In progress: more dirndl portraits

Bea in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2012 Julie Galante.

I have nine large dirndl paintings that are in progress or finished so far, all of them hanging out around my studio. I think they’re going to make for an interesting body of work – so many beautiful women in colorful dresses all grouped together. I can’t wait to exhibit them somewhere. But first, I need to finish them!

I last shared this painting of Bea in this post back in October. I’m trying to remember to take more photos of my work at different stages, because I really enjoy looking back at them and seeing the progress I’ve made. I think this one is almost done. What do you think?

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Will you be in Munich on February 11th? Come see some of my paintings at Munich Creative Group’s Pop-Up Gallery!

Tags: dirndls, oils, painting, portrait, portraiture, work in progress

Painting in Progress: Sarah in a dirndl

Sarah in a dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2012 Julie Galante.

Happy New Year! I’m back in my studio in Munich and painting up a storm. My first goal of 2012 is to complete the first 10 paintings in my Women in Dirndls series. I have about seven of them in progress already. For the painting you see here, I’m happy in general with how it’s progressing, but I still haven’t figured out what the background color(s) will be. Any suggestions?

Tags: dirndls, Munich, oils, painting, portrait, work in progress

Work in progress: Bea in her dirndl

Bea in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

Before I start bombarding your with daily paintings for Art Every Day Month, I thought I’d post a look at one of the larger pieces I have in progress. It’s part of a series I’m working on, portraits of women wearing dirndls (traditional Bavarian dresses). I’m hoping to have 10-12 of them finished by the end of the year. My painting schedule is full!

Tags: dirndls, Germany, Munich, oils, Oktoberfest, painting, portrait, work in progress

Daily Painting: another Oktoberfest study

Dirndl Study #14, 24 x 18 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante. Available on Etsy.

My one-track mind continues its dirndl obsession. What will I do now that Oktoberfest is over, and the women of Munich have put their regular clothes back on?

October 15th marks the 33rd World Wide Sketch Crawl. People in cities all over the world will get together for a little bit of group sketching. There’s even a small Munich group. Will you be participating in your city?

Tags: daily painting, dirndls, Munich, oils, Oktoberfest, painting

Dirndl portrait in progress: Petra

Petra in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

I love how painting changes the way I see. Now that I’m spending so much time painting dirndls, I have a whole new appreciation for the infinite variations they can have. Wandering around Oktoberfest these last few days, I seem to be spending most of my time checking out all the dirndls around me (and sometimes fighting off the urge to chase someone down and beg her to model for me). In past years I don’t think I ever gave dirndls a second thought.

Basically these traditional Bavarian outfits have three parts: a sleeveless dress made up of a bodice and skirt; a small half-shirt with sleeves, and an apron. Each part seems to come in an infinite number of cuts, colors, and fabrics. Petra’s white cotton shirt with puffy sleeves is typical, although colored shirts have gained some popularity in recent years. Her purple dirndl and apron, both picked up at a second-hand store, fit her beautifully. That’s something else I’ve started noticing at Oktoberfest – whose dirndls fit correctly, and whose don’t. This is pretty strange for me; typically I don’t even pay attention to my own clothing, much less anyone else’s.

Tags: dirndls, Germany, oils, Oktoberfest, painting, portrait, portraiture, work in progress

Painting through Oktoberfest

Dirndl portrait: Emmy (in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

I have so many paintings in progress right now and I’m excited about all of them. I’ve recently started on a new series of 80 x 60 cm (32 x 24 in) portraits featuring women wearing dirndls. These traditional Bavarian dresses have returned to popularity in a big way here in Munich, especially at Oktoberfest and other celebrations. Almost every woman I know here owns at least one dirndl, so finding models for this series hasn’t been too difficult. This is probably the only city in the world where that would be true!

It’s a little difficult to keep up my painting momentum this month since we have a lot of house guests visiting for Oktoberfest. I love guests, but having them for a month straight is definitely a bit of a challenge for an introvert like me. I’m trying to sneak in as much painting as I can while our visitors are out exploring Munich or off on day trips to other towns.

Check it out: the Etsy Germany Street Team blog is featuring me today!

Tags: dirndls, Munich, oils, Oktoberfest, painting, portrait, work in progress

Daily painting: Oktoberfest Dirndl Study

Dirndl Study #10, 24 x 18 cm, oil on canvas, $175, ©2011 Julie Galante. [SOLD] 

Guess what? I have a new Etsy shop. If you’re not familiar with it, Etsy is a large US-based website which serves as a marketplace for handmade items of all kinds. After months of wondering whether Etsy would be a good fit for my daily paintings, I decided that the best way to find out would be to just give it a try already.

In my new shop you’ll find all kinds of small paintings, including still lifes, cityscapes and other themes. Right now I’m painting a lot of small dirndl studies and other Oktoberfest scenes, so there will be plenty of those popping up in the shop over the coming weeks, too.

Have you ever bought anything on Etsy? Do you have an Etsy shop? Let me know in the comments so I can check it out.

Tags: daily painting, dirndls, etsy, Germany, Munich, oils, painting

Pretzel girl, and where to buy my paintings in Munich

Oktoberfest Pretzel Girl, 20 x 20 cm, oil on canvas, €110, ©2011 Julie Galante. Available at Fingerprints Kreativ in Munich.

I’m back in my Munich studio after a refreshing trip to Austria, and I have some exciting news (exciting to me, anyway). Starting today, several of my Munich and Oktoberfest paintings will be available for sale in a small shop in town. Fingerprints Kreativ is located in the neighborhood between Rosenheimerplatz and Ostbahnhof, a lively area full of shops, restaurants, cafes, fountains, and all that good stuff (and it’s right around the corner from Ganesha, one of our favorite Indian restaurants in Munich).

Despite its slightly unfortunate name (which evokes scribbled children’s drawings and finger paints in my native-English-speaker mind), Fingerprints Kreativ is a shop full of elegant, high-quality handmade items, including jewelry, handbags, and home decor. The paintings I chose for the shop are all Munich-themed. Some are city scenes, while others depict Oktoberfest in all its glory; they range in price from €110 to €325. I’m hoping that locals and tourists alike will be interested in owning some locally-made art that captures a bit of the spirit of this city. Will original oil paintings capture tourists’ imaginations the way that beer-keg hats and giant steins do? I guess we’ll find out.

Fingerprints Kreativ is located at Pariser Str. 20 in Munich, Germany. If you drop by, let me know what you think! And if you can’t make it in person, you can view my profile (and eventually my paintings) on their website.

Opening hours:

Monday to Friday
10 am to 2 pm
3 pm to 7 pm
Saturday
10 am to 4 pm

Tags: daily painting, dirndls, Germany, Munich, oils, Oktoberfest, painting

Published

Dirndl study #1, oil on hardboard, 24 x 18 cm, ©2010 Julie Galante. [SOLD]

I just received a copy of Patti Digh’s new book What I Wish For You: Simple Wisdom for a Happy Life, which features this daily painting of mine on page 101. It’s fun seeing my art in print! It is next to an essay called “Take every trip you can,” which seems quite apt given all the traveling I do.

I think I’ll display the book next to the original painting at my open studio event later this month.

Tags: books, daily painting, dirndls, Munich, oils, Oktoberfest, painting

Daily Painting: plenty of new inspiration from Oktoberfest

Dirndl Study #5, oil on canvas board, 18 x 24 cm. This original oil painting is available for sale in my Etsy store.

Between my husband and I we managed to take over 1,500 photos at Oktoberfest this year. Yikes! I’m sure it will end up being a lot fewer once I sort out the throw-aways, but still I should end up with lots to work from as far as my Bavarian clothing studies go. Like this one, from a photo I took at the historical section of Oktoberfest. I just loved the hats.

I might end up doing a larger version of this one, but first I think I’ll finish my photo sorting and choose a few more favorites to work from. I better get going!

Tags: daily painting, dirndls, Germany, Munich, oils, Oktoberfest, painting