Minor Key Moods

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~

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

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

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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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Triton's Call

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

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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~

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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

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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Flow

Flow, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf

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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.

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Water's Edge, by Melody Phaneuf

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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
Facebook
Twitter

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Time of Seasonal Light

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

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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 note cards.

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Visit Melody Phaneuf at Fenway Studios, Boston
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Dawn, Bass Rocks

Transition. Nature is waking up; the delicate pink of the early morning skies are lightly tinged with diaphanous orange, a glowing promise of warmer days to come. This scene is why I call Gloucester home; I remain in the alluring contrast of rugged coast against ethereal skies and ever-changing sea.

At dawn, Bass Rocks frames a gentle sea but the granite teeth expose the ocean’s many moods. It is a delightful place to paint at the moment; tranquility dominates. I am reminded of a name from a childhood spent with mythology books—Genius Loci— there is a spirit here, animating this place and I am bonded to it as I paint.

We have filled the empty spaces of the landscape as quickly as possible with things~ buildings, shopping plazas, harsh lighting. As convenient as that may seem, it has done much to desensitize us to the wild beauty of the world. Bass Rocks, Gloucester remains a sacred place, likely protected by the Spirits we’ve forgotten.

Melody Phaneuf is an award-winning artist, painting on location in Gloucester and at Fenway Studios in Boston, which, she deems a perfect balance. She is a regular exhibitor at Northshore Arts in Gloucester and The Guild of Boston Artists, Boston.

Dawn, Bass Rocks~ Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf, 20 x 16

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Links~

• Genius Loci
• Myths of The Sea
• Cape Ann Museum

Light of Thanksgiving

Wind-chimes dance. The last leaves cartwheel by. There is a distinctive light in November, rays squeezed through blustery clouds, all tinged with grey caveat of tempest. It is the light I am most grateful for, and the perception of the beneficence from which it emanates.

Traditions honoring the light evolved through generations, from solstice and candles to shining star in the east, to savior and twinkling lights at Christmas. Stories evolve, conflicts rise, and wars ensue. But we are still creatures dominated by the light.

As an artist, I am Light’s faithful follower. Light reveals color, creates endless patterns, and caresses forms. It creates symphonies across the skies and urges life to move forward. Light bestows tirelessly and asks nothing in return.


Peaceful Harbor by Melody Phaneuf, 16 x 20 oil

Peaceful Harbor honors a moment in the vast repertoire of light. An early morning walk in Gloucester unveils the harbor’s waking.

Melody Phaneuf’s paintings of Gloucester can be seen at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury St, Boston. Studio visits are welcome at her Fenway studio.

The Bridge, Connection to Paradise

Nowhere else can we find the delight that beauty brings. A life bereft of aesthetic pleasure is unmerciful and dulls the senses. Often surprising and elusive, an encounter with beauty elevates and inspires a gracious attitude.

Imagine my joy when, during a customary walk at Gloucester's Good Harbor Beach, dreamy light revealed such beauty of pattern. The radiant effect of blue sky delicately woven with lemon sun mirrored from the water suggested a timeless threshold. I was struck by the eternal quality of the light, the metaphor of moving water as life’s passage, and the bridge as connection to a paradisiacal world. This epiphany was inspiration for painting The Bridge, Good Harbor.

A lovely tribute to the iconic quality of the image is its popularity. Tile coasters, open edition prints, and cards are sold in Cape Ann gift stores and the Gloucester Museum, as well as our online store. It is a great pleasure to share my experience of beauty with others.

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Artist Melody Phaneuf lives and paints in Gloucester, MA and at Fenway Studios, Boston. Phaneuf is well known for her evocative landscape and still life paintings and has achieved significant acclaim for portraiture. She 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 Northshore Arts in Gloucester 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 handmade note cards. Online ordering at MelodyTheArtist.com/shop

The Bridge, Good Harbor, 28 x 20 oil painting by Melody Phaneuf is available in fine art prints and tile coasters.

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Voyagers

I came to Gloucester to paint for a summer twenty years ago. Joyfully, I heard the Siren’s song, and remained. There is so much here for aesthetic pleasure, I am spellbound by what Thomas Moore calls the “genius loci.”

The objects in Voyagers—shells, floats, castaway bottle—are treasures that one finds exhaled by the sea. Glimmering and crusty seashells, vehicles of mysterious creatures living under water, dazzle me. And the patina of glass, etched by the ocean’s kneading over time!

Such marvels become objects of contemplation. In my mind’s eye they are heroes aboard the Argo while Jason hunts Golden Fleece, or survivors of the Hesperus, sunk by the reef off Norman's Woe. I wonder where these alluring voyagers come from and can only imagine their journey.

Voyagers, Oil Painting by Melody Phaneuf
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