Friday, 25 July 2014

Art exhibition: Rialto Art Centre, 22 Mill street, Strand, South Africa

17.July to 1.August, 2014

SOLO EXHIBITION:
RITMA GRIZANE



Thank you to all who came in to view my art and support me on the opening night!:)


Special thanks go out to:
  • My husband Neil Eybers- who put up with my late night painting and paintings taking over our house:)
  • Georine and Ellen for opening Rialto and helping with the set up!
  • The winery of Good Hope & Heather Whitman - for providing awesome wine!



























Tuesday, 24 June 2014

Portrait of Prof. Jāzeps Vītols goes home

Professor J.Vitols established the first Latvian Conservatory of Music, which was later renamed the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in his honor, and he ran the composition classes there between 1919 and 1944.

J. Vītols loved to spend his summer holidays in Gaujiena- a small, picturesque village where my parents reside. Gaujiena also hosts a yearly music festival known as J.Vītola music days- this is one of the biggest events in the local calendar:) So we used to hear about him. 



Portrait of Prof.J.Vitols has been presented as a present to Jazeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music on 18th June, 2014 by my father:) So proud of myself:)

Thursday, 19 June 2014

Painting a self portrait

Up to now I have always used a reference photo when painting a portrait, so I decided to move on to the next level and try painting from live. Every artists best model is the artist itself:) I guess we all have tried to paint/ draw a selfie:)


Here is mine:) oil on canvas, size A4, spent about 2 hours on this project in total.
Selfie in oil

Monday, 26 May 2014

Composition in art / painting

In the class we came to the composition question- I know its not much fun- more the theory and then trying it out in practice- time consuming exercise. But it is a very important, if not the most important element in the painting. 

Composition – the way in which all the visual elements within a painting are put together.

The three most basic and general rules in art are: 
  1. format (shape of the painting);
  2. Arrangement of items;
  3. Tonal values (light & dark)
Of course the other elements as: Color, Texture, Lines, Shapes, Scale and Perspective are important, but they are all so interlinked with the 3 basic elements, that it is very hard to speak about them separately. This is why the painting is as one interlinked piece of art. 


Initially I thought I will write one article on composition, but seams that this would not be a case. 

Here are 3 most used computational arrangements in art (of course there are more and I hope to touch on them in following posts) :
  1. Rule of thirds also called Golden mean;
  2. "L" composition;
  3. Steelyard
Rule of thirds (picture courtesy of Wikipedia) also known as classical composition.
In this arrangement, we divide each side of the canvas by three equal parts. Where the segments intersect are considered to be the optimum places for the point of interest. The point of interest, the area of the painting where the eyes are drawn to, should be placed in one of the four positions.


"L" composition 
Here is a great lesson on composition which uses "L" shape - photo also from this blog.
The "L" can be located any way and upside down too:) 


Steelyard composition

http://www.mikecallahanart.com/

A steelyard is a simple balance scale whereby one large item is balanced on a bar against a smaller weight that is moved further away from the fulcrum (centre) to achieve balance.
I will be posting more on composition. 

For those in who would like more hands on approach, you are welcome to join the painting class with me in Somerset West (Cape Town), South Africa. 




Friday, 23 May 2014

Fathers Day special - child portraits

International Fathers Day is just around the corner - 15.June' 2014. We seem to put more emphasis on mothers, rather than dads, which I think is not always fair. Kids probably have a stronger bond with mom, because she is there more, but then again, in most cases that is possible because the father is working hard to afford the mom be home...

Let's this year make it special for dads!

I offer a special Fathers Day price R399 for an A3, single child portrait. Oil on canvas.

Fathers day special example:)

Offer valid till 15.June (included).
Deposit of R100 payable on order.
All portraits to be finished using a digital reference photo.

Monday, 12 May 2014

Art on the door :)

We bought these doors when building the house extension, but eventually never used them- so they were standing around. It happened that I ran out of canvas or rather big canvas, but felt like painting something big:) So 1+1=2!

Lions Den

painted door- a unique decor:) 
Not available.
R

Friday, 9 May 2014

For Moms- 3rd give away painting

With Mother's Day just around the corner, here is my 3rd Give Away painting- it has gone home a few weeks ago, but I noticed that it has not been shared on the blog.

3rd give away painting
Kyle responded to my posting on the Facebook group, where I told about the Giveaway paintings. He also shared that his mom and dad has adopted him as a small child and have been the best mom he could ever imagine! Kyle's dad is currently fighting Alzheimer's and mom would really do with some happy feelings and smiles:) Such a special mom!!!

May all moms have a very special Mother's day on Sunday!

Tuesday, 6 May 2014

Happy paintings for cancer support

This is a follow up project from "Horse painting for cancer support" - I would like to have it as an ongoing project. Don't You think that would be awesome!

The paintings that can be seen on this page are the ones, that are available for purchase through the project. From every sold painting I would donate 50% of sales price to CANSA - The Cancer Association of South Africa (http://www.cansa.org.za/).

Why cancer support?
Since my family has been battling the cancer, I hear more and more people fighting or fought cancer- everyone knows someone that has cancer!? This clearly is a big issue in today- if we work together we can make a difference. Donating to cancer cause is my choice, if You would like to donate from a purchased painting to a different charity, please let me know :) I donate through http://www.givengain.com/. Info on previous project & donations.

Why call these "Happy paintings"? 
1. Painting them made me happy,
2. they hopefully will make the person purchasing the painting happy and
3. the donated funds will make whole lot of people dealing with cancer happier
Just thought its a nice reason to call them "happy paintings":)

LET'S SHARE THE HAPPINESS AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

  • All paintings are fully hand painted in acrylic or oil on canvas;
  • All prices are provisional and negotiable. Provisional price can be seen below the painting, 50% of the paid price will be donated. Price excludes shipping and delivery costs. 
  • If You would like to buy a painting or have any questions, please contact me on email or phone. 


Large horse 3,
Acrylic boxed canvas, 91x76cm,
R3000
Bob Marley
Acrylic on stretched canvas, 100x80cm
R2000 
Happy
Acrylic on boxed canvas, 91x76cm
R2000
White horse
Oil on canvas board, 40x50cm
R700
Angel
Oil on canvas board, 50x40cm
R800
Baby girl
Oil on canvas, A3
R700
Profile
Oil on canvas board, A3
R500
Little girl
Acrylic on canvas, A3
R300 
Arabian
Acrylic on canvas, 60x50cm, framed in white frame
R700

Saturday, 3 May 2014

Happy birthday - Juliet

Happy birthday Juliet!

Stay as fun and awesome as You are!

Me and Juliet
After a 6-day hike and amazing birthday party:)

House in penguin territory :)


Tuesday, 22 April 2014

Horse painting for CANSA donations

I have to say the biggest THANK YOU to Alicia, who bought "Cancer horse" and enabled me to donate funds to CANSA - The Cancer Association of South Africa (http://www.cansa.org.za/). The donation has been made through GivenGain (http://www.givengain.com/cause/1056/) and was half of the amount of paintings selling price. The other half of the money was used to support the painting give away project .


This is what Alicia wrote:

Dear Ritma,


I have looked at this painting so often. I dream of it. Your talent comes from your heart. God put it there.


I come from a very large family. I am 67 years old now. We all came together at one of the family homes over weekends, and sang songs and danced. We were a very happy lot. There were about 79 of us when I was born.


There are now 4 cousins left. Everyone, barring my Own Mother, and Father and my Grandfather died of cancer. I give to all Cancer Fighting Causes....as much as I can. I have added Hospice too, as my father died recently, and without hospice’s help my poor mother would and could not care for him alone at home. He died of Sepsis, after he fell off the bed at the hospital...went for one night for tests. Was left on the floor for 3 hours with only his night shorts on. He had the bell in his hand, but it did not work. He had a heart attack, a stroke and eventually fell into a coma. He died in agony. And the day before he went to hospital we all went out for lunch as so many times before. He made us laugh all afternoon.

My shop Malaika, is opposite the Builders Warehouse. This painting is going to hang above my bed....till the day I die.

Alicia

What a sad story:(. I don't know Alicias' family, but that must be an awesome family, to make Alicia in a wonderful person she is today!:)

Here are some more links from Alicia, if You feel like donating:
http://www.pinkdrive.co.za/
http://www.mrc.ac.za/cancer/cancer.htm
http://www.cancerbuddies.org.za/donations
http://childrenshospitaltrust.org.za/red-cross-war-memorial-childrens-hospital-2/
http://www.stlukes.co.za/

Friday, 18 April 2014

Art Lessons in Somerset West

So, it was decided- I will be available for art lessons as off May 5, 2014.

 If You are new to art, come and explore under a supervision of experienced artist and if you are an established artist- come paint with me! :)

The lessons will be held in informal setting, Limited number of students, due to space restrictions.

Studio space- come join me.
Location: Victoria Park, Somerset West, Western Cape, RSA

Times: Please contact for available times, 0611776609

Cost: 

  • only R100 per 3 hour lesson during the week
  • R150 per 3 hour lesson on weekends.

Bookings essential! Min 2 students. 

The lessons will be addressing following subjects: 
  • Form & shading (pencil and acrylic)
  • Color wheel and mixing;
  • Different materials (glass with water, fabric etc)
  • Composition
  • Differences between acrylic and oil color
  • Still life
  • Portraiture
Students are able to choose their preferred subject for the lesson. 
Materials not supplied, please bring your own. Tee and coffee provided. 

Lessons have no age limit, children welcome - to learn with or accompany an adult who is attending the class. (Child-minding service available @R100 per lesson).

We all have different style in art, come and discover Yours!!!

Wednesday, 9 April 2014

2nd Give away painting went home

This is a very special painting for my amazing friends mom. I have never met her mom, but she definitely must be the most amazing woman to have such an amazing daughter. The whole family is in fact AMAZING - the things they do for others are unbelievable! Unfortunately, mom has been going through some rough time in life and we really hope that this painting will bring some more smiles to her and families life!:) 

portrait of childerm oil Cape Town
Cousins/ grandchildren, oil on canvas
More info on the Give away project: http://ritmart.blogspot.com/2014/03/painting-give-away.html

This painting is bigger than the other give away paintings. My friend send me a few photos of the kids and I just thought that I'm not going to leave any of the children out of the portrait- so had to increase the size of the painting to accommodate their beautiful smiles:) 

The baby was a little challenge, as she was not smiling in the photos- and I had to guess the muscle movements etc. Happy to report, that family confirms the smile to be correct :)

SMILE!!!

Your day will go the way the corners of your mouth turn:)

Thursday, 27 March 2014

1st give away portrait painting

Heiya!!!

Here we go! the first give away portrait is done. I'm so excited and eager to see what the reaction of the receiver will be... I really hope she likes it. I titled this painting "In moms arms":)

oil portrait, A3

The portrait will be a surprise gift from an amazing friend to the receiver. I have never met or spoken to the people in this portrait... I hope that this post is not going to spoil the surprise... well, what are the chances that someone that knows the person in the picture accidentally stumbles upon my blog? In case it actually happens, please let me know:)))
 
 Read more about give-away project: http://ritmart.blogspot.com/2014/03/painting-give-away.html

To order a portrait, please visit www.portraitartist.com for more info:)

Monday, 24 March 2014

What it costs to be an artist - business plan:D

I recently see the posts about artists being asked to give away their art- be it paintings, music, written etc... so I found myself "playing with the numbers in my head".

This is a very primitive estimate about what is needed if You would like to take up painting:)

  1. Computer, lets say we can pick up a basic laptop at R5000.  Computer is an essential as it is used to communicate with the clients and to see the reference photos. One can argue that it is possible to do all of that in internet cafe- well, it is, but I find laptop much more handy. And lets face it- printing in color these days cost quite a bit... especially if You need the same reference photo in different varieties. I tend to increase/ decrease color value quite a bit through the process- to understand the picture better;
  2. Internet- again, can be used in internet cafe, but much easier to focus when one is at home. And if you are like me who like to paint at night- it is irreplaceable! I use about R150 a month in internet; 
  3. Camera/ cell phone- to take photos and share your work. I would guess that R2000 shall do, if You don't have one already;
  4. Paints - I would guess that about 20 colors should be enough to start with. I have about 35 tubes of acrylic paint and about 30 tubes of oil paint. Let's imagine you want to paint in oil paint. On avarage a tube of 50ml oil paint would cost you between R 45-70. You would by 20xR45= about R900
  5. Brushes - the price on brushes is very variable, starting from as little as R5 for the small ones. 10 brushes would be a good start, R20 per brush = about R200;
  6. Other materials like: as turpentine, linseed oil, detail, drying mediums, glazing, palette paper - just the basics would come to R600;
  7. Canvas - of course the art will have to be painted on something... now this is hard to predict as it really depends on each individuals choices... An A3 stretched canvas costs about R50 (this is the one that does not need framing and can be hung as is). lets say You would use 2 in a months= R100
  8. Easel- one should be able to find a free standing easel or easel-box for about R600
  9. Website- well, this is not essential, but is nice to have:) self designed and private domain would can be found from as little as R100. 
  10. Talent and painting classes- this really depends on each individual and can not be priced. 
  11. Space and time- if You really wnat to paint, You will find it!:)
SO, what do we have here?

This all comes to R9650 + TALENT + Space & Time:)

The nice thing is - some of the items all of us already have at home and others can be bought one by one:) LET'S PAINT!!!

What do I need to start painting?
PS The cat and coffee optional :P



Thursday, 20 March 2014

YAY!

All 3 give-away-paintings have found their homes! I'm so EXCITED!!! Well, I still have to paint them :) More info will follow on the blog.

But for now- my latest painting:

oil on canvas, A3



Monday, 10 March 2014

Painting Give Away!

Dear family, friends, colleagues, readers and all beautiful people!



I would like to give away 3 portrait paintings for free to people who are hurting - with hope that the painting would bring some happiness to their life. 

Details of the painting: 

  1. Subject - chosen by receiver (can be arranged as a surprise present);
  2. Support- plain canvas, no stretcher bars or frame;
  3. Medium - oil paint;
  4. Size -28x38cm
  5. Pick up, posting - painting to be picked up in Somerset West or posting to be arranged by the beneficiary, if receiver lives outside Cape Town (South Africa). 
Criteria of choosing the receiver- please send me a short story and a reference photo (or a few photos if difficult to choose one) to rgrizane@gmail.com. I hope to choose the paintings-to-be within this week.

What's in it for me? Apart from experience, NOTHING! It's a pure act of kindness. Of course I might get some exposure, but not banking on it. I simply would like to make someones life a bit better. I have no money to give away, but I have my skill, talent, time and ready to invest it. There are way too many people hurting out there. Why do I ask for the story- so people don't abuse the opportunity. 

Please help to find people who would benefit the most from this project and let's share happiness!!!

*The idea is inspired by those dealing with cancer, but is not limited to cancer. Please also share the previous project, that is still on: http://ritmart.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-painting-for-cancer-support.html

The results of this project will be shared here and on social media platforms. 


Sunday, 9 March 2014

Away from home

Do You ever miss your parents home?

I have been living out of my home country for about 5 years now and in those years the outlook has changed quite a bit...

This is the painting I call Latvia. the girl in it is wearing a traditional clothing (one of them to be exact), the monument at the background is the Freedom monument in Riga, the horse symbolizes the elegance and strength and the field and forest in the background is that shows the strong bond to nature.

oil painting latvia

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

A painting for the cancer support

Today I had to take my mother-in-law to the hospital for her cancer treatment. It is not a happy place... So, I was thinking- how can I help. I also attended a great conference past weekend where it was said that we should give more! So adding this all together, I have decided to donate half of the proceeds from this painting to Cancer Association. I do also hope to get at least the cost of material back, so I can continue with painting...

Painting for SALE
Cancer support Horse
Acrylic, 76x91cm
Let's see How it goes!

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away!
- Pablo Picasso



SOLD!!! 


Thank You Alicia! More info in this site:


Monday, 3 March 2014

Demo at La Diva Sallon, Friday 28 Feb

We had another fun demo session at La Diva hair salon in Strand (South Africa) last Friday 28th February, 2014.

Don't get mislead, Lana is a great hairdresser:)
Posing for a portrait demo session :P

Two work stations side by side
portrait artist, South Africa
Tristan, oil portrait
Feel free to join the fun next Friday! :)

Monday, 24 February 2014

Horse painting - large

Ok, it is not a secret that I LOVE horses:) Horses are the most amazing, elegant, strong and gentle (in most cases) animals. I have always wanted to paint a large horse painting. IT'S DONE!

Finding the right horse/ photo took the most effort!

Enjoy the painting!

Horse painting by R Grizane

Large painting - horse
One day I will own a horse and he/she will look just like this one!:)

R