My Solo Show at 1st Stage, Tysons Corner, VA

A Piggy Bank's Dream
by Jane McElvany Coonce

This week, I hung a show of 20 of my paintings at 1st Stage Theatre.  The show will be there from August 25 until October 9, 2016.  One way to see my show is to also buy tickets to their first play of the season, "Lobby Hero."

I will also have a reception on Sunday, September 11 and would like to invite all of my fans to come.  The reception will be from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.  Please feel free to drop by.  You don't need tickets to come to the reception.

If you haven't heard of 1st Stage before, please feel free to check them out on their website.
They are located at Tyson's Corner and there is plenty of parking.

The address for 1st Stage is:

1524 Spring Hill Road, Tysons, Va. 22102.

The theatre is right off Route 7.  When you see the Container Store, turn at that corner and the theatre is located about a block up on the left in a small shopping center.  Hope to see you at the reception.

The Audition
by Jane McElvany Coonce

A Sculpture Named Sheila

Sheila
Terra Cotta by Jane McElvany Coonce

The Art League, located in the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria, is having 2  juried shows this month.  One is the landscape show that they have every August and the other is a sculpture show called "Taking Shape."  I was thrilled when my sculpture, "Sheila," was accepted.

I started doing sculpture when my youngest son was just born.  I needed a break from motherhood, so once a week I hired a babysitter and would go to The Art League and take a sculpture class.

One thing about sculpture is that you really need to work from a model.  A photograph doesn't show you the person except from one view point.  In sculpture, ever view point is important.

I captured a woman who had beautiful features, and I put her in a simple garment and head scarf.  She reminded me of a woman from my childhood.  Elnora was a cleaning lady who cleaned many of the houses in my neighborhood.  Although, she didn't clean my parent's house, I knew her because she was always at one of the neighborhood kids' houses.  She was like a 2nd mother, always fussing at us and fixing us food.  I know everyone in our neighborhood had a special place in our hearts for Elnora.  Even in her simple clothes, Elnora was memoriable. This sculpture celebrates all those special people who touch our lives in some small way but who have a special quality that makes them last in our memories until the day we die.  Sometimes, it's just a little incident that triggers a memory and makes you remember someone who made a lasting impression in your life.

Finishing Touches on My France Paintings

Vineyard Overlooking the Village of Saint Anselme
oil painting by Jane McElvany Coonce

During the heat wave, I finished up a few paintings that I had started in France, but they needed a few touch ups.  This is one of the paintings I did in France.  We painted in a vineyard with this tiny town just down the hill.  It was a beautiful day, and all of my students did a fantastic job.

Boats on the Aude River in Carcassone
oil painting by Jane McElvany Coonce



Another day we went to the new city of Carcassonne (instead of the medieval part) and painted along the Aude River.  It was a lovely spot.  Some boat owner had the nerve to move his boat in the middle of the painting session,. Luckily I had taken some photos.  Again, everyone did a fabulous job!  The only mishap we had on this day was one of my students was sitting very close to the river and somehow her little tray tipped over and all of her tubes of paint went into the river.  For an artist, that's one of the worst things that could happen to you  Maybe a thousand years from now, some archeologist will find the paints at the bottom of the Aude and write an ode about it.   

The Heat Wave and Art

Seagulls Playground
oil painting by Jane McElvany Coonce

The Washington DC area has been suffering from a heat wave for the past week.  It isn't pleasant being outside, so I've been staying indoors and getting a lot of painting done.  It's been really great painting all day.  No grocery store, no running to the bank.  Too hot to go out so I just paint, paint, paint!  

I'm working on a couple of commissions, but I'm also finishing up some demos I did in my class.  Last semester, we were painting rocks and water.  I did a small painting in each class, but never put the finishing touches on them.  So this week, I finished up several paintings that have been sitting in my studio,  waiting for attention.

I will have them at the Gallery Underground in August.  Put Friday, August 5th on your calendar for the opening reception at the Gallery. It will be from 5 to 8 pm.   I'll be there.  Stop by and say hi and see some of the work I did during the heat wave.

Sailing School Across the Bay
oil painting by Jane McElvany Coonce

Home Sales

Lunch Under the Umbrella
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

Under the White Umbrellas

Recently, a friend of mine called and said she had redone 3 bathrooms and needed some art work.  I invited her over and showed her some pieces I had here at the house.  Many of my pieces are out at various shows, but I still had plenty for her to look at.  She took quite a few home to try out, and she's picked 6 paintings!
Her husband is Italian, so she picked 2 of my Italian scenes from when I went to Italy two years ago.  These will hang together in the same bathroom so there is definitely a theme there.  I was planning to enter one of these in The Art League's Landscape show in August.  So I better get busy thinking of another entry.

Painting in Southern France

The Blue Door of Camon
watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

 I just got back from taking a group of artists to southern France.  There were 14 of us (3 were non painters.)  Our home base was in Limoux, a lovely little town on the Aude River.  Montfaucon, the place where we stayed, was similar to what we would call a bed and breakfast.  It was beautifully furnished, and I felt like I was living like the rich and famous.  Gourmet meals were provided with a chef that came in 4 times during our stay, and the other dinners were at Castles and 5 star restaurants.  We were treated royally.

Every day, we would journey to a nearby town to paint a variety of scenes:  vineyards, doorways and windows, gardens, canals with boats and barges, old medieval towns, cafes, and plazas.  I had to pinch myself every day to make sure it wasn't a dream.

We also lucked out on the weather.  The weather app showed that it was supposed to rain every day, but we really only had one day of rain. That was truly a blessing.

 Everyone really did nice paintings.  We will have a show of the France paintings in October at Cassatt's Kiwi Cafe in Arlington.  Put Sunday, October  30 on your calendar from
5-8 pm for the opening reception.

Trompe L'oeil "Trash Night" sold on Etsy

"Trash Night"
by Jane McElvany Coonce

I sold a painting that was near and dear to my heart.  Artists all have favorite paintings that are hard to part with, and "Trash night " is one of them for me.  But a woman on Etsy wrote me and told me she was really obsessed with it.  So I decided that if someone loved it that much, I would let it go.  

"Trash Night" is a painting done in the trompe l'oeil fashion.  Trompe L'oeil means "fool the eye."  Done in a realistic fashion, trompe l'oeil paintings are very labor intensive and take months to create.  That is why there are not many trompe l'oeil artists. 

This piece is painted to look like a bulletin board.  The wood frame is painted on the canvas.  The corkboard is painted to simulate a bulletin board.  Then various items were added: tickets to a Harry Potter movie (my family members are Harry Potter freaks), a photograph (of my 3 boys when they were younger), playing cards( Queen of diamonds is me- I was born in April my birthstone is the diamond and being the only female in the house, I am the Queen), matches and a firecracker (with 3 boys, there were plenty of firecrackers going off), and 2 notes.  One note is "Trash Night" which reminds the 3 boys to take out the trash. (This is my weekly "Nag" call that I make at the top of my lungs) , A key hangs from the wooden frame with the number 5 ( the number of people in my family)and a pencil dangles from a string held by a push pin.  All of these items are painted. The painting is a autobiographical painting of my family.

The painting is done in acrylics.  It is 11 inches by 14 inches and the sides of the canvas are painted to look like wood, so a frame is not necessary.  In fact, a frame would ruin the trompe l'oeil effect since the purpose of the genre is to fool the eye.