Last Day for ArtFest at Ft. C.F. Smith

Early Morning in Venice

Friday is the last day to see the show at Ft. C.F. Smith.
It's located at 2411 N. 24th St in Arlington.  It only is open for 2 hours on Friday.  It opens at 10 am and comes down promptly at noon.  So if you haven't seen it , you have one more chance.

The show has hung for a week.  5 of my paintings have found a new home.  Sometimes it's very hard to part with my paintings, but I can't keep them all because my house is over-flowing with art work.  I just have to accept that my babies have a new home where someone will appreciate them like I do.

There are also boxes of cards there that make great gifts and also great thank you notes.

Sold!

Sold!

Sold!

I want to thank all of my friends and fans who came to the show and supported me.  It's not all about selling (although that's always nice, too!) but it's also about feeling the network of friends, students and patrons who rally around me and encourage me as an artist.  Thanks, everyone, for always being there for me.

The Plein Air Paint Out

Spring Planting

The Plein Air Paint-out fell on one of the coldest mornings we've had in a while.  Last week it was 80 degrees, and we were all sweating.  Last night, the temperature dropped to 29 degrees, and so this morning it was quite cold.  I wore long underwear and it helped.


Here's the one I did.  It's called "Spring Planting".  The trellis has wisteria growing although no flowers are blooming yet.  However, don't be surprised if I don't add some when I get back to the studio. 

Painting at Ft. Smith

Just getting started

We had a good turn out.  Nine people showed up at Ft. Smith to paint, and one person showed up to observe!  For most of the attendees, it was the first time they had ever painted outside.  The first time you paint outside, it is very stressful.  There is so much to look at, and it's hard to narrow down your focus.  Also, the light changes quickly, and in two hours, the light is completely different.  So everyone must paint fast!  We took photos so that people can work on their paintings back in the studio.

Come to the Plein Air Paint Out

Painting of Ft. C.F. Smith 

Tomorrow I will be holding a workshop at ArtFest called: Plein Air Paint-Out.  We will be painting outside.  I will demonstrate for anyone who has never done painting on site before.  All are welcomed- spectators and painters alike.  The workshop is free!

It could be a little chilly so wear layers.  Also bring a hat or visor in case the sun is hitting your eyes. I suggest a small canvas, 8x10 or 9x12 so that you can finish the whole painting in one sitting.  Also, bring your camera in case you don't finish.

We start at 10 am and will finish up with a critique.  Bring a bag lunch to eat while we look at all the paintings and discuss how to improve them.

This painting in this blog is a plein air piece I did a few years ago at Ft. Smith.  There's lots more to paint so don't think you can only paint the old house.  Lots of trees are flowering and there are some beautiful scenes to paint.  Hope to see you there.

ARTFEST continues this week.  The hours are:
Tues:  10 am-2 pm
Wed:  11 am - 5 pm
Thurs 11 am- 4 pm
Friday :  10 am - noon.  The show ends promptly at noon , so if you want to see the art work, get there no later than 11:30.

3rd Day of ArtFest at Ft. Smith

Boys on the Beach

Sold!

Saturday and Sunday have been dreary days after all the beautiful weather we've been having.  However, it hasn't kept people away from ArtFest which is a wonderful art show of 35 artists.  If you haven't been, make sure you go this week.  I added a new painting into the show because Azalea Garden sold!!!  When the azaleas bloom again, I'll have to set up in Claire deGroot's garden and try my hand at the beauty of the spring.

Boys on the Beach is an oil painting I did of my 2 oldest boys when they were younger.  I always love the reflections in the wet sand and the way the sun hits their skin.

If you can, stop by Ft. Smith and see the show.
 I will be there on Tuesday from 10 am-1 pm.


Ft. Smith:  2411 N. 24th St. Arlington
Hours:  Sunday : noon - 5 pm
             Monday:  closed
             Tues: 10 am - 2 pm
             Wed :  11 am - 5 pm
             Thur: 11 am - 4 pm
             Friday :  10 am - noon

A Great Reception at Ft. Smith

"

SOLD!

The hours for Art Fest is as follows:

    Fri, March 23:  6-8 pm

    Sat. March 24:  10:30 am - 5 pm

    Sun March 25: noon - 5pm

    Mon. - closed

    Tues. March 27:  10 am - 2 pm (I'll be doing a demo starting at 10 am)

    Wed. March 28:  11 am- 5 pm

    Thur. March 29:  11 am- 4pm

    Fri.  March 30:  10 am-noon

Thanks to all of you that came to the Ft. Smith reception.  We had a great turn out!  My Venice piece, "Quiet Reflections of Venice" found a new home.  That enabled me to put another piece in the show, so I chose "Rainy Streets of New York". This is a small one, 6 inches by 8 inches.  It will be there for the rest of the show which ends next Friday, March 30.  Hope you can stop by and see this beautiful exhibition.  I will be there on Tuesday from 10 am-1 pm doing the plein air event. Come paint with me or just come and observe.  The weather is supposed to be great!

Reception for Fort Smith

Tonight is the reception for ArtFest which is located at Ft. C.F. Smith.  It is at 2411 N. 24th St. in Arlington.  The event tonight is from 6-8 pm.  It's always lovely because it's catered and there is wine; it's like going to a lovely cocktail party.  Please come and bring your friends.  You'll see some great art and me!  I'll be there, so I'd love to see you.

Azalea Garden by Jane McElvany Coonce

This is one of my paintings that will be in the show.  It's a painting I did plein air in Ward and Claire deGroot's garden on Ohio Street. 

The hours for Art Fest is as follows:

    Fri, March 23:  6-8 pm

    Sat. March 24:  10:30 am - 5 pm

    Sun March 25: noon - 5pm

    Mon. - closed

    Tues. March 27:  10 am - 2 pm (I'll be doing a demo starting at 10 am)

    Wed. March 28:  11 am- 5 pm

    Thur. March 29:  11 am- 4pm

    Fri.  March 30:  10 am-noon

Paint Along and Students' paintings

Rock Creek Park by Jane McElvany Coonce

My brother-in law's girlfriend, Kelly, suggested that I put up my students' works when we do a paint along.  I thought it was a great idea.  A paint along is when I supply everyone in the class with the same photo, and I demonstrate step by step how to do trees, then stone, then water.  Last week I published the painting I did as a paint along.  Here is the demo I did in class.

Painting by student Jessica Mickey

Painting by student Liz Shaeffer

Here are two of the paint alongs done by students in my Thursday night class.  I think they look great!!!  I'll have to put up the ones in the other class in an upcoming blog.  Stay tuned!

Ft. Smith Art Fest Starts Friday 6-8 pm

I'd like to invite everyone to the Ft. Smith Art Fest.  It's a week of art festivaties that begin with a reception on Friday night, 6 - 8 pm .  Bring friends and family; everyone is invited.  Ft. Smith is located at 2411 N. 24th St. in Arlington.  It is right near Lorcom Lane and Spout Run.  I will have some of my Venice scenes and my night scenes displayed there.   30 other artists will be showing their work , too.  The show hangs for a week and there are lots of free demonstrations and classes. I will be doing a plein air workshop on Tuesday, March 27, at 10 am.  Come and paint along with me or just come and watch.

Check out all the activities at this website:   www.arlingtonartistsalliance.org.

Make sure you come up to me and say "hi!"

Boob Job

My Mermaid project is getting closer to an end.  After the last post, I got lots of suggestions!  Thanks, everyone.  The problem I was having was with the boobs.   In the photo I'm working from, the boobs were covered with seashells.  So I was trying to invent them. The women in my art class thought they were too big, but as one gentleman friend pointed out, there's no such thing as too big! I even stood in the mirror and tried to prop mine up, but when your sixty, they don't quite live up to the expectation.  A friend, Ted, sent an email on a scientific experiment to increase men's life expectancy by staring at women's breast.  The email was full of photos of boobs.  I picked out the ones that were in the right position. I had to keep running back and forth between the computer and where my easel was set up, trying to remember, with accuracy, what I saw.  It was pretty comical.  I finally took the paints and canvas into the computer room and painted directly from the computer screen.  (This is why I need an iPad.)

Anyway, I will present this to my client tomorrow, and I hope I don't have to perform any more boob jobs on this painting!

X-rated Mermaid's progress

As you can see, the mermaid is progressing.  I've blocked in her upper torso, arms, face and hair.  All of this will need to be reworked.  I asked in the last blog if this is considered x-rated, and one friend wrote back, "Only in America".  I had to laugh!!!   My mermaid has a long way to go, but I thought it might be fun to show you how she is developing, so to speak!

Rock Creek Park in Full Color

In the art class that I teach for Arlington Adult Education, we had an interesting project for the past two weeks.  I offered a "Paint Along" where I supplied the photo and anyone who wanted to could follow along as I demonstrated.  I started by showing everyone how to draw with paint.  They then did that step. Then I demonstrated how to block in the back color of the trees.  The students would do that step. The next part of the demo was the stones of the bridge.  And the class continued like this with me doing a demo on my painting and the students then doing the same step on their canvases.  It's amazing how they all turned out.  They were really beautiful!  I think they learned a lot about how to paint trees, stones and water.  Here is my painting "Rock Creek Park in Full Color."  It was exhausting, but also a lot of fun!
This was the painting we did in the Thursday night class.  I'll post the other "paint alongs" from my other classes later.

I've been working on my mermaid project, and I thought you might like to see how a painting like this progresses.  It's got a long way to go.  I've blocked in the background and the tail of the mermaid.  The tail needs more work because I have to paint the scales of a fish.  The fun part will be when I get to her face and hair.  Then I'll go back and refine the water and the oyster shell that she is sitting on and decide if I want to add other things like birds flying in the distance or another palm tree or two.  I'm looking forward to getting back to this, but it probably won't be until Friday.

The Grande Canal

"The Grand Canal" is another painting from my Venice series that I just finished.  It's probably the most recognizable  canal of Venice.  This is a small oil painting. It's 6 x8 inches and is framed in a black floater frame with a silver edge.    This will probably be my last Venice painting for a while.  I have a few commissions that I need to work on.

The Mermaid commission is one that I've started.  As an artist, you get all kinds of crazy requests.  In a future  blog , I tell you about my Victoria Secrets commission. One Crazy story!!!!!
 This one is not so crazy, but it will be fun and different from what I normally paint.  And actually, I've been wanting to paint a mermaid on the walls of my brother's beach house.  So this commission might just spur me on to do the mural at the beach house.  Here's the drawing for the painting:  a mermaid sitting on an oyster shell, holding a martini!  Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll show you how it's progressing.

Cafe at Night

"Cafe at Night" is another rainy night scene.  This one is really small!  It's 5 inches by 5 inches.
It's framed in a black floater frame with gold trim.  I think you can see from the photo that the painting floats inside the frame.  I like the contemporary look of this frame.

I finished up another small Venice scene today, and as soon as I photograph it, I'll put that up on my blog.  I'm working on the Mermaid commission, and although it's not ready for the unveiling yet, I'll put up some pictures pretty soon so you can see how I'm progressing.

Thanks to all of you who are following my blog.  I'm having fun doing it, and it's always great when someone tells me they enjoy reading it.  If you see it on Facebook, hit the "like" button so it will spread the word about my blog!  Thanks!

Bright Lights on a Rainy Night

"Bright Lights on a Rainy Night" is another of my New York scenes.  I love painting night scenes especially when it is raining.  All the lights from the street signs to the shop signs reflect in the wet pavement making fun reflections.  This is a small oil painting .  It's 8 inches by 8 inches and is in a black floater frame.  Floater frames are nice because the painting looks like it's floating in the frame, and no part of the frame comes over onto the painting eating up part of the image. I have this painting at my studio this month at Stifel and Capra.  

Black and White Show

Today I dropped off my painting "Zebra Stripes" at the Arlington County Board offices.  This is from a juried show called "Black and White" and my painting won 2nd place.  The theme was challenging for me because I love color!  But I ended up having a great time painting this one.  Sometimes these themed shows make the artists push themselves in doing something out of the comfort tone.  

New York Paintings

Thanks to all of you that came out to a very successful First Friday at my studio at Stifel and Capra.  It was very well attended, and I have two new commissions that sound very interesting and fun.  One is of a mermaid!  (Does anyone know a mermaid that might be interested in modeling?) The other is a figure/portrait of my client as a young girl in her Easter dress and hat!  Both will be challenging and fun.  I'll put these paintings up as I work on them.

Here's another painting from my New York trip.  This one is an oil.  It's a small one (6x8 inches) in a beautiful floater frame.  This one is also at my studio, so if you came to First Friday, you saw it.  The present show will be up for the month of March, so stop by if you get a chance.

 Stifel and Capra is open Monday - Saturday from 10 am - 5 pm and Sunday from noon to 5 pm.

First Friday

Tonight is First Friday at Stifel and Capra.  260 W. Broad St in Falls Church (corner of Route 7 and Little Falls Rd)  from 5 - 8 pm.  I'm not there every month, but I will be tonight!

This is a painting that I did from my New York trip this fall.  It's an acrylic done with transparent colors.
It's called "Early Morning Commuters".  I took the Mega Bus up to NY and sat in the front seat.  As we pulled into the city, I had my camera snapping the scenes out of the front window of the bus.  Got some great shots, and hopefully,will get some great paintings out of this trip. Thanks goodness, because the purpose of the trip was to take my son, Brian, up to see the Dead Sea Scrolls since he was studying that in a class at college.  He was totally bored.  At least, I got something out of it!