Art & Life

Time for a Change

2008-09-05T19:45:00.003-05:00

Pumpkin and Asters, 10x8, oil

Art & Life is going to be integrated with my other blog The Painting a Day Project. I'll be posting all my painitngs there along with all the usual poetry, news and what-not that I post here. I'm on a mission to simplify and bring into alignment to various parts of my art world. It was a hard decision because Art & Life was my very first blog but, wow, I feel better already!

So if you're a subscriber here, please go over to The Painting a Day Project and subscribe there, because I won't be updating Art & Life anymore. See you there!!

Autumn is in the Air

2008-08-31T12:18:00.004-05:00

Afternoon in the Park, 30x20, acrylic

Walnut Hill Park, New Britain, CT

Autumn Arrives, 20x20, acrylic

Red Marsh at Sunset, 14x11, acrylic

I love this time of year! The change of seasons from summer to autumn, on through the fall into the stillness of winter is magical for me. Yesterday, I bought a fabulous ceramic mug with a green and earth colored pattern on it and an unglazed, raised maple leaf, and a burgundy colored leaf shaped tealight candle holder with apple cider scented tealights to go in it. I have some delicious Mercedes Apple Spice herbal tea from the English Tea Store and I bought two wonderful poetry books, A Dream of Summer: Poems for a Sensuous Season, The Heart of Autumn: Poems for the Season of Reflection and I have every intention of brewing tea, lighting my candles and curling up with my new books and celebrating the natural rhythms of life in the coming weeks. It's so important to take time to fill your soul with good things so when you need to draw out creativity, patience, kindness etc. the well is full and you can easily give to others.

Are you on Facebook? I have recently joined set up a profile and a business page for my artwork. Look me up, join my "friends" list and become a "fan" of my page!! I am having waaaaaaay too much fun, making "pieces of flair" out of my paintings !! I've entered them into the directory so they are available to everyone on Facebook, (thought I think most are still in the "pending" stage they should be approved soon). Facebook has been a twilight zone experince as I find classmates from high school, whom I haven't even thought about in years and years, and barely recognize names from my college alma mater. It's fascinating to see where their lives have taken them!! It also gives me a chance to interact with my teenagers and family members who live across the country. It's free and fun, maybe a time bandit, but there are worse ways to spend your time!

Review of American Art Collector Magazine

2008-08-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

If you're an artist, an art collector or just an art lover you probably already get American Art Collector Magazine. But if the name is new to you here's a good review of the magazine. I love it and have been advertising my work there over the past few months, with a new ad coming out in the September issue. I like AAC for its straight forward style. It presents beautiful, large full color images, quotes directly from the artists, galleries that represent them and collectors who purchase from them. I particularly like the "red dot" section that documents painting sales that are a direct result of a collector seeing the painting in AAC. I also like the price range indicators that let you know right up front how much a particular artists work sells for and the short interviews with gallery owners, talking about what's hot and what's not in their geograophic area. You can pick up an issue at larger bookstores like Borders, or you can subscribe, which comes with a nice on-line feature. You get a link to the entire new issue in you inbox about 10 days before the hardcopy arives in your mail boxor hits the stores.

Prints from Fine Art America

2008-08-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Poppy Field Inspired by Monet

Poppy Field in Sun and Shade

Monet's Poppy Field

I finally got around to ordering a print of one of my poppy paintings from my gallery at Fine Art America. I wanted to be sure that the quality was good and I am very pleased. I ordered a small size print on their standard archival paper and had it matted. I should have had them frame it too, since I don't have a frame on hand in the proper size. So now I gave give you my seal of approval and let you know that you'll be pleased when you order prints.

Wonderful Workshops and Plein Air Frames On Sale

2008-08-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

Poppies in Summer, 24x20, acrylic

I have never had the pleasure of travelling to a picturesque place like Tuscany or Provence to paint, but maybe someday I will. Meanwhile, I wanted to pass on to other artists who visit here the website of Sam D'Ambruoso. Sam is a teriffic artist and along with his lovely wife Mary Ann they lead fabulous workshops and paintouts in some of the most beautiful places in the world, like Amalfi, Sardinia, Tuscany and Provence! If I ever am able to get away it would be on one of Sam's excursions! If any of you do go, make sure you e-mail me and I'll put up pictures of your trip and you can post a review here! Don't forget to sign up for Sam and Mary Anne's e-newsletter the Traveling Palette, which includes Mary Ann's Italy featuring delicious recipes.

I also wanted to let everyone know that http://www.pictureframes.com/ now has a new line of very nice, simple plein air frames in a variety of finishes and they are on sale right now. Since things seems to be getting more expensive everyday this might be good time to stock up on your favortie sizes. The sale page is here.

Personally, I'm getting tired of the standard gold plein air frame and was pleased to see Crackled Gold, Espresso, Deep Cherry, Crackled Silver, Sandy Driftwood and Grey Driftwood offered. It's interesting to watch the trends in frames change. When I first started seriously selling my work about 5 years ago fancy baroque frames were popular. Then the wide gold plein air frame became the favorite. Now I see customers wanting simpler, narrower, more minimal and contemporary frames in natural finishes. It pays to occassionally buy a home decorating or interior design magazine and follow the trends in home decor, having the right frame can sometimes make a sale!

FaceBook and # 1 on TopBlog List

2008-08-23T06:00:00.005-05:00

I just recently joined FaceBook!! There's a badge in the sidebar that links you to my public listing. For those of you already on FaceBook, you can become a "fan" of my FaceBook page, share content with your other FaceBook friends or even be added to my "friends" list! I'll be using both my profile and my page there to announce news and events and share photos, poetry and great art links. Come on over for a visit!

As I was browsing around on the net today I checked in over at TopBlog List to find that my other blog www.thepaintingadayproject.com was #1 in the arts category! Hurray!!

The Art of Diplomacy

2008-08-23T06:00:00.004-05:00

Luminary of the Autumn Night Sky, 40x30, oil

Evening Falls, 36x24, oil

These two paintings are now on their way to the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras as part of the United States Department of State Art in Embassies Program. They are being installed along with other paintings by American artists to mark the appointment of the new US Ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, and they will remain on display until the end of his term in approximately three years. The Art in Embassies program, created in 1964, functions as a global museum exhibiting over 3500 original works by American artists in approximately 180 diplomatic residences worldwide. They share with the international community the quality and diversity of contemporary American art and culture and play an important role in our nation's public diplomacy. I am very honored to have been selected as one of the artists in this program and hope that my paintings are a positive reflection on this country.

FREE Painting Give Away- We Have A Winner

2008-08-22T17:54:00.003-05:00

Brenda Mullaney, Ohio, is the winner of the above painting, Celebrating the Autumn Garden, 24x18, acrylic. This was my first FREE FRIDAY give away at my other blog, www.thepaintingadayproject.com . Why am I giving away paintings you ask?? Several reasons, first I'm getting ready to move and I'd rather give away some of my older paintings to appreciative, loving homes than pack them and move them or sell them on e-Bay. Second, the economy is shaky and many people who would love an original painting just can't fit a purchase into their budget right now and this is a way to get real honest to goodness original art in to people's homes where it can be a blessing. Third, I ask the recipient to forward an e-mail with links to my website and blogs to family and friends because I truly believe that word of mouth advertising from one person to another is the most effective.

So keep your eyes open. I'll always announce the next Free Friday give away here, a few days ahead of time. The winner is always the first person to e-mail me requesting the painting. Now I have to go pick out the next painting. I'm picky about this. Though it will be an older painting it will only be one that I will be proud to have hanging in someone's home with my signature on it!

What's Happening on August 22nd???

2008-08-18T16:08:00.003-05:00

Something special is about to take place on my blog www.thepaintingadayproject.com on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 !! It just might have something to do with a FREE painting!

Marsh at Sunset- Contemporary Impressionism

2008-08-17T21:13:00.006-05:00

Marsh at Sunset, 30x20, acrylic

Look for this painting in my ad in the September issue of American Art Collector Magazine! Several people have asked me how I get that warm, rosey glow in my sunset paintings, and I'm happy to share my method. For quite a while now I've begun my paintings with a loose under-painting done entirely with transparent red oxide. This is painted on linen which has a lovely texture for landscape work, and because this pigment is transparent it allows the white of the primed linen to show through the color, just as in watercolors. I'm working here with Chroma Interactive Arylics. I mix some of their Fast Medium into the paint so the underpainitng is dry in a matter of minutes allowing me to begin overpainting in color immediately. The trick is to decide where you want the underpainting to show through for a light effect and then resist the urge to cover every inch of the canvas with new colors. The texture of the linen also helps to diffuse the edges of the paint stroke and you can get a dry brush effect over the under-painting which also allows a lot of the warm color of the transparent red oxide to show through. Using the transparent red oxide underpainting in combination with a reddish purple in the water and sky is also particularly effective for getting a sunset, (or sunrise for that matter), glow.

She sweeps with many-colored brooms,

And leaves the shreds behind;

Oh, housewife in the evening west,

Come back, and dust the pond!

You dropped a purple ravelling in,

You dropped an amber thread;

And now you've littered all the East With duds of emerald!

And still she plies her spotted brooms,

And still the aprons fly,

Till brooms fade softly into stars

And then I come away.

Emily Dickinson

Here's an art related analysis of this charming Dickinson poem found I found at Yahoo! Answers:

Dickenson is referring to "painting the landscape" with all the colors of the sunset as she "sweeps with many colored brooms". The brooms don't represent anything in particular other than a broad paint brush to paint the landscape with all the colors of nature - she refers to emeralds, amber, pearl and so on, and these are the colors found in a sunset.
1 year ago
Source(s):
She Sweeps with Many Colored Brooms", Emily Dickenson, quoted in http://www.about.com/poetry

27 Thoughts on Blogging for the Artist

2008-08-15T21:38:00.003-05:00

Motif #1, Rockport, MA

If you're an artist and blog already or want to blog, this is a must read. In fact there are some pithy, pointed, tidbits that every artist blogger or not needs to hear!

I particularly like #'s

15. Though tempting, you’ll never crush your own mediocrity working only four hours a week.

22. Remember that the mainstream culture has yet to catch on to the power of the individual artist online. Keep working.

25. Do not work for the good opinion of anyone. Work for joy, wonder and the Lord God Almighty.

Read it all and post your favoprites in the comments section!

New Impressionist Summer Landscape Paintings

2008-08-15T20:31:00.005-05:00

Queen Anne's Lace, 20x20

Painted at Hammonasset State Park, Madison, CT

View from St. Mary's, 30x20

Painted in St. Mary's cemetary, Clinton, CT

McKinney Wildflower Garden, 12x24

Painted at the Stewart B. McKinney Wildlife Refuge, Saltmarsh Unit, Westbrook, CT

I love the months of August, September and October. The frenzy of spring and the burst of growth in summer has peaked and now, nature matures and comes to fruition (this may be a metaphore for my arrival into mid-life, but I'm not sure LOL). But I do just love these three months, they seem so bountiful, and overflowing with good things like wildflowers, tomatoes, zucchini, daylilies, black eyed susans, goldenrod, hickory nuts, peaches, crickets, herons and geese. The days are still very warm but the nights and early mornings already have a tinge of coolness to them anticipating the autumn to come. The air smells different too. All of nature, rather than growing and striving has just begun its slow, steady decline. I love to walk in the park and look over the marshes and meadows and drink in the incredible amount of texture and color that is everywhere. Fullness and completion at its satisfying best.

"In August, the large masses of berries, which, when in flower, had attracted many wild bees, gradually assumed their bright velvety crimson hue, and by their weight again bent down and broke their tender limbs."- Henry David Thoreau

"Fairest of the months! Ripe summer's queenThe hey-day of the yearWith robes that gleam with sunny sheenSweet August doth appear."- R. Combe Miller

"Whilst August yet wears her golden crown, Ripening fields lush- bright with promise;Summer waxes long, then wanes, quietly passing Her fading green glory on to riotous Autumn."- Michelle L. Thieme, August's Crown

"When summer gathers up her robes of glory, and like a dream of beauty glides away."- Sarah Helen Power Whitman

Ah, Sun-flower, weary of time,Who countest the steps of the Sun,Seeking after that sweet golden climeWhere the traveller's journey is done:Where the Youth pined away with desire,And the pale Virgin shrouded in snowArise from their graves, and aspireWhere my Sun-flower wishes to go. - William Blake

Unknown Woman's Portrait Found Beneath a Van Gogh Painting

2008-07-31T18:35:00.003-05:00

Here's the link to the story of how modern technology reveals what's beneath the final version of a painting. In this case a portrait of a woman painted in mostly subdued browns and reds buried beneath the gorgeous light filled painting of blue, green and yellow grass in the painting we know as Patch of Grass, by Vincent Van Gogh. It seems that experts have suspected that there was some kind of portrait underneath and the new testing revealed the image. How did they know?? Sometimes ghost images of portions of paintings that have been painted over as the artists adjusts the composition, or complete paintings that have been obliterated by a new image, begin to show through over time as pigments in the paint become lighter and more transparent over time. It's called called pentimento, roughly, repentance, in Italian.

2008-04-15T06:00:00.003-05:00

Torrent, acrylic, 22x30

Tide Pool, acrylic, 15x22

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance, and this, and not the external manner and detail, is true reality." (Aristotle)

Bright, Colorful, Happy Impressionist Pansy Paintings

2008-04-13T17:30:00.005-05:00

Pansy Trio, 6x6in, acrylic

SOLD

Spring Pansies, 10x10, acrylic

Just Us Three, 20x24, acrylic

Pansies are one of the great delights of spring. Different than daffodils that seem formal, like trumpets announcing the arrival of a monarch, pansies seem unassuming and filled with good cheer like the villagers and peasants lining the street to catch a glimpse of their King or Queen, gazing with smiling faces lifted up. Lately, I've tried out painting this year's pansies in three sizes, in the first two the pansies are pretty much life size but in the third the pansies have become super-sized and have the presence of guests in your home.

Speaking of flower paintings, I came across this site to share with you, it's ARTinthePICTURE.com and they have a page of the TOP 10 FLOWER PAINTINGS (of all times presumably). I don't know who chose them or using what criteria, but it's fun anyway to see what's on someone's list of the top 10 flower paintings. Perhaps I should make my own personal list of favorite flower paintings. OK, look for that in the next couple of weeks, meanwhile enjoy the pansies.

Impressionist Pansy Paintings

2008-04-04T10:16:00.005-05:00

Morning Pansies, 6x8, oil
SOLD

Afternoon Pansies, 6x8, oil

SOLD

Aren't these a charming pair? Morning and afternoon smiling pansy faces. We're having a string of April Showers here but as soon as the sun is shining again and the earth has warmed a little I'm filling my garden with pansies. Can't wait! But until then I'll just enjoy these darling little pieces, hope you do too!

Reverie

A warm and cheery fire roars merrily

And shadows dance about the darkened room.

Beside the hearth a gardener sits and dreams

Of sunny days, of flowers in full bloom.

Some hollyhocks should tower near the fence,

Bright red. ones that the bees can't help but find.

The trellis at the gate again must wear

Blue morning glories, or the rosy kind.

To lend a bit of distance to the scene,

Close to the rear I'll plant in shades of blue:

The tall and stately larkspur, double ones

Of course I'll put in scabiosa, too.

I couldn't do without a pansy bed

Snapdragons make such beautiful bouquets

Frilled zinnias and yellow marigolds

Add just the proper touch to autumn days.

The flowers grow and bloom with loveliness

Until a sound destroys the fantasy

A burning ember falls and I must leave

My garden and my charming reverie.

-HELEN BATH SWANSON

For more inspiring garden poetry visit BackyardGardener.com

Paintings From Poppie Series I Now Available as Museum Quality Giclee Prints

2008-04-03T10:25:00.002-05:00

All the paintings in Poppy Series I are Now Available as Museum Quality Giclee Prints !! So, if you missed purchasing the original or wanted it in a larger size, your time has arrived!

The popularity of The Poppy Series paintings has allowed me to offer high quality giclee prints of all the paintings in Poppy Series I through my gallery at FineArtAmerica. There will be a permanent link in the side bar to my FineArtAmerica Gallery. Paintings from Poppy Series II. will also soon be available as prints.

Each painting is available in 3 sizes, (Sm. Med. Lg.) at very affordable prices. You can choose from a variety of papers and canvas, as well as matting and framing options, along with the option for several styles of gallery wrap canvas.

Paper
Premium Archival Matte Paper
Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper
Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper
Watercolor Paper
Cool Tone Picture Rag
Somerset Velvet
Canvas
Bulldog Glossy Canvas
Bulldog Matte Canvas

Stretching
Canvas prints may be stretched on stretcher bars to reproduce the look and feel of an original painting.

Framing and Matting
There are thousands of combinations of frames and mats which may be purchased with each print

Purchasing
Once you have finished selecting prints and choosing accessories, its time to checkout. Checkout occurs via a secure page on FineArtAmerica.com (SSL encrypted). You can pay for your purchase using any major credit card (American Express, Mastercard, or Visa). During the checkout process, you will specify the shipping address where the prints should be delivered. FineArtAmerica.com will then calculate the applicable shipping cost and add that to the total order. Once you verify that all information is correct, the order is submitted for processing.

You will then receive an e-mail confirming you order was received and is being processed.
At this point, the production wheels are set in motion, and our staff begins the process of printing, stretching, matting, framing, glazing, protecting, boxing, and shipping! All framed orders are shipped in heavily-protected cardboard boxes. Print-only orders are rolled and shipped in cardboard tubes. Most orders ship within 1 - 3 days. All orders are shipped via UPS Ground (except Hawaii and Alaska). At the present time, FineArtAmerica.com will only ship orders to the United States and Canada.

As soon as the order ships, the you will receive another e-mail with the tracking information. In addition, you can login to your account on FineArtAmerica.com at any time in order to view his/her purchase history and the shipment status of each purchase.
Depending on the location of the customer, the print(s) will arrive within 1 - 5 days, and the process is complete!

Return Policy

FineArtAmerica.com offers a 30-day "no questions asked" return policy. Customers can return their purchased prints within 30 days of the date of delivery and receive a full refund of the purchase price (minus shipping costs). The returned items must be shipped back to FineArtAmerica.com in the original packing materials, and the customer is responsible for the return shipping fee. Returns are coordinated by contacting support@fineartamerica.com.

Orchard in Spring Impressionist Painting

2008-04-03T06:41:00.003-05:00

Orchard in Spring

About This Painting:
Media: acrylic
Size: 8 in X 6 in (20.3 cm X 15.2 cm)

How to Purchase:
This painting is sold

Larger Poppy Paintings

2008-04-01T15:30:00.001-05:00

Poppies in Summer

About This Painting:
Media: acrylic
Size: 24 in X 20 in (61 cm X 50.8 cm)

Price: $1,050, unframed, $15 s/h in the USA

Pay safely with out exposing your credit card info. through Paypal

How to Purchase:
send me an email

Almost half of the small paintings in Poppy Series II have sold, and I've had a few requests for larger poppy paintings, so here's one that's a nice size for a dining room or over a sofa. I have on hand several really nice wide gold frames in this size. If you would like to purchase this piece framed it would be an additional $230, which would cover the frame and the additional shipping charges.

Orchards and Vineyards Contemporary Impressionist Paintings

2008-03-27T19:04:00.003-05:00

Apple Tree, 6x8, acrylic

Asian Pear Tree, 6x8, acrylic

Apple Trees in Spring, 6x8, acrylic

It seems I've stumbled into a new series of paintings! I love going to the orchard to pick fruit, starting with strawberries in June, blueberries in July, (also raspberries and gooseberries) August is for peaches, September apples and pears, and finally pumpkins in October. I've been doing this for years and years and I've accumulated quite a few photos of the orchard, which is what I'm working from at the moment. But as soon as the weather gets warmer I'll be packing up my paints and heading there for some plein air painting. I think the new series will be called Orchards and Vineyards, as there are some beautiful vineyards I can go to also. We'll see where this goes because I have it in the back of my mind to perhaps do some larger works in this series too. Stay tuned!

Check out my auctions at Art By Us HERE

On the Auction Block ~ 7 days only

2008-03-26T08:25:00.003-05:00

Dark Iris, oil, 6x8

SOLD

Open Iris, oil, 6x8

SOLD

Greetings Friends and Collectors! Spring has arrived and with it new growth and changes here at Art & Life. As you can see I have two paintings on the auction block at Art by Us. These are not e-Bay auctions, Art by Us is an auction site just for artists and artisans. During my three years of daily paintings (which I will continue to do at http://www.thepaintingadayproject.com/) I've sold many, many paintings, and yet I have many wonderful paintings still in my studio, and it's time for a spring cleaning. Once a week I'll list 1 or 2 paintings from my inventory at Art by Us at 40% off, which gives you a chance to bid and possibly win the painting for a very nice price. Of course, if you just have to have one of these you can still purchase it for the usual price of $100.00. Shipping is the same $5.00 in the USA. I accept Paypal as payment.

Coming soon.......Coffee Table Art. That's all I'll say about that right now LOL. Stay tuned!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T09:39:00.004-05:00

Spring Lambs - SOLD

About This Painting:
Media: oil
Size: 8 in X 6 in (20.3 cm X 15.2 cm)

SOLD

How to Purchase:
send me an email

The Lamb

Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, & bid thee feed
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight;
Softest clothing, wooly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb.
He is meek, & he is mild;
He became a little child.
I a child, & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!

~ William Blake

Poppy Series II Comes to a Close

2008-03-18T09:37:00.010-05:00

Shadows and Poppies, 6x8, acrylic

Poppies by the Water, 6x8, acrylic

SOLD

Contemporary Poppies, 6x8, acrylic

Seaside Poppies, 6x8, acrylic

SOLD

Wild Poppies, 6x8, acrylic

Here are poppies #'s 6-10, and they will bring Poppy Series II to a close. Some are sold already, and I expect the others will find homes too! It's been a fun change of pace from the large landscapes and now I'm formulating ideas for a new series....stay tuned!

California Poppies Contmeporary Impressionist Painting

2008-03-13T21:18:00.003-05:00

California Poppies, acrylic, 6x8

sold

Well it seems the poppies are as popular as ever! I've just begun this series and two have sold already and I've had an inquiery about yet another. I think it's the bright cheerfulness of the reds and oranges, just the thing for brightening a room and lifting your spirits!

More Impressionist Poppy Paintings

2008-03-11T12:09:00.004-05:00

Scarlet Poppies, 6x8, acrylic

Tuscan Poppies, 6x8, acrylic

SOLD

Poppin' Poppies, 6x8, acrylic

The Poppy Series II continues with a couple more brightly colored pieces. Lots of fun to do these, the close up garden scenes being a little more contemporary is style and the landscapes with a more traditional impressionist look. Enjoy!

Poppy Series II Begins

2008-03-06T13:49:00.005-05:00

Poppy Garden, 6x8, acrylic

SOLD

Last year I did a series of 15 small poppy paintings. The final 2 have recently sold to a collector in Australia and are en route there right now. So with spring right around the corner and poppies being such a cheerful, fun flower I decided it was time to start a new series. Yesterday I posted Shadows and Poppies, a piece very reminiscent of the French Impressionist style and today something a little more contemporary in feel. The colors in this glow in real life and the rougher weave of this particular canvas really gives the surface a great textural appeal. Enjoy!

I'm #2 Today thanks to the Dabbling Mum

2008-03-05T15:38:00.005-05:00

Shadows and Poppies, 6x8

Hi everyone! Exciting news, today I am #2 out of 3,902, on Artmajeur's Top 100 List for American Artists websites thanks to an interview that I did with the Dabbling Mum. It's on-line today here if you'd like to take a look. As of 3:42 pm today I've had 419 visitors to www.janblencowe.com , a very nice bump from the interview. Traffic is also up today on my blog http://www.thepaintingadayproject/ with 96 unique visitors so far today. When people ask me how to get trafffic to their blog this is exactly the kind of thing you want to have happen. If you develop a strong presence on the web, and by that I mean you are listed in many, many places, you will be found. Show your work in as many free web galleries as possible, get listed in as many on-line directories as you can find, participate in forums for artists on-line, enter on-line art shows, participate in discussions through the comment section on other popular art blogs or websites. Never pass over an opportunity to get you work and your name out there. Now that I've had a new infusion of visitors a number have signed up for the automatic FeedBlitz e-mails which is teriffic, and hopefully many of them will visit my website often. Sales may also follow and it's very likely that other interview opportunities will also follow. The effect is like a snowball rolling down hill and it only takes one really good publicity opportunity to get the ball rolling. Here's a perfect example, in March 2006 I was featured in an article in Domino Magazine along with 5 other artists. That publicity created lots of sales and other publicity opportunities. But here's the kicker, two days ago I got an e-mail from a woman who read that article, tore it out of the magazine and saved it. Now that she and her family have moved into a new house she contacted me for a painting. Now I have a nice commission to work on. Think of it, 2 years later I'm still benefiting from that one magazine story.

Dune Path Impressionist Landscape

2008-02-29T18:48:00.004-05:00

Dune Path, acrylic, 24x18

I am just getting over a miserable, miserable flu. No, that's not a typo, I meant to say miserable twice. Because it was.... very. However, today I felt well enough to tackle an 18x24 canvas. Funny, after doing the large square series and the 20x24's for the gallery I can't seem to get excited about doing small paintings. This is good and bad. Good because the galleries like to have the bigger works and bad because the lion's share of my sales come through my daily painting blog and there most people prefer the $100, 6x8's. What to do, what to do? Artists are often helpless creatures, beholden to the muse and can't really make a move without her. Like a writer with writer's block no art will be forth coming unless you have her blessing. I'm going to try to cross post the larger pieces to my daily blog and also look for subjects that will help inspire me for the little guys. I'm also beginning to think that one problem is trying to force the same amount of detail I've been acustomed to in the larger paintings into the smaller ones. Though I don't remembr that ever being a problem before it might be a good idea to pull back and make those smaller pieces more minimal, sparse even, focusing on just the essentials. Well, that's not exactly earth shaking advice, it's actually pretty standard fare when learning how to compose and block in a painting, but it never hurts to go back to the basics! Stay tuned!

WOW! I'm #5 in the Top 100

2008-02-24T20:08:00.007-05:00

I just found out today that at Artmajeur.com, a huge international host for artists' websites, my website http://www.janblencowe.com/ is #5 out of the Top 100 American Artists sites, based on number of visitors. There are close to 4,000 American artists listed!!! Here's the link to Top 100 page http://us.artmajeur.com/?go=pages/top/list_artists_top100 . Who knew!!! I wouldn't have known except that every once in a while I do a google search on my name to see what my web presence is. There are nearly 10 pages dedicated to my websites, blogs, interviews, and other blogs, magazines etc. that have written about me. One site that featured my work says I'm a Dutch artist! LOL I think my first name confuses Europeans. My grandparents actually were Dutch, so I think it's OK to let this one slide! LOL So thanks to everyone who has visited my website you have helped me achieve this honor.

Solitude -Peaceful Contemporary Impressionist Landscape/Seascape

2008-02-20T11:20:00.005-05:00

SOLD at the Old Lyme Junior Women's Club Expressions 2008 Benefit Art Show

Solitude

About This Painting:
Media: acrylic
Size: 20 in X 20 in (50.8 cm X 50.8 cm)

I've spent at least 2 weeks varnishing, framing and carting paintings around to galleries! Now it is time to get back to blogging and then to a regular painting schedule. This is yesterdays effort, and believe it or not you get out of shape when you stop for a couple of weeks, same as with exercising. I was exhausted after I finished this! LOL I did have a good time though using sea sponges as part of the painting process, and exploring some other acrylic painting techniques like scraping back layers. I still have some larger canvases to prepare for painting and use and then I think I will switch back to some smaller pieces. Stay tuned!

The Contraversy Over Varnishing

2008-02-15T19:58:00.005-05:00

It goes back to at least the 1880's and continues today. This afternoon I had the pleasure of visiting the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT to view The Finishing Touch an exhibit exploring the techniques of American Impressionist and Tonalist painters, especially the controversy among them when it came to the to practice of varnishing(or not) a painting. The timing is rather ironic since I've spent the last week varnishing paintings for hanging in a show on Monday. What is even more ironic is that some of my other paintings in the show are not varnished (purposely) and will stay that way.

First, let us understand that the tonalists and the impressionists were rival artistic movements, with tonalists drawing inspiration from the old masters and developing out of the Barbizon School in France. In aesthetic, technique and working method they are closely aligned with the traditional art one finds in the Academy of Fine Art and the salon shows of France. They admire and emulate the past. The impressionists come on the scene and shatter conventions in so many ways, technique and subject matter to name but two. However, more inportantly they are not rooted in the past, but rather in their present, and their outlook and aesthetic is thoroughly modern.

The Finishing Touch exhibit brings this distinction into focus. The "old masters" paintings that tonalists admired so much were varnished, and by their day the varnish had already darkened with age. So, tonalists varnished their paintings with the belief that their paintings would "mellow" and "ripen" with age also. In other words, in addition to their already subdued colors and value range and their use of a coherent tonality along with their fondness for depicting low light situations like dusk, dawn, and rising mist, they further hoped that over time their paintings would take on a dark, warm patina and make them even better. This gave rise, the exhibit tell us, to the impressionists poking fun at the tonalists and calling them the "baked apple" or "brown gravy" school. The tonalists aesthetic was driven by a desire to create an intimate, poetic and expressive style of landscape art designed to be evocative, atmospheric and communicate emotion. Varnish has the effect of heightening the value contrasts in a painting, thereby adding drama and creating depth with a soft, glossy finish that the viewer looks into and thorough. The impressionist aesthetic couldn't be more different.

In 1853 Napoleon III delcared himself emperor of France and embarked on the daunting task of leveling huge sections of Paris, sweeping away the woefully antiquated medieval city and replacing it with a modern marvel complete with central sewage, a centralize railway system, fresh water distribution, a renovation and expansion of the Lourve, and the addition of a grand opera, three new monumental churches, well organized broad tree line boulevards and tall modern buildings. The old was swept away and the new modern, urban Paris was ushered in. It was this push to modernity, quickly and on a massive scale that fueled the impressionists enchantment with the new modern urban life, and later on the need to get away from it all in the countryside. The new science of optics also influenced them, as did the new growing lesiure class. The impressionists painted what was contemporary to them, beautiful new wide boulevards, railways, markets, the opera, and the middle class at lesiure boating, picnicing, dancing and swimming at the resort towns about 30 min. outside of Paris now made easily accessible by the new railway system. They painted the now, and the fleeting effects of movement, light and color. Their paintings reflected the fast pace and constant bustle of a new modern city. Their painting methods in turn reflected that aesthetic. They shook off the old academic ways of painting and the need to look toward the past or even inward emotionally. They looked outward and forward to the radical changes in their city and in society for inspiration. They painted with bright colors, favoring a play of warm against cool. The application of paint could be thick or thin but the strokes where energetic and remained on the canvas as dashes and daubs of paint, creating a textural surface. Many impressionists chose a "matte" finish for their paintings in direct opposition to the glossy, varnish of tonalist paintings. Some went so far as to squeeze their paint out on to brown paper or blotting paper so some of the oil would leech out. Monet didn't varnish his paintings and as a number of American artists went to Paris to study and paint the radical idea of not varnishing a painting made it's way back to America. In the exhibit at the Florence Griswold we see inscriptions on the back of some of Willard Metcalfs paintings that his paintings were not to be varnished as that would "change certain values" and "ruin it". Tonalist painter, Henry Ward Ranger, the founder of the Lyme Art Colony was a vocal proponent of varnishing and dismissed the unvarnished works of the impressionists as looking like pastels. Knowing that Monet intended his paintings to remain unvarnished, Ranger went so far as to try and convince a collector in Boston to have the Monet paintings he had purchased varnished.

There is of course an ideological battle going on here between old guard and avante guard, as well as painting interior emotions and exterior life, painting timelesness and a fleeting split second of time. On the practical side the arguements for varnishing are basically the same ones made by conservators and artists today. In the era of the impressionists, coal-fired furnaces fueled production in the factories of industrial cities and gas lamps lit the interiors of homes and galleries, hence a lot of sooty pollution in the air ready to cling to the surface of the painting. In fact some impressionist painters chose to display their oil paintings under glass in large cities rather than risk the dulling of their colors. Today the arguement is basically the same about pollutants in the air dirting the surface of the painting and now we add UV rays to the eqaution and worry about colors fading as well. Which is why many modern varnishes also contain UV protection. Fortunately for artists today there are many choices of resin based varnishes which will not yellow and darken over time as the traditional damar varnish will. So modern painters can use vibrant colors to their hearts content without a worry if they choose a modern non-yellowing varnish with UV protection.

But the question still remains and is still debated among artists, whether to varnish or not. Eventhough the problem of darkening has been solved for those who wish their colors to remain bright by using new modern varnishes and with traditional damar varnish still readily available for those who in fact hope their painting will "mellow" over time the question of the desired "look" is still hotly debated. The Finishing Touch is an interesting exhibit to see because in several paintings, in which documentation has clearly show that the artist intended to leave the painting unvarnished, and yet at a later date someone varnished the painting anyway the curators of the exhibit have removed the varnish in some areas to illustrate the difference in appearance varnish can make. Other paintings which also had previously been varnished apparently against the artists wishes have had their varnishes removed and the painting has been restored to an appearance presumabely much closer to what the artist originally intended. It is interesting to also note that not all the American Impressionists eschewed varnishing. Childe Hassam varnished his works and others like tonalist painter Dwight Tryon varnished some paintings but left instructions for others not to be varnished. So the question remains, does a painting look better varnished or not? Are their valid reasons not to varnish, should a painting be varnished to protect it for posterity? Does a collector, curator, or conservator have the right to alter the appearance of a painting against the artists specific intent? When you see the exhibit you will be able to judge for yourself. As an artsit I'm thrilled to have both options open to me and would hope that my intentions would be respected by future caretakers of my art.

The Finishing Touch was curated by Lance Mayer and Gay Meyers independant painting conservators affiliated with the Lyman Allyn Museum. The show runs through April 27th, 2008.

All the Squares in a Row

2008-02-15T19:55:00.000-05:00

Here are the six large square landscapes that will be the focal point of my next show at Friends & Co., Madison, CT. The show will include approx. 9 more pieces that follow this theme of restful, meditative landscapes. The show is called Landscapes of Peace. Any of you out there who are in the area are more than welcome to come to the opening, Sunday, February, 24th at 3:30 , I'd love to meet you! From top to bottom the pieces are: Still Waters, The Way Home, Morning

Meditation, Follow Me, a Peaceful Moment, Far Away.

The Square Series- Peaceful Contemporary Impressionist Landscapes-Marsh Dunes Beach Water Fields

2008-02-10T18:28:00.001-05:00

A Quiet Place- Impressionist Marsh Painting

2008-02-04T18:24:00.003-05:00

A Quiet Place, 20x24, acrylic

There's my dream place, a great little house over looking the marsh, all to myself. If not a reality at least in a painting of it. LOL

Beach Rose Path Impressionist Landscape Beach and Dunes

2008-02-03T20:52:00.001-05:00

Beach Rose Path, 20x24, acrylic

Yes, it's true, I live just 10 minutes from this beautiful place! The first version of this was painted 2 summers ago, right there on the spot. It's always been a favorite of mine and has gotten many, many positive comments from folks, though oddly it's never sold. So I thought I'd revist this lovely spot via another version of the painting.

Here's the original plein air, 14x18, oil

Do you have a favorite???

The Squares are Finis!!

2008-01-31T10:40:00.001-05:00

Morning Meditation, 30x30, acrylic

This has been a most challenging and satisfying project. Working large always has it physical challenges, your arm really does get tired spreading paint over a large area! Of course, I had to choose to do these in the time span of just a few weeks and using an entirely new medium, Chroma Interactive Acrylics!! I will admit that a I was a litle nervous starting this, but I'm so glad I did. I feel like I just scaled Mount Everest LOL ! I now feel pretty confident handling the acrylics and actually really love them! I suspect I will be using them for my studio work from now on unless I get a commission for an oil or I get itchy for a change of pace. I'm eagerly waiting for the warm weather to see how they do outdoors. I'm going to put all six in a seperate post so you can see how they look all together. Thanks for coming along on the journey with me, it's been fun!!

The Way Home

2008-01-25T21:30:00.000-05:00

The Way Home, acrylic, 30x30

Well, I'm in the home stretch of this series! This is number 5, one more to go. Stay tuned.

Time and Tide Impressionist Landscape Marsh Water Beach

2008-01-24T19:23:00.001-05:00

Time and Tide, 20x24, acrylic

Aaaaah the end of the day time to take a deep beath and de-stress. That's how this painting feels to me, I hope you get the same sense of peace and relaxation from it that I do. Enjoy!

NEWS FLASH !

2008-01-22T18:09:00.000-05:00

Top 50 Mini Selection

2nd 50Mini selection

2nd 50 Mini Selection

Hi everyone , I have some good news to share (good thing because today was a disaster of a day LOL). I have just been informed that one of my paintings was selected to represent the state of Connecticut in the Paint America Top 50 Mini Competition and two others were selected for the 2nd 50 Mini category. This is a very interesting competition and I was fortunate enough to have three paintings selected to be part of it last years also. Here's how it works: Large size paintings can be entered into the Paint America Top 100, paintings must represent one of the 50 states. A panel of judges selects 2 pantings to represent each state, thereby creating a collection of 100 paintings that represent America. This collection will travel to galleries all over the country for the next year. There is also a Top 50 Mini category, with one small format painting to represent each state, this collection will also travel around the country for a year. The 2nd 50 Mini category, selects 2 pieces from each state, this collection will be on the website, and in the catalog (I think?) but will not travel with the exhibit. So, last year I had 2 paintings selected in the large size category to represent CT and also a small one in the Top50 Mini. This year I had many more small works and I entered three into the mini category and have had one selected for the Top 50 and 2 others for the second level. Now I have to pack up the painting and send it off to Topeka, KS and it will start its journey across the USA! Check out Paint America here.

The Squares Keep Rollin'

2008-01-22T17:21:00.000-05:00

Follow Me

Follow Me, acrylic, 30x30

Number 4 out of 6 of my new large square format series. This series is reserved for a show in Feb. I am accepting pre-show sales, if you are interested e-mail me for details.

send me an email

Question

Question the beautiful earth; question the beautiful sea; question the beautiful air, spread thinly over all the earth; question the beautiful heavens; question the arrangement of the constellations; question the sun brightening the day with its shining; question the moon, lessening with its splendour the darkness of the following night; question the living creatures that move about in the water, those that stay on land,and those that flit through the air - question al these things and they will all answer:"Look and see! We are beautiful." Their beauty is the sign of their agreement, that nobody could have made these beautiful transitory things, except the unchanging Beauty.

Augustine of Hippo

The Squares Series Continues

2008-01-21T14:24:00.000-05:00

A Peaceful Moment, 30x30, acrylic

Here's another. I'm painting like crazy and loving every minute of it! I'm at the half-way point and needing to make some decisions about the direction the series will take. Because it's a small series each painting will be important to the overall feel, look and statement the series makes. Stay tuned!

More Square Landscapes

2008-01-19T13:25:00.000-05:00

Far Away, acrylic, 30x30

It's called Sailing Away(aka Far Away as of 1/22) because, though it's hard to see in the photo, there are two small sailboats in the distance in this piece. They are far more noticeable in person. One is near the tree branch that obscures the horizon on the right and the other is further out, on the horizon to the left of center. See them now???(Ok, no one sees them, so I've changed the title to "Far Away" LOL) I'm pleased as can be with the way this series has started off, and I'm looking forward to the show in February. I still continue to be impressed with the way the Chroma Interactive Acrylics perform. I had a field day this morning finalizing the sky with glaze after glaze and a significant amount of scumbling thrown in for good measure. It would have taken weeks to use those same techniques and achieve the same sorts of results with oils. The pigments in the acrylics are also holding up to complex mixes for shadow colors as well as lighter brighter mixes without any muddiness for the darker mixes or garrishness in the brighter ones. Enoy, and stay tuned for more!

A BIG New Series

2008-01-16T15:22:00.000-05:00

Still Waters, 30x30, acrylic

Here's the first in a new series. They are for an upcoming show in mid-Feb. They will all be 30x30 in. executed in acrylic( my new favorite, Chroma Interactives), featuring marsh, water and wetlands. Enjoy! More to come soon.

Sunrise Over the Inlet Impressionist tonalist landscape with marsh and water

2008-01-14T15:00:00.001-05:00

Sunrise Over the Inlet, acrylic, 20x24

Another in the acrylic series, still loving them! Getting some nice, soft atmospheric effects and lighting in this. Six new 30x30in. cavases arrived today so stay tuned!

Willard Island Walk (On and On)

2008-01-09T20:39:00.001-05:00

Willard Island Walk (On and On) 20x24, acrylic

OK I'm officially thrilled with the Chroma Atelier Interactive acrylics!!! This was a thrilling piece to paint because every effect that I wanted to achieve from a soft edged hazy distance to a brightly back lit tree, to fine lacy foliage at the edge of the tree to creating believable "sky holes" in the trees, to a shadowed path to fine lines for grasses was so do-able with these amazing paints. I changed surfaces and I think that helped some too. Instead of the regualr cotton canvas I painted the previous piece on this one is done on Yes! a canvas specially primed for all manner of watermedia. It's triple primed with their unique primer and the weave of the canvas is especially fine and tight so the surface is very smooth. It's also mounted onto board which gives me that firm support I prefer. I wish you could see the complexity of the surface of this piece. I'm going to try and get some good close up and post them so you can see the areas of impasto, the building up of multicolored layers and the transparency of areas that were washed in. I am so sold on these paints that I ordered more today! Oh, also my last order that arrived yesterday contained Forest Green a mix-up since what I really ordered was ultramarine blue LOL. However, I was too lazy to pack it up and send it back so I gave it a try. I NEVER use tube greens preferring to mix my own because tube greens never seem to be natural looking. I also prefer single and at the most 2 pigment paints. This forest green has three: transparent yellow, phthalo blue, and transparent red oxide, so I'm breaking another of my rules! I still wouldn't use it straight from the tube, but modified with other colors it does produce a really rich dark green, either cool or warm depending on what you've added to it. We'll see if this becomes a regular on my palette or if this tube dries out before it's empty from lack of use. Enjoy!

No Eye Has Seen

2008-01-07T14:03:00.001-05:00

No Eye Has Seen, acrylic, 20x24

This was a very enjoyable piece to paint, seemed to flow right out of me. I had to crop the bottom of the photo a little because the easel was visible, so the composition actually extends another inch or so at the bottom showing a bit more of the marsh grass on the right and more of the cloud reflection on the left. In person the cloud has more of a luminous yellow glow to it than you can see in the photo, so nicer in person than what you see on the screen. Enjoy!

Explorations in Acrylic Continue

2008-01-06T17:10:00.001-05:00

Don't Ask Why, 6x8, acrylic

I'm having a jolly time with these Chroma Interactive Acrylics. They are allowing me to paint in an atmospheric way, and achieve results that I like but am too impatient to achieve in oils. ( It's a character flow, I know LOL) So here are a few things I've learned: You need to use A LOT of paint to get results similar to oils. Oil paint is, well oily or buttery, and spreads smoothly over the canvas, and it's more opaque even in thin layers. With acrylics you need to use a lot more paint because it doesn't spread over large areas as easily. Not a really big deal, just something to get used to. A good paint extender is a must. I'm using Golden brand soft gel gloss and like that very much. You can really get juicy effects and good brush strokes or use it to get luminous, transparent glazes. When thinned with water it can also be used as an isolation coat before the next layer or before varnishing. That is something else I learned, use a good final varnish if you want to achieve and oil painting look. I'm currently using Chroma Solvent Finish Varnish-Gloss. It's good for both oils and acrylics, so that's handy, I won't need to buy two different kinds of varnishes. The big test is still coming though. I'm doing a show in Feb. and will need six new 30x30 paintings and I'm going to do them in acrylic ( I think.... unless I chicken out and do some in oils). Also, I entered a 20x24 acrylic in a large juried show today, a show that is very traditional in it's tastes and selections, so we will see if the acrylics can hold their own against the more traditional oils and if anyone even notices! I'll keep you all posted!

The New Year

2007-12-31T18:21:00.000-05:00

The New Year, acrylic, 6x8

"A Morning Wish"

W.R. Hunt

"The sun is just rising on the morning of another day, the first day of the new year. What can I wish that this day, that this year, may bring to me?
Nothing that shall make the world of others poorer, nothing at the expense of others; but just those few things which in their coming do not stop with me but touch me rather, as they pass and gather strength:

A few friends who understand me, and yet remain my friends.
A work to do which has real value without which the world would feel the poorer.
A return for such work small enough not to tax unduly anyone who pays.
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed.
An understanding heart.
A sight of the eternal hills and unbelting sea, and of something beautiful the individual hand has made.
A sense of humor and the power to laugh.
A little leisure with nothing to do.
A few moments of quiet, silent meditation. The sense of the presence of God.
And the patience to wait for the coming of these things, with the wisdom to know them when they come."

Guide words: An Anthology of Inspiration and Humor, p. 13

Beginning

2007-12-30T16:11:00.000-05:00

Beginning, acrylic, 20x24

Fast away the old year passes! A New Year is about to begin, full of possibilities. Like creating a series of moody, atmospheric landscapes in acrylic. Which is my plan for 2008. I keep asking myself why I would want to put aside oils and start this whole new direction. There are a couple of reasons. One is that I'm less able to tolerate the cold so plein air painting through the winter is probably not going to be a reality this year. I am planning to do some painting from my car though, and will use watercolors for that, as I find that the easiest medium in such cramped quarters. Second, I'm getting effects with acrylics like scumbling, glazing, layering that I really like. While I can get those some effects with oils it requires a lot of waiting as layers dry and I'm not very good at waiting, preferring to work alla prima even for larger works when possible. Third, I'd like to explore a more tonalist palette of colors and really hone my skills at creating atmosphere and light effects, think Turner, and right now acrylics seem best suited to that end. So there you have it, a manifesto for a new direction.

Flanders Field

2007-12-28T10:56:00.000-05:00

Flanders Field, 30x30, oil

Here's a recent oil painting. I really like this large square format, it makes for an interesting composition. This painting will be featured on the cover of the February issue of The Art Guide Magazine. The Art Guide is a regional magazine featuring art, artists and galleries in the CT, RI, MA and NY area. Poppies and fields of poppies have been a recurring theme in my work this year. You can find more of them in my gallery at the Daily Painters site here.

More Acrylic Paintings

2007-12-27T21:26:00.001-05:00

The Edge of Autumn, 6x8, acrylic

Rain Dance, 6c8, acrylic

Born of the Winter Light, 8x10, acrylic

Storm Cloud, 16x20, acrylic

Scumble, scumble, scumble! A favorite technique for me and one that is sooo well suited to acrylics. All of these paintingws have a heavy amount of scumbling ( alighter value of paint scrubbed over an already dry darker layer producing soft, diffused atmospheric effects) but especially Storm Cloud, Rain Dance and Born of the Winter Light. The scumbling creates such a rich surface texture and a multitue of layers. It's hard to see in the photos but the surfaces of these paintings is really interesting. Tomorrow I hope to post a large oil painting I've recently finished and then start a large acrylic which will probably be my last painting for 2007!

Moon at Sunset

2007-12-07T18:12:00.001-05:00

Moon at Sunset, acrylic, 6x8

I'm having a good time with these interactive acrylics. Working on getting a scumbling method down. Scumbling (scrubbing a thin layer of a lighter color over a darker layer that is already dry) is a favorite technique of mine with oil paints but it has the disadvantage of having to wait for the first layer to be dry. With acrylics the first layer is immediately ready which allows this technique to become a major part of the process of the painting. Fun!

Exploring the Seasons in Acrylic

2007-12-01T18:19:00.001-05:00

Morning Meadow (spring), 6x8, acrylic

Poppy Morning (summer), 6x8, acrylic

Autumn Leaves (fall), 9x12, acrylic

Frozen Edge (winter), 6x8, acrylic

I've always been intrigued by acrylic paints. They seem very modern, comtemporary, edgy and 20th century. I've seen stunning acrylic paintings and some absolutely horrendous monstrosities. I've seen the most intricatedly detailed and accurate wildlife art, some beautifully expressive impressionist work and some wondefully textured almost sculptural abstact works as well. The colors seem vivid and saturated and the perks of soap and water clean up combined with their quick dry time add to their appeal. On the down side they never seem as full bodied, lush, buttery and rich as oil paints. Quite frankly many brands sem plastic-y and cheap looking. Creating soft atmospheric passages seem to take an entirely different working method than in oils because of the quick dry time so that's both a pro and a con). Lastly, and most unfortunately many collectors seem to prefer oil paintings and prices for acrylics are often lower than for oils. However, I believe that over time that will change.

So what am I doing in this series of new paintings? Well, playing around, experimenting and having fun for starters! I'm using a new type of acrylics, Chroma Interactive. These relatively new paints are meant to stay workable longer, while still drying much quicker than oils, and they definitely don't have that plastic-y look or feel. Combined with some Golden soft-gel and some of the mediums designed to go with these paints I'm getting some very impressive results. I don't know if I love them enough yet to completely abandon oils but I'm going to be doing my small daily paintings with these for the next few months to see if I can really produce acryloic works that ae essentially indistinguishable from my oils. Stay tuned for more results.

Paintings BIG and small

2007-11-27T14:54:00.001-05:00

Golden Days, oil, 24x36

Evening Falls, oil, 24x36

Luminary of the Autumn Night Sky, oil, 30x40

Whirl the Seasons Round, oil, 12x16

Beach Path in Winter, oil, 9x12

It's always fun to shake things up a bit and working both large and small is one way to do that. The two small paintings here are not really that small considering that I often work 6x8in. But they are considerably smaller than the first three pieces. Students often ask me whether it's better to work large or small; the answer isn't really one or the other. There are things to be learned and gained from both. Small gives you the advantage of tackling all the major problems of a painting in a single sitting. Composition, value, color, brushwork, as well as painting method can all be addressed in a small work. Each time you work through those challenges you grow a little as an artist. So, a large painting may take you three weeks to finish and you've worked through one set of problems, but if you were painting smaller perhaps you would be able to accomplish six paintings in the same span of time and you would have had the experience of working through six sets of challenges. The more experience you get the better your painting skills become. Painting small allows you to produce many works in a short amount of time and gain experience quickly. This is often helpful for beginners. However, there are limitations to what can be done in a very small work, particularly in the area of expressive brush work and some of the finer points of creating a painting, like edges, subtle shifts in color and value,detail and complexity of composition. More intermediate level painters may find it most beneficial to tackle some larger canvases in order to pursue thise particular elements. And while small works may be little gems, large works tend to have the wow factor and command attention with their sense of presence. If you'd like to push youself a little then gradually change canvas size, either larger or smaller. Once you become comfortable with the next size up or down, go to the next size. Eventually, you'll find that you are comfortable painting any size. Inevitably you will have your favorite sizes and that's fine, but when you get into a rut it's nice to be able to break out a little bit and get the excitement flowing again.

As always these are available for sale. Golden Days and Luminary of the Autumn Night Sky are currently at Gallery at 85 Main Street, Centerbrook, CT. Send me an e-mail for purchase information. jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Also don't forget the HOLIDAY SALE at my website http://www.janblencowe.com/ there's a whole gallery of work on sale 50% off until Jan. 30th, 2008.

Indian Summer Paintings

2007-09-22T13:10:00.000-05:00

Autumn Dunes, 8x10, oil

September Beach, 8x10, oil

Butterflies Paradise, 6x8, oil

Oh boy, there is some really amazing color and texture going on out there this time of year. Late summer weeds and wildflowers have burst into bloom, grasses are going to seed, shrubs and bushes are bursting with berries and trees with nuts. The sun, though at a lower angle in the sky, is still bright and casts a warm, mellow shawl over the landscape. I find the dunes to be particularly beautiful at this time of year, sporting reddish and purple grasses. The last painting was a spot that had weeds and flowers in abundant profusion and attracted butterflies by the dozen what an awesome sight!!

INDIAN SUMMER

Emily Dickinson [1830-1886]

These are the days when birds come back,

A very few, a bird or two,

To take a backward look.
These are the days when skies put on

The old, old sophistries of June,

-A blue and gold mistake.
Oh, fraud that cannot cheat the bee,

Almost thy plausibilityInduces my belief,
Till ranks of seeds their witness bear,

And softly through the altered air

Hurries a timid leaf!
Oh, sacrament of summer days,

Oh, last communion in the haze,

Permit a child to join,
Thy sacred emblems to partake,

Thy consecrated bread to break,

Taste thine immortal wine!

Plein Air Paintings to End Summer and Welcome Autumn

2007-09-09T20:19:00.000-05:00

September Field of Trees, oil, 16x20, $500

Path Through the Cedars, oil, 8x10, $200

Headless Scarecrow, oil, 8x10, $200

Some Thoughts on Green

Another summer is coming to an end and that means I've completed another season of studying the color green. Plein air painters often dread this color. It completely dominates the landscape throughout the summer and if not handled correctly the results are a disasterous painting. Ask me how I know this LOL. I keep a little journal with musings about art and life in it. Here's a recent entry anout the color green:

I watch as the clouds form and reform behind the treetops. I study the color of the trees. They're green of course....but no, I look at the green plastic pitcher on the deck. It's bright yellow green. I compare. It's not anywhere to be found in the trees. Only the sunlit grass comes close and even then the red-brown of the earth shows through causing an orange glow beneath the green grass. I look at the deep green of the chair cushions, what we might call forest green, yet I don't see that in the trees either. How is it that this common color of the landscape is so elusive, so un-nameable, and if un-nameable how can I capture it with paint?

How indeed?

Hours of careful observation, and much time spent painting outdoors.

A Late Summer Symphony of Paintings

2007-08-21T07:45:00.001-05:00

Marsh Flowers, 9x12, oil

Marsh House, 9x12, oil

Marsh Sunset, 9x12, oil

Here are three paintings done in a series, three days in a row at the same time of day. The first and third are from the same location, the former looking east and the latter looking west towards the sunset. The middle one was done several miles down the road along the Oyster River. These three pieces served as vehicles for some color experiments I'm working on. The idea is called "pigment soup" it's origins are with the early 20th century American painter Edgar Alwin Payne.

This idea is currently being discussed by a group of artists in the online art community www.WetCanvas.com . Simply put, you mix up a color which becomes the basis for the entire painting and each and every subsequent color that you mix contains a bit of the original color. This guarantees an immediate color harmony and gives you the opportunity right at the very beginning of the painting process to decide upon and enact a strategy for creating mood and emotion in your painting. It's this last part that I am especially interested in, creating mood and emotion in a painting. I am no longer content to just "paint what I see". My desire is to paint what I feel and inject a more spiritual component into my work. I want emotions and ideas like longing, joy, awe, lonliness, gratitude, wistfulness, peacefulness, solitude, contemplation, elation, brooding, desire, tranquility, vitality, happiness to come through. More like poetry, less like prose.

Speaking of poetry here's one that is especially appropriate as summer slips away and we long to keep it just a little longer before back to school and autumn 's rainy, chilly weather appears.

Fair Summer Droops
from Summer’s Last Will and Testament by Thomas Nashe (1600)

Fair summer droops, droop men and beasts therefore,

So fair a summer look for nevermore:

All good things vanish less than in a day,

Peace, plenty, pleasure, suddenly decay.

Go not yet away, bright soul of the sad year,

The earth is hell when thou leav’st to appear.

What, shall those flowers that decked thy garland erst,

Upon thy grave be wastefully dispersed?

O trees, consume your sap in sorrow’s source,

Streams, turn to tears your tributary course.

Go not yet hence, bright soul of the sad year,

The earth is hell when thou leav’st to appear.

Summer Garden

2007-08-10T18:21:00.001-05:00

Summer Garden, 12x36, oil

I have a hot garden ! LOL This painting shows part of long border that runs the length of our property where it meets the road. You can see it from our livingroom window and since you see it from across the front yard I decided on a very hot, bright color scheme that would show up at a distance. It's filled with red, orange and yellow lillies of different varieties, crocosima, that's the deep red arching flowers. This particular variety is called Lucifer, there's also red-purple coneflowers and taxic cab yellow black eyed susan. In this piece the morning sun is pouring in from behind. I find it absolutely delightful to be in the garden, I have many bird and insect friendy plants and the garden is absolutely buzzing, quivering and singing with life. What JOY!

The Bee is Not Afraid of Me

The Bee is not afraid of me.

I know the Butterfly.

The pretty people in the Woods

Receive me cordially

--The Brooks laugh louder when I come --

The Breezes madder play;

Wherefore mine eye thy silver mists,

Wherefore, Oh Summer's Day?

~Emily Dickinson

Resting Place Along the River

2007-06-26T13:48:00.000-05:00

Resting Place Along the River, 14x18, oil

On a sultry summer day a quiet rest beneath the trees watching the boats passing along the river is a peaceful delight. This spot is the edge of an old cemetary that overlooks the river, a final resting place for many.

Departed To The Judgment
by Emily Dickinson.

Departed to the judgment,

A mighty afternoon;

Great clouds like ushers leaning,

Creation looking on.

The flesh surrendered,

cancelled

The bodiless begun;

Two worlds, like audiences, disperse

And leave the soul alone.

River no.1 Morning

2007-06-22T18:15:00.001-05:00

River no.1 Morning

12x36, oil/linen

The summer solstice this year was a perfect day!! To celebrate the longest day of the year, and metaphorically sol invictus, the victory of light over darkness, I went to a plein air paint out. This is a morning painting when the sun was just beginning to peek over the tops of the tallest trees chasing away the cool shadows and mist left over from the night. I was continuously serenaded by songbirds and cooled by a breeze coming off the river. I enjoyed some wonderful food provided by the gallery sponsering the event, the stimulating company of some fellow artists and the glories of the new summer season. I was really intrigued with the shape of this canvas and how it let me unfurl the expansiveness of the river. I ordered three more just like it and I'm planning to do a series of river paintings. The next one will be at sunset. Stay tuned!

Summer Sun

GREAT is the sun, and wide he goes

Through empty heaven without repose;

And in the blue and glowing days

More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull

To keep the shady parlour cool,

Yet he will find a chink or two

To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic, spider-clad,

He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;

And through the broken edge of tiles

Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around

He bares to all the garden ground,

And sheds a warm and glittering look

Among the ivy's inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,

Round the bright air with footing true,

To please the child, to paint the rose,

The gardener of the World, he goes.

~Robert Louis Stevenson

South Cove Morning

2007-06-21T18:10:00.001-05:00

South Cove Morning, 14x18, oil

I had the great pleasure of going out and painting with a fellow artist on Monday. What a beautiful morning it was! Clear, warm summer light illuminated the treeline and brought out all the warm rich hues in the water. This lovely spot emanated a sense of peace and tranquility. I'm striving for more emotion, a more personal sense of response to a place in my work and I think I am now comfortable moving in this direction. I feel less bound to the objective realities of the scene and more at liberty to infuse my own inner vision into a landscape. Stay tuned to see how this progresses!

Vision

I have not walked on common ground,

Nor drunk of earthly streams;

A shining figure, mailed and crowned,

Moves softly through my dreams.

He makes the air so keen and strange,

The stars so fiercely bright;

The rocks of time, the tides of change,

Are nothing in his sight.

Death lays no shadow on his smile;

Life is a race fore-run;

Look in his face a little while,

And life and death are one.

Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall

Birdland

2007-06-18T20:28:00.000-05:00

Birdland, 14x18, oil

This is the marsh in the evening. At first it seems quiet, until you become aware of all the life and activity there. Birds by the score are coming in to roost for the night. Some are carolling their evensong and some are twittering excitedly. Many are flying throught the marsh catching insects as they go; the epitome of fast food ! This particular marsh is part of a state park and there are birdhouses of several varieties along with nesting platforms to accomodate the avian resdients preferences.

For, lo, the winter is past,

the rain is over and gone;

the flowers appear on the earth;

the time of the singing of birds is come,

and the voice of the turtle

is heard in our land.

Solomon

Plein Air in the Morning

2007-06-16T17:25:00.001-05:00

Madison Morning, 6x8, oil

Hammonasset Waterway, 6x6, oil

SOLD

I'm sticking with my commitment to get out Monday-Friday in the mornings to paint. Living along the coast often means that it will be hazy/foggy/overcast in the morning and this is presenting me with some interesting color and lighting situations.

I wanted to mention the passing of a true modern master, Charles Sovek. I had the very good fortune of studying with him during two workshops in 2005. It was an amazing thing to watch him paint with such ease and joyful abandon. His loose colorist paintings have left the world a more beautiful place than when he arived in it. He was a gentle, and generous man, a wonderful teacher and an inspiration. He will be missed!

When Earths Last Picture is Painted

When Earth's last picture is painted

And the tubes are twisted and dried

When the oldest colors have faded

And the youngest critic has died

We shall rest, and faith, we shall need it

Lie down for an aeon or two

'Till the Master of all good workmen

Shall put us to work anew

And those that were good shall be happy

They'll sit in a golden chair

They'll splash at a ten league canvas

With brushes of comet's hair

They'll find real saints to draw from Magdalene, Peter, and Paul

They'll work for an age at a sitting

And never be tired at all.

And only the Master shall praise us.

And only the Master shall blame.

And no one will work for the money.

No one will work for the fame.

But each for the joy of the working,

And each, in his separate star,

Will draw the thing as he sees it.

For the God of things as they are!

Rudyard Kipling

Plein Air on Gray Days

2007-06-13T12:03:00.000-05:00

Gray Day Rocks, 6x8, oil, $100 unframed

View Through the Bird Blind, 6x6, $100, unframed

We're in a terrible weather pattern, lots of clouds and then the sun breaks through, and just when you get outside the clouds return! Mother Nature's having some fun with us! The bird blind is a wooden shelter constructed in the marsh with viewing windows so you can observe the birds, waterfowl and wildlife unnoticed, a very cool place to set up and paint! These paintings reflect the gray-ness of the day and the textures of the marsh vegitation and the subtle changes in color of the rocks. Enjoy!

SEAWEED

When descends on the Atlantic
The gigantic
Storm-wind of the equinox,
Landward in his wrath he scourges
The toiling surges,
Laden with seaweed from the rocks:

From Bermuda's reefs; from edges
Of sunken ledges,
In some far-off, bright Azore;
From Bahama, and the dashing,
Silver-flashing
Surges of San Salvador;

From the tumbling surf, that buries
The Orkneyan skerries,
Answering the hoarse Hebrides;
And from wrecks of ships, and drifting
Spars, uplifting
On the desolate, rainy seas;--

Ever drifting, drifting, drifting
On the shifting
Currents of the restless main;
Till in sheltered coves, and reaches
Of sandy beaches,
All have found repose again.

So when storms of wild emotion
Strike the ocean
Of the poet's soul, erelong
From each cave and rocky fastness,
In its vastness,
Floats some fragment of a song:

Front the far-off isles enchanted,
Heaven has planted
With the golden fruit of Truth;
From the flashing surf, whose vision
Gleams Elysian
In the tropic clime of Youth;

From the strong Will, and the Endeavor
That forever
Wrestle with the tides of Fate
From the wreck of Hopes far-scattered,
Tempest-shattered,
Floating waste and desolate;--

Ever drifting, drifting, drifting
On the shifting
Currents of the restless heart;
Till at length in books recorded,
They, like hoarded
Household words, no more depart.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Looking for the Bright Spot

2007-06-12T14:25:00.000-05:00

Looking for the Bright Spot, 6x6, oil

Looking for the bright spot on a gray day...kind of like a metaphor for life!

A Grey Day

Grey drizzling mists the moorlands drape,

Rain whitens the dead sea,

From headland dim to sullen cape

Grey sails creep wearily.

I know not how that merchantman

Has found the heart; but 'tis her plan

Seaward her endless course to shape.

Unreal as insects that appall

A drunkard's peevish brain,

O'er the grey deep the dories crawl,

Four-legged, with rowers twain:

Midgets and minims of the earth,

Across old ocean's vasty girth

Toiling--heroic, comical!

I wonder how that merchant's crew

Have ever found the will!

I wonder what the fishers do

To keep them toiling still!

I wonder how the heart of man

Has patience to live out its span,

Or wait until its dreams come true.

William Vaughn Moody

Field Studies Continued

2007-06-09T13:59:00.000-05:00

Bold River Afternoon, 6x8, oil

Summerwoods, 6x8, oil

Light from the East, 7x9.5, oil

Morning Sail, 7 x 9.5, oil

It's pouring rain today, but over the past week or so the weather has really been perfect, so here are three new pochades. (That's a French word, derived from the root for pocket, so literally a painting small enough to fit into your pocket!). I'm working on capturing the different qualities of light that occur at different times of day. The first one was begun at 6pm on a very sunny, clear day and the colors just seemed to come alive as the angle of th sun light dropped. The second was painted at 8:00am on a dry sunny morning and the glow in the new foliage of the trees was amazing. The third was begun at about 9:00 am on a sunny but very humid morning, temps were up near 85-90 degrees that morning and the light had a softer more diffused quality to it. This is basically the same scene as Morning Sail (which I posted below)from last week. Not standing in quite the same spot so things are shifted about some but what's really interesting is that although they were painted at the same time of day the weather was different and so was the quality of light. That's what is so fascinating about going back to the same place over and over again, it's never the same painting twice.

Field Studies en Plein Air

2007-06-05T16:48:00.000-05:00

Oyster River Evening, 6x8, oil

Beach Path, 6x8, oil

Morning Path, 6x8, oil

Edge of the Woods, 6x8, oil

SOLD

I really enjoy painting small field studies outdoors. It's amazing how much you learn about nature, color, light, the rhythms of the seasons and the turning from night to day when you spend time working directly from nature. Larger studio works may seem grander and have more polish and finish but they can never compete with the intimate and fresh depiction of a scene you get when you work small and quick outdoors.

For your Spirit woven into the Fabric of creation

for the eternal overlapping with time

and the life of the earth interlaced with heaven's vitality

I give you thanks, O God.

For your untamed creativity

your boundless mystery

and your passionate yearnings

planted deep in the soul of every human being

I give you thanks.

Grabt me the grace to reclaom these depths

to uncover this treasure

to liberate these longings

and in being set free in my own spirit

to act for the well-being of the world.

J.Philip Newell

from~A Celtic Benediction~

Each of these field studies is available for purchase, unframed, $100. E-mail me jan.blencowe@comcast.net pay securely with PayPal

Morning Sail

2007-05-30T05:57:00.000-05:00

Morning Sail Daily Impressionist Painting

About This Painting:
A lovely summer morning, I thoroughly enjoyed being outside painting this!

Media: oil
Size: 9 in X 7.5 in (22.9 cm X 19.1 cm)
Price: $150 USD

How to Purchase:

Plein Air Petitescapes

2007-05-28T08:20:00.001-05:00

A Very Quiet Morning, 6x8,oil
$100, unframed, contact: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Morning Dunes, 6x8, oil

$100, unframed, contact: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

I love painting these little field studies, 6x8 inch gems that seem to capture the intimacy and connection I feel with the landscape whenever I paint outdoors. Both of these were painted in the early morning a time of day I find enchanting.

How to Purchase: To pay safely with PayPal visit my daily painting gallery here.

Read Mary Oliver's beautiful and evocative Morning Poem.

Morning Prayer

Let me to-day do something that shall take

A little sadness from the world’s vast store, And may I be so favoured as to make

Of joy’s too scanty sum a little more.Let me not hurt, by any selfish deed

Or thoughtless word, the heart of foe or friend; Nor would I pass, unseeing, worthy need, Or sin by silence when I should defend.

However meagre be my worldly wealth, Let me give something that shall aid my kind –A word of courage, or a thought of health, Dropped as I pass for troubled hearts to find.

Let me to-night look back across the span

‘Twixt dawn and dark, and to my conscience say –Because of some good act to beast or man –“The world is better that I lived today.”

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Azalea Time

2007-05-23T15:05:00.001-05:00

Azalea Time

6x8, oil
$100,unframed,
To Purchase: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

The garden is really starting to take off as we finally have some warm weather! Beautiful bold azaleas, along with tiarella and Spanish bluebells and some lovely creeping ground covers begin to create a floral fantasy along the edge of the wooded area next to my house. The dappled light was flickering as a gentle breeze moved the leaves of the trees about so it seemed to my eye that everything was in motion.

I really enjoy these small paintings I often get more satisfation form these little ones than large studio pieces. These little jewels seem to capture in more immediate, intimate way the sense of place that is so important in plein air work. Enjoy!

The Azalea

There, where the sun shines first Against our room,

She trained the gold Azalea, whose perfume She,

Spring-like, from her breathing grace dispersed.

Last night the delicate crests of saffron bloom,

For this their dainty likeness watched and nurst,

Were just at point to burst.

At dawn I dreamed, O God, that she was dead,

And groaned aloud upon my wretched bed,

And waked, ah, God, and did not waken her,

But lay, with eyes still closed,

Perfectly blessed in the delicious sphere

By which I knew so well that she was near,

My heart to speechless thankfulness composed.

Till'gan to stir A dizzy somewhat in my troubled head

It was the azalea's breath, and she was dead!

The warm night had the lingering buds disclosed,

And I had fallen asleep with to my breast A chance-found letter pressed

In which she said,'So, till to-morrow eve, my Own, adieu!

Parting's well-paid with soon again to meet,

Soon in your arms to feel so small and sweet,

Sweet to myself that am so sweet to you!'

Coventry Patmore

2007-05-16T11:51:00.000-05:00

Falls River Reflections

About This Painting:
Dappled sunlight plays upon the river and filters through the new growth on the trees. The chairs are inviting, peaceful and relaxing. This began as a demonstration at Gallery at 85 Main Street in Centerbrook, CT where my current solo show is hanging. Isn't this a beautiful spot? The gallery building is just to the right of the scene I was painting.

Notice the new Paypal 'buy it now" button! Isn't that great~! Pay easily, quickly and safely with a credit card through Paypal. What will they think of next LOL!

Media: oil
Size: 20 in X 16 in (50.8 cm X 40.6 cm)
Price: $500 USD

How to Purchase:

Westbrook Dunes

2007-05-08T12:04:00.000-05:00

Westbrook Dunes, 16 x20, oil
To Purchase contact: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

This painting was done as a demonstration for my landscape painting class at the Tracy Art Center. I'm pleased with the variety of earthy colors in this and the composition. I think it really captures the lonley, rugged feeling of the dunes in the off season.

Sand Dunes

Sea waves are green and wet,
But up from where they die,
Rise others vaster yet,
And those are brown and dry.

They are the sea made land
To come at the fisher town,
And bury in solid sand
The men she could not drown.

She may know cove and cape,
But she does not know mankind
If by any change of shape,
She hopes to cut off mind.

Men left her a ship to sink:
They can leave her a hut as well;
And be but more free to think
For the one more cast-off shell.

Robert Frost

Spring Hedgerow

2007-05-06T06:58:00.000-05:00

Spring Hedgerow

About This Painting:
Aaaaah Spring! Soft colors, and the anticipation of renewal and warm weather. I took a one day workshop in Durham, CT and had a wonderful time. The setting was lovely, with forsytheia, trees budding, many birds and farm animals nextdoor. We began the day with Ten of Zen, 10 minutes of sitting quietly and getting touch with our surroundings, listening, observing and writing down our impressions. Here are a few of my thoughts from the morning:

The sunlit areas are warm but the sky still seems cold.

The brush piles are purple gray.

The cabbage white is dancing, 2 are at play.

The mouring dove and the red wing blackbird call as the laundry shifts gently in the breeze.

Dandylions and purple flowers in the grass are giving compliments to one another.

Terry Oakes Bourret was the instructor, she has a wonderful website, well worth a visit!

Media: oil
Size: 12 in X 9 in (30.5 cm X 22.9 cm)
Price: $300 USD

How to Purchase:

First Place

2007-04-30T06:19:00.000-05:00

SOLD
Backlit Trees, 7x9.5, oil

I am pleased to announce that this piece has been awarded First Place in the Madison Art Societies state wide juried art exhibition. The show opens Friday evening, May 4th, 6pm-8pm in the community room of the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library, 801 Boston Post Road, Madison, CT. It's going to be a wonderful show filled with some of the best artwork from around the state. If you are in the area please come by and enjoy the art.

April Trail

2007-04-14T17:11:00.000-05:00

April Trail- Plein Air Impressionist Landscape

About This Painting:
Painted on location, the colors are still subtle in New England this time of year though the red cedars retain their richness. This was painted at Hammonasset State Park. It's part of the hiking trail that follows a rocky moraine at the Meigs Point at the eastern end of the park.

Media: oil
Size: 12 in X 9 in (30.5 cm X 22.9 cm)
Price: $350

How to Purchase:

A Brand New Look

2007-03-13T19:47:00.000-05:00

Art & Life has a brand new look ! A New Blogger template has allowed me to create a colorful, streamlined better organized blog. Hopefully you'll enjoy your visits here even more than before. Coming soon are Paypal Buy it Now buttons making purchasing art even easier.

Thanks for stopping see you soon!

SPRING FLING SHOW

2007-02-09T12:25:00.000-05:00

If you've got the winter blahs, this show is guaranteed to give you spring fever !
If you're in the area please join us for an afternoon filled with springtime delights, even if there's snow on the ground it will be spring in the gallery!

spring art show
spring flower paintings

UPCOMING SHOW IN APRIL

2007-01-22T11:43:00.000-05:00

I'll be having a show April 26th, 2007 at Gallery at 85 Main Street, Centerbrook, CT
for a sneak preview click here . Anyone in the area is more than welcome to attend the opening reception, if you're travelling from out of town the The Copper Beech Inn is just down the street from the gallery.

Hammonasset Paintings
Hammonasset art show
Jan Blencowe's Hammonasset Paintings

Where is Winter??

2007-01-07T16:33:00.000-05:00

Rock in a Puddle, oil, 8x10

SOLD

Where is Winter, 6x8, oil

Where is winter??? I don't know and frankly I don't care LOL ! It was another amazingly, unseasonably warm day here in southern New England. This morning I took my dog to the park/beach for a very long walk. She walked, ran, jumped over fences, rolled in the dirt and sand, went in the water(several times at different spots including a pond, a stream, a puddle and the sound itself), dug a hole, met scores of other dogs and generally had a wonderful doggy time. I found the long walk positively rejuvenating, especially the part where I sat on a bench at the edge of the dunes, soaked in the sun and warmth while listening to the rhythmic sound of the waves. The highlight though was seeing two enormous blue heron fly into the pond, the sun was shining right on them as the flew and wow was their coloring ever beautiful. I also scoped out some new painting spots. I took the dog home, got some lunch and returned to the park to paint. It was a truly beautiful day and there were so many people enjoying the weather, biking, dog walking, strolling, flying kites, shooting off model rockets, horsebackriding, birdwatching, picnicing. It was really amazing what some sunshine and warm temperatures can do to lift folks spirits! Black ducks where my nearest companions today mucking about in the water and along the banks, they seemed to be enjoying the day too!

painting a day
daily painting
plein air painting

Day is Done

2006-12-26T18:10:00.000-05:00

Day is Done, 7x9.5, oil

Sunsets are the most humbling subject matter to paint! It's while painting a sunset that I'm constantly reminded how inadequate my paints are to reproduce the glorious grandure of nature. The intensly glowing colors of a sunset can never be captured by mere paints and brushes. The best an artist can hope for is the recollection of a memory created by the splash of color and the juxtaposition of values on the canvas. While this painting pales compared to the actual event it does retain enough of the mood and feeling and a close enough approximation of the colors to bring me back to that moment.

If you are intersted in purchasing this painting for $100 please e-mail me at jan.blencowe@comcast.net

plein air painting
sunset painting

The Light of the World and the Winter Solstice

2006-12-21T11:26:00.000-05:00

The Holy Family
Winter Solstice 2006

These are both small 6x8 in. oils. Every year for the last couple of years I've tried to paint on the winter solstice, my way of celebrating the day and the certainty of longer days to follow. I find the rhythms and cycles of nature comforting and fascinating. Winter into spring, spring into summer, summer into autumn. The ebb and flow of the tides, the waxing and waning of the moon, the movement of the zodiac, seedtime and harvest, blossom and fruit, birth and death and on and on it goes with nature. In contrast to the constant change of nature we can find the changeless eternal One. At Christmas time we ponder the intersecting of time and eternity, the uncreated and the created joined with the result being that all in nature and all of humanity becomes scared.

" In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it." John:14-5 May we understand His light this Christmas.

plein air painting

Hidden Path and Hidden Path II

2006-12-21T10:48:00.000-05:00

Hidden Path II 12x16, oil
Hidden Path 6x8, oil

Sometimes a scene holds so many possibilities that I need to paint it twice to fully explore what it offers. The second painting, the little 6x8 was the original one. Painted in the morning around 8:00 am on a day when the air was moist and full of water droplets. You can see how the colors are muted and lightened and the edges of things are soft and hazy. I went back the next afternoon around 2:30, and the weather was clear and colder and the sunlight stronger bringing things into sharper focus and expanding the range of values visable. This is one of the reasons that painting plein air is so fascinating to me, a scene can be totally different from one day to they next offering endless possibilities for an artist to explore.

To purchase either of these works please contact me jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Hidden Path II $425

Hidden Path $100

both are unframed

plein air painting

The Falls River and the Marsh

2006-12-09T14:53:00.000-05:00

Sanctuary, 16x20, oil

$600

The Falls River Just Before Winter, 18x24, oil

$1200

Two new paintings to share today. The first I did as a demonstration at the Tracy Art Center a few weeks ago. I used an 8x10 plein air as a reference for this larger studio piece. You can see the plein air in a post below, it's called Shorebird Sanctuatry. The second piece I did on the grounds of a new gallery I'm represented by, Gallery at 85 Main Street which is in Centerbrook, CT. The gallery itself is a charming 200 year old barn that's been renovated and overlooks the Mill Pond section of the Falls River. The light at this particular location is really spectacular and it was a joy to paint there.

To purchase contact me at: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

plein air painting

Over the River

2006-12-02T20:35:00.000-05:00

Over the River 9x12

oil on linen

$375

This was painted just before Thanksgiving and I took the title from that famous Thanksgiving song Over the River and Through the Woods. This is a small stream (not really a river!) that empties into a pond. The pond has a dam at one end that regulates the water flow and lets it back out so the stream can continue on its way. The whole reason for chosing this spot was so that I could give my new very small oxhair brushes a work out painting all those tiny bare twigs and branches. Usually I use bristle brushes, they're made from stiff hog hair. They're great for rubbing and scrubbing (yes, I'm a brush abuser LOL). I'm also an impressionist painter and don't like painting in a lot of tight detail. However, I'm moving into a bit of a new direction with my work and I want to include some well chosen areas of detail. The ox hair brushes are softer than the bristle but not a soft as sable (and not as expensive either!). This new direction I'm moving in is going to include doing more studio work based on the little field studies I do outdoors. In my opinion there's nothing that can rival a plein air painting for vitality, freshness and depiction of light. I consider my plein air pieces "finished" works but they are, like most plein air work a very particular genre of landscape painting with part of their charm being the hasty, sense of urgency you get from the raw unpolished look. I am finding that exploring my small field studies, or pochades as they are also known, in the studio as larger pieces is a fascinating process and produces larger more finished works for the galleries. I've just finished such an exercise using Shorebird Sanctuary, doing a studio piece that's 4 times larger than the original posted below. As soon as I can get a good photo of it, I'll be posting an writing about the process and my experience with it.

Purchase information: e-mail me at jan.blencowe@comcast.net , pay safely and easily through PayPal shipping is via first class mail.

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Three New Plein Air Paintings

2006-11-21T12:26:00.000-05:00

Waterway, 8x10, oil

Shorebird Sanctuary, 8x10, oil

The Marsh Beckons, 8x10, oil

The whole feel of the marsh is changing now that we are well into November. It's cold and the colors have become muted. Even the air quality has changed, and on cold days it's dry and clear and I can hear the birdcalls and the sounds of wildlife from far over the marsh. I've had to begin wearing gloves when I paint and a few layers of clothing as the wind can cut right through you. Still I love being out there and it will have to get much colder before I stop going out. Enjoy!

Each of the above paintings is $160, unframed. To purchase contact me at jan.blencowe@comcast.net

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Holiday Shopping Time

2006-11-18T08:12:00.000-05:00

If you know a plein air painter (or you're one yourself) and you're looking for great holiday gift ideas please visit my Plein Air Painting Resource page, where you will find lots of information and great plein air books and equipment.

If you have an artist and a book lover on your list (even kids) then you'll want to visit my bookshop page and if your looking for unique gifts featuring original art than take a look in the giftshop.

To give the gift of art you can visit my website to view complete galleries of my work or if your looking for something really unique visit The Painting a Day Project to see what's new on my easel today, these small format paintings are $100, and the shipping is free in the US.

Happy Holidays !

The Gray Days of November

2006-11-17T19:07:00.000-05:00

Hammock River-November, 6x8 oil

Kingfisher Morning, 6x8 ,oil

Each painting is $100, unframed, shipping is free in the US, to purchase contact: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Busy, busy week and lots of news to share, but first the paintings. I did the top piece yesterday along the banks of the Hammock River. When I unpacked and began to set up I realized that I had forgotten to bring my white paint! Naples yellow made a great stand in though on such a gray and misty day. Fortunately my board was primed with Art Spectrum "Blue Haze" primer and I was able to save some of that for the water where the lighter sky was reflected. This is a technique that watercolorists often use to get those bright whites, they let the white of the paper remain untouched and that's essentially what I did here. The second one I did today also along the Hammock River. The tide was very high so high that the spot i usually park my car in was under a few feet of water!! While I was painting I had a noisy Belted Kingfisher for company and that of course is one of the wonderful things about painting outdoors you get to see all kinds of birds and wildlife.

On Wednesday, Madison CT community access channel 18 did an hour long interview with me. What an experience! I brought my easel and a whole stack of paintings with me to the set, where they have a faux fireplace and easy chairs, coffeetable and other props. There were three huge cameras and studio lights. I had spoken with the interviewer the previous week to go over topics we might cover in the interview, but there was no script or cue cards, so it was right off the cuff! It took a while to get set up and then we began, about 35 min. into the interview the technician came out and said that there was a problem and the tape wasn't rolling!! LOL So we had to begin all over again! It was a wondereful experience though, I got to talk about my art, why I love plein air painting the importance of conservation and preserving open spaces and wetlands, why art is important to human beings, how the internet has changed the buying and selling of art and many more things. I never knew I has so much to say LOL If all went well during the edit this began running on channel 18 in madison CT today and they have plans to distribute it to other community access channels across the state. It is going to be very weird seeing myself onTV !

More News: I've recently become a resident artist at the Gallery at 85 Main Street in Centerbrook CT. I dropped off 8 paintings for their holiday show Treasures which is open during regular gallery hours and on Saturdays and Sundays during December. If you live in CT or are planning to be in the area and would like an invitation to the opening please e-mail me jan.blencowe@comcast.net . The opening will be on the evening of December 14th, 6-8pm The Treasures show will also feature a Giving Tree that will be decorated with miniature paintings created by the gallery artists, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the miniatures will go to a Hartford area charity serving women and children.

Also.....two of my paintings were juried into the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society Annual Members Show. The show is on now at Hartford Fine Art and Frame, 80 Pitkin Ave. East Hartford, CT through January 7th, 2007.

plein air painting
art exhibit
holiday art show

The Final Colors of Autumn

2006-11-05T10:30:00.000-05:00

Vertical Treetops, 6x8, oil

$100, unframed, free shipping in the US

November Marsh, 14x18, oil

$450, unframed + shipping

October Pond, 6x8, oil

$100, unframed, free shipping in the US

October Treetops, 6x8, oil

$100, unframed, free shipping in the US

Treetops at Noon, 6x8, oil

$100 unframed, free shipping in the US

These final weeks of autumn are busy time for me as I try to get as many plein air paintings done as possible before it gets really cold. I still go out in the winter but bitter cold, sleet, frozen rain and wind will keep me inside during many winter days. Of course when it snows there will the irresistable urge to get out and paint all the wonderful colors reflected in the snow.

If your interested in purchasing any of these paintings please e-mail me at jan.blencowe@comcast.net you can pay safely and easily through Paypal.

All the small paintings (6x8) you see here have also been posted at www.paintingadayproject.blogspot.com along with all my daily paintings, including florals, still lifes, and my speciality, dessert and junk food paintings! These small paintings make great Christmas Gifts....... shop early to get the pieces you want mailed in time for the holidays !!

If there is a animal/pet fancier on your list visit www.jansanimalart.blogspot.com to see dog breed portraits and wildlife art.

To view extensive galleries of my work please visit www.janblencowe.com

Capturing the Last of the Autumn Color

2006-11-05T10:12:00.000-05:00

Autumn Stream, 6x8, oil

Birdhouse in the Treetops, 6x8, oil

Changing Weather and treetops, 6x8, oil

A Bend in the Road, 6x8, oil

October Morning, 6x8, oil

I've been trying to paint as mauch as possible before the leaves are all down and the beautiful autumn colors gone. Soon a somber cloak of gray and brown will cover the landscape, and then the pure white os snow.

To purchase any of these contact me at jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Each painting is $100, unframed, shipping is free in the US

BIG NEWS!!

2006-10-20T19:07:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I posted to let you know that 3 of my paintings were selected as finalists in the Paint America Top 100 Competition. The results were posted today! Both my large paintings were selected as the 2 paintings that will represent Connecticut in the top 100 landscapes in America, 2 from each state. Also, one of my small paintings was selected as one of the two that will represent Connecticut in the "mini" category. I'm thrilled to have my paintings represent my home state.

More good news. I was interviewed by USA Weekend Magazine today. They will be featuring my Painting a Day Project blog in their Dec. or Jan. issue.

Just got home moments ago from the opening of Madison Art Societies Dudley Farm Harvest Festival Art Show and Sale. I have 6 paintings on display. The Harvest Festival is tomorrow, Saturday Oct. 21st, 10-5. Dudley Farm is located on Rt.77 just north of Rt.80 in Guilford, CT. Come on down for a fun day if you're in the area.

paint america

October at Hammonasset

2006-10-16T08:52:00.000-05:00

Marsh Path-October

14x18, oil

$425, unframed

To Purchase contact: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Beach House at Sunset

6x8,oil, unframed

$100, to purchase contact: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

There's a chill in the air! We're nearing peak color now and Hammonasset State Park was just beautiful on Saturday. Both of these were painted with a transparent red oxide underpainting a method I like very much especially at this time of year when the reddish underpainting lends a unifying glow to the whole painting. Enjoy!

plein air
painting
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landscape

Three Autumn Landscapes

2006-10-11T08:39:00.000-05:00

Late Afternoon Panorama
6x8, oil, unframed
$100
October Saltmarsh
6x8, oil, unframed
$100

Lake and Pines
6x8, oil, unframed
$100

We had some beautiful Indian Summer weather over the week-end.
I went to a local state park and spent a wonderful afternoon painting. I'm really enchanted with these little 6x8 in. panels. The paintings seem like little jewels, with lots of rich color concentrated in a small space. To purchase any of these please e-mail me jan.blencowe@comcast.net

To see other small format landscapes please visit my website and click on the Petitescapes Gallery.

To view my auctions at ArtByUs.com please scroll down to the bottom of the page.

plein air
painting
landscapes
original art

October Windmill

2006-09-30T15:57:00.000-05:00

October Windmill, 9x12, oil/linen

$375, unframed

To Purchase: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Isn't this a beautiful scene? It seemed absolutely idyllic to me. The windmill, the river, the trees just beginning to turn, afternoon light, moody sky, sail boat and there were 30-40 swans in the river too, although they didn't make it into the painting LOL. Beautiful, except that I had to set up in a cemetary to get this view LOL. This is in Essex, CT and the windmill is authentic, and that's the Connecticut river. Enjoy!

PS Yes, Yes I know it's not October yet. But I'm just one day off and I liked the way the title sounded!

plein air
painting
landscape
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essex windmill

Priceless.com

2006-09-25T10:08:00.000-05:00

Hello to everyone who's visiting here via the link on Priceless.com this week. Welcome to my plein air blog, which chronicles my outdoor paintings. If you're looking for my "painting a day project" click here. Looking for the Flower a Day Series click here. Both the painting-a-day and the flower-a-day paintings are $100, with free shipping in the US. To purchase contact me via email, jan.blencowe@comcast.net and pay safely through PayPal. Enjoy the art!

The Dinner Hour

2006-09-18T09:38:00.000-05:00

The Dinner Hour, 9x12, oil/linen

$375,unframed

To Purchase Contact: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

The marsh is now turning color! Many of the grasses have gone to seed, and their seedheads are golden and reddish. This is another late day painting, 3:30-5:30 pm, the beginning of the "golden hour" and also the "dinner hour" for the egrets LOL . These birds are so stately and beautiful, poised silently, intently staring at the water and then with lightening speed plucking their dinner out of the marsh. There were a number of them stalking about the marsh, then a large airdale terrier came through and they opened their magnificant wings and flew to safety further away. After a while they were back hunting for something to eat. They didn't seem to mind me at all standing on the edge of the water painting. That is one of the really , really cool things about painting outdoors, being right there with the natural world, in harmony and part of it. Painting is a pretty quiet activity, and for the most part you are standing still, occassionally walking back to get a better view of your work and you seem to be accepted by the wildlife that's around you, quite a priviledge, I think.

plein air painting
salt marsh
egret
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Early Autumn

2006-09-17T07:25:00.000-05:00

Early Autumn, 9x12, oil/linen

$375, unframed

To Purchase: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

What an absolutely magnificant day it was yesterday, perfect weather, light and color! This is such a great time of the year to be a plein air painter, you can literally watch the changes in nature day by day. It's a subtle time before the riot of color that is yet to come. This was a real challenge and I'm glad I decided to paint on a smaller size board rather than a 16x20. It was so challenging because I only began to paint after 4 o'clock and at that hour of the day the sun is sinking fast and the light and shadows changing considerably over two hours. There were many decisions to be made as I painted, whether to stick to the original plan or "chase the light", and deepen the shadows as they deepened before me. The end result is that this painting shows multiple moments in time, taking those elements that worked to harmonize the painting as the presented themselves to me in real time and combining them into a integrated whole that captured the experience of the whole afternoon. Like the cubists who portrayed multiple viewpoints at once this piece shows multiple points in time, as plein air paintings often do.

Another challenge was working with some new colors on my palette. I find it desirable to modify my palette of colors as the seasons change. So to my regulars (naples yel., hansa yel. hansa yel/or, trans. red ox., quin. red, and ult. blue) I've added mars orange, burnt sienna, and raw sienna in anticipation of all the earthy colors of fall. This creates a wonderful array of warm colors that seem to capture the season perfectly.

plein air
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original art

Community Garden Sunflowers

2006-09-10T17:11:00.000-05:00

Community Garden Sunflowers, 9x12, oil/linen

$375, unframed

Contact: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Bauer Park has community garden plots where folks can grow vegetables and flowers and as you can see sunflowers of every variety are very popular. There's a bit of glare in this photo making things appear a bit sharp, the original has a very warm mellow feel to it. I think it's the texture of the linen this is painted on that causes the light to catch the raised fibers and pick up the sunlight reflecting off the wet paint. Anyway this has such a warm, summer's end feel to it I think it's one of my favorites of this year!

plein air
painting
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The Colors of September

2006-09-07T07:25:00.000-05:00

September's Colors at Bauer Park

14x18, oil/panel

$425

In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil. And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb colour effects as from August to November.- Rose G. Kingsley, The Autumn Garden, 1905

Heser's Pond ~ September

14x18, oil/panel

$425

To Purchase: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

September is a wonderful time to be outside painting! The weather is very pleasant, the sun is a little lower in the sky providing great light and shadows and the underbrush, wildflowers, weeds and grasses are beginning to turn fabulous colors. Then there is this overriding sense of warmth. I'm not sure how to explain it, but eventhough the temperatures might not be as high as in the summer(which just says "hot") the weather in September says "warmth". With that comes all kinds of positive feelings for me. When I'm outside nature seems full, and heavy laden with good things, a harvest. When I walk in the morning there are clusters of wild grapes, autumn olives, hickory nuts and acorns everywhere. The grasses are tall and golden, tan and red. I think about how all this plentiful food is good for the resident wildlife. So September always gives me a feeling of satisfaction, like the earth has once again fulfilled it's mission and produced a bountiful array of good things and that all is well. The top painting was done at Bauer Park. Bauer Park was originally Bauer Farm and was donated to the town of Madison some years ago. It's now a beutiful environmental education center. It's an absolutely beautiful place filled with community gardens and meadows of wild flowers. There are many views waiting to be painted. The second piece was paitned at a pond near my home. I've been watching the pond go through it's yearly cycle for 18 years now and it never ceases to fascinate me. Nature provides beauty all around us, if we will only take the time to stop an look.

Lord, it is time. The summer was very big. Lay thy shadow on the sundials, and on the meadows let the winds go loose. Command the last fruits that they shall be full; give them another two more southerly days, press them on to fulfillment and drive the last sweetness into the heavenly wine. - Rainer Maria Rilke

plein air
painting
landscape

I'm a Finalist!!

2006-09-03T17:57:00.000-05:00

November Sunset
Path Through the Marsh
Cedars and Seagulls

A few weeks ago I sent in my entries for the Paint America Top 100 Competition. For this competition artists submit landscapes representing a state, it could be their home state but it doesn't have to be. Finalists are chosen from each state. There is a category for large paintings and another for smaller size works. From the group of finalists 2 paintings are chosen from each state and thus you have Americas Top 100 landscapes, 2 representing each state. This exhibit of the top 100 landscapes will travel around the country for the next year. Yesterday I received a letter saying that all three of my entries had made it to the "finalist" category. WOW I never expected that!! I don't know if any of my pieces will be chosen to represent Connecticut, but I'm pleased to have been a finalist!!

New York Times Article

2006-09-01T08:02:00.000-05:00

Late Summer Path

Today's painting at The Painting a Day Project

SOLD

Many of you know that I also maintain another blog called The Painting a Day Project where I post small daily paintings for sale. It's the same concept as the Flower-a-Day series I featured here. If you're a frequent visitor of art blogs you probably already know about VA artist Duane Keiser who is the originator of the 'painting a day' idea. You may also known that there are many other artists, myself included who paint and blog everyday. Yesterday, the New York Times ran an article featuring artist/bloggers who do a "painting a day". I was fortunate enough to be mentioned and saw traffic to my blog explode to 10x what I normally get!! This is the third time I've been published this year, the first two were The July/Aug. issue of Domino Magazine and on July 30th in the Lexington Hearald- Leader(also on-line at Kenbtucky.com) It's really amazing how these small paintings have taken off and are so well received by the general public. I think it's a great thing, bringing original art down to a size and price that most people can afford. Art enriches our lives but shouldn't just be for the rich!

painting a day
New York Times