Marble Cake, The Pfister Hotel and Personal Delivery

Art Friends, October 28, 2008
Art Friends is an e-letter that I compose for my artful friends from time to time. It features the inside story on new works, art shows and other art nuggets you might find interesting. Thank you for reading. -- Barbara Sistak Baur

Hello Everyone,
Fresh from the studio, Marble Cake, reflects its name in many ways. Yes, you can see the white and chocolate in the cake itself and it is also in the reflection. The marbleized top is most exciting to me because it is the result of a new technique. An acrylic medium is mixed with paint and spread on the top. More about the technique is explained online.
Marble Cake, 11”x14”, acrylic on panel, with a contemporary black frame, $400. © Barbara Sistak Baur

Art-Throb™ -- The Pfister Hotel
Art-Throb is the term I use when I discover a great place, usually a little out-of-the-way, to enjoy an art experience. I came across such as place this past weekend – the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee. First of all, the Pfister is a turn-of-the-century restored beauty in itself. But on top of that, it boosts the largest Victorian art collection of any hotel. There are more than 80 pieces. Guido Pfister, the hotel founder, collected the works from about 1860 until 1895 (the concierge tells me). Victorian art typically features pleasant scenes and idealized people and animals. Sometimes Greek or Roman themes are employed. beautiful. Victorian paintings reflect the optimism of the turn of century. The director of the Milwaukee Art Museum writes, “Dating generally from the years surround the hotel’s founding (1893), the art collection is an exceptional example of late Victorian taste in America.”

The paintings are located throughout the lobby, mezzanine and 7th floor meeting and banquet rooms. You are free to roam and view. The gift store sells a $10 guide which is worth the price. To get there, set your GPS to 424 E. Wisconsin Ave. I placed a couple of photos online.

Personal Delivery Just for You
Over the past art fair season or even before that, you may have seen a painting that you liked but, alas, did not take home. Well, here is a chance to get your painting – from now until the end of the year, I will personally deliver the painting to your house or have it shipped to you at no charge. And remember, all paintings are guaranteed.

Well, it is back to the studio for me. Incredibly, I am preparing for the 2009 art fair season already which means I am busy creating painting after painting to fill my booth next year. I hope to get the new works posted on the site soon.

Warmly,
Barbara Sistak Baur
Artist

P.S. If you know a friend who would enjoy my work, please feel free to forward this email. If this email has been forwarded to you, please let me know so that I can add you to my Art Friends directory.

Photos Now Online
-- I took a few snapshots of friends as they stopped by my art booth at Art in the Barn. Take a peek!

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Art-Throb is a trademark of Barbara Baur Art. Art Friends and all images are ©2008 Barbara Sistak Baur and all rights are reserved. If you wish to copy this material to other publications or mail lists, great!! Just let me know so I can give you permission. Thanks for your respect.

Barbara Baur Art
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Island Lake IL 60042
and
2944 S. Harlem #4
Riverside IL 60546
708-372-2798
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Marble Cake

Marble Cake, acrylic, 11 x 14, with a black contemporary frame. $400. ©B. Sistak Baur

Marble Cake reflects its name in many ways. Yes, you can see the white and chocolate in the cake itself and it is also in the reflection. The marbleized top is most exciting to me because it is the result of a new technique I tried. An acrylic medium is mixed with paint and spread on the top. A second color solution is mixed and swirled into the first. After that, more medium is poured on to help the colors “float.” The topping really drives home that this is a true Marble Cake and helps give this painting its unique texture.

Art-Throb™ -- The Pfister Hotel

The Dog, shown in perfect form, is typical of late Victorian art.

Art-Throb is the term I use when I discover a great place, usually a little out-of-the-way, to enjoy an art experience. I came across such as place this past weekend – the Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee. First of all, the Pfister is a turn-of-the-century restored beauty in itself. But on top of that, it boosts the largest Victorian art collection of any hotel. There are more than 80 pieces. Guido Pfister, the hotel founder, collected the works from about 1860 until 1895 (the concierge tells me). Victorian art typically features pleasant landscape, figures from Greek or Roman themes and/or mythology. The people in the paintings are idealized and beautiful. Victorian paintings reflect the optimism of the turn of century. The director of the Milwaukee Art Museum writes, “Dating generally from the years surround the hotel’s founding (1893), the art collection is an exceptional example of late Victorian taste in America.”

The paintings are located throughout the lobby, mezzanine and 7th floor meeting and banquet rooms. You are free to roam and view. The gift store sells a $10 guide which is worth the price. To get there, set your GPS to 242 E. Wisconsin St.

The painting behind me is named The Captive.

Art-Throb is a trademark of Barbara Baur Art.

Art in the Barn Visitors

Art in the Barn in September was close to home so many friends stopped by. Here are Caty and Mike. Below, Lori (on left) stopped by to see me.
It was great to see Judith and George. Judith was one my first art teachers.
Lee Ratdke is from my life drawing workshop, Valley Art Club. Our group meets twice a month.

Let's get political for a moment

If you believe supporting the arts in America is important, you might be interested in this information (You can click on this chart to make it larger/readable.) It outlines the Presidential Candidates' positions on the arts. This chart was posted by the Arts Vote organization which is part of the Americans for the Arts Action Fun. You can see each candidate's position statements on the Arts site.

Fruit Cookie I

From a very colorful bakery case, it was fun to figure out what the central focus would be. Several of the central pieces are executed in a similar impasto style so the challenge here was to be sure I created the depth needed. My experiment on this was to use an impasto style that is slightly lower in depth and with many colors placed side by side. There are two paintings like this. ©2008 Barbara Sistak Baur, 11”x14”, acrylic. Sold.

Café Table

With a friend, I was visiting cafes and bakeries to snap reference photos for upcoming paintings. This was in Andersonville in Chicago, an area well-known for its bakeries. I believe this was at A Taste or Heaven, 5401 N Clark St. Of course, we had to endulge. When I saw these treats sitting on their plates, I knew instantly that they would make a delightful little painting. The two treats have the rich impasto technique so they stand out from the rest of the scene. ©2008 Barbara Sistak Baur, 11”x14”, acrylic, framed. Sold.