First Friday and Gala Silent Auction Preview

So, I definitely waited until the last minute to figure out what I was donating for the Great Falls Foundation for the Arts (GFFFTA) Gala's silent auction.  With a show going on now at Maison du Vin (a great wine shop in Great Falls, VA), I kept thinking about those paintings and drawings as candidates ... looking for them around my studio and finally going ... duh ... and realizing they were hanging out elsewhere.

I ended up putting in three. Anyone interested in these pieces should plan on attending the Gala (you need to purchase a ticket) which will take place on Friday, November 20, 7:30-10:00 at 1144 Walker Road, Suites D&G. Get more info at GFFFTA's web site. Many pieces of exceptional art have been donated and the starting bids are at 50% of retail prices. The artwork will be in the gallery to be previewed tomorrow, Friday, November 6, 7-9pm or Saturdays, noon-4pm or any time an artist is in. Funds raised will benefit the Great Falls School of Art (where I teach).

Here's my line-up:
"Chadwick's"
(Alexandria, VA)
Oil on Raymar panel
16"h x 20"w, framed in Omega gold frame
Retail Price: $1500
Opening Bid: $750
This painting was one of 12 finalists in Raymar’s Annual Art Competition, September 2006. See www.raymarart.com. The competition is stiff … with top American artists placing as finalists.

"Town Center Fountain"
(Reston, VA)
Jill Banks
Ink wash, pen & ink
12”h x 9”w (outer mat), framed in Omega black/gold frame
Retail Price: $295
Opening Bid: $147.50
A major part of creating art is about making choices. I love the simplicity of this piece. Ink wash is almost impossible to control and yet I managed to do just enough here.

"Bellydancer III"
Bellydancer III
Jill Banks
Oil
14”h x 11”w
Retail Price: $1200
Opening Bid: $600
Bellydancer III was juried into Salon International 2009, a project of the International Museum of Contemporary Masters, Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX.











I hope to see you at the Artists' Atelier tomorrow night for the preview. The Atelier is open the First Friday of every month, 7-9pm, 1144 Walker Road, Suites D&G, Great Falls, VA 22066.

Also, be sure to stop in to see my work in a new solo show "Black&White and Red All Over" in the tasting room at Maison du Vin. There are some great pieces there. Think about holiday gift giving. I'm planning on being there on Saturday, November 21, 1-5pm for a mini-reception in conjunction with Italian Wine Tasting from Bravo wines. Maison du Vin is located at: 756 Walker Road, Suite D, Great Falls, VA.

Also, "Sunflowers II" is in the American Artists Professional League's 81st Grand National at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, NYC through November 13. I'll be attending the reception and awards ceremony this Sunday, November 8, 2-5pm. Yea! I love New York.


Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435

"Pumpkin Patch" Painting in Progress ... and Lots of Art Events

First, lots of special art happenings are well, happening in October ... and I want all the hard work organizing, thinking, etc. to pay off by seeing lots of people there.

So, this week...
Friday, October 2, 7-9pn
First Friday at the Artists' Atelier (the studio I share with 15 other artists)
1144 Walker Road, Suites D&G, Great Falls, VA
We're hanging a new show in the gallery on Wednesday ... so it will be fresh and new.

Sunday, October 4, 10am-5pm
MPA Artfest
An outdoor juried art festival
McLean Central Park (corner of Old Dominion Drive and Route 123 - Dolley Madison Blvd.)
McLean, VA
I'll be in booth #25 with a mix of classical drawings and paintings. Hopefully, I'll post photos later of the shape my studio is in at the moment with piles of paintings and drawings I'll be choosing from for this event. It's an interesting process for someone who has to agonize over every decision.
I really, really hope you can come to this one.
(This event happens rain or shine -- it just moves indoors to 1234 Ingleside Drive, McLean, VA if it rains.) Get more info at www.mpaart.org.
Mastercard and Visa accepted.

Also in October:
I'll be participating in the 6th Annual Great Falls Art Studios Tour
Saturday & Sunday
October 17-18
10am-5pm, rain or shine
45 artists will be talking and creating art in our studios all around town. More on that later ... but be sure to register for the art bucks program -- a $2000 giveaway of forty $50 art bucks to be spent on the tour. Register and get more info at www.greatfallsstudios.com.

I came up with a tagline for a brochure that I'm pulling together for the Artists' Atelier. "Be Original. Buy Original." What do you think?

So "Pumpkin Patch" in progress is a painting I worked on last Tuesday -- one of the still lifes I set up for my class. It needs a good bit of work, but other pieces have needed me this week. All the setups are very calm, with toned down color, as an exploration of color subtleties. One set-up is of a bowl of eggs inspired by a beautiful painting of ... you guessed it ... a bowl of eggs that a Dutch contemporary painter created. His name is Henk Helmantel. Here's his website. Definitely quiet, maybe a little dark, but beautifully painted work.

One more quick note. I updated my website with a links page. I hope it's useful.

"Pumpkin Patch" work in progress, 24"h x 18"w, oil on Senso linen, copyright Jill Banks 2009.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435

Farmer's Market, "On the Bright Side" Solo Show, MPA Artfest

What I'm up to, basically, for the next few days and months...

First Friday, June 5, 7-9pm, The Artists' Atelier (the working studios and gallery space I share with 15 other artists), 1144 Walker Road, Suites D&G, Great Falls, VA. Lots of new artwork is hung with a concentration on portrait and figure paintings and drawings. In the Great Falls School of Art space, Suite D, you'll get a chance to see some of my students' paintings from this session's Still Life class. The Artists' Atelier is open the First Friday of every month, 7-9pm and every Saturday, noon-4pm. (Note: I won't be there Saturday, June 6. See next item.)



My tent from the Farmer's Market in May. Come see me at this Saturday's market, June 6, 9am-1pm.


Great Falls Farmer's Market this Saturday, June 6, 9am-1pm, Great Falls Village Centre in parking lot near the Wachovia Bank (across from the Safeway on Walker Road). This will be my second (and probably last) appearance there for this year. Under the Great Falls Studios (a group of 85 artists of which I am a member) tent, I'll be showing my market paintings, still lifes and restaurant series. Hopefully, a slightly wet "Food and Wine" painting of a market in Burano will be hanging. Let's see how painting goes today.


July 2-August 31 "On the Bright Side" Solo Show at the Great Falls Library Meeting Room, 9830 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA. Opening Reception, Saturday, July 18, 3-6pm. Painting Demonstration, Saturday, July 11, 1-4pm. This exhibit battles our trying times one canvas at a time. The world's full of silver linings. I found some. I'll set up a sneak preview on my web site (www.jillbanks.com) later in the month. Check back.


August 14-16 "Portrait & Figure Painting Workshop in Oils": I'll be teaching a weekend workshop through the Great Falls School of Art (a program of the Great Falls Foundation for the Arts). Spaces are limited, register now by downloading a summer bulletin at www.greatfallsfoundationforarts.org
. Click on School of Art. I'm also teaching a Tuesday morning, six week "Still Life in Oils" class that starts July 7. See my May 19 post for a course description.

Sunday, October 4 MPAartfest in McLean Central Park. I just found out I was accepted into this terrific outdoor arts festival put on by the McLean Project for the Arts.


Saturday and Sunday, October 17&18 Great Falls Studio Tour. I'll be one of 44 artists (members of Great Falls Studios) participating in the Studio Tour that takes place all around town. Visit me at the Artists' Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Suites D&G, Great Falls, VA.

"Corner Couple," oil on panel, 24"h x 18"w, copyright Jill Banks 2007.









Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435