art

Seasons of Martis

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I have been accepted into this new plein air show near Truckee California. The event takes place October 5-7, 2007, with three days of painting by over 20 noted local and regional artists at locations throughout the beautiful Martis Valley as part of the month long Seasons of Martis celebration. This event is being sponsored by North Tahoe Arts and East West Partners through the Tahoe Mountain Resorts Foundation. A list of participating artists and the locations at which artists will be painting during this three day event will be posted on their website soon. The final display and sale will be at:

Seasons of Martis Exhibit and Art Sale
The Village at Northstar, Truckee CA
Sunday, October 7th, 4-7 pm

Awards for the ‘Best of Show’ will be judged by a well known group of California artists, including Zee Zee Mott and Jean LeGassick. Other awards include ‘Artist Choice’ and ‘People’s Choice.’ A portion of the proceeds from the public sale will go the Truckee-Donner Land Trust and North Tahoe Arts.

Below is one of my studio works of nearby Truckee River…

Truckee River

If you are wanting an excuse to visit Tahoe, come up and see the show! For more information, see their website.

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

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I mentioned in my last post that Sandy-by-the-Sea Gallery in Carmel is hosting a “Meet the Artist” each Saturday evening in September. I did my event last night.

We headed down to Carmel mid-afternoon. I wanted to stop on the way at Pebble Beach to visit Brian Blood and his wife and painting partner, Laurie Kersey. They were having an open house as part of the Monterey County Artists Studio Tours. Brian and Laurie just moved to a home in Pebble Beach, and their place looked wonderful. We only spent about 15 minutes and had to head to the gallery to get set up.

I was going to be painting in the gallery, so set up my easel and paints. I had started an 8×10 seascape in the morning, working maybe 20 minutes or so to block in the general shapes, etc. It’s a good thing, because I forgot to bring the photo reference, so had to complete the painting from memory! If there was enough interest, we would auction off the painting I completed that evening, or another painting, so I also brought along a Lake Tahoe scene painted just Thursday.

Carmel turned out to be pretty ‘dead’. The summer tourist season had pretty much ended, and not many were around. Probably throughout the evening a dozen or so wandered in and out of the gallery while I was painting.

I finished the 8×10 seascape with an hour to spare. It turned out quite well…one of my better small seascapes. Maybe I should paint from memory more often! I brought a spare canvas, so Sandy, the gallery owner asked me to start another seascape. Again, I painted mainly from memory, but using some of my other works in the gallery as guides. I got about half done with that one before it was time to pack up.

Below are a few shots towards the end of the evening.

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Working on the second painting. Notice the first painting just below my arm sitting on the easel.

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The paintings to the far right are some of my works hanging in the gallery.

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Working on the second seascape.

After we packed up, my son wanted to drive to Moss Landing and eat at Phil’s Fish Market and Eatery…one of the better seafood places on the coast. It was a great dinner but we were so full brought about half of it home!

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“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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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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