New Blog Site and Past Blog Posts
Hello from San Jose - the capital of Silicon Valley! I started blogging through my old web host site called Artspan. It worked well but didn't realize that when I leave Artspan I would also lose my blog. Yikes!! Luckily there was an option to export a file from the blog site to import into a new one. It worked about 90% but I'll take it! There are dates associated to each post but no title. This first post will serve as a historical reference to past blogs posts.
So now I'm on Blogger to ensure future continuity. Additionally, I will have this linked or duplicated on my soon to be released new and improved website. Thanks for following along!!
Eric
1 Feb 2017
Artspan which hosts my website has had too many issues with email notifications as well as trouble with their new templates. I've decided to build a new site with SquareSpace.com and will update ericbodtker.com as soon as I'm done building the new and much improved version. Looking forward to sharing it with you!
13 Jan 2017
My daily walks with Kyle around Santana Row will never be the same. Orvis, the outdoor and fly fishing store, is closing at the end of January. Steve is the manager there and has supported my art ambitions and has been gracious to allow me to hang some of my paintings in the store. I wanted to do something special for him and decided to paint a fly fishing scene. It's my first fishing painting and I was so happy that he liked it when I presented it to him!
Wed, 11 Jan 2017
Hello and Happy New Year! Starting off 2017 with an updated look to my web site. Let me know what you think!
I was pretty busy during the holiday season painting as much as I could. A few of the paintings I gave as gifts to my family. My brother celebrated his Birthday in Italy - so I made him a painting from a photo he took from his villa. My parents celebrated their 49th anniversary in Kauai - so they got a painting of Poipu Beach where they stayed. And my sister-in-law got engaged in Kauai - so she got a Kauai sunset painting.
Great news! I'll be participating in the Silicon Valley Open Studios again in May. More info to come on that as we get closer.
Fri, 9 Sep 2016
France, Italy and Spain 2016
Had a great two weeks in Europe in July. Switched things up by doing a cruise first before a land trip. My goal for visiting Provence in late July was to capture both lavender and sunflowers together. Was a little worried on the timing of this as lavender season starts to end near this time. The Luberon area didn’t have much lavender left, but we still found plenty near Valensole and especially in the Sault area which is located in a higher elevation. Did some paintings on location and have around 3000 photos of the trip so lots of references for studio paintings. Here is a photo journey of the grand adventure.
Primed panels drying in the yard getting ready for some travel.
A couple days into the cruise we ended up docking in Marseille, France. Since we were going to be spending the second half of the trip in Provence we decided to take the excursion to Avignon. This would be one less stop later. Did a sketch back on the ship of Pont d'Avignon.
The first of three destinations in Italy was Cinque Terrre. Two years ago we had lunch at Ristorante Ciak in the city of Monterosso where I photographed and later painted the owner and Chef. I brought the painting with me on this trip and presented it to his son at their wine shop nextdoor. Unfortunatly the restaurant was closed on the day we visited so I wasn't able to meet the Chef Ciak again.
Last stop in Italy was the island of Capri on the Amalfi Coast. Did some sketching here. So many large yachts! Here is a short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sntX4GFMf5s
The sketch.
And back on our balcony I did a little larger painting of Capri.
Doing some more painting on the Harmony of the Seas cruise ship.
A week later the cruise ended where it started - Barcelona Spain. This year we decided to spend a day and one night before heading over to Provence. Resting back in the hotel room after walking all over the city, I arranged our hotel room into a mini studio and did a city scene sketch of the Barcelona Cathedral based on a photo I took.
About an hour later I had my sketch and then it was off to dinner!
From Barcelona we made our way back to Provence. Oh how I missed it. Started making our way to the Valensole area early in the morning. We didn't realize that the GPS in the car was set to avoid highways. The route it was taking us became ridiculas and got us lost. Knew the gravel road it asked us to turn onto couldn't be right and we were lost. :-) As I figured out a new route to take to get us back on course we came across this lovely sunflower field outside of the town of Cereste-en-Luberon. It was a nice reminder that the journey is more important than the destination.
Yay!!! I found what I timed the visit for - lavender and sunflowers together!! It was stunning. Located this spot near the Plateau de Valensole.
Short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a7GcqocT8A
And here is a painting I made of this location when I got back in the studio at home.
After spending time in the lavender and sunflower fields it was time to enjoy lunch in the beautiful lakeside town of Sainte-Croix-du Verdon. This was the view from where we parked our car above Lake Sainte-Croix. Had to do a sketch of it!
Back in our home base of Saint Remy on market day. Bought some olive tapenade from these guys to go with our olive bread of course.
Spent an afternoon in Aix en Provence and stopped by the Terrain des Peintres where Cezanne painted many of his masterpieces of Mont Sainte-Victoire. This is only a couple blocks up the street from his studio. Had to take out my gear and check off the "Paint where Cezanne" painted bucket list item. Here's a short video showing my painting sitting among Cezanne's on location: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1u2rh4cejY
Returned from Aix en Provence to have dinner at our villa in Saint Remy. Afterwards I took my gear with me across the street and painted in the olive tree orchard on the grounds of Saint Paul de Mausole. This is where Van Gogh painted his olive trees during his time there. Painting in the same locations of two of my favorite artists was one of the top highlights of the trip! Was out there until got dark and walked back under a beautiful starry night.
Here's a little video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWzQ1Ub5LFY
Visited Sault and the surrounding area to capture more lavender.
View of the valley below Sault. Many of the wheatfields had not yet been harvested.
Took a small one lane road to see where it would take us. Glad we did because we found this wonderful scene. Those blue doors!
If you are ever craving a hamburger while in Saint Remy, I recommend a visit to the Bistro Steakhouse Le Bon Burger. They had a chalk board next to our table where they encourage customers to write something. Couldn't resist adding a small drawing to it.
Our last full day on the trip happened to be my birthday. After exploring Les Baux and visiting Carriers de Lumieres, we headed over to Arles for lunch at Cafe Van Gogh. This was the restaraunt/bar he made famous with his painting called Cafe Terrace at Night.
After lunch we checked out the Fondation Van Gogh to see some of his paintings on exhibit, and then headed over to Pont de Langloise just outside of town.
Made a small sketch with a small old brush just for fun.
One last almond croissant at Boulangerie Emile Bec. I could live on these if it didn't add a pound of weight each day.
On the United Airlines flight home (I prefer Air France or Lufthansa), the old plane they had us on didn't have in-flight entertainment on the seatbacks and their wifi entertainment would only play non-English movies. So, I pulled out the water colors and made a few paintings from images I uploaded on my iPad. It was the first time I've painted on a plane 38,000 feet in the air! It was a little cramped but I managed it.
Wed, 1 Jun 2016
Welcome to summer 2016 everyone! I want to introduce to you a new style I'll be adding to my artwork. Over the years when people have visited my studio, they've often pointed to my canvases which I have many small paintings on. These are for color and composition studies. As a silicon valley artist I often meet engineers who are very curious with how I create my work. Recently I was looking at some of these images and realized that in some which I have the underpainting showing, it gives the painting an interesting look. My goal now in this additional style is to bring an abstract element to my traditional landscape paintings. By showing the underpainting which I put on with a brush prior to starting the main work, I want to give you a visual story of creation and a splash of color which draws your eye into the landscape in a different way than before. Comments are welcome!
Mon, 23 May 2016
I've been working on a series of Provence inspired paintings sized at 5x7 inches. Yesterday as I was starting a new one and thought it would be fun to take it to another place and show my view as I'm working. Starting with a white canvas, move to an undertone, and applying paint with a palette knife. A painting of a painting being painted. I find that many artists as well as patrons who visit galleries and museums want to know more about how some pieces of art get created. For me I'm always looking closely at others work to appreciate how they created it. So I thought why not give my viewers a piece of work which incorporates not just a story, but the behind the scenes story.
Tue, 19 Apr 2016
Just wrapped up completing this larger painting of the Taro Fields in the Hanalei Valley. I found an area to stop along the road just past the one lane bridge which is necessary to cross as one travels down from the Princeville area. Grabbed the camera and sketchbook to get the images I needed to take back into the studio to create this. I was inspired to add a red-crested cardinal bird who is perched on part of the tree in the foreground. Found this to be a beatiful bird and was glad to find a place to include one in a painting.
Mon, 11 Apr 2016
Often times in the studio when I'm painting scene from particular area I'll have something around me which brings me closer to the location. Much of the time it's with music. For example, when painting scenes from France I'll often stream the France Bleu radio station through my stereo. So right now I'm working on a large Kauai based painting and thought what better snack to grab than a box of guava macadamia cookies made by the Kauai Kookie company. This is my favorite flavor from them and the perfect sugar pick me up while keeping in the theme. So happy we can get these on the mainland!
Mon, 21 Mar 2016
Sometimes it just feels right to grab the brushes and paint in a completely different style to achieve the look I wanted. Got to give thanks to the late Ken Auster for the instruction with a limited palette and loose painting technique. Here is "Walking Along Tunnels Beach" - yes, another Kauai inspired painting!
Sun, 20 Mar 2016
T he Waioli Huiia Church located in Kauai's town of Hanalei is one of the most recognized landmarks on the island. Thought it would be fun to create a little 5x7 inch palette knife painting of it.
Mon, 14 Mar 2016
One of my favorite trees to view while in Hawaii is the Albizia tree. It's branches lift it's foilage into the sky and provide a wonderful contrast to the surrounding vegetation. Interesting enough, it's not a very welcomed tree though. They were originally introduced to Hawaii in the 1920's to provide shade. The Albizia is also known as one of the fastest growing trees in the world where they can grow up to an inch a day. One of the problems is they weak and easily splinter - don't get near one during a storm! There are calls throughout Hawaii to cut back on the number of these trees. Nevertheless, I find them from an artistic point very beautiful and in this new painting I incorporated the red dirt path through a meadow with some of Kauai's mountains in the background. It was a scene along the Maluhia Road towards Koloa and Poipu just after going through the tree tunnel which a wonderful meadow opens up and these trees can be seen.
Tue, 16 Feb 2016
Whenever I walk into the gangway from the plane when arriving in Hawaii, the warm tropical air hits and a sudden relaxation of knowing I'm in paradise comes over me. This was no exception on this trip. It had been four years since my last visit to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. And after a couple of trips since then to Maui, it was time to return. What I love about Kauai is that it's a target rich environment for painting. I brought a pochade box and a limited color palette of acrylic paint on this trip. Decided to give acrylics a try while traveling as it's a lot easier to carry around dry paintings than wet oil based ones. It was a positive experience with acrylics so they will be going to Europe with me this summer. We stayed at a resort on southern side of the island in Poipu which at this time of year offers both an ocean sunrise and sunset. How perfect is that? Six days wasn't long enough though and am thinking about when to return. Here are some photos my wife took of me while plein air painting. It's a great way to capture the scenes and use them for references later in the studio.
By far my most favorite spot in Kauai - the Kalalau Valley Look Out.
I've found another favorite beach - Tunnels Beach.
Nothing like painting with your toes in the sand!
Painting the sunrise on the first morning in Poipu.
Here's my Kilauea Lighthouse painting on location.
The start to a beautiful sunset in Hanalei. So many families out having a great time.
The contrast between the red, green, and blue in Kauai is stunning!
Fri, 15 Jan 2016
Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. My first trip this year is to Kauai and have already been creating many new paintings based on locations around the island. Most of these have been small 5x7 and 8x8 inch ones. My first larger painting this year is this one pictured here measuring 12x24 inches. Inspired by the last time I was in Kauai, I wanted to incorporate one of the many sailboats in often seen in Hanalei Bay. I'm looking forward to visiting spots such as Princeville, Hanalei, Poipu, the Napali Coast, the Kilauea Lighthouse, Waimea, Kapaa, ok ok...you get it. Just so many pretty places on such a small island.
Mon, 14 Dec 2015
Had a great time catching up with friends at the Los Gatos Fall Members Juried Show. My Turquoise Sky was juried into the show this year.
Sun, 25 Oct 2015
Coyote Hills is part of the East Bay Regional Park District and is located in Fremont, CA. It's a wonderful place to ride a bike or hike and as a kid growing up nearby, that's exactly what my friends and I did often. Recently I visited this little gem of a park to sketch and get ideas for some paintings. There is a large red rock which to me looks like a dinosaur head from one angle and from the other side of the hill it's peaked on looks more like a large sharks fin. I decided that with the extra vegitation and colorful trees, the dinosaur side was fitting for this palette knife oil painting.
Photo of the rock.
Sun, 11 Oct 2015
Had a great time showing paintings at Orvis at Santana Row this weekend. And ther's nothing better than having your dog hang out with you. Here I am with my very happy dog Kyle.
Fri, 9 Oct 2015
I'm digging these new black floating frames for my art. Gives them an added touch!
Thu, 8 Oct 2015
A fellow artist friend posted a photo on Facebook of the moon and some fall colors in a park in San Jose, California. We joked about painting it, but then I thought what the hell, just do it. Since someone commented that it looked like a starry night, I decided to paint it in an impasto Van Gogh like style. Did this in one sitting too. Made the mistake of drinking a delicious coffee from Philz Coffee at 2pm. this made me stay up until well into the next morning. The painting sold the next day after I posted it - woo hoo!
And below is the photo reference.
Wed, 23 Sep 2015
After finishing six paintings in just three days, I needed a break from the studio. What better place to go than a museum! I've been to the De Young museum in San Francisco many times but never to the Legion of Honor. I was so impressed with this little gem that I decided to buy a year membership. The Impressionist room had a sample of Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Degas, and Manet. For those who live in the bay area and have never seen any of these artist's work in person, do yourself a favor and head over to this museum and pay the measly $10 admission fee to check them out.
Thu, 27 Aug 2015
I finally did it! After hiking and admiring Mission Peak which towers above the entire Silicon Valley, I finally painted it. When I use to hike it in the early 1990's, it wasn't that popular of a trail. These days it's one of the most popular destinations to go and do a selfie. I've heard stories of hikers waiting up to thirty minutes in line to take a photo with metal pole located at the peaks 2000 foot summit. This image is a location along the Hidden Valley Trail which is one of the two ways to hike up to the peak.
Thu, 16 Jul 2015
I've found that sometimes it takes me a year to paint some of the most memorable scenes I come across while traveling. In this case, though I did a small study while in Europe, it took me a year to go big on this wheat and lavender field located just below the small Provence town of Bonnieux in France. It was absolutly beautiful and I wasn't the only one who pulled over the side of the road to admire it. Went large with this one - 48 x 36 inches.
Thu, 2 Jul 2015
Woo hoo! Just received notice that my painting Bursting Fall Trees was juried into the Greater Bay Area Open show at the NUMU - New Museum Los Gatos. It will be on display from August 1st - 30th. There will be a reception on Saturday, August 1st from 1:00PM to 3:00PM. Hope to see you there!
http://www.numulosgatos.org
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Sun, 31 May 2015
Just found out that I was featured in the San Jose Talent Magazine for May!
http://www.sanjosetalentmag.com/emag/story/eric-bodtker
Tue, 19 May 2015
Thank you to all who came out to visit me at the Silicon Valley Open Studios! It was an honor meeting everyone. :-) So many paintings found new homes and are now on the walls of both new and returning collectors. Thank you for your support - it means the world to me and am blessed! Below is a photo of just about a quarter of the paintings I presented at the show.
Mon, 11 May 2015
A day before leaving for Europe I was interviewed by a reporter regarding the Silicon Valley Open Studios. There were a few other artists she spoke with and the story was published on May 8th. It was featured on the Mercury News web site that day as well as in it's special local neighborhood print edition. Below is a link to the Mercury News story and the photo they used for the online and the print edition. The photo credit should go to my wife who took it while I painted in a wheatfield in Provence last year.
http://www.mercurynews.com/cupertino/ci_28064554/get-close-up-look-at-art-during-silicon.html
Tue, 5 May 2015
Just returned from a wonderful trip to Europe with my wife. Only did one blog while there so am catching up. Compared to last year, this was a busy trip with many stops. In ten days we visited France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and the UK. With so much moving around there was really no time time to paint. Instead I was able to do some sketching and reference photographing for future paintings. Being primarily a self taught artist, I find the time spent in museums invaluable for studying composition, color thearies, and painting techniques from the masters. My wife is a good sport and doesn't mind when I just need to sit to sketch, take notes, or go off into a field to get photo references. Sometimes she captures these moments with her iPhone camera.
Wife caught me taking reference photos of conala fields in Auvers-Sur-Oise.
The fields all over France and Germany were beautifu! Be on the lookout for paintings based on this.
It was good visiting the church in Auvers again. Below is the painting I made in 2013 after my first visit. I included the sign I'm leaning on in my painting.
Visited Vincent's room above the cafe Auberge Ravoux in Auvers. No photos were allowed so I'm not sure how my phone captured this shot. ;-) Asked the guide about the glass along the wall. She said it's a security enclosure for one of his paintings they are trying to acquire which was in this room when he died.
Our next stop was Monet's garden in Giverny. Wow...simply wow! The weather was partly cloudy with occasional showers. This created wonderful reflections in his waterlily pond as seen in this photo I took below. Visiting Giverny is a must for any Monet fan.
Our driver took us from Giverny right to the Musee de l'Orangerie which is the permanent home to Monet's eight water lilies murals. The above photo and it's sky reminded me of what we experienced an hour or so before in his garden. I highly recommend visiting both the location and seeing the art within the same day if you get to Paris.
We headed over to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam after visiting Germany where we ate and drank well in addition to meeting an old friend of mine. We headed right up to the third floor and found ourselves all alone with Van Gogh's last paintings. After visiting Arles, Saint Remy, and Auvers-Sur-Oise in the past ten months, it was a very special experience to have alone time with these.
The last leg of our trip a cruise on Royal Caribbean's brand new Anthem of the Seas. We were on only its second cruise since it's christening. Love the new cruise ship smell!
It was a fantastic journey and I came home with some images to paint. But, my heart longs to return to Provence and the Cote d'Azur in the South of France. Perhaps next year. For now, it's time to get ready for the Silicon Valley Open Studio show in two weeks!
Jun, 26 Apr 2015 
And that my friends is an original Eric Bodtker painting making it's debut in the great Musee d'Orsay in Paris. Brought in (snuck in) with me a small 4x4 painting. ;-) Spent the rest of the day studying and sketching.
My wife caught me sketching in the Impressionist room.
Sun, 29 Mar 2015
I'll be participating in this year's Silicon Valley Open Studios! I'll have many new paintings in a variety of sizes for sale this weekend. In addition to my traditional cloisinnism works, I'll also have some of my new cityscapes available.
When? May 16 - 17th. 11am - 5pm
Where? 36 Pleasant Street, Los Gatos, CA 95030-6113 (Site 279 on the SVOS Map)
Sun, 11 Jan 2015
Keeping with the local theme, I decided to create this large 3ft x 2ft palette knife painting titled "Above Lake Tahoe". Here it is still wet on my wall easel. With so many activities leading to the successful art show on January 9th, it took a little longer to complete this. I'm glad it's done! I used a small study which I created about three years ago as a reference for this. Additionally, I'm continuing to focus on a new set of Cloisonnism based paintings for another show coming up soon.
Mon, 5 Jan 2015
I'm very excited to kick 2015 off quickly with my first art show of the year! Everyone is invited to join us as I show my latest works. I'm also excited to partner with the magnificent photographer Dan Warfield at the show. Ameriprise Financial is hosing the show and they have been utilizing their office space to collaborate with artists in the community for the past six years. Please join us on Friday, January 9th from 6 - 9 p.m. The address is 1 Almaden Blvd., Suite 800 San Jose, CA 95113 (8th floor).
Additionally, I've been selected as one of the first artists to be represented at the Mook Art Gallery which just opened in the Valley Fair Shopping Center in San Jose, CA. Looking forward to future events with them!
Happy New Year everyone!
Wed, 31 Dec 2014
What a year 2014 was! Travelled all over the world and for my last painting of the year I decided to paint something that I love here at home. The Golden Gate Bridge. This is my favorite view while crossing it...looking up! This is a large 3ft x 2ft canvas.
And, here is a link to a Flipagram video I made showing the painting adventures in 2014. http://flipagram.com/f/OYn7SXMncx
Wed, 29 Oct 2014
At another one our stops along route D99 leading from Cavaillon to Saint Remy, we wandered into a beautiful golden wheat field. We could hear a tractor on the other side of some high vegitation which sounded like it was going to break through and join us. The thought of having to quickly leave the field faded away as the farmer turned around and drove off leaving us a nice quiet location to enjoy. We have many photos of this location, but in this painting I'm sharing my fond memory of this special time with my wife Diane as we explored this wonderful spot. She always had her iPhone ready to take photos and here in this field was no different. I've titled this painting "Je l'aime a mourir". It's from a famous French song by Francis Cabrel and translates to "I love her to death". Here is a link to a live performance of this song on YouTube: http://youtu.be/hrahPhlu30c
Tue, 2 Sep 2014
Continuing to create new paintings from this summer’s trip. Decided to go with a palette knife oil painting with this one. I took many photos and did some sketches while roaming the olive tree orchard at Saint Paul de Mausole (Van Gogh’s mental asylum hospital) next to Saint Remy de Provence, France. I wanted to capture this particular large formation of the Les Alpilles mountains which towers right above the orchard. I’ll get a high resolution scan of this once the paint is dry.
Sat, 14 Jun 2014
I absolutely love the South of France. Our home base for exploring the region was Villa Glanum in Saint Remy. What better place to start and end the day than being in the olive tree orchards which Van Gogh painted next to Saint Asylum. It was like walking through some of his famous paintings.
We were early, but not too early, to see some of Provence’s famous lavender fields. The contrasts of purple, blue, yellows, greens were so inspiring. Also, I absolutly love the little red tiled farmhouses everywhere we looked.
Aix-en-Provence checking out Cezanne’s inspiration - Sainte-Victoire.
Painting in the wheatfields near Saint Remy de Provence with my little Guerrilla Painter Thumbox.
Above: My painting of a lavender field between two cherry trees just below the town of Bonnieux.
The Canal des Alpines in Saint Remy caught my eye and had to paint it.
Sat, 7 Jun 2014
Since visiting Hawaii’s Big Island a couple years ago, I’ve been procrastinating painting this scene from a photo I took of a plantation house in the back of an art studio. The last weekend in May I needed to select a subject for a painting demonstration I was conducting at Gallery Saratoga. One of the best experiences while painting in the public are the questions I get from kids.
Sat, 7 Jun 2014
Last Saturday I saw some pictures on my friend's Facebook page of Ebey's Landing located just outside of Seattle, Washington. They suggested I travel up there and paint it. Since I couldn't wait to do that and had a free night, I painted this scene on a 6x16 board in my studio based on their photos. One of these days I'll visit Ebey's Landing in person. But until then, this oil painting will have to do.
Sun, 18 May 2014
In May I was the featured artist of the month at Gallery Saratoga. And on May 17th I had a successful Artist Reception featuring many new works. It was a huge success and very grateful and humbled by the large turnout. It means the world to me that so many people came over that night. A few paintings went home to new collectors and a good time was had by all. A warm thank you goes out to everyone and looking forward to seeing you in the next show!
Sun, 13 Apr 2014
My wife and I visited for the first time Mendocino in Northern California. Though the drive was long, the scenery through both Sonoma and Mendocino counties made time go by very quickly. I had to stop a few times to take photos as we drove through vineyards, rolling hills, redwood forests, and the spectacular Pacific coast. One scene which caught my eye during this trip was an occasional barn located high in the hills. With that in mind, when I returned I was inspired to create this palette knife painting I titled “Sonoma Hills with Barn."
Tue, 1 Apr 2014
On March 29th
The opening was a very well attended event which coincided with SpringFest Wine and Art Festival. It was my first time visiting an area outside of downtown Houston. Old Town Spring is a cute little town filled with boutiques and restaurants. They hold a number of festivals each year and the area is becoming one of the hottest real estate areas in the country due to some major corporations moving there.
If you are ever in the Houston area, please be sure to stop by to view both my art as well as the many other very talented artists they represent.
http://www.davisandcompany.squarespace.com
Here are a few images with more to come that will be posted on their web site. Please like them on Facebook as well!
In front of the gallery.
To the left is my Upstate New York Countryside painting located right in the front of the gallery.
My Blossoming Trees painting is one of the 25 finalists in the Rites of Spring
25, Feb 2013
February was an interesting month this year. Went to Maui for a few days and took a lot of reference photos. One of which I created Maui Starry Night from. About a week after returning from Maui, I headed to Europe on a two week business trip.
What does an artist do when he has a free weekend between business meetings in Switzerland and Germany? He goes to Paris and focuses on art! I left my hotel in Switzerland at 6am Saturday. Four train rides later (including dropping off my bags at the hotel in Paris and grabbing my sketch pad and camera) I arrived in the French countryside town of Auvers-Sur-Oise about 1:30pm.
Roaming the town and fields where Van Gogh painted until his death on July 29th, 1889 was an experience I’ll never forget. Visiting in February isn't the most ideal time of year, but I was lucky to have a day with decent weather though a bit chilly. After visiting the Auvers church and Vincent and Theo's grave, it was time to venture into the wheat fields along a muddy path. I didn't mind the mud though. The wheat fields were populated with young green grass only an inch or so high. The sky turned from clear to mostly cloudy which created some awesome scenery with various patterns passing overhead.
After spending a few hours in Auvers, it was time to head back into Paris and grab some dinner. Missed the once an hour train that stops at this small town during the winter by just a few minutes so it gave me more time to stroll.
Woke up early the next morning and as dark turned to light, roamed the streets of Paris stopping off for a croissant and coffee at a small bakery. I love pastries and baked goods so trust me, that wasn't the only visit to a bakery that day. To kill the little time I had between the croissant and the opening of the Musee d'Orsay, I enjoyed a fresh warm baguette. Since I pre-ordered my Musee d'Orsay tickets, I found myself third in line to get in. During the 15 minutes I waited for the doors to open, I conversed in Japanese with some elderly ladies behind me who were visiting from Tokyo. Great way to practice my language skills before the planned visit to Japan in April.
Upon entering the museum, I immediately made my way up to the second level and into the Van Gogh collection. I spent the next half hour alone in this room with his masterpieces. The Gauguin collection, who is another favorite, was in the same area. Ok, I’ll admit I did something dorky and listened to Don McLean’s song Starry Starry Night on my iPhone while admiring the original Starry Night painting. The Church at Auvers painting prominently on display on one of the columns in the middle of the room. It was magical seeing this just hours after visiting it in person. Since it was too cold outside, at least for a guy from California, I decided to take my time, visit every room, look at every piece of art, sketch those pieces that caught my eye, and take notes on their composition and style. As a self-taught artist, this was an invaluable lesson.
And below are the first two paintings I've created from the trip.
Church at Auvers-Sur-Oise: A Tribute to Van Gogh - 30x40 inches.
Looking Back to Auvers - 18x24 inches
Wed, 18 Sep 2013
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I’m very proud to announce that I have been juried into Gallery Saratoga. This is a cooperative fine arts gallery located in Saratoga, CA near San Jose. This lovely gallery hosts a number of wonderful artists who create in various mediums. Swing by and take a look at some of my work that is on display. Each month I will be adding new works. If you are interested in any available paintings which are not currently on display at the gallery, simply contact me for a private showing.
To visit the gallery’s web site, please visit: www.gallerysaratoga.com
I’ve been wanting to do another night scene since the Crèche painting I did for the show last year. Back in February I received a new camera – Sony RX100. I wanted a compact camera small enough to fit in my pocket, yet with a sensor size that was larger than the traditional point and shoot. I’m just not that into carrying around a camera bag any longer when traveling. This one did the trick.
A week after getting the camera, we were in Maui staying in Wailea. We get to Hawaii as often as we can and find that Maui is our favorite island. I played around with the bulb feature as well as some automatic settings to capture various night shots along the Wailea Beach Path. This path is just over a mile long and runs along all the main resorts in Wailea such as the Grand Wailea, Four Seasons, Fairmont Kea Lani, and Wailea Marriot. During the day at that time of year, humpback whales are all over just off the coast which makes walking along this path even more magical.
One scene in particular caught my eye while going through the photos recently and that was Wailea Beach. It was a very starry night and strait across from us was a luau going on which created a lot of light and reflections in the wet sand and water. So, with a palette knife in hand on a very warm and unusually humid August day in San Jose, I painted what I call “Wailea Starry Night”. The painting was done completely with a palette knife and is 18x24 inches. Once it’s dry I’ll get a high resolution scan done. It looks fantastic though under a spotlight.
So now I'm on Blogger to ensure future continuity. Additionally, I will have this linked or duplicated on my soon to be released new and improved website. Thanks for following along!!
Eric
1 Feb 2017
Artspan which hosts my website has had too many issues with email notifications as well as trouble with their new templates. I've decided to build a new site with SquareSpace.com and will update ericbodtker.com as soon as I'm done building the new and much improved version. Looking forward to sharing it with you!
I was pretty busy during the holiday season painting as much as I could. A few of the paintings I gave as gifts to my family. My brother celebrated his Birthday in Italy - so I made him a painting from a photo he took from his villa. My parents celebrated their 49th anniversary in Kauai - so they got a painting of Poipu Beach where they stayed. And my sister-in-law got engaged in Kauai - so she got a Kauai sunset painting.
Great news! I'll be participating in the Silicon Valley Open Studios again in May. More info to come on that as we get closer.
Primed panels drying in the yard getting ready for some travel.
A couple days into the cruise we ended up docking in Marseille, France. Since we were going to be spending the second half of the trip in Provence we decided to take the excursion to Avignon. This would be one less stop later. Did a sketch back on the ship of Pont d'Avignon.
The first of three destinations in Italy was Cinque Terrre. Two years ago we had lunch at Ristorante Ciak in the city of Monterosso where I photographed and later painted the owner and Chef. I brought the painting with me on this trip and presented it to his son at their wine shop nextdoor. Unfortunatly the restaurant was closed on the day we visited so I wasn't able to meet the Chef Ciak again.
Last stop in Italy was the island of Capri on the Amalfi Coast. Did some sketching here. So many large yachts! Here is a short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sntX4GFMf5s
The sketch.
And back on our balcony I did a little larger painting of Capri.
Doing some more painting on the Harmony of the Seas cruise ship.
A week later the cruise ended where it started - Barcelona Spain. This year we decided to spend a day and one night before heading over to Provence. Resting back in the hotel room after walking all over the city, I arranged our hotel room into a mini studio and did a city scene sketch of the Barcelona Cathedral based on a photo I took.
About an hour later I had my sketch and then it was off to dinner!
From Barcelona we made our way back to Provence. Oh how I missed it. Started making our way to the Valensole area early in the morning. We didn't realize that the GPS in the car was set to avoid highways. The route it was taking us became ridiculas and got us lost. Knew the gravel road it asked us to turn onto couldn't be right and we were lost. :-) As I figured out a new route to take to get us back on course we came across this lovely sunflower field outside of the town of Cereste-en-Luberon. It was a nice reminder that the journey is more important than the destination.
Yay!!! I found what I timed the visit for - lavender and sunflowers together!! It was stunning. Located this spot near the Plateau de Valensole.
Short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a7GcqocT8A
And here is a painting I made of this location when I got back in the studio at home.
After spending time in the lavender and sunflower fields it was time to enjoy lunch in the beautiful lakeside town of Sainte-Croix-du Verdon. This was the view from where we parked our car above Lake Sainte-Croix. Had to do a sketch of it!
Back in our home base of Saint Remy on market day. Bought some olive tapenade from these guys to go with our olive bread of course.
Spent an afternoon in Aix en Provence and stopped by the Terrain des Peintres where Cezanne painted many of his masterpieces of Mont Sainte-Victoire. This is only a couple blocks up the street from his studio. Had to take out my gear and check off the "Paint where Cezanne" painted bucket list item. Here's a short video showing my painting sitting among Cezanne's on location: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1u2rh4cejY
Returned from Aix en Provence to have dinner at our villa in Saint Remy. Afterwards I took my gear with me across the street and painted in the olive tree orchard on the grounds of Saint Paul de Mausole. This is where Van Gogh painted his olive trees during his time there. Painting in the same locations of two of my favorite artists was one of the top highlights of the trip! Was out there until got dark and walked back under a beautiful starry night.
Here's a little video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWzQ1Ub5LFY
Visited Sault and the surrounding area to capture more lavender.
View of the valley below Sault. Many of the wheatfields had not yet been harvested.
Took a small one lane road to see where it would take us. Glad we did because we found this wonderful scene. Those blue doors!
If you are ever craving a hamburger while in Saint Remy, I recommend a visit to the Bistro Steakhouse Le Bon Burger. They had a chalk board next to our table where they encourage customers to write something. Couldn't resist adding a small drawing to it.
Our last full day on the trip happened to be my birthday. After exploring Les Baux and visiting Carriers de Lumieres, we headed over to Arles for lunch at Cafe Van Gogh. This was the restaraunt/bar he made famous with his painting called Cafe Terrace at Night.
After lunch we checked out the Fondation Van Gogh to see some of his paintings on exhibit, and then headed over to Pont de Langloise just outside of town.
Made a small sketch with a small old brush just for fun.
One last almond croissant at Boulangerie Emile Bec. I could live on these if it didn't add a pound of weight each day.
On the United Airlines flight home (I prefer Air France or Lufthansa), the old plane they had us on didn't have in-flight entertainment on the seatbacks and their wifi entertainment would only play non-English movies. So, I pulled out the water colors and made a few paintings from images I uploaded on my iPad. It was the first time I've painted on a plane 38,000 feet in the air! It was a little cramped but I managed it.
By far my most favorite spot in Kauai - the Kalalau Valley Look Out.
I've found another favorite beach - Tunnels Beach.
Nothing like painting with your toes in the sand!
Painting the sunrise on the first morning in Poipu.
Here's my Kilauea Lighthouse painting on location.
The start to a beautiful sunset in Hanalei. So many families out having a great time.
The contrast between the red, green, and blue in Kauai is stunning!
Photo of the rock.
And below is the photo reference.
http://www.numulosgatos.org
http://www.sanjosetalentmag.com/emag/story/eric-bodtker
http://www.mercurynews.com/cupertino/ci_28064554/get-close-up-look-at-art-during-silicon.html
Wife caught me taking reference photos of conala fields in Auvers-Sur-Oise.
The fields all over France and Germany were beautifu! Be on the lookout for paintings based on this.
It was good visiting the church in Auvers again. Below is the painting I made in 2013 after my first visit. I included the sign I'm leaning on in my painting.
Visited Vincent's room above the cafe Auberge Ravoux in Auvers. No photos were allowed so I'm not sure how my phone captured this shot. ;-) Asked the guide about the glass along the wall. She said it's a security enclosure for one of his paintings they are trying to acquire which was in this room when he died.
Our next stop was Monet's garden in Giverny. Wow...simply wow! The weather was partly cloudy with occasional showers. This created wonderful reflections in his waterlily pond as seen in this photo I took below. Visiting Giverny is a must for any Monet fan.
Our driver took us from Giverny right to the Musee de l'Orangerie which is the permanent home to Monet's eight water lilies murals. The above photo and it's sky reminded me of what we experienced an hour or so before in his garden. I highly recommend visiting both the location and seeing the art within the same day if you get to Paris.
We headed over to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam after visiting Germany where we ate and drank well in addition to meeting an old friend of mine. We headed right up to the third floor and found ourselves all alone with Van Gogh's last paintings. After visiting Arles, Saint Remy, and Auvers-Sur-Oise in the past ten months, it was a very special experience to have alone time with these.
The last leg of our trip a cruise on Royal Caribbean's brand new Anthem of the Seas. We were on only its second cruise since it's christening. Love the new cruise ship smell!
It was a fantastic journey and I came home with some images to paint. But, my heart longs to return to Provence and the Cote d'Azur in the South of France. Perhaps next year. For now, it's time to get ready for the Silicon Valley Open Studio show in two weeks!
And that my friends is an original Eric Bodtker painting making it's debut in the great Musee d'Orsay in Paris. Brought in (snuck in) with me a small 4x4 painting. ;-) Spent the rest of the day studying and sketching.
My wife caught me sketching in the Impressionist room.
When? May 16 - 17th. 11am - 5pm
Where? 36 Pleasant Street, Los Gatos, CA 95030-6113 (Site 279 on the SVOS Map)
Additionally, I've been selected as one of the first artists to be represented at the Mook Art Gallery which just opened in the Valley Fair Shopping Center in San Jose, CA. Looking forward to future events with them!
Happy New Year everyone!
And, here is a link to a Flipagram video I made showing the painting adventures in 2014. http://flipagram.com/f/OYn7SXMncx
We were early, but not too early, to see some of Provence’s famous lavender fields. The contrasts of purple, blue, yellows, greens were so inspiring. Also, I absolutly love the little red tiled farmhouses everywhere we looked.
Aix-en-Provence checking out Cezanne’s inspiration - Sainte-Victoire.
Painting in the wheatfields near Saint Remy de Provence with my little Guerrilla Painter Thumbox.
Above: My painting of a lavender field between two cherry trees just below the town of Bonnieux.
The Canal des Alpines in Saint Remy caught my eye and had to paint it.
The opening was a very well attended event which coincided with SpringFest Wine and Art Festival. It was my first time visiting an area outside of downtown Houston. Old Town Spring is a cute little town filled with boutiques and restaurants. They hold a number of festivals each year and the area is becoming one of the hottest real estate areas in the country due to some major corporations moving there.
If you are ever in the Houston area, please be sure to stop by to view both my art as well as the many other very talented artists they represent.
http://www.davisandcompany.squarespace.com
Here are a few images with more to come that will be posted on their web site. Please like them on Facebook as well!
In front of the gallery.
To the left is my Upstate New York Countryside painting located right in the front of the gallery.
My Blossoming Trees painting is one of the 25 finalists in the Rites of Spring
What does an artist do when he has a free weekend between business meetings in Switzerland and Germany? He goes to Paris and focuses on art! I left my hotel in Switzerland at 6am Saturday. Four train rides later (including dropping off my bags at the hotel in Paris and grabbing my sketch pad and camera) I arrived in the French countryside town of Auvers-Sur-Oise about 1:30pm.
Roaming the town and fields where Van Gogh painted until his death on July 29th, 1889 was an experience I’ll never forget. Visiting in February isn't the most ideal time of year, but I was lucky to have a day with decent weather though a bit chilly. After visiting the Auvers church and Vincent and Theo's grave, it was time to venture into the wheat fields along a muddy path. I didn't mind the mud though. The wheat fields were populated with young green grass only an inch or so high. The sky turned from clear to mostly cloudy which created some awesome scenery with various patterns passing overhead.
After spending a few hours in Auvers, it was time to head back into Paris and grab some dinner. Missed the once an hour train that stops at this small town during the winter by just a few minutes so it gave me more time to stroll.
Woke up early the next morning and as dark turned to light, roamed the streets of Paris stopping off for a croissant and coffee at a small bakery. I love pastries and baked goods so trust me, that wasn't the only visit to a bakery that day. To kill the little time I had between the croissant and the opening of the Musee d'Orsay, I enjoyed a fresh warm baguette. Since I pre-ordered my Musee d'Orsay tickets, I found myself third in line to get in. During the 15 minutes I waited for the doors to open, I conversed in Japanese with some elderly ladies behind me who were visiting from Tokyo. Great way to practice my language skills before the planned visit to Japan in April.
Upon entering the museum, I immediately made my way up to the second level and into the Van Gogh collection. I spent the next half hour alone in this room with his masterpieces. The Gauguin collection, who is another favorite, was in the same area. Ok, I’ll admit I did something dorky and listened to Don McLean’s song Starry Starry Night on my iPhone while admiring the original Starry Night painting. The Church at Auvers painting prominently on display on one of the columns in the middle of the room. It was magical seeing this just hours after visiting it in person. Since it was too cold outside, at least for a guy from California, I decided to take my time, visit every room, look at every piece of art, sketch those pieces that caught my eye, and take notes on their composition and style. As a self-taught artist, this was an invaluable lesson.
And below are the first two paintings I've created from the trip.
Church at Auvers-Sur-Oise: A Tribute to Van Gogh - 30x40 inches.
Looking Back to Auvers - 18x24 inches
To visit the gallery’s web site, please visit: www.gallerysaratoga.com
A week after getting the camera, we were in Maui staying in Wailea. We get to Hawaii as often as we can and find that Maui is our favorite island. I played around with the bulb feature as well as some automatic settings to capture various night shots along the Wailea Beach Path. This path is just over a mile long and runs along all the main resorts in Wailea such as the Grand Wailea, Four Seasons, Fairmont Kea Lani, and Wailea Marriot. During the day at that time of year, humpback whales are all over just off the coast which makes walking along this path even more magical.
One scene in particular caught my eye while going through the photos recently and that was Wailea Beach. It was a very starry night and strait across from us was a luau going on which created a lot of light and reflections in the wet sand and water. So, with a palette knife in hand on a very warm and unusually humid August day in San Jose, I painted what I call “Wailea Starry Night”. The painting was done completely with a palette knife and is 18x24 inches. Once it’s dry I’ll get a high resolution scan done. It looks fantastic though under a spotlight.
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