Balancing Act - Surfer

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + s/h - sold

I finished up some larger subway paintings today and began another project I've wanted to do for awhile. I will share pics of those the rest of the week.

Watching and Waiting - Surfer Girl

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $6.50 s/h - sold

More from the sunny coast of Florida. We're still enjoying temps in the 90s here. I use the term "enjoying" loosely. I could use a little fall weather. :-)

Wedding Reception - The Parador, Houston

I made good progress on this one I think. I do not have much touch up to do in the studio. Though my start was slow! The Parador was a lovely venue. The gardens were particularly nice. Inside, once the band got going, and the guests filtered in for dinner, I got into the swing of things.
Its such a neat experience. Its kind of terrifying as well. lol

Catchin A Wave

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $6.50 s/h - sold

I felt like visiting the beach today! I wanted to practice some quick gestural figures too to get ready for my live event painting tonight. Must get packing now and head out. Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Note: those little blobs that sometimes appear from time to time on the left and right edges of the painting are actually what holds the panel in place. I was too rushed today to try to edit those out. They are not included with the painting.

Studio News

First, I think what bugs me about the painting below is that its not as loose as I wanted. I was trying to go more for that blocky and gestural look in the painting I did of the pantry. But I think its maybe very hard to do with people. I think because as a representational artist its hard to paint something that everyone (including me) expects to look a certain way to be something different. So if I DON'T paint the people to look very much like individuals, then they won't look like people. I think people are hard because we are all so familiar with the proportions and the way a person carries themselves. We can flub a vase of flowers, no one really knows that the vase was or wasn't shaped that way, or the flowers can have a variety of shapes and still look correct. But if person's head is too small or arms too long, or they are off balance, then everyone can tell that and feel that its all wrong.
So, I think I wasn't able to pull off the gestures as I hoped. What I wanted was more of a feeling of motion - the hurry of the crowd. The rest should be more loose and suggestive with more detail being around the one figure on the right. She is moving more slowly, carefully. I will work on it. (try again)

I'm not sure that made any sense. My daughter, who still has a fever, has not stopped talking for the past 3 hours I think. She feels good at least.

Now for my busy schedule to share with you!
I have quite a few paintings going to various shows around the country as well as me traveling for events.

This Friday I have a wedding reception painting to paint in Houston. I'm hoping that the sickness in our house will not interefere with that! I haven't yet had to deal with that possibility.

Oct. 17 - Opening reception for the Daily Painters of Texas group show at Dutch Art Gallery in Dallas. (I will share the works going there soon - I'm still undecided!)
Oct. 17 - Live event painting during the Calvert Victorian Gala - Calvert, Texas. (costume ball!)
Oct. 23 - Opening of the American Impressionist Society show in Denver, CO. Juror - the very inspiring Quang Ho. I will have two paintings there.
Oct. 23 - Closing reception for the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club show (one painting) at the National Arts Club, NYC
Oct. 24 - Live event painting in Red Bank, NJ

I almost forgot a very special invitation I've had to exhibit at a show of contemporary women artists of the west at the Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, Texas beginning Jan 2010. I am really honored to have been selected to participate in it. Really, I am glad to be included in all these shows. There are just so many amazing artists working now that just being selected into shows is an accomplishment. (But I still hope for awards! :)

I think that is all for now. I share this here so I can sort it all out in my own mind better! Its rather too much to remember - the timing the shipping, planning the trips, getting my materials, frames, etc. Ooh, I better stop thinking about all that now. Need to think about dinner for my recovering flu victims.

50th Street Station

16x20 oil on panel

I am not sure I like this very well. I will take my friend V's advice and keep looking at it awhile. She writes the most insightful notes on her blog. Today's being about loving a painting as a process, but perhaps not loving a painting as an object d'art.
I think this piece fell short of my enjoyment.
One thing I think that contributed to this effort's less than satisfying results was the fact that I had to stop and start on it. I never work well that way. I am most definitely an "alla prima" painter. Give me all or give me nothing. So... I might rework this. I might start over. We shall see.

Subway Start

16x20 oil on panel

I thought I'd share this new painting. I usually can paint this size in a sitting. But I think I must have broken up the morning by going to a class at the gym. So its still a work in progress. You can see how I start though. This is on a gessoed hardboard (Ampersand) which I "primed" with a gray housepaint.
The big X across the panel helps me accurately place things from my reference material. I learned this from Jeanette LaGrue. She even had little viewfinder cut out of mat with string across the opening to help compose our plein air work. It's a neat little trick.

Moses Botkin Monthly Challenge

This month we used another of my ideas. I've been repainting my kitchen cabinets and have had the doors off at various times for a couple of weeks. As I walked by the open cabinets I kept thinking they would make an interesting subject. I took the challenge a step further and tried to really get loose! I thoroughly enjoyed breaking the items down to just blocks of color. I'm trying to effect on my newest subway painting. We've had some shifts in the group. A couple of friends had to drop out and we've added a new member, Suzanne Berry. Welcome Suzanne!
NOW - I have a contest! The first person to email me and correctly identify three products in my painting below will receive a free copy of the Daily Painters book "Color, Obsession, Joy and Torment."
The fine print: No daily painter members may win the book. Buy your own! :-)

NOTE: CONTEST IS OVER (ALREADY!) Leslie was the winner - and correctly named Ragu, Peter Pan and Skippy. Why I have two different brands, I'm not even sure! Leslie wins the Daily Painters Art Gallery book!

Staples
8x16 oil on panel
(c) 2009 Robin Cheers - PURCHASE



Coming out of the Cabinet
9x12 oil on board
(c) 2009 Vicki Ross



The Artist's Pantry
5x7 oil on canvas
(c) 2009 Suzanne Berry



The Red Napkin
16x20 oil on canvas
(c) 2009 Marie Fox



Yo-Ho-Ho and a Bottle of Rum
6x8 oil on panel
(c) 2009 Diana Moses Botkin



Steel Cut Oats
12x12 oil on canvas
(c) 2009 Silvina Day



Coffee Corner
12x7 oil on panel
(c) 2009 Michael Naples

Recent Live Event Paintings

Jenkins Wedding - Driskill Hotel


Agrawal Wedding - The Houstonian

I am still doing live event painting, but haven't been publicizing it. I have been debating a lot actually about continuing. Its a really neat thing to do - and so good for me as an artist. It really pushes me to see and paint fast and loose. But it is exhausting. And travel is difficult, esp. with oils.
So I've decided to just do events at locations I can drive to for now. So that means the central Texas area basically. I have not yet been able to paint quickly enough to be completely finished on site. And even if I did, the family or couple don't want to take a wet painting home with them the night of the party. So the process remains the same. I show up about 2 hours early and begin working. I paint during the party, adding people and catching important moments and chatting with all the guests who want to know why I haven't put them in the painting yet.
Then I bring the painting home to finalize it, let it dry and varnish it to deliver later.
FYI - I currently charge $1500 + travel (and tax) for a 20x30 or 22x28. I think those sizes work the best but I can do other sizes. I ask for 50% deposit to save the date. Its fully refundable should plans change - minus any hotel charges/fees. I'm honing my skills each time I do this and hope to finish a painting during an event sometime. Then maybe I can work bigger or travel farther.
Upcoming this fall - painting during the Victorian Gala in Calvert Texas. Its a fully costumed ball and should be really fun.
Besides that, my paintings will be showing in several juried exhibits around the country. But more on that later.
Tomorrow - the monthly challenge group painting!

Platform

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $6.50 s/h

I'm working on some subterranean scenes and enjoying the strange lighting effects found in the subways of NY. I want to do a large painting of the scene above and thought I'd do this smaller scale version. The trouble is, its a lot to fit into a tiny space. I find that trying to get a whole body into a 6x6 format is too restrictive. I find myself getting closer and closer to the painting, trying to sharpen the edges of my brush and paint tiny details. Luckily, I had to stop this a.m. to go to the gym and so ended it before I got too tight.

The E Train

12x8 oil on panel
Ask Castle Gallery about this painting.

This was done a week or so ago and I took it to Indiana with me for the reception. I'm working on a similar scene with a longer view of the train and more passengers. I was really proud of this painting when I finished it. My favorite part, oddly enough, is the reflections on the pole by the man!

Dead on His Feet

7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $6.50 s/h

We visited the Met on one of the days they are open late. This guard looks like he had a long day and was ready to call it quits. I imagine it could get pretty dull watching tourists exclaim over the same paintings for hours. I hope its more interesting work than that though.

Artist Trading Cards

I thought I'd share this idea for framing/matting ACEOs or artist trading cards. I haven't bought any yet not knowing what I'd do with them. But this idea is really neat I think. Click here to buy online.

For those that don't know, or understand (as I didn't) - ATCs are miniature pieces of art that are traded/sold. There are even organized "swap" events. The cards are business card sized...2.5 x 3.5 inches. They are also available from many artists on the Daily Painters Gallery. A personal favorite is Nicole Wong.

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend.

Used Paperbacks

6x6 oil on panel
sold

Another busy scene along Central Park South.

I wasn't going to post today but was in the studio cleaning up and thought I might as well.
I can walk in here now without fear of tripping! I am so happy. Now I have to clean the hallway up... that is where a lot of it went. I tend to move piles from one place to another. Somehow they eventually diminish.

Dappled Grey

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $6.50 s/h - sold

Well I am in love with this little painting. I often feel sorry for these carriage horses; those long days on the pavement. But I was surprised to see many of these park horses anxious to work. They pulled hard, wanted to move faster, and really seemed to enjoy it. Maybe they understand what a special tour they give their passengers.

I Love NY

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + s/h

This might look a little busy, but it was a good exercise for me to practice staying loose and gestural. Sometimes the smaller format causes me to tighten up. So I chose a more complicated subject with the intent of not getting into the details and defining stuff. All this stuff is "I Love NY" t-shirts and caps. I loved that the lady is practically buried in the hanging clothes. The cart was along Central Park South, a very busy area of the park.

Pick Up Artist

6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $6.50 s/h - sold

Back to the easel today and I wanted to get back to these smaller works too. School has begun and I have my days to devote to painting again. I have to say though that the longish break was good for me. I think that when one focuses too much on artwork, you lose focus of what is important in art work. I.e. - the joy. So once again I am vowing to not take myself too seriously.

The above image is from the Met and features a Toulouse Lautrec painting - The Englishman (William Tom Warrener) at the Moulin Rouge, 1892.

Castle Gallery Reception

What a wonderful reception Thursday night at Castle Gallery.
What a warm welcome. I got to meet collectors, some fans, and some other wonderful artists. It was so neat to hear stories of how my work had inspired memories and to hear people's response to my "vignettes." I only wish I had more work to show them. Its the end of summer though and my studio is rather empty. I painted as quickly as I could for them though and took some work still wet! They will be permanently fixed in those frames.




The large surrounding landscapes are not mine but Randall Scott Harden's.



Besides the evening at the gallery, I had an invitation to meet Fred Doloresco and see his personal collection of early American masterworks. It was quite a collection! Besides that I got a glimpse of his studio as well and what fun it is for an artist to get to see how another artist works. His space was much neater than mine. Mine is shameful right now and soon I must get it set to rights before I fall and break a leg in there.