Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #103. December 15, 2016. Beer on the House.

This week’s beer-themed painting provides another opportunity for us beer nerds to learn about art history.  This painting was inspired by Marc Chagall’s The Green Violinist.  Chagall lived a long time from 1887-1985!  That’s 98 years!  Born in modern day Belarus, this Russian-French-Jewish artist experienced a whole lot of life, including the Russian Revolution, and Nazi invasion of France.  Chagall’s timing was impeccably off, being in St. Petersburg during 1917, and in France in 1940.  Fairly dangerous, especially for a Jewish artist.  

His painting of the green-faced fiddler, painted 1923-24, is probably the most famous Chagall piece, although he did work in many different mediums, including book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramics, tapestries, and fine art prints.  The Green Violinist is often considered the inspiration for the popular 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof.  Painted upon Chagall’s return to Paris from Russia, this piece shows his Russian Jewish roots, and his recent work as a set designer in Russia.  In this Chagall parody, I simply put the green faced fiddler in a setting that shows off a large brewery.  Just  like in a good brewery setting with live music, the musician should have drinks on the house, represented by the pint on the rooftop by this magical violinist’s feet.  Hence, the name of this piece is Beer on the House.

Cheers to finding the best music and beer!  May your holidays be festive, and may your face not be green with envy, but your coat a luxurious purple!  

This original oil painting, and 52 limited-edition, signed art prints are for sale at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.  

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #103 by Scott Clendaniel. Beer parody of The Green Violinist by Marc Chagall. Beer on the House, by Scott Clendaniel. 11″x14″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #101! December 1, 2016. The Birth of Beer.

This is the 101st Thirsty Thursday beer painting since the end of the Year of Beer Paintings in 2014.  Today is another installment of Beer Art History 101.  This week’s beer painting is a beer parody of Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, painted between 1484-1486.  That painting was commissioned by the Medici Family of Florence, Italy.  The painting is an attempt to recreate a lost Roman painting, and this is why the painting is not in the usual Renaissance style.  You can see stylized lines, making the painting seem more like Greco-Roman pottery and wall frescoes.  The painting of Venus rising from the sea as a full figured adult woman was inspired by the beauty of Alexander the Great’s mistress.  The original painting, as described by Pliny the Elder, was considered a masterpiece that unfortunately was damaged beyond repair.  Several of these paintings have been made, but the one we have today by Botticelli is considered the epitome of the concept.  I was thinking that the glass in my painting is full of wheat beer.  Now that Pliny the Elder has been mentioned, I am having a hard time not thinking of a West Coast IPA. Whatever its imagined style, you can say this is one beautiful beer that has arrived via clamshell.  My version of this piece is called Birth of Beer.  I would be astounded if I was at the beach and angels were blowing a beer the size of a full grown woman towards me on the beach.  Cheers to beautiful beers!

This original oil painting, and 52 limited-edition, signed art prints are for sale at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Beer parody of the Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli. The Birth of Beer by Scott Clendaniel. 14″x11″, oil on panel.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #67, April 7, 2016

Happy Thirsty Thursday on National Beer Day!  And, today is also my birthday!  April 7 was a great day in 1933 when beer became legal again after 13 years. Home brewing didn’t become legal until 1978, which is ironic, because home brewing is essentially the way beer was invented some 7,000 years ago.

This week’s Thirsty Thursday beer painting is a parody of Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa. This was the first of 36 paintings of Mt. Fuji that Hokusai produced from 1830-1833.  In my version I portrayed the boats as glasses of pilsner floating in a wave of dark beer I presume to be porter, or stout.  This wave of beer reminds me of a carboy incident I had while home brewing back in 2006.  Little to say, I have new bamboo flooring on the living room side of my kitchen counter as a result.  I call my version of this painting The Great Beer Wave.

I hope you spend National Beer Day home brewing, or at least pause from your busy schedule for a needed beer break!  In celebration of National Beer Day coinciding with Thirsty Thursday and my birthday I’m having a 15% sale at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.  Use coupon code BEER2016.  Valid today only!

The original oil painting sold. You can purchase limited-edition prints, or order a custom beer painting at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #67 by Scott Clendaniel. April 7, 2016. The Great Beer Wave. 14″x11″, oil on panel.

 

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #65, March 23, 2016

Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) was known for his jungle series of paintings.  Though he painted over 25 of these large paintings, the one that is most famous is The Dream, which was quite large at 9 feet by 6 feet.  It probably made a room feel tropical.  Living in Alaska, where it is white outside and everything is still in hibernation mode, I enjoyed getting lost in the jungle while painting this boozy version.  I love the lushness of the jungle and the way that Rousseau included so many animals hidden in this painting.  When I was researching famous paintings and found this one, I saw the woman with her hand empty and immediately thought that she needs a pint.  I know that when I am in the jungle I crave an ice-cold carbonated beverage.  Not only because the tropics cause perspiration, but it just fits the setting.  Unlike here in Alaska where, in the depths of winter, I would much rather have a small barleywine than a large yellow lager!  I am calling this piece The Dream Pint, because I live in Alaska and often dream of being in the jungle drinking a beer.  Hope you enjoy this one.  Cheers to exotic beers! 

The original oil painting sold, but you can purchase a limited-edition print, or order a custom beer painting at my Etsy shop RealArtIsBetter.

Thirsty Thursday Beer Painting #65 by Scott Clendaniel. March 23, 2016. The Dream Pint, inspired by Henri Rousseau. 14″x11″, oil on panel.

Close up of pint.