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.

I

View from Watergate

View from the Watergate
oil painting by Jane McElvany Coonce

I just finished my first painting for 2020.  It's my favorite bridge, Key Bridge, with Georgetown in the background.  However, this time, I painted it from a totally different angle.  This is down river by the Watergate (made famous by Nixon.)

When I went over to see George Bush's paintings at the Kennedy Center, I also took a walk on the newly built foot ramp that crosses over the busy road (Virginia Ave) to a path along the river.  There are beautiful views of Georgetown at an angle I've never painted before.

I took lots of photos as I walked along.  I did a watercolor of this scene last fall, but this is the first oil.

I need for it to dry so I can sign it.  Then I will take it over to my 2nd floor studio at Gallery Clarendon.  The sad news is that Gallery Clarendon is closing Feb 8.  The landlords have rented it to a pizza place.  We are sad to lose the gallery, but are happy that we had the opportunity to run a gallery there for a year and a half.  So stop by and take a look at our beautiful gallery before it closes.

Kaleidoscope

Jim Patton's Band
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

The latest National Juried Show is at Gallery Clarendon.  I was lucky enough to get juried into the show entitled "Kaleidoscope."  The painting that I have in the show is of my friend, Jim Patton, his wife Sherry and the rest of the band. Jim is playing the guitar, and Sherry is the singer.

 It's a watercolor, but I did it a little differently than the traditional watercolor way.  I sprayed water on the paper.  Then I dropped in some colors: yellow, rose, and blue.  I held the paper up and let it run and drip anyway it wanted to.  I set it down and let it dry.  Then I went back into it and painted it the way I would a normal watercolor.  But the drips affect the look and give it an electrifying look, the same effect their music has on its listeners. 

Jim Patton is from Annapolis, but now lives in Austin, Texas.  Once or twice a year, Jim and Sherry come back to Annapolis to preform.  I always try to get up and see them.  This painting was done from a photo I took when they were up here in the summer.

The show will hang from January 6th to February 8, 2020.  The reception is this Friday, January 10th from 5 to 7pm.  I'll be there if you want to stop by.  Gallery Clarendon is located at 2800 Clarendon Blvd. at the corner of Fillmore St.  The gallery is open 7 days a week from 11 am to 7 pm.  If you can't make it to the reception, stop by another time.