Rooftop View of Washington, DC

I haven't written on my blog for a while, but here is the latest painting I just completed. It was a commission for my friends, Jeanne and Joe, who live in Rosslyn with this beautiful skyline view. They live in Arlington overlooking the Potomac River, and this is their view of Washington. There are 3 monuments in the painting: The Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. It must be wonderful to wake up every day and look out and see this view. Can you imagine watching the 4th of July fireworks from this rooftop? I totally enjoyed painting this beautiful scene.

It's Five o'clock Somewhere

Here's the latest painting I've done. I call it "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere." I set up this still life with some bottles I had in our cupboard. I bought Don Julio's, not because I like tequilla, but because I liked the shape of the bottle. I went to Ayers 5&Dime over in Westover and bought the paper umbrellas and swizzle sticks. It took me a while to arrange all of these items. I didn't want bottles to line up at the top or at the bottom. I did some preliminary drawings. Then I painted on this still life for 3 days straight for about 8 hours a day. After I dismantled the still life, I worked on the painting from photographs to do finishing touches. I love how it turned out. It was so fun to paint. And before I could even put it in the gallery or in a show, the painting found a new home. I never realized how fun painting alcohol, instead of drinking it, could be!

This is one of many paintings,The Boathouse on the Potomac, Early Morning, that will be on display At McLean Project for the Arts "Artfest" on October 3 at McLean Central Park from 10-4 pm. It's at the corner of Old Dominion Drive and Route 123 (Dolly Madison Blvd.) My work will be on display at the McLean Art Society's tent, where you can find oil and watercolor paintings, shrinkwraps and note cards. It will be a glorious day! I hope to see many of you there! We will be there rain or shine.

Art Fest Next Sunday, Oct 3 from 10 am to 4 pm

This is one of many paintings, Moonlight Over Georgetown, that will be on display At McLean Project for the Arts "Artfest" on October 3 at McLean Central Park from 10-4 pm. It's at the corner of Old Dominion Drive and Route 123 (Dolly Madison Blvd.) My work will be on display at the McLean Art Society's tent, where you can find oil and watercolor paintings, shrinkwraps and note cards. It will be a glorious day! I hope to see many of you there! We will be there rain or shine.

Fall Online Painting Classes

If anyone is interested in signing up for my online painting class,let me know. I plan to start the class in October and go through November. The people who sign up pick what they want to do for the quarter. I do a video recording of each class, so if you can't make it to the date of the online class, you can watch it later. Also, if you are a rank beginner, you can follow along, stop the recording, paint what I just painted. Then when you are ready, start up the video again, watch the next step and again stop the recording and do what I did. It's a great way to learn. You can send me your works in progress and I will critique them and tell you what is working and what you can do to improve it. That way, the artist can get immediate feedback privately. Email me if this is something you think you might like to do. My email is : Jane.Coonce@verizon.net. It's really a lot of fun! The painting above are ones that we did in past sessions.

Portabellos is Closing

One of my favorite local restaurants is Portabellos in Arlington. The owner, MJ, has allowed me to hang my art work there for many years. I've sold many paintings there. It was great sadness when MJ called me to tell me that Covid had killed his business, and that he was closing after 15 years. This was our go-to restaurant on Friday nights. The food is delicious and reasonable priced. We will miss MJ and his humor. My last show at Portabellos is there now. I belive Portabellos last day is Sept 25. My paintings will come down a few days before. Portabellos will be greatly missed in my family.

It's a Steal This weekend, Aug 27-29

This weekend is a show where once a year, i have a sale. If you've wanted to own a McElvany-Coonce original and couldn't afford it, here is your chance. All painting are $125 or less. I have framed and unframed. Oil and watercolor. There's lots to choose from. I have 100 paintings in the show. So I hope you'll come. Stock up for presents to give at Christmas or wedding gifts. Now is the time to take advantage of the sale. The show runs: Friday Aug 27 from 5 to 8 pm ( I will be there pouring wine from 6:30 to 8 pm) Saturday, Aug 28 from 11 am - 5 pm Sunday Aug 29 from 11 am - 2 pm Address: St Andrews Episcopal Church 4000 Lorcom Lane ( corner of Lorcom and Military) Aralington, VA.

Locked and Forgotten

Falls Church Arts is opening a new show this weekend. It's show title is "A Year Apart: Art Created in Isolation" I did lots of paintings, more than I ever have in one year. But I entered "Locked and Forgotten" because that's how it felt during the lockdown of the pandemic. The painting depicts an old peeling paint door with a rusted lock on it. I think we all felt locked away, but hopefully, not forgotten. The show will hang for July 31 until Sept 12. I will be working in the gallery on Sunday, Aug 8, from 11 - 2pm so stop by and say hi. Falls Church Arts is located at 700 West Broad St. in Falls Church, VA. Hours are Friday and Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm and Sunday, 11-4pm.

Magic of the Ordinary

This week, Gallery Underground unveils its national juried show, Magic of the Ordinary. I was lucky enough to get a piece in called "Remnants of Summer." It's a trompe l'oeil piece. Trompe l'oeil is french for "fool the eye." A painting is painted hyper realistically and the objects in the painting have to be life size. I painted this to look like an old shutter with peeling paint. Hanging by a nail is a pair of flip flops. Also there are some sunglasses, a postcard of Dolles, the iconic sign on the boardwalk of Rehoboth, and a miniature American flag. I only paint in the trompe l'oeil style about once a year. They are very labor intensive, and they take a long time to complete. I always say, this will be my last trompe l'oeil, and then after a while, I forget how much work they are, and end up planning a new one. But for now, this is my latest trompe l'oeil. It will be at Gallery Underground in Crystal City for the month of August. There will be an opening reception this Friday, from 5 - 7 pm. Hope you'll stop by and see the show. I have other paintings there, too, that are in the members show. I'll be there Friday night. Maybe our paths will cross. Bring friends. Gallery Underground is located at 2100 Crystal Drive. There is free parking in the garage at 20th St. Week day hours are Monday - Friday from 10am to 6 pm. They are closed on Saturday and Sunday.

Best Watercolor in the Rehoboth Art League 83rd Annual Members Show

I just received exciting news yesterday. I won "Best Watercolor" in Rehoboth Art League's 83rd Annual Members Show. The award was sponsored by the Delaware Watercolor Society. I was so thrilled as the competiton is very stiff!

I taught my online class today. We are painting storefronts. This is the painting I did as the demo. I really liked how it turned out. It's 8x 10 inches and is an oil painting. I now am being more observant wherever I go and am taking pictures of storefronts. Didn't realize it could be so much fun.

I've been teaching an online art class for the last year. We do different themes to push people to try something new. Last week, we did nocturn paintings. The first week, we painted the sky, moon and clouds. The next week, I told people to put in something of their choosing. I decided to paint Key Bridge and Georgetown at night. It's weird because there is not as much detail in a night painting. It's more of silhouette shapes. But the Georgetown towers have a distint shape as does Key Bridge. I hope my students had as much fun as I did.

Dolly's on the Boardwalk

I just got back from a week at the beach! My brother has a house in Dewey Beach, Delaware, which is a small beach town next to Rehoboth Beach. It's my happy place. It's so relaxing to go and enjoy the beach as well as the restaurants and the boardwalk. This painting is of a very famous candy shop called Dolly's. Anyone who has been to Rehoboth has seen it because of its enormous signage. This was a watercolor I did of Dolly's because I've heard that Dolly's is closing. I'm not sure if the pandemic caused this closure or if the people who owned Dolly's were just ready to retire. I heard the town was trying to get them to leave the sign up even though they won't be operating it anymore. When people see that iconic "Dolly's" sign, they know it's Rehoboth. Wouldn't be the same without those big red letters on the boardwalk.

Painting Fruit

Last week, I had my online zoom art class paint fruit. We did lemons, oranges and apples. I do a demo for an hour for the afternoon class and then the evening class.

My students then have a week to work on their painting at home. They can just pick one fruit and focus on that or do several.

It's fun to see what they come up with. I, in the meantime, go back and touch up my demo so that it looks finished.

I now have an assorment of small paintings. These paintings range from 5x5, 5x7 to 6x8.

I put a fancy frame on them, and they look great! They make nice kitchen paintings or they can be put on a small table top easel for the bookshelf or the table.

This weekend: Ft C F Smith's Spring Show

I hope everyone put the Art Show at Ft Smith on their calendar for this weekend. It's going to be a great show.

There are 32 artists participating. So there is all kinds of art to appeal to everyone.

The hours are Friday, March 19 from 3 to 6 pm Saturday, March 20 from 10 am to 5 pm Sunday, March 21 from 10 am to 4 pm. Ft Smith is located at 2411 24th St N. , Arlington, VA. Hope to see you there.

Today I went plein air painting with a watercolor buddy of mine, Pat Porter. We went down to the Washington Sailing Marina where there are many beautiful boats just waiting to have their portraits done. It was a gorgeous day - 70 degrees. I did this little painting of a blue boat. It was so nice being outdoors and painting. Haven't done plein air all winter so I felt a little rusty. You have to paint fast because the light changes withing an hour or two. I'm hoping to get out more this spring.

In 2 weeks, the spring show at Ft Smith will take place. I'll have many paintings in the show and I hope you'll be able to stop by and see the show.

The hours for the show are as follow: Friday, March 19th: 3 pm to 6 pm Saturday March 20th: 10 am to 5 pm Sunday March 21st: 10 am to 4 pm

Social distancing practices will be in place. There will be no Friday night reception. Ten people can enter at a time. There is a clockwise movement through the show to help keep people safe. We did this in December and it was highly successful. Ft Smith is located at 2411 24th St.N. in Arlington, VA. Let me know when you plan to be there, and I will make sure I'm there, too. Hope to see you.

The Show Must Go On - A juried show at McLean Project for the Arts

Vivaldi Concert
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

 I am thrilled to be accepted into the juried show called "The Show Must Go On."  It is sponsored by McLean Project for the Arts and the McLean Art Society.  I was also thrilled to learn that I won 3rd place.  

This was a painting I did from my trip to Venice.  We went to a concert one evening held in a beautiful church and I knew I had to paint the scene.  It was a magically night; painting it made the magic live on. 

The show is at the McLean Community Center , 1234 Ingleside Ave,  McLean VA.  The show runs from March 1 - 13.  If you are out that way, stop by and see the show.  It's quite lovely.

Here's the latest watercolor I've done. It's a scene of Georgetown University and the Key Bridge on the Potomac River. The Potomac Boat Club is peeking under the arches. It's one of my favorite scenes in Washington, DC.

Keep Washington DC in your prayers this week.  Our city was attacked on Jan 6.  Let's hope for a peaceful transition.