MY FAVORITE COLOR
An Introduction
Welcome to my October (and inaugural) studio update. This has been in my mental crockpot for a while now, and I’m excited to officially begin. I’ll only be writing them once a month, because I’m trying really hard not to quit after the first one. Each “Note From the Shudio” (because my studio is in a shed) will include three parts:
In the studio: behind the scenes of my paintings and processes
On the website: work that’s new or coming soon
Around the sphere: places my work is out and about in the world
I’m grateful to have connected with so many of you over the past decade via Instagram and Facebook. As the algorithms change and posting there becomes less visible, I’ll be posting here the first week of the month, and sending it out to my email list as well, so that anyone who wants to know what’s up will. I’ll still be on IG and FB as well, but here we’ll go deeper and have news in one spot.
So without further ado…
In the Studio: My Favorite Color
Have you been following my work for awhile and ever wondered what my favorite color its? Pink would be a good guess, as it sneaks its way into so many of my paintings. I think of pink as my go-to accent color, because to me it’s shorthand for “glow” whenever I want to emphasize light. But my favorite color is actually a little further over on the color wheel. It’s the one that has stuck with me through thick and thin, trend and not trend. And like Noah Kahan, I blame New England. His lyrics from “Northern Attitude” get me every time:
“If I get too close
and I’m not how you hoped
Forgive my northern attitude
Oh, I was raised out in the cold
If the sun don't rise
‘till the summertime
Forgive my northern attitude
Oh, I was raised on little light.”
So much of what I love and loathe was shaped by where I was raised. As I formed opinions I was reacting to what was around me. As I paved mental habits (healthy or otherwise) I was internalizing the ethos of my region. And as I learned about color through experience, red orange took hold of me for a very obvious reason: New England autumns. All that cold and little light just begs for a warming ballast, and fall delivers it to us in literal piles of fire colored leaves. So red orange has been, is, and likely will always be, THE ONE. You’ll find me savoring every last red-orange leaf this month. —JF
A sneak peek of what’s in store for the November collection.
On the Website
After the busy-ness of launching the calendar, new originals, and 13 new prints in September, this month will be relatively quiet on the site. I’ll be slowly preparing the holiday gift-giving guide, so you may see some of that appear later in the month. But one new thing we’ve started offering that I want to make sure you know about: On canvas prints we now offer a special discount: Buy 1, get the 2nd, and even the 3rd, at 20% off. Code: MATCH at checkout.
Coming in mid-November…
My newest series of originals! Right now I’m planning around eight paintings, each on 24x30” Masterpiece canvas (you can feel the luxury when you paint on them!). And, the theme: CREATURES. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve dabbled with painting wildlife, but never a full collection dedicated to anything other than birds. It’s a natural next step. This past year I have been working with a local neighborhood group to protect our backwoods, and really leaned in to my tree-hugger era. I accidentally became a turtle expert along the way, so the Eastern Box Turtle will definitely be making an appearance. As will my beloved heron, loon, bear, fox…it’s going to be hard to choose. I’ll be sure to post who makes the cut as I go on IG and FB.
Around the Sphere
This will be going in the gift-giving guide, but I know puzzles can take time, so here’s your chance to get started! Werkshoppe is once again offering last year’s sold out Winter Village puzzle.
Winter Village 500 Piece Puzzle
Now available on Werkshoppe.
This summer my “No One Else” piece won first place in the Minted “Painter’s Palette” fine art paintings contest. It was one of my rare forays into oil paint, and captures the warmth and wildness of a weekend spent biking Vinalhaven.
“No One Else”
Prints are now available on Minted.