{Poll} Which artist’s works would you hang in your home?

If money were no object, which artist’s works would you hang in your home?

Legendary impressionist Mary Cassatt was born in Pennsylvania in 1844. She attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts against her wealthy parents’ wishes. Mary was frustrated by the school’s rules, which forbade female students from painting live models. Eventually she moved to France where she studied the masters and made extra money by copying and selling famous paintings at the Louvre. Edgar Degas, one of the early founders of Impressionism, became Mary’s mentor, and brought her into the fold of the Impressionist movement. Mary is best known for her oil paintings, which explore the intimate moments of women–especially the bond between mother and child. They have sold for as much as $2.9 million.

Twentieth century Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, is best known for her colorful and sometimes disturbing self-portraits which have been described as “surrealist” and as “folk art.” “I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best,” said Frida, according to biographer Andrea Kettenmann. Her paintings capture emotional moments of her life, from her tumultuous marriage to artist Diego Rivera to the (physical and emotional) pain she endured after a bus accident left her barren. They have sold for as much as $5.6 million.

Georgia O’Keeffe was born on a dairy farm in Wisconsin in 1887. She attended a top art school in Chicago and won several student prizes, but eventually stopped painting entirely, and became an elementary school teacher in Texas. There, she began painting again, and those works–abstract flowers, rocks, shells, animal bones, and landscapes–became the basis for her first gallery show in New York. The gallery owner, famed photographer Arthur Steiglitz, fell in love with Georgia and left his wife to marry her. By the 1920s, Georgia was considered one the America’s most important artists. She continued painting right up until her death at age 98. Today her paintings sell for upwards of $6 million dollars each.

Helen Levitt (1913-2009) was a famously reclusive photographer who live and worked in Brooklyn, NY. She was known for her New York City “street photography,” especially her photos of local “children living their zesty, improvised lives,” as noted in her New York Times obituary. Some of her most famous photos were taken in the 1930s, because, Helen said: “That was before television and air-conditioning. People would be outside, and if you just waited long enough they forgot about you.” She took photos for 70 years before her death in 2009 at age 95.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Images via Girls Explore, The Art Institute of Chicago, Frida Kahlo Foundation, Biography.com, The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Laurence Miller Gallery, and BlogArts

{FOF Shop} Have you created something fabulous?

Calling all FOF inventors, artists and designers…

FOF is looking for fab new products for our FOF Shop. Have you’ve created something that other FOFs would love? Send an e-mail to sara@faboverfifty describing your product or line of products by February 27, 2011. Tell us why you think it would be perfect for women over 50. Please also include your short bio (required), a photo of the product (required) and any other information about what makes it fab.

We’ll review your product and get back to you within one month, if we think it’s right for the FOF Shop.



{Art} 7 FOF Artists and their Masterpieces

Welcome to the MOFA: The Museum of FOF Art. We found these seven talented artists in the FOF community and asked each one to share the work she’s most proud of and why. Should your art be in our next roundup? Tell us, below!

1. “Deborah” by FOF Stephanie Fuller (Haitia Fuller Island Gallery)

“I have created 24 Deco divas as part of my series “Les Demoiselles.” When I was commissioned to create “Deborah,” I knew only 3 things about her; she knows everything about jewelry, loves the opera and has dark hair. I was told I “nailed her”…Wee!”

2. “The Paris Apartment” by FOF Shann Spishak. Shann Spishak Studio

“The Paris Apartment is inspired by my love of Paris. Who doesn’t dream of spending the day, or every day in Paris shopping couture and stopping at patisseries for espresso and croissants? Afterwards, we’d head back to our fabulously eclectic Paris apartment decorated with vintage decor from a Paris flea market. On the wall is a large landscape from French Impressionist painter Claude Monet of his Giverny gardens with the water lily pond. Sit in the French style bergere chair upholstered in pink velvet, and browse through a Chanel bag for the days’ finds.”

3. “Birch Trees” by FOF Debra Fink Bachelder. Binding Arts

“This is the first I painted without a reference…I got lost in the zone. It’s a break away from the traditional “British round brush” style paintings I first learned. (That’s when you paint a flower and it looks exactly like the flower). As I painted, I couldn’t find my glasses so I took a break to find them. When I walked back into the studio with them on, I was stunned. I couldn’t believe I painted it!”

4. “Sunlit Geranium” by FOF Linda McCoy. Linda McCoy Art

This painting is one of my favorite subjects, Geraniums. I love their color! It’s so easy to pass by an object, remark “Oh that’s pretty,” but did you really look at it? Did you notice the way the sun passes through the petals? That the shadows are a deep rich color? That there are as many greens in the leaf as red in the flower? You may not have; but that’s okay, that’s my job.

5. “Sentenced But Not Shamed” by FOF Susan Creamer Joy. Susan Creamer Joy

“Most of my paintings and drawings are done for others. But, occasionally there is one that is so much a part of me that almost from the first brushstroke, I know I will not part with it.  This is one of those.  She sits in wise counsel without judgment or rancor and holds me together with her peaceful countenance and wide empathy. I painted her as my son began a four-year cycle of abuse and arrest, culminating with a term in prison. The illustration accompanies a post I wrote called ‘Sentenced But Not Shamed’ about the most recent phase of my journey in this world I am still trying to understand and to accommodate.”

6. “The Betsy Sofa” by FOF Suzanne Meyer Pistorious. BlugirlArt

“I found her at an auction house, no one wanted to make the effort to bring her back to her former glory. The more neglected a piece is, the more I want to save it.  My inspiration for this piece was designer Betsy  Johnson, and Betsy  Ables-Kravitz, editor of New England Home Magazine, who has supported me from day one.”

7. “PlasticFantastic” by FOF Suzanne Golden. Suzanne Golden Bead Art

“My work comes from spontaneous ideas or visuals that grab my attention. I then try and interpret those concepts into a three dimensional beaded piece. I’m always trying to push the boundaries of beading to express my creativity as fully as possible.

Editor’s Faves:

Top Left: “World War One Sewing Kit” by FOF Linda McCoy. Linda McCoy Art

Middle Right: “The House on 314” by FOF Debra Fink Bachelder. Binding Arts

Bottom Left: “Stephanie” by FOF Stephanie FullerHaitia Fuller Island Gallery

{Art} 7 Sites for Affordable Art

So, you want to put art on your walls without burning a hole in your wallet? Here are 7 sites we love for price-controlled pieces:

1. Etsy – Hundreds of thousands of artisans selling prints, crafts, photography, sculpture, pottery and more. Several FOF members, including Shann Spishak feature their reasonably priced work here. You can search by category, artists and color or look up products by time it was listed, where it was made and browse “curated collections” by other members. Buyers can also request custom items from Etsy artists.

2. 20X200 – Jen Bekman, of her eponymous NYC gallery, started 20X200 to bring art to everyone. Each week two new artist editions are released with at least one print (depending on the size) at $20. There are only a certain number of each print, so grab them up quick.

If you like 20X200, you also may like: 3. EyeBuyArt, 4. Tiny Showcase

5. UGallery – An online gallery for students and budding artists to showcase and sell their work. They have two sister sites: Daily Deal, a one-of-a-kind, discounted piece of art released every day at noon, and Paperwork, weekly discounts on sustainable art.

6. The Working Proof – Each print sold on this site is paired with a charity of the artist’s choice, and 15 percent of the sale is donated to that organization. Every Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. E.S.T. a limited quantity of a new print is released on the site.

7. Society6 – Society6 connects artists with opportunities–such as designing the cover of a magazine or a major album. Artists also sell their work on the site. Society6 produces the art, packages it and ships it so that artists can focus on what they do best: making art!

Images via 20×200, Etsy, Ugallery, and Society6