Shane's painting for yesterday

This is Shane's painting for yesterday - posted a little late as I was enjoying an evening with friends.  I did a little 5" x 7" yesterday but it needs a little tweak before I post it.  Maybe later today...

The following is Shane's blog,  www.turpitout.blogspot.com

Living in a rural area means that whenever we need to do anything of any significance, like the kids school shopping, we need to drive a couple hours to do it.  Luckily, the drive isn't dull and takes us through the historic mining "ghost" town of Jerome, over the Mingus Mountains, through Prescott Valley (where the painting above is set) and into Prescott.  Locals tend to take the winding curves at breakneck speeds, but this just provides me with the opportunity to pull over, let them by (my wife and son get car sick so I have to take it easy on the curves), and enjoy the scenery.

Shane Rebenschied - "Wiggle Room"

5" x 7" oil on panel

unframed

SOLD

Today's painting, B = Bighorn

Today's painting is of a desert bighorn sheep.  I painted it last week but chose the wrong background color. Today, I changed the color and now it pops!  The bit of permanent rose seemed to make all the difference in the world.  It's amazing how color works.

Adele Earnshaw,  B = Bighorn Sheep

5" x 7" oil on panel, unframed

$75 + $6 shipping
SOLD

 

Today's painting, C = Squirrel (oops)

OK folks, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things for my 75 for 75 painting-a-day.  I'm painting my way through the alphabet - and I'm up to the letter 'C'.  So today, I painted this little guy, C = Chipmunk.  Halfway through the painting, I realized this little critter is NOT a chipmunk, but a Golden-Mantled Squirrel.  So today's piece is C = Squirrel!

Adele Earnshaw,  C = Squirrel  (oops)

7" x 5" oil on board, unframed
$75 + $6 shipping

Shane's painting for today, 'Oblivious Brunch Bunch'

This is one of Shane's best pieces so far....in my opinion!  Love the way he painted the cows....and love his brush strokes.  Nice painting, Shane!

Shane Rebenschied - Oblivious Brunch Bunch

5" x 7" oil on board

SOLD

I've cut and pasted the followed from Shane's blog, turpitout.blogspot.com because he admits I (his mother) was right about flats!

I'm getting some wicked glare in this photo off the wet, thicker paint in the sky, but I'll upload a higher-quality scan once it's dry.  Despite my earlier dislike of flat brushes (I've been using brights), I decided to give them another try and did this painting with #6 and #4 Bristlon Silver flats.  I take back the mean things I said as it was a different, but enjoyable experience.

Shane's new piece for today - "Understudy"

This is Shane's painting for today - 'Understudy'.  I love the painting - especially the feeling that the woods continue beyond the aspen.  It's a 7" x 5" on Ampersand board.  Scroll down to the next post to see my painting for the day.

Shane Rebenschied - Understudy

7" x 5" oil on board

SOLD

C=Chair * Today's Painting

I know - I missed posting one yesterday.  Today is the first day of Camp Sweetie-Pie - an annual camp that I do for my grandkids.  This year it's five days long!   In my book, grandkids take priority....so posting this week will be sporadic.

I saw this funky old chair in a small town in Colorado.  It was screaming, PAINT ME.  So I did.

Adele Earnshaw -  C=Chair

7" x 5" oil on board

$75  unframed

B=Butterfly & Buddliea - Today's Painting

B = butterfly - I think it's a Painted Lady but correct me if I'm wrong.  I have a buddliea  (butterfly bush) outside my studio window, so I've got great reference material.    This 7" x 5" study is done on Ampersand gesso board and is #4 in this month's 75 project.  I like this little oil - it has given me an idea for a larger gallery painting. 

Adele Earnshaw - B = Butterfly

7" x 5" oil on board

$75 +  $6 shipping

SOLD

B=Baby * Today's painting

I've been invited to participate in a group figurative show at the Santa Ysabel Gallery in Santa Ysabel, California (San Diego County) in October....so I painted  today's 5" x 7" study, "B=Baby", to help me practice painting figurative work.

I've got three grandchildren, including an 18 month old girl, so I couldn't help but think of her as I was painting this.

Adele Earnshaw - "B = Baby"

7" x 5" oil on panel

$75 + $6 shipping

New project starts today! A=antelope and antenna

These are the first two of the new 75 for 75 project.  I'll paint at least one painting-a-day for the next 30 days.  Shane will contribute work when he can.  My paintings will be 5" x 7" oil and will sell for $75 each (unframed)  plus $6 priority mail.

This time, instead of painting bird studies, I'm painting subject matter that I've always wanted to paint, but haven't had the opportunity.  My gallery in Beaver Creek, The Walt Horton Fine Art Gallery, has requested paintings of pronghorn antelope, which I've never painted before...so this pronghorn study is warming me up for larger pronghorn paintings for the gallery.   I enjoyed painting this little piece.

A=Antelope,   5" x 7" oil on board

$75 + $6 shipping

I'm teaching a workshop in Tuscany in early September, so the second painting of the day, A=Antenna is a warm-up exercise for Tuscany. This was done from reference taken on my last trip to Italy - the view from one of the hilltop towns - where dozens of antennas sprout from 18th century buildings.

A=Antenna,   5" x 7" oil on board

$75 + $6 shipping

Going to the dogs...

  This is Shane's latest oil, finished this evening - I think it's a westie terrier? It's a 5" x 7" oil and sells for $75 plus shipping.  I love the turpy, scrubbed-in background.  It's a great example of 'less is more'.  Love it!

Shane Rebenschied - "Little Rascal"

5" x 7"  oil on board

SOLD

Why is it so difficult to get back to work?

I returned home a few days ago after spending two weeks in Colorado.  I worked while I was there - painting in the Walt Horton Gallery over the Fourth of July weekend - but I must admit that I took a lot of time off.  I half-heartedly painted outside a day or two but most of the time, I just took it easy.  It's OK to take time off - but why is it so difficult to get back to work?

This is the third day I've spent in the studio trying to get motivated.  Pick up the brush - apply a bit of paint - put down the brush - wander over to the computer to check my email - back to the easel - another few brush strokes - get up and wander around again.  I've got work to do for galleries!  I've got a show coming up at the end of September (Art for the Sangres, Westcliffe, Colorado), and I've got another project starting in three days - though not at the breakneck rate of the last 75 for 75 project.  I'll just do one or two 5" x 7"s daily instead of three or four.  This time, instead of painting bird studies, I'll be painting subject matter that I've always wanted to paint but haven't had the opportunity (a few figurative pieces,  perhaps?) and I won't paint anything that competes with my work in galleries.  These paintings will be studies, which gives me the liberty of using the idea for a larger, more refined painting for a gallery.    As an additional challenge, I'll paint alphabetically.  This will force me to get out of my comfort zone because the purpose for these projects is to become a better painter.

Shane (my son - a professional illustrator) will be joining me again in this project but I think he's sticking to landscapes.

In the meantime, this is a special request piece that I just finished for the 75 for 75 project.  It's on HOLD, but if you'd also like a roadrunner, let me know!

Adele Earnshaw - Roadrunner #2

5" x 7" oil on board

$75

SOLD

Where the Trail Went Cold

Shane just finished this 5" x 7" oil, Where the Trail Went Cold - a landscape of the Navajo reservation, just north of Flagstaff.  I love his titles....they make you wonder about the rest of the story.

Shane Rebenschied - "Where the Trail Went Cold"

5" x 7" oil, unframed

Purchase this for $75 + $5 s/h

September in Tuscany.....come and join me!!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain


I'm teaching a workshop in Tuscany, September 4 - 11, 2010.   There is still space for a few more students, so I'm going to do my best to talk you into joining me. But this blog entry is also for students who have signed up and would like to know a little more about where to go and what to pack.    At the end of this post, I'll talk about airfares/airlines and the best deals that I've found.  


I'm teaching the workshop with Joe Garcia.  We'll demo and teach in both oil and watercolor, so you can work in either medium or paint in watercolor in the morning and oil in the afternoon.   The workshop will be held at the Villa Fattoria Bacio (where we've taught before)  in the Tuscan town of Certaldo.  There is a large studio on the villa grounds next to the beautiful family chapel.   We'll spend time painting in the studio and on the villa grounds, weather permitting.  Each morning, Joe or I will do a demo in watercolor...then students paint until lunchtime while we give individual instruction.  Lunch is followed with another demo, this time in oil, then individual painting time again.  As this is a painting workshop, most of what we teach will apply to either medium.


Certaldo (pronounced Chair-tal-do) is located in Tuscany about 31 miles southwest of Florence, 25 miles north of Siena and about 150 miles north of Rome.  We can see the hilltop town of San Gimignano from the Villa.  The average daytime temp for Certaldo in early September is 80 with the average low of 59.   


We all stay together at the villa, which is a working farm surrounded by vineyards and olive trees.  We'll enjoy the villa's wine during the week.   Patricia, the villa's owner, prepares fabulous Tuscan cuisine that we share in the Villa's dining room every evening.   

View from the Villa

If you sign up for our workshop,  you must turn the trip into an adventure and see other parts of Italy.   On my last trip, Joe & Anne Garcia and I flew British Air to London then on to Pisa.  From there we took a train to Cinque Terre, a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera where we spent a week in Riomaggiore, one of the five towns in Cinque Terre.  (I'd love to spend a month there)    From there we took the train back to Siena where we rented a car and headed for the historic hilltop town of Montalcino where we (appropriately) rented an apartment over a wine shop.  Driving in Italy is easy as you drive on the same side of the road as the U.S.   Travel expert, Rick Steves,  suggests a rental car if you'd like to see the hilltowns of Tuscany, however you don't need a car to get to Certaldo as it is on the train line - and someone from the Villa will meet your train.    If you have a portable GPS, you can download maps of Italy in English.

I painted my way across Italy.  I took loose sheets of 300 lb Arches watercolor paper, cut to 11.5" x 7.5" to use as sketchbook pages.  When I got home, I took the paintings to Kinkos and had them bound into a sketch book.  This eliminates the fear that you might have to tear a bad painting out of a ready-made book.  I did this watercolor while sitting on steep stone steps on a street corner at the top of Montalcino.   I think of this place as 'Pee Corner' as I'm sure every tom-cat in Montalcino had marked it as his territory.  Funny that you don't notice these things until you spend an hour or two painting in one spot.  Unlike photos, where you pause and click - you must study the landscape in order to paint it...so after painting on location, the motif is forever etched in my memory.    The sounds stay in my memory too - I can't think of Tuscany without hearing church bells.

  


On days when there is no time to paint, I keep a diary of sorts.   This is a page from a small moleskin sketchbook on my last trip to Italy.   Flipping through the pages brings back such great memories.  






What to bring?  I travel with a very small suitcase for clothes (19" x 14" x 8")  and a slightly larger one for my Soltek Easel and painting supplies.  I check the suitcase with painting supplies and carry my clothing bag on board my flight.  I don't bring any more than I can carry in one load - a bag in each hand and a little backpack instead of a purse.  In cities, you can carry the backpack in front where you can keep an eye on it.  Important papers; passport, cash and credit card are hidden away in a passport holder under my clothing.   I  make a photocopy of the main page of my passport and my plane ticket and either give them to a traveling companion to carry, or put them elsewhere in my luggage.  

How many times have you come home from a trip and realized you didn't wear half of what you took?    All I need for three weeks in Italy is a black skirt, black cotton slacks, four tops, a belt, pj's, undies and one pair of lightweight pants and shirt to paint in.  Shoes?  A pair of walking shoes and one pair of flip-flops.   I'll wear an additional outfit on the plane including a lightweight jacket.   I bring light clothing that I can rinse in the bathroom sink and hang to dry overnight.   Shampoo makes great laundry soap.  If a cold wave sweeps through Italy, I can always buy a sweatshirt while there.   Bring a hat, sunscreen and bug repellent.  Italian coffee cups are a little puny, so if you'd like a large cup of java at the Villa, bring your own cup.  I bring a bar of soap (you never know when you might need it) and a couple of lightweight wash clothes.  Not all hotels have them.  

Debbie at Sedona Arts Center will send you a supply list once you have signed up for the workshop.  Do NOT bring any flammable solvents/turpenoids, etc. with you.  We'll provide turpenoid at the Villa.

This is a great time to travel to Europe - I don't remember the U.S Dollar/Euro exchange rate ever being so low!  As I write this, one U.S. dollar  = 1.26 Euro.  WOW!    Airfare prices have dropped a bit too.    USAir has the lowest fares, but if you book through  Expedia, USAir is even cheaper.   As of yesterday, Phoenix to Florence round trip is $1242 including taxes and fees.     Of course, if you have plenty of frequent flier or VISA miles, you don't have to worry about airfare!    

When Joe, Anne and I travel together we prefer to rent an apartment rather than staying in hotels.  Ann has celiac disease and I'm allergic to peanuts so eating in restaurants is difficult.  But we've found that we prefer apartment living to hotels anyway as they're usually cheaper - you get much more space and you get to live as the locals live....buying local produce, wines, cheeses, etc.  It's easy to find apartments online but if you want some tips, email me!  

This isn't just a workshop, it's an experience that you'll never forget!  We paint, we laugh, we enjoy the local wines and food - and we leave much richer by the experience.   Come and join us. 

Shane's latest painting...

I'm still in Colorado, having spent the last three days as artist-in-residence at the Walt Horton Fine Art Gallery in Beaver Creek.  The gallery is joined by an interior door with the Paderewski Fine Art Gallery  which carries the work of many of my friends; Lindsay Scott, Grant Hacking, Cole Johnson, Heiner Hertling, Greg Beecham and many more.   The Walt Horton Gallery also represents my friend Mark Eberhard (fabulous and innovative artist) among others,  and showcases Walt Horton's bronzes.  Walt passed away unexpectedly in March but his son, Jesse, is carrying on his father's legacy.  The world lost a great artist and wonderful man.

This oil painting is Shane's latest piece, finished this afternoon.  I am astounded at how quickly his work has progressed.  I love this piece!

I can see that I'm going to have to work a little harder to keep ahead of Shane - or I'm going to be choking on his dust!

The One Less Travelled

5" x 7" oil

Purchase this for $75 + $6 s/h

Artist in residence this weekend - Walt Horton Fine Art

I am the artist in residence at Walt Horton Fine Art Gallery in Beaver Creek, Colorado this weekend.  I'll arrive at the gallery tomorrow morning (Friday) by 11 am and will be there all day/every day until Sunday evening.  I'll  be bringing some new work with me.

I'll be painting in the gallery - a bear, perhaps some aspen and maybe a fox or two.  If you're in the area, stop by and say hi!  If you aren't in the area, then take a drive to Vail & Beaver Creek in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.  The wildflowers are in full bloom and the weather is fabulous...cool with afternoon thundershowers.  What more could I ask for in July?  

What more could I ask for?  Well....come to think of it, I would LOVE to see a bear or two in the wild.  Walt told me that they often see bear near their home, so I will be keeping my eyes open.  I have bears in my own neighborhood but it seems they only visit during the night.

This is one of the new pieces I'm bringing to the gallery, titled The Strong and Silent Type.  Excuse the white  margins....I'm working on my little netbook while away from home and don't have the ability to tweak the image.