William Pfahl Fine Artist

William Pfahl Fine Artist

I’m at Mark and Erika’s House in Ohio and saw the gorgeous painting of Immaculate Heart of Mary church in Pittsburgh’s Polish Hill neighborhood.

It’s where they were married in August 2002.

I posted Bill’s artwork in Ohio in 2018 but it deserves another post.

Manna Pottery is All Painted by Hand

Meet Rezgar Mamandi who hand paints the beautiful pottery and tiles you see in the photographs below.

Manna Pottery was at Shadyside.. the Arts Festival on Walnut Street on Saturday.

The pencil lines will burn away when fired
Close up detail -all hand painted by artist
The colors even more vibrant in person
The tiles can be made in any size
Vases, bowls, mugs, tiles, teapots, plates, lidded jars .
All beautiful.

Watch this YouTube video to see Rezgar Mamandi paint and glaze a ceramic plate for a wedding gift.

From the Artist’s brochure
About the artist

Tea Bag Art

Joanne painted this tea bag art and created a greeting card for my July 4th birthday.

My friend Joanne, belongs to an artists’ group in St. Augustine, Florida, -Cafe Sketchers

“Mary Ann Miller is the leader . Our group is the Cafe Sketchers and the blog is Sketching in Provence as a group of them went a few years ago…
We meet at a different cafe each time and sketch and eat. Lately we meet via zoom and share what we’re working on
.” Joanne writes

The Sketchers in Provence founder, Mary Ann’s blog post says….

“the idea was to use a teabag in a sketch/painting/print in any way you desired. Ideas included painting directly on dried and emptied teabags (inspired by New York artist Ruby Silvious), printing with the wet bag and making something out of that shape, painting with tea or painting a picture of a teacup. I used tea to dye unbleached muslin to cover my T-Doodles books

The members painted tea bags and to see their artwork click here

Looks like Van Gogh

“Quick Anna. Get my phone. Take pictures for me” we rolled down her window.

I’d picked her up at cross country practice about four. On the way home the Ohio landscape was reminiscent of Van Gogh’s Wheat Fields and Cypresses to me but I was driving.  Anna kept shooting. Thanks Anna for capturing the scene.


I loved the addition of the bright school crossing sign

Photo Snapped from Phineas Street

I was headed to I-279 and pulled into Phineas Street on the North Side to capture beloved Pittsburgh Pirate, Roberto Clemente’s likeness on this building.

Artist Jeremy Raymer painted this stunning mural. Here’s an article written by Bob Bauder about the painting.

The building that served as the “canvas” for Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente’s portrait is Verdetto’s Bar and Restaurant.

Roberto Clemente

Susan Middleman At Spinning Plate Gallery

Artist Susan Middleman’s paintings and collages on the last day of her show at Spinning Plate Gallery.

Bold, colorful, and alive is how I’d describe her paintings. The dancers look as if they could dance right off the wall.

Click here to see more  her work  – Art Gallery Show  and a photo of Susan with Carnegie Tech classsmate (1965)Joan Brindle 

follow her on Instagram @susan_middleman 

 

Happy Go Lucky Hearts Hotel in Berlin

Happy Go Lucky Hearts Hotel (and Hostel) In Berlin’s Charlottenburg neighborhood.

Mural Art by Dom Browne, artist from Kildare Ireland.  This is a LOT of mural painting, Dom.

Click here to see a gallery of the details of Mr. Browne’s Happy Go Lucky Hearts painting. You will find lots of recognizable iconic images- Bruce Lee, Rich Uncle Pennybags, Mary Poppins, Jack Nicholson, Curt Kobain, minions, emojis, Batman, to name a few

 

The colorful Happy Go Lucky Hotel really stands out-  right next door are regular buildings.

 


Not a Single Like Clicked on 20 Dec 2009

What Steve Put on the Mantel

A blog post from December 2009

Not a single “like” clicked when first posted 20 December 2009. A few comments but zero likes. It’s one of my favorites.

Thought I’d repost today.

______________________________

What Steve Put on the Mantel

Deborah McLaren’s still life is one I purchased at the PERSAD  Celebrate Life Celebrate Art auction held at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh last May (2009).  The other day I sat at the table, looked up and saw Steve’s additions to the decor.  He’s been purchasing RITZ crackers frequently since I bought the painting- subliminal influence?  I wrote to the artist for her permission to post the image of her painting along with his props. Steve’s fun additions- the unexpected sight of them in front of the still life-  I laughed out loud!  

Please Don’t Touch the Magnificent Costumes (All Made of Paper)

The title of today’s post comes from a conversation I had with one of the guards in the gallery.  He has seen two women lie down on the museum floor to look up the dresses ( he thought they had fainted), two men blow on the hanging costumes to get them to move (saliva included) and a 5 or 6 year old ran into the Queen Elizabeth gown the other day.  Today I saw a woman reach to touch the gossamer lace on a collar.  It’s hard to fathom that the gorgeous costumes/sculptures are made entirely of paper but they are.   

Today at the Frick Art Museum we viewed the exhibition of Isabelle de Borchgrave : Fashioning Art from Paper

My sister Mary reads about the Isabelle de Borchgrave paper sculpture commissioned by the Frick after the Peter Paul Rubens’ Portrait of Princess of Condé, Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency (1594-1650) 




You can touch the paper on this table in the rotunda.

Artist Bill Pfahl’s Paintings in Ohio

Looking around the walls of Mark and Erika’s home, I see several paintings by Pittsburgh artist William Pfahl.

He has a painting on the wall of the Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office, too. 

Here is the latest addition to their collection of Bill Pfahl’s art.

St. Boniface on Northside where Anna, Michael and Jack were baptized Immaculate Heart of Mary – Mark and Erika’s Wedding.

August 17, 2002. Polish Hill Central Catholic High School- Mark class of ’94

View from the Quad

Here’s a photo I took at Bill’s art show in Sharpsburg.

And here is he is painting the 16th Street Bridge

Bill was part of the People at Work Show at Panza Gallery July 2018

Here is his palette 

thanks Bill for commemorating the important Pittsburgh landmarks that mean so much to Mark and Erika and their children.