Gardens Above the Valley Dordogne

As I ponder my now sporadic studio time, I think it might behoove me to aim for some small victories with some smaller paintings. So that is how this 20x16" canvas came about. I will say though that smaller doesn't always mean quicker. I meant to finish this piece some time around last Wednesday but by Friday evening I still found myself putting on one more "final dab".  Any way, it is, for the most part, complete enough to come off of the easel and go into a frame for one final look. Sometimes just framing a painting can help me to see it anew and tell me what more (or less) it might need.

"Gardens Above the Valley Dordogne" Oil on Linen, 20x16" (SOLD)  ©Jennifer Young

The painting is of a garden  scene in the picturesque village of Beynac, made famous by the Chateau de Beynac, which I have painted and written of before here and here. The walk up from the river banks to the the chateau is every bit as memorable as a visit to the chateau itself. Everywhere one turns there are charming views up narrow passageways, or  breathtaking views over the Dordogne valley.

A small commission, with just weeks away...

Given how long it has been since I've posted anything new here at all, I am almost embarrassed to write another "yes I'm still here" post. But here goes! The baby is now less than a month away from her due date and I am finally feeling as if I have gotten our household in some kind of order to prepare for her arrival. Unfortunately, now that I'm getting a little respite from the baby books, the shower, the classes, and prepping the nursery, I am, in this final trimester, also feeling my least energetic and creative. In truth, I don't think I was prepared for just how exhausted I'd feel throughout the pregnancy. But now that I'm getting really big, I can't really seem to do any one thing for very long before I start to feel quite uncomfortable. So needless to say, painting has pretty much taken a back seat during most of my pregnancy, and it's hard to say when that will change to any great extent after the baby comes. However, I do have one new little piece to share. It's a small watercolor/pen and ink painting  (8x10" on 11x14" paper) that a client commissioned to commemorate her daughter's upcoming wedding:

"Flavor of Fagiolari" Watercolor and Pen & Ink on Paper, 11x14" (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

The scene is of a B&B in the Chianti region, not far from where I myself have traveled a number of times. It's a special place to the betrothed because they met in Italy and stayed at Fagiolari during their travels through Tuscany together.

When I paint from photos, I prefer to work from my own references. I just have a much better feeling for the place if I, myself, have traveled and painted there, and my photos serve as a trigger to call forth those experiences. I also take several different viewpoints of a given scene, plus a number of details, so that I can have as much information as possible when I get to work. So it's always with a bit of reservation when I consider working from a client's photo, which is normally more of a one-off tourist snapshot.

But this commission was actually quite a joy for me. Not only was it great to be doing something in the painting realm again, but the photos provided were excellent. Having also traveled the area fairly extensively myself helped a good deal as well.  Plus I was given much leeway as to how I wanted to interpret them (the photos) and what I wanted to include, rather than being tied to making an exact, literal interpretation(a.k.a. an illustration) of a scene.

What was most important to the client was that I capture the "flavor" of the place (hence the painting's title). Luckily, the client was delighted with the finished piece, and I had a good time getting my hands back in some art-making to boot. I tend to feel somewhat more intimidated by watercolors (as opposed to oils) but given its manageable size and the properties of the medium, I was able to stop and start more easily than I can with oils. It's not without reason to think that maybe I can even attempt a few more before "D-day" (or make that B-day) but we'll see. The one thing I can say about my life this past year is that it is anything but predictable!

Summer's End

The Paint Annapolis plein air exhibition ended on Sunday, so on Monday I drove up to Annapolis to pick up unsold work from the competition. It would have been nice to do some more painting up there while I was at it, but I had to get back home so it was rather a whirlwind trip. I rather like this little skipjack, patiently waiting for some action as it sits in a drive just behind a veggie garden. It's probably my favorite piece from the event.

"Summer's End" Oil on board, 9x12" (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

Small works invitational

There's been a lot happening around here so unfortunately the blog neglect has continued! I do hope to ramp up to more regular posting (and painting!) by early next week. Meanwhile, here are two new little Key West pieces I've done for a small works holiday invitational that opens at the Miller Gallery on November 20th in Cincinnati.

"The Shady Side" Oil on Canvas, 6x8" (SOLD) ©jJennifer Young

"Towering Bougainvillea" Oil on Canvas, 6x8"  (SOLD) ©jJennifer Young

I am so honored to show my work in such a lovely looking gallery alongside artists of such fine caliber. 

Happy birthday studio!

It's hard to believe it is already October...I am still trying to figure out where September went. The leaves are starting to turn, so I've spent a good deal of time this week in the garden trying to get some new shrubs in the ground around the studio. Needless to say, I haven't any new paintings to share, so I thought I'd share a slide show of my year-old studio and the even younger gardens. This slideshow is from a web album I created for readers of my email newletter. It shows the development of my studio from groundbreaking to what it looks like today. Blog readers will recognize many of the photos from the studio build because I blogged about the whole process ad nauseum! But here it is easier to see the progression, and the garden pictures are new: 

To page through the album at your own pace (and read the captions) click here. I'm only in my 5th year of gardening, and while there is a great learning curve, it's been fun. I certainly had a blank canvas to work with after the studio went up! Hard to believe the groundbreaking was only about a year ago.