The Artist's Journal
Portrait Painting with an American Legend
Jerry Farnsworth (1895 – 1983) was one of the most renowned portrait and figure painters in America. In the 1930s, his commissions included covers for TIME magazine and are exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He and his artist wife, Helen Sawyer, were also wonderful teachers and
The mystery and joy of collecting portraits
Why would you collect and hang a portrait of someone in your home that you do not know? Consider this—most of the most valuable, appreciated, and well-known works of art in the world are portraits of people that know one personally knows: Mona Lisa, Whistler’s Mother, Girl with the Pearl Earring, American Gothic, etc. That
Where is all the art in churches in America?
A few of Miriam’s grandchildren recently returned from a whirlwind introductory tour of Europe including Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, and London. Can you guess where they spent most of their time in those cities touring? Museums and churches! Why? Well, it wasn’t to see the technology they used at the time for music or lighting or
Views from Holy Week
A central theme of Miriam’s art is her faith in God. This week, many Christians around the world celebrate “Holy Week” or the days leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Miriam has quite a few works around these events as they are personal and foundational to her faith. You cannot fully understand Miriam or
Seeing past the current events in Ukraine to a future of forgiveness
The events of the last few weeks in Ukraine have caused us to pause writing this newsletter several times, not knowing what to say, as we watched in shock then horror at Putin’s unjustified invasion and destruction of Ukraine unfold. It has become clear that one of Putin’s aims is to destroy the culture and
How do you price your art?
From time to time, we receive questions about art pricing. Our goal in pricing is to reflect what we assess the value of the work to be knowing that galleries, museums, businesses, historians, the public, and individual collectors all view the value of the work of art differently. And that value can change over time,
Shipping Artwork Directly to Collectors
Despite the restrictions with COVID not being able to accommodate collectors in the Birmingham Studio, we continue to sell work collectors view on our website and ship it directly to their homes. This lovely piece, “Boats and Pier at the Lake” by Miriam McClung, 24″ x 30″, oil on linen, 1968 was recently purchased by a collector
Caring for Your Art
If you do nothing to care for your art, you can expect over time that your beloved work will eventually look like the “Man with the Mustache” painting pictured above that Miriam purchased in New York City in the 1950s. This work will likely cost several thousand dollars of conservation to bring it back to
Art Materials: On Paper
I have been asked what type of paper I use for pastels. Over the years I’ve tried many different types of paper but these are the ones I keep coming back to: Canson colored sheets Canson and Strathmore roll of grey and brown paper Wallace paper in rolls for large works and a German brand