Donald Neff

“Meet the Artist” at Sandy-by-the-Sea Gallery

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Its a little bit last minute, but the Sandy-by-the-Sea Gallery in Carmel is hosting a “Meet the Artist” each Saturday evening in September. I’ll be there on Saturday, September 8 between 6 and 8. They will have a reception along with refreshments. I plan on doing a painting demonstration, and we will probably auction it off when complete.

Coincidentally, the Monterey County Artists Studio Tours is that weekend also.

Below is a painting I have showing at the gallery.

“Pescadero Cove” (plein air) * 12×16 * Oil on canvas board

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Cave Rock Progress

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In my last post, “From Tiny to Huge”, I mentioned I was painting my first 36×48 vertical painting, the subject being Cave Rock which towers over Lake Tahoe on the eastern shoreline. As promised, I thought I would post a status report. Below is my progress so far. Most of it is 98% complete except for the immediate bottom foreground. I debated on whether to put in the boat house and docks as they would become the center of interest. As you can see, I went ahead and put them in which I think adds a nice touch.

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I am going to have to go back to painting miniatures, as they are selling quite well at the galleries. I guess my next post might be “From Huge to Tiny”!

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From Tiny to Huge

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I had been painting so many miniatures lately, it was time to try something a little bigger. I had been wanting to do a large work of Cave Rock which towers over Lake Tahoe. On my last visit there I went out to the east shore of the lake to take some photographs of the area in the early morning light.

I normally don’t announce paintings until they are done, as you never know how they will turn out. However, this is the first 36×48 vertical or portrait style painting I have done, so it is an entirely new experience.  A 36×48 canvas is about as large as I can comfortably handle in my studio.  I had to adjust my easel for the first time in a decade in order to be able to paint it without standing on a chair! Below is my primary study I am working from, although I am incorporating elements from other photos I have.

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I’ll let you know in a week or so if it turns out!

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Weblog Hacked

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I just returned home from a week in Texas celebrating my parents 65th wedding anniversary. Trying to check my weblog, I kept getting all kinds of errors. Coming from a tech background, I poked around a little and noticed one of the critical files in my weblog software had been overwritten by a bunch of  garbage. To make a long story short, my web hosting company, catalog.com restored the files from backup and so the weblog is back up again. Evidently a hacker had gotten in and replaced the files. Catalog.com also did some changes to prevent future attacks…at least of this sort.

I don’t know how many read my weblog regularly, so my apologies for the outage.

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Painting Los Gatos

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The Los Gatos Art Association Plein Air group was out today painting in a neighborhood of Los Gatos. I had been wanting to paint more architecture, so joined them. It was a cloudy morning, but patches of blue were beginning to show. I ended up painting a partial view of the porch of a collector of one of my paintings, Sandy. Today was a day to experiment. I painted just a 4×6 oil using a Lagnickel flat brush, similar to the kind Richard Schmidt uses for many of his work. By the time I finished, the sun started peeking out.

Below are some pictures of the day.

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Some of the painters waiting for the sun to appear.

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Kevin, a fellow member of the Society of Motorcycle Plein Air Artists.

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You can see the painting in the lower left sitting on my easel. I actually painted most of it holding the board in my left hand.

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A snapshot of the final painting.

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Creative Spotlite

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Last May, I installed “Google Analytics” on my website. “Google Analytics” tracks your website usage, how people find your site and a lot of other information. It is free, and the reports are quite comprehensive. After several months, the reporting shows some interesting trends. Almost 40% of the people who visit my website are referred by “CreativeSpotlite.com“. This website has a link to my oil and acrylic demos. They have a myriad array of art demos, plus many tools for the passionate artist. So a big thanks to Ralph at “CreativeSpotlite.com” for sending traffic my way! Below is a jpg of my plein air oil painting demo.

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Village Art Gallery Grand Opening

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For those who read my blog, last week I moved my art to a new gallery at South Lake Tahoe. Things had been moving pretty fast, and I just found out they are having their official ‘Grand Opening’ tomorrow, Friday. Below is a card announcing the event. I am not mentioned on the card, but they have featured my work prominently in the gallery. They have already sold two paintings in the short time I have been there. Anyway, if you are spending the weekend at Lake Tahoe (or any other time for that matter) be sure to visit the gallery.

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Phil Levine August Art Stuff

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I had a mention today in Phil Levine’s monthly newsletter.  You can find it here:
http://www.paintingfrance.com/Newsletters/August07.htm
If you are an artist with a website, send your name into Phil and he will probably mention it in his newsletter!

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Switching Galleries

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I just returned from a quick trip to Lake Tahoe. Some of you remember last April I started showing in a new gallery (named Galerie Noir at the time) in the Montblue Resort. Soon after I started showing there, the partners had a ‘falling out’, the gallery was renamed “Galerie Blu’u. To make a very long story short, one of the partners opened a new gallery in a much better location at South Lake Tahoe. It is right in the Marriott Grand Residence Village. The new gallery, “Village Art Gallery” has probably ten times the foot traffic, so it was somewhat of a “no brainer” to switch. I spent most of the trip moving paintings, taking some for re-framing, etc.

Below are a few paintings showing in the new gallery:

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A Fine Day in Carmel

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I had been wanting to take a day trip to Carmel for some time, as the gallery I show there, Sandy by the Sea, had been selling a number of paintings, and needed more. Also, a little plein air painting was in order. Originally, I planned to ride the Harley, but at the last minute, the gallery emailed wanting some larger paintings which I could not carry on my bike, so had to take the car. I emailed my good friend and fellow plein air painter, Nick White the night before, and he jumped at the chance to come along.

We left around 7:30 and made a beeline to Garrapata State Park, one of my favorite places. We settled on a spot, and commenced painting. The weather was beautiful, but quite windy! Below are a few shots from the spot.

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A beautiful scene, some paints, and a blank canvas…what else could you want!!

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My painting on the easel.

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Nick painting.

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When I went back to my easel after photographing Nick, I found the wind had blown my palette face down in the dirt! Luckily, only the edge had gotten dirty, and most my paints were still intact.

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My painting…probably a keeper, but needs more work.

We headed back to Carmel for lunch at Cafe Stravaganza, one of my favorite lunch places. After lunch, we decided to head to Point Lobos State Reserve. We wanted to find a more sheltered place out of the wind to do one more painting.

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Nick Painting.

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The view of China Cove.

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My second painting.

It was mid afternoon, and time to head to the gallery to drop off some paintings. As we were heading back into Carmel, Rick Mauck, owner of the gallery called, and asked when I would get there, as a collector was just in the process of purchasing one of my works. Well, we arrived in short order, and I met the collector. After visiting with the collector, Rick, and a little gallery hopping, it was time to head home.

So, for the day, I did two paintings of the California coast, experienced beautiful weather, visited a number of art galleries, and sold a painting!!

A fine day in Carmel, indeed!

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