Painting in Easton, MD

3 Sailboats in Oxford by Jane McElvany Coonce

Last weekend I went up to Easton, MD to paint for four days with a group of artists.  It was one of the hottest weekends this year!  We went over to Oxford, Maryland, and I did some boats in the marina.  We couldn't paint for very long because it was so hot.  Plein air painting has it's share of problems: bugs, wind, heat, rain.  Yes, we even got sprinkled on one day.  The painting above is one I did with a limited palette.  I didn't take my standard array of colors.  I only took blue, red, yellow and white. It's much harder, I think, mixing the exact color you want, but it makes the load lighter than having to lug 20 different tubes to paint.

Artomatic

This evening, I will be participating in a "paint-in" at Artomatic.  Although I am not one of the artists in the big show "Artomatic", a group of us will be demonstrating painting on the 11th floor from 6 - 9 pm.  Come by and see us.  I will be working on a Key Bridge piece I started and need to finish. This has got a long way to go, but you can see how I've blocked in areas.  These Key Bridge/Georgetown paintings take a long time because of all the buildings and detail. I'll show you the finished project whenever that happens.  I don't know how much I'll get done tonight because a lot of people could stop and talk and distract the artist.  Oh well, it will be fun!  Come join me.  We'll have a glass of wine afterwards!

Artomatic is located in Crystal City of Arlington, 1851 S. Bell St.

Harry Potter's Bookshelf

Harry Potter's Bookshelf by Jane McElvany Coonce

Sorry I haven't blogged in over a week!  Last week was the week from hell!  I didn't have a moment to sit down and put my feet up.  The Arlington Artists Alliance is opening a new co-op gallery in Crystal City and I'm the Executive Director.  So things have been crazy.  More on that later.

I have a online store on Etsy. (not to be mistaken with Esty, an online dating site.)  Think of Etsy that rhymes with Betsy.  It's a site for all things that are handmade.  My store is calledFineArtStudios and you can find it at: www.etsy.com/shop/FineArtStudios
I haven't sold anything in a while on Etsy, but last Thursday, I sold a giclee of Harry Potter's Bookshelf.  This was a painting that I had done for Kevin, my middle son, when he was younger.  Kevin was a child who hated to read.  When the Harry Potter books came out, I read the first one to him.  He loved it.  He wanted me to read it to him again, but I told him he could read it himself.  That's when he became an avid reader.  So I did this painting for Kevin to honor his love of Harry Potter and how Harry changed his life. If you are a Harry Potter fan like I am, you'll recognize all the things that Harry Potter might have on his bookshelf.

The giclee I sold on Etsy is a very fine reproduction of the original painting.  I hope the new owner will get as much enjoyment out of it as Kevin does.