Italian Art Store

As many of you know, we are now selling our oil paints and mediums through The Italian Art Store. It was an opportunity that we just couldn't pass up, and it is an honor to be carried by a retailer with such a great reputation for only carrying the best products. They have most all of the colors that we make, as well as the copal and balsam mediums.

In order to fall in line with other manufacturer's price structures we had to put our colors into different series. This resulted in most prices being lowered, and a few going up a dollar. You can see what has changed at www.blueridgeoilpaint.com.

Thank You - Eric Silver

Changes coming soon

Among the changes coming about is a price structure. Where I have about 10 price categories now, there will be 6 very soon. This means that some colors had to go up in price, but most have come down. I will be posting the new prices on my site very soon.

Due to the decrease in prices I will no longer be able to offer the 10% off for first time customers once this takes effect. This has been a great promotion as I started up, and I greatly appreciate all the first time customers it brought in. However, once you are a customer you will be getting discounts from time to time, as a reward for your loyalty. Likewise, if you would like to be placed on our mailing list you will receive updates on our products, as well as discounts, just send us your email address to info@blueridgeartist.com.

I know I haven't updated the blog with anything for quite a while, but I plan to devote more time to it soon. It has been unbelievable what this year, so far, has meant for our business. I have always known that if you are passionate about making great products, eventually the rest will take care of itself. I am constantly improving everything that I do even from batch to batch, and plan to continue to strive for perfection. Again, thank you to my devoted followers, as you have truly made this enjoyable.

- Eric Silver

Flemish White

Thank you to everyone who made '08 a very special year, and we are looking forward to some great things in '09. Our Flemish White has become our best seller, and for good reason. It is not like any other lead based white on the market. We have worked extremely hard to get the formulation perfected, and are very happy with where it is at. The way that we mix it, to the way that we grind it, has become what makes the Flemish White so special. When it is made properly it will not yellow, which is very critical. There will inevitabely be other manufacturers to use the name, but there is no other manufacturer to make true Flemish White. We have invested in enough stock to last for many years to come, so we are in it for the long haul. If you haven't tried our Flemish White yet, our starter kit is your best option. The kit contains all of the necessary additives to make the white do all of it's "tricks." If you don't like jars, we will tube it up for you, just ask. Thanks again for '08, and check back in February for our new line of paints, which are truly our pride and joy.

PayPal

We are now accepting PayPal payments, which has turned out to be great for international orders. You may choose this option when checking out. For those of you who know and like PayPal, we invite you order with us.

We Are Finally Moved!!!

We are finally moved into our new space, which is about 2500 sf. This will allow us to grow and expand our capabilities. There is naturally still things to get done, but we are now making paint here. We are also taking phone orders as well at 828-254-5981. Technical questions are still best answered through email due to the time involved, but Eric is always willing to answer them. If there is something that he doesn't know we have plenty of resources to find it out. Of course, you can still order online at http://www.blueridgeoilpaint.com/. We look forward to serving you in the future.

Thank You - Eric & Athena Silver

Giorgio Morandi

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC is having a comprehensive show dedicated to the life span of Giorgio Morandi. They will have works from his early days, what there is left of them, and through to the more famous still lifes and landscapes of his later years. I have always found Morandi's paintings to be much more than bottles, but rather a discovery of spatial relationships that might have gone unnoticed. This is probably due to his studies of Cezanne's work, who redefined space as it was known to his time. However, Morandi was also able to capture a quiet serenity in his still lifes that is, to me, quite beautiful. Despite what opinions one may have of Morandi's work, it is truly worthwhile to study his space and his play on visual ambiguities. There is certainly more than meets the eye in his works. The Met has also published a catalogue of the show, which is great because Morandi books are not as prevalent as some others. Hopefully this show will enlighten more people in general to appreciate his works. Morandi has always been described as a painter's painter, which I find very true. It looks like I will have to wait until next month to see it first hand, but it will be up until Dec 14. There is also an online exhibition of some of the pieces. If anyone has been please let me know how it is.

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/giorgio_morandi/more.asp

Velazquez's palette

During his artistic career, Velazquez, didn't use that many different pigments, but would continually use the following throughout:

White: Lead White and Calcite
Yellow: Yellow Iron Oxide, Lead-Tin Yellow, and Naples Yellow
Orange: Orange Iron Oxide and Vermilion
Red: Red Iron Oxide, Vermilion, and Organic Red Lake
Blue: Azurite, Lapiz Lazuli, and Smalt
Brown: Brown Iron Oxide and Manganese Oxide
Black: Organic black of vegetal or animal origin
Green: Azurite, Iron Oxide, and Lead-Tin Yellow
Purple: Organic Red Lake and Azurite

These pigments were all ground in his workshop with binding oils that were carefully purified. There is also a great number of his paintings that contain calcite in the initial layers, which allowed for more transparent layers. The amount of oil used as the binder in his paints was also adjusted according to the desired transparency. The use of calcite also allowed him to paint quicker, which allowed him the freedom he was looking for. Velazquez was completely aware of the traditional formulas for painting, but found no use for them. He wanted to do away with the formulaic traditions that were restricting to his creativity. Of course, today we would say that his methods were more restricted than some used in modern painting. However, without Velazquez's search for a more free technique we would not have the freedom of expression seen today.

Information gathered from "Velazquez - The Technique of Genius," by Jonathan Brown and Carmen Garrido. Another great book worth looking up.