A New Painting Project!

My son, Shane Rebenschied, has challenged me to a painting project. He's the boss for the project but all we've agreed upon at this point is that it won't be a painting-a-day (maybe 3 a week?) and we'll work on 6 x 6 gallery wrapped canvases. At this time, we're unsure of subject matter or the total number of paintings.

Aren't I supposed to be enjoying my golden years? Oh well - as I've realised over the past five years, I'd rather be an old artist that just an old lady and most days, I am in the studio anyway. I guess I'll just be in there a bit longer.

Stay tuned!

New Zealand Tui - 8x6 oil on panel

This oil study is from a previous painting project and has sold

“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”

― Jack London

 Silent Witness

10 x 8 oil on panel

This recent oil has just arrived at Mountain Trails Gallery in Sedona, Arizona.  

Aspen in progress

This little piece isn't finished, therefore it isn't titled. It's an 8 x 8 oil, work in progress. When I'm not sure if a painting is finished, I turn it to the wall for a week or two, then will take a fresh look. Sometimes it has miraculously improved while against the wall. At other times I can see that it needs to be tweaked, or occasionally, it goes straight into the bin.

Aspen - work in progress

8 x 8 oil on panel

Free Rein

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I like to paint series of subject matter. This oil is one of four 16 x 8 yachts that I painted for Horton Hayes Fine Art Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina. Horton Hayes has represented me for perhaps 18 years. My home town, Opua, is in the Bay of Islands in the Far North of New Zealand's North Island. There are 144 islands total, some being rocky outcrops and a couple with a few occupants. It is a mecca for sailing enthusiasts. Many local friends have boats and will spend a few days out on the water, anchoring overnight in sheltered bays. I was sailing with friends out on the bay when I saw this yacht as it was leaving New Zealand for the Islands. But nowadays, I only sail when the sea is like a duck pond. There is nothing worse than being seasick. 

A Following Sea

 Since moving home to New Zealand, I've been painting a lot of marine-inspired pieces. I live in Opua, New Zealand's northernmost port where yachties sail in to clear customs and immigration. Besides the international community of yachts that come and go, New Zealanders are avid sailors so there is no shortage of inspiring subject matter. 

A Following Sea

30 x 40 Oil on stretched canvas 

SOLD

Art Genes

 I'm not aware of any artists in my family prior to me. My father explains that as he and his sister were children of the great depression and the Napier Earthquake (1931 New Zealand) there was no time for art - they had to get on with the serious business of earning a living. And though my mother's family was more comfortable, there are no artists on that side either. But mathematicians seem to produce mathematical children and musicians generally produce musical offspring so I assume it is the same with artists. My son, Shane Rebenschied, started painting in watercolour while in high school and by his junior year, set his sights on Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He was definitely influenced by our artist friend, Joe Garcia, an Art Center graduate but also by me. My dear friend, artist Lindsay Scott , was also part of our lives when he was young. There was no escaping it. When working on a painting, I would often ask for his input; 'if you were a bird, where would you be in this painting'?  We discussed composition and colour while driving. "If you cut out a piece of that cloud and put it on white paper, what colour would it be'?  So is it nature or nurture?

Shane graduated from Art Center College of Design with a degree in illustration. He worked for The House of Blues and another company or two before deciding to hang up his shingle to become a freelance illustrator. He has been doing book covers for the major publishers ever since. You can see his work here. Shane has continued to paint on the side and like many illustrators, may shift to gallery work as he gets older.  His new website is up and running and will have a print section shortly.  And yes, there are other artists in the family. My granddaughter graduated with a degree in textile design and works for a university with arty digital fabrication. My sister, Joanne Hanson, is a painter. Her granddaughter is also a gifted artist and so on. Below are some of Shane's paintings. Click on the images to enlarge them. 

Fruit & Floral

Original 6 x 8 oil studies by Shane Rebenschied 

Congregation on Cuba Street 12" x 24" 

Original oil by Shane Rebenschied

Empty Promises

When painting smaller pieces, I like to do a series of images that are of a similar subject matter. When painting my evening sky oils. I usually paint four, all the same size because I like the way they look when they're hanging together as a collection. 

This oil is the second in a series of four of my latest evening sky pieces.  All four have just arrived at Mountain Trails Gallery, located in beautiful Tlaquepaque in Sedona, Arizona and should be hanging on the gallery walls in the next day or two.  I lived in Sedona for 35 years and well remember the hot, dry summer months, waiting for the July monsoons to start.  At the beginning of monsoon season, the dark, foreboding storm clouds produce little more than lightning for the first few weeks. The wait for rain was the inspiration for my little oil; 'Empty Promises".  Click on the image to see the details and brushwork. 

Empty Promises

8 x 8 (203 x 203mm) oil on panel