Birds Eye View - Winter Series

8x8 each, oil on cradled canvas board

Available at Edward Montgomery Fine Art in Carmel February 8th.

I love painting these. I think its cathartic after painting complicated cafe and restaurant scenes. The shadows and blocky shapes are simple and graphic. They are painted on a 2-inch deep cradled board so they don't need framing. I think I will try a couple on larger canvases too. Maybe much larger - very contemporary.

Chance Meeting

16x20 oil on linen

Gallery info to come.

Earlier in the week, I shared some sketches and the beginning of this scene in oil paint and here is the final piece. A lot happened in between that beginning and this end. I heard a really interesting remark from an artist who was on the Independent Lens program about origami - I can't remember it exactly but the gist was: "You try to strive for the final thing being good, but you're also aware of how beautiful the process is...people in a gallery viewing the object are missing like 2/3rds of what's special about it and how it got made..."
I liked that. Its very true. And perhaps that is why when I finish something, I feel it could be better and can't wait to move onto another painting to try again. Sometimes I wonder if its not more about making the marks on the canvas, than the actual picture they create.
Anyway, I highly recommend you watch that show (Between the Folds) online, or on your local PBS station if its airing.

Whats on my Easel

First some sketches working out some designs and value studies. All of these are from a visit to a really hip Austin espresso bar, Little City. I like the marker value studies a lot. Lets see if I can pull the oil painting together.

Moses Botkin Monthly Challenge

This month's creative challenge was to paint something beginning with the letters pi. I found this difficult because it had to be a specific object once the word had been chosen. I had to kind of back into it. First, try to think of a word/subject, then try to find something inspirational to paint. I have to say, I am not altogether happy with my results. I haven't put brush to canvas in a couple of weeks I think too, so there was the usual clumsiness with mixing and paint handling. And I'm not even sure this qualifies as a pick up... it might be an old VW van cut down, but with the open back it could be used for hauling and likely was before being left in this shed. Its an interesting way to work though. Definitely a challenge.


Old Pick Up
6x8 oil on panel
©2011 Robin Cheers

If you love this and want to own it, tell me now before I do my good deed for our environment and "recycle" it under some new paint. :-)



Pilsner
6x6 oil on panel
©2011 Sharman Owings


Apples for Pie
14x11 pastel on Pastelbord
©2011 Vicki Ross




Piggy
10x10 oil on linen
©2011 Suzanne Berry




Pineapple in the Snow
8x10 oil on hardboard
©2011 Diana Moses Botkin




Pink Piglet
6x6 oil on canvas
©2011 Ruth Andre

Bakers Racks

12x9 oil on panel

Gallery info to come.

I'm trying to get back into things here. What a wonderful break I've had though. I always seem to shift from art to decorating mid-winter, so am thrilled to have a new sofa and chair in our family room and have still been having fun arranging things. I'm also plugging away on the last pages of my book for the Sketchbook Project 2011.

The above painting was one of the last I painted at the end of 2010. As I walked down a street late one evening in Boston last July, I passed the back door of a bakery. The warm light flooded out of the open doorway (not to mention the delicious smells) and obviously grabbed my attention. Several bakers were working some dough and when I took my first photo, my flash went off and announced my presence. They were very good-natured about it, and all these months later, the scene is reinterpreted in paint. The sketchbook project too is rather becoming a year in review. You can chronicle my life through my paintings and drawings.

Lady Waiting

8x6 oil on panel
$225 - including shipping

This lady was outside the Met on my last visit to the city. It was dusk, we'd had a little rain shower, and she looked so very European sitting there. I'm planning to visit NYC again this coming year. Either in May or June. There is a Weekend with the Masters being planned for June and it sounds fantastic.

But first, I have to get myself in order for this week leading up to Christmas! My parents arrive in less than an hour and I'm so excited! But I still haven't sent cards, haven't done any baking, haven't gotten my shopping done, etc. etc. And its near 80 in Austin today. That puts a damper on things! Nothing like sweating while you're baking Christmas cookies and trucking in and out of stores blasting Christmas tunes while in shorts and flips flops. I don't think I will ever get used to this aspect of living in Texas.

Sanctuary - Mission San Jose

14x11 oil on panel

Ask Tidewater Gallery about this painting.

I don't do many interiors, but I like them a lot. Maybe its just that I don't like empty spaces. This is Mission San Jose in San Antonio. Its the first stop on the mission trail, if you are going to start from the visitor's center! What I love about these missions is that most are active parish churches still and people attend services there just as in old days. They are still loved and used and amazing spaces.

Moses Botkin Monthly Challenge

This month Suzanne chose our challenge and really stumped me. We were to paint our favorite cliche', saying or game. I wasn't thinking very creatively. Why is it that when I have to think of a favorite saying, I am totally blank? But I have no doubt I throw out all kinds of things all day with my daughter - "do you think money grows on trees?" "were you raised in a barn?"
Suzanne had some good suggestions too which I wish I had pursued.
Ah well - I played with "You can lead a horse to water." And my painting is a scene from Florida of a wild horse on Cumberland Island. The horses graze on the grasses in the water even though its very salty. And so I assume they don't drink there. Their story is quite interesting. Enjoy the work this month.


You Can Lead A Horse to Water...
10x8 oil on panel
©2010 Robin Cheers




Why Not Queen Me?
6x6 oil on masonite
©2010 Sharman Owings




Good, Bad and Indifferent
10x30 oil on canvas
©2010 Suzanne Berry




Double Mint Twins at the Paris Metro
16x12 oil on panel
©2010 Vicki Ross



No Time Like the Present
6x8 oil on hardboard
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin

Putting the Shine On

12x8 oil on linen

Gallery info to come.

My week was rather uninspiring so I thought I'd share this from last week's work. I think I put it on Facebook one day to show "whats on my easel" but didn't share the final image.
This week was full to the point of frustration! My hubby was out of town all week - just got home at midnight last night and left to go auto racing this weekend. I volunteered at school most of Monday, we had a short school day Wed. We had our weekly DI team meeting and I had lots of paperwork/registrations to do for that. Fill in the rest with doctor appts., hair appts., errands and chores and the time I did have to paint was dedicated to commissions or searching for the right image to spark my interest. Lets hope for a restful weekend and more time at my easel next week!

Pastry Counter

12x10 oil on linen

Available next week at Edward Montgomery Fine Art.

Something from the Bar

12x12 oil on panel

Available next week at Russell Collection.

Bouncing back to the darker colors and playing with interior lighting. Bars are fun because of all the spotlights, reflections, and varying neon lights creating ambiance. This is the back bar of the Cypress Creek Cafe where we had a fun dinner during our workshop in Wimberley.

Final Touches

12x8 oil on panel

Available at Castle Gallery.

This is something new for me, this lighter palette. I'm trying to lighten up a bit, use more neutrals to emphasize light and color. I think for a long time, in order to suggest or have areas that were empty, I would use dark washes. Its easier to pretend something is in shadow, and obscured if you just lose it in blacks and browns. But I think neutrals actually enhance colors and light better. And add more punch to darks as well.

You can probably guess my inspiration for this. The models were actually posing for some photos for us at Kim English's workshop. We didn't paint inside, but had them pose in our hostesses beautiful home. I wonder if Kim will paint this scene? And how his will compare. At any rate, I am really pleased.

Train Riders

8x6 oil on panel

Available at Loretta Goodwin Gallery next week.

I've been hard at work since my weekend getaway. I'm totally refocused on painting now.
It was such a wonderfully relaxing break. No tv, no computers, no phones.... just nature, R&R, hiking and enjoying the company of my sig ots. Its always good to put things in perspective - it was much needed. So I am back and dedicated to painting and keeping myself relatively unplugged still. The computer can certainly eat up lots of time when one plays too much.

I'm pushing my palette a little more this week. Trying to capture dramatic light, trying different scenes, playing with color and lightening up. In other words, having a ball!

Moses Botkin Monthly Challenge

This month I got to choose our challenge and since I have become such a promoter of the "30 minute study/start," I wanted everyone else to try it. Should have been easy for me, but I chose a rather ambitious subject. I'm still processing my workshop and pleased that some of my efforts last week are appearing in my work (painted at the last minute of our deadline of course!) I'm anxious to read what the others thought about using a timer and painting so rapidly. From the looks of it, they did a great job!



The Critique - study
9x12 oil on panel
©2010 Robin Cheers



The Weeper
5x7 oil on canvas
©2010 Suzanne Berry



Thea's Rock
13x13 pastel
©2010 Vicki Ross



Glance Back
12x9 oil on canvas
©2010 Diana Moses Botkin



Last Light
5x6 oil on board
©2010 Aaron Johnson Cordell


This month we welcome a new member too - hello to Sharman Owings!

Red Flag
10x8 oil on masonite
©2010 Sharman Owings

A Week of Art Boot Camp

I've now realized that Kim English's class is like boot camp. I painted so much my wrist is sore and my head was reeling every night making sleep difficult.

It truly was a great experience. First, Belinda Aber of Wimberley Artists Workshops is running a great school and has some really good teachers on her schedule. I'm thrilled that she is so close to Austin. Wimberley is a small but active community with lots of beautiful Hill Country scenery around. And the artists who attended the workshop were such a pleasure to work with!


Dinner out for our group at Cypress Creek Cafe


Table 2

I learned a lot and can't wait to get back to work next week to continue pushing myself. We literally painted 5 minute poses. That means we tried to paint two models and the background in 5 mins. and when the timer went off, we had 10 seconds to wipe our panels while the models assumed new poses. Kim English can capture the scene, on a medium sized canvas, with no trouble. Its amazing. And what an exercise for us! We eventually graduated to 10 and then 20 minute poses by the end of the week. The 20 minute poses seemed much too long! LOL


One of my 5 minute sessions Friday.


Another 5 minute sessions from Friday.



This was from Tuesday (day 1) - since that day I warmed up my palette a lot and managed to get a little farther like adding some background info.

I can see the difference from the start of the workshop in my own work, but I still didn't make the progress our instructor could make in his demos. All of us seemed to hang in there, complaining a little, but working hard.



This is an example of Kim's 5 minute painting Friday.


I'd highly recommend the exercise! It sure beats my 30 minute studies! That might feel like forever to me now.



This painting is now mine! A 12x14 5-minute demo by Kim English.
Priceless.

Workshop Days

I am getting whipped (hopefully into shape) this week.... I've posted a bunch of images from the past several days on Facebook and there used to be a way to share the album publicly.

See if this link allows you to see without logging in or having an account.

it seems to work - to see more images, click on the small "next" text on the upper right of the photos.

Hi! Remember me? The artist who lives here?

What a couple of weeks! I haven't painted much because of too many other parts of life getting out of control. I've taken on too many volunteer things this fall. To sum up - weekly Destination Imagination team meetings (I'm the manager so I've also had/will have training days, etc.), Brownies cookie coordinator (really going to kick in during January !), school field trip, monday modeling sessions coordinator, travel, wedding painting events, husband travel, sick dog, daughter and husband, Halloween was in there somewhere, right? My calendar looks like a splatter painting.

BUT - this week is full art immersion (well, starting tomorrow). I am going to study with Kim English, an artist whom I consider a master. I've heard wonderful things about his classes, about his technique for training artists to work quickly and accurately. Its going to be a challenge - and I can't wait. I hope I can post here and there to share some of the fun with you either on the blog or Facebook. So stay tuned.

Zen Stuff

My friend Kate shared a wonderful post on The Creative Block that I hope everyone will read.

Having found my lost sketchbook (scary days), I found the note I made about about our conversation that day. "There is no way we can avoid being who we are... even if we try to erase or subdue our 'self'."
(Zen stuff) ala Kate.

Morning Traffic

10x12 oil on panel

Soon to be at Charleston House in Montgomery.

Finished this one last week. And so far, I haven't painted this week. I guess it is only Tuesday! Yesterday's model session was put off owing to my having a meeting to learn how to be cookie coordinator for my daughter's Brownie troop. Tomorrow I will be prepping for her Destination Imagination meeting - for which I am team manager. If I don't sound overwhelmed, I am. Trust me.
But on a high note, I just caught up on my stack of bookkeeping today!

Wedding Reception - The Corinthian

28x22 oil on linen

Today is somewhat of a recovery day. This party ended very late! Late for me - I am not worth much after 7 pm. But the band was fun, and the wedding coordinator, Ann Whittington, always takes care to have a nice spread for the vendors so I had a good salad, chicken and a couple brownies to sustain me!
This was a surprise for the bridal couple. She apparently had wanted me, but was told I was booked and unable to paint her wedding. I saw her when her mom pointed me out at work - on the upper level. I hope they are as pleased with the final product.

To be honest, I'm still ambivalent about these gigs. Sure, its great exercise for me, its maybe a nod to traditional impressionism, and its very special for the family. BUT, is it good for my career? And I always feel like the work is left unfinished... which is the nature of it, but I wonder if that is best? I could do so much better by bringing the work back and completing it in my studio. Most of the live event painters do not do this. And there are drawbacks to it...when in my studio, I need to be focusing on gallery work. And there are only so many hours in the day. Seeming to be fewer and fewer too. This morning I went to a meeting to learn about being "cookie coordinator" for our Brownie troop. Please, somebody stop me next time I volunteer!
:-)