Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Bran Muffin

Not long ago I was at the Washington, DC Dulles Airport Marriot waiting to fly to Dubai.  I had a Bran Muffin for breakfast so I painted it.



Bran Muffin
6" x 8"
oil on linen panel

This painting is available for auction.  
If interested, please visit:  http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/91258

Friday, November 30, 2012

Gabriella

While in North Carolina this Summer at the Biltmore Estate and Gardens we stopped with our friends Jim and Jane and their children, Gabriella and Michale for a bite to eat.  I took a photo of Gabriella through my wine glass.  She said, "You should paint that."     


Gabriella
6" x 8" 
oil on linen panel

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Geri Orangutan

Here is Geri, the third in the series, The Apes of Wachula.  This painting will be donated, as were the first two, to benefit The Center for Great Apes.



Geri
24" x 30"
oil on stretched linen

This painting, as well as the first two, will be exhibited during Art Basel in Miami next week at a special location to benefit the apes.  It will eventually be auctioned off.  Here is information about the exhibit.  Please attend and support the center if you can:






Thursday, November 15, 2012

But I Know It When I See It



But I Know It When I See It
6" x 8"
oil on linen panel
Commission

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Taboret Finished

Here it is ... finis!
Hopefully back to the palette soon...





Tuesday, September 18, 2012

The Ultimate Artist's Taboret


If you are interested in purchasing one of the new taborets that I designed, or would like to purchase a set of plans to build your own, please visit


and






Saturday, August 18, 2012

Blue Cheese with Grapes



Blue Cheese with Grapes
5" x 7"
oil on linen panel

SOLD

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Avocados




Avocados
6" x 8"
oil on MDF board
SOLD

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Small Vase with Garlic

This little painting was based on a small vase I purchased from Mark Karner at The Firey Gizzard Pottery shop in Sylva, North Carolina.


Small Vase with Garlic
6" x 6"
oil on linen panel
SOLD


Thursday, July 26, 2012

Because I Don't Want To

Sometimes it seems as if the vegetables are trying to say something.


Because I Don't Want To
6" x 8"
oil on gessoed MDF board

SOLD


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Karner Vase with Apple


While in North Carolina I visited a great little Pottery studio and gallery called the Fiery Gizzard Pottery, in Sylva.  The owner Mark Karner throws his own pots on the premises and he carries his work as well as his brother Peter's.   I bought several pieces from both Mark and Peter.   I intend to do a series of paintings featuring the Karner's pottery.  This is the first.


Karner Vase with Apple
7" x 9" 
oil on linen panel


$50.00


If you are interested in acquiring this painting:





Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Oh, Mug...

I purchased this ceramic mug in Highlands, N.C. at the Lick Log Mill Store.  The pepper fell head over heels for it.



 Oh, Mug...
8" x 10"
oil on linen panel



Lick Log Mill Store, Highlands, North Carolina

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Peaches with Plum - Two Perspectives

People often say, I could never paint.   I tell them that like most things, flying, writing, you name it, so much of it is a matter of study, concentration, preparation, and experience.  But I think it's also true that sometimes some people are just naturals.

Recently my spouse, Karen, expressed interest in trying her hand at painting.  After a brief discussion about mixing colors, value, hue, temperature, mediums, and brushes, we sat down to a still life that we set up with two peaches and a plum.   The first photograph is my version, and the second is Karen's.   I emphasize that this is the first time she has picked up a paint brush.

Frankly, I like hers better than mine.

Garry's Peaches with Plum, 9" x 7", oil on canvas panel

Karen's Peaches with Plum, 9" x 7", oil on canvas panel

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Roma Plum Tomatoes

We had some tomatoes in the refrigerator today so these are what I painted.


Roma Plum Tomatoes
7" x 9"
oil on canvas panel

Saturday, July 14, 2012

River Rock at Iron Bridge

Last week I had a great time painting in Cashiers, N.C. with some friends.  We visited many beautiful spots and one of them, a place we call Iron Bridge because of the rustic iron bridge spanning over the stream, gave me the opportunity to paint this rock.



River Rock at Iron Bridge
9" x 12"
Plein Air
oil on linen panel

Wednesday, July 11, 2012



Asian Vase with Oranges and Berries
11" x 14"
oil on MDF board

available for purchase  $ 125.00
unframed








Saturday, July 7, 2012

Plein Air in North Carolina

Shirley Gipson joined us in Cashiers, N.C. to paint plein air for three days.









Thursday, June 21, 2012

Oopsie's Portrait


I had the privilege of delivering my painting of chimpanzee Oopsie to the Center for Great Apes today.   In the first photo is Patti Ragan who is the director/founder of the Center.    We learned that while there used to be 300,000 orangutans in the wild, there are about 30,000 now and they're being slaughtered at a rate that could leave them extinct in the wild within seven years.  Farmers are cutting down natural wild rain forests to plant palm trees for palm oil.  The farmers use machetes, knives, or guns to kill the orangutans who forage for food, often leaving orphaned babies.  Thousands of orphaned baby orangutans are being housed in shelters in Borneo and Sumatra.  The farmers who raise palm trees for palm oil are responsible and those of us who buy products containing palm oil can help by changing to products that contain alternative oils.

VIEW SHORT VIDEO:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKudkqVA_Rw
Oopsie seems delighted to see her painting


Chimps in the dome next to Oopsie's hung out requesting to see the painting

If you are interested in the fantastic work that the Center does in giving retired chimpanzees and orangutans a better life please visit www.centerforgreatapes.org

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Vase with White Flowers and Apples


Vase with White Flowers and Apples
11" x 14" 
oil on masonite

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Daisies

There are elements of this painting I did yesterday that I am happy with.  The eucalyptus leaves on the table need work.  I will probably continue to refine them once the paint sets up.  I think I like the dasies and the vase.


Daisies
9" x 12"
oil on masonite panel

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Pear Martini
8" x 10" 
Oil on Masonite Panel

Tuesday, May 22, 2012



Pansies
8" x 10" 
oil on masonite panel

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Paint a Football in Dubai



One can paint anywhere, at any time.   This 5" x 7" football painting was just completed in my hotel room in Dubai, UAE.


Thursday, May 10, 2012

Oopsie


Oopsie
40" x 30" oil on canvas

Oopsie will be donated to The Center for Great Apes (www.centerforgreatapes.org) to be auctioned off to benefit the more than 40 chimpanzees and orangutans living out their lives in this wonderful sanctuary.   Smaller, limited edition signed and numbered high quality giclee prints on canvas will be available in the near future.  All proceeds will go to benefit the center.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Teton Study



16" x 20" oil on canvas 
Tetons Study after Jim Wilcox

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Plein Air Today - CB Smith Park, Cooper City, FL


Like fishing, even a bad day plein air painting is better than a good day at work.







Saturday, March 31, 2012

Thursday, March 29, 2012


SACRE BLEU
A Comedy D'Art

A novel by Christopher Moore



Best selling novelist Christopher Moore is at the top of his game. With seven national best-selling novels under his belt, the author of LAMB and FOOL spins another tale destined to become a classic. Anyone with a sense of humor will enjoy his latest, SACRE BLEU. It's only that much better for the reader with a passion for painting, the Impressionists, and art in general. Did I mention that anyone with a sense of humor will love this story?

In this, his thirteenth novel, Moore explores one of his greatest personal passions--art history--with a focus on and around the 19th century impressionists. SACRE BLEU (April 2012, Harper Collins) delivers a mysterious and magical journey through a period that painters such as we could only dream of visiting. As of this writing, time travel is still considered too risky, so for us, Moore's novel may be just the ticket. Be forewarned: SACRE BLEU is not for everyone. If you don't like to laugh out loud, if you don't believe that Manet, Gauguin, Seurat, Monet, Pissarro and Renoir were cool to hang around with, or if you still believe that Van Gogh shot himself, then this book may not be for you. If you want to fall in love with the real Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, horn-dog that he was, SACRE BLEU is for you. SACRE BLEU is a love story, love for the passion of art and painting and of the never-ending search for a muse. It is about the passion of what many consider to be the most beautiful of pigments, ultramarine blue, originally acquired from the semi-precious stone, Lapis Lazuli. It is about the trouble that passion can bring. It is, above all, the story of a French baker, Lucien Lessard, who struggles to paint, to love, and to unravel one of the greatest and most dangerous mysteries in art historyÑthe mystery of blue.

My enthusiasm for SACRE BLEU runs deep, for it was in essence the birth of this novel that led to my becoming a plein air painter. I am hopeful that a whole new cadre of Moore's readers will gain, from reading this novel, the spark that touched me and that they may eventually even pick up a brush. During the Summer of 2008, my wife and I were visiting with Chris Moore and his wife at their home in San Francisco. 

Chris had set up a small studio and was learning to paint, or as he put it, to "push color around on the canvas. He was researching SACRE BLEU and wanted to acquire an understanding of what his characters experienced when they were painting. For several days we spent many hours discussing the book. But even more intriguing to me was Chris's depth of knowledge about art history and his unbridled passion for the subject. Just listening to him was exciting, and that excitement, combined with the comic element in his paintings, made me want to pick up a brush. He inspired me, though I wondered if at forty-eight it was too late to get started and to be able to accomplish anything serious. I wondered out loud if a person needed to be born with innate ability to be a decent artist. Chris told me to stop whining, handed me a couple of instructional DVDs, and said, "Buy some paint and have fun."  He pushed me out the door and that was that.

Thanks to Christopher Moore and SACRE BLEU, my painting life had begun. This novel will always hold a tremendous amount of magic for me. I hope it will inspire both accomplished and novice painters to believe in the magic that we have all felt when squeezing out the sweet, translucent blue as we lay it down on the palette, or when we pull our brush through the pigment rich linseed oil. 

When you read SACRE BLEU, I hope that you will feel the tenderness and love that Chris has for the characters, the artists, and the art --albeit with some hardcore comic perspective--because I can tell you, it is real. I believe you will understand his passion for our art. As you read, think of the smell of a fresh oil painting as it dries, or better yet, read it in your studio and let the smell envelop you. Hold a number 8 flat bristle in your hand as Henri Tolouse-Lautrec charms you. Or read SACRE BLEU en plein air in the Spring grass and let your imagination drift, as the sun goes down laying yellow-green light, and wonder how you'd mix the colors. Look at the sky. Do you see the ultramarine, the Sacred Blue?  You do?  Then you're a romantic, an artist, and the magic of SACRE BLEU will delight you. And even if you're not, SACRE BLUE is one hell of a fun read.


      Garry Kravit is a reader of Plein Air Magazine and a painter since 2008. Garry flies the Boeing 777 as a captain for United Airlines to pay for his color, brushes, and linen.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Royal Bonn Vase with Rose and Grapes

This painting's subject is a Royal Bonn Vase.  When my wife and I were in college she bought it for almost nothing at an auction in Micanopy, Florida, just south of the University of Florida in Gainesville.  Micanopy is famous for two things; world class sinsemilla, and it's also a former home of River and Joaquin Phoenix.

The Subject Still Life

In progress

Royal Bonn Vase with Rose and Grapes
8" x 10" 
oil on canvas panel



Saturday, March 17, 2012

Pitcher and Clementine

5" x 7" 
oil on linen panel

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Roses


Roses
8" x 8"
oil on linen panel

Monday, March 12, 2012

Brooklyn Bridge Nocturne


Brooklyn Bridge Nocturne after Hall Groat
9" x 12" 
oil on canvas board

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Plein Air - Treetops Park, Davie, FL

It's good to get back to the easel.  I spent a few hours outside this morning at Treetops Park in Davie, FL.




This was the subject

The finished painting.  TreeTops - 9" x 12", oil on canvas panel


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

The Mahogany Easel

I guess I'm in the easel building business now:  www.garrykravit.com/easels.htm

This is the mahogany easel I just completed.   It's solid mahogany, red oak and maple.

This easel is available for purchase: