On the second day of the plein air event, in the late morning, I set up by this scene. I painted for several hours, and then the light changed too much to go on. The next morning I got up at 5 am to catch the morning light in a different painting, and then in the late morning went back to work on this panting – and kept working on it as my temp gage climbed up to 104′, but stopped again when the sun moved behind me. And then the following day I did the same. So this is officially the first plein air painting I’ve worked on for three days in a row.

Best Wishes,

Jessie

Green Door at Bay Point Park, oil on linen, 9×12″, available at Red Wing Arts

bay point boat houses red wing mn

I’m on quite a plein air (painting outside) journey right now!

Last Friday afternoon I drove about 5 hours to a town I’d never seen before, to participate in a plein air event as a “Featured Class Artist”.

It’s been really wonderful. I’ve been staying with a delightful woman, and painting all day, every day…

Even on the day when it was over 100′. So much painting!!

It’s such a gorgeous area, choosing where to paint has been it’s own challenge.

This is the first painting I finished. The water here really is violet in the afternoon light.

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Here’s a little behind the scenes story about Friends.

I really, really want to exhibit with the American Impressionist Society again, so I decided to put my best effort towards that. Since most of my recent work is tied up in shows, I decided to make a painting specifically for this exhibit – so that whether I get in or not, I’ll know I put my best effort forward. 

I sorted through all my figurative source photos and chose one of some women at an outdoor art fair last summer. I spent several days painting it, and even did a “draw with Jessie” looking closely at the woman’s hand to sort out how to simplify it. 

In the end, I set that first effort aside (I think I’ll let it dry and then crop it down to the part I really love…). 

Then I started fresh. Before painting I lightened up the shadows in my source material and noted all the things I loved and hated about the first painting. And then, as I painted, for some reason she just really wanted to look right at you (she’s not doing that in the source photo). 

Now this painting will sit in the “held” area of the studio waiting to see if it can show with my art heroes this year. 

Anyways, that’s the journey this little painting has taken so far… 

Here’s my first painting from our photo collecting excursion to this beautiful area, up on the North-East edge of South Dakota.

Photo: Opening, 9×12″, oil on canvas, Awarded “Best of Quarry” at the American Impressionist Society wet wall competition, Sold.

Last week I went to Omaha for the American Impressionist Society National Juried Exhibition (digital catalog). This was my first time attending an AIS exhibition. I had a piece accepted (below) – Yay! – and it was only a 3.5 hour drive, so I rented an air-b&b, signed up for all the paint-outs and lectures, and went for a 4-day whirlwind.

It was great seeing the exhibition in person. It’s probably the best exhibition I’ve seen. If you’re in the area, I can’t recommend visiting the exhibition enough. 

I got to meet artists I’ve admired for some time, including my favorite contemporary artist, Carolyn Anderson. Just recently I had written to her and asked permission to use one of her paintings in a slideshow about brushwork for my painting class – and was giddy when she replied yes. 

I also got to paint side by side with some of the best painters there are, which was thrilling. We painted at the Omaha zoo – starting an hour before it opened! Another day we painted at a private property that was one of the most beautiful places I’ve been. It was called the Quarry, and looked like Monet’s garden. I could have painted there for months…  

On Saturday each AIS-member artist who attended could submit one small fresh painting from the week to show on the “wet wall”. It was a beautiful collection of work, including zoo paintings, a portait, a cityscape, and Quarry paintings. I submitted my lillypad painting from the Quarry.

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Painting at the Quarry, and then putting signature and final touches on in the gallery parking lot. This is where I should have grabbed my real camera for a real photo… Note for the future. 🙂

I am over the moon to report that Juror of awards CW Mundy, awarded my painting (above) one of the top wet-wall awards: “Best of Quarry”! 
It was a purchase award, and the painting is now in the private collection of the owners of the Quarry – how neat is that? There were so many other wonderful things over the week, getting to be in Joslyn Museum after hours with AIS, lovely lunch and dinner, getting to see old friends and meeting new friends… I feel so inspired. 

Thanks for your interest in my art, and have a great rest of your week!

Sincerely,
Jessie 

Just finished a painting that I started as a demo for the latest class. We’ve been trying out some different color mixing techniques, and will keep going with that. If you’d like to join us for the next color mixing experiment, join the painting class.