Anything But Pedestrian

10x20 oil on canvas panel
sold


A walk down Congress Avenue in Austin. Its generally not a mundane tour of the city. :-)

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Consider a fine art print for a holiday gift this year - 

16x12" giclee on fine art paper - signed limited edition of 20

$80 incl. shipping
16 still available

étudiant des arts - Giclee GIVEAWAY

And the winner is Jane C. - CONGRATULATIONS!

What fun this was! Thanks so much for writing in and telling me what you liked. The breakdown was interesting - the winning theme was "art patrons". Next were laundry scenes, birds-eye views and city/restaurant. What great feedback!

The painting below is the one now featured as my first ever limited edition print. It is a 16x12 giclee print on fine art paper, signed and limited to only 20 prints.

$80 limited edition (20 prints)
16x12 giclee on fine art paper

Since so many like the museum paintings I wanted to revisit this little "copiste" in the National Gallery. I can't seem to get enough of her at work copying one of Berthe Morisot's lovely works (The Mother and Sister of the Artist 1869/70). Unfortunately, this image has some glare on it and I will replace it as soon as I can get a good photo in daylight. I finished up too late tonight. Its been a hectic week. I was frantically working on paintings for a group show opening tomorrow night at the Russell Collection. "Femme" features all their women artists. I took in 9 paintings - some larger scale than usual for me. I had good news this evening. Two already sold! What a feeling, especially after lots of angst over one in particular!

Now, if you'd like to purchase a limited edition print, email me and I can send you a invoice via paypal. $80 includes shipping.
If you would like to own the original - send me an email!

Student of the Arts

10x12 oil on panel

SOLD

This is it! I'm packing my bags and heading to coastal NC early Friday morning. The opening reception will be fun I think and it will be really nice to see all 25 paintings hung together. It was a big undertaking, doing a solo show! Its going to be nice to celebrate now after all my hard work. If you are in the area - please stop by and say hi!

You can purchase a show catalog for $15 and see all the paintings as well as a couple of pages where I show work in progress and talk about my techniques. This painting is one of those demonstrations. And its one of my favorites for this upcoming show. 

"Vignettes"

An exhibition of small works by Robin Cheers

Tidewater Gallery

107 N. Front Street

Swansboro, NC

910-325-0660

Opening reception Friday, June 15, 5-8 pm

New Year, New Projects

Happiest New Year wishes to you all! I am very much looking forward to the new year and new projects. I love this time of year actually. Its also my birthday today, so I start the new year with all kinds of new hope and determination and good feelings! I'm making plans for the year, coming up with new ideas, and setting goals. Some of those I will share here, naturally!

To start, I want to introduce a project idea that I began just before the holidays hit. I'm working on a series called "First Impressions." I hope to show the paintings as a group sometime this year.

Founder's Room
10x12 oil on panel

Having learned that I waste a lot of time looking for the best images or subject to work with, and getting overwhelmed sometimes, I've determined to stop shopping around and respond to my first impression. Usually what catches my eye is light and shadow, but sometimes just the way something seems framed naturally, happening upon a scene as I pass a doorway, things like that. Sort of like with fire, I need to "stop, drop and paint" (or sketch).

Tea For Three
10x12 oil on panel

I paint more instinctively, I think, when I paint rapidly. So I am relying on my trusty timer, and allowing that first half hour to be the pure energy of inspiration. What follows might be some focus on the main area of interest and some cleaning up, but for the most part, I want to leave these paintings loose and undefined. So its an exercise in freedom and restraint! All of the paintings are to be 10x12 and I have a lovely batch of Ampersand gessobord ready and waiting!

I feel more focused than I have in awhile. Last year, to be honest, didn't feel like the best year for me creatively. I hope that trusting my instincts and following my muse will allow me to enjoy the process and create more beautiful work than ever. Cheers!!

Renaissance Men

12x12 oil on panel

This was done last week. I have been painting some, in snatches. I don't know the lady in the portrait on the wall...reminds me of Lady Macbeth. Anyway, the subject is from the National Gallery of Art in D.C.

In the free time I have today and this weekend, I am going to try to organize this awful mess I call a studio. Didn't I just do this?

Docent Tour

20x20 oil on linen

I am not sure this painting is "right" so I thought I'd share it and get some feedback. Please give me your honest critique!

I am having such doubts of late. But thank you all for your wonderful comments and support. There is nothing like a support group to let me know my doubts are natural and expected. And given that my day was spent in research, talking to insurance advisers and taking my husband for more blood work, I have not had much time to think in the right brain.
The main thing I love about this painting is Mary Cassatt's painting "Little Girl in a Blue Armchair" and I will no doubt put it in a few more paintings in the future. Her relaxed pose makes me feel more relaxed.

Mademoiselle et Messieurs

8x12 oil on panel

This man was viewing French impressionist portraits in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. I could spend 20 mins. online looking for the exact paintings, but do not have that much time. I can just say that I am really pleased with this little painting. I did it two weeks ago now maybe, and today I wish I could paint like this again! Its nice to have some of your own work to look to for inspiration though.
I still haven't been able to get back to my routine. And I wish there was some way to shake of the stresses, the aches and pains, the dullness, and just create. But, I have to leave soon and apparently need perfect alignment of my world in order to work. I tend to obsess and stress - like my father. When I have something I need to plan or figure out, I can't stop thinking about it. At the moment I have about 10 things I am obsessing about. I won't bore you with my problems however, and will get to the good stuff.

One to do item is to ship this painting to join the others I sent earlier this week to another new gallery! I was recently contacted by the beautiful Polonaise Art Gallery in Woodstock, Vermont and asked to join their fine group of artists. Having many collectors in the north east, I hope that my work will be well received there. I'm very excited about my artistic growth (despite the set backs) and expanding representation. And... its raining in Austin! This is a very good thing.

A Corner of the National Gallery

14x11 oil on panel

You might remember that I did a scene like this on cardboard a week or so ago. This time I painted on regular gessoboard but I wanted to keep that "warm" undertone that the cardboard created so I toned it with raw sienna. I also changed the players here a little - I liked this woman's long red coat and how it complemented the tones in Toulouse's painting, "A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette."

A Corner of the National Gallery

17x12 oil on cardboard

This is very much in the style of Toulouse-Lautrec. If you hadn't yet guessed, he is one of my favorites. I had this cardboard - something called museum board actually - laying around my studio and I wanted to try to paint on it directly like Henri did so long ago. Its a very thin cardboard, and somewhat brittle. It will crack easily. But it was a fun experiment with - I left a lot of the board showing through the paint, using it almost entirely to represent the floor of the gallery.
The painting the art lovers are looking at is "A Corner of the Moulin de la Galette" by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

PS - I want to send a huge thank you to all my friends out there who had such high praise for yesterday's piece. You really made my day! Its so nice to have feedback and to be part of this new-age artist's community.

French Masters Gallery

30x40 oil on linen

This painting took me about 3 days of work. Its big and there are a lot of people in it. I think I spent about an hour per person. Pretty amazing since they don't have faces! I rarely work this large for the simple reason that I can't do it all at once. I don't like starting and stopping on paintings. I feel they lose some of their magic that way. My inspiration fades and I am ready to move on to something new.
This is actually two weeks old now. My daughter was home sick all last week and now I'm suffering either her virus or cedar fever and feeling pretty puny. I certainly have missed painting and I hope to get more done this week.

Lessons from the Masters

24x18 oil on linen - sold

I'm not sure this is the best photo but I sure enjoyed painting this scene and I'm very pleased with my work. The artist is copying Berthe Morisot's painting, "The Mother & Sister of the Artist." I did another painting of a similar view a month ago. And you will probably see more. I've been painting a series from the National Gallery of Art. Its a great deal of fun to paint the architectural space and all the people interacting with the art.

Favorable Review

16x8 oil on panel
Purchase info to come soon (I promise).

Another favorite painter, Cezanne, who has painted his father presumably reading reviews of exhibitions by contemporaries like Manet. Apparently Cezanne's father didn't care much for his career choice and so depicting him reading this newspaper was sort of a coup for Cezanne. The young woman is reading over one of the museum cards which tells the story of the artwork - The Artist's Father, Reading "L'Evenement"

The Artist Within

20x24 oil on linen
on hold

I am so pleased with this painting. I was so excited when I saw this woman painting in the National Gallery of Art. I watched her for awhile. I watched the other patrons watching her. She is copying the painting "The Mother and Sister of the Artist" by Berthe Morisot.
The gallery was awesome in so many ways and seeing two of my most admired artists hanging side by side was awe inspiring. The other painting is Mary Cassatt's "Little Girl in a Blue Armchair".
This painting is to be entered in a contest. It will be available for sale later.

East Sculpture Hall

14x11 oil on panel - sold

From the National Gallery of Art. The architecture of this building alone is worth a look. But the art contained within, is what drew me through this passage to the French masters galleries.