Ladies on the Davenport

Ladies on the Davenport 11" x 14" acrylic on canvas board. by Julie Kwiatkowski Schuler.

Women at Tea

Women at Tea 11" x 14" work in progress today.

Ladies at Supper

My Ladies at Supper painting is wrapping up. I am pleased with the limited palette and the row of pretty maids. I hope I have been able to capture some of the charm of the original photograph. I have never been a big tracer of genealogy, but I can look into nearly any old photograph and see some of my ancestry. I think there are continuous threads of custom that make up our common cloth, and that's what I hope to find in these paintings of my favorite vintage snapshots. You can see more pictures of the finished work and get a closer look at Ladies at Supper at My Good Babushka.

Ladies at Supper

More progress on my Ladies at Supper painting.

Ladies After Supper

I'm having such a great time painting all these different faces. I don't think there can be a boring face in all the world. Go out and kiss somebody's face today, and tell them they're beautiful!

Ladies After Supper

Polishing up the portraits and moving towards the right hand side of this rather long painting. I am trying to keep to the same palette of browns and greens with a little red and ocher. Not going to throw any blues or oranges in there anytime soon.

Ladies After Supper

Pulled back for an overview of this rather long canvas. This is a painting from a vintage photograph circa 1932-3 of seven ladies at a table.

Ladies After Supper

Reached the middle of the portrait, but I've still got to sort out the blank space on the table. It needn't be too cluttered. I like the lacy parting of the curtains in the back. It gives it a little drama.

Ladies at Supper

More progress on my painting of Ladies at Supper, inspired by a vintage photograph from 1932-3.

Ladies at Supper

I made the executive decision to put matryoshka dolls on the shelf. And I had to invent the gesture of the hand the best I could since that hand in the photo is not visible, it's mostly behind a candlestick. The bowl seems a little lopsided, but on the positive side, I'm very happy with the first portrait.

Ladies at Supper

Meandered around a bit with the wallpaper and clock. There seems to be some shelves back there. Then when I started the portrait of the first lady, I really pegged it, just right. I love everything about her glance and the deep color around her eye, and the light on her skin. Hope I don't mess it up.