Back of the Canvas: Rehoboth

Back of the Canvas: Rehoboth
by Jane McElvany Coonce

Trompe L'oeil means "fool the eye".  It's a genre of painting where the artist tries to make people believe that what the viewer is seeing is the real thing.  My painting "Back of the Canvas: Rehoboth" is supposed to look like the back of a stretched canvas with postcards and a ribbon stuck in the back. I had to paint the stretcher strips to look like wood simulating the grain of the wood.  I painted the back of the canvas to look like woven cloth.  The ribbon casts a shadow on the wood. Even on the sides of the real canvas, I painted little nail heads.  It's a very tedious type of painting, and I don't do many of them.  But when I do, I always get into them and really enjoy them.  They are labor intensive and take a long time.

My painting has found a new home.  I put it on Etsy, an on line store for hand made items, and a woman in Lancaster, PA purchased it.  I will ship it out tomorrow.  Certain paintings make me a little sad when I part with them, and this is one of those paintings.  I hope the new owner enjoys it as much as I enjoyed painting it.

The Home Stretch
by Jane McElvany Coonce

I have a store on Etsy which is an on-line store that sells hand made items.  I put many of my paintings up on the site and people can buy my art work.  This week, I sold "The Home Stretch" to a patron in Hong Kong!!!!  I had to package it up very carefully so it wouldn't get damaged.  Hong Kong is a long way with many people handling the box with art work in it before it reaches it's final destination.
"The Home Stretch" will hang at The Hong Kong Jockey Club.  So if you ever go to Hong Kong, check out the club and tell me how the painting looks.  It's fun to track the piece on the Fed Ex website.  I mailed it yesterday and today it arrived in Newark, NJ.  Sure hope it makes it across the ocean without damage!

If you decide to look at the Etsy website make sure you type in E T S Y ( rhymes with Betsy).  Don't type in Esty or you'll get a dating service.  (However, you may find something there you like, too!)

My Solo Show is Over!

"Sudoku Anyone"
by Jane McElvany Coonce

My solo show hung for the month of May.  How quickly the time went!  I sold 4 paintings from the show.  "Sudoku Anyone" just sold last week.  This is the first time I've showed my crab painting series.  I had a good response from people who saw the show.  I'm sure these crab paintings will be showing up in other venues in the future.

A new show will be hung at Gallery Underground.  As a member of the gallery, I am entitled to hang 4 paintings per month.  So I will be putting those up on the walls of the gallery as well as I will post them on my blog so that you can see what I've submitted.

I also will do another post about teaching on the cruise ship and show you a few more of the students' paintings.  So stay tuned!

Porta Vallarta, Mexico - The 2nd day of class on the cruise ship

Sunset in Mexico
by Jane McElvany Coonce

by Shirley

by John Ziegler

The 2nd class that I taught on the cruise ship was a sunset scene.
The class had grown by about 10 people so we now had about 25 students.  People were very excited to do another painting.  We got to class a half hour early to set up, and people were already there waiting for the class to start.  Class started at 9:15, so these people got up early to come to watercolor class!  I was impressed!  I tried to teach them the basic skills of watercolor painting.

by Anita Nestor

In this lesson, we worked on gradated washes.That's where the color is brighter or darker at the top, and turns lighter as you go down the paper.  We also removed paint to add a sun.  And we added a palm tree.  Take a look what people did in less than an hour.  They had never painted before!
But they were hooked.

Panama Canal Cruise - 1st Day of Class

I recently taught an art class on the cruise ship that went through the Panama Canal.  I thought I would tell you a little bit about the trip and show you some of my students' works.  We started off from San Diego and sailed east, ending up in Ft. Lauderdale.  I only had to teach when we were at sea.  When we were in port, we were free to get off the ship and explore.

by Jane McElvany Coonce

The first port we went to was Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  To the left is a picture of "The Arch", a rock formation that Cabo is noted for.  I make all the lesson plans of scenes that we would see, so this was the first project my students did.  I did a demo, and then they went back to their tables and painted.  Most of the people had never painted before .  So it is phenomenal to see what these people did each day.  Each class is only an hour long, which really isn't much time.  The ship provides the brushes and paint to each student, but the colors are limited so we have to work with what they give us.  Everyone did a fantastic job, and it made the teaching job a blast!  Below are a few of the works students did in the first class.

by Edra Zellers

by Shannon Halprin

by Greg DeGuire

by Anita Nestor

Rececption Report

The March of the Crabs
by Jane McElvany Coonce

Sailboat at the Marina
by Jane McElvany Coonce

Catching the Bus
by Jane McElvany Coonce

SOLD!!!!!      Before the reception even started, The March of the Crabs sold.  It sold to a woman who has been waiting for my crab series to go on exhibit.  I've been holding on to all of them so that I would have enough for a show.  She got first pick and this is what she bought!  I am so happy my crab painting has a good home.

There was a good turn out for the reception.  I saw a lot of people who I haven't seen in a very long time!  It was so good to see old friends (and new ones!)

Two other paintings of mine sold from the members' show.
"Catching the Bus" which was from my New York series sold to a dear friend.  "Sailboat at the Marina" was a painting I did up on the Eastern Shore last year.

I was exhausted by the end of the evening.  I had prepared food all morning and afternoon, and then went over to the gallery in the afternoon and set up.  By 8 pm, I was ready to put my feet up.

Thanks to all of you who could make it.  If you couldn't , there is still time to see the show.  It hangs until June 1.

The Gallery Underground is open Monday - Friday from 10-6 and Saturdays 10-2.
It's located at Crystal City Underground on 20th St. between Jefferson Davis Highway and Crystal City Dr.  Let me know what you think  if you stop by and see the show.

Hanging My Solo Show

Copper Poacher and Crabs
by Jane McElvany Coonce

Today, I hung my solo show at the Gallery Underground in Crystal City.  I put up 24 paintings!  I think the show looks great.  The gallery has new windows in the front of the store, and it really allows people to see into the gallery.  It's quite stunning.

Bushels of Crabs
by Jane McElvany Coonce

My show is called "A Visual Feast."  It showcases my crab series, which I have 10 paintings that feature crabs.  There are also other paintings that feature "a feast."  The show will hang until Saturday, June 1, so if you can't make it to the opening reception this Friday, May 10th from 5 - 8 pm, you still have plenty of time to see the exhibit.  There is free parking in the garage after 4 pm every day, and it's free all day on Saturday.  The garage is located on 20th St
 between Jefferson Davis Highway and Crystal Drive in Arlington.

I just got back from teaching on a cruise and I have a lot to say about that.  However, I was so excited that I hung the show today that I thought I'd start with that blog.  I wasn't able to write on the blog while I was at sea.  However, I've got lots of pictures and tales to share.  More later.