Acrylic Paintings by French Artist -Patrice Murciano

Paintings by Hong Kong based Artist-Wendy Ng

Animal Paintings by California based Artist -Heather Lara

Heather Lara is an award-winning wildlife artist based in California, specifically in the Temecula area. She is known for her incredibly detailed and lifelike depictions of animals and nature.

Here's a summary of her artistic style and career:

• Signature Medium: While she has worked with various mediums like pastel and watercolor, Heather Lara is a master of scratchboard. This unique medium involves using sharp tools to scratch away a layer of black ink to reveal the white clay board underneath. The meticulous process allows for the creation of exceptionally fine details, which is a hallmark of her work.

• Subjects: Her primary focus is wildlife. She paints a wide range of animals, from majestic big cats and elephants to birds and even insects. Her background in biology has given her a deep understanding of animal anatomy and form, which contributes to the lifelike quality of her work. She often captures the quiet and powerful dignity of her subjects.

• Adding Color: A key part of her artistry is her use of color. She often adds washes of diluted ink or other media to her scratchboard works, building up layers of color to create a richer, more vibrant result. This fusion of a traditional black-and-white medium with color has earned her international acclaim.

• Career and Recognition: Heather Lara is a Master of the International Society of Scratchboard Artists. She has received numerous awards for her work and has been featured in art magazines like Southwest Art Magazine. Her art has been exhibited in galleries both nationally and internationally, including in Russia, Argentina, and New York.

Paintings by Canadian artist Pascale Pratte

Pascale Pratte is a Canadian artist, born in Montreal in 1974. She is a multi-talented artist who has worked in drawing, sculpture, 3D computer graphics, and graphic design, all of which have influenced her unique painting style.

Here's a breakdown of her work and key characteristics:

• Subject Matter: Pratte is primarily known for her captivating portraits of women. Her work celebrates femininity and the strength of her subjects. The women she paints often have a powerful and alluring magnetism, conveyed through their languid gazes and serene expressions.

• Artistic Style: Her style is a blend of modern figuration and impressionism. She manipulates shapes and colors with a great sense of assurance, creating portraits that are both realistic and emotionally charged. Her earlier work was more influenced by pointillism, using small dots of color to build form and volume.

• "Cœur de Cendre" Series: One of her most notable and recent collections is the "Cœur de Cendre" (Heart of Ashes) series. In these mixed-media pieces, Pratte incorporates a unique element: charcoal dust that she collects from burnt wood. She sprinkles this dust over her finished oil paintings, which adds a distinct texture, grain, and "soul" to the portraits, making them even more profound and unique.

• Career: Pascale Pratte has been creating and selling her art since a very young age. She started with a kiosk in Old Montreal at just 10 years old. She later pursued formal training but ultimately devoted herself to painting. Her work has been exhibited internationally in Canada, the United States, and Europe, and she is a highly sought-after contemporary artist.

Paintings by Belgian Artist -Rene Magrette

René Magritte was a Belgian Surrealist artist, one of the most prominent figures of the movement. Born in 1898, he is known for his witty, thought-provoking, and often enigmatic paintings that challenge viewers' perceptions of reality.

Here are the key aspects of his art and influence:

• Surrealism and the Uncanny: Magritte's work is a cornerstone of Surrealism, a movement that sought to liberate the unconscious mind. Unlike some of his contemporaries who used a more abstract style, Magritte's art is characterized by its meticulous, realistic depiction of familiar objects. The "surreal" element comes from placing these objects in an unexpected or illogical context, which creates a sense of the uncanny and prompts questions about reality and representation.

• Common Motifs and Symbols: He had a recurring cast of symbols and subjects in his work, which have become iconic:

  • The Bowler Hat: A symbol of the ordinary bourgeois man, often used to obscure faces.

  • The Apple: A simple, everyday object that frequently covers the face of a subject, as in his most famous self-portrait, The Son of Man.

  • Pipes: Most notably in his famous painting, The Treachery of Images.

  • Clouds and Skies: Often appearing in unexpected places, such as indoors or on objects.

  • Stones and Rocks: Shown floating weightlessly in the sky, defying gravity.

• Challenging Perceptions: Magritte's most famous paintings often play on the disconnect between an image and its label. His most iconic example is The Treachery of Images (1929), which shows a realistic painting of a pipe with the words "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe") written below it. This challenges the viewer to think about the fact that the image of an object is not the object itself.

• Legacy: Magritte's influence extends far beyond Surrealism. His clear, graphic style and conceptual approach to art have had a significant impact on Pop Art, Minimalist Art, and Conceptual Art. His imagery is so recognizable that it has been widely used in advertising, film, and popular culture.

• Famous Works:

  • The Son of Man (1964): A self-portrait of a man in a suit and bowler hat with a green apple obscuring his face.

  • The Treachery of Images (1929): The famous pipe painting.

  • The Lovers (1928): A painting of two people kissing with their heads covered in white cloth.

  • Golconda (1953): A scene depicting a cityscape with a multitude of men in bowler hats raining down from the sky.

  • The Empire of Light (1954): A paradoxical image showing a dark, nocturnal street scene under a bright, daytime sky.

Whole Wheat Witch Fingers for halloween

Whole Wheat Witch Fingers

Prep Time: 25 min  

Cook Time: 20 min 

Total Time: 85 min

Whole Wheat Whipping Cream Biscuits

Ingredients 

2 1/2 cups whole wheat (hard white) flour, freshly ground

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp.  Honey Granules aka Sucanat with honey

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream 

Method 

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.