Plein Air Still Life of Summer Memories

I painted this alla prima in natural light. Oil on panel, 8" x 8".  annepfeiffer.com

A Nice Place to Show

Showing art in a restaurant or coffee shop can be positive if you put thought into where you show. I hung a show in Shockoe Espresso in Shockoe Slip in Richmond August and September. The light was perfect and the clientele consist mostly of regulars who are appreciative of artists. I'm hanging again at the end of January with a good friend, Diane Patton who paints beautiful non-objective abstract paintings. 

Catching Up: Spending Time in Water

Tim and I gravitated towards painting water this summer. How can you not if you live and paint in Southwest Virginia. The top painting is a plein air oil of an area just upstream from one of several great swimming holes on the Maury River in Goshen Pass. Here's a photo from our scouting trip. We call this "Nature's Jacuzzi".

The second photo is of a plein air pastel painting from a rock in the middle of Bottom Creek Gorge on Bent Mountain (a Nature Conservancy area).  Both paintings required fording river or stream, the top one the most challenging, but it was summer so no big deal, other than the strength it took to lug all the stuff as you balanced on rocks. It did inspire us to buy waders so that we could paint similar scenes in the cooler months

Under the Live Oaks

 We set up one peaceful day at Ft. Fisher State Park, near the ocean in NC and I drew the live oaks above. The next day we set up again in their shade and I painted the other direction.  It was during a heat wave, but the ocean breeze and the shade made it pleasant. I was bitten by fire ants, but my cold stainless steel water bottle eased the pain. We inadvertently chose a special event day and we became another attraction, but I can focus. What made it Extreme Plein Air Painting was the civil war cannon they fired without warning every 40 minutes or so that made me jump out of my skin every time.

Peach Season

Peach season is as fleeting as sunlight has been this summer. So, I combined the two. I felt a need to also focus on more focused, controlled color mixing, so I choose a simple subject so that I could focus more on the color variations. But I was surprised at how complex the color variations are on a peach in sunlight.  I'll do one more at least.  These are 8" x 8" oil on panel. annepfeiffer.com

Shifting Light

Shifting Light, 9" x 12" oil on linen board

Plein air painting from Explore Park (BRP in Virginia) overlook, looking south. As I finished this, my husband, also a painter, pointed out a very large dark grey cloud to my right and we high-tailed it out of there in time. The miracle is that I had just enough time to finish. Plein air painting this summer has taken on the need for sophisticated logistics to paint between storms and finding places where you can stay close to your car for when the next deluge comes.

Open Studios Tour 2013

Thanks to all of you who came out to see the tremendous amount of work created by Roanoke artists. It is motivating to be able to interact with so many of you who appreciate artists, especially your local artists, and to see so many old friends. Please come back and visit us during a future Art by Night, which takes place the first Friday of every month from 6-9pm to see new artwork. There will be even be new artists at 202 Market Galleries. Please stop by.

Love

11" x 14" oil on board, painted alla prima in natural window light.

Winter Morning Light

I painted this from observation of a still life set up by a window that had strong morning light. If any of you are fans of Crate and Barrel design aesthetics, you can appreciate how I couldn't help but buy that little green creamer from the Chicago store...and the modern white pitcher and creamer in the painting below, and a gravy boat, and a little turquoise bowl and a yellow hand juicer, and a couple gorgeous hand towels....  9" x 12" oil on board.

Two New Still Lifes

 Both of these are alla prima from observation of still lifes by a large window. The top was a sunny winter afternoon. The bottom was an overcast afternoon, actually New Years Eve. Clementines are fun to paint. They are not actually round and they can glow, illuminating with an orange light. The top image background was a white wall in shadow. But there is a yellow couch by the window, bouncing yellow into the wall in shadow.  Nice effect.   Both are oil on panel, 8" x 8".

The legend of St. Nicholas includes the belief that he mysteriously provided a gold ball in the stocking hanging by the fire of the home of a poor man who was about to lose a daughter to slavery if he could not come up with a dowry for her to marry. He had three daughters, and received a gold ball as each neared the time to marry. This explains the tradition of oranges in stockings or in holiday decorations.