Painting this Thursday at Carytown Collective

Just a quick announcement that tomorrow evening (Thursday October 25th) I will be at The Carytown Collective, doing a little painting and making myself available to answer questions about the paintings I have on display. If you haven't yet had a chance to visit this shop, this event, "Fall in Love With The Carytown Collective" is a great opportunity to have some light refreshments and get to know some of the vendors, and even do a little shopping too. The fun begins at 5 PM and ends at 8. We are located at 3422 West Cary Street in Richmond. Hope you can join us in Carytown!

On Color and Social Media, Obsession and Restraint

Is it possible to be addicted to a paint color? I'm not sure that's a good thing, as I don't like the feeling of being overly-dependent on anything.  So I am really trying to temper my use, while at the same time exploiting the values of having it around. This also describes my experience with Social Media, and particularly with Facebook. I imagine Facebook still has some value to the small business, but on a personal level, it can prove a real time-waster, not to mention maddening, irritating, and downright invasive. On a personal level it's also a source of inspiration and community and sharing, which is why I joined up in the first place. But it is really hard in this case to exploit the positives while also avoiding the darker temptations and traps, so I am limiting myself overall.

"Afternoon Breeze, Rockland Breakwater", Oil on linen, 20x24"

For a long time I was resistant to jumping on the Facebook bandwagon. And it could be argued that when I finally did sign on, I may have come in at the tail end of an era where the platform provided a real benefit to small businesses for little to no investment other than a bit of time. As time went on, though, Instagram and Facebook began to replace blogging for me. After all, it was faster and seemed likely to reach many more people quicker than I could through blog subscribers alone. 

"Forsythia and Blue Delft", Oil on linen, 20x24"

That's still an argument that can be made, but aside from the fact that Facebook is very much in the headlines these days, (and for reasons that are not all that flattering to the company) it seems harder and harder to find the same kind of reach that one could find in the good old days. I guess that's by design, in order to tempt users to buy ads. That's fine. It's a business model, and business is business I suppose.

But the price to be paid goes beyond money. It's the price of time, and yes, privacy. Say what you will about the fact that "nothing is private online." I don't argue with that or hold any illusions. I have never taken the silly quizzes or posted anything deeply personal that I haven't minded sharing. I understand that all of my info that I share is "out there". What bothers me is that my privacy decisions affect the privacy of my friends and vice-versa. Not only that but friends of friends. And not only them, but it turns out Facebook will even track the internet habits of people who never signed up for the service at all. That bothers me.  Facebook argues that anyone can go in and lock down third party apps and ultimately control a lot of what is shared. I have gone in and done that as much as I am capable of understanding how to do it. The problem is that in doing so, it renders the ease of sharing posts across platforms nearly impossible without spending an excessive amount of time on it.

Aside from all of that, I've found that my over-reliance on an outside platform to promote my work has resulted in the neglect of my self-hosted blog, and to a lesser extent, my website and even my studio time. I'm so incredibly short on time these days, and, let's face it, even peeking at your news feed or groups makes Facebook  a real time-suck.

Truth be told, I'm not sure how many people even read blogs any more, but I feel they still hold value, and think it would be a good idea to give blogging another shot. My hope is that people who are truly interested in my work will come find me here on my own domain first, with social and search serving as feeders. That seems to be the way it should be, but it's not the way it's been. 

"Winter Light at Stony Run Trail", Oil on linen, 20x24" 

I'm still sharing my work on social media (my preference these days is Instagram) but I'm going to step back from it a bit and give the old blog a little more love. As for the other obsession I mentioned, I have left a few clues for you in this post. These are a few of my recent paintings that I've shared on social media that I had neglected to blog about. The commonality among these pieces is the predominance of that certain color. Any guesses as to what it might be? Let me know in the comments and I'll 'fess up about it in my next post. 

New auction! "In Autumn Light", original oil 6x6"

This marks my inaugural post for my first auction of my fall sale. First up this week is a sweet little original oil painting of the First Baptist of Church on Virginia Street in Ashland, Virginia. This auction is listed for 7 days and ends on Sunday, November 5th at 8 PM EST and 5 PM PST. It is offered at a fraction of my retail price, so head on over to my auctions page to read all about it and place a bid if you are so inclined. I hope to post at least a couple of these auctions for small originals each week for the next few weeks, just in time for the holidays. Thanks for looking!

"In Autumn Light", original 6x6" oil painting. SOLD!

Plein Air Westhampton

Plein Air Westhampton was my final major plein air event for the summer. This one was much closer to home, in Richmond, Virginia, which normally would have made it a cinch logistically. However, with a child in primary school and a new puppy at home, I still wasn't able to do morning-to-night painting because Westhampton was about an hours' drive round trip from where I live in Ashland. 

Nevertheless, I got five good paintings out of the week. I felt really lucky to be a part of this inaugural plein air festival. I had the best time painting at this event. The vibe was imbued with excitement and comradery, but it was also low pressure at the same time, which I think helped my painting overall. This event took place in a really lovely part of old Richmond in a neighborhood filled with stately homes, old churches and charming shopping areas. Works painted by the 20+ participating artists during the week were exhibited in an outdoor tent during the street party called Party On the Avenues held on the final Sunday.  It was a well attended show that seemed to garner a lot of interest from the local press and public, and I had a great time painting in this charming district. Being primarily a landscape painter, I really surprised myself by how much I enjoyed painting the street scenes, and the experience left me feeling like I really want to do more with this subject matter. Three of my paintings sold during the event, and one of them was an award winner! It was such a harried week with my back and forth schedule that I regret not getting better photos of my paintings before the show, but I'm including some shots I was able to snap of the paintings I completed during the event. The two remaining paintings are on display at a local Westhampton gallery called Palette Paint and Home .

"Morning Light on Carreras", Oil on linen, 12x16"

SOLD

"Corner Color", Oil on linen, 8x10"

"This Way to the Market", Oil on linen, 12x12"

SOLD

"Garden Contemplation, St. Bridget's" Oil on linen, 11x14"

"I'll Walk You Home", Oil on linen, 12x12"

*Maymont Foundation Award (SOLD)

Life in the Meadow; Start to Finish

Today I thought I'd share the  progressive steps for my newest painting of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. (My usual disclaimers and apologies about the quality of these in-progress photos apply due to lighting conditions in my temporary work space.) This view is near the little B&B where we have stayed on a couple of occasions while visiting Bedford, Virginia.

I'm starting as usual with a sepia-toned sketch thinned with Gamsol to work out the main elements of my composition. This is very loose and general, but it helps me to determine placement. At this early stage I am not overly obsessed with exactness of the forms. Unlike with watercolor, in oil painting I like to carve and refine shapes as I go along. 

In the next steps I concentrate on massing in areas in the shadow family. This doesn't take too long because in contrast to my prior painting of the Blue Ridge which was predominantly in shadow, this new painting is predominantly sunlit, with a light source that is nearly overhead.

Next steps are massing in the meadow and the rest of the tree shapes, as well as the distant mountains

Followed by the sky

With the canvas nearly covered I work out the finer details of my primary focal area (the horses). 

At the final stages I add some suggestions of wildflowers to the field. I also add highlights and soften edges here and there, until I achieve the illusion of depth and light I'm after. 

Voila! The final: 

"Life in the Meadow", Oil on linen, 20x24" ©Jennifer Young