The Boathouse on the Potomac

The Potomac Boat Club in Georgetown
Original oil painting by Jane McElvany Coonce
16x20

Here's the latest painting I've been working on this week.  It's a scene of the Potomac Boat Club that sits on the edge of the Potomac River.  In the background is Georgetown University's towers. 

I have to give thanks to Allen Pierce who invited me to go out in the early morning with his crew team.  I had to be down in Georgetown  at 5 am. I sat in the motorized boat and snapped photos as we motored along.  I've done quite a few paintings from this early morning adventure.  It is so quiet on the river at 5 am.  There are very few cars out, and the river is very peaceful.  I can see how people get addicted to rowing.  It's a very special time. 

Cafe Scenes

Evening Under the White Umbrella
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

Sunday in the Outdoor Cafe
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

Another theme I like to paint are cafe scenes.  I am especially attracted to cafes with umbrellas.  People are fascinating; we are all probably people watchers.  We like to see what people are wearing.  Or maybe there is something unusual about them that attracts your attention.  I've done lots of cafe scenes with people sitting under at the table under the umbrella.  I'll post more later.

New York Scenes

New York Fruit Stand
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

Approaching the Equinox
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

I love doing New York street scenes.  I go to there with my son, Kevin, to see Broadway plays.  I always take pictures in hopes of finding a perfect scene to paint.  I especially like it if it is rainy.  Rainy days give you puddles and reflections in the wet streets.
I guess I won't be going to New York for a while.  My heart goes out to all the people who are sick. New York really got hit hard with the Corona virus. I love painting your city.

Bright Lights of New York
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

Adding the Flag

Version 1
oil painting by Jane McElvany Coonce
6 x 8 inches

Version 2
oil painting by Jane McElvany Coonce

As I told you, I'm doing a lot of painting. I have worked on some new ones, but this is another older one that I pulled out and decided to add something.  I always liked the original.  It's Sandi Parker's mom's house.  We painted there and I played up the flowers a little bit. But I've shown this painting, and it hasn't sold.  I decided to add something, so just like I added the American flag to "Remnants of Summer (last post), I decided to add an American flag to this painting.

I like it even more.  What do you think?

Remnants of Summer - Add on

Version 1

Version 2

One of the things I'm doing in this time of sequester is to take old paintings and add to them.  Sometimes I do it because I have had them a while and they haven't sold.  Other times, I do it because I feel the painting needs something more.

In "Remnants of Summer," I did Version 1 in 2005.  I've put it in art shows for 14 years.  I always liked it because I love trompe l'oeil.  I loved painting the old shutter. 

I decided to add more to it.  I added an American flag and a postcard of Rehoboth Beach.  It tells a little more of a story.

The camera has made the color brighter in version 2, but that just the way it printed.

Which one do you like better?  In the other paintings that I've added something to an older painting, people seem to like the original one better.  Art is always in the eye of the beholder.

Pet Portraits

oil painting
by Jane McElvany Coonce

oil painting
by Jane McElvany Coonce

oil painting
by Jane McElvany Coonce

Someone asked me if I do pet portraits.  The answer is I do.  We all love our pets.  I did one commission where the pet had recently died.  When the man came to pick up the painting, he started crying uncontrollably.  I thought he didn't like the painting, but he could finally speak, he said it looked just like his dog.  Pets love us unconditionally.  We can have a bad hair day, and they still love us.  We can be in a bad mood, and they still love us.  We owe it to our pets to be worthy of such devotion.

watercolor
by Jane McElvany Coonce

Playing on the Beach: A Pastel

Kevin and Nicholas - Playing on the Beach
pastel by Jane McElvany Coonce

Most of my posts are either oil or watercolor.  I thought I would post a pastel today.  Pastel is the same pigments that you find in other paint (oil and watercolor.) It's the binder that is different.
Some people call pastel chalk.  Actually, it's the dry pigment binded together with gum arabic. Pastels are considered paintings since the artist is using color, blending colors and using the same technique of layering colors that oil painters do.  A pastel artist puts the darker colors down first and then adds lighter colors as he builds up.  So in the hair, for example, the dark brown above the ears would be put down , then a darker ochre yellow.  Later on, the artist would work up towards the highlights of the light yellow in the hair, adding this on top of a darker layer. 

This is a painting of two of my sons when they were small.  We were in Lewes, Delaware, and they were playing on the beach.  I did a number of paintings of them from these photos.  This painting hangs over my fireplace in my bedroom.  There are some paintings I just don't part with. As a museum might say, "In the collection of the artist."

Adding something to an Old Painting- Vases of Flowers

Vases of Flowers
1st attempt

Here's a still life that I call "Vases of Flowers."
When I thought I was finished, I let it sit a while.  I felt it was missing something. So I went back and added some more flowers.  I put a rose of Sharon in the pink vase, and I put some hydrangeas in the green vase. I like it a lot better.

To try out a new idea on an old painting, I put a piece of transparency over my painting. Then I paint on the transparency and see if I like my idea.  I can move the transparency around and see where I want to put the flowers. Once I believe I like how it looks, I remove the transparency and paint the flowers on the canvas.

Do you like the 2nd one better?

Vases of Flowers
Final Version
oil painting by Jane McElvany Coonce

Trophy Chase

Trophy Case
painting by Jane McElvany Coonce

When you do a painting for your first 2 sons, then of course, you have to do a painting for the third one.  My youngest son, Brian, has been a diver all of his life.  He started when he was in elementary school at the Donaldson Run pool, dove in high school at Yorktown, and dove for the Division 1 team at the University of Delaware in college.

What do you do with all these trophies and ribbons?  Eventually, you throw them out, but I decided to memorize them in a trompe l'oeil painting.  This painting was done in 2009 when he graduated from high school, so he has many more ribbons and trophies then what's shown.

Brian went on to become head diving coach at the University of Delaware and won Coach of the Year for the Mid Atlantic states for both men and women.  Quite an honor. He now teaches 3rd grade for Arlington County Schools, and he has his own dive club, Capital Dive Club.  He also owns a trompe l'oeil painting by his mom.

My dog in a Trompe L'oeil painting

Seamus Trying to Join the Card Game
painting by Jane McElvany Coonce

Harry Potter's Bookshelf

Harry Potter's Bookshelf
painting by Jane McElvany Coonce

I am posting another trompe l'oeil painting so that my 2nd son, Kevin, doesn't get his nose out of joint.  When Kevin was little, he didn't like to read.  He never wanted to read anything.  My librarian friend, Nancy Roche, told me about a new series that was out called Harry Potter. She said the books were very good, and I should read it to him.  I bought the book, and each night before bed, I would read a chapter to him.  If you haven't read Harry Potter books, they are funny, sad and also downright scary.  When we would get to a scary part, Kevin would snuggle closer as I read to him.  We finished the book, and we both loved it!  He asked me to read it to him again.  I handed him the book and said, "No, you read it."  And with that, Kevin read the first Harry Potter book again.  He proceeded to read every other book that came out. J.K.Rowling, the author of the book, turned a non-reader into an avid reader.  Kevin is grown now, and he is in 2 book clubs.  Thanks, Ms. Rowlings for changing my son's life.

22 Bottles of Beer

22 Bottles of Beer
by Jane McElvany Coonce
24x36

Here's a cute story.

When my oldest son, Nicholas, was in college, he asked me to do a painting for him for his apartment.
I asked him what he wanted, and he said he didn't know.  I asked him what he liked, and he said "beer." I decided to paint a
trompe l'oeil painting for him. (Fool the eye.).  I painted the canvas to look like 3 shelves.  I did the wood graining.  I decided I wanted every beer bottle to be different.  I went over to the Lost Dog Cafe because they are known for having hundreds of beers. I told them about my project. When I asked if they recycled, they said no, but that I was welcome to look through their trash cans in the back of the store.  I went out into the alley and began pulling out bottles, saving the ones I wanted to put in my painting.  I had about 15 bottles when I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, a couple walking down the sidewalk.  I heard the woman say, "Oh the poor dear is hungry."  I realized she was talking about me! I quickly gathered my bottles and left.  I bought the rest of the bottles to finish the painting.  The things we do for art!

Everything is Closed!

The art world is shutting down just like the rest of the world due to the Corona virus.  The Art League at the Torpedo Factory, Falls Church Arts, Rehoboth Art League and Gallery Underground in Crystal City are all closed.  Baltimore Watercolor Society cancelled their big Mid-Atlantic Show which really shocked me! Even the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC is closed. There is no where to go around here to see art. 

That got me thinking.  Artists produce art because they have that creative interest, but they also do it to show.  One doesn't paint just to put the art in the closet.  I've decided to start featuring some of my art from the past and the present.  Some of them have interesting stories, some are just what they are.  Hopefully, it will add a little interest in your life while we stay hunkered down in our houses.

Here are two recent watercolors I did.  With spring coming, flowers always brighten our day.  In the leaves of the roses, I tried something different.  Instead of mixing green, I mingled colors on the paper:  yellow next to blue and let the paint mix itself.  I loved the effect.  The paint did a better job than I could have!  Let me know what you think.

Posies
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce
11x14

Daffodils
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce
11x14

Nats Part 2

In my rush to put up my painting last night and pack for Peru (we are leaving this morning) I forgot to mention a few things.  First of all, I want to thank Leigh Culver who was the inspiration behind this painting.  Leigh is a teacher at The Art League and always sets up interesting still life for her classes.  I stopped in there on the day she had trompe l'oeil set ups and she had some fascinating ones.  One was a violin with sheet music and another was The Nats montage.  So I really owe her for the inspiration of this painting.  I also want to thank Liz Shaffer and Agnes Yackshaw who advised me about Nat knowledge.  Liz gave me her World Series ticket and also suggested Ryan Zimmerman for the baseball card, and Agnes gave me all kinds of Nats items and even told me about Nationals Beer.
Thanks to all who helped me do this painting, but especially to Leigh Culver.

Tribute to the Washington Nationals

 I finished my latest painting.  I haven't done a trompe l'oeil painting in quite a while because they are very time consuming.  Trompe l'oeil means fool the eye.  So everything must be painted the actual size and with as much realism as can be done. The idea of this trompe l'oeil came from a still life set up that Leigh Culver designed for classroom at The Art League. She had quite a few Trompe l'oeil set ups and they were all beautiful.  I loved the Nats. I tweaked it a bit, but the overall idea was her creativity.

 As for the process, each part of the painting is done before you can add things on top. The cork board was many layers of color and then all the little circles had to be done with a tiny brush.  The "wood" frame had to be painted tan, and then I did the woodgraining on top of the tan color. Each item took hours to get it just right.

I painted Ryan Zimmerman on the baseball card. They call him "Mr. National" due to the fact he was the Nationals very first draft pick, and he has played for them his entire career.

Last year was an exciting year for the Nats.  They made the playoffs and no one thought they would go any further.  But they did!  On to the World Series.  They won their first 3 games that were away, and they lost the next 3 games at home.  So the World Series came down to game 7, and it was an away game.  Washington DC went crazy when they won.
We love our Nats.  Hope you like this painting.  It was a labor of love.  Thanks, Leigh, for your inspiration.

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