 

Steve creates these drawings for himself, but when our friend Marc Appleton asked him to submit a few of his travel sketches for an Institute of Classical Architecture art exhibit, he was honored to be included!

The art reception took place at the  Edward Cella Art and Architecture Gallery last Tuesday night. Here are a few of the beautiful drawings by other designers...

 

Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain, 2009 Bradley Neal

 

Geometric Study of Il Gesu, 2004 Domiane Forte

 

Il Gesu, Facade, Rome, Italy, 2004 Domiane Forte

 Bob's Service, Walsenburg, Colorado, 2010 Thomas Callaway

Avalon Harbor, 2010 Amy Merello

 
Doges Palace, Venice, Italy, 1980 Paul Williger

Venice II Redentore, 1980 Paul Williger

 Greek theater, Segesta, Sicily, 2004 Marc Appleton

Palazza Biscari, Catania, Sicily, 2004 Marc Appleton 

Persian Floor Study 4, n.d. Nancy Goslee Power

Pierson College Tower, Yale University, New Haven Richard Manion 

These are Steve's water colors that were selected for the exhibit...

 
Venice Canal 1 Steve Giannetti 2010

 
 
Doorway, Venice, Italy  Steve Giannetti 2010

Water Color Venice Museum, Venice Italy Steve Giannetti 2010 

Going to this exhibit has inpired me to try my hand at drawing. I hope it has inspired you as well!

xo

Brooke

If you would like help creating the home of your dreams, email me about our design services.

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To Become a Fan of Velvet and Linen on Facebook click here. 

    

steve's art

I've been a bit crazy busy this weekend. The kids go back to school tomorrow, and Steve and I are off to Atlanta on Wednesday. As I prepare for our trip, make school lunches, and help find backpacks that haven't been seen in over two weeks, Steve has offered to do a guest post on my blog. Since many of you have admired his artwork, he felt that this would be a perfect topic to write about...

Steve here, making a post for a change. I want to thank all of you who commented on my artwork. I thought it might be interesting to take you through the evolution of the creative process behind my art. 

I have done many sketches that turn up in the background of our homes. Brooke likes this one..

I'd also done a little watercolor sketching years ago. They were mostly painted while traveling... 

 

Last year, I had a goal to learn how to paint with oils. I had never used oils before, but I figured that I would do 100 paintings and see where that got me. I had a vague image in the back of my head of wall sized canvases. 
 

Starting something new was a challenge. The first one painted off the rear deck at Oxnard was pretty lame. I realized  quickly that I hated painting houses.... too much like work.

Painting 1

I tried painting boats for the second one. This one turned out a little better, but the water was more fun than the boat. 

 Painting 2

Then I worked my way into a still life. Just some plants on the deck. I loosened things up a bit. 

 Painting 3

Then some landscapes started showing up (isn't that what you are supposed to paint?). This one was done from a photo. The smoke and mist was kind of cool, but I still hated the building.

Painting 4

Then I took one of my favorite antique oil paintings that we had around the house and just copied it. I learned a lot doing that one. I really liked the sketchy quality of it. The depth of color. I realized that it was a lot easier to copy than figure it out.

Painting 5

Taking in what I learned,  I tried to get a bit more photographic with things. Sometimes photos are just better, but the water and sky were interesting. 

Painting 6

So, I started painting the sky, letting it be a bit abstract and sketchy.

Painting 11

Then I painted the water in the pool. No pool. Just the water. This seemed a little weird at the time.

 Painting 12

Then I did a bunch of paintings at the beach. It was very relaxing to paint at the beach. I just took all of the people and buildings out and abstracted things a bit.

 Painting 14

I did a few paintings of the evening sky. This one was pretty cool and will probably turn into a whole series, eventually.

 Painting 16 (12" x 9")

I was still drawn back to the water: The change in color from the horizon to the beach. The transparency as it reaches the shore.

Painting 21 (12" x 16")

The sunlight on the water. Breaking waves. The sand. But after painting number 23 fell into the sand, I decided to go back to painting on the deck!

Painting 22 (18"x24")

This time I just painted the water, the same water that was in Painting 2.  The boat was just off to the left. Still working on the transparency up close and the reflection in the distance.

Painting 33 (9"x12")

Another one of the same piece of water, just letting a bit more color in.

Painting 31 (16"x12")

I stopped looking at something to paint and just made it up. It was more about the process, the relaxation, the movement, the total lack of subject matter, the no right answers. This was really appealing to me. I did a bunch of these in different colors.

Painting 32 (22"x30")

The paintings started getting bigger and looser. I actually like this one a lot.

  

Painting 37 (30"x40")

Some were a little cloudy. There is a look of the air and clouds when you are flying at 30,000 feet that was really appealing to me.

 

Painting 38 (30"x30")

This is the latest one. I painted the same piece of water, but a bit moodier.

Very late in the day, the reflection of the sunset begins to show up.
 
 Painting 49 (36"x36")

Well I'm almost half way through  now, and we just hung a lot of them up in Oxnard. 

I still see those wall sized canvases in my head.

Fortunately, there is a lot of great white wall space there, a lot of blank canvases in the garage, and a lot of ideas percolating in my head. We'll see where I end up! - Steve

 

Thank you Steve for sharing the process behind your art! To see more of Steve's artwork click here. 

Have a wonderful Sunday!

xo

Brooke