A Busy Week of Exhibits!

This week I'll have work showing in two fantastic exhibits that I'm excited to be a part of!

Thursday, May 15 is the opening reception for the Southeastern Pastel Society International Juried Exhibition at Oglethorpe University Museum of Art, 6 - 8 pm. This is a wonderful venue to see this top notch pastel show, and the opening reception is always well attended. Awards will be given during the reception, and refreshments served. If you're not able to make it on Thursday, the show will run until June 22. Admission is free to the public for the opening reception; $5 all other times. Oglethorpe University Museum of Art is located at 4484 Peachtree Rd. in Atlanta, on the 3rd floor of Lowry Hall.

"Unknown Territory" is my painting included in this show.

Unknown Territory, pastel, 14x18 (Sold)

Then on Saturday, May 17, I'll be part of a group show with three other artists. Our show, "Landscape Connections," takes place at the Artists Atelier Gallery & Studios along Miami Circle in Buckhead. The show runs until the end of May, with our reception this Saturday, noon - 4 pm, as part of the Art Walk which takes place each third Saturday of the month among the many other Miami Circle galleries.

Donna Biggee, Nancy Nowak, Jill McGannon and I have been plein air painting together for the past few years and have come together to show our landscape work, which will include approximately 30 paintings in pastel and oil.

The Artists Atelier Gallery & Studios is located at 800 Miami Circle, Ste. 200, Atlanta, GA 30324. Contact the Artists Atelier at 404-231-5999 or Atelier@bellsouth.net, or visit their website at www.artistsatelier.com. 

"September Goldenrod" is among eight paintings I'm showing in this exhibit. All work in this exhibit is for sale.

September Goldenrod, oil, 11x14

Keep Away From the Edge

River Edge, oil, 12x9

Vickery Creek Curve, pastel, 10x8

I've noticed that many of my students often fall into the trap of defining too many edges within the landscape too soon in the painting process. So for this month's classes at my studio, I revisited an exercise I did a couple of years ago Click here to see that earlier blog post, and from whom I got the idea. Although this approach works especially well for landscapes in hazy, overcast conditions, it can work for any type of landscape if you're trying to train yourself to be selective with your edges.

With this approach, you begin the painting without defining any edges, but to only block in the large shapes with soft, vague edges. This way, as the painting progresses, you can be selective with which edges to define, and which to leave "lost." I specifically chose subject matter that was packed full of fine details that we wanted to look past in the early stages.

Below are some progression shots from each demo, starting with the "vague," and not very "edgy" block in. (Except for that foreground rock in the oil demo...those sharp edges in the beginning must have snuck in there!)

Also a note on the oil piece, "River Edge"...I thought that small tree trunk crossing over the larger one would make an interesting shape, but I later decided that it's more awkward than interesting. I've already scraped out the smaller one. I may either leave it out completely or make it thinner. We'll see how it goes.