Little Shop on the Corner

Here is a recent inquiry I received from a fellow artist: "I, like you, have been lucky enough to be in Provence  during Lavender season, and i have been back several times. My question  is....that color of "blue" on the shutters and doors you see everywhere...what color is that, and how can I mix it.  William Alexander  got me hooked on painting several years ago, and I even have my own Mt  Ste. Victoire hanging in my house.  Any help you have with this color is  greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance. -JH"

To which I replied:

"Hi JH- could you be more specific? I've seen a particular blue/gray and also a more vivid blue in the shutters. But both are a challenge to mix. If you use pure local color, the shutters tend to look too bright and candy-like. However, I've had some success with mixing combinations of Rembrandt's Sevres Blue + Cobalt Blue + white and a *touch* of cadmium orange to gray it down as needed. How much of each in the combination depends on the value and hue of the shutter. Try that and see what you think."

...And here's my own bit of experimenting with just that very challenge:

"The Little Shop on the Corner" Roussillon, Provence, France Oil on Canvas, 16x20"

Rose Garden in Provence

Fresh off the studio easel is a new painting of a beautiful rose garden I saw while visiting the area around Lourmarin.

 

 This painting measures 24x24" and is oil on gallery wrapped canvas. The painting continues around all four sides so it is ready to hang and no extra framing is needed:

The roses are blooming here in Virginia also, and I'll head out this weekend and part of next week to capture some of them en plein air.

For more information about the painting featured, please click on either image above, or contact me.

Spring Finery

Here is a little plein air sketch I did the other day before going into the studio. This is a study of some sort of flowering (fruit?) tree blooming in all of it's spring finery right in my neighborhood.

 

Spring is definitely my favorite time in Virginia and it can be hard to come into the studio when the dogwoods and fruit trees are blooming.  When I'm called to both paint in the studio and paint en plein air, my compromise is to just try and do a little of each, even if it means just getting outside early in the morning. Eaaaarrrrly.

This painting measures 6x8" and sells for $325 unframed or $395 framed. For more information please contact me.

A View From the Villa

Today's painting is a view looking out over Lake Como from the grounds of Villa Balbianello. Villa Balbianello is located in Lenno at the far end of the Lavedo peninsula. This position gives it the most lovely views from several sides of the property.

This painting measures 6x6 inches. It is done on a gallery wrapped canvas, and the edges are finished off in deep blue/gray color that compliments the painting.

 For more information about this painting, please click on the image or contact me.

A Corner of Giverny

Today's painting is of a corner full of flowers in the village of Giverny, where Claude Monet made his home. It measures 8x8" and is oil on gallery wrapped canvas. The edges of this painting are finished off with a complimentary green color, so no other framing is needed:

I think it was probably Monet who started the trend of pink stucco houses with green shutters, but there are several buildings in this little town with this color combination. While I'm sure the plantings are intentional and well-planned, hollyhocks, roses, lilies, and other flowers seemed to just grow out of any available stone crevice in this town. I sure wish I could say the same for my own garden!

For more information please click on the image or contact me.

February opening announcement

In anticipation of Valentine's day, Jennifer Young Studio & Gallery will be holding an exhibit entitled "Flowers and Candy". The show will feature Jennifer's floral still life paintings and scenes of flower gardens. Please join us for an opening reception on Friday evening, February 2nd from 6 to 9 p.m. The exhibit continues through March 1st.

Jennifer Young Studio & Gallery is located at 16 East Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219; two blocks east of the Jefferson Hotel. The gallery is currently open during the First Fridays Art Walk, and at other times by appointment. For further information please visit the website or call 804-254-1008, or toll free 1-877-DIAL- ART.

Also, as a special Valentine's day promotion, we are offering a complimentary gourmet chocolate bar with purchase, through February 14th. The chocolate won't last, but the flowers will last year after year! ;-)

New Gallery Photos

I thought I'd post some photos of the new gallery space, which officialy opened last Friday night. We were swamped the entire night so I did not get ONE picture of the actual event! It turned out well--hectic but fun. We're both still recovering from total exhaustion, but at least we made it through "phase one". Phase two is still to come--moving my art studio part into the building. We hope to have that accomplished by mid January at the latest. Front room:

This is the wall to the right as you walk in the front door. The flowers on the table are from our new landlord!

This is the left wall of the same room--A great spot for the paintings in my mini collection:

This is a view of the right hand wall as you continue on into the middle room.

Here's a shot of the same wall looking back into the front room:

Here is the opposite wall in the second room. The picture to the far left is an original oil painting of Tuscany. The pictures to the right are canvas prints on the walls, and paper prints in the rack. People were amazed at the quality of the canvas prints, which looked so much like paintings that I had to tell them they were prints and not originals.

   

Heading out from the 2nd room and into the third room. This is where the band played opening night:

Rounding the corner into this third room, here is my wall of Key West paintings:

   

   I had these paintings framed differently from the usual gold because I felt like the solid gold was too formal for this subject matter. I like the linen liner and the platinum colored frame with the bamboo motif for these sunny Key West pieces.

   This last room will undergo some changes. The front two rooms with the hardwood floors will remain gallery space, but we'll use this area more for work space (to be determined), though we'll still hang some art here. Down that hallway is a fourth small room and a bathroom with a utility sink.

   Jennifer Young Studio & Gallery is located at 16 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA, 23219. Currently we are open from 6 to 9 p.m. during the First Fridays Art walks, and other times by appointment. Please call 804-254-1008 (1-877-DIAL-ART toll free) to visit the gallery or to inquire about the paintings you see on the website.

A Private Entrance

Here is another little painting I've just completed in square format. This scene is of the grounds around the Hotel Baudy in Giverny. The now historic Hotel Baudy catered to many American Impressionist painters, who made their pilgrimages to the village of Giverny to follow in the footsteps of Claude Monet. The grounds around the hotel are splendid. Huge rose bushes line every walkway at every turn. Click on the image for more information:

A Private Entrance Oil on canvas, 12"x12"

To see more of my paintings of Giverny, click here.

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist French landscape paintings

Zinnias

I went back to the Tuckahoe Plantation yesterday to paint the zinnia garden. They've got these wonderful rows of zinnias planted in the same spot every year, and I was happy to see that they were keeping up the tradition when I was there the other day.  I'm getting hooked on the square format canvas, but I'll have to stop soon because I'm running out of square frames! This is another 12x12". People wanted to chat yesterday so I still have to finish the crepe myrtles and add a few more touches elsewhere. I had to wrap it up though, as the sun was getting too high and hot towards the end and I was losing all of my lovely shade:

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Plein air in the garden

Yesterday I went out to the Tuckahoe Plantation here in Richmond for some morning plein air painting. Once one of the boyhood homes of Thomas Jefferson, the plantation is now a private residence. Visitors can visit the gardens for a small fee. While the grounds aren't large, they provide hundreds of  possibilities for paintings. 

 It was a fun morning. The only glitch was that once I got going I saw that I had exactly three paper towels! I use paper towels to constantly wipe my brushes off and keep my strokes full of clean color. Having only 3 tissues was....interesting. I think by the end of the session I had more paint on me than on the canvas!

Here is my painting as it appears after my morning plein air session, with no revisions. I will call it "Summer Roses". It measures 12x12", oil on canvas. I will probably go in with a touch or two here and there, but I like the freshness of this little piece, so I won't want to change it too much.

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Postcards from the Southernmost Point

Well, we're back from our Key West trip now and I am getting my bearings again--getting acclimated to waking up to 30 degree mornings again. However, the daffodils are blooming in Richmond, and so we have the promise of spring. In a few more weeks all will be abloom here, so I think I can sustain myself with some Key West memories until then. ;-) The trip was so inspiring and so much fun! I took about 800 pictures and spent my days exploring the island on bicycle with Dave, stopping often to photograph and sketch. I didn't get on the Internet as much as I thought I would, so not much opportunity to blog. But that is okay...I had to make the most of the time I had there, which was much too brief in my opinion (though I can hardly complain!)

Here are a couple of sketches I did on my trip. Along with my photos, the sketches will act as "memory triggers" for larger oil paintings I look forward to creating. This first "postcard" is a view of the courtyard and some of the beautiful gardens in our hotel. Just a quick pen and ink sketch embellished with watercolors:

This next image is a scene I painted in one of the little hidden residential alleys in Old Town, Key West. I visited this alley a couple of times and was drawn to this little scene. The structure looked like a little garden shed but it was maintained so prettily with flowers and tropical foliage. As it turned out this building was actually an artist's studio. No wonder I was attracted to it! I met the artist/owner who was kind enough to show me inside. She is a nice retired lady who lives next door and paints for her own enjoyment, mostly outside on the patio adjacent to this little studio. Don't let the modest exterior fool you...it was a wonderful space! This is a 6x8" pen and ink/watercolor on approximately 7x9" watercolor paper:

 

I will be working on a couple of commissions immediately upon returning home, but be looking for some new Key West oil paintings on my website in the near future!

To see my oil paintings of Key West, click here.