Jeff Blum Art
Artist’s Statement
My career was as a community and political organizer. Upon retiring, I asked my mother, who had taken art up again after a decades-long hiatus, to teach me to paint. I found that the use of a different part of my brain was stimulating, challenging, fun and made for a wonderful connection with mom that greatly deepened my connection to Cape Cod, where I’ve been coming for nearly 60 years.
I believe that you can teach an old dog a new trick if he’ll go to school. So I take classes religiously – in New York at the Art Students’ League and the School of Visual Arts, among others; on Cape Cod at Truro Center for the Arts and PAAM. So far, my media are mainly acrylic and watercolor, but I am learning more. Like others, I study artists for inspiration and am pleased to offer renditions of some that have captivated me.
The world needs more justice, peace and democracy, so I remain politically active. Mainly, I find that my art is more about seeing the beauty and structure in nature, and trying to express that, than about making a more explicit “political” statement. I enjoy experiencing the overlap of art and politics but I am rarely called to try and “paint my politics.” Yet. Of course, since so much of my painting is landscape, it is very much about sharing my love of the very threatened natural world, esp. on Outer Cape Cod, or of the beauty to be found in cities where I’ve lived or visited.
When we moved to NYC in 2018, I was faced with many new scenes to paint and schools to study in. Then, when we spent almost an entire pandemic year on Cape Cod, I got to experience the Cape’s beauty in all seasons. I study watercolor partly so that I can paint while traveling, and some of these works were done on Amtrak, on a mountainside or in locales where I’ve landed.
Cape Cod Spring
Farewell to Ryder Beach 4
Farewell to Ryder Beach 3
Farewell to Ryder Beach 2
April Sunrise
Leila at the beach
From the Window Pandemic Study #1
Stormy Bay
Sunset
Cape Cod Summer
Race Point Living
Race Point Living 2
Old Pier in Ptown
Old Pier in Ptown 2
Corn Hill
Misty Morning
Misty Morning 2
Pamet River at Truro Center
Great Hollow Solstice
Great Pond Truro 2
Great Pond Truro 3
Great Pond Truro
Snow’s Cemetery
Black’s Pond with Lilies
Thank You Jessica
Leila in the Dunes
Megan’s Trees Monochrome
Wellfleet Harbor Morning
Wellfleet Harbor
The Gull on the Hot Rock
Sunset over Cape Cod Bay
Joe and Leila
Ballston Bonfire – Remembering Dana
Cape Cod Fall
Pamet Marsh 3
Pamet Marsh 2
Railroad Trail 1
Railroad Trail 2
South Pamet Road
November in Our Kettle
Pamet Harbor Jetty 3
Pamet Harbor Jetty 2
Misty November Morning
High Ridge Sunset
After the Storm North
From the Walker Garden at PAAM
Dune Grass
Great Hollow with Keith
Long Nook Road Fall
Cape Cod Winter
Misty February Morning
Long Nook Beach
Great Hollow Beach in snow two views
Great Hollow Beach During Snowstorm
Railroad Trail After Snow
Railroad Trail After Snow 2
Railroad Trail After Snow 3
Railroad Trail After Snow 4
Little Pamet River
Little Pamet River Reeds
Snow on the Kettle
Snowy Kettle
Ballston Birthday
Snowy Sunset
Snowy Sunset 2
Storm Clouds Lifting
Blooms by Blum
Carpet of Cherry
Forsythia in Greenville
Patty’s Flowers 1
Patty’s Flowers 2
Patty’s Flowers 3
Patty’s Garden
Spring Comes Again
Tulips
Bleeding Hearts
Campanula 1
Campanula 2
Fisherman’s Road Cactus
By the Garden
Snow on Cherry Blossoms
Vase with Flowers Bichrome
Yellow Joy
Cherry Over Gerry
New York Spring and Summer
Riverside Park Tulips
Riverside Sycamores
Central Park Summer from Claire’s Window
Cherry Tree in Central Park
Central Park Pond – Homage to Ruth Pelham
Icy Central Park Pond
Rebuilding in Spring
First Day of Spring
Going Too Fast Cover
Liberty
Morningside Park
Snow on Cherry Blossoms 3
Storm Gathering
New York Fall and Winter
Riverside Park Fall
Snow at Dusk
Riverside Park Sycamore
Misty Riverside Morning
The New View From the Window
Pandemic Goodbye
Croton Falls Reservoir
Glacier Park and the West by Amtrak
McDonal Creek
Glacier Park After Wildfire 3
Glacier Park After Wildfire 2
Glacier Park After Wildfire 1
Argillite and Chlorite on Scenic Point Trail
Argillite and Chlorite sketch on Scenic Point Trail
Argillite and Chlorite Charcoal on Scenic Point Trail
Glacier Park Beaver Pond
Hint of Fall
Victoria Lower Falls
Victoria Lower Falls 3
St. Mary Lake Reflections
Sunset over Golconda
Utah Sunrise from Amtrak
Donner Lake from Amtrak
American River Valley from Amtrak
Across the US and Beyond
Aunt Violet’s House on Boxing Day 2
Screechie’s Beach at Xmas
Bamboo Avenue
Mangrove Swamp on Black River
Egret on Black River Jamaica
Leila in the Fronds
Sunset over Benedictine Monastery in Vilnius
With Leon Blum in Paris
Heading to Market, Vietnam
Gerlocky utca
Tower of London at Sunset
Quetzaltenango Dye Vendors with Lollipops
Dancing at Lake Montebello Cover
For Ro – Morning on the Dan
Claire’s Bluebonnets
Lake Champlain with Hammock
New Hope
CT Wetland from Amtrak
Western Landscape
Mike Moore RIP
Remembering the Day Dad Died
Sunrise, Sunset
High Ridge Sunrise
Sunset on the Hudson
Ballston Beach
Ballston Beach #3 & 4
9 Ballston Beach Sunsets
Great Hollow Solstice Sunset 1
Great Hollow Solstice Sunset 2
Riverside Sunset
Last NYC Sunset before fleeing
Blood Moon (for Lynne)
After the Blizzard
Last Light on the Hudson
Takoma Park
Home
Cedar Holly Fall Tree
Fall from the window
Farewell to Sligo Creek
Japanese Anemones at Home
Maryland State Flower
The Side Yard
C & O Canal
Yoga Tree
Still Lifes, Portraits and Studies
Still Life After Resika
Still Life After Matisse
Still Life After Matisse 2
Still Life After Bonnard
Cherries
Avocado
Cabbage and Perfume Jar
Panels for Here Comes Leila Book
3 Bottles
3 Bottles 2
Still Life with Kiddush Cup
Zentangle
Sitting Woman
Standing Man
Man with Staff
Self Portrait
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Valentine
Copying Artists
Herman Maril North Truro Cabins
Herman Maril – I Return to the Hot Humid City
Herman Maril – I Return to the Hot Humid City 2
Herman Maril Untitled (Inlet) Blue
Herman Maril Untitled (Inlet) Yellow
Martha Armstrong Two Red Maples
Fairfield Porter A View from High Ledge
Mary Salstrom Illinois Field
Mary Salstrom Sweden
Edward Hopper Cobb’s Barns South Truro
Paul Resika House with Blue Mountain
JMW Turner The Slave Ship
Painting like Ron Gordon
Nicholas Roerich Mount “M”
Turner in Truro After 1991 Storm