Vincent Mercaldo - Painter of the Old West

      My father inherited 3 watercolor paintings from his great uncle Vincent.  Vincent Mercaldo was an italian immigrant who was a professional artist in NYC.  My mother told me they were "cast-offs" and his best works were in museums.  I haven't found out all the details of his life yet, but from what I could gather online, he painted, photographed, but was important mostly because he gathered a great collection of photographs and paintings of the Old West. He owned photos of  Annie Oakley and Wild Bill Cody, among others.
     Here are some pieces of his collection  Vincent's Collection .
 
     Ever since I can remember, these paintings were hanging in my brothers' rooms.  Then I asked for them when I had my own kids.  My brother Luke had already been given the larger of the three (which I think is the only signed painting).

These are the two I own.  I think they were preliminary studies for his paintings.  The painting below is Luke's.  It was by a window during a storm and has suffered some water damage, which I am going to research to see what can be done.  I may just scan it and see if anyone with photoshop skills can help me get a clean digital copy.

It is really cool when you learn about someone in your family's past who has had similiar loves and interests.  The Mercaldo family has had its share of excellent musicians, even a few recordings, but there are less visual artists.  Plus, this inspires me to search out some western landscapes to photograph and paint when we move to Texas!

whiskey painting and botanical gardens

 This past Sunday afternoon, I attended a Cabarrus County Art Guild meeting (I LOVE saying I am part of the GUILD!)  A member from the official society for Whiskey Painters of America was there to do a demo.  We all had the opportunity to create our own miniature painting.  Whiskey painting is a style which was developed in the 1940's by a guy who would go to a local bar after work with his friends.  He always carried a tiny set of watercolors and some paper with him and ended up making it a daily occurrence that he and his friends would paint, using whiskey instead of water to wet the paints.  The whiskey reacts with the paint different than water, creating a vibrant hue and dries a lot quicker.  It totally changes the process.  I do not have whiskey (you can use any hard liquor) in the house, or else I would have created several more paintings by today.  I am not overly happy about the above pansy painting, but I guess its good for my first try.

And speaking of pansies, have you ever wondered why "pansy" is used to describe a weaker person?  A pansy is a very hardy flower surviving much colder weather than most other flowers.

And speaking of flowers, my friend and I visited the botanical gardens and greenhouses at UNCC today.   It was a GORGEOUS 80 degree day today.  The flowers were starting to bloom.  In a couple of weeks, I plan to go back to take pictures of the rhododendren which will be in full beauty.

 The above flower is a wildflower we use to find in the woods as a kid.  If you pick it, red liquid pours from the stem, we called it bloodroot, but I haven't researched the proper name.

 These are all from the greenhouses.  There are some really extraordinary tropical and desert plants grown there.  The big root, I just thought had a cool shape.

I have no idea what this is, but it looked edible...









It was a great day to ramble about.