Cash and Carry Art

A fundraiser to benefit fellow artists Pam and David Lussier is being held from November 26th through December 1st at the Vanilla Bean Cafe, 450 Deerfield Road, Pomfret CT. 100% of the proceeds will help to defray ongoing medical expenses related to Pam's cancer and kidney problems. A phenomenal group of artists have donated paintings for this event creating the opportunity for you to collect fine art at an extreme bargain price and do a good deed in the process. Unframed paintings are all $50 and framed are all $100. I have donated "Carriage Barn", a framed piece. This and other donated paintings can be seen at: http://carolbrightmanjohnsonfineart.blogspot.com.
Earlybird sales link at www.joanjardineart.com

The not-even-quite-monthly painting journal?...

Caught up in the speeding current of life... that's the best way I can describe my activity over the past couple of months. Hoping to slow down a bit and post more frequently from here on.

I was thrilled to receive notification of my acceptance into the Salmagundi Club a couple of weeks ago! Two new paintings are currently on exhibit there: "Toward Sankaty at Sunset" ("On the Beach-All Things Summer" Theme Exhibition) and "Water Lilies" (Annual Summer Exhibition). Both exhibits run concurrently from Monday, August 4th through Friday, August 22nd.

Nevermind the daily painting journal...

Or even the weekly painting journal... let's just call this the painting journal from here forward. Somehow, it just isn't working to do this on a schedule, so I'll just continue to post as often as I can.
Last week I was painting in Nantucket... there will be lots of new work to show you later when I have time to photo. In the meanwhile, I can share one new painting which was delivered to the Nantucket Stock Exchange last week. More to come....

Exciting Weekend!

I was honored to receive two second place awards this past weekend! The first was for my painting "Spring Light on Whitford Street" at the Sense of Place Juried Exhibition at the Sylvan Gallery in Clinton, CT (this painting also sold). The second was for my newest painting "Nichols Sunset" at the 38th Annual Spring Juried Art Show at Society of Creative Arts of Newtown.
The days have been jam-packed since my last post, getting paintings out for these shows and two others. "Lilacs in Bottles" is presently on exhibit at the Kent Art Association. Four of my paintings were on exhibit at the annual Regional Hospice Arts Festival on June 6th, with "Black and Tan" being sold as a full donation (I am thrilled that this raised $750.00 for hospice!). Other newly completed paintings that were shown there are pictured at right.

It's all about lilacs...

Every year I paint at least one or two still life paintings with lilacs while they are in bloom. "Jugs with Lilacs" incorporates three antique jugs given to me by a friend recently, and the setting is my pantry counter. The light has not been very cooperative since I began this painting several days ago... we've had alot of rain and clouds, not the bright light coming across the counter which inspired this setting. Of course, the original lilacs I cut have since passed, so I'm having to rely on photographs and newly cut lilacs which are considerably lighter in color than the original lilacs. This french lilac begins as a deep burgundy/magenta color and fades to more of a lavender as the blossoms age. This is a challenge! I also began a second painting of lilacs on my kitchen windowsill.... those lilacs have also passed.
The painting "Spring Light on Whitford Street" was completed over the weekend and accepted into a juried exhibition entitled "A Sense of Place" at Sylvan Gallery in Clinton, CT (May 30th - June 28th).

Too busy painting to blog!

The days have been so full with painting that there is no time to blog... finally, here's an update.
"Spring Light on Whitfield Street" is my newest painting... almost finished. I painted plein air in Guilford on Wednesday with painting buds, Nancy and Pam, in an attempt to create a painting for an upcoming juried show. Since it needs to be dropped off tomorrow, I've been working on every day since then, and it's just about done! I was drawn to paint this scene because of a beautiful glowy light effect through the newly leafed out trees. In between, I've been painting lilacs... they have all been abloom for the past week, and I have two paintings in the works which I will post the next time.

My not-quite daily painting journal continues...

Over a week has passed since my last entry, though I have been painting almost every day. I've been focusing on finishing a commission which I will share in a future blog. Yesterday and today were spent working on a colorful new still life, Violas and Quince... hopefully it will be finished tomorrow. Earlier this week, I visited Toplands Farm in Roxbury for a CT Plein Air Painters' paint-out. I didn't get there until late in the day, and all the other painters had gone. I enjoyed the peace of day's end at the farm and the company of these calves as I painted a very quick start... too unfinished to share... more of a recording of color notes and values.

Last week...

April felt more like May last week, and blossoms were bursting forth everywhere here in Trumbull, CT. I trekked over to the Historical Society three afternoons last week to paint a landscape with the magnolia tree. It is not quite done. In the studio, "Pansies and Copper" was completed and hours upon hours were spent finishing "Bountiful Blossoms". The former "Sea and Sky Meditation" painting was changed into "Golden Sail" with the addition of a sailboat. I had originally painted this with a fishing trawler in the distance, and then took it detracted from the sky. I recently decided that it really did need the boat, but chose a sailboat to add a vertical element to the very horizontal composition... I think it's finally done! I brought these three paintings along with three others to kthe opening of Gallery Three in Doylestown, Pa (my newest gallery representation). The other paintings there are "Cotswold Sheep", "Toward Hummock Pond" and "Last Light on the Farm" can be seen on my website.
I'm disappointed with the photo of "Pansies and Copper"... .was photographed under my tungsten photography lamps resulting in the colors being inaccurate. I have yet been unable to adjust them properly with photoshop.

Couldn't stay indoors...

The beautiful weather was just too much competition for the paintings in my studio yesterday... I ended up in the garden (which needs my attention anyway) and spent the day there and doing errands. This morning I sent off two paintings to be juried for the spring show at the Kent Art Association. I was only going to send one (Composition in Red and Green), but decided at the last minute to send "American Beauty" as well. I had thought this painting was done, but this morning it looked decidedly drab... it didn't have the light effect that I recalled from this scene across the street from the gallery in Kent. So I spent a couple of hours this morning adding light to it. You can see the before and after at right.

A full day of painting in the studio...

Too bad I couldn't have been outdoors painting on this beautiful spring day, but there are paintings in the studio that need to be finished. Richard Schmid says that flowers are like naughty children... so true... they refuse to hold a pose for too long! Furthermore, they often fade away before a painting is completed. So I needed to work on "Pansies and Copper" again today... it is close to being finished. The majority of the day was spent on a large still life that I have been working on for almost 2 months, "Bounty of Blossoms". The azalea is the only part of the painting that is pretty much finished... the oriental rug is quite challenging, and the porcelain cachepot needs finishing touches.

Today begins my daily painting blog for those of you who may be interested. My intent is to share with you what I paint each day (as I do paint most days), whether it is in or out of the studio. I'd also like to share thoughts on painting, as well as inspirations I may receive, so that this may be a journal of sorts.
I am so excited that spring has finally arrived, along with the plethora of pansies for sale. My latest painting in the works is "Pansies and Copper", a simple still life which I have set up in my studio.