"Italian Time": Worth the Wait and Studio Tour Day Two

"Italian Time," (take four), oil, 30"h x 30"w, ©Jill Banks 2014

I've written a couple of blog posts about this painting, hoping it would be ready to debut at my next art showing, and then the next.  It had a difficult time living up to an initial sketch created just after my feet landed at the vineyard in Piemonte, Italy that my workshop students would call home base for seven glorious days in August. The thought of the scene, along with its sketch traveled home and I worked diligently to recreate the place in Virginia.  Turns out the sunflowers were my main culprits -- gorgeous they were in the market at Alba, not so much past the tail end of summer stateside.

Finally, this great, deluxe bunch appeared. Different type than the first, second and third ... but perfect in their imperfections, unruliness, spirit and size.

So, it is done, beautifully framed and hanging in my studio for the Great Falls Art Studio Tour. Come for a visit tomorrow ... Sunday, October 19, 10am to 5pm at the Artists' Atelier, Studio #19, upstairs from the Great Falls School of Art (where I teach) at 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA.

Two of my paintings from those August days in Italy went home with a new owner today.  "Bend in the Road" and "Hill Town Stroll" -- both from the hill town of La Morra, Italy were purchased this morning. I'll bring at least one more piece, "La Morra View" for the walls still full of art.  See my website: www.JillBanks.com, go to Works and click on Places to see those paintings and others from Italy and other spots, near and far.

Plenty of folks are coming each day for my noon to 1pm demo given in the studio.  Today was a continuation of yesterday's painting. Not sure what I'll decide to do tomorrow. There's plenty of time left to figure that out, right? Know that you're invited!

For more information on the Great Falls Art Studio Tour event, go to www.GreatFallsStudios.com.

Events and Exhibits

• Oct. 17-19: Great Falls Annual Studio Tour, Artists’ Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA
• November 1&2: Chastain Park Arts Festival, Atlanta GA
• Ongoing: Visit the studio I share with 14 other artists at the Artists’ Atelier, Great Falls, VA open Wed. and Sat., 12- 4pm
• Jan.-Feb. 2015: Solo Exhibit, ArtSpace Herndon, Herndon, VA
• See the Events page for more info/updates

Thanks for reading!

Jill

Phone: 703.403.7435
Email: jill@jillbanks.com
Web: www.JillBanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com

Subscribe to my Email Newsletter: News from the Easel (This link takes you to the subscription page.)

Studio Tour Day One

Giving a short painting demo today in my studio for the Great Falls Annual Art Studio Tour. More tomorrow!

Lots of visitors enjoyed a Friday full of art ... and we loved having them there. Thank you for coming!

While most of my time was spent visiting, "Quince and Crossword" was at least started today

I'm looking forward, too, to tomorrow (Saturday, October 18) and Sunday, as the Studio Tour continues, 10am to 5pm, both days. I hope you can stop by and kick off or continue your Great Falls Art Studio Tour.  I'll be at the Artists' Atelier in Studio #19 at 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA.  Don't miss two floors included in stop #19.  The School space (where I teach) in Suite D includes guest artists Donna Barnako, Ronni Jolles and Yeggy Heygazi.  Upstairs from there is the Artists' Atelier in Suite G with resident artists: Carol Howard, Cindy Grisdela, Elaine Elinsky, Terri Parent, Me, Walt Lawrence, Lisa Tureson, Tracie Weir, Tina Learned, Bobbie Beasley, Judith St. Ledger-Roty and John Francis McCabe exhibiting for Studio Tour.

For more information on the Great Falls Art Studio Tour event, go to www.GreatFallsStudios.com.

Events and Exhibits

• Oct. 17-19: Great Falls Annual Studio Tour, Artists’ Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA
• November 1&2: Chastain Park Arts Festival, Atlanta GA
• Ongoing: Visit the studio I share with 14 other artists at the Artists’ Atelier, Great Falls, VA open Wed. and Sat., 12- 4pm
• Jan.-Feb. 2015: Solo Exhibit, ArtSpace Herndon, Herndon, VA
• See the Events page for more info/updates

Thanks for reading!

Jill

Phone: 703.403.7435
Email: jill@jillbanks.com
Web: www.JillBanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com

Subscribe to my Email Newsletter: News from the Easel (This link takes you to the subscription page.)

"Chocolate with Sprinkles" Debuts at the Farmer's Market

Since I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment, only some of my artwork is loaded in the van for my Saturday's (today -- September 25) Farmer's Market booth (9am-1pm at the Great Falls Village Centre, near the intersection of Walker Road and Georgetown Pike in Great Falls, VA). Let's call it a sneak preview for the big upcoming events: MPA Artfest one week + one day away on Sunday, October 3, 10:30am-4:30pm in McLean Central Park (McLean, VA) and the Great Falls Annual Studio Tour on Saturday and Sunday, October 16&17, 10am-5pm where I'll be in my studio at the Artists' Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Suites D&G, Great Falls, VA. Find out more about Studio Tour at www.GreatFallsStudios.com and more about Artfest at www.mpaart.org. Lots of other stuff going on too in October, personal and art-wise. More exhibit info is listed on the home page of my web site: www.JillBanks.com.

Anyway, my donut painting "Chocolate with Sprinkles", once named "On the Edge Donut"will be making its first public appearance at the Farmer's Market. Perhaps it will be gobbled up. I used a palette knife on this little one... and the texture of the paint is, well, pretty cool. I have absolutely no "official" idea how to use a palette knife but it seems full of possibilities. More experiments to follow.

I hope to see you soon!

"Chocolate with Sprinkles", 5"h x 5"w, oil on canvas, copyright Jill Banks 2010.

"NYC Street" Continues and Great Falls Sketch

After any disturbances of my regular painting and drawing routines, I have to retrain myself for a bit. One of the benefits of experience is knowing how to ease back in to more serious work. I grant myself a break ... knowing that my first painting session just won't go smoothly. On Saturday, I worked on a commission I'm doing ... all day ... only to wipe out most of that effort at the end of the day. That's okay.  It helped that I thought of the day as a warm-up ... I wasn't frustrated by "wasting" that time. It wasn't wasted because just painting put me in better shape for yesterday's painting and what I'll work on today. (And tomorrow.) Attitude matters.

Yesterday, I started the day sketching on a bench in the Great Falls Village Centre (Great Falls, Virginia ... near where my studio, the Artists' Atelier, is located). Eventually the bugs drove me back to the studio.

At the studio, I returned to "NYC Street." I'd been working on this one right before I had to stop to pack and concentrate on our house move. This is a large one (30"h x 40"w) ... and the greater size creates its own hurdles. It is so much harder to finish a big painting. There's always an area that needs work. (This one still does.) Changes you make to one part of the painting dictate more changes to other parts. Quite a cycle.

Both pieces would fit into my "Painting the Town" show at the Brogue. It's honestly just my state of mind at the moment. Street scenes, New York, Great Falls, home and adventure. Yet, I think the next painting "up" is a beautiful vase of sunflowers that's my ray of sunshine amidst the moving mess in our new abode.

Come to the reception for "Painting the Town" this Sunday, July 25, 2-5pm, at Katie's Coffee at the Old Brogue Irish Pub, 760 Walker Road, Great Falls, VA 22066. The exhibit runs through July 31.

Also, my painting "Rainy Day in NYC" is in the Salmagundi's Club Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition which closes this Friday, July 23 after the awards reception, 6-8pm. I'll be there, receiving an award (yea!) at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003.

From top: "NYC Street" work in progress, oil on linen, 30"h x 40"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010.
"Totte Bean Shop in Great Falls", sketch & wash pencil with wash on Zecchi's paper (from Florence, Italy), approximately 8.5"h x 5.5"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010. If you're interested in learning this technique, sign up for my August workshops. Get more info on my web site: www.JillBanks.com, go to my classes page.

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

More Local Press

Last week, the Great Falls Connection ran a wonderful article, "Great Falls Takes Art Tour" on the Studio Art Tour. Mollie Vardell, fellow studiomate, friend and the head of the Great Falls Foundation of the Arts was on the cover, painting away in the Atelier! Adrienne Kralick and I were interviewed and pictured on Page 3. The reporter, Mike DiCicco from the Connection was over in our area when a group of tour goers were asking about portraiture, working from photos, how long it took, etc. That was great timing because it allowed the reporter to witness just what the Studio Tour is all about -- introducing the public to how and why we do what we do. Read a copy of the article here.

There was another article run in the September 23 edition, with a photo and caption, "Great Falls Artists Gear Up For Tour". To read, click here.

"Sunflowers II" Still Life -- All Done!

My latest still life is complete and awaiting its frame (from Frame Masters -- my favorite framer). Photo by Greg Staley.

I love this painting! Bob from Frame Masters asked me, after seeing this, whether it sometimes is too hard to give a painting up. Some are definitely hard to let go of, but I still want to spread around all the happiness owning a painting like this has to offer.

This painting will be in the Atelier for next weekend's Annual Great Falls Art Studio Tour. I'm in Studio #10, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA 22066.

"Sunflowers II," 30"h x 30"w, oil on linen, copyright Jill Banks 2008.

A Boat and a Car

Transportation seems to be on my mind. I finished up two paintings today. "Touring", a small painting of a woman sitting next to her car, seems to speak of more carefree times. "Ferrari Boat" shows some more Italian men sun-spangled in a Murano canal. Both will be featured in my studio space for this weekend's Great Falls Studio Tour. Please come, visit, enjoy!



Friday night is pre-tour party night at the Artists' Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA 22066 (3rd floor -- but not as bad as that sounds) from 7-9pm. There's a raffle for Art Bucks (money to spend on the tour) and you're invited to wear a hat and participate in a contest for the most creative, and craziest, I believe.

Then the tour is all around Great Falls this coming Saturday and Sunday from 10am-5pm each day. Bring your checkbooks. You can pick up a booklet with map and other locations at the Atelier and at other stops on the tour. Or print one out at the Great Falls Studios web site (www.greatfallsstudios.com).

"Touring," 8"h x 10"w, oil on Senso linen canvas, copyright Jill Banks 2008
"Ferrari Boat," 24"h x 36"w, oil on Senso linen canvas, copyright Jill Banks 2008

Making Headlines

Randy and I were out to dinner at the Brogue this past Wednesday and I happened to pick up a copy of the Great Falls Connection. On the cover, there's a small photo of me ... which is duplicated, larger in the E Section. This is part of the article "Great Falls Artists Gear Up for Tour" that gives a preview of the Studio Tour that's planned for October 18 & 19. You can read the story online.

The most interesting part to me is the caption under my picture that reads "Painter Jill Banks has created dozens of portraits, still life studies, and other paintings, mostly in oil, to display at her studio space during the Annual Great Falls Art Studios Tour, Oct. 18 and 19." Dozens of paintings -- that's a lot!

Great Falls Studios Tour 2008

Join me for the Fifth Annual Great Falls Studios Tour 2008

Kickoff Party: Friday, October 17 7-9pm at the Artists' Atelier (the studio I share with 13 other artists)1144 Walker Road, Suite G (at the corner of Colvin Run Road and Walker Road -- near Dante Restaurant -- up some stairs)

The Tour:
Saturday and Sunday
October 18& 19
10am-5pm

Free self-guided tour

Visit 38 artists in their studios located in Great Falls, Virginia

Download the Studios Tour brochure at Great Falls Studios web site (www.GreatFallsStudios.com)
The brochure includes a centerfold tour map for locations of the studios with artist listings and bios.

Bring your art-loving friends and family. This is simply a fantastic event! Bring your checkbooks.

I'll list more of what you can expect to see in my studio in upcoming blog entries. See photo for what my space looked like a few months' ago. Photo courtesy of Al Reitan.