Rainbarrow Studio

Fine Art and Art Instruction by Frank Sullivan

Friday, January 17, 2025

New Book Available

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Copies of the first printing of my new book are still available to order online and ready to ship. The book is 8.5” x 8.5”, 64 pages, pr...

Unless She Changes Her Mind, oil on canvas, 2023

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I have loved the writings of Thomas Hardy ever since I read Tess of the D'urbervilles in high school. I have read every one of his books...
Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Coldness of the Sun, oil on canvas 2023

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I live in a place where Winter begins in late October and doesn't end until sometime in late April or, like this year, early May. As muc...

How I Need You When You're Gone, oil on canvas 2023

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I have a fondness for emotionally charged, saturated colors in my work. Paintings by the Fauvists and German Expressionists, Van Gogh, and t...

Now and Then, oil on canvas, 2023

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My first encounter with a Mark Rothko painting was at the Museum of Modern Art in NY when I was in college. I may have heard his name before...
Wednesday, May 1, 2024

If You Ever Change Your Mind, oil on canvas 2023

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(Private Collection) People often make a distinction between "Realistic" art and "Abstract" art. Arguably, every work of...

Just a Moment, oil on canvas 2023

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(Private Collection) The impetus for most of what I do is usually nothing more than an impulse. I don't imagine or think about a picture...
Friday, November 17, 2023

Sentinels, oil on canvas, 2023

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I made a small (10" x 8") painting based on this idea, which came from a pastel drawing that did from memory after first drawing t...
Thursday, September 28, 2023

Remains of the Day (oil on canvas, 2022)

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I have spent many thousands of hours drawing from direct observation. For me, it has been a way to both develop technique and, more importan...
Tuesday, September 26, 2023

When the Spell is Broken (oil on canvas, 2022)

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Everyone will view a work of art in their own personal, subjective way. We bring to the experience of looking at art our own personality tra...
Sunday, September 24, 2023

The Days Before You Came (oil on canvas, 2022)

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(Private Collection) When I was studying art as an undergraduate, back in the "20th century" (as my son likes to say when he wants...

From a Safe Distance (oil on canvas, 2022)

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(Private Collection) As a Visual Arts Studio major in college, I was required to take a two-semester Survey of Art course, which was an art ...
Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Everything You've Loved (oil on canvas, 2022)

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(Private Collection) When I was in my fourth year of college as an undergrad student I did an independent study in painting with an instruct...

All Your Broken Pieces (oil on canvas, 2022)

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(Private Collection) Artists who work in two dimensional media (painting, drawing, printmaking, etc.) have to contend with two different typ...
Monday, May 8, 2023

A Private Little Sun (oil on canvas, 2021)

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Painting is a visual art but it can be used to convey much more than visual information. In addition to, or instead of, simply showing the ...
Monday, October 24, 2022

All That Matters (oil on canvas, 2021)

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(Private Collection) In the Fall of my senior year in college I was beginning to prepare to apply to graduate schools. I wanted to be a pain...
Friday, December 4, 2020

Don't Be Afraid to Miss Me (oil on canvas, 2020)

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"Ideas come spontaneously and the discipline required to evaluate and put them to use tends to be the real work.” - Stanley Kubrick To ...
Thursday, May 28, 2020

Sometimes Noise Is Beautiful (oil on canvas, 2020)

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The older I get, the more I realize the importance of trusting my instincts. They have never been wrong, but there have been times when I ch...
Thursday, February 27, 2020

Intentionally Lost (oil on canvas, 2019)

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(Private Collection) I grew up in an enclosed neighborhood that was surrounded by woodland – the remains of what were once an apple orchard...
Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Letting Go (oil on canvas, 2019)

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(Private Collection) I must apologize for neglecting my blog over the past few months. In addition to spending quite a bit of time working o...
Friday, May 31, 2019

Absolution (oil on canvas 2019)

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(Private Collection) When I was an undergraduate in college the painter Richard Sheehan came to the campus as a visiting artist for a day. H...

After Me (oil on canvas 2019)

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Occasionally, I get asked about the titles of my paintings and what they mean. As a visual artist, I am primarily concerned with creating an...

Tomorrow Never Comes (oil on canvas 2019)

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Apparently, I have become a landscape artist, although when I was learning how to draw and paint, landscape was never an area that intereste...

Something You Said (oil on canvas, 2019)

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(Private Collection) One of the most difficult aspects of working in color is the phenomenon of Simultaneous Contrast, which results in the ...

Far Too Many Ghosts (oil on canvas,2019)

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On some level, every painting is an abstraction – a representation of something that it is not. It can depict a person or several people, an...
Thursday, May 16, 2019

After Forever (oil on canvas, 2019)

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Sometimes when I am working with a student, explaining to them what is not working in their drawing or painting and showing them how to cor...
Tuesday, April 23, 2019

After All This TIme (oil on canvas, 2019)

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I have often remarked how being engaged with a painting feels to me like some kind of martial combat. Although no one is going to die if the...
Monday, February 25, 2019

Sunday Morning Bliss (2019, oil on canvas)

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"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." -Tao de Ching I studied and played music for many years, before an overu...
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Thursday, February 7, 2019

When You Least Expect It (oil on canvas, 2019)

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I live in northern Maine. It has been brutally cold here this winter and we're on the verge of breaking the record for annual snow accum...
Monday, December 31, 2018

Showing Happy to the World (oil on canvas, 2018)

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I try to work on my art every day. I decided many years ago to make it one of my top priorities (along with my family and my health) so it...
2 comments:
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About Me

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Frank
I am a full time artist, originally from Massachusetts, currently living in northern Maine. I work primarily in oils and pastel, and occasionally watercolor. I offer instruction in drawing and painting at my studio, which is in an old renovated potato barn. Please feel free to view samples of my work (You can see a larger version of each picture if you click on it.) and leave a comment if you are so inclined. Be sure to click the "Older Posts" button at the bottom to see more work. I don't always have time to respond to comments, but if you wish to correspond with me, you can e-mail me at frank@rainbarrow.net
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