Painting

Portrait of noted artist's wife had been hanging near bathrooms inside elementary school. A portrait by a noted local artist that had been hanging unceremoniously near a set of bathrooms at La Cañada Elementary School has found a new home. La Cañada Unified has placed the life-size painting of the community's first school teacher, Helen Haskell, on permanent loan to the Lanterman House museum, where it will be restored and eventually displayed in the second-floor ballroom. The piece dates to the early 1890s and is the work of the subject's husband, Stephen Seymour Thomas, who made his living painting the rich and famous, including President Woodrow Wilson, and settled in La Crescenta shortly after World War I. “La Cañada Elementary did not have a large enough space to properly display the portrait,” said Sharon Hancock, office manager at the school and the catalyst behind the loan.

A Burbank woman who just had to paint her nails on a Southwest flight to Houston was reportedly arrested after getting in an argument with a flight attendant. The woman, Jeanie Daniels, was detained for 10 hours upon arriving at Hobby Airport Feb. 26 before a judge dismissed the suggested charge of using "abusive profane language," according to a CBS Los Angeles report . Daniels, en route to visit her boyfriend, was painting her nails in her seat when a flight attendant asked her to stop.

During the month of July, the artwork of Gloria Beyer will be on display at the La Cañada Library exhibit room at 4545 Oakwood. She spent many years as an art instructor at the high school level with L.A. schools. Having retired early, she now enjoys painting and displaying her oil paintings, water colors and collages. Although most of her works represent nature in a realistic style, she also paints people and abstract themes. She was the winner of the 2007 La Cañada's Rose Parade float contest.

For 9-year-old Katya Orphali, painting gives her a moment to explore her imagination. "I love painting," Katya said. "You can express yourself. You can mix colors. You can just do anything. It doesn't matter what you do." About 35 of the young Glendale artist's creations will be showcased at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills from 6 to 9 p.m. today. Dubbed "The Katya Collection," the exhibition is Katya's first since her career began at age 6, when she brought home a painting from school.

La Crescenta Elementary School's first teacher, Helen Haskell, has been dead for more than 60 years. But a portrait her famous husband, S. Seymour Thomas, painted of her has been given new life. The 103-year-old portrait, which bumped around in the school since Thomas donated it in 1953, was rehung in a place of honor Friday, restored to its former grandeur. The community teamed up to raise $1,600 to have the portrait restored to its youthful beauty after school officials realized that the oil painting was deteriorating, said Mike Lawler, president of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley.

Joyce Rudolph For Rowena Dohnel, painting is like going on a vacation. "Nothing else matters," she said. "You are just painting and having a great time." The Glendale artist is a two-year member of the Glendale Art Assn., and was named the group's Artist of the Year in December. "I was totally shocked," she said. "I was just really overwhelmed -- and very honored." Association members compete in a mini art show during each monthly meeting at the First German United Methodist Church in Glendale.

Joshua Pelzer Two is enough, according to city officials who say the Police Department will decline a third painting by a local artist who has already contributed two paintings to the new police headquarters. Zadik Zadikian donated a 6-by-12-foot painting and another 2-by-3-foot piece in July to thank the city for assisting with his Caravan Project, a traveling art show, and for renting him studio space at 226 S. Orange St. for $1 a year. Zadikian will occupy the space -- purchased by the city for its $172-million Town Center project -- until November.

JOYCE RUDOLPH Descanso Gardens is captured in a rainbow of colors in Valery Moorhead's piece "Descanso Haven," one in her cache of works displayed at the Boddy House Gallery tucked inside the La Canada Flintridge oasis. Prior to pressing her brush to the canvas, Moorhead snapped a photograph of the scene -- a small structure, a bevy of flowers and mountains stretching majestically across the background. The oil painting has lots of greens, peaches and violets, the artist said.

JOYCE RUDOLPH Capturing a scene on canvas completes Trish Kertes. The La Canada Flintridge artist paints landscapes almost exclusively, but also does some still life, like flowers in vases or objects, especially antiques and heirlooms. "Things that are special to me," she said. One of the things she's known for is plein-air painting, taking one's paints, brushes and canvas outdoors and painting the scenery and capturing the light the way it is, which, she added, has to been done fast because the light changes within a few minutes.

SOUTH GLENDALE — Sitting across from the painting that started it all, local artist Micheline Abounassar is overwhelmed by her recent fame. Her oil painting “The Savior,” a haunting depiction of the face of Jesus Christ coming out of the darkness, caught the attention of religious officials in Jerusalem who saw it on her website. The officials contacted the 28-year-old artist, who goes by Micha, who donated a copy to be presented to Pope Benedict XVI during his May 12 visit to Jerusalem to be displayed at the Vatican.

Grand jury testimony in the embezzlement case against John Drayman - unsealed Friday - painted a picture of lax oversight of the former city councilman's collection and accounting of proceeds from the Montrose Harvest Market, an operation that consistently lost money until more stringent controls were implemented.  During his years of running the Sunday market, from which Drayman allegedly embezzled at least $304,000, the Montrose Shopping Park...

Marine life artist Robert Wyland - best known for painting life-sized whales and other seascapes on buildings - helped celebrate the 40th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act by painting a mural Friday at the Americana at Brand. He had help from a number of officials who used the occasion to launch the National Mayor's Challenge for Water Conservation, a friendly competition among cities across the U.S. to see who can conserve the most water from March 30 to April 30. The mural is slated for display inside the Anthropologie store, organizers said.

A Burbank woman who just had to paint her nails on a Southwest flight to Houston was reportedly arrested after getting in an argument with a flight attendant. The woman, Jeanie Daniels, was detained for 10 hours upon arriving at Hobby Airport Feb. 26 before a judge dismissed the suggested charge of using "abusive profane language," according to a CBS Los Angeles report . Daniels, en route to visit her boyfriend, was painting her nails in her seat when a flight attendant asked her to stop.

Frank Paul Vent was born in Detroit, Michigan on April 22, 1921.  He passed away February 1st, 2012 from natural causes. Frank's parents emigrated from Italy in the early 1900's. From an early age, Frank discovered he had an natural ability to draw. He followed his instincts and developed his artistic abilities that lasted the rest of his life.  The first organization to notice his imaginative talent was the US Navy. He enlisted in the Navy in September 1942. He began his Navy career as a Signalman.

An oil painting featuring the Statue of Liberty surrounded by the floating heads of popular Armenian figures recently became the first donated work of art to the city in more than a decade to be turned down. The painting also includes flowing wheat and Mt. Ararat - a snow-capped mountain in Turkey where, according to biblical lore, Noah's Ark came to rest. The mountain can be seen from Armenia and Iran. The work also features a statue of an Armenian princess. While one commissioner called it “a beautiful theme,” the painting failed to make it past the Arts & Culture Commission or City Council and onto a city-owned office wall - the first time that's happened since 2000, said Public Art Project Manager Ripsime Marashian.

Portrait of noted artist's wife had been hanging near bathrooms inside elementary school. A portrait by a noted local artist that had been hanging unceremoniously near a set of bathrooms at La Cañada Elementary School has found a new home. La Cañada Unified has placed the life-size painting of the community's first school teacher, Helen Haskell, on permanent loan to the Lanterman House museum, where it will be restored and eventually displayed in the second-floor ballroom. The piece dates to the early 1890s and is the work of the subject's husband, Stephen Seymour Thomas, who made his living painting the rich and famous, including President Woodrow Wilson, and settled in La Crescenta shortly after World War I. “La Cañada Elementary did not have a large enough space to properly display the portrait,” said Sharon Hancock, office manager at the school and the catalyst behind the loan.

I was at a sales meeting last week, which put me far enough from Glendale to keep me away from the local news. Sure, I could have gone online and checked out the goings-on. But had I done so, I would have missed this morning's online navigation of top stories, which included, “Indecent Exposure, Purse Snatching and Taylor Swift” - a veritable smorgasbord of comment-worthy news. This week, it certainly proved to be fruitful to catch up all at once. In case you were out of town like me, here's what went down: Local residents reported seeing a man masturbating in front of an apartment building.

Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale ushered in Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 through Oct. 15) with the opening of “Adelante! Mexican American Artists: 1960s and Beyond,” an exhibition of paintings, prints, sculpture and photography that delineate the history, culture and religion of the Mexican American community. The artwork speaks of the Mexican American journey, the people's sense of identity, family, respect of past and persistence for their posterity. Much of the art is rooted in the spiritual and political sensibilities of the Chicano community, whose identity is derived from ancient Mexican tradition.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Denise Bankuti's phone rang and the caller alerted her to turn on her television. In the days to come, as Bankuti watched the reports, she was moved by the decisions forced upon those in the World Trade Center, and by the responders who charged up the towers uncertain of their return. An artist since she was a girl growing up in Burbank, Bankuti, 60, took to her canvas in her home studio within days. “Every second you're watching TV, new scenes were coming up, new information,” she said.

Steve Melcher, the Emmy Award winning TV writer and producer involved with shows like “Penn and Teller,” “Dennis Miller,” “The Late Show with David Letterman,” and “Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update,” shatters conventional reverence for museum masterworks with tongue in cheek parodies published in his book titled “That is Priceless; Art's Greatest Masterpieces…Made Slightly Funnier.” No iconic artist escapes the author's satirical...