A River Runs Through It: May 18-19, Columbia, TN

The Chestnut Group and The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee will be hosting “A River Runs Through It” Art Show and Fundraiser. This painting, Harmony Hill, along with over 200  paintings will be on sale.  The Duck River provides drinking water for thousands of Tennessee residents, and it is one of the most ecologically rich waterways in the nation. A generous portion of the proceeds from art sales will benefit the Nature Conservancy of Tennessee and specifically, the Duck River Watershed.
Location:  311 West 7th Street, Columbia TN 38401
(St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Parish Hall)
Friday, May 18,  10am-7pm
Saturday, May 19, 10am-4pm

Uptown

One rainy day while driving around downtown Nashville, I took several photographs which inspired this painting.  I have been experimenting with painting with a palette knife which has been fun.  I find that I can break shapes down easier than with a brush and I love the way the paint applies - with an easier flow and thicker.  I changed the main figure radically as the original woman was wearing an orange rain jacket with white shorts.  So the obvious choice to create the greatest amount of contrast was a black dress against the back-lighting.  And the original umbrella was green which I switched to red - viola!   Sold:  Uptown, 20 x 20

Come See Me at Local Color Gallery this Saturday, March 10th from 5pm - 7pm

I am very excited about the upcoming event at Local Color Gallery featuring my work and the work of another wonderful artist Beverley Ford Evans.  It will be this coming Saturday, March 10th from 5pm to 7pm.  If you are out and about on the town I hope you'll stop by and say hello!  This painting of the barn might be making an appearance there.  I became enamored with the light falling across the shadowed plane and all the lovely shades of gray and blue as a backdrop against the warm light.  This Old Barn, 24 x 24

Shades of Copper

I found this sweet little copper pot in a consignment store and fell in love with it. It has such wonderful color which was fun to paint. The varying reflected shades of bright coral to red to orange paired with the reds of the onion worked really well together. I have a feeling this little piece is going to be appearing in a lot of my still life paintings. Shades of Copper, 14 x 11

Poetic Reflections

This painting is a sneak preview of the some of the work that will be available at Local Color Gallery here in Nashville in March where I will be having a two person show with another talented artist, Beverly Ford Evans.  I loved the drama of this piece with the back lighting on the hydrangeas creating striking white highlights along the edges of the flowers and the reflections of the bronze cloth in the shadows of the petals.  The flowers looked so soft and cottony against the dark brown background.  Sometimes a still life set up almost paints itself!

Eastern Influence

With cold temperatures outside, I find the studio more and more appealing.  This past week I set up this still life using a few favorite objects.  The Foo Dog is one of a pair that I have in my home.  I am not sure why they are called dogs when the creature depicted is actually a lion.  There is some speculation that it come from the Chinese word for Buddha which is Fo which over the years derived into Foo.  These “dogs of Fo” or Foo dogs (Buddha's companions) are often placed at the threshold of temples, tombs, and even residences. The Foo Dog was the protector of sacred buildings and a defender of law.  The Foo Dog is also known as the Celestial Dog, and the Happiness Dog and is a symbol of energy and value, often displayed in a male/female pair.  At any rate, the varieties of red of the Foo Dog and red onion along with the background bronze cloth created a lovely color harmony when paired with the Chinese fan and hydrangeas. Or at least, I thought so!

The first painting of the New Year is of a lovely green roofed barn that sits on a property near my home. I have frequently noticed this barn as I drive by on my way to do shopping or errands.  The green of the roof is such a beautiful shade of green and when I drove by recently I literally caught my breath as the winter sun had produced a striking shadow on the side of the barn.  So I wrote a note to the owner requesting permission to enter the property and she returned my call that evening to say yes.  I was delighted as the next day was 62 degrees, in January, no less!  What a perfect day to paint outside!  And such an inspirational barn!  Now the interesting part of the story is that this property belongs to the LeQuire family.   Louise LeQuire, recently deceased, was a well known Nashville artist and her son is the well known local sculptor and gallery owner, Alan LeQuire responsible for the statue of Athena in the Nashville Parthenon.  And so my first plein air painting of 2012 was in homage to the beauty of LeQuire family barn.



Brentwood Academy Fine Art Show and Sale

You can find my painting, Luminous Treat, along with many other wonderful works of art by several talented artists at the Brentwood Academy Fine Art Show and Sale.  Hours are:  Friday, December 2 - 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm;  Saturday, December 3 - 10:00 am to 6:00 pm;  Sunday, December 4 - 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.  Brentwood Academy is located at 19 Granny White Pike, Brentwood, TN 37027.

Greener Pastures

One morning this past summer on my way to a Chestnut Group paint out near the Caney Fork River, I passed this lovely red barn drenched in morning light.  So I stopped and photographed it to paint at a later date.  That later date came this week as I put brush to canvas and captured another familiar Tennessee sight.

Red White and Blue

One of the things I love about fall days are the deep blue skies that appear when the temperature is cool and the atmosphere is breathtakingly cloudless.  Those skies just seem to go on forever.  And we have been lucky enough here in Nashville to enjoy a couple of weeks of this fabulous weather.  So painting outside, 'en plien air', has been a must.  I painted this lovely barn with the red doors last week and against the endless blue sky this painting really snaps. 

Fall Color

When the nights turn cooler, the rolling, green hills of Tennessee start to change to their beautiful fall colors:  oranges, yellows, siennas and reds.  It is such a wonderful time of year to be a painter who has the pleasure of painting outdoors as it combines two of my favorite things: painting and nature.

Composition Choices

As a member of the local plein air group, the Chestnut Group, we have the opportunity to paint properties that we would not normally be able to access that are part of the Tennessee Land Trust, a group that advocates the protection of land.  This particular property, Hunter's Hill, is quite beautiful and is situated on Old Hickory lake.  The morning I went to paint there, I was inspired by these two old hay bales sitting in the shade as the morning sun rose behind the trees. What I wanted to paint that day was the entire scene, however, I had an 8 x 10 canvas and I knew that trying to successfully paint hay bales that small would be too difficult for me.  So I settled for a close-up of the hay bales which is the top painting.  However, once back at the studio, I couldn't get the panorama of the scene out of my mind so I decided to do a larger studio piece  - an 18 x 24 and it's titled "Waiting in the Shadows".  This painting along with many other fabulous paintings by other Chestnut Group members will be available at a function hosted by the Land Trust the Blue Moon Event on October 22 at Glen Leven.  Details regarding this event can be found at chesnutgroup.org.