Margret E. Short Fine Arts

Portland, Oregon artist Margret Short - a modern day master of 17th Century Dutch art using the chiaroscuro technique to create still life and floral paintings.

The Artist

Dinner with Sheri in Dallas

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Over the past 17 years or so, I have had the great pleasure of working with a mighty fine web designer, Sheri Huffman. Using the magic of the Internet, we have communicated and worked together via telephone and email all these years. Sheri has designed, edified, guided, suggested, instructed, elucidated, coached, and coaxed me through the … [Read more...] about Dinner with Sheri in Dallas

The People’s Museum

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A myriad of glitches during our recent aborted Romance of the Rhine river cruise resulted in an an unexpected side trip to  Amsterdam. Not wanting to spend the day, yet again, on a long boring bus ride after the boat broke down, Dave and I threw up our hands in protest, got directions to the train station, and bought 2 tickets for the Fast Train to … [Read more...] about The People’s Museum

The Story of Flowers for Saskia

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This new painting, Flowers for Saskia, came about because of the luscious red garment and hat in this Rembrandt painting of his wife, Saskia (seen in the background). Some months ago, I stumbled upon this painting, heretofore, unknown to me. My immediate thought was to do a copy of this splendid image and hang it in my studio to gaze upon every … [Read more...] about The Story of Flowers for Saskia

How to Find Your Style

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After years of observation Egyptologists who specialize in the study of Egyptian art gain great insights into the style and techniques of ancient artisans. Some have been able to determine paintings done by particular artists, especially the artwork done in tombs. This sounds absolutely logical that certain strokes of a brush or specific colors are … [Read more...] about How to Find Your Style

All for Beauty

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As I have mentioned in previous posts, many pigments were really nasty and very poisonous. Two yellows, called orpiment and realgar, both made by alchemy, are extremely poisonous and for this reason have gone out of use. Other pigments were poor driers or not permanent and thus lost popularity. So the list narrowed, and it is now published … [Read more...] about All for Beauty