Happy To Design

Welcome to the 73rd "Sunday Favorites"

"Sunday Favorites" is a Sunday meme designed to give bloggers a chance to share a favorite post from the past!!! For more information on how to republish a past post just click on the "Sunday Favorites" info. photo in the sidebar.

~~~~~~

Hello my friends!!!

Welcome to the 73rd run of "Sunday Favorites"!!!

I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend! It's beginning to feel alot like autumn at our place. We had a mini-cool front make its way in Saturday with the high temperature of only 68. The leaves have just begun to change colors. Actually, the weather here in Colorful Colorado has been unseasonably warm. Hmmm, it makes me wonder what our winter will be like.

This week for Sunday Favorites, I thought I would revisit a post from November, 2009. This post is about one of my favorite artists...Fran Di Giacomo. I hope that you enjoy!

Just a little update:

There have been many changes made to my living room since this November, 2009 post. We have added a faux fireplace to the wall where my Fran Di Giacomo painting resides. Now this beautiful painting, "Southern Beauties", graces the wall just above my fireplace! If you would like to see a recent photo of the Fran Di Giacomo painting above my fireplace...you can click HERE.

Wishing you all a super Sunday!!!

~~~~~~~~

Instructions for Participating in Sunday Favorites

*

If you are participating in Sunday Favorites, please be sure to add your permalink and not your general blog address.

*

Please copy and paste the Sunday Favorites logo button to your Sunday Favorites post or your sidebar so your visitors will know that you are participating. Also...please link back to the host blog, Happy To Design. This is important because it helps those who are visiting your blog, find the other wonderful blogs that are participating.

*

Please do not add your link below, until your Sunday Favorites post is actually published to your blog.

*

Thank you so much for your participation!!! I am going to really enjoy going through your "Sunday Favorites" posts!!!

Love ya'll,

Chari

*
*

Sunday Favorites

My favorite post from: November 15, 2009

**
Hello my friends...it's time for "REDNESDAY"!
*
This fun filled red Wednesday event is hosted by Sue over at It's A Very Cherry World. Please go over and pay Sue a visit and while you're there....you can check out all of that fabulous red posted by the other "REDNESDAY" participants! Thank you, Sue for giving us the opportunity to show-off all of our REDS!!!
*

*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*

Fran Di Giacomo...Quiet Elegance

*

*
Today I would like to introduce you to one of my very favorite artists...

her name is Fran Di Giacomo!

*
Striving to establish her career in art, Texas artist Fran Di Giacomo found herself most excited by the techniques and concepts of the Dutch masters. ''I focused on seeking out living masters to study with. Perfecting the drama of light, shadow, and mystery has been a constant theme. Fad and fashion will ebb and flow, but classical realism is endless and enduring.''

*

In 1982, Di Giacomo took the next step in her life's dream and picked up the brushes full-time. She now paints an average of ten hours every day, using both Northern and artificial light to keep up with the demand for her paintings. To test a painting for the drama she seeks, Di Giacomo literally turns out the light. ''A painting must glow in the dark and then I know it's finished. In a client's home, the light from sun up to bedtime is constantly changing. My paintings take on a different personality with each lighting condition. But in every situation, the drama must be there.''

*

Di Giacomo and her husband travel extensively in search of inspiration and artifacts for her paintings. One painting may have a tapestry from Afghanistan, a teapot from Morocco, French Sevres, Egyptian copper, flowers from her garden, and carefully selected fruit from the local supermarket - all resting on a stone table found in a castle in Portugal! Collectors worldwide enjoy the effort that goes into each painting.

*

In today's fast paced world, our senses are constantly assaulted by the noisy, the vulgar, the grotesque, the avant-garde. When you behold a Fran Di Giacomo painting you return to the world of quiet elegance.

*

(Biography found at Southwest Gallery)

*

~~~~~~~~~~~

*

"Southern Beauties"

*

I learned of Fran Di Giacomo several years ago in a college art class. I was so moved by her beautiful art! I have yet to find...a Di Giacomo painting that I haven't just fallen in love with!

*

Last year when I was looking for a piece of art for one of the walls in my living room, I decided to look for one of Fran's paintings/prints. I decided upon this fabulous still life called...Southern Beauties!

*

Ohhh...I just love everything about "Southern Beauties"...the big, beautiful magnolia blossoms, the deep, rich colors, and the lighting of this piece is fabulous!!! I think it looks lovely against the olive green wall color too!

*

*

My apologies for not being able to see the print very well...it's so difficult to take a photo "head-on" when there is glass involved! But I wanted to give you an idea of where this beautiful piece resides in my living room.

*

Below is a close-up...you can get a better view of the true beauty of this piece of art!
*

*

*

*

I created both mosaics using just a few of Fran Di Giacomo's paintings. I included the name of the painting under each picture. Aren't they lovely? Fran certainly has her own unique style...the rich use of vibrant color...ohhh, and that "lighting"!!! I can just look at Fran's paintings and be carried away to a different place...a different time!!! I think "Quiet Elegance" says it all!!!

*

Which one of these paintings is your favorite?

*

~~~~~~~~~~

*

Well my friends....thank you so much for coming by today! Please leave me a comment and let me know that you were here...I'd love to visit with you!!!

*

Happy Rednesday!!!