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    All images are Copyright Protected and the property of Jamie Williams Grossman. Paintings and photos displayed on this site may not be reprinted, copied, downloaded, displayed elsewhere, or used for any reason without her written permission.

    ------------------------------------- CUSTOMER REVIEWS

    "OMGGGGG, Jamie!!!! It's absolutely amazinggggggg!!!!!! I loveeeeee it!!!!!! This is sooo much more than I could have imagined!!! Thank you!!!!"

    "It's spectacular, Jamie!!! How talented you are! We absolutely love it! And you are right-the frame is just perfect for it! "

    "Happy" with it is an understatement! My sister's husband said, "Wow, it's beautiful!" That's a lot of emotion coming from him! haha. And my adult daughter said, "OMG MOM, ITS GORGEOUS!". You have added to your fan club!

    "Jamie, your painting arrived in perfect condition! And, as I expected, it looks even better ‘in person’ than on the computer screen. Thank you so much for your careful packing and wonderful painting."

    "...Today I finally surprised [my wife] with the actual painting! It is her birthday! And I just wanted to let you know the we both absolutely love it!! She was so so surprised, and just speechless.... Thank you again for being so flexible and good to work with! It was such a joy preparing for today and I appreciated your professionalism throughout the process!"

    "I love the new painting! It's actually a little more golden and fluid than it looks in the pic and I love the movement; everything in my house is a little on the warm and yellow and gold side so it could hang pretty much anywhere. It's going to the framer shortly and I look forward to having it up :-)"

    "Jamie, it's lovely!!! Thank you so much for all the time and love you've put into it! You have no idea how much joy your work is bringing to me. I'm very grateful!"

    "I just wanted to share that my father-in-law absolutely LOVES your painting. He loves the frame and said that he's never owned a real oil painting. ???? But most importantly, he loves the subject matter and he and my husband spent a lot of time reminiscing this morning about hikes they took there years ago. This part of the Hudson is, by far, their favorite! Thank you SO much for making this Christmas gift PERFECT."

    "Your paintings of my beloved Hudson Valley are stunning! I've always loved Hudson River paintings, and can't believe that I've found someone who is following in the great tradition of Cropsey and company! "

    "We received your painting yesterday and it's really very beautiful. Thank you again very much."

    "Your beautiful "Autumn at Rockwood" arrived in perfect condition two days ago. It is even more lovely in person than I ever could have imagined. Thank you so much for your artistry and your many kindnesses to me..... I will treasure both of my paintings very much ..."

    "I'm more than happy, I'm thrilled!"

    "I just wanted to let you know that I received [the painting] today! It is beautiful, thank you so much:)"

    "Your [miniature] Caillebotte arrived today. Wow, it's WAY better seeing it in person than viewing an image/photo of it. Spectacular..... Thank you so much!!"

    "It's beautiful. Thank you so much!"

    "Oh, Jamie! It is fabulous!!!!!!! I love it!"

    "Hi Jamie, I received painting yesterday. It's really beautiful! Thank you for sending so quickly. I'm sure it will give my friend hope and strengthen as she faces this battle with Parkinson's. Thank you!"

    "Jamie, My painting arrived Thursday and I love it. I will definitely order from you again."

    "[They] love the painting. They were so surprised. They really appreciate it and the thought and artistry behind it. They received many [wedding] gifts, and said this was one of their two favorites."

    "[My husband] loved loved loved the painting! It is hanging on the wall in my great room. It's just beautiful!"

    "Hi Jamie! The beautiful paintings arrived safe and sound this afternoon. I love them! (Boy you don't mess around with packing them ;) Thank you."

    "Hi Jamie –I thought you’d enjoy seeing “The Red Barge” framed. Until I give it to my husband on his birthday, I have it hanging in my office. I LOVE looking at it all day!"

    "I received the painting this morning. It is SO FANTASTIC!!!!!! I wish I would have had it done larger. Thank you! thank you!"

    "The East from Hunter Mountain painting arrived the other day. It made it through the snow and looks great. Thanks for everything."

    "Jamie, my wife and I love it. Thank you and great work. It was difficult trying to figure out a special gift for them......I'm very happy that I reached out to you. I know they will love the painting and the special touch you did with the card! "

    "Wow, it looks AMAZING! They are going to love it. I love the name too. Perfect. ... Thanks again!"

    "Your lovely painting of a sweet bird, framed beautifully, arrived last week.... I just adore it!!... I see it and injoy its beauty every day! Thank you so much!"

    "The painting is beautiful! I love it! "

    "Just a quick note to let you know your [miniature] Monet arrived in perfect condition. It looks fabulous!!! Thank you again so much."




    ------------------------------------------ If you haven't seen the two-DVD set, "The Impressionists", you don't know what you're missing!

    the-impressionists.jpg


    I rented it from Netflix and absolutely loved it. It is an enactment of the lives of Monet, Renoir, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, and other Impressionist painters living at that time around Paris. Fascinating and eye-opening!





Archive for the 'Personal Collection' Category

It’s Official — I have a new blog for my sketches!

Posted by Jamie on March 24th, 2011
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I did this little 9×12″ watercolor across a two-page spread in my Fabriano Venezia sketchbook to show you what my new blog looks like! If you’ve enjoyed seeing my sketches, hearing my rambles about the artistic process, and looking on while I varnished paintings, primed panels, mixed paint, and built foamcore pochade boxes, most of those things will be posted only on the new “Sketches” blog from now on. That blog is at http://HudsonValleySketches.blogspot.com. You can click here to head over there now, and subscribe there to continue to receive all my posts online.

Don’t worry; this This Hudson Valley Painter blog isn’t going away! It will still be here, and will contain my completed paintings that are available for sale. The sketches, product reviews, and thoughts on the artistic process will be on the new site.

Flowers on Linen, matted to 10×8

Posted by Jamie on February 8th, 2009

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6×8″, Acrylics on linen. Matted to 8×10″
Email me at JamieWG@aol.com if interested in this painting.

Whew, was this ever hard! I thought it would never get finished. Sometimes these little ones can take as long as a much larger painting to complete. This one certainly fell into that category, but I am pleased with the result.

Palette:
Cadmium Yellow Medium
Cadmium Red Light
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White

The Base of Kaaterskill Falls

Posted by Jamie on July 29th, 2008

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10×8″, Golden OPEN Acrylics on “Pearl” Canson board
This scene is available as a studio/commission original painting in any size/price range. Please email Jamie at JamieWG@aol.com if interested.

What is the tallest waterfall in New York State? Niagara? Nope, guess again. It’s Kaaterskill Falls!

My first opportunity to paint on our trip, following in the footsteps of the old Hudson River School painters, was after climbing a half mile up to the base of Kaaterskill Falls. You wouldn’t think one would have to climb so far uphill to get to the bottom of a waterfall, but it is indeed far up the mountain. I don’t think I would have made it without my new ultralight painting box in my backpack. I didn’t have to carry a thing, and my pack was nearly weightless. Here’s a photo of the new painting box and my palette for this painting. I’ll be posting more photos of how the box was constructed in the week to come. You can see that I’ve added an extension to it, which can hold my brushes and palette cup.

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In the early morning light, most of the fall was in shadow, so I chose a scene that focused on the waterfall/cascade right at the base, where the light was strongest. By the time I was finishing up this painting, a little light was just beginning to hit other parts of the falls. I stayed to do a second painting that included the top tier of the falls as well. I’ll be posting that one tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Thomas Cole and many of the Hudson River School painters painted from this very spot. There are beautiful cascades all the way up the trail to the base, inviting a series of paintings. In fact, the beautiful Bastian Falls is right at the bottom before the trail even starts to ascend, but it’s definitely worth it to make the climb to the top to experience Kaaterskill. I’m sure I’ll be coming back here many times in the years to come to take advantage of other locations along the way.

We intentionally went the day after a heavy rain, figuring that there would be a significant increase in the amount of water coming over the falls and the drama it created. We were right! Most of the paintings and photos I’ve seen of this waterfall display a far narrower stream of water. We chose the right time to go, even if the way up was a little wet and slippery!

Edit: I just checked the image above on a different monitor and it looks a little too light, so depending on your monitor, this image below may be more accurate:

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In Memory of Thomas Humphrey: 1948-2008

Posted by Jamie on April 21st, 2008

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The River Behind Tom’s House
12×16″, oils on canvas
NFS

Please click here to play the audio file of Andy Lafreniere and me playing a pair of Humphrey guitars while you read this post. The piece is “The One”, by California composer Peter Madlem.

When my Ramirez classical guitar slipped from my grasp on a flight of stairs in 1979, splitting in three places, it led me to the doorstep of classical guitarmaker Thomas Humphrey. As I rang his doorbell on West 72nd Street in Manhattan, with my damaged instrument, I didn’t know that I was about to meet one of my closest friends, or that I’d end up owning four of his amazing guitars, or that our future spouses and children would play together in the brooks behind our house and his, and that we’d watch them grow together until his untimely death last Wednesday.

Tom’s entire workshop at that time was crammed into a small bedroom in his New York City apartment. He worked day and night, tirelessly unlocking the secrets to producing instruments with a sound he heard clearly in his head, but not yet in a classical guitar. Already well-known as a luthier in New York, his apartment was affectionately referred to as Grand Central Station. Musicians would congregate, friends would come and go, and there were more fabulous spur-of-the-moment classical guitar performances there than in the concert halls of New York City. Tom’s magnetic personality, wonderful sense of humor, and beautiful-sounding instruments drew guitar players from near and far. His reputation sky-rocketed when he developed and patented his Millennium design, and his name became a household word for guitarists world-wide. The elevated fingerboard gave players easier access to the high reaches of the instrument, and combined with his unique bracing design, increased it’s projection.

When C.F. Martin approached Tom about making two models that copied his design, my husband and I tried talk Tom out of it. But those who knew Tom know that it was always futile to argue with his vision. While we were afraid that it would lead to loss of business for his own handmade instruments, Tom felt it would force him to have to invent something even better. And so his search for the next great breakthrough continued. Like all great artists, Tom was never satisfied. He always wanted more volume, fuller sound, better sustain.

Tom was as much a philosopher as he was an artist and inventor. He looked at life as a creative journey, and pressed ever-onward along his ingenious path. It wasn’t unusual for my phone to ring early in the morning, with Tom’s excited voice on the other end, explaining his idea for a new bracing pattern. Once Tom and his wife Martha moved up to their estate in Gardiner, NY, I’d often bring my paints along on visits to capture the Shawangunkill River that wound through the back of their property, or the white cliffs of the Gunks that faced the front. But often as not, we’d get absorbed in conversation, talking away in the workshop for the day, or playing his latest batch of guitars one by one, and the brushes would remain in my easel.

When I rang that doorbell in New York City in 1979, and as we had our first philosophical conversation, I didn’t imagine that his voice would be silenced at the young age of 59. Tom’s sound will forever live on through his instruments, and I am grateful that I will hear him speak every time I pick up my guitar.

You can click to read the New York Times Obituary.

Life Drawing 45 minute pose 36×24"

Posted by Jamie on January 10th, 2007


The image above is a cropped version of the 36×24″ sketch of Amy. I never feel I come away from a life drawing session with a “finished” piece since the poses are so short, but it’s great practice to keep going after that elusive goal. This sketch was done on my favorite brown crinkly craft paper, which makes it hard to get a good photo. I tear off 24×36″ sheets from a huge roll and clip them to a big piece of foamcore. I like working on the midtone surface, since I can just add my lights and darks. Amy is a fabulous model and also an artist, so she always thinks about how a pose will fill the page. The medium is charcoal and pastels. The full image is below.

A Birthday Card for Hubby

Posted by Jamie on November 21st, 2006


Today is my husband’s birthday. Amidst the hustle and bustle, my daily painting involved making a card for him. He always takes an apple to work every day, so I had to get the apple in there. Some of the flowers that I bought several days ago are still kicking. I put the survivors into a mug and pulled out my watercolors, then added a little ink pen. I used a 7×10 sheet of Arches HP and folded it in half, so the card is 5×7.

It’s been very hard to get serious paintings done with the holiday looming this week and all the framing I need to do for upcoming shows. I’m hoping to be able to get back to doing some oil paintings next week, if not sooner, and will be keeping my sketchbook, pens, watercolors, and colored pencils close at hand for the remainder of this week!

Swinging on the Porch

Posted by Jamie on October 10th, 2006

7×5″, Oils on canvas covered hardboard
Not For Sale

This is my little buddy Mango. He loves to swing on just about anything. Here he is on his playset swing out on the porch, doing what he does best. He’ll be a year old next week. Maybe I’ll have to do an annual portrait of him. Mango loves to sit on my shoulder in the studio, but he’s not allowed down there when I’m working in oils. This one is currently not for sale because…well….because he’s my lil baby! Besides, there are still one or two little things I need to tweak in the painting.