Double Latte in AIS show

I'm happy to share the news that my painting was accepted to show at the 13th annual American Impressionist Society show! The show opens in November in Indianapolis. Maybe 13 is my lucky number :)

Birds Eye

8x8 cradled panels each
sold

This set is probably arriving at Edward Montgomery Gallery in Carmel today, but is already spoken for we believe. I'll post otherwise if they are still available.

I'm in Jackson hole right now and this is likely the last Internet service I will have. It will be good to be "unplugged" for a bit.
This incredible landscape is just stunning! I want to move here. I don't think any words or pictures can do it justice. I'm walking around town continually staring upward at the mountains and tripping all over. Does anyone get used to this scenery?

Today we will get to visit a few local galleries and then head to Yellowstone.

Picking Up

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed
 
Ok - last one of this series. And though I am in the final throes of packing for our trip to YELLOWSTONE!!! I will write one last little story about model painting. This one isn't anything more than personality conflicts. I tired again to set up a model in public places over a year ago I guess. We had just a few artists at first, nice and small, but then someone invited so and so, and they invited another, and it grew and grew. Which is a good thing, but even the larger outdoor space we had at Mozarts on the lake, was getting cramped and I worried about our becoming a nuisance. AND we had someone join who was a real organizer and stronger leader than me (notice how politely I am saying this) so I was soon feeling pushed out of my own group. I didn't feel like it was going in the direction I had hoped. I'm kinda free-form and relaxed about things like this, and I shy away from organized stuff. If it gets too rigid, it isn't fun. Ultimately, winter came and we moved to a friend's indoor space and the models took on too traditional and stuffy a pose, so I stopped going and I believe the group kinda melted away again. 


Now I am just going to hire models when I need and want and invite a friend or two to join me if they like. No schedules, no drama, lots of variety, etc. 


We all have our ways of working that suit us best, and while its good to get out of our comfort zones to try new things, its also good to recognize what works for us and makes us happy and productive.  And there is no shame in preferring your studio, or being alone, or listening to heavy metal or talk radio, or having certain beliefs...the shame comes from not letting yourself be who you are. wow, I'm waxing kinda zen here.

May you all be happy and productive in whatever you do.  :-)

Mirror Mirror

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed
 
This is the same model as yesterday. This was mostly a photo session we'd done at this location, hence the different scenes. I had some comments about arranging models rather than just taking candids - which I do a great deal of too! A few years ago (I can't keep track of time!) I had the idea to hire models to pose at my house and even to pose in public spaces. I wanted to paint more from life, but still paint the scenes I love, not just a figure posed or nudes from a life drawing session. There are a lot of resources in Austin for models so finding references wasn't too hard. You can probably find them in your area through colleges, the art community, theater community, etc. 


BUT - you never can tell about personalities and I've heard horror stories from models as well as artists. I have a minorly scarey/funny story myself. Luckily, the model was fine when I had her at my house and another location in town, but she invited some of us to come to her property to paint there. Terri and Carol might chuckle over this memory! We drove out to this place, buried in the woods and a little rundown. No grand vistas, no water, lots of "funny smoke" in the air, shall we say. She took us on a grand tour through the brush telling us her big ideas about a music event she was planning on the property - spicing things up with some outlandish ideas of government plots, oil and gas industry poisonings, etc. It just got weirder. And we are all too polite to just take off, so we tried to set up and paint - our backs together in  a circle practically. Carol, as I recall managed to get a neat painting in of an abandoned car... hmmm, that seemed to become a theme for her! HA HA
Anyway, the woman was on something and unbalanced and we were happy to make as hasty a retreat as we could. I was a little shaken. 
Moral of the story, don't go out to paint alone. Ever. 


It took me awhile to decide to try the model thing again - and this time I focused on public spaces like outdoor cafes, etc. And it went well... for awhile. There is ANOTHER story. Stay tuned!

Finishing Touches

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed 


I had three paintings of this model in the show! I didn't realize I had quite so many of her. I'll show the others in the next couple of days. She is a lovely model and I loved the intimate "toilette" scenes we arranged during down times at a class. 

Two weeks ago my friend - and fabulous artist - V....Vaughan came over for a model session at my house. Its really wonderful to have the opportunity to compose scenes, photograph and paint from life in the comfort of your own home. Naturally, you want good people to work with in this case - and boy do I have a story for you about that!

Below is the study I started of Kelli. We had her in so many outfits and places all over the house and yard that we ended up only painting about 30 minutes. My daughter and her friend got into the action too and put on costumes and acted out scenes for us too. It was a lot of fun. I can't wait until I begin working larger scenes this fall from the images we captured during this session. I will unveil some new, big works, at the Russell Collection "Femme" show in Austin during December.

 

Barista

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed 

MapQuest

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed


Another scene inspired by my NYC trip in May. The light those first two mornings had a strange glare and brightness to it that seemed unusual for the city. Today I'm working on some beach scenes for a commission. I can share these studies in a week or so. This is the first year in ages we won't make a trip to the beaches in FL. We're vacationing in Yellowstone this year and are very much looking forward to that!

Sunny Cafe

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery

Promenade

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery

Don't forget to look at ETSY or my dailypainters.com or dailypaintworks.com galleries for available smaller paintings - works on paper, 6x6 panels, pastels, and some mid-sized works. Between the small online works and my galleries, there are plenty of nice paintings that need homes! I've been surprised that I've been getting interest in some older works lately. Some of you are looking deep! :-) 

Portrait Society

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery

I've been working on some commissions lately which I can share with you soon. For now, we'll keep looking at the new works available at Tidewater until the end of my show July 14th.

Taking the Plunge

10x12 oil on panel

Available at Tidewater Gallery

Ah.. Barton Springs Pool... a truly special place for all Austinites. Year round, this spring fed pool is 68 degrees. Even on the hottest days, all I can do is get my feet in and splash some water on the rest of me. Its a great spot for people watching though and soaking up Austin's relaxed, friendly atmosphere. This is no small swimmin' hole either - its more than 18 feet deep at one end and I don't know how long. This couple is taking the plunge in more than one way!

Here is a great video someone put together of people plunging in - Enjoy!

Working Lunch

 

Working Lunch

20x16 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery

I had three larger paintings in the Vignettes show and they are a hint of where I am going next with my paintings. I want to work a little bigger. Having focused on rather small or medium sized works for the past several years, and being used to working the paintings to completion in one sitting, it will be interesting to see how I like scaling up. The goal though is to still have the intimate scenery - the vignettes of life - but on a larger scale. 

Sunny Side of the Street

18x18 oil on linen

SOLD

Hanging Sheets

12x9 pastel on pastelbord

$250 

PURCHASE

Switching things up a little this summer and practicing with pastels. They are nice because I can set up at the kitchen table and be in the area where my daughter is playing and I can just walk away from them - coming back to them when time allows. No clean up or paint drying out, etc.

That is certainly a benefit. I'm going to be working with them more this summer with the aim of getting comfortable and confident with the medium before offering them through my galleries. I still have to figure out the framing AND the shipping. Those are definite drawbacks to the medium.

PS - I have a number of friends and a lot of art acquaintances in the Denver area and my thoughts and prayers are certainly with them all as they deal with the dreadful fires and heat.

Laundress

10x12 oil on panel

Available at Tidewater Gallery

  

Bleeker Books

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery

I'm back home after a too quick trip to the NC coast. The opening reception for "Vignettes" was delightful. My heartfelt thanks to Ray and Jan for hosting and for all their work preparing the show. I'm so grateful to have such good people to work with. It was really nice to meet new friends like Sue, Judy, Dan and Eileen - and to see my "old" friend Whitney who came to visit with me. That's her checking out my work below!

The gallery has just the most amazing collection of work - I would have gladly taken home many many items if I could have. If you are anywhere in the area, you really should visit.

The area itself is just beautiful. I've always loved the coast and I look forward to being able to return someday soon. Now, its officially summer for me! Time for R&R!

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

Sketching With V....

Today I went to visit with V....Vaughan and her workshop students at Joel's Coffee Bar in North Austin. They had been out early painting the sunrise, but I couldn't join them until I had my daughter dropped off at a friend's for a playdate. Joel's is graciously acting as "home base" for V's Austin workshop and Brad very graciously let us sketch him while he was working his magic with chocolate. You have no idea how good it smells in there!

We had a very nice time and it makes me wish more than ever that Austin had a community arts center where we could meet, hang out, share, talk, commune, show our work, paint figures, hold workshops, critiques and classes. If I had a million dollars... or an investor? 

See V's site for more on her workshops - and just fyi - she is the most amazing teacher. She communicates so well, has so many wonderful ideas and approaches to painting - honestly, she's the Edgar Payne of our day!

Updates

I've been doing lots of techy things - and making a right mess it. Lots of panic moments, rash decisions, desperate calls to tech support and late nights. I actually deleted my website by accident. I am just not as savvy as I once was and technology has moved light years ahead of me. Unfortunately, it seems to be getting less user-friendly than ever.

Some of my recent decisions involved my website and email delivery system. I decided to drop my template-based website service and use my blog for now. It has everything you could need. Above is a set of tabs with links to all my gallery pages where you can see current inventory for each and their contact information. Also under those tabs are information about me and my work. The blog is also made to be viewed on mobile devices.

Next, I've moved my email subscribers list to Constant Contact. I think it will be a better way to manage and use my list. So all new subscriptions will go directly through them, and I've hopefully correctly loaded my google group list - test in progress! You can edit or remove yourself at any time with the "safe unsubscribe" button in every email contact.

When I was going over my list - I was amazed to see readers, NOT related to me, who have been subscribed since 2006! If you have really been watching me that long, thank you! Its humbling to know that some people have found my work informative and inspiring.

In future, I might get a more traditional website and hope to introduce a quarterly newsletter. Maybe put together a video. But I have all summer to play with those ideas. And clean up my studio. But not until I paint the scene. (Inspiration strikes anywhere!)

Where to Next?

10x12 oil on panel

Available at Tidewater Gallery

This is inspired from my recent trip to New York City. I painted a view of this West Village corner on site, but was so frustrated with it, that I wiped it off. I sort of regret that now. I took a photo and later could see that it was at least a good start. It was a funny day there though - the light was really super bright and intense. More like Texas! No matter where I set up, I couldn't see well. Ah, the challenges of painting "en plein air".

"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

Dolphin Watch

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery

I am looking forward to being at the coast of NC next weekend. I'm a little bummed that my family isn't traveling with me. When one works for "the man", the schedule isn't open enough. But then again, the paycheck is a whole lot better than when one is working for "the self". :-)

"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