Chelsea Art Alley · Main Street Masterpiece Contest

Something Blue

Brenda Fineman · Chelsea, MI

Oil

About this piece

Something borrowed… “something blue”… this piece highlights some of the darker aspects that we sometimes don’t see in traditional marriage. One view of this piece nods to traditional wedding ceremonies which often would focus on the bride; adding to that, we see in traditional marriages that it is the groom who tries to control and dominate the unity. It is an illusion that traditional marriage gave in ceremony only to the significance the bride might have in the relationship. Alternatively, this piece can also point the viewer toward a couple’s strength in persevering through the difficult, dark and rainy times in marriage. Strength together as they hold hands under the bowing branches of a tree being weighed down by the rain. It is through the viewer’s own personal experiences that will determine what this piece means to them. This piece was created using only a palette knife. No brushes were used in its creation.

About the artist

Brenda Fineman

Brenda Fineman is a Chelsea-based painter and Certified Ross Instructor® (CRI). Trained at the original Bob Ross studio in Muncie, Indiana, she works primarily in the wet-on-wet oil painting tradition, blending classical landscape technique with fantasy, sci-fi, and video-game-inspired subjects. Her work brings together two of her lifelong loves — the gentle teaching style of Bob Ross and the visual worlds of geek culture — into paintings that read both as classical practice and personal fandom. Before turning to painting full-time, Brenda taught English composition at Washtenaw Community College for seven years. In 2022 she founded Geek Brush Studio, an art studio, gallery, and supply shop which now resides at 108 E. Middle Street in downtown Chelsea, where she teaches and paints.

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