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Archive for the ‘Plein Air’ Category

Plein Air Sunflowers

Posted in daily painter, Plein Air, Tips for Better Painting, tagged daily painter, daily painting, flowers, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Oxbow Farms, Plein Air, Shenandoah Valley, sunflowers, Virginia Artist on August 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Set-up to Paint

Sketch

Sky and Distant Mountains

Distant Trees and Meadow

Foreground Greens

Sunflowers – Painting about 90% complete

View from Easel

Beauty in Sunflowers

Yesterday I had the most wonderful morning painting “en plein air” at Oxbow Farm. There is the most beautiful field of sunflowers there that just needed to be painted. I tried to take step by step photos to share today of one of the paintings that I did. When I work outside I can usually get a painting about 85-90% finished and then after a day or two of letting the paint “rest” I will complete it in the studio.

I call this “Oxbow Sunflowers 1“. It is an oil on canvas measuring 9″x12” and is available framed for $275.

Being outside and painting sunflowers was such a treat after painting all the ball parks I have been doing the last few months. It was a nice break.

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Paint the Parks!

Posted in Plein Air, tagged Northern Entrance of Shenandoah National Park, PaintTheParks, Shenandoah National Park on August 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

A few days ago I wrote about PaintTheParks, a group of artists who are painting parks around the world and giving a portion of their sales to support parks foundations. I am continuing to build my PaintTheParks page and adding paintings I have already done of National, State, and local parks. I hope to get out “en plein air” and paint a new one this week. We are lucky to live at the northern entrance of the Shenandoah National Park, a real treasure in the national park system. There are so many beautiful scenes there to paint.

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Paint the Parks!

Posted in Plein Air, Serendipity, Travel, tagged Paint the Parks, Plein Air, Virginia Artist on August 10, 2013| 2 Comments »

One of Kelly’s paintings at Dickey Ridge Overlook in the Shenandoah National Park

I am very excited to share with you today that I have recently joined a wonderful group called “Paint the Parks“. Their mission as artists is to paint scenes from our wonderful parks all over the world and share them with collectors.

As their website states, ” The idea of Paint The Parks is to visit protected park lands and paint them ~ in your home area and all around the world. What is a “Park?” Any nature reserve set aside for conservation and public use qualifies as a “Park.” We want to preserve these precious places for future generations. Artists can paint the parks en Plein Air (on site), or in the studio. But only list the paintings of places you have actually visited. There is no substitute for experiencing the majesty of the out of doors, and being in nature’s temple. The energy and soul of a place has a visceral effect on your entire being.”

Kelly painting en plein air with Jed

When a painting is purchased a percentage of the sale goes to a park foundation. I am very pleased to be a new part of this movement. I hope you will take a minute to visit their website and see what Karin Leonard, the artist with a vision to help save our beautiful parks, is doing through this project.

I have added a Paint the Parks page to my website that I will dedicate to park paintings so it will be easy to go to one place to see them all. I have many more paintings to add to the page and will get them all listed soon. Thanks for looking and for anything you can do to help preserve park space.

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Finished Long Green

Posted in Plein Air, tagged daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Long Green, oil painting, Plein Air, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Artist on June 17, 2013| Leave a Comment »

A few weeks ago I shared with you my day at Long Green where I went to paint with other artists for an upcoming show that will benefit Blue Ridge Hospice. (Read more about it here.) I completed one of the paintings that I started that day. When I get more details about the show I will pass it along.

Long Green, oil on canvas, 9″x12″.

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More on the Paint-Out

Posted in Plein Air, tagged Dogs, Headley House, Long Green, Paint Out, Virginia Artist on June 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Last weekend I posted some photos of the Paint-Out at Long Green. This link will take you to the page that shows other painters from that day. The finished paintings will be on display there in September. I will provide more information about the Showhouse and Garden Show when it becomes available.

Of course, my favorite part of the whole day of painting was when this fellow showed up. He belongs to the family that lives the next house over. There wasn’t a name on his tag so I just called him “Handsome”!

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More from the Long Green Paint-Out

Posted in Plein Air, tagged barn, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, Long Green, Long Green Barn, oil painting, Paint Out, Plein Air, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Artist on June 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Barn – A Good Start

Barn – Laying in Background and Foreground

I had a delightful day of painting at Long Green yesterday. (See here the set-up for my first painting there.) Here is the progress I made. It was a bright sunny day so the shadows kept moving…and fast! But I got the first painting, the barn to a point of about 85% finished.

Barn – Only Details Left to Paint

Now I will tinker on it in the studio until it’s done. The Long Green Paint Out is for an upcoming fundraiser for Blue Ridge Hospice. They are going to have a “Decorator’s Showcase” there in September that will be open to the public. More info to come as I get it. And our paintings will be on display and for sale to benefit Hospice.

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Painting at Long Green

Posted in daily painter, Plein Air on June 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

My post is late this morning because I wanted to share what I am doing today. I am at a Paint Out with a dozen other artists at Long Green, just north of Winchester. This is my set up. Now to get busy painting.

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Decisions, Decisions…

Posted in Plein Air, Polls on March 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

This is how my desk looked this morning when I sat down to write this post. What a mess! It’s this way because I have been working on a few ideas for projects that I hope to decide about soon and get started painting. I love painting and as you know I try to work on a painting project every day but sometimes reality jumps up and I have to “plan” some work in order to make ends meet in this economy. So I am developing a project that I want to lead to a show and possibly a book. I am at a crossroads where I must decided exactly what to paint. And I want your input. It will be a “Plein-air” (painting outdoors) project. Please take the survey below and help me make a choice so I can finish writing my proposal and get busy actually painting. I’d really appreciate your help! And I’ll let you know more about the project in the next few weeks. Thanks!

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Wild Poppies on the Valley Floor

Posted in daily painter, Plein Air, tagged acrylic, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Artist on December 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Wild Poppies on the Valley Floor, acrylic on canvas, 30″x40″, available for $295.

I like to do snow paintings at this time of the year but the weather feels more like this….summer!

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Hilton Head Marsh

Posted in Plein Air, Travel, tagged daily painter, Hilton Head Island, Hilton Head Marsh, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Travel, Virginia Artist on November 19, 2012| 1 Comment »

This is a painting that I did a few years ago while at Hilton Head. I’m looking forward to being there again this week and having some time to go out and paint!