"Late Night on Light Street" Wins Second Place in the MAPAPA Baltimore Nocturnes Show

Tim Kelly Awards My Plein Air Painting One of the Top Awards

"Late Night on Light Street," oil, 24"h x 12"w by Jill Banks wins Second Place

I barely squeezed in time to paint for this Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painter Association "Baltimore Nocturnes: A Plein Air Show." Work needed to be completed before August 31, created on location in Baltimore to be hung at the Highlandtown Gallery at the beginning of September.  With extensive travel including lots of painting days in the South of France, there was little time left to create this work and others with the same deadline in Long Beach Island NJ for the exhibit there.  Good thing weather was on my side.

Anyway, it is cool, unexpected news to have received this award for "Late Night on Light Street" from a fellow painter whose work I deeply respect.  Another happy dance ensues. See the exhibit through October 31.  Gallery Hours are:
Thurs/Fri/Sat
8am - 5pm
and by appointment
248 South Conkling Street • Baltimore, MD 21224
(410) 327-7035

MPA Artfest this Sunday - Tomorrow - October 6, 10am to 5pm

 I am one of 40+ regional artists exhibiting at MPA Artfest, this juried outdoor arts festival being held in McLean Central Park in McLean VA at the intersection of Dolley Madison Blvd. (Route 123) and Old Dominion Drive.  Hope to see you there!

Events

Sunday, October 6 - MPA McLean Artfest, McLean Central Park, McLean VA, 10am to 5pm

October 12-13 - Bethesda Row Art Festival, Woodmont Ave., Bethesda MD

October 18-20 - Great Falls Annual Studio Tour,  Great Falls VA - Artists' Atelier, 756 Walker Road

Friday, Nov. 1 - First Friday Art Walk in the Village, 756 Walker Road, Great Falls VA - 6-8pm

Exhibits

September 6-November 3 - Long Beach Island Plein Air Plus Exhibition, Loveladies NJ

September 12 - October 12 - Women Artists of the West Mountain Aire National Exhibition, Boulder CO

Thru October 31 - Baltimore Nocturnes, Highlandtown Gallery, Baltimore MD

Visit my studio in the heart of Great Falls

Artists' Atelier, 756 Walker Road, Great Falls VA. Regular Open hours: Wednesdays, Noon to 4pm and Saturdays, 10am to 2pm. Or by appointment, 703.403.7435 or chance. First Friday Art Walk, April to December, 6-8pm

Contact me with any questions/comments here.  Web: www.JillBanks.com (subscribe to receive my email newsletter)  

Phone: 703.403.7435

Follow me on Facebook: JillBanksStudio

Follow me on Instagram: jillbanks1

Really Hope to See You Soon!

Jill (Banks)

Here I am painting "Late Night on Light Street" on an overhead walkway in Baltimore MD this summer. Interesting perch.

Meeting Madelyn, Special Delivery and Heading to Tennessee

"Once Upon A Time II," oil on linen, 30"h x 24"w, ©2019 Jill Banks

One day after our second granddaughter's arrival, I started painting "Once Upon a Time II" - destined from the beginning to brighten her nursery room.  In it are all sorts of treasures. Lilies to mark her near Easter arrival. An elephant covered with color yarn that's been waiting to get included in a painting.  An iron bench that has provided a perch for my Mom's doll collection. A pink flamingo to star in the show.  Well-read kid's books. A teacup for plenty of tea parties ahead. The set-up moved several times from the classroom (where it began as the first day of class demo), to my home studio and back to the Artists' Atelier.  Then this past Friday, the painting was hung in little Madelyn's room in between getting to know her a bit.  At almost two weeks old, she's not full of action ... but sure is beautiful and a joy to hold.

In all of my paintings, I hope that you continue to see something new and interesting that hadn't caught your eye before.  While painting, the piece slowly reveals itself - little by little. The whole is what made me paint it. There's something that garners the majority of attention.  Then, there's something else special that I hadn't been ready to see ... and that goes in. In developing "Once Upon a Time II" for Madelyn, I thought about how all those discoveries will come over time. How someday she'll recognize one of those book covers, take an interest in flamingos or elephants or mice.

Knoxville, Here I Come

Tomorrow is the orientation for Artists on Location: Knoxville Plein Air  -- where 30 painters have been selected to paint the "town" for a week, culminating in an awards reception and sale at the Knoxville Museum of Art on Saturday, April 27.  During the ride there, I was researching the suggested painting locations -- finally realizing that is a poor substitute for just getting there and looking around for myself. There are nooks and crannies to explore ... and I'm SO looking forward to doing just that. If I can, I'll post during the week. (Usually these events are fun but exhausting.)

See my Events Page for more info about Artists on Location and a whole lot of other art happenings right around the corner.

Visit "The Gathering Place" Solo Exhibit Before it Comes Down on April 30

Randy and I have hung out more than usual at the Old Brogue Irish Pub in Great Falls VA this month -- enjoying my exhibit in the Snuggery Dining Room/Katie's Coffee. I hope you have had a chance to do the same ... and if not, can  plan a visit in the next week and a half.

"Dinner Rush," oil, 24"h x 36"w, ©2019 Jill Banks -- currently on exhibit at the Old Brogue

Get more info and view the exhibit online here.

For those of you who celebrate it, I hope you had a wonderful Easter! We enjoyed the non-traveling part of the day with some of the people we love which was wonderful.  This is a time of new beginnings, fresh growth, hope.

Thanks for reading,

Jill

www.JillBanks.com
Jill@JillBanks.com
 703.403.7435

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/JillBanksStudio/ (Please like that page if you like it...)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillbanks1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillbanks1/ 

Read the Article: Southwest Art Artist to Watch,  July 2017 Here's a link to the PDF of the wonderful Artist to Watch article written by Kim Agricola.  

Read the Article: "Christmas Card Paintings: 46 Years and Counting"Here's a link to the article in Fine Art Today, published by Fine Art Connoisseur December 2018.  

Read the Article: "A Paris Plein Air Adventure" published by Outdoor Painter (from Plein Air Magazine)

Events

April 22-27 - Artists on Location: a Plein Air Painting Event - Juried artist, plein air competition and sale, Knoxville TN

April 1-30 - "The Gathering Spot" Solo Exhibit, Katie's Coffee/The Snuggery in the Old Brogue Irish Pub, Great Falls VA

May 3 - First Friday Art Walk, the Artists' Atelier, 756 Walker Road, Great Falls VA - 6-8pm (Art Walks run from April to December)

May 4 & 5 - Great Falls Spring ArtFest at the Artists' Atelier in Great Falls. 10am to 5pm each day.

May 11 - Reception, Solo Exhibit, Great Falls Library, 9830 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls VA - details to come

May 17-19 - Northern Virginia Fine Art Festival, Reston VA

June 1 - August 31 - American Impressionist Society (AIS) Small Works Showcase, Petoskey MI - "Cat House" chosen by AIS jurors as one of approximately 200 small works by some of the nation's finest impressionist artists.

June 7-9 - Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show, Philadelphia PA

June 28 - American Women Artists Museum Exhibition Reception - Steamboat Art Museum, Steamboat Springs CO (exhibit runs from May 24-September 2 - "On Top of the World" selected for this prestigious show)

June 29 - July 6 - Telluride Plein Air - Telluride CO

July 13 & 14 - Wickford Fine Art Festival, Wickford RI

 

Had To Fix the Fridge ... and Arlington Festival of the Arts Ahead

Rabbits and Ranunculus, oil on linen-lined panel, 20"h x 16"w, ©2018 Jill Banks

 www.JillBanks.com

Things have been getting a little smelly in the Banks' kitchen each time we've opened the refrigerator door.  It wasn't helping that Rabbits and Ranunculus has been on again, off again over the last two and a half weeks with past-their-prime parsley root, some odd looking bunch of perhaps broccolini, several cabbages and lettuces being stored inside the fridge waiting for their return to center stage. Today, the painting is finished ... and the produce has gone out where it belongs. (At least you can tell it looked pretty and was fresh at one point.)

Enjoying a surprisingly sunny day on the farm last Thursday. I'm behind the camera ... not in front of it.

Delaying Rabbits and Ranunculus's progress have been outings all over the DC/Northern Virginia area scouting out plein air painting locations for my landscape class, getting ready for classes that started this past week and taking advantage of all sunny days to get outside with my easel.

April 21-22 Arlington Festival of the Arts in Clarendon

Hidden under Rabbits and Ranunculus is another bunny painting.  I kept the white bunny, added another and changed pretty much everything else. The colors of the previous painting were understated (for me)... unlike this new layer.  It's like spring blossomed on the canvas.

It's extremely rare that I go back to an existing canvas and completely transform it.  Now there are a couple more paintings in my line-up to make more minor changes with others to finish.  Sort of like Spring cleaning.

Coming Up

Spring shows are straight ahead with  

Arlington Festival of the Arts on April 21-22 in Arlington VA

Great Falls Spring ArtFest on May 5 & 6 

Bethesda Fine Art Festival on May 12 & 13

Lots more on the schedule too ... check my Events page for more

Spring Full of Art

Also, lots of Events are coming up including an May 4 First Friday Art Walk in the Village (Great Falls, VA -- where you'll find me in my studio) and for the Women Artists of the West Spring Showcase at the RS Hanna Gallery in Fredericksburg TX (I won'd be there but many of my paintings are ... on exhibit until June 3).

Events

February 1-June 3: Women Artists of the West Spring Showcase at RS Hanna Gallery  in Fredericksburg, TX (I'm one of 50 artists included in the showcase with up to five pieces at one time over this four month period.)  First Friday Art Walk at RS Hanna from 6-8pm -- February, March, April, May and June. 

April 21-22: Arlington Fine Art Festival, Arlington VA

May 4: First Friday Art Walk in the Village Centre, 6-8pm, Artists' Atelier, 756 Walker Road, Great Falls, VA 22033. (Studio is also open Wednesdays, noon to 4pm and Saturdays, 10am to 2pm)

May 5-6: Great Falls Spring ArtFest, 10am -5pm both days, you'll find me at the Artists' Atelier, 756 Walker Road, Great Falls, VA 22033 

June 1-3: Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show, Philadelphia, PA  

June 4-9: Bucks County Plein Air, PA (one of thirty juried artists selected)

June 28-July 4: Telluride Plein Air, Telluride, CO

July 7-8: Wickford Fine Art Festival, Wickford, RI

Thank you for reading!

Jill Banks

Blog: For my latest news and works, visit or subscribe to my blog Life as an Artist at jillbanks.blogspot.com

Email: jill@jillbanks.com

Website: www.jillbanks.com

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/Jill-Banks-Studio-278493468836508/ (Please like that page if you like it...)

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillbanks1

Instagram (New): https://www.instagram.com/jillbanks1/

Read the Article: Southwest Art Artist to Watch,  July 2017 Here's a link to the PDF of the wonderful Artist to Watch article written by Kim Agricola.