Speaking of happiness, the paintings of Ellie Wyeth always make me happy. (At left: “Still Sleeping.”) Ms. Wyeth often includes her cute dogs in her happy paintings. Before the holidays, at the Arts Council of Princeton’s annual Sauce for the Goose sale, I fell in love with one of Ms. Wyeth’s floor cloths, also with cute dogs, kind of like Jack Russell terriers. It reminds me a bit of Fay Sciarra’s painting, “Marjie’s Dogs.” Here are her two sons, Avery and Luke, with the dogs:

Here’s what I wrote about Ms. Wyeth and her dogs in 2002: The 26 paintings by Ellie Wyeth Fox at Studio 233 in Lambertville tell a story that is simultaneously tragic and whimsical. The images evoke the fantastical worlds of children’s books, but with a poignant message. Many of the scenes are populated by two dogs - Emma, a Jack Russell terrier, and Hewitt, a mixed terrier - and a spirit. The dogs are waiting by the window, waiting along a stone wall, waiting on the bed. (more…)

We could all use a good dose of happiness these days, not only from the sour economy, world conflict and turmoil, rising unemployment… OK, I said I was going to talk about happiness, right? So yes, we could all use a good helping.

And that’s where Nancy Herrington comes in. Her exhibit, opening Jan. 17 at the Queenstown Gallery in Hopewell, is titled Under Closer Examination:  Happiness — I like it! Works in acrylic, oil and ink examine her sources of serenity and pleasure — yay!!! (more…)

When in my 30s, I had a recurring dream that my house had hidden rooms I was discovering. In waking life, I’d never been aware of these rooms, these surprise extra spaces where the children could play hide-and-seek, we could entertain or host more guests, or perhaps embark on a new project.

Upon arising, I became aware that these extra rooms were symbolic of new realms in my life. (more…)

It must be nice to be Jerry Cable. During the economic crisis we’re living through, with high unemployment and increasing numbers of homeless, hungry people, Jerry Cable still finds that peaceful moment. And paints it. So we can find that peace with him. Thank you.

Mr. Cable will be personalizing copies of his limited edition print,
“Patriot Moon,” at his studio during the month of December. “Patriot Moon” depicts the historic McKonky Ferry Inn located in Washington Crossing, Pa., on a winter night under a full moon. It is one of a series of winter nocturnes Mr. Cable painted recently. (more…)

Friends, neighbors and a puppy who sits on your lap while you sip latte and eat pastry… it doesn’t get much better than that. And so artist Eileen Rafferty dreamed it up for the oil on canvas, at left, in an exhibit about neighbors at the Flemington Library.

“There’s a lot of art being created… by artists from all walks of life,” writes Charles David Viera, an artist, art instructor, and curator of the exhibit. “You can be a serious part-time artist… Gaugin was a bank teller by day and an artist by night.”

Some of the artists in this exhibit are bartenders, teachers, nurses, drug reps, retired probation officers, homemakers… and possibly your neighbors. The exhibit runs to Jan. 17.

Against a deep magenta sky, fish hang like ripe fruit from a tree with purple bark. Two cats wait below, eyes fixed on what will become lunch. In another painting, “Aquarium,” a group of girls watch fish swim in an enormous tank - but the girls are actually Russian dolls. More dolls are watching elephants in the painting titled “The Circus Comes to Town.”

With their bright colors and folkloric style, these images have a touch of Frida Kahlo. They certainly look as if they were painted in (more…)

Artist Colleen Attara lives in Yardley, Pa., but at least inside her head she has a view of the jewels that glow on Philadelphia’s skyline at night. Pictured, left, is “The Night the City Was Filled with Music and Flowers.” On view at ARTisZen Arts in Lambertville through Jan. 9, “The Night” uses an old window as a canvas. She also uses wire, beads and Plexiglas to actually “bring the art out of the window making it three-dimensional.”

“I like the contrast of something very old becoming something new using bright acrylic paints and some ingenuity,” says Ms. Attara, a former TV advertising executive. “My art usually starts out as an old window someone wants to discard and ends up on a gallery wall.”

Did you know it is the United Nations International Year of the Potato? Darn, I just found out — and the year is almost over! I love potatoes — everything from Van Gogh’s “The Potato Eaters” to the tubers themselves. I used to eat them for breakfast, just baked with nothing on them. If I can find enough sunny room in my garden, I hope to grow them this coming summer.

On the Year of the Potato web site, I read that the potato is the food of the future: With its rich Andean heritage, it is being rediscovered as a nutritious crop that can feed an increasingly hungry world. The site even offers recipes, from Irish potato soup to Indian potato fudge. (And if you want more, Michael Pollan’s wonderful book, The Botany of Desire, delves into the history, including of course the Irish Potato Famine. Pollan makes the case that plants like the potato, the tulip, the apple tree and marijuana control us.) (more…)

…as when I viewed these two images that are part of an exhibit at the Peddie School’s Mariboe Gallery through Jan. 3, 2009. (The opening reception and gallery talk for José Ruiz: Soledad and Nick Guilbert: Quanta will take place on Dec. 12, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. ) (more…)

This is a holiday season like no other, at least in my lifetime. The downward spiral of the economy is sucking us all into the abyss. Those of us who are still standing, still putting food on the table, want to be as giving as we can. Our hearts go out to those who are financially impacted by the downturn.

In what should be a season of celebration, abundance, generosity and spending time with family, the economic downturn may not allow us to fully rejoice. (more…)