Temporary Price Reduction on Current Artwork

I currently have a temporary price reduction on current artwork as an early start to the holiday season. Many of these pieces will disappear quickly at my next show in Greensboro, so let me know if you are interested in any of them now. annepfeiffer.com

The Narrows, Virginia Beach

The Narrows, pastels, 9" x 12"

We took our new-to-us 20-ft airstream to First Landing State Park and camped right next to the dunes. This Broad Bay beach is at the other end of the park, accessed by car, or via a 6-mile bike trail. We rode the trail in the torrential rain and still loved it, passing by cypress swamps and classic Virginia shore flora. We drove back one evening to paint and found the Narrows beach to be a favorite with families with dogs, young people and paddle boarders. he evening light was hitting the proud pines. I think they are Eastern White Pines, the kind with long needles, creating soft shapes. Can't wait to go back. First Landing is a unique preserve in the middle of an urban area.

Hollyhocks

Hollyhocks, oil on board, 8" x 6"

These hollyhocks grow wild at the top of our driveway with enough confidence to take over the neighborhood. We've been here 20 years and we don't know where they came from but I love their chutzpah. I put them in an aluminum vase that has the same finish as the big milk containers on my grandparents' dairy farm (which is now Distillery Lane Ciderworks, by the way). This was painted plein air.

It's been months since the last post. I had to take a break to spend as much time as possible with my mother as she fought and lost a battle with breast cancer, after being in remission for 35 years. This was the first successful painting since we lost her, so this painting is for you, Mom.

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.

Something About Red

Both of these are 8" x 8", oil on panel, $350. The top painting has sold.

Opening of 202 Market Square Galleries in Downtown Roanoke

We opened (or reopened after about 8 years of being closed) the galleries and artist studio spaces at 202 Market Square in downtown Roanoke, right in the middle of all the action. These photos were taken before anyone arrived. My husband, Tim's painting is on the right. Mine are the small still lifes to the left in the center. Diane Patton's painting on the left.

Here are 4 of my 8" x 8" still lifes.

This is the hallway to our small space (where the window is). Those are my paintings in the hallway.

A few of my husband's paintings.

My wall, inside our space. The third painting from the left sold.

A few of my husband's paintings inside our space.

Carol Phillips' assemblage pieces and three of Diane Patton's. We will have double the number of artists participating by next month.

202 Market Square Restaurant bartenders took care of us. The restaurant also provided the hor d'oeuvres. By the end of the night their tip jar was full. That is one of Diane's wonderful paintings behind them.

Another angle of the large open gallery space. This couple bought one of my pastel paintings. The window you see a piece of is very large and we could watch all the Dickens of a Christmas festivities below in the market. We really are in the middle of it all and we had a nice crowd. The gallery is located above 202 Market Square Restaurant. The entrance is between the restaurant entrance and Blues and Barbecue entrance, just a few feet from the farmers market.  Our hours are Tuesday through Friday 10-6, except for the first Friday of every month, when we will be open until 9 pm for Art by Night, Saturdays 10-3, or by appointment. Stop in and visit.

Plein Air Pastel at Rocky Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Rocky Knob is an National Recreation area in Virginia where the trails follow a bald ridge, thanks in part to grazing cattle. This means the views are spectacular, with endless possibilities for plein air paintings. I chose this angle so I could include the winding ribbon of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I painted this on Thanksgiving day, with my son, also an artist, painting beside me. Several people were getting their pre-feast hike in. They all asked me if my Thanksgiving turkey was cooking nearby. I told them my husband was cooking dinner, an hour away. My job was to do the pies, which I did the day before. So, thanks, Tim, for this beautiful pastel painting. 11" x 14" on archival sanded paper.  SOLD

Fall Plein Air Still Lifes

I really find a lot of joy painting outside, even a still life.  All of these are oil on panel. The top is 12" x 12", the middle 8" x 8" and the bottom is 12" x 9".

The James River from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Tim and I painted from the pedestrian bridge under the Blue Ridge Parkway at the James River visitors center, milepost 64, one of the secret gems of the Parkway. This is the view facing NNW. The view in the opposite direction is just as dramatic.  One of the challenges was the overlapping of shadow and reflection, perpendicular to each other, on the water. Soft pastels on archival (museum grade Wallis) paper, 11" x 14".

Post-Przewodek Workshop

I spent a week in Eaton, Maryland at Easton Studio and School for a workshop with Camille Przewodek. Similar to Lee Boynton, she studied at the Cape Cod School of Art with Henry Henshe. I need repetition, repetition...before it really sinks in. I liked her direct style of teaching and I felt that I was getting in the flow in these two. Both are plein air, 12" x 9" oil on archival panel.

Plein Air Pastels

Sometimes I just need a break from hauling all the oil paints around. I paint plein air and that means on location, painting the light and atmosphere. This sometimes means hauling it all in a serious backpack on my back when I need to hike a distance. I also paint with pastels plein air, but they are easier to carry, even though I still need my easel and umbrella. They are also more direct. You can only mix colors on the paper itself, so you bypass the palette mixing. I use professional soft pastels (Unison, Sennelier) on archival sanded paper.

I approach pastels the same way as my paintings, as a colorist laying down large blocks of the color of light and shadow, making sure I have the values and color temperatures correct. Then I start breaking up the large blocks with the more subtle changes of color. I try to capture the "envelope" of light, which means the feeling of the atmosphere and type of light.

All three of these were done in the summer. The top was done from Rocky Knob, a bald on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which I had to hike a short distance to. Spectacular. It is kept bald by grazing cows who are part of the trail experience. This was an evening pastel painting, so the color is a warmer yellow than the one below to the left, which was hot partly cloudy summer day at a pond in the valley. The one on the lower right, also from the Blue Ridge Parkway overlooking Cahas Mountain, was an overcast day, which causes the ground to appear darker relative to the sky. We had recently endured an epic heat wave, so I escaped to this elevated site and actually needed my sweatshirt. While I painted a mother and daughter drove up, sat on the grass and read. What a peaceful place to read a book. We stayed for a couple hours until it started to rain. I hope that the painting has the feeling of "about to rain". The land becomes darker as the sky gets lighter...unless a big blue-grey thunderhead appears. I heard another plein air artist say once, "On an overcast day the sky is much lighter than the ground. If the sky appears darker than the ground, you better get the heck out of there as fast as you can." On an earlier painting outing on Rocky Knob, my husband and I hiked, set up and then heard thunder and the sky darkened on this high elevation bald. Although we tried to deny the approaching storm, once we saw the cows heading down, I told my husband, "Come on! We've got to be at least as smart as cows. Let's get outtahere."

If you are interested in purchasing pastel paintings, please keep in mind that they need special framing that involves a spacer, double mat with the inside reverse cut and glass. There are several sites on the web that explain how to do it, but one of my favorite is this site because of the cutaway drawings. They also sell the spacers on this site: http://www.frametek.com/HTML/Articles/pastel.html

All of the above are professional soft pastels (the finest pigments) on archival sanded paper, 11" x 14", except the top one, which is 10" x 14". Click on my Daily Paintworks icon on the top right to order them.