Completed Commission and other News

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It’s been a while since my last post. I have been busy with art and other life activities. I will try to catch up a bit.

First, I completed my commission of Brian’s view in Afton. This one was quite different because the medium was fluid acrylic. I ended up doing a composite from many reference photos. As with all of my commissions I worked with Brian, doing several prototypes, to understand what resonated with him. Then I went to work on the final painting. It is 22×18 and is on hot press watercolor paper. This is smoother than cold press, which is what I use for my watercolors. We experimented with many seasons before we settled on summer. Brian really liked the flowering trees in the spring scenes, so I made them crape myrtles to keep true with the season. I worked hard to make sure Humpback Rocks was clear, because that was important to Brian. Here is the final result. Brian was happy. I’m waiting for him to share a photo of the painting framed and hung in his house.

I have been accepted into the Waynesboro Fall Foliage show that will be held to be held October 14th and 15th. I will be in the emerging artist section which will be inside the gallery on Main Street. I will post more about this when it gets closer. It would be great to see some friends there.

Finally, I just returned from a wonderful cruise traveling from Amsterdam to Bordeaux. It was wonderful to walk in the footsteps of some of the great impressionists. While in Amsterdam we visited the Van Gogh gallery which was excellent. I highly recommend it if you are ever there. Here are a few photos I took of some of his magnificent works.

This one of a church is quite famous.

I really loved this landscape of thunderclouds over fields.

I found it quite moving and emotional to be in the presence of the palette he left behind when he died.

I always plan to paint when traveling and I take supplies and a sketchbook with me. I find that I have limited time, but I did manage to do a few sketches.

I have a few more exciting things that I’m working on to share and I will be doing that in subsequent posts soon.

Shenandoah Valley Artfest 2023 – Preparations

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Tomorrow is the big day! I will be participating in the Shenandoah Valley Artfest 2023 in Woodstock Virginia! The weather this week has been terrible, and for a while it looked like the festival would be a wash out. Things are looking a little better, so fingers crossed.

I assembled all of my racks, which was a bear, and staged my setup in my garage. I think this will look fine.

I will be showing about 20 pieces. There are a few that I don’t have good photos of, but here is a gallery of most of what I will be showing.

Westmorland
Korean-Sunset
Carlo2
Natural-Bridge-Autumn
Nellysford-Silo-Autumn
Skektchbook-Barn
Study 3
Fall
fog-rising-wc
Day2-Morning-Painting
Day1-Afternoon-Painting-2
Day1-Afternoon-Painting-1
Day1-Morning-Painting
Fall-on-Fawn-Ridge-Gouache
Stream-Study-Little
Beech-Grove-Tree
Vesuvius-Waterfall
Nature-Hike-Stream

[Show slideshow]

I hope to see some familiar faces. This is my first show, but hopefully it will encourage me to do more!

Completed Natural Bridge Commission

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Since I shared my small studies I have been working on my Natural Bridge commission. Today I took it to the client to discuss any final changes and they only had one small thing they wanted me to change. They were very happy with the result and had many nice things to say.

Commissions are difficult and stressful. When you paint for yourself, no one has to like it but you. If you’re lucky enough to have someone else who likes it enough to buy it, that’s great. With a commission, someone agrees to pay you money for something before it’s created, and they have some expectations for what they want. As an artist, you need to figure out how to meet those expectations.

Fortunately, applying my design thinking background seems to help. Using DT methods with the studies I did allowed me to better understand their expectations. One of the things they said when the saw the almost finished painting today was that I had incorporated all of the things that they liked. Needless to say I’m pleased.

This is the fully complete painting. It is 18×24, the largest watercolor I’ve ever done. Painting that large was quite different but I made it work. I will deliver it soon and hopefully they will allow me to come over and photograph it once it is framed and hanging in the place they have chosen for it.

Shenandoah Valley Artfest

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I just got confirmation that I was accepted in the Shenandoah Valley Artfest to be held on 24 June 2023 in the town of Woodstock VA. I am so proud as participants were selected by a jury and I submitted my application as a complete unknown. I have a busy month ahead of me to get ready! Stay tuned and I will share more info when we get closer.

Natural Bridge Studies

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I mentioned in my last post that I am doing a commission for my friend Jo Ann, who lives here in the neighborhood. She wants 24×18 watercolor of Natural Bridge, Virginia in the springtime. I went and took pictures a few weeks back. Jo Ann and her husband Morgan chose this picture as the reference photo for their painting.

As promised, I have done three small studies in the same aspect ratio as their painting. I do this to get client feedback. I took them and showed them to Jo Ann and Morgan today, and the good news is that they liked them all. They gave me some ideas of what they liked and didn’t like. While there is no way I can get exactly the same result this still gives me good guidance as I proceed with their real painting.

Here are the three studies (click on image to see larger version):

Study 1
Study 2
Study 3

While the clients’ opinion is the most important, I like feedback from multiple perspectives. Please share what you like and don’t like about each painting.

I’m getting ready to start on the final painting. This will be the largest watercolor I’ve ever done, so that’s making me a little nervous. I will share the result, hopefully in a few weeks.

Commissions I’m Working On

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I have not one, but two commissions I’m working on this Spring. The first is for a friend, Jo Ann, who lives here in the neighborhood. She is doing some rearranging of the art in her house and has purchased three of my paintings. She would also like me to do a large (18×24) watercolor painting of Natural Bridge (Virginia) for her. She was thinking that she might prefer Spring colors, so I’ve been waiting for the trees to leaf out. Today was a beautiful day so I went down and did the hike. The trees are not quite as leafed out as I would like, but I can change that. I took several pictures and presented Jo Ann with three slightly different angles to choose from. I think this one is my favorite.

Once I get feedback from Jo Ann, I will do some small studies.

Last year when I did the Rockfish Valley Foundation Plein Air event, I had a couple come up to me at the show and sale and ask if I did commissions. They said they wanted someone to paint their view. They live in Afton Virginia and have a view of the Blue Ridge, including Humpback Rocks, one of the hikes along the Blue Ridge Parkway. They took my card, and I didn’t really expect to hear from them. A few weeks back I got an email from Brian, and he said he wanted to commission a painting. I’ve gone to their house and they do have a lovely view. Here is a nice photo.

Brian also wants a large painting (24×12) and he would like it done in fluid acrylic because he likes the vibrancy of the colors. I have done a small study to get us started on our back and forth. The composition needs a little work, but I have some ideas.

I have to share that one of the things that Brian told me that made me feel so good. He said one of the other artists are the show actually recommended that he see me about doing a commission. I am honored that one of my fellow artists did that. I am sad that I don’t know who it was.

I am looking forward to doing both of these works over the next few months! I will post progress and results here!

When one door closes…

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“When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell

This was a quote I used a lot during my days teaching innovation. We are often blind to opportunity because we look backwards and not forwards.

In the last week I received unpleasant news on two unrelated fronts of my artistic journey.

First, I was notified by Rockfish River Gallery and Gifts, where I’ve had my work for about four years now, that they are changing the terms of their standard agreement.

The woman who was running it when I first put some of my paintings there was a wonderful lady who was passionate about supporting local artists, but she was not a business woman. Last year she decided that she was unable to run the gallery anymore, so she sent a notice that she was going to shut it down unless she could find a buyer for it. The Rockfish Valley Community Center, where the gallery is located decided to take it over. They had a grand reopening over the summer and they appear to have breathed some new life into it. Unfortunately, they have also discovered that it is not sustainable under its current structure.

The new terms require a $20 monthly fee to be paid just to display there, and then they will still take a 30% commission on the works sold. If you want to volunteer to work 10 hours a month in the gallery then they will waive the fee and reduce the commission to 10%. In the four years that I have had work there they have sold exactly three paintings. I cannot justify paying $20 a month to keep my work there, nor will I work for $2 an hour, so I will be pulling my work out of the gallery. I will begin the search for additional galleries to display my work in that have more attractive terms. It is sad though, because that is the closest gallery to us and I can easily send people there, plus many locals tell me they’ve seen my work there.

I will continue to show some work at the Shenandoah Art Center in Waynesboro, and I also have work on display at the Friendly City Inn in Harrisonburg.

The other bad news, and this one is quite heartbreaking for me, is that Nimrod Hall will not be opening their doors for art workshops in the foreseeable future. Owners Laura Loe and her husband Will Loving need a break. Owning and operating Nimrod Hall is a labor of love, but Laura has been doing it for 25 years, first as a hired manager and then, since 2013, as an owner. They have decided that for now, they just want to enjoy it as a second home and a private retreat for themselves and their family. They have said this is for 2023 but have not speculated at all about what the future holds. For those who might be interested, here is Laura’s statement.

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you know that I love Nimrod Hall. It’s a magical place where artists can go and simply create. It’s rustic, but that actually helps encourage me. I will miss it terribly, and hope that someday it returns to its former magical self. Until then I will need to look for other opportunities to immerse myself in art from time to time. Sometimes I simply lack discipline or inspiration to practice my craft. Nimrod always helped get me going again, but for now I will need to look for other ways to do that.

So as you see, I’m going to be out trying to open some new doors to see what I find. Stay tuned! Sorry, but this is a post with no art. I promise I won’t do that again for a while.

Odds and Ends I’ve Been Working On

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First, I said I was going to do a third version of the autumn scene with the tree and the bridge in fluid acrylic. I did that and here are all three paintings side by side. I think the fluid acrylic came out pretty nice. The colors are very vibrant.

Fluid Acrylic – 10×8
Watercolor with white ink – 10×8
Watercolor washes and Gouache – 10×8

I also did a nice little sketch of a winter scene that was a lot of fun. I planned to do two versions of this, one on regular watercolor paper and one on a watercolor note card. Traditionally I have not liked watercolor note cards because the quality of the paper isn’t good. I found a brand called ARTEZA on Amazon that advertised 100% cotton paper so I thought I’d give them a try. Sadly they are a disappointment. While they may be 100% cotton the paper doesn’t absorb the water and behave like good quality watercolor paper. I haven’t given up yet, but I’m not happy with my first attempt. Here is the version done on regular watercolor paper.

Watercolor with White Opaque Watercolor 5×7

The December theme for the members at the Shenandoah Valley Art Center is always small works. To that end I did a 10×8 version of the same scene I did in fluid acrylics from my exploration for the RVF Plein Air Paint Out. I really like painting that scene. I forgot to take a picture of this before I framed it, so here it is under glass. It will be on display at the SVAC through early January.

Watercolor with gouache highlights 10×5

Finally, I got a new iPad and a 2nd Generation Apple pencil. A long time ago, before there were Apple pencils, I used to do “paintings” on my iPad. Back in those days I had a few third-party styli and a conductive brush. I haven’t done this for a long time. This is the same scene as above, but I did it from memory, not from a reference photo. It was done using Procreate and my Apple pencil. I had a little trouble with the pencil’s responsiveness which was frustrating, but in general it worked. I am very rusty at this, but I had a lot of fun. I will do more as I need the practice.

Rockfish Gallery and Gifts Grand Reopening

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There is a gallery in the Rockfish Valley Community Center (RVCC) not far from where we live called Rockfish Gallery and Gifts. I’ve had several pieces in the gallery for quite some time. Some have sold. Recently, the founder decided to retire and it changed hands and is now owned and operated by the RVCC. They are having a Grand Reopening Open House this Sunday, October 30, from 1 to 3 PM in which I will be participating.

I plan to bring some additional paintings to display in the RVCC auditorium for the event. The new operators suggested that people like to see recent work and to learn about an artist’s process. With that in mind I finished two paintings this week. They are from a photo of the same autumn scene taken right around the corner from where I live. The first one is mostly watercolor with a little bit of white ink. The second is watercolor washes with gouache for the more detailed foliage. I’m still assessing the differences. The colors in the gouache definitely pop more, which is to be expected. The foliage in the watercolor has some nice shapes and detail. I was hoping to do a third version in fluid acrylic, but I don’t think I will get to it.

Watercolor with white ink – 10×8
Watercolor washes and Gouache – 10×8

I will also have a few other paintings including two from the Plein Air Paint Out a few weeks ago. If you are in the area this Sunday please stop by.