Melody The Artist

Gifts of Light~

2011-12-08T22:24:00.007-05:00

Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists in Boston, Ma; North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Ma; and Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, Pa.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~

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Gloucester Paintings by Melody Phaneuf on View

2011-11-22T06:41:00.005-05:00

Winter Twilight, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
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Melody Phaneuf is exhibiting her Gloucester Paintings through January 7 at Bank Gloucester Gallery, 160 Main St. Gloucester, MA. Join us for the Artist Reception Dec 3 from 11-1

Read more about Winter Twilight, pictured above

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

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Painting Fields~ Awakening

2011-08-21T22:16:00.004-04:00

Awakening, 30 x 25 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

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I am enjoying a relationship with the Genius Loci of these fields. With quiet attention comes a deeper understanding of Nature and a sense of well-being. Continue reading~

Phaneuf maintains a studio at Fenway Studios in Boston, where she paints and holds workshops, continuing the Boston School lineage.

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Pasture in Spring

2011-06-26T10:23:00.002-04:00

Spring Pasture, 30 x 24 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

It is such a delight to paint Spring awakening! The energy and color in new growth is a healing inspiration after a long, snowy winter. Continue reading~

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July Plein Air Workshop

2011-06-11T11:19:00.005-04:00

Plein Air Painting Workshop in Gloucester

with Melody Phaneuf

July 27, 28 & 29 2011

More info at MelodyTheArtist.com /Art Instruction & Workshops

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Plein Air Painting in Gloucester

2011-05-27T05:17:00.004-04:00

Plein Air Painting in Gloucester

with Melody Phaneuf

June 4, 11, 18 & 25 2011

There is truth and freshness in painting outdoors. Learn to translate the immediacy of mood and light on the landscape into oil paint with Melody Phaneuf in Gloucester, Ma, Saturdays in June.

We will focus on completing a small painting each session, from 8:30-11:00.

Workshop meets at the Visitor Center in Gloucester at 8:30 AM on Saturdays,
June 4, 11, 18 & 25 2011. There is parking at the center. A list of supplies will be provided.

Cost is $250~ bring a friend and you both save $50.

Contact:
Melody Phaneuf, 617 236 4322 or email Melody

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Painting Bridges~ The Drawbridge at Edam

2011-05-06T05:50:00.003-04:00

Drawbridge at Edam, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
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Charming drawbridges dot North Holland’s landscape, perfect entries into enchanting villages built on water. I am visually attracted to bridges because they break up the picture plane in ways that one doesn’t ordinarily find in landscape motifs. As a story-telling motif, bridges offer many possibilities.

Bridges connect separated realms and can act as portals to special experiences. Continue reading~

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Painting Color~ May Workshop, Boston

2011-04-26T05:49:00.004-04:00

Painting Light With Color

Still Life Workshop with Melody Phaneuf

May 14, 21, 28

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Eggs and Shells, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

Light bathes objects in its path and reveals exquisite interactions of color.

Learn to translate the visual experience of light & color into oil paint in a 3-day workshop given by Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston.

Focus is on painting a simple still life arrangement. Immerse yourself in a traditional approach to oil painting in ideal, north light studio conditions.

Workshop will be held May 14, 21, 28, and from 10:30–1:30; cost is $275; bring a friend and you both save $75.

Contact:
Melody Phaneuf, 617 236 4322 or email workshop

Melody Phaneuf began artistic studies at Vesper George School of Art. Influenced by teachers Robert Douglas Hunter and Robert Cormier, she advanced her skills in the Boston School tradition with portrait artist, Robert Cormier at Fenway Studios ?in Boston. The rigorous training in drawing, painting and composition gave Phaneuf the fluency to communicate her artistic vision.

Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. She has exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet ?in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan. Her paintings are regularly on view at ?The Guild of Boston Artists, Boston, North Shore Arts in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Bennington Center for The Arts in Bennington, Vermont. Phaneuf has recently been invited to become an exhibiting artist at Patricia Hutton Galleries, soon to open in Doylestown, Pennsylvania.

Phaneuf maintains a studio at Fenway Studios in Boston, where she paints and holds workshops, continuing the Boston School lineage.

Boston Art~ How to Paint Glass

2011-04-08T05:20:00.003-04:00

Light and Glass are exquisite playmates. Sometimes bending, sometimes bouncing, light penetrates glass and splashes color like liquid. Learn to paint the exhilarating effects of tinged illumination in a 4-day oil painting workshop given by Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston.
Focus is on painting the elusive transparency of glass within a simple still life arrangement. Immerse yourself in a traditional approach to oil painting in ideal, north light studio conditions.
Workshop is April 18-21, from 1:00–3:30; cost is $295. Space is limited. A list of supplies will be provided.

Moved by the Spirit

2011-03-29T05:32:00.004-04:00

Peaceful Harbor, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

For as long as I can remember I have believed that my purpose is to make things. I recall long preschool afternoons with my mother, joyfully immersed in constructing dollhouses from cardboard boxes. I loved to “color,” and was always happy with crayons, paper, and imagination. Continue reading~

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Touring Beacon Hill

2011-03-19T07:48:00.002-04:00

Touring Beacon Hill by Melody Phaneuf, oil study

Light and shadow create intriguing visual patterns. Outdoors, light and shadow are in constant motion. The sun’s passage endlessly changes pattern, color, and textural appearance. Continue reading~

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A Discriminating Vision

2011-03-10T05:54:00.004-05:00

Outside The Box, 9 x 12 Oil painting by Melody Phaneuf,
available in Open Edition Print, Fine Art Note Cards and Bookmarks
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“When I move, all I’m taking is my painting.”

Sophie is five years old and has outgrown her bedroom. I was happy to hear through her family grapevine, that she has her aesthetic priorities in order. I must also admit that I’m a bit relieved that Outside The Box made Sophie’s discriminating cut for her new bedroom. Continue reading~

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Yellow

2011-03-01T05:25:00.002-05:00

Yellow, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

The vibrant spirit of yellow lures me with thoughts of warmth and sunshine. Continue reading~

Yellow, 25 x 20 Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf
Yellow is available in Open Edition Print and Fine Art Note Cards

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Melody Phaneuf is a Boston Artist, well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

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Colorful Consequences

2011-02-15T05:21:00.004-05:00

Fragrant Delight, oil panting by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf
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Why do we find certain combinations of color pleasing? Color satisfies other senses in addition to sight, like touch and taste. For example, sunny yellows and orange hues on a cold day may take our minds off the chill, and dark, warm browns might remind us of cocoa. Continue reading~

Fragrant Delight, 36 x 34 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
Fragrant Delight is also available in limited edition gicleé on canvas, tile coasters, and handmade note cards

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Boston Artist, Custom Artwork

2011-02-06T09:04:00.007-05:00

Charlie Sleeps Tonight by Melody Phaneuf, Commissioned Artwork
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Happy memories of their safari brought soon-to-be parents a vision for their nursery. Charlie’s arrival would be celebrated and surrounded with the couple’s safari enchantment. Charlie’s room would be a special place, surrounded by jungle friends. What could be a more agreeable entrée than to share a wonder of the world? Continue reading~

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Back To The Garden

2011-01-26T05:44:00.005-05:00

Lilies and Hydrangeas, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, Boston Artist

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How I long to be in a sunny garden again. I can feel myself surrounded with color and birdsong. I love the warmth penetrating my bones and the scent of the rich soil as I knead it. Continue reading~

Lilies and Hydrangeas, from the Little Gem collection, 8 x 10 oil paintings by Melody Phaneuf, priced at $350.

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Minor Key Moods

2011-01-16T20:24:00.005-05:00

Squalls, 30 x 25 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
Squalls is also available in open edition print and hand made note cards
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Snow has been a spirited topic of conversation since the recent storm. I overheard an interesting comment by someone who disliked days of sun and snow together, then watched her expression of delight as she described how peaceful and reminiscent snow storms make her feel–despite having to dig out in the aftermath.

In regard to mood, it’s true that lighting is the most significant visual force. Continue reading~

Squalls, 30 x 25 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
Squalls is also available in open edition print and hand made note cards

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Violet Variations

2011-01-06T20:54:00.003-05:00

Violet, 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

It’s a useful exercise to limit an aspect of design to explore what can be done within given parameters. In Violet, color was limited to a single hue, resulting in countless variations of value and intensity. Nuances of color shimmer in ways that would be lost within a full palette. The subtle gradations draw us in and command a quiet observation. Continue reading~

Violet, 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
Violet is also available in open edition print and note cards.

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Categorized under: Color, Still Life Paintings.

Winter Visions

2010-12-30T18:55:00.005-05:00

Corner of My Village, by Suzor Cote

After what seemed to be endless shoveling, I am happy to be painting again. Finding myself to be less enthusiastic than I was earlier about snow paintings, I resolved to restore my winter spirit with the vision of Suzor-Coté. Continue reading~

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On Light~

2010-12-24T05:07:00.003-05:00

If I could journey back in time I would choose the interval that our consciousness bridged the visual world and language. I envision that we were in and out of comprehension of our being rather than simply being, that we recognized the separation of ourselves from the stream of events. Continue reading~

From Christmas in Rockport, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, in private Collection.

Christmas in Rockport is available in fine art print and handmade note cards

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Let there be Music, let there be Light!

2010-12-15T15:38:00.003-05:00

Con Spirito, 34 x 36 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
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December’s dark stillness compels me to seek movement and light. The dancing flame and flickering reflections in Con Spirito satisfies my urge. I awaken to a mysterious animating force, and darkness is overcome by light. Continue reading~

Con Spirito, 34 x 36 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf is also available in Botticino tile coasters, fine art print, and handmade notecards

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Twelve Days of Christmas Featured Painting

2010-12-07T16:28:00.002-05:00

Into the Field, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf

Today’s Featured Painting, Into the Field, is one of my favorites included in the 12 Days of Christmas offering. As a student, I copied paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts. I was attracted by the work of Dennis Miller Bunker and copied his field paintings. Analyzing and emulating his technique of applying paint in separate brushstrokes illuminated my concept of color. Continue reading~

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Restoring The Light

2010-12-01T06:11:00.006-05:00

Radiant Vessel, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf, available in Keepsake Ornament
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Seasonal darkness wraps me in awe with a deep desire for the light. Brilliant stars twinkle, tiny visual bells ringing in the crisp night air. I imagine ancient ancestors huddled by a fire, inventing stories about rebirth of the light.

Radiant Vessel evokes the spirit of such ruminations. Continue reading~

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Working in The Sight Size Method

2010-11-25T09:44:00.002-05:00

Melody Phaneuf's studio, showing the distance between painting table and easel in the Sight-Size Method

Attempting to paint the visual impression from nature is akin to putting together a puzzle. It’s much easier when you have an image of the whole.

Whether it’s a portrait, landscape, or still life, I stand way back from what I’m painting in order to picture the entire composition. Being far-sighted, this seems natural to me, but I was also trained to do this as an atelier student.

The method, called sight-size, requires that the artist stand back at least three times the distance of the diagonal measurement of the picture plane. From there one measures the tops, bottoms and key points of objects, using a level. A plumb line is used as a guide to locate points on a vertical axis. Relative widths are judged by using thumbs on a ruler to mark edges of objects, then finding those points on the paper or canvas from the same distance. Continue reading~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards.

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Seeking Wholeness

2010-11-18T22:42:00.006-05:00

Winter's Passage II, 30 x 25 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

There is a kind of order that comes from seeking wholeness. Vision of the whole dominates perfection of any of the smaller parts, they are only important in as much as they support the structure of the entire design.

How does one capture this wholeness in a painting? At the outset all small detail is suppressed. Continue reading~

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Art Around Boston~ Liberty Hotel

2010-11-13T07:21:00.006-05:00

Beacon Hill New Age Crystals, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

With Fenway Open Studios behind us the focus is on the Liberty Hotel’s Art & Wine Tasting event November 16, 6-8:30.

Formerly the Charles Street Jail, the structure has been transformed into a most elegant hotel. Plush surroundings and superb wines create a hospitable ambiance in which to view art. If you missed Fenway Open Studios, there is another chance to join art lovers and wine connoisseurs. The Liberty Hotel can be found at 215 Charles Street, on Boston’s Beacon Hill.

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Boston Art~ Open Studios This Weekend

2010-11-05T10:41:00.003-04:00

Sunflower Field, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

This weekend, November 6 & 7 is our annual Open Studios event at Fenway Studios. Participating artists scurry about, pulling together the last minute details in order to welcome art lovers to their studios. Continue reading~

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Directions to Fenway Open Studios

Vendage~ Celebrating Harvest

2010-10-27T21:04:00.005-04:00

Vendage, 30 x 24 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
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A lively rhythm of vines and grapes bathed in sunlight is the essence of Vendage, a celebration of harvest. The painting is light and festive, the movement through the composition angular and energetic, evoking mirth and delight. Continue reading~

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Into The Field

2010-10-21T05:23:00.004-04:00

Into The Field, oil study by Melody Phaneuf

I love the wild beauty of fields. Much of my childhood was spent in grassy expanses, bordered by woodland. It is in these surroundings that I sense the animation in Nature.

Painting the spirit of this terrain is a study in abstraction. Continue reading~

Into The Field, 8 x 10 study in oil by Melody Phaneuf

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A Sketch Book Journey

2010-10-14T20:27:00.006-04:00

From Melody Phaneuf's Sketchbook, Quincy Wince & Pal
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It’s sometimes a revelation to peruse old sketchbooks. Pictures store the essence of an artist’s spirit at the time of their creation. They hold up a mirror to time, like snapshots of a journey.

Drawings done from imagination seem to be most telling. Continue reading~

Sketchbook Illustration by Melody Phaneuf from The Marvelous Adventures of Quincy Wince

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Art Boston~ Open Studios, Featured Artist

2010-10-07T05:27:00.006-04:00

Golden Days by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf

The Artists of Fenway Studios are busily preparing for our annual Open Studio weekend, November 6 & 7, from 11-5. Fenway Studios is a National Historic Landmark building, the oldest continuously functioning artist building in the country. Fenway Studios was the first in the country to create a limited-equity artist coop. Continue reading~

Golden Days, 20 x 16 oil painting of Boston Garden by Melody Phaneuf

Golden Days, handmade note cards

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Yellow

2010-09-29T22:32:00.008-04:00

Yellow, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, Boston
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Yellow, color of sunshine, has a stimulating, lightening and gladdening effect on the soul. In Greek mythology, Helios the Sun God donned a yellow robe while driving his golden chariot drawn by fiery horses across the sky. The Sun’s radiant yellow light came to symbolize divine wisdom. Continue reading~

Yellow, 28 x 24 Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf
Yellow is available in Open Edition Print and Fine Art Note Cards

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The Art Spirit

2010-09-24T05:22:00.007-04:00

Archived Portfolio Drawing, circa 1979 by Melody Phaneuf

A few days ago I received a message from a former student who is pursuing illustration. She had been shaving her Prismacolor pencil to the needle-sharp tip that I had insisted upon for pencil drawing precision, and considered it remarkable how natural it felt despite the waste of time and torture she considered the activity at the time of my instruction. This made me smile. Continue reading~

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Small Paintings at Northshore Arts

2010-09-16T05:34:00.008-04:00

Uphill, by Melody Phaneuf, 10 x 8 Oil Painting
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The fall exhibition of small paintings begins next week at Northshore Arts in Gloucester and continues through October. Small Paintings are a special treat. The favorable price and limited space small paintings require for display offer an occasion to own an original work of art.

Landscape paintings translate especially well to a petite format. Continue reading~

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Painting Radiance

2010-09-09T05:29:00.007-04:00

Rhythms and Radiance, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

Light and Glass are exquisite playmates. Sometimes bending, sometimes bouncing, light penetrates glass and splashes color like liquid. I recall the exhilarating experience of standing in a ray of blue light from a towering rose window the first time I visited Chartres Cathedral in France. Continue reading~

Rhythms And Radiance, 17 x 24 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

Rhythms And Radiance is available in open edition print and notecards.

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Artists That Influence~ Picasso and Degas

2010-09-03T05:19:00.002-04:00

Picasso and Degas~ Figure Studies

Pablo Picasso and Edouard Degas, could they be more different? Yet, the exhibit at the Clark Museum, Picasso looks at Degas, reveals that Degas, the master influenced the younger Picasso in many ways. Continue reading~

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Art Collecting With Children

2010-08-26T08:13:00.006-04:00

Looking at Art
~

During my summer travels I visited a gallery on Block Island. I entered at a moment when a gentleman, I suspect a grandfather, was allowing two children to select a work of art for their home. The young man, no older than twelve, selected a lovely sculpted vessel and his younger sister, a watercolor painting. Both choices were fairly sophisticated, not what you might expect children to select. Continue reading~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

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The Art of Ritual

2010-08-19T08:35:00.003-04:00

Mysteries, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
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For the still life artist, objects sometimes suggest a story. The attitude of the brass vessel in the painting, Mysteries, evoked memories of a Minoan snake goddess discovered at the turn of the 20th century. The theme of Mysteries evolved out of this spark of an idea. Continue reading~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

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In Praise of Blue

2010-08-10T07:42:00.006-04:00

Plum Cove, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
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There is a special healing power in blue. I have written before about standing in a ray of blue light from a rose window at Chartres Cathedral as it sent a vibration of pure joy and transcendence through my core. But my appreciation of blue began with a childhood experience. Continue reading~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

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Boston Art~ Painting Still Life at Fenway Studios, Aug 9-13

2010-08-03T23:55:00.005-04:00

Relics of The Sea, still life painting in oil by Melody Phaneuf
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Painting still life is an ideal way to exercise artistic skills. Fixed objects make the study of light manageable as it reveals form and color. Still life painting gives the artist time to mix paint to emulate what is seen.

I am offering a five day still life painting workshop, August 9-13 at Fenway Studios. Continue reading~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

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Painting In Progress~ Allegory of Strength

2010-07-28T11:25:00.006-04:00

Allegory of Strength, closeup of painting in progress
by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf
~

Antidote to pessimism, Allegory of Strength is an artistic response to war, economic woes, and yet another oil spill. I am always buoyed by the hopeful smile of the Jester. Here, he happily pulls himself up, despite the pressing of time and relentless negative forces. Continue reading~

Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative Gloucester landscape paintings. Phaneuf works on location and at historic Fenway Studios, Boston, MA, painting still life and portraiture. Phaneuf has exhibited at Galerie Herouet in Paris, The National Arts Club in New York City, and with Art du Monde, a traveling exposition in Japan. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly displayed at North Shore Arts, Gloucester, MA and The Guild of Boston Artists, Boston, MA.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases the artist’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints and note cards. Online ordering at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

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Triton's Call

2010-07-23T19:56:00.005-04:00

Triton's Call, 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

~

This morning I awoke to foghorns. It’s one of the things I love about living on the harbor in Gloucester. Though it doesn’t bode well for pleasant weather today, the tone sets the mood for a quiet, pensive day. Continue reading~

Triton’s Call, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, 20 x 16

Triton’s Call is available in Open Edition Prints and handmade Notecards

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A Kitchen Still Life

2010-07-14T09:05:00.003-04:00

Eggs and Shells, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

A kitchen, in my view, requires the energy of yellow. With blue as its companion, yellow vibrates and expresses radiant joy, buoyed against its near complementary hue. Monet must have thought so too, continue reading~

Eggs and Shells, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, private collection
Eggs and Shells, 11 x 14 Matted Print
Eggs and Shells, Boxed Note Cards

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Peaceful Harbor

2010-07-07T12:50:00.004-04:00

Peaceful Harbor, 16 x 20 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

In the early morning you would never ponder the bustling and sounds of a working harbor. There is nothing here distracting from the abstract pattern of sky, land and sea.

It is cool this early in the day and the light flows from a silvery filter. Hints of orange foretell that it will be hot later in the day. Continue reading~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Art and Wine at The Liberty

2010-07-01T07:28:00.005-04:00

Gallery Night at Boston's Liberty Hotel
~

What fun it was to exhibit at Boston’s Liberty Hotel! If I were standing in the same spot 50 years ago, it would have meant I was doing hard labor at the Charles St jail. I must admit, I do enjoy the contrast.

Coastal landscape scenes and crisp, chilled wines continue reading~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Painting The Coast

2010-06-24T08:10:00.004-04:00

Mouth of the Annisquam, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

It’s been more than twenty years since I came to Gloucester to paint for the summer. I kept finding one more spot that begged to be painted before I left. I finally surrendered to the natural beauty and called it home.

It is always changing here. Unlike the quiet soul of hilly pastures that I was used to, coastland possesses a breathing animation. Continue reading~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Artist Robert Cormier, 1932-2010

2010-06-16T05:13:00.007-04:00

Portrait of An Old Man by Robert J. Cormier
~

When the student is ready, the Teacher will appear ~Buddha

It is with bittersweet fondness and appreciation that I remember my mentor, Robert Cormier. He was a brilliant portrait artist, an inspiring teacher, a great storyteller. Bob was eccentric and quirky, but masterful in his communication of aesthetic ideas. He had intention in his work and the most delicate touch with a brush or pastel.

I met Bob as an instructor at Vesper George School of Art, continue reading~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Transformation

2010-06-09T05:17:00.004-04:00

Fireworks, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

This morning my eye fell on a painting, perfectly illuminated in the morning light. It was a welcomed relief from images of oil covered pelicans and spewing underwater fury. I am deeply troubled how little appreciation many have for the earth as a living organism that, like a body fighting a ravaging disease, finally becomes exhausted.

The painting is called Fireworks, named for the red roses in the arrangement. Fruits, flowers, and refreshment from an earthenware jug provide a sense of abundance and beauty. I love the character of the old wooden chest, soul of a mighty tree, hand-planed with the meandering imprint of human hand. And the light that revealed vibrations of color splashing against the deep blue background is enchanting and transformational.

It is a blessing to be sensitive to that, which is miraculous in our paths– a certain slant of light, the rhythm of the ocean, the wild beauty of our world. To me, painting is an act of reverence, helping to hold the vision of a perfect world.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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June

2010-06-01T23:35:00.007-04:00

Sunset From The Bridge, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

Portal to summer solstice, early June exhibits the most delectable sunsets. Boundless days and saffron skies await us.

Gloucester, being surrounded by water, mirrors the sky’s radiance, luring seekers of light. Among them artists, fortunate to find their way here find it impossible to leave.

It is both soothing and astonishing to live immersed in this natural beauty. Familiarity with landscape, sky and sea cradle one in the soul of Nature, then jostle with an unexpected color, texture, or rhythm.

Sunset From The Bridge is a view only 300 feet from where I reside and pass by every day. It is a forever-changing panorama of color, movement and light that never fails to enchant. An intimate little painting done rapidly, Sunset From The Bridge captures a moment’s glow.

A suite of 20 paintings that explore my favorite niches of Gloucester will be on view June 29th at Boston’s Liberty Hotel, 215 Charles Street, Beacon Hill from 6:00- 8:30. The Liberty offers a lovely complimentary wine tasting during the exhibit.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Spirit Of The Sea

2010-05-26T06:10:00.003-04:00

Voyagers, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

From a life of constant motion, the objects chosen for the painting, Voyagers rest, echoing their past. Along with shells that refused to stay submerged, floats mark a rhythmic line of placement through the vertical composition.

Glass objects frolic with the light, sometimes halting and pushing it backwards, sometimes allowing it to penetrate, making it transparent. The floats’ etched surfaces add another texture to the composition and one more layer to the story.

Light, movement, and the forces that animate are what compel me to paint. Each picture is a quest, ultimately revealing the mechanics of an enigmatic realm of experience, the result of certain combinations of sensory input, reason and active imagination.

The floats and shells in Voyagers, having lived upon and within the movement of waves, convey to me the spirit of the sea. Breathing color and reflected light enlivens the arrangement. Voyagers suggests an eagerness to tell us a story.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Flow

2010-05-19T05:34:00.006-04:00

Flow, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf

Watching moving water create ever-changing abstract patterns is mesmerising. The rhythmic flow of cause and effect reminds me of a perpetual motion machine that I saw at the science museum one childhood summer.

Waves surge up, intersect, and divide direction. Movement and light expose and interweave line, shape and color in kaleidoscopic flow.

Conceivably, like snowflakes, no two, wave patterns are alike. No evidence remains to test the theory, only an impression on the memory. Or perhaps like particles in quantum physics, they change when someone is looking at them.

Water's Edge, by Melody Phaneuf

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Painting The Park, Gloucester

2010-05-12T15:37:00.021-04:00

Triton's Call, 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

There is an enchanted park in Gloucester where I love to paint. Its mythic quality reminds me of the coast of Brittany, haunted by the ghosts of Parsifal and Merlin.

I have the sense a presence here, inhabiting a dimension that I cannot see, the carved steps in enormous rocks their stairways to invisible second floor bedrooms. Pink and ochre granite seems to radiate energy that balances too many hours in fluorescent lighting and ambient noise.

From high on the rocks I can look back at where I live, watch the bridge endlessly raise and lower, funneling boats from the Annisquam River into the harbor. People run, others bicycle, some walk dogs while I blissfully paint and observe the distant animation of a busy world.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Paintings Above ~

Yellow Trees by The Sea,
Melody Phaneuf,
8 x 10 oil painting

Pathway, Melody Phaneuf,
8 x 10 oil painting

Halfmoon Beach, Melody Phaneuf,
8 x 10 oil painting

Seeing Harmony

2010-05-05T06:06:00.003-04:00

Blue Hydrangeas, oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

Art is a Harmony parallel with Nature~ Paul Cezanne

We seem to have need for the structures that create harmony. Harmonic relationships are built on similarities. Visual similarity can clothe itself in many ways; line, shape, size, color, and texture are some aspects.

Seeing an underlying order helps to simplify a complex subject. In Blue Hydrangeas, the order was found in the negative shapes, which carved out the flowers and visually rhymed with one another. Color and textural similarities further enhance the idea and are balanced against contrasting values. The complex tangle of hydrangeas is seen as a harmonic arrangement.

There is always a connection to be found. Looking for harmony is often a satisfying solution.

Blue Hydrangeas, 8 x 10 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

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Art As Experience

2010-04-28T05:27:00.008-04:00

Anchors Aweigh, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf, Private Collection
~

Josef Albers said that Art is not an object but an experience. It can be both, in the same way that a theatre production might be life altering to some, but to others it’s pleasant entertainment.

My own path from appreciation for the decorative to the realm of aesthetic experience began while viewing murals from Pompeii. Bob Hunter took our group of Vesper George Art School students to see the excavated walls installed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

I recall that the scale of the room was such that the figures on the walls were life size. The subject of the murals depicted the cult of Dionysus. As I walked around the room I was conscious that the scenes seemed to blend into one another seamlessly but it wasn’t until the finale, where the emissary of Dionysus strikes the initiate that I was stunned with awe. It was only then that I understood what being “moved” by a work of art meant. My body swooned under the crack of the switch.

Determination to understand the secret of my experience drew me into many years of studying abstract relationships of imagery. Ultimately, I surmised the cause of my astonishment to be a combination of a building rhythm of arcs coupled with identification to life size figures. The effect was like a tom-tom, which culminated with a final sweeping arc of the lash in the last scene.

It is more than fair to say that the murals of Pompeii transformed my life. Until then I had seen
making art as something enjoyable, but the idea of evoking emotion, of arranging the cause of aesthetic experience became my life’s journey.

Art should at the very least, I think, ameliorate its surroundings. But the greatest art should transport us beyond ordinary experience.

Above, murals from
The Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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New Paintings Explore Pattern

2010-04-21T08:34:00.008-04:00

Fishing, 8 x 10 Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf

Abstract pattern is the fundamental structure of a painting. A pattern can be achieved in many ways: through color, shape, or light and shadow.

The new pictures I have been painting explore light as it caresses the landscape. Interlocking patterns of light and shadow dance across land, over waves, and between rocks.

The 8 by 10 inch paintings are little gems, perfect for small spaces or to group in larger ones. The little paintings are on panel, framed in a simple gold frame, and priced at $350.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Pictured above~ Water's Edge, Bench by the Sea

Waking up the Senses

2010-04-14T15:43:00.007-04:00

Lilacs & Peaches, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

In yoga class we begin our practice with subtle movements to gently wake up the muscles. Likewise, in springtime, a gentle waking up of our senses is pleasurable. Nature provides us with new growth, delicate color, and birdsong.

I’m yearning to be surrounded with cool greens and violet. I submit to the urge to remove the red accents from my living room and replace them with soft pinks and peach. These color harmonies attune me to the subtle transition of the season.

I spend time gardening and arranging my surroundings. A lovely, artistic environment nurtures a mindful existence. It inspires appreciation for all that fills our life with simple pleasure.

Spring Meadow, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Abstract Pattern and Shimmering Light

2010-04-07T05:46:00.007-04:00

From Bridge, Good Harbor, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf

Plein Air painting is a perfect balance to studio work. My teacher, Robert Cormier, used to say that it was the way to “clean up your color eye.” Outdoors, I look for abstract pattern exposed by the effects of light.

From Brittany Forest, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

I’m always intrigued by patterns that have a musical quality. I look for rhythms that move the eye in a way that I “hear.” This was something I learned to do as a child and has become the heart of my selection process. It is my way to simplify and find order amidst chaos.

From Harbor Sunset, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Training The Visual Memory Part II~ Color

2010-03-30T23:54:00.007-04:00

The Critique
~

Color is to me, the most delicious aspect of painting. The ability to recall intriguing color arrangements is a most helpful tool for the artist. The following exercise will help train the eye and mind to memorize color.

It’s best to start with single colors. Choose flat colored papers to begin. A box of Color Aid paper is ideal but a bit expensive. If you plan to do other color exercises it is worth the investment, otherwise any colored paper with a variety of hues will do.

I think oil paints are the best to use for this practice because the color you mix will be what you see when you compare it to that which you are trying to recall. Tempera changes value as it dries and watercolor, being transparent, is greatly influenced by its ground.

Cover the table you are working on with a grey cloth or paper. If you don’t have grey, black is the next best choice. Have your paints, brushes, 4 x 4 squares of illustration board and anything else that you need ready but out of your immediate visual field.

Place the color you are trying to memorize in front of you on the table and focus on it for 3 minutes. Close your eyes, remove the paper, and mix what you just saw. Paint the illustration board. When you are finished, take out the original paper and compare them. Ask yourself 3 questions~ should it be lighter or darker, warmer or cooler, duller or brighter?

Put this aside and try another color. A good strategy is to choose 3 or 4 colors and practice these for a week or until you can mix them exactly. Try another set the following week. Once matching simple flat colors is achieved, more sophisticated memory exercises for color combinations can be approached.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

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Rhythms of Spring

2010-03-24T04:40:00.005-04:00

Rhythms And Roses by Melody Phaneuf, 25 x17 oil painting
~

The first day of spring was warm and sunny, inspiring sleeping bulbs to push green tips through the ground. There is a softness in the atmosphere. Gray branches show hints of pink and green. People are beginning to smile.

Rhythms and Roses is an ode to spring. Warm, delicate pinks and cool greens dominate the color scheme, echoing gently into the ivory background. The high key of the painting celebrates the return of light.

Textures abound, creating lively rhythms that cause our eyes to dance through the picture. Patterns spiral throughout giving a sense of growth.

Rhythms And Roses is part of a cycle of four paintings, each celebrating a season of the year.

Rhythms And Roses, 25 x17 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, $2700
The Rhythms Series is available in open edition prints and handmade note cards.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Relics of The Sea

2010-03-16T22:42:00.005-04:00

Relics Of The Sea, 32 x 24 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

You can hear waves still pounding from yesterday’s northeaster. I wonder what formerly hidden treasures will be discovered on the shore today, exhumed by the sea~

There is something mysterious about the painting, Relics Of The Sea. The intermediate key sets a penumbral mood. The color scheme is a transitional one, gradating watery hues. And the objects hold a silent story.

I love the idea of the ocean as symbol of the unconscious, the misty world of almost recognized, yet ineffable truths. The sea marks a threshold between the world of solidity and a fluid, elusive plane.

Finding such parallels between objects and ideas is what fascinates me about painting still life. Like distant foghorns, Relics Of The Sea echoes on both the decorative and allegorical levels.

Relics Of The Sea, 32 x 24 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, $7500

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Training The Visual Memory, Part I

2010-03-10T05:31:00.009-05:00

Comment pouvez-vous faire, cela?
~

Visual memory is a fountain of artistic imagination, a collection of stored observations. The careful analysis of visual forces becomes a lens through which subsequent experience can be filtered.

How does one develop visual memory? Practice drawing both on paper and in the imagination. Memorizing simple shapes is a good way to start. Focus the attention on outline and proportion. Gradually increase complexity of shape to three dimensions by adding value, that is, light and shadow.

Begin with an image you wish to memorize, tracing paper, drawing paper, ruler and pencil. Measure your image and draw a box of the same dimensions on your paper. In the beginning, drawing diagonals corner to corner on both your image and in the box will help to aid your memory.

Have no distractions. Look at your image for 3 minutes with complete focus, then turn it over and draw it in the box from memory. Go as far as you can. Try closing your eyes for a minute if retrieving the image is difficult.

When you feel complete, turn the image over and compare. Trace the image and the boundaries of the box it is in. Line this box up with the box drawn on the paper to see where your drawing is off. Trace your image in another color or use a dotted line to differentiate. Date this tracing.

Repeat this exercise every day for a week and note your improvement. Increase the complexity of the images and gradually shorten the time you give yourself to memorize and recreate. Ultimately, you want the process to be instantaneous.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Petit Andelys

2010-03-02T23:24:00.005-05:00

Petit Andelys, 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

How heavenly it is to paint in France! My travel journal reminds me that on this journey I followed a meandering course from Paris through Normandy, making my way to Giverny. Vernon, Pont Audemer, Les Andelys, Honfleur and Rouen were all stopovers along this splendid choice of route.

Petit Andelys was painted as I wandered the adorable villages about Giverny. I recall how breezy it was that day, in late March. I set up here, lured by the music piped throughout the village, and found it a most agreeable spot to paint. The sun-drenched stone shops formed a perfect backdrop for rippling flags on harbor boats.

Petit Andelys is a gentle village, where cups of sorbet are sold from quirky blue trucks and all the color of the world sparkles in harbor reflections. I am certain to return here and paint again one day. I hope that when I do, the music is still playing.

Petit Andelys, 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, is also available in open edition print, marble beverage coasters, and handmade note cards.

Petit Andelys is our featured painting for March, and the image chosen for our free calendar download.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Download our free 2010 Calendar
Commission a painting of your favorite landscape
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Fortune's Wheel

2010-02-24T20:48:00.007-05:00

Fortune’s Wheel, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf
40 x 48, Framed
~

Whatever the subject of a painting, an artist’s work is always something of a self-portrait. That the artist directs visual components to evoke emotion, or tell a story through the interplay of line, shape, color, movement and light, reveals something of the artist’s personality.

My own temperament is best suited to studio work. Quiet contemplation and an orderly environment provide me a sanctuary to analyze visual modes of expression. I enjoy working with still life because of its potential to express an idea or evoke emotion with familiar objects.

The still life painting called Fortune’s Wheel, is about transformation provoked by sudden change. The ever-turning wheel has stopped with the Jester hanging by one foot. Three tarot cards suggest clues to his present ordeal. The black veil that obscures the exhibit poster yokes the Jester to the wheel. An extinguished candle, well-worn map, and coins are strewn; the sand in the hourglass is running out. Light from two sources suggests that disorder rules, but the Jester still smiles, knowing the wheel will turn again.

Fortune’s Wheel is one of the paintings featured in the March issue of American Art Collector. Fortune’s Wheel will be on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street during the month of March.

Fortune’s Wheel, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf
40 x 48, Framed $16,000
Available for purchase at The Guild of Boston Artists

Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

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Commission a painting
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After The Storm

2010-02-17T10:40:00.004-05:00

After The Storm, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf
~

I love the angle of the sun on February snow. Crisp blue shadows and glistening light at this time of year create stimulating patterns that dance their way through the landscape. All is melting and moving, transitioning toward equinox.

Visually, the white blanket does much to unify the landscape, hiding discordant tones and textures. The reflective surface of snow catches the sunlight and stretches the warm/cool relationship of colors. It heightens the value key to high major and makes our hearts sing.

After The Storm pictures a charming moment in Gloucester, when roadway reveals the land’s meandering companionship to the sea. Hills, houses, light and shadow combine to display a sparkling pattern that brings delight. A dog walker emerges and adds a touch of animation. After The Storm is a glimpse of winter’s fleeting enchantment.

After The Storm, by Melody Phaneuf
11 x 16 Oil Painting $1600
Also available in Open Edition Print

Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her work is regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Download our free 2010 Calendar
Commission a painting of a favorite landscape
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Valentine Reverie

2010-02-09T23:20:00.009-05:00

Fragrant Delight by Melody Phaneuf~ Vibrant pink roses exude romance and lush beauty.
~

A rose within my heart you are,
My dearest, sweetest, bravest star~

Somehow, in the doldrums of late winter, we manage to kindle a spark of romance. Cupid, the cherubic mischief-maker and sharp shooter, is certain to perk things up a bit. And having been awakened by his darts of passion, we seek to express it by delighting our senses. We behold the perfume and lush beauty of roses, the luxurious embrace of satin upon the skin. We savor chocolate on the palette and resonate the mood with poetry and music.

It is a tribute to our spirit that we find ways to stir from our slumber. Keeping our senses awakened is the essence of aesthetic experience and the reason to surround ourselves, and those we cherish with timeless beauty~

As time goes by from year to year,
One thing is surely true, my dear;
Though decades come and decades go,
Just seeing you sets me aglow.
Your loving heart turns life to play,
As we laugh from day to day.
So I write, and hang my sign,
"Always Be My Valentine."

Wishing you a beautiful Valentine’s Day~ May you be transported by Cupid’s arrow.

Fragrant Delight, 36 x 34 Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf is also available in Limited Edition Gicleé on canvas, tumbled marble beverage coasters, and handmade note cards.

Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

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Musings on Cupid

Seeing Light

2010-01-26T23:25:00.012-05:00

From Con Spirito, Painting in Oil by Melody Phaneuf

It was my mother who taught me to notice the light. As a child in my high chair, I would watch how she would stop and stare at a sun beam penetrating our kitchen window, her eyes narrowed and focused on something, to me, intangible. Since I couldn’t yet speak, I didn’t ask what she was looking at but I mimicked her in the hopes I could know what so mesmerized her.

Later I studied how light bathes forms and spills color, how it moves fluidly revealing textures in its wake. Light, to me, is the animating force in visual composition. It is the key to evoking emotional response.

I am often asked how to paint glass or copper or some other object. It is not the materials that I paint but the light that acts upon them. This subtle shift in observation provides a unifying force in painting, and simplifies a complex visual world.

Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf's paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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A Morning in Amsterdam

2010-01-20T05:56:00.011-05:00

Amsterdam, Toward Westkerk, 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

A morning in Amsterdam is a much quieter experience than it is in Boston. In Amsterdam, bicycles far outnumber cars, changing the sound of the morning commute. The metallic jingle of a handlebar bell is a welcomed change to the eviscerating assault of car horns and trucks thundering by. I love a culture that eases, rather than hurls itself into the day.

Amsterdam, Toward Westkerk is a glimpse of a typical Amsterdam morning in early summer. People emerge, some on foot, some on bicycles, making their way to their destinations. It is a gentle morning, sunny at the moment, but the weather can change in an instant. Amsterdam cyclers are adept at juggling umbrellas, groceries, and perhaps a small dog while continuing on their journeys.

The Westkerk neighborhood’s ancient shop windows are carved and frame elaborate displays of goods, beautifully arranged. Early in the morning, a passerby might catch a glimpse of an artist at work through a tiny opening, far behind a fenestrated entry. Such windows reveal the depth of the buildings, belying the diminutive, taxable frontage.

There are many treasures to discover on a peaceful morning promenade through Amsterdam.

Amsterdam, Toward Westkerk is a 20 x 16 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

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Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
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Download our free 2010 Calendar

Dreams and Mandalas

2010-01-13T06:35:00.011-05:00

Page from The Red Book of Carl Jung

~

A recent pilgrimage to view The Red Book of Carl Jung left me inspired and rejuvenated. For many years I kept dream journals but somehow got away from the practice. I've resumed the tradition since my excellent journey to the Rubin Museum. The Red Book is under glass, very large, beautifully illuminated and calligraphed by Jung. The images echo mythology and Byzantine saints. The Red Book may be a revelation in understanding the birth of consciousness.

Jung recognized that a visual image could help a viewer integrate aspects of the personality; that a circle in particular could energize one toward wholeness. Several pages of The Red Book revealed Jung’s ruminations on Mandala design. His dreams and visions seemed oddly familiar to me, like the rereading of a favorite tale.

The exhibit of Mandalas at the museum superbly dovetailed with Jung’s exploration of dreams, symbols, and the connection to the soul. The power of shape and color has always intrigued me. I often recollect a transporting experience that I had while standing in rays of blue light cast from a rose window at Chartres cathedral.

There is something satisfying about viewing inner visions, whether our own or someone else’s. The familiarity of these images makes one realize that we are ever so much more alike than different. There is a common meeting place, if we dig deep enough~

Emanations, Drawing from a Dream Journal of Melody Phaneuf

•

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com/shop
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf
Download our Free 2010 Calendar

The Fullness of Time

2010-01-06T05:48:00.011-05:00

The Fullness of Time, 20 x 25 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, Boston, MA

As a new year begins, I find myself thinking about time. Without it there would be no vehicle for movement. We become unbound from the eternal to experience motion and all that movement offers. From movement we receive our thoughts and feelings. “Emotion” is derived from the Greek, meaning “from movement.”

The Fullness of Time suggests the interplay of time and motion consequent to fulfillment. The Jester is becoming unbound to enter a temporal world. He is equipped with palette and brushes, with which he will try to visually communicate ideas from the Creative realm. The feather is perhaps a souvenir from the journey.

The painting’s composition, dominated by the wheel, causes the eye to travel along a circular path until it intersects with the oval palette shape below. This results in a lemniscate route toward hourglass, brushes, and back to palette in a continuous loop. The movement is easy on the eye and emotionally satisfying. It is the symbolic path of infinity and eternal fulfillment. The high key and preponderance of cool color establishes an ethereal quality.

The Fullness of Time is a visual story of one soul’s journey toward manifestation.

The Fullness of Time, 20 x 25 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards. Make Your Life a Work of Art~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

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Embracing The New Year

2009-12-31T09:00:00.005-05:00

Wishing you Many Blessings & Much Joy in the New Year!

See you next week with some ruminations on Time~

Melody

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards.

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
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Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
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Christmas Enchantment

2009-12-23T08:14:00.008-05:00

Season’s Greeting, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf,
available in Open Edition Print, and Handmade Notecards

Once upon a time there was wonder at Christmas, the mysterious visit of a red-clad Saint who gifted good children with their heart’s desire. In those by-gone days, toys were made by hand and gifts were wrapped in shimmering papers and embellished with velvet ribbons. Thus it was in my childhood picture books~ all was enchantment.

I do recall being woken in the darkest of nights to a spectacle of colored lights steeped in evergreen fragrance, astonished at the abundance that had suddenly appeared. An empty glass of milk and cookie crumbs were the evidence that Saint Nicholas had found us. Christmas was the best time to be a child.

The painting, Season’s Greeting is an interpretation of Christmas magic. The low major key expresses a sense of wonder with its eye-opening smash of light. The carved horse is reminiscent of an era when toys were made from wood, with loving care. Season’s Greeting is meant to inspire the spirit of Christmas, untarnished, as if seen through the eyes of a child.

Wishing you a wonder-filled Christmas~

Season’s Greeting, 14 x 20 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf, in private collection, Gloucester, MA

Season’s Greeting is available in Open Edition Print, and Handmade Notecards

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
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Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards.

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com/shop
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
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The Art of Winter ~Winter's Passage II

2009-12-09T10:21:00.007-05:00

Winter’s Passage II, 30 x 25 oil painting by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf

Silver skies and minor keys~ I love the subtle light of winter days. Neutrality gives way to endless nuances of color within its edges. A blanket of fresh snow unifies the appearance of things and gives much charm to the environment.

Winter’s Passage II is a wintry view of Gloucester, MA from one of her many hills. Little houses seem to hunker down against the blustery weather. The chromatic activity of the sky is mirrored in the harbor below and provides a shimmering backdrop for the seaside village. Typically New England, Winter’s Passage II is an enchanting ensemble of earthly comfort and Nature’s temperament.

Winter’s Passage II, 30 x 25 oil painting by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf

Winter’s Passage II, is available as an Open Edition Print and as Handmade Note Cards

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
See our complete selection of affordable, Artful Gifts
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
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Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
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Affordable Art ~In The Arts & Crafts Tradition

2009-12-01T23:32:00.007-05:00

Botticino Marble becomes the canvas for Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf

Tile Beverage Coasters, Gift Boxed at MelodyTheArtist.com
~

After thirty years of making art at Fenway Studios, I’ve become one of the many threads woven into the fabric of Arts & Crafts lineage displayed by the architecture of our venerable building.

The Arts & Crafts Movement began in late 19th century England, and was largely a reaction to the industrial manufacturing of goods. There was a sense that industrialization threatened to create a soulless world. Mass production was certain to dull the senses with visual monotony and lack of variation. Hand crafted goods, simplicity of design, and beauty in the environment were the banner of the Arts & Crafts Movement.

Though noble in its aspirations, the Arts & Crafts Movement fell short in its homeland. The cost of hand-hewn goods was prohibitive for all but the wealthiest class. It took American ingenuity to advance a unique combination of machined elements and hand finish. Machine production of core aspects defrayed costs and made them affordable to the middle class.

Such innovations gave rise to the workshops of Gustave Stickley, Rookwood Pottery, and Roycroft Press. It was a time of great aesthetic awareness and appreciation of honest craft and simple beauty.

I view the Arts & Crafts Movement as part of my heritage and take pride in creating a line of affordable art. Fine Art tiles, prints, and handmade note cards are little touches of artistry, well within the reach of all. It is my belief that everyone deserves to live with beauty.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Make Your Life a Work of Art~
See our complete selection of Artful Gifts
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
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Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
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Related~

Thanksgiving Reflections

2009-11-25T05:04:00.013-05:00

Melody Phaneuf painting at Fenway Studios
~

"Blessed is the woman who has found her work" ~Variation on Thomas Carlyle

After a very busy autumn, a day of peaceful Thanksgiving is most welcome. I love the quiet moments and an opportunity to break from routine and spend time with those most dear. There will be a gentle rhythm, cozy fire, and ambrosial abundance at the table.

In this time of reflection, I am very grateful that I pursued the Artist’s life. Creating art is splendid harmony, a calibration of heart, hands, and soul. Painting transforms feelings into decorative motifs that enrich the lives of others. I often hear, with much delight, that my paintings are focal points and bring tranquility, sparkle, or make people smile.

I appreciate and thank you who read my weekly offerings. Wishing you warm Thanksgiving Blessings, and hoping they make you smile.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards.

See our complete selection of Artful Gifts~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com/shop
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf

Painting Color And Light~ Mysteries

2009-11-18T10:06:00.014-05:00

Mysteries, 24 x 18 Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf, Boston Artist

Merlin pursued the maid Ninevah, and would not let her rest~
Tales of the Roundtable

Painting light, like painting wind, is impossible. The artist can only paint the effects of those powerful causes~ the movement caused by the wind, the color caused by the light.

Light is has an infinite repertoire of color combinations. Color appears elusive because light is moving, caressing, breathing. For many artists, capturing the essence of this quality is much like searching for the Holy Grail, we just keep pursuing the path.

In the oil still life painting, Mysteries, the light is diffuse and dusty. The shadows land quietly, and settle into place. The neutrality is alive with contrary combinations of warm and cool. The color intervals are small, yet subtle subdivisions give infinite variety.

Mysteries is a quiet painting; the color and lighting call for contemplation. The lyrical composition causes the eye movement through the painting to be gently paced. Mysteries invites the viewer to an intimate observation of light.

Mysteries, 24 x 18 Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf, Boston Artist

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Looking for affordable art?
See our complete selection of Hostess Gifts~
Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
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Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf

Painting Amsterdam~ The Liliegracht

2009-11-11T08:26:00.015-05:00

Along The Leliegracht, oil painting by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf
~

The Jordaan is a most aesthetically pleasing section of Amsterdam. The variety of architectural detail delights the eye and satisfies an artist’s soul. Effort to make practical things beautiful was clearly in high regard when the buildings bordering the Lily Canal were constructed.

The painting, Along The Leliegracht, shows several Dutch gable treatments~ step, bell, cornice and spout variations are seen in this one snippet of the neighborhood. The Jordaan is rich in adornment, which can be fully appreciated by the measured pace of travel by foot, bicycle, or boat.

Before visiting The Netherlands, I was convinced that skies in Dutch paintings were invented, but they actually do look this way. The cumulus clouds mean that weather can change quickly, from sun to rain in an instant. For a landscape painter, small studies work best.

Along The Leliegracht, is the first in the series of enlarged paintings completed from the studies of my trip to The Netherlands in July. Along The Liliegracht will be on exhibit at Vose Galleries, 238 Newbury St, Boston during the month of December.

Along The Leliegracht, 20 x 16 oil painting by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards.

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Melody Phaneuf's work can be viewed at The Boston International Fine Art Show, November 12-15, Booth 12

Calling

2009-11-04T11:33:00.009-05:00

Calling, 28 x 30 oil painting by Boston Artist Melody Phaneuf, at Boston International Art Show

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What is a calling? An awakening occurs and one becomes lured by an attraction, perhaps a mystery to be solved. Given enough attention, the attraction becomes desire, a commitment to solve the mystery, to nurture the idea. Synchonicities and circumstances convince one that this is their purpose. This energizes and provides the strength to follow through.

These are the musings that inspired the painting, Calling. I was intrigued by the broken plaster cast of Cupid, without his wings. Who is Cupid without his wings? Is he any less a matchmaker or is his job just harder? His defiant expression made me certain that transportation hadn’t altered his aim. I fell in love.

Called by the shofar, Cupid is poised, surrounded by a leafy Arcadian memento. A quiver of brushes is at his disposal; his gaze is firm and his aim will not falter. He will always be Cupid, answering the call, inspiring acts of beauty and love.

Calling, 28 x 30 oil painting by Boston Artist Melody Phaneuf

Calling will be on view at Boston International Fine Art Show held at The Cyclorama, 239 Tremont Street, from November 12 -15.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards.

Looking for affordable art?
See our complete selection of Hostess Gifts~
Online ordering at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com/shop
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf

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Artistic Inspiration~ Harvest Suite

2009-10-28T08:30:00.005-04:00

Harvest Suite, 30 x 25 oil painting by Boston Artist Melody Phaneuf
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Wood tones and earthenware evoke a sense of rustic comfort in Harvest Suite. The diminished intensity of color in the painting is quiet, holding our attention for its subtlety rather than its vibrancy. Soft, diffused lighting caresses the objects, nurturing a comforting ambiance.

The carved shelf reminded me of a favorite inn in Brittany, which inspired the theme. Once a hunting lodge, the inn’s mahogany dining room was chiseled with oak leaves and motifs that echo the enchanted forest nearby. I wanted to express my feelings and recollections awakened by the shelf’s pattern. Hand-hewn pottery in butterscotch and mauve, fruits of the earth and simplicity of design suggest a delicious earthy coziness. A tendril of ribbon contributes slow, meandering movement, interweaving the design.

Harvest Suite may not reveal its Breton roots to the viewer but the painting’s agreeable color, texture, and simplicity nourishes the visual appetite.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards. Online ordering at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Harvest Suite, 30 x 25 oil painting by Boston Artist Melody Phaneuf

Harvest Suite is available in fine art prints and handmade notecards.

See our complete selection of Autumn Décor and Hostess Gifts~
Online shopping at http://MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com/shop
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf

Colorful Vibrations

2009-10-21T05:34:00.006-04:00

Yellow, 25 x 20 oil painting by Boston Artist Melody Phaneuf
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It is said that everything in the universe was created by vibration. Quivering movement is the force that animates life. The artist’s use of color in painting can cause visual vibration and create an activating force.

A solitary color is present in the oil painting Yellow, yet the variations in value and chroma stimulate one another to cause an infinite array of subordinate hues. Pale violet, reds, and green punctuate the background as our eyes attempt to stay focused on the deep gold of the local color. Echoes of the brilliant yellow flowers and fruit dance across the surface causing a delightful interplay between background and subject matter. Our eyes appreciate this pulsation; they translate it into the breathing rhythm of life.

We live in an ocean of vibration. Artists endeavor to perceive subtleties in the visual world and trace effects to their cause. For many artists, the calling is to make the invisible realm visible.

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade notecards. Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Yellow, 25 x 20 oil painting by Boston Artist Melody Phaneuf

Yellow is available in fine art prints and hand made notecards.

Looking for affordable art?
See our complete selection of Hostess Gifts~
Online shopping at http://MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com/shop
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf

Hues of Autumn

2009-10-14T23:21:00.009-04:00

Hues of Autumn, 18 x 25 oil painting by Boston Artist Melody Phaneuf
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As the days shorten and the temperature cools, we long for brightness and warmth. In the still life painting called Hues of Autumn, warm and active colors invite us to linger in a gyrating composition, expressive of the season's lively spirit.

Hues of Autumn cultivates positive emotions by its buoyant design. The verticality of the picture combined with high major key and wide chromatic range engage our attention, its contrasts seeding our exuberance. There is an animation in the earthen jug, a sense of impending movement. Textural patterning in the fabric begins an upward motion that is bolstered by the placement of oak leaves leading us to pomegranates and through the handles of the vessel. The impact of our visual experience rhymes with the variety provided by Nature's most stimulating season.

Hues of Autumn, 18 x 25 oil painting by Boston Artist Melody Phaneuf

Hues of Autumn, is available in fine art prints and handmade note cards.

Looking for affordable art?
See our complete selection of Hostess Gifts~
Online shopping at http://MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Online shopping at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com/shop
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf

Time of Seasonal Light

2009-10-07T09:13:00.008-04:00

Season of Light, 30 x 25 oil painting by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf
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Afterglow. An appealing balance of warm and cool, light and shadow, and the variety of threadbare trees dancing in the sun make this time of the year a visual delight. All things seem to smile in the contentment of temporal balance.

In Gloucester, it is a magical time, quiet except for Nature’s presence. I feel engaged with the landscape during these intervals; we are in dialog about our existence here while recollecting eternity. This world is about movement and the thrill of change, the vibrations of sound and light.

What joy it is to paint landscape here, by the slow and steady rhythm of the sea. I watch the final stretch of the trees, along with an audience of charmed white houses. We are bonded in our experience, part of the continuity illuminated by the seasonal glow. I am called to chronicle this moment for others and to remember its brief existence in time.

Season of Light, 30 x 25 landscape painting of Gloucester by Melody Phaneuf

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Looking for affordable art?
See our complete selection of Hostess Gifts~
Online ordering at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf

Artful Living

2009-09-30T05:26:00.008-04:00

The Bridge, Good Harbor oil painting by Melody Phaneuf
is based on angular movement and contrasts round with pointed shapes
~

What does it mean to live an artful life? For me, it is being surrounded with color, shape, and textures that are pleasing. I love pattern, colored glass, and certain combinations of objects that vary enough to create an interesting moment but have a certain unity between them. I love looking at the ocean from a violet living room framed by a light warm grey. And how a few spots of pomegranate red can activate an otherwise cool and passive room.

The way in which one arranges things can create harmonic or contrasting rhythms. Eye movement creates an evocative response. It contributes to how we feel in a space. How we feel can be affected by seasonal changes of temperature and light. I often move a painting or print when I need a change of color or to want to develop a new rhythm. It’s much easier than repainting the room every time and it gives me infinite variety.

The movement within a painting, tapestry or a rug pattern can help unify or create chaos in a room. If you are bored, add more angular movement; if you are agitated, slow, full curves will sooth. Similarities calm, while Contrasts excite. And forming a gentle gradation between contrasts will bridge the gap.

The Bridge, Good Harbor by Melody Phaneuf, 28 x 20 oil painting

The Bridge, Good Harbor is available in fine art prints, marble tile coasters, and handmade note cards

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases Phaneuf’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards. Online ordering at MelodyTheArtist,com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Be a facebook fan of MelodyTheArtist.com/shop
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
Commission a painting by Melody Phaneuf

Portrait of Contradiction~ Soldier Boy

2009-09-23T21:30:00.014-04:00

Soldier Boy

Pastel Portrait by Melody Phaneuf
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Artists typically use the human form to express emotions, ideas, and states of mind. In portraiture facial expression, costume, and setting can communicate more about the person than the likeness.

Soldier Boy is a study in contradiction. The soldier's penetrating gaze is sometimes stern, sometimes gentle. There is a proud austerity to the pose; the sitter appears rigid, yet somehow vulnerable. Somber tones in the background blend into the uniform giving a narrow variation of color, helping to support the feeling of restraint.

There is a slant of light that illuminates the dark and falls across the head. It adds a touch of brilliance to the blue uniform and leads us back to the eyes, perhaps more penetrating than our first encounter.

Who was Soldier Boy before the uniform? The swirling pattern in the background suggests a sense of motion that belies the static pose. Perhaps it is headiness at his ideals of freedom. Or possibly it is the last glimpse of an identity, soon to be lost forever.

Soldier Boy by Melody Phaneuf, 16 x 20 Pastel Painting

Contact Melody to commission a portrait

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative landscape, still life, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf's paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases the artist's original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.

Looking for affordable art?
See our complete selection of Hostess Gifts~
Online ordering at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Fan MelodyTheArtist.com/shop on facebook
Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston

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Transitions~ End of Day, Gloucester

2009-09-16T23:45:00.009-04:00

End of Day, Gloucester by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf

Transition. September light bridges clear, blue summer with autumn’s orange glow. It is a tranquil time in Gloucester; the tides seem at rest. But all is poised for movement; equilibrium nears the tipping point.

Moments in balance seem to arrest time and penetrate memory. My spirit soars, rejoining golden light, recalling Eternity. Below the houses are silent, watchful, rooted. I witness the ocean’s depth and desire becomes my passage home. It is here that I dwell, capturing beauty in paint, and go forth with time.

End of Day, Gloucester by Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is a 20 x 16 oil painting in private collection~

See End of Day, Gloucester fine art décor featured at Melody The Artist Home

Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative landscape, still life, and portrait paintings. Phaneuf’s paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf has exhibited her paintings at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.

Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo showcases the artist’s original paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards. Online ordering at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

Follow MelodyTheArtist on twitter
Fan MelodyTheArtist.com/shop on facebook
Visit Boston Art Studio of Melody Phaneuf
Book a painting commission by Melody Phaneuf