Another Key Bridge Painting

Looking Down on Key Bridge and M St.
by Jane McElvany Coonce

For those of you that know me, you know I'm obsessed with the Key Bridge.  Why? I don't know.  I just know every time I drive down the George Washington Parkway that overlooks the Potomac River and Washington D.C., I almost wreck my car because I'm looking at that beautiful vista.   I've done zillions of Key Bridge paintings from many angles, different times of day, different times of year.  This view was from the top of the Marriott in Rosslyn when we attended our friend Melissa's wedding.  It was 5:00 in the evening, and the sun was hitting the bridge.  I took photos through the glass hoping they would turn out.  It was raining that evening, and the glass was spotted with drops of rain.  I tried to aim my camera in between spots.
Luckily the photos turned out perfectly, so I did this great shot of the beginning of Georgetown on M St.
I just finished it this week, or at least I think I'm done.  I'll have to stare at it a bit more before I say fini!!!

Show at Cassatt's

The Big Bang Theory

Tonight is the opening reception at Cassatt's for a juried show sponsored by the Arlington Artists Alliance.  The show is entitled "Think Like a Child".  The juror was Lisa Semerad.  My painting won 2nd place!  It's one of my tromp l'oeil paintings.  It looks like a black board with wood around the edges and things scotch taped to the blackboard, but everything is paint on a regular canvas.   My idea behind this painting was that someone writes a complicated algebraic equation on the blackboard, and someone else (who obviously thinks like a child) scotch tapes up other objects that make a big noise.
The reception is from 6 - 7:30 pm this evening.  The show hangs for a month from April 22- May 20.
Cassatt's is located in the Lee Heights Shops at  4536 Lee Highway in Arlington.

Plein Air in the Azalea Garden

Bench of Serenity by Jane McElvany Coonce

Path Through the Azaleas
by Jane McElvany Coonce

The weather has been beautiful this spring, and I took advantage of it by going out and plein air painting in my friend's garden.  Claire DeGroot's garden is directly behind Little Falls Church.  It is an acre of azaleas in every color you can imagine.  I set up my easel in the middle of this oasis and did two paintings in an afternoon.
Claire let's me come every year.  I will probably have to touch up the paintings back in the studio, but I was pleased how they turn out.  Sometimes when you paint on site, it just doesn't come together.

Back from New York

Shades of Gray in the City
by Jane McElvany Coonce

Tom and I went to New York for a few days for the fabulous wedding of Timothy Huff and his beautiful bride, Leila.  We went up a day early so that I could take lots of photos of the city in hopes of getting some new material for paintings.

"Shades of Gray in the City" was a painting I did from my last trip up the the Big Apple.  This was a fun painting to do, so I'm hoping I took more fun photos.

What a fabulous city!  I must have left out a lot of cars and people in this painting because it didn't look like this when we were walking around on Thursday and Friday.  I have never seen so many yellow cabs on one street in my life!

Maybe in a few months I'll have another group of New York city scenes!  Can't wait to get started!

Thursday morning class Paint a-long

Bruges by Jane McElvany Coonce

You are probably getting sick of seeing the paint-alongs from my different classes, but I've got to be fair and show each class' project.

The Thursday morning class painted a scene from my Bruges photos.  We went there 2 years ago.  I had done this painting earlier and one of my students asked if we could do it for the paint along in Thursday morning's class.

So here's my version, although, I have to be honest and say that I plan to add something to this , just to add some more interest.  Maybe I'll add some people on the bridge that will reflect in the water or maybe some ducks or swans swimming in the river.  I've been so busy with all the commissions I've recently gotten that I haven't had time to add something to these paint along paintings.  I will eventually.

Student's

Student's

Student's

Below are several of the students' paintings.  This class had the most participation.  I think there were 12 renditions of this scene.  I photographed the ones that were finished.  One of my students, Sybil, had a beautiful painting, but the camera picked up a glare and didn't do it justice, so I left that one off. I can't put them all up, but I think you can see they did a very good job.

Wed Morning Paint A-Long

Rock Creek Park in Autumn

Each of my classes did a "paint a-long" this quarter.  I already showed the Thursday night paint along of Rock Creek in Spring in an earlier blog.  This is the one we did in the Wednesday morning class of Rock Creek Park in the Fall.  Not all of the students participated.  I may add a few ducks in mine; I haven't quite decided if I should just leave it the way it is or add a little something for interest.

Jerry Kelly's painting

Isabel Kulski's painting

It's always interesting to see how every artist has a different style, a different way of seeing color, and  a different way of putting the paint on the canvas.  That is what makes art so unique.

April's First Friday

Spring Planting

I went back and touched up the plein air piece I did at the ArtFest Plein Air Paint Out last week.  I punched up the color on the wagon and the pansies and added the wisteria that wasn't blooming at the time I painted it.  It will be at my studio for First Friday.

First Friday is happening this Friday from 5 - 8 pm at Stifel and Capra.  It's located at 260 W. Broad St. in Falls Church.  Come and join me for a glass of wine and some cheese.

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry Blossoms in a Beer Mug

In honor of the Cherry Blossom season, I did this painting.  I didn't go downtown to see the Cherry blossoms this year, but I heard they were beautiful.  Two years ago, I went down there and took tons of pictures thinking I'd do a cherry blossom painting of the Jefferson Memorial.  Still haven't done a painting from the thousands of photos I took.  However, I did do some cherry blossoms from my neighbor's tree.
Those blossoms really are beautiful!