New "Art for Food" charity auction listed- Provence watercolor

Here is the latest in my series of charity auctions for the Central Virginia Foodbank. I am listing this little Provence watercolor of the Luberon Valley  on eBay, and you will notice some adjustments to the listing due to the things I wrote about in my previous posts here and here.

“Summer Vineyard” Overall size 8×10″ (image size 5×7″) (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

On the easel- Provence outdoor cafe painting WIP

After spending so much time painting small pieces, it is nice to be working on something large again. This is the beginning stage of a 36x24" oil painting of an outdoor cafe in the Provencial village of Rousillon. I painted a small study of this scene some time ago and I have been wanting to create a larger version for a while.

Even as a full time, near daily painter, it's always a little scary posting a work-in-progress because I don't exactly know how it will turn out. I have a pretty good idea, but from time to time  a painting may not come into fruition in the way that I expect. But, that's all part of making art, I suppose-- a little trial and error, and a lot of practice.

It might be a little hard to tell what's going on at this stage, but what I'm painting is a village square with lunchtime diners seated at umbrella-covered cafe tables. I've started in my typical manner of putting down my design with a light wash of ultramarine blue and cad. red light or permanent alizarin, thinned way down with mineral spirits. I'm drawing with brushes, but also just with a rag, wiping in and rubbing out as I develop the composition.

While I'm still keeping it pretty light and loose, with architectural scenes I do a bit more drawing and shading than I might with pure landscape. This does not mean that my compositional decisions are done, however. Sometimes I will make changes, shift, add or subtract things as I am further along in the painting process. But I've gotten a good start and I'm ready to jump in!

*UPDATE: See the progression of this painting demonstration from start to finish here!

"Summer Vineyard", Provence watercolor vignette

Last minute Christmas shoppers have kept me incredibly busy (and thankful) this week at the gallery, so I am finding little time to blog and do much needed computer work. But I do have a new little Provence watercolor painting to share.

"Summer Vineyard" Watercolor/Pen & Ink on Paper (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

It might not be quite "season appropriate," but if you're like me, there's never a bad time to dream of summertime in Provence.

"Wash Day" mini Provence painting

 Some of my favorite painting subjects are the windows and doors of Provence:

"Wash Day" Oil on Canvas, 7"x 5" (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

For me, the charm of Provence is in every day life.. I love the Provencal colors-- the gorgeous combination of the buildings' earthy hues contrasted by brightand cheerfully painted shutters and doors.  And most of all I enjoyed the people. By American standards they might seem a little reserved, but they are but warm and lovely. They possess an aesthetic that really appeals to me; taking care to fill their homes (and doors and windows!) with touches of simple beauty, rich with color, texture and quality.

A few gallery snaps from the "Small Stuff" show

Don't let anyone tell you that hanging a show for a bunch of small works is an easy task. But after it was all in place, we were very happy with the results, and I'm glad to report that my husband and I are still married. ;-) Here are a few shots from the show, on view now through Jan. 30th: When we were looking at this space for the gallery, one of the first things I noticed was this cute built-in. It's a perfect display for my minis and my new line of watercolors. Here I've decorated it with some lights and mistletoe:

A close-up that shows some of the ornaments--I like the little silver and gold Christmas balls along the bottom shelf:

On the opposite wall are the landscape paintings of Venice and Lake Como:

Close-up shot of the mantelpiece decorated with paintings. To the left of the large Venetian landscape are a series of little square 6x6" Lake Como paintings.Regular readers probably know by now that I'm a fan of grouping big and small paintings together like this. I'd love to do something similar over my fireplace mantle at home.

A small grouping from the next room of some of my more local autumn scenes:

Iguess that's really all I had time for, photography-wise. I may share a few more snaps and I will definitely share more info on some of the individual pieces in the show very soon.