New stuff coming soon, I promise!

I have many notes on things I'd like to blog about, but it seems this whole month has been crammed packed with activity. I'm getting ready for the art walk this Friday, and  a trip to France in just over a couple of  weeks.  But I will post new work this week, even if it's just a few small plein air pieces. And I've plenty of other things I'd like to write about too, if I can find the time:

• More thoughts on color mixing and art mediums
• More on art books I've been enjoying
• Planning and packing all my gear for an overseas trip
• One more "Art for Food" auction before I take a travel hiatus
• Sharing what I'm learning about the beautiful region of the Lot and Dordogne where I'll soon be touring and painting

I may not get to everything, but I will surely get to a number of these topics over the next couple of weeks before I sign off to head for 10 days of computer-free travel.

I've been interviewed by Creative Spotlite!

Recently I was interviewed by Creative Spotlite's Ralph Serpe.  In the interview, I respond to Ralph's questions about my journey as an artist and my art career thus far. Ralph is the founder of the Creative Spotlite art instruction website and blog, both of which feature an ever-growing collection of free art lessons, demos, links,  and a wealth of other resources for artists. In conjunction with the interview, Ralph has also featured my plein air demo for my painting "Vineyard Patterns" on his site. Thanks Ralph, for featuring me and my work, and for creating such content rich sites for artists!

Small WIP & value sketches amid the rubble

A series of wet gray days have kept me from painting outside, so I've spent some time putting my studio  (and myself!) back together in the aftermath of the workshop. For me, "spring cleaning" always seems to make things look worse before they get better.

I have little piles around me...piles of books, of paperwork, and also a small pile of unfinished paintings. Among the latter is this demo painting that I started in the workshop, which I may noodle around with and bring to a more finished state. It's small, just 12x9", so we're talking maybe just orzo or macaroni-sized noodling.

I started this workshop demo talking about composition and values and how they related to each other. Since we were working with the limitations of photographs, I wanted to try to get folks to think about the possibility of composition beyond just what they saw in front of them in the picture. When I'm painting en plein air, I will often do a series of small value sketches before I jump right into painting. I will use this same approach too in the studio, to develop my design.

Along with a contour sketch, it is extremely helpful to do this in a very abbreviated quick grayscale, so that I can get a general idea of my value relationships and the overall design that is created not only by the placement of line but also by the pattern of dark and light:

 

This is not a new concept, of course. Artists have forever been studying and writing about the arrangement of values (lights and darks) to compose a strong design. The artsy fartsy term for this is "Notan". Okay, it's actually Japanese. Notan sketches can be fleshed out in recongnizable contours (like mine above) or they can be very quick and gestural thumbnail abstractions created for the purpose of identifying the underlying design.

The values are generally limited to four or less.  I used 2 markers; black and light gray, deriving my middle gray from a blending of the two, and letting the white of the paper stand as my lightest value. 

Of course, in life we see a much wider range of values, but in designing and executing a painting, I'm learning that simpler is often better.  If you look at many of Monet's paintings, you might notice that many of them have a very small range of values indeed, and he used color temperature and very soft edges to add a wonderful sense of atmospheric depth to his work.

A quick Google search for "Notan" yielded some good results for further exploration:

• A good series of Notan lessons from Virtual Art Academy
• Artist Robert Genn discusses Notan in his inspirational newsletter "The Painter's Keys"
• Painter Ed Terpening does it!
• Katherine Tyrrell does too.

How about you?

Looks like I've "Made a Mark" this week!

Thanks to Katherine Tyrrell, uber blogger of exhaustive art resources extraordinaire, for mentioning myarticles on plein air painting easels in her weekly post called "Who's made a mark this week" . If you're an artist or art lover and haven't yet discovered Katherine's blog "Making A Mark", do yourself a favor and check it out. Each week she provides an exhaustive list of art links and blogging resources, as well as frequent posts about her wonderful pencil drawings and other art related subjects. Looks like she may have discovered my articles by following a link from David Cornelius's blog post on his own search for plein air easels. So thanks for the mention (and link!) to you too, David, and keep up the great experimentation, inside and out. 

Scenes from the painting workshop

I'm baaaack! Fell in a black hole of the blogosphere for a while and am slooowly recovering from a very busy and intense workshop at my studio this past weekend. Church Hill Photography took some great environmental shots of one of the demo portions  of the class on the first day, so I thought I'd share them here. (BTW, Elaine Odell of Church Hill Photography also made the excellent portrait of me in my studio, so be sure to check out her website if your looking for a photographer who really knows her stuff!) While I've taught off-site at other hosted locations, this was the first time I've actually hosted a workshop myself, and preparing for it was quite a bit more work than I'd imagined because I had to prep both my lessons and the space itself.  The participants did some great work though, and were enthusiastic and so much fun. And it was really exciting for me to share ideas about color, shape, values, and composition. Hopefully everyone felt like they learned a lot. I know I did!

After a brief discussion of color mixing (and especially mixing greens) I did a little landscape demo. This is a good long shot that shows me sketching out my composition at my setup, as well as the studio beyond. The participants worked in the front two rooms, so we had to configure the space in a way that would protect those beautiful wood floors. Hence the lovely blue spill-resistant floor coverings!

Here's a cool shot  through the easel. There's a large mirror to my back, which I use to check my compositions in reverse. It really does help to give me a "fresh look" at my work. That cutie just over my shoulder in the gray tee is my talented niece Molly, a fine emerging artist who I was delighted to have come all the way from Texas to take the class and visit. The "man in black" looming in the doorway is my husband and partner Dave. As always, he was a HUGE help to me, keeping everything running smoothly.

This shot shows the demo piece, coming right along.

The workshop was pretty action packed, but by being in the studio we were able to really focus some of the more important elements of painting as they pertain to the landscape, in conditions that were controllable. I hope to do some plein air classes too in addition to the studio intensive, as this "takes it to the next level" and throws a whole other slew of concerns into the pot (watch this page for future workshop listings). Luckily I hadn't planned a plein air class for this past weekend though, as we had some really varied weather ranging from cloudburst thunderstorms to overcast damp chill.

On Monday Molly and I took a road trip up to Charlottesville so that she could see Jefferson's Monticello. Wow! What an absolutely gorgeous day--the redbuds, fruit trees, dogwoods and tulips were going crazy. I hope I can get up back up there some time soon to paint some of it-- and paint some local plein air scenes as well. Right after I take care of a few neglected household and business matters, that is. Whatever I paint, I'll be sure to post here first, so stay tuned....

Art in Bloom V this Thursday at Stir Crazy Cafe

I don't know how much time I'll have to blog this week as I'm getting ready for a full workshop this weekend. But I did want to mention a fun local art event on Thursday night. Please join us and bring a friend to the 5th Annual Art In Bloom at Stir Crazy. This show will include a few  of my plein air paintings of the Richmond area, plus lots of other great art from over a dozen local artists. Proceeds from art sales support Children's Miracle Network-Richmond. It is always a great time and it is for a good cause. Drop by for a few minutes after work or make an evening of it; the event will run from 6 - 9 p.m this Thursday evening.

When: Thursday, April 10, 6:00PM Location: Stir Crazy Cafe, 4015 MacArthur Avenue, Richmond, VA 23227

"Oscar's House" morning plein air

The weather has warmed up this week, but the strange wind gusts prevail. I sat pondering this over morning coffee, trying to decide where I might go to paint outside without being completely blown away. I had only packed my smaller lightweight pochade box, which as I've described previously in excruciating detail, is not great for wind. But the other alternative was to drive across town to my studio to get my larger, sturdier easel. As I turned these matters over in my head, I stared out the kitchen window, and this scene came into view:

"Oscar's House" Oil on Canvas 10"x8"

I started noticing how the forsythia bush in our yard (foreground lower left) framed and echoed the bushes in bloom across the street at my neighbor's house. I also noticed how the bare-limbed trees above created a kind of upper frame for the little bungalow, and I thought the composition could be worth exploring.  Also, since I could set up on my back porch, I'd be sheltered from the wind by our house.  Whether this solution was realized out of laziness or resourcefulness is a matter of opinion, but never-the-less, "Oscar's House" was born!

Oscar is actually my neighbor's dog. I am embarrassed to say that I can never remember my neighbor's name. Okay, it's no secret to those who know me that I'm not great with remembering peoples' names. But this particular memory lapse isn't totally my fault.

When Oscar and his mom moved into their house, my husband and I introduced ourselves and received a reply of "This is Oscar," referencing the little wiener dog at our new neighbor's feet. There was no mention of our neighbor's name, so the conversation developed in such a way that we received various information and opinions of Oscar's via our neighbor's translations. (Oscar likes this, Oscar prefers that. Oscar is barking because he isn't used to strange men, etc.)

In subsequent meetings we actually did find out our neighbor's name, but you'll have to ask my husband. For some reason my mind wipes clean any recollection of her name and instantly replaces it with "Oscar's mom". So, this is Oscar's house. I think I'm going to be kind to myself today and call it a resourceful solution to a rather  gusty March morning.

For more information about this painting, please contact me.

Plein Air Easels- A pochade box for travel

This is my 4th in a series of posts about artist's easels. You can see the other installments here:Part I: On the quest for the perfect easel Part II: Guerilla Painters' Pochade Box Part III: My Soltek Easel

After having already written extensively about my Soltek love, it may seem curious that I'd have yet another pochade- style easel to write about. But what I've found (and I'm sure other plein air painters can empathize) is that the quest for the most versatile and easy to use plein air easel must be tempered with the quest for the lightest possible plein air setup. This is especially important if you're an artist who likes to travel.

With the airline regulations being what they are, it has become more and more of a challenge trying to figure out what items to check (if any) and what items to carry on in the ever-diminishing size of the acceptable carry on bag. While I may not be able to bring all of my art supplies with me on the plane, I prefer to have my easel in my carry-on. When traveling overseas, this sometimes means carrying my bag while running to make a flight connection, so a lightweight and compact bag becomes all the more important.

While the Soltek is lighter than many other setups, I still found myself wondering, "Can I go lighter?"  The answer is, of course, yes. Surely there are many options for going lighter, but the one I chose was the "Prochade Kit" by EasyL,  referenced in a book I blogged about a while back by Kevin Macpherson;  Landscape Painting Inside & Out.

I had seen other EasyL paint boxes and I was impressed by the setup. In fact, if I hadn't already gotten a Soltek I might have seriously considered the EasyL Versa, which offers a good deal of versatility while still being lightweight, and at a much more wallet-friendly price. But having already made my "primary" plein air easel selection, I honed in on the Prochade Kit for travel.

At first, I thought I'd only get the little box. After all, I already had a tripod and a couple of bags. But after really examining the Kit, which included a lighter-weight tripod, a GREAT bag, and a number of other nifty add-ons and doo-dads, I justified that it was a decent buy, considering. I really feel like a lot of thought went into the design of the kit, and with everything weighing in at around 10 lbs, I couldn't imagine as detailed a  setup that is much lighter.

When I first got this little box, I was a bit wary. Compared to the other models I'd experienced, the box seemed a little TOO light, and I was concerned about its fragility. The adaptive panel holder appears to raise and lower by the means of some kind of internal spring. I wasn't used to this kind of mechanism and wondered if it would hold up, but after several months of use it has so far worked fine. It does come with a warning, however, not to extend this mechanism beyond the 10" high limit. It holds panel heights from 6 to 10 inches, and any reasonable width. Since I usually paint on the small side out of doors, and particularly when I'm traveling, this was actually fine for me. And while I feel the external latches that close the box are on the flimsy side, the knob and sliding hinge are of a quality that is actually quite good.

But probably what I like most about this kit is the bag. It has a perfect number of slots, pockets, and compartments, making packing and organizing supplies a breeze. While this bag isn't suitable for larger easels or thicker pochade boxes, it is perfect for a true cigar-style pochade box, whether purchased from EasyL or home-made. It is  the right size for the airline carry-on regulations; and while it is lightweight, it is extremely durable and has enough padding to make it comfortable to carry.

Overall I have been quite happy with the kit, for the main reason that it met my specific needs of a travel box that is lightweight, but complete enough so that I can do more than just light sketching. But I don't know that I'd recommend this kit as a primary setup for the every day plein air. Even weighted down,  it does not hold up in the wind--and I've found myself holding on to it for dear life during some unexpected wind gusts.

I'll close this little book on plein air easels with some final thoughts.

• Do plenty of research before you buy your plein air easel, but beyond that, give some thought to the way you typically paint. If you don't paint large, you probably don't need an easel that accomodates a 30" high canvas. Perhaps even consider writing down the key features that are important to you in a plein air easel before shopping.

• You don't have to spend a lot of money to paint en plein air. There are a number of options that are quite inexpensive that you can start with before taking the leap of buying a fancier model:

  • One of the most inexpensive commercially available models I've found is the Studio RTA simple tripod steel easel. Nothing fancy, but quite sturdy and lightweight (though because of this it will probably not stay put in strong wind.) With this model, you'll have to hold your palette and find somewhere to put your supplies, but at $40 it's a decent deal. I have a couple of these easels at my studio for workshops and they work quite well.

  • Another option is just to consider making your own plein air setup if you are particularly handy. I've promised my husband that this is going to be my next pochade box . Cost? Under $15! (hand slapping squarely on forehead.) Thank you to Ellie Clemons for the wonderfully detailed instructions, and to artist John Haynes' thoughtful blog  that I just discovered for pointing me to Ellie's page. Also check out artist David Cornelius' hand made work-in-progress "easel pal" for some additional ideas.

• If your art travels involve flying, be sure to check out the many (and seemingly ever-changing) guidelines and regulations before deciding what to bring and what to leave at home. The Gamblin website has some useful tips about traveling with your paints. Artist Robert Genn had a good discussion going not too long ago on this subject also, on "The Painter's Keys" --a website that offers artists tips on matters both practical and inspirational.

• Have fun and happy painting!

Soltek- the ultimate plein air easel?

This is part 3 in a series of posts I'm writing about my quests for easels, plein air or otherwise. You can read the saga from the beginning  or jump to another section here:Part I: On the quest for the perfect easel Part II: Guerilla Painters' Pochade Box Part IV: A pochade box for travel

Easel #3: The Soltek. All hail and bow down to the mother of all plein air easels! Okay, my Soltek has had its problems, but I still love this easel. The Soltek is a portable easel that seems to be in a class by itself. The easel is both "space age" in technical design, and extremely flexible in its configuration:

The telescoping legs fold into themselves the same way they do in a camera tripod. But unlike the pochade box/tripod combo, the Soltek is all self contained, making setup lightning fast. The legs and the overall design  also make this easel extremely  resistant in the wind, which is probably one of the most difficult weather conditions of all  for the plein air painter.

Other features  I really love  about the Soltek:

• The two wings fold out on either side of the palette to allow for additional space to set brushes, paint thinner, etc. This is an especially important feature (as artists always "need" more space) and one that isn't usually acheived on the other paint boxes I've seen without purchasing separate attachments and adding more weight to the setup.
• The design of the upper and lower canvas holders cover the canvas edges only minimally and flip out indidually so that you can easily cover the edges of your painting without interrupting flow.
• Versatility--it can be configured in many different ways, at many different angles. The  easel will support a canvas up to 30" high-- a real plus for those who like to paint large outdoors. With this versatility, it can also function as a smaler studio easel or even a table easel if you want.
• Weight--even though you have a lot more work space, the whole configuration is sleek and weighs just  9 lbs.

Like the French easel models and the bulkier pochade boxes, this easel has space underneath the plastic palette to store brushes and paint tubes, etc (but not the standard brush cleaner containers). It has a carrying strap attached to the easel, but I still find it necessary to have a  backpack or bag  for additional supplies and for hiking or carrying longer distances.

While this model is thinner and sleeker than  the pochade box I blogged about earlier, it is about as long and nearly as wide as a full French easel (though not nearly as deep), and I have found it difficult to locate a good backpack that will accomodate this easel while still meeting the new airline carry-on restrictions. Soltek does sell its own backpack just for this easel. It works, and you can carry it on the plane, though it could stand to be a bit better designed, with additional padding for hiking, and some better thought-out storage compartments.

But  for all of Soltek's largely  wonderful features, I would never recommend that a beginning plein air painter invest in such a product, for the simple reason that it is far too expensive for a casual user. Even for the die-hard, I am hesitant to recommend it without reservation. Not only is it expensive, it's also like a high-tech  car with a lot of fancy  gizmos. It takes  greater care to maintain, and by methods that  can sometimes be  more costly and inconvenient than going to the hardware store for a wingnut.

It is advised that you keep the easel clean and free of paint, particularly in the areas of the  joints and legs. For someone who gets paint in her hair every time she paints on location, this is a real challenge. And while the telescoping legs are wonderful, they also seem to  give people the most problems. Mine tended to either slip (and not remain extended) or stick (unable to easily close) after only about a year or so of moderate use. The Soltek support people suggested that this sometimes occurs when painters take the easel out onto the beach, where grains of sand get up into the legs. Only I had never taken mine to the beach or anywhere near sand.

The other issue I had was that  the plastic hinges that allow the winged flaps to fold outward and remain open  broke on me, also  after only about a year or so. Soltek support says they now have better hinges and they did offer a couple of options. 1.) They could send me replacement hinges or 2.) I could pay $50 plus shipping to get a Soltek "tuneup" which would address both issues I was having.

Yes, you guessed it.  I forked over the $50. Due to my already considerable investment, I justified the expense since I had at least a couple of rather critical things in need of repair. It was back within a couple of weeks, and has since been working fine. But for the price of this easel (which costs as much or more than  some larger studio easels), I still feel these issues are not what I would have expected after 1-2 years of moderate use.

In any event, I still love it, and when working properly, it  is by far the easiest in terms of setup and versatility of all the portable easels I've experienced. I will continue to use it as long as I can reasonably maintain it. So why would I ever need another plein air easel? Well, besides the need for a backup in case of another Soltek break down, I probably don't. But that didn't stop me from one more purchase. (Remember, this was before I admitted I had a problem.) I'll cover that in the next installment.

Springtime at the Hill- en plein air

You might be thinking, "That's not much of a hill". But the "Hill" I'm referring to in this painting is the A.P. Hill monument on Hermitage Road in Richmond's North Side neighborhood.

"Springtime at the Hill Monument"

8x10", Oil on Canvas

Painted on location yesterday afternoon,  I started this at about 2 PM under warm, sunny skies. But it sure got chilly pretty quickly once the clouds started rolling in.

I pass by this gentleman every day as I drive to and from home, but I think he's at his most charming in the springtime as he gazes down at the row of flowering trees.

I didn't realize this but according to Wikipedia:

"This monument is the only one of its type in Richmond under which the subject individual is actually interred."

Plein air easels- the pochade box

*Note: This is the second in a series of posts I am writing about artist's easels. To read the other installments, click on the following links:Part I: On the quest for the perfect easelPart III: My Soltek Easel Part IV: A pochade box for travel

Picking up on my previous post about artist easels, today I'll discuss plein air easel #2; my first pochade box. The word "pochade" comes from the French word "pocher" meaning "to sketch".  Popularized in the 19th century by landscape painters such as the Impressionists, a pochade box was a small wooden sketch box (sometimes called a "thumb box")  with a hinged lid that could be held in the hand, to easily take into the field for small sketches and painting studies (pochades.) Today, what we call a pochade box comes in many different sizes beyond the tiny hand-held variety.

After I developed my "wingnut aversion" the pochade box idea really appealed to me, as the modern boxes are made to attach to a camera tripod, which has telescoping legs. The box I chose was the Guerilla Painter's Pochade Box (9x12")

 

As you can see here, this particular pochade box has a hinged lid that holds  9x12" panels, and can readily take any panel that is 12" wide. The wood palette slides out to reveal little compartments to hold supplies. Like other pocade boxes, this one has a tripod mount to take any standard camera tripod. The tripod shown above is the Guerilla Painter's brand, but I chose a Bogen Manfrotto Jr. tripod, which I purchased for a steal on eBay. Bogen is a good brand and the "junior" Manfrotto model is sturdy while still being reasonably lightweight.

The Guerilla Painter's box is a fine pochade box that will likely last many years. It is a strudy piece of gear and will withstand frequent use. You could klunk the thing on the ground and not make a dent.  The box is well constructed, and performs as described by the manufacturer.  In many ways, you could do far worse than this box for the quality, and while the price has gone up since I made my purchase, the basic setup seems  comparable to other painting boxes on the market.

This box is certainly more compact and practical than the stodgy El Greco, and also a bit lower in weight. But once you consider the weight of the required tripod, the weight of the basic box is about the same weight as the traditional French half  box easel. However, this changes if you want more versatility. For example, at the time of my purchase, it was necessary to buy various inserts and attachments to best allow for the use of smaller 8x10" and 6x8" canvases, though the company later developed a slip in easel that allowed for a bit more versatility.

Not only are addtional accessories another thing to keep up with, but they added more overall weight to the painting setup (though my wallet soon began to feel lighter). In addition, while I find it far less awkward than the full French easel, the deep boxy shape made it a bit bulky and cumbersome for travel. The manufacturer,  Judson's Art Outfitters does sell compatible backpacks, however, along with many other nifty plein air accessories suitable for any plein air painter, whether using the Guerilla Painter's pochade box or some other brand. 

This is a picture of my own Guerilla Painter's Pochade box with the Bogen Manfrotto Jr. tripod. You might be able to make out the insert I'm using to accomodate my 8x10" painting. I use a bungee chord to hold my paper towels and a plastic bag for trash. Beneath the tripod there are two bags. One is a bag that actually goes to a folding portable chair that has a a shoulder strap. I confiscated it to carry my tripod. The box did not fit in any of the backpacks I owned, so I used the large canvas LLBean tote  shown in the background  to carry my pochade box and other supplies.

The  bulk of this box is largely due to the enclosed compartment designed to hold paint tubes and other supplies, which for some could actually be a useful component.  But the storage compartments are an insufficient size to hold long-handled paint brushes without first sawing off a part of the handle. And the little square compartment that logically looks as if it wil be perfect to hold your paint thinner is too shallow for the standard brush washers, so you will either need to pack your brush washer separately, buy one from Judson Art Outfitter's, or find a small jar suitable to fit in the compartment once the lid is closed. (Not a big deal, but still worth noting if you've already invested in a brush washer.) And while it's moderately convenient to have paint tubes right under my palette, the way these compartments were configured seemed to add more bulk than convenience.

So while there is certainly nothing wrong with this box, I found  that along with the bulk, it was a slight annoyance that the accessories necessary to make this box its most versatile added weight and needed to be purchased separately.  I am now thinking of selling my Guerilla Painters Pochade box or just  keeping  it as a backup (Update: It's off the market. I ended up gifting this to my talented niece Molly) in case something happens to.... Plein Air Easel #3. In many ways, #3 is a slice of plein air heaven. But this heaven comes with a couple of caveats, and a pretty hefty price. More on that in the next installment.

*Note: This is the second in a series of posts I am writing about artist's easels. To continue reading the other installments, click on the following links:

Part I: On the quest for the perfect easel Part III: My Soltek Easel Part IV: A pochade box for travel

Plein air easels (or "gotta-have-it-itis")

*Note: This is the first in a series of posts I am writing about artist's easels. To continue reading the other installments, click on the following links: Part II: Guerilla Painter's Pochade Box Part III: My Soltek Easel Part IV: A pochade box for travel

If you're an artist,  (or if you're married to one) you may by now be familiar with a common artist-borne affliction: "gotta-have-it-itis". This is when you see, read, or hear about an item recommended by a fellow artist, and you figure that this thing, whether it be a particular brush, a paint color, easel, or whatever, is THE thing you've been missing all of your life, and THE thing that will make you a much better artist.

Well, while having the right tools can certainly help the creation process along a great deal, a reality check would tell all of us oil painters that in our craft, we are ultimately dealing with the following rather primitive ingredients: a stick with hair on the end, mud mixed with oil, and cloth. And while the greatest investment should be in the time needed to learn and practice our craft, it IS fun to play and experiment with a few new tools...especially ones that help make life a little easier.

However, there's a big difference between investing in "a few" tools and getting caught up in aforementioed affliction. As you will see, I've not been immune to these pitfalls. But I think I  have finally decided it's time to get real and stop the madness. While in recovery, I thought I'd at least share some of my experiences with a few "tools of the trade". Who knows? Maybe it will help a fellow artist or two with their decision-making process.

I'll start with what can be one of the most expensive tools-- the easel. As both a plein air and studio artist, I "gotta have" at least a couple of versions of this item in order to more easily do what I need to do. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it! ) And since the weather keeps teasing me with hints of spring, I will start with easels of the plein-air-kind.  Over the years I have accumulated five easels that fall into the plein air/portable easel category. Good grief. Can this be? I really do need help. The fact that I still have all of these easels actually brings up a related affliction common with many artists, called "pack-rat-itis." (This is usually diagnosed by an onset of weak protests such as "Hey, I might need that for something....someday.")  But that is a subject for another time.

My first plein air easel was the Trident El Greco full French Easel.  I bought this with very good intentions when I first started painting landscapes, based on a recommendation I read in a book about plein air painting. I won't even bother to provide a link to this easel. Sorry, but I really hated this thing, pretty much from the get-go. The first time I used it I lost 2 wing nuts journeying from my car to the painting site, which made  the legs impossible to stand. After that I started packing extra wingnuts with my supplies, for the next ones that would inevitably loosen and  fall off, no matter how carefully they were secured in advance. The other annoyance was the weight. As plein air painters, we are always and forever looking for ways to lighten the load, correct? Well, this easel ain't it! I am a bit of a shrimp, but even so this easel has far more weight and bulk than is necessary for plein air painting.

Here I am in a face-off with my nemesis, El Greco. (I don't really remember the circumstances of this photo, but I believe my haughty look can be attributed to a wrestling match that ensued during setup just prior to the snapshot.)

I might have dealt with the weight and clumsiness at least a little longer if it was a sturdier easel. Maybe my easel was just from a bum lot, but the final annoyance was that the El Greco did not withstand even modest use before it started to fall apart. The nuts began to slip and other screws quickly started to strip. The wood on one leg splilt and cracked to the point where the thing would not stand at all. And no, I didn't abuse it or throw the thing down the stairs, though there were plenty of times that I wanted to!

El Greco is now "La Tavola". Or if we're sticking to Spanish, "La Mesa". It can still work as a table easel or receive a painting that needs to dry, though mostly now it just receives glares and passing insults. IMO, a better alternative would have been a french half-box (from many accounts, the Julian brand seems to be one that is tried and true). This is a smaller version of the French style easel (for those of you who are sticklers for tradition and have a soft spot for wingnuts.) The half box has the same size 12x16" palette as the full French, by the way. Only with the half box it folds in half rather handily to fit in the box.

Overall though, the French easel, while pretty to look at and readily available most anywhere, is too fragile and cumbersome for my taste. After my first foray into this design, I soon decided I was finished with all of that and moved directly on to Easel #2: my first pochade. I will write about that in a future post, so stay tuned for the next installment of this mind-numbing nail biting tale.

*Note: This is the first in a series of posts I am writing about artist's easels. To continue reading the other installments, click on the following links:

Part II: Guerilla Painter's Pochade Box Part III: My Soltek Easel Part IV: A pochade box for travel

"Winter on the James" plein air painting

This is a view of the James River that I painted today on location at the Hollywood Cemetery in my town, Richmond, Virginia:

"Winter on the James" Oil on canvas, 9x12" (WIP)

I actually love old cemeteries any way, but the Hollywood Cemetery is one of Richmond's landmarks and a major tourist attraction in our town. Not only is it the burial place of two presidents and several prominent figures in civil war history, but, as the website points out, it is also incredibly beautiful.

The cemetery sits on a bluff overlooking the James River, and is filled with over 2000 trees of many varieties (some of them quite large, and older than the 1847-founded cemetery itself.) In fact, even though we have a number of beautiful parks in Richmond, Hollywood Cemetery is the location that kind of reminds me of a mini Central Park. People go there to meditate, pray, visit loved ones who have passed, but also to write, walk their dogs and just wander the grounds. Today, I went there to paint.

The day started out as a nice, sunny, and unusually warm winter day. But shortly after I got there, I soon found that my "perfect" spot on a bluff overlooking the James River had the disadvantage of getting whipped into a frenzy by the wind! I really did have to cut this session short. The piece needs more work, but I will return on a better day.

As it was, by the time I packed up my gear, I looked like I had been attacked by a giant tube of Windsor green paint!  (Ah, the joys of plein air painting!) Any way,  I am just glad nobody saw my little Jerry Lewis plein air routine. Well, maybe some ghosts saw, but (at least today), they weren't talking. ;-)

Plein air today

The weather is fine, so I'm heading out to do a little plein air painting. But for now, I'll leave you with this.... Update: A VERY windy day, but I got a little done. I will probably need to go back on site and finish this one. You can read more about it here.

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED~By Manuela Valenti!

Here are the rules: 1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. 2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. 3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. 4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Five funky facts about me:

1. I am one of nine children (number nine, no twins.)
2. I can be found singing somewhere on the Internet under an assumed name.
3. Before becoming a full time painter, I was a bank officer at a well known U.S. bank.
4. I am related to a famous civil war general.
5. I'm learning to play the ukulele!

Here are the five talented artists I'm tagging.  All have blogs well worth exploring!  Ed Terpening Larry Seiler Ming Goh Boyd Greene Linda Blondheim

Bellevue Bungalows

The autumn leaves are about finished now, but I thought I'd share this little plein air painting I did in my Richmond neighborhood of Bellevue just a couple of weeks ago. One thing I love about Bellevue is the architecture. And while the bungalows are usually modest looking structures, they hold so much charm for me.

"Bellevue Bungalows" Oil on Canvas 6x8"

Their low profiles are dwarfed by the Virginia trees, and there is something immediately happy, unassuming, sunny, laid back, and fabulously unpretentious about them. In the end, when we were looking in the area for a home,  we ended up buying not a bungalow, but a "cottage" (perhaps the bungalow's big-boned cousin?) Artist=spacehog.

But I still enjoy these little structures on my evening walks. I enjoy looking at them and their gardens- plain to fancy; sometimes wild, sometimes very manicured. These little houses give me the same feeling as do the cottages of Cape Cod, the shotguns in New Orleans, or especially the Conch Houses of Key West... Breezy, laid back, traditional and yet wonderfully free of tradition. Plain, simple, and calling out, "Home."

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 watercolor/pen and inks. Here I've decorated it with some lights and mistle toe:

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 mantlepiece decorated with paintings. To the left of the large Venetian landscape are a series of little square 6x6" Lake Como paintings. Anyone who has read my blog for a while, or my squidoo lens on hanging art must know 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:

I  guess 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.

Video- Tour of Jennifer Young Studio & Gallery

Taking some time over the Thanksgiving holidays to spend with family , so for now I leave you with a little tour of my studio/gallery featuring my last and perhaps one of my favorite shows to date, "Luminosity". The groovy music, by the way is by David Webb.

If you don't see the video player above, clicking this link will take you to the video in a new window.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"The Golden Pair", plein air painting

It was so windy on Friday that painting outside was a real hazard. So I painted in my car, instead! This little vignette is of a scene along Foushee Street, right near my downtown studio in Richmond, VA. 

 

"The Golden Pair" Oil on canvas mounted on hardboard, 5x7"

Painting in the car has its own hazards, I must say. I'm used to stepping back to see my painting from a distance, and there was none of that. It was pretty confining too, so I had to be careful where I was pointing those brushes! But, any way, I guess it beats having my painting and all my gear slamming against the pavement.

This painting is in the "Vignettes" section of my website and may be purchased online. For more info about this piece, please click on the image or contact me!

"Autumn in Bellevue" plein air landscape painting

Today is gray and rainy, but yesterday started out as a spectacular sunny morning. So I took the opportunity to paint this little street scene in my neighborhood:

"Autumn in Bellevue" Oil on Canvas, 7x5"

 I have always admired this cute little yellow bungalo on our evening walks, and it fit right in with the blazing fall colors that lined the intersecting street.  This has to be one of the prettiest falls I've seen in a while in the city of Richmond. Over the next days I hope to paint as many plein air paintings as I can before the wind carries the foliage away.

Please click the image or contact me for more info.

New painting details uploaded to the website

It took me a while but I finally got around to uploading some of the plein air paintings I've blogged about in recent months:

   

Details and purchasing info for these smaller paintings  of the Eastern Shore of Maryland are in my gallery of Mini Paintings, as is the recent little autumn scene. In another section of my website, I've uploaded these two Eastern Shore plein air paintings in my gallery of water-related scenes: 

 

 And finally, I mentioned yesterday that I was considering doing a touch more to the little lavender watercolor. Well, I didn't do much but I couldn't resist a tweak, and you can see the final image in the Vignettes section of my website. As with my other Vignettes, this one  may be purchased online  via Paypal. Update: This painting has sold!

Now that I'm getting caught up, I have some new work to upload...stay tuned!