Workshop Wayfarers

This is one of the demos from my five day plein air painting workshops in Ojai, CA

'Entrance to Library'......oil on canvas panel......7x9 inches

Hello all you Bloggitts down in Bloggittville, it is time for my blog-monthly bloggella, filled with horror, tears, and laughter. Halloween and the Day of the Dead may be behind us now, but my tale reaches further back in time, past such jovial occasions, far back to the third week of September, of the year 2009.

It was during this halcyon time of gaiety and youth that I boldly lead an adventurous team of students into the yellow fields of far off Ojai, beneath an unusually cruel and hot sun. Oh, how we laughed and jested, skipping merrily amongst the charming yurts of sequestered environmentalists and left-leaning elves. I shudder to think of what might had happened, had we by chance met a lurking troll, or some evil gnome with a head full of specially clever magic riddles, or even a banjo-plucking inbred hillbilly. But we didn't. Everyone was fine, and they all learned how to paint outdoors. No one even lost their keys, or general sense of purpose!
Here are some pics from my 5 day Plein Air Painting workshop in Ojai. Enjoy!
For more info regarding my upcoming workshops please visit my web site's 'workshops' page (or see right side bar of this blog for complete schedule).

~

Here is a brief time-lapse video of my demo at the Krotona Institute Library:













...adding finishing touches to demo










Monday morning's orientation (all caffeined-up and ready to go)









giving student Ann Carlock a few pointers during an afternoon painting session










....still teaching











demo'ing by the Krotona Library fountain










critiquing student Claire Hill during morning session











finishing up another demo








trying to maintain my composure while conducting a demo in the brutal and unforgiving heat (98 Fahrenheit with humidity!!)




My awesome and wonderful students!
front row (left to right):
Luisa, Diane, Laurie
back row (left to right):
Ann, Andrew, Gwen, Brian, Cary, Marilyn, Jung, Jennifer, Ben, Claire (not pictured)

'Krotona Gardens'.......oil on canvas panel.......9x7 inches

....and finally, here's the demo painting that I raffled off the last day of the workshop! The lucky winning student was the talented Gwen Ballantyne, whose name was plucked from my husband's straw hat!

~

A BIG thanks to Ben (our own personal GPS) who kept us hydrated, entertained and on schedule throughout the workshop.

Summer's End and Southwest Art Article

'Haven'.......oil on canvas panel.......8x10 inches

Summer has passed, and with it the tumultuous cloud of toxic smoke from the unfortunate California wildfires which has so harassed the locals in my Los Feliz neighborhood. I was fortunate to have been vacationing briefly during this time in the lovely town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, which is a little further than halfway up Cape Cod, and so benefited from the refreshing ocean air of the Atlantic. Ben and I lucked out this time, and lingered long enough to miss the bulk of the noxious California air, the extra time spent affording us an opportunity to catch the large pack of wild seals which lounge en masse upon the sandbars at Head of the Meadows Beach during low tide. Love those seals! (see pics below)


~WELLFLEET WHIMS~

Ben and Linda collecting shells







No fires here!!








What the phoque!!!








the forever popular and pulchritudinous
P Town....Gimme some!











....FEELIN' THE LAGUNA LOVE....


I could write at great length about our August trip, but it is now October and I mustn’t tarry on the distant past. It has been a fantastic summer, with several noteworthy developments in my creative journey that I would love to share if you are so inclined as to read on. First and foremost, I am now a newly elected Signature Member of the venerable Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, and as such will be participating in the 11th Annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational. They are an amazing organization that I am honored to be a part of, and I look forward to painting amongst the cliffs and beaches of that fine locality.


**EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!**


My second big piece of news is Southwest Art magazine has kindly seen fit to feature me in a full length article in the October 2009 issue! For those of you without subscriptions be certain to pick up a copy at your local newsstand or bookstore! To read online article click here. Enjoy!

Lazy, Hazy Summer Daze

One of my entries from LPAPA's 'Best of Plein Air' show
'Santa Fe Ave.........oil on canvas panel.......7x9 inches

Greetings Gentle Bloggillians,
It's been another mellow summer in la-la land as I float down the river of life in my inner tube of the arts. Some exciting adventures occurred around me this summer as I yawned, napped and scratched my back with a river reed which floated past me.
This past month I participated in the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association’s (LPAPA) 'Best of Plein Air' show held in Laguna Beach. To view all accepted entries from LPAPA’s wonderful artists click here.

Also, my painting ‘Ol' Blue’ was accepted into OPA’s (Oil Painters of America) '2009 Western Regional Exhibition' held at the Howard/Mandville Gallery in Kirkland, WA. This exciting show continues through August 30th.

'Ol' Blue'........oil on panel........11x14 inches


And finally, ‘Paper Cup Blues’ placed as finalist in the FineArtViews online painting competition for the month of June with the wise and extremely talented Greg LaRock as the selected judge.
You ROCK Mr. LaRock! ;-)

'Paper Cup Blues'........oil on panel........12x16 inches


…and Le Denouement

WORKSHOP UPDATE!!

As the summer of love is winding down I am anxiously awaiting for September, when I hope to harvest all the honey and trout from August! Which reminds me, my five day Plein Air Painting workshop in late September has reached full capacity. If you missed out on this one be sure and register early for my 2010 workshops! Check out my workshops page on my website for more detailed info and links! (or see right side bar for schedule)

May the rest of your summer be magical, delightful and exuberant!
Happy Painting!

Ojai Workshop Expedition

One of my demos from the April 2009 Ojai Workshop:

'Krotona Library'.......oil on canvas panel..........7x9 inches

Greetings gentle blogaddict,
It was but a little over a month ago that I held my Ojai workshop, the gentle spring breeze coming off the Pacific ocean and cooling my diligent students from the cruel, unrelenting sun. Painter of light you say? Painter of deadly solar death rays I say! DEADLY SOLAR DEATH RAYS!! But we did manage to find some shade eventually at our many fine locations, the St Thomas Aquinas church, the Krotona Institute, Meditation Mount, Happy Valley's Beatrice Woods Center, and finally Mount Meher , real nice people at every turn. Visit them all with paint in hand, easel prone upon your sturdy back, a palette knife by your side to protect you from bears, visit them all! Tell them I sent you, they're all so friendly, and nice.

And the evenings, after our hearty toil, were spent languishing in the soft glow of the Ojai Pizzeria one night, the jazzy haze of the Movina Wine Bar the next. The topping of it all of course was the Deer Lodge, it's fantastical taxidermied Elk, Rams, Owls, and Jackalopes staring glassy eyed, down at our sumptuous repast of wild boar sausage and German beer. Oh, to capture nature in a landscape painting by day and see nature stuffed and mounted at night, there's nothing like it.


Here is a brief yet exciting video that Ben kindly and patiently created for me of my demo at Meditation Mount:



The completed demo....

'Meditation Mount'.......oil on canvas.......7x9 inches


A few pics of the workshop adventures......

Painting at Meditation Mount








Afternoon demo at St. Thomas Aquinas Church








A leisurely day in Happy Valley








Putting the final touches on Krotona Library demo









Sheldon diligently painting at Mount Meher











Luisa contemplating what to have for lunch







Overlooking Meditation Mount








The Ojai Painting Posse









Joel Anderson wrote a small article on me for the 'Ojai Valley and Ventura View' newspaper that was super cool and doubtlessly aided in rousing the locals to my intentions:



That concludes yet another fun-filled blogfix. I hope you've enjoyed the recounting of my tales of lust, greed and paint in Ojai as much as I have.

The whole experience was so amazing and vastly successful that I will be conducting another workshop there in September, 2009. Read on to see the workshop flyer for the second of my five-day upcoming workshop in Ojai!
For more info on this (and other) upcoming workshops, go to ‘Jennifer’s Upcoming Workshops’ on right sidebar. Ciao!




~ TIP-TOP TIDINGS! ~

And last but not least, I'm pleased to announce my painting 'Brand Boulevard' was graciously awarded Second Place in the LAPAPA's (Laguna Plein Air Painters Association) "Less is More" miniatures group show hosted by the Randy Higbee Gallery in Costa Mesa! Thanks so much LPAPA, and everyone check out Randy's website kingofframes.com for awesome deals on ready made frames, and tell him hi from me!

'Brand Boulevard'.....oil on canvas panel.....4.5 x 6 inches (SOLD)

OPA, Chicago Jaunt and other stuff...

'Hunter, Gatherers'........oil on panel........19x24 inches

Greetings Blogsketeers!
Another fun-filled span of time has passed since my last blog, let's call this a blogparsec, which would be equivalent to one thirteenth of the rotation of our Earth around the star known to us as the Sun. Much has happened in this artist's life, nay cosmology, during this blogparsec: entire microbiological civilizations having grown, warred, learned to accept each other, and subsequently perished beneath the crumbling cinderblock of my art studio windows. Other, more immediately pertinent artistic occurrences of the blogparsec include my painting 'Hunter Gatherers' being accepted into the OPA's '18th National Juried Exhibition' held at Sage Creek Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. This boldly painted portrayal of three men of easy virtue, street walking in Times Square, clad only in bright fluorescent orange garb, diligently working with the trash of New York's grimy underbelly. They are the neo-hunter gatherers of today's urban society. Thus the title.
‘Hunter, Gatherers’ will be on display at the Sage Creek Gallery throughout the month May.

**NOTEWORTHY NEWS AND NEWSWORTHY NOTES!**

Also of note to the macro-consciously aware beings during the last blogparsec I was honorably awarded an ‘Honorable Mention’ on my ‘Subway Siesta’ whilst participating in the Greenhouse Gallery's 'Salon International 2009' by the venerable judge Mr. Daniel E. Greene. In addition, I also made the ‘Jury’s Top 50’ list.
(to view 'Subway Siesta' go to previous post)

~ TRAIPSING THROUGH CHICAGO ~

Finally, at the conclusion of the blogparsec, I'd just like to mention what a ‘scream’ it was to see the Edvard Munch exhibition, ‘Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety, and Myth’ at the Art Institute of Chicago during my brief and adventurous sojourn to Chicago last month.
Below are two of my favorite Munch paintings from the exhibition. Enjoy!

'Night at St. Cloud'........1890

'Self Portrait With Cigarette'.........1895

~ A few memorable Chicago tid bits ~


Ben in front of historical Chicago Theater










Why I love Chicago architecture










Hustle and Bustle!










The Silver Bean at Millenium Park

Exciting Exhibitions and Upcoming Workshops

'The Sketchbook'.........oil on canvas...........20x24 inches

Hail fellow/fella well met! Wow! This year is whizzing by!!
It was with this in mind that I painted a portrait of my muse Ben for the Pasadena Museum of History’s ‘Contemporary Masters II’ exhibition. Here you can see him portrayed as the veritable spirit of gregariousness, a virtual incarnation of the god Dionysus, as he rests upon a park bench with his sketchbook. Just outside the frame are several nymphs and satyrs prancing with an oversized flagon of wine made from the skin of a cow. Well! Ben was just happy that I painted him with his pants on.
'Contemporary Masters II' exhibition will be on view until April 11th, 2009.

....striking a pose at the opening reception with Ben (the muse) and Linda (the muse's mom)


SALON INTERNATIONAL 2009



'Subway Siesta'.........oil on panel.........14x19 inches

In other news of my whirlwind life I've had 'Subway Man' accepted in the Greenhouse Gallery's Salon International 2009. Yay!
Whilst vacationing in far off Manhattan, I could not help but notice this gentleman fast asleep aboard the local tunnel traveling carriage. What a sight, thought I, the black and white checkered shirt's cool patterns against the warm neutrals and glorious blues and mauves in his skin. I tried to capture the peacefulness he exuded while asleep on noisy train. It was worth dragging my pochade box and paints down into the New York subway system and feeding a local Manhattanite whiskey till he passed out. Ha ha, just kidding.
(Or am I….)
New York, New York! Oh you big apple, riddled with shiny metal worms.
The 'Salon International 2009 Exhibition' opens April 11th through May 01st, 2009.


FIVE DAY PLEIN AIR WORKSHOP IN OJAI!!



I am happy to announce that I will be conducting a fun and exciting plein air workshop in Ojai, CA. This five day intensive workshop will take place in the beautiful and quaint countryside from April 27th to May 1st, 2009.
Go to my 'workshops' page for more info.

Looking Back at the Laguna Invitational...

'Hatch's Market'......oil on panel......14x19 inches
This painting was on exhibit at the Laguna Museum throughout the 10th Annual Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational.

Greetings everyone and Happy December! Here is a brief recap of the event.....

We kicked off the weekend with a jovial 'artists only' get together Friday night. Aaaaaah...the warm summer air, fragrant with flowers and salty ocean mist while eating enchiladas at the Strotkamps' yearly barbecue. Jay and Mary Strotkamp, delightful people with a fantastic collection of paintings by luminary painters such as Richard Schmid, Mian Situ, and Scott Burdick to name a few. Afterward, I sat by the pool at our hotel as Ben built an enormous fire in the outdoor fireplace. We lured the curious guests out of their rooms like moths to a...well to an enormous fire.

But it wasn't all just enchiladas and poolside fires. There was serious work to do, paintings to paint, people to meet. Early Saturday morning the participating painters met for breakfast at the Laguna Museum before staking out our 'quick draw' spots. I chose to perch precariously upon a cliff side surrounded by cacti, the colorfully dangerous painting spectators confined to stand upon stairs behind a sturdy metal rail. I felt very safe, like Briar Rabbit in the Briar Patch. No fooling with me. The air horn was sounded by a friendly Australian man in a wide brim hat and we were off and painting! We had a two hour time limit to complete our 'quick draw' paintings. OY! Time has always been my nemesis, and I felt its presence stronger and greater than ever before! I wrestled with it, pulling it's ears and poking it in the eyes with my thin "rigger" brush, used most often for fine details like telephone lines and thin branches but this time mostly for poking ‘Time’ in the eyes. It was fierce. Sweat was upon my brow. The cacti my only friends. I blacked out the last half hour, have no memory at all about it. Think it has something to do with a tangential universe which collapsed upon itself due to the paradox of ‘Time’ being momentarily blind. Not sure. Regardless, I came away with a satisfactory piece of art and it was back to the hotel to clean up and get dressed for the opening night gala, filled with fine art, fine wine and fine food!

And the people! The people I met! So many wonderful people, collectors and painters and fans who made two-hour drives just to meet and support me. Painters I have idolized for years I met and lunched with. All in all, it was an enriching, awesome and exhilarating event and look forward to participating again next year!

Here are a few pics of the fun-filled festivities. Enjoy!

Participating artists Kathryn Stats, Calvin Liang and moi at the yearly Strotkamp b.b.q party on Friday night

Ben working on his fifth enchilada...


Shhhhhhh... I'm concentrating......


Ma'am, please do not throw peanuts at me!!


....delicately perched on the 'cactus bed' ridge....


Okay, I've got 20 minutes left!Yikes!!!


Adding the final touches to my 'quick draw' painting


Mingling folk at the Saturday evening gala


Pictured here with artists Debra Huse and Larry Moore


Jennifer and fellow painter Jason Situ


Striking a pose with artist Clayton J. Beck III


This is where Ben and I hung out most of the evening. The food was exquisite!!!


Hanging out at the museum Sunday afternoon with Matt Smith...


...and award winner Michael Situ


Lookie loos admiring my paintings



Here are some of my favorites. There's more but too many too list!

Award winning painting by Randall Sexton


A very stunning piece by Ray Roberts


A gem of a painting by Kathryn Stats


And lastly, a beauty by Mark Kerckhoff



Signing off with a group shot of the participating artists.
Hope you enjoyed your visit!