Steve HedbergVisual Artist
  • Home
  • James River Project
  • Artwork for Sale
  • Gallery
    • Recent Work
    • Route 1 Project
    • Murals
    • Urban Scapes
    • Rural Scapes
    • Sea Scapes
    • Abstracts
    • People
  • About
  • Contact
  • Exhibits
  • James River Blog
  • Commissions
  • Blog
  • Facebook
  • Contact Steve
  • Newsletter

paintings that will remind you how awesome you are on a daily basis

7/19/2014

8 Comments

 
......as long they're hanging on YOUR wall, of course.
My sister Bonnie has always been a provider. As her little brother with six years between us, she was big enough to protect me and beat the crap out of me at the same time when we were kids. Typical big sister stuff, I guess. But what really meant a lot to me was her ability to boost my confidence. She always told me how talented, smart and handsome I was (before marriage and beer gut). It embarrassed me at the time, but as the shy kid on the block, it meant a lot.

Of course, I'm suppressing a few moments, like the time she played dead with the kitchen knife in her armpit covered with ketchup. But again, typical big sister stuff, right? Bonnie has always led a fascinating life, and she has a knack for making kids feel like they can accomplish anything if they believe in themselves. She is a provider of self esteem.

I'm not sure Bonnie recognizes that gift, but fortunately she's using it in all kinds of ways. She's a mother of three, and she owns an art studio for both kids and adults near Tampa, FL. She makes kids light up — her own, others, random ones in grocery stores. For the past seven or so years, she and some close friends have been traveling to Vietnam to help an orphanage. Their mission has grown into a nonprofit called Big Big World Project. Bonnie and company are supplying these kids with everything from computers, bicycles and personalized photo albums to dental care, braces and college scholarships. What's really amazing about their trips is how involved they are with the kids. They know them by name and what they like to do. They're even friends on Facebook. They do all that they can to help them, not solely with monetary support, but by spending time with them. Barbecues, art classes, shopping trips... Bonnie isn't feeding masses for a day, she's giving dozens at a time opportunities and experiences which will affect them profoundly over a lifetime.

This year, they don't have a sponsor for their shopping trip to buy each of the 24 children in the orphanage an outfit, a pair of shoes and something a little extra.

To help them meet the monetary goals for this year's trip, I am auctioning off the two paintings to the right. I will donate 100% of the proceeds  to Big Big World Project (http://bigbigworldproject.wordpress.com/).

Please share this with anyone you know who may be interested in helping these kids and maybe like art hanging on their wall.

The paintings are below. You can post a bid, or if you'd like to do it discreetly, you can email me at steve@stevehedberg.com


BIDDING ENDS WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 8 P.M.


Or, if you'd just like to donate, here's the link:

http://bigbigworldproject.wordpress.com/
(specify Shopping Trip in the PayPal note field)

Thanks
Picture
"Harvest" from the Route 1 show
Acrylic on panel
12 x 16
Comes with wood shadow box style frame
Value: $600
Bidding starts at $250

Picture
Polis No. 4
Acrylic on panel
12 x 12
Value: $525
Bidding starts at $200

Picture
8 Comments

Identity Crisis

5/15/2011

0 Comments

 
Picture
Typically, when I'm in between shows, I have a tendency to wander with the brush, and more recently, away from the brush. Pen and ink has been popping up in pieces, as mentioned in my last post.

I've been locked in on acrylics for many years so this is new territory for me. I've produced five pieces using both acrylic and pen and ink, but I keep coming back to realism.


Picture
I continue to rebel against realism, but intricate detail always seems to win.

I've been putting up quite a battle lately, though, switching back and forth between more textural, raw paint and hyper-realism. Throw in the pen and ink, and I've found myself in a painting twilight zone where I'm not sure when to stop painting. Nothing feels quite done - maybe that's because they aren't.

Picture
This search for something different goes back a few years to the painting pictured right. As it happens in the studio sometimes, I was on an expressive tangent and decided to paint this tree into what I considered at the time a failed abstract piece. I did so, and felt as uninspired about what had transpired as I did when I started. I hung the piece in my studio, and found that I couldn't keep my eyes off of it. Over a course of two weeks or so, I realized that I had accomplished what I had set out to do months earlier. It was my "hey, your chocolate is in my peanut butter" moment.

Fortunately, that painting is in good hands, and I may need to drop by Adam and Kelly's to take another look since I can't seem to navigate back to that mindset.

Consistency is overrated. Here are a couple more pieces from the past month or so — further demonstrating my inability to paint like there's only one of me inside this human body suit:


Picture
Picture
 
0 Comments

    Works in Progress: A
    Blog of Sorts


    About the Artist

    Steve Hedberg's work is exhibited at Glave Kocen Gallery in Richmond, Virginia, and has pieces in several corporate collections in the region. Click here to see more of his work.

    Archives

    September 2017
    July 2014
    April 2013
    February 2013
    May 2011
    December 2010

    Categories

    All
    Abstract
    Acrylic
    Artist
    Big Big World
    Cityscape
    Luminhaus
    Paintings
    Pen And Ink
    Realism
    Richmond
    Steve Hedberg
    Vintage Trucks
    Virginia

    RSS Feed

All images and content ©Steve Hedberg 2018
  • Home
  • James River Project
  • Artwork for Sale
  • Gallery
    • Recent Work
    • Route 1 Project
    • Murals
    • Urban Scapes
    • Rural Scapes
    • Sea Scapes
    • Abstracts
    • People
  • About
  • Contact
  • Exhibits
  • James River Blog
  • Commissions
  • Blog
  • Facebook
  • Contact Steve
  • Newsletter