Whimsical Santa Claus IV

Santa Claus IV 

Playing Music In The Starry Night

16x20 Original Oil Painting

by Cheri Wollenberg

I've painted a lot of Whimsical Santa Clauses lately.  I've also painted more realistic ones.  The old world style of Santa Claus really intrigues me. These paintings have been a lot of fun to plan and begin the process of placing them on canvas.  I played Christmas music today as I painted.  I'm thankful for the season, for what it means to me spiritually and that I can in some way make others smile a little with my ideas or the execution of the idea on canvas.  This is listed in my Etsy store.  Just click here.  Also, to see other Santa paintings and demos follow me on FB at

https://www.facebook.com/ArtbyCheriWollenberg

Mozart

Mozart

12x12 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

I have learned a lot lately about Classical Musicians. When I went to art school we spent little time on visual artists' contemporaries...the "other artists". I was never assigned a paper on any artist other than visual...the ones I was studying. My art history books were full of the different art movements, but my focus, as was my discipline, was so much on the visual that I missed learning about some of the great musicians and writers...what a shame for me? Since I started this small series of naming my paintings after these famed musicians, I have done a little research on each one. I had read and seen movies about Beethoven, but had not personally read much of the other classical composers to any extent. There are so many fascinating, different opinions about these composers' personal lives. One unofficial quote of Mozart, "People make a mistake who think that my art has come easily to me. Nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not studied over and over," rung a bell for me as an artist. I feel like I can listen now to classical music with "even more" enthusiasm. Mozart's life was absolutely too short. It sounds like he had so many people who influenced him...both good and bad. I think he had compassion for people as well as "passion" for music. I wish he had been born in our times. Something I am impressed with most as I study anything...the more we know, the more we know we don't know about everything! "Mozart! How I love your music!"  Prints are available at :  Mozart