The Yellow Butterfly

The Yellow Butterfly, 2021, Oil on board, 10" x 8", $800. For Sale.

By Patricia Miller Uchello

Very recently, I copied a small area of a Vanitas painting by the Dutch Master, Jan de Heem. Vanitas paintings include insects, decay of leaves and flowers, etc., to show the inevitable passage of time and decline of anything and everything in nature. 

Beauty is fleeting.
 

Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends,
I hope that 2017 has been as good to you as it has to me. I sold about 14 oil paintings at my show at the beautiful River Farm, which will close January 2, 2018.
More details to follow!
Best,
Patricia Uchello

Tulip, Eggplant and Garlic

My One Woman Show at River Farm

 Dear Art Lovers,

You are invited to see my show of oil paintings, free and open to the public, at the lush River Farm, at 7931 East Boulevard Drive.  The location in Alexandria, Virginia, sits on the shore of the Potomac River, with splendid inspiration for painters everywhere you turn.
I am displaying solo, about 86 or more paintings at time, of my paintings of horticultural subject matter-- scenes of flowers, fruit, landscapes, seascapes, etc.  The show is entitled Floralia,  in honor of the ancient Roman festival of flowers.
Hours of the show are

Monday through Friday, 9-5, and Saturdays, 9-1.  Closed on Sundays and major holidays.  For more information, please call me at 703-768-6983.

Best,
Patsie

Untitled

I love painting nature!  My painting, finished this week, as yet untitled: oil, 8" X 10"

Tonight's the Night!

Please join me tonight at my opening for my one woman show at River Farm, located on East Blvd. in Alexandria along the lovely Potomac River. The party is 6-8. Bring your umbrella, just in case!

Snacks will be served. The painting below is just one of 102 for sale. 

Be there or be square!

Your friend,

Patsie

Study in White

Study in White, Oil by Patricia Miller Uchello

Dear Imaginary Friends,

Every year, the Art League of Alexandria, Virginia, sponsors a Patron's Show, featuring donated art from its members. 
Tickets are sold for $200 apiece, and attendees vie for their favorite pieces of art.
I am donating Study in White this year.
What are the shades of white? They vary from a yellowish white to a gray, blue, orange, brown, gray or greenish white. All the subtle shades are hard to see and depict accurately. The study of all whites is considered a tour de force. Sort of like painting a polar bear playing in the snow!
This painting is on display from now until February 16, 2014, at the Art League Gallery in the Torpedo Factory.

Your imaginary friend,
Patsie

Rolling Hills, 5 x 7", $200 at the Art League This Month

The beautiful rolling hills of Virginia

Dear Imaginary Friends,

This oil painting has been accepted into the 'Scapes Landscape show at the Art League this month. The opening is this Thursday, 6:30-8 pm. I hope that you will join me! The show runs through September 2.

Your imaginary artist,
Patsie

Today's Painting: Lots of Golden Yellow!

Dear Imaginary Friends,

I try to create a new oil painting each Wednesday. And therefore-- ta dah!

Your Imaginary Friend,
Patsie

Oranges and Sunflowers, Oil, by Patricia Miller Uchello, c. 2013

Timothy Mc Tabby

Sweet!

And Two Weeks Ago, I Painted this Vase of Roses

Roses and Woodland Hyacinths, Oil, May 2012

How I Spent Last Wednesday

Making a mess, toward progress

Irises and Lemons, 14 x 18", Oil, for sale

Dear Imaginary Friends,

Pictures do not pop off the canvas without a lot of work. Above, you can see the work space at the Art League where I arduously painted this still life last Wednesday. 

Below is my finished product. I already have framed it!

This newest oil painting of mine will be part of my massive exhibit at River Farms this Fall, from September through January.

I have painted so many floral, fruit and vegetable, and landscape works that I am swimming in them. But that is what it takes to fill up the whole American Horticultural Society Headquarters. I have been working toward this show for two years.

Counting the months!
Patsie

My Formal Declaration: I Am In Love with Art!

Dear Humanity,

My Formal Declaration of my Love of Art! The addiction began at six.

I have been formally educated in art, with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, cum laude, from Tulane University, and a Masters in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, where I was awarded an assistantship. My oil paintings have been the subject of favorable reviews, featured in a five page  article in elan magazine, April 2011, and I have been invited twice to participate in Invitational exhibits at the Athenaeum.  I am also the second vice-president of the Art League. My paintings can be viewed on my website www.patriciauchello.com, as well as across the Metropolitan Washington, DC area:  in A Show of Hands, The Art League, Beall and Brumbaugh Gallery, Green Springs Gardens, NIH, the Georgetown Hospital Lombardi Cancer Institute, and River Farms, home to the American Horticultural Society, during various intervals throughout 2011-2012.

My love for art began at the tender age of six, when I sent in my first juried art work to Romper Room, the children’s television show, for the approval of Miss Ginny. It came back with a check mark, and the words “very good.” I was hooked. I then graduated to gazing lovingly at my Crayola Box of 64 and designing paper dolls. In high school, I was taught how to use oil paints on canvas at the age of 15.

My first paid portrait commission was at age 19. I continue to study art, because one can never be quite satisfied.

Art lifts us up to a higher plane, as does watching a play or ballet, or listening to great music. The arts are a mark of a highly developed civilization. So please support the advancement of civilization by buying my art!

Most sincerely,

Patricia Uchello

February 2012

On Display This Month Only at The Art League

The Pink Purse, Oil, 16 x 16", was inspired by my very own pink purse and love of lipstick. I am now showing this piece throughout January 2012 at theartleague.org 

If you know a girly girl, then this is for you.

Your artist friend,

Patsie

Eau de Lorina-One of My 30 Paintings at Green Springs This Month

Eau de Lorina,

For sale

-

River Farms

This is one of the paintings that I plan to exhibit at River Farms, home of the American Horticultural Society in Alexandria, VA, September 2012 through January 2013.

There will be 45 paintings all told.  That is a big goal for me! Sixteen vats of iced tea should give me the caffeine I need to make it there.:)| Plus the sugar rush of a case of Twizzlers.

Your Imaginary Friend,

Patsie

Rob Liberace Paints from the Model

Dear Imaginary Art Students,

Here, Rob Liberace is seen teaching at the Art League, painting a full portrait, directly from life, as the model poses. This whole oil painting has been done using only a few pigment colors.

Amazing, huh?

Your Imaginary Friend,

Patsie

How I Paint

Dear Imaginary Portrait Subjects,

Here is how I paint: I take photos of my subject which are flattering and characteristic. Then I choose the best one, with nice lighting that reveals cheekbones, but does not cast shadows around the eyes nor mouth.

Then I buy or stretch a canvas with the same proportions as my intended composition. Let's say the composition is 8 x 10". In that case, I would want to have my canvas in a proportionate size, such as 16 x 20" or 24 x 30".

I change the colors as needed, heighten the contrast as needed, and usually eliminate all the unnecessary elements in the background of the original photo. 

If possible, I place the focal point of the composition over one of the golden sections. The golden section is a "sweet spot", an imaginary compositional grid, in which the canvas is divided into nine equal squares. The points of intersection indicate the optimal area for focal points.

Eh, voila! Many months later, I get the desired effect. This portrait bears strong likeness to Deni, and my work is done.

Your Imaginary Portrait Artist Friend,

Patsie

Oscar wants you to take him home tonight!!

Three Friends, 8 x 10", Oil, $300

Oscar the Ostrich, approx. 16 x 12", Oil, $475

Dear Imaginary Friends,

Here we have a very lonely ostrich who sorely needs a good home. Won't you please visit him on his wall at A Show of Hands? While you are at it, visit the pears, too. Although the pears have made friends, they would also like to go home with you and hang out.

Your Imaginary Art Zookeeper,

Patsie

Now on Display!

Daffodil Study, approx. 16 x 20", Oil, $550

Dear Imaginary Friends,

I have seven, yes, count them!paintings on display currently at the lovely gallery/shop A Show of Hands, on Mt. Vernon Avenue in Alexandria. What are they, you ask? Here goes!

Cherry Pie, 8 x 10", Oil, $350

Lewes, Delaware, 10 x 8", Oil, $300

That gives you a taste. Next blog, the four other paintings.

Don't you think the cherry pie is also a cheery pie? :)

Your Imaginary Artist Friend,

Patsie

Broken Ankle

Dear Imaginary Friends,

I painted this painting several years ago. My new friend told me she loved it, and to thank her for something big that she had helped me with,  I gave it to her. The shoe in the painting is actually the high heel that I wore on my wedding day, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. And, no, the dinosaurs were not wearing white four inch heels. Just us ladies.

A few months after I gave it to her, she trekked to Italy, and guess what happened? She broke her ankle! She asked me if the painting carried a curse.

Not that I know of.

Number One, I don't  throw curses or epithets, much less at my friends. Plus, even though I hail from New Orleans, where Voo Doo lurks, I am not interested in crossing to the dark side.

Voo Doo differs from Hoo Doo. Hoo Doo is the practice of sorcery wherein curses and spells are cast, whereas VooDoo is actually a religion.

But still, no thanks.

Your everyday, non-cursing imaginary friend,

Patsie