Happy New Year ... and the Last Painting of 2012

"Garden Girl," oil on linen, 42"h x 36"w, copyright Jill Banks 2012

Phew.

My shoulder's sore, feet hurt and eyes are a little bleary.

But it's so worth it.

"Garden Girl" sprang to life over the marathon of eight very full painting days. Two days ago the cyclamen flowers were hitting the table.  Yesterday morning, the strawberries were replaced.  Mid-afternoon, I used the tripod that was holding up the cloth on the left side to steady my camera to bring you this shot. The last three mornings, I've been wearing my Christmas gift of highly padded slipper boots (along with my pajamas and smock) to get to the painting more quickly. Those slippers did wonders. Sort of like painting on air. The full days of painting meant there was no awake time left to post to the blog.  Boy, have I stored up some things to write here though.

I feel kind of like my "Garden Girl."  She's resting after doing all that work -- preparing, looking for inspiration on what to grow, planting, tending, weeding, harvesting -- all necessary to surround herself with that beautiful bounty.  Just like her, I put everything I had and know into making this painting something really special.  Because I teach, while painting, those lessons passed on in my class keep replaying in my head.  There was lots of following my own advice. I was physically and mentally engaged throughout -- thinking about the process of painting in oils eight days in a row (recalling lessons learned during eight straight days working on the Brown portrait earlier this year); deciding on how finished to make each area to tell my particular story and guiding the eye; examining paintings I love and why -- and bringing that to bear here. Additions made to the original set up put together by my Dad included the three foreground objects: a palette knife and tube of oil paint -- two tools of my trade -- and the trowel for "Garden Girl." They look like you could pick them up.

All of you looking at this online are going to think it's a much smaller painting than reality. One of my favorite comments received from a collector this year was that she and her husband were talking about how much they loved my work and why.  She said that they don't feel like they are looking at the paintings, they feel like they are "in" them. That's what I want you to feel.  To share this secret world or special view with you.

My dad treated me with this amazing set up. It was inspiration, indeed.

As we all tend to do this time of year, I'm looking ahead to what to strive for and do in 2013. Because this entry is long enough already -- I'll save that for tomorrow's post.

I wish you a happy and healthy, wonderful New Year! To 2013...

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project
Email
Phone: 703.403.7435

Events and Exhibits
Register now for Winter classes.  See my web site: www.JillBanks.com, Classes page for Still Life Painting in Oils and Draw, Paint, Sculpt the Portrait -- offered through the Great Falls School of Art, Great Falls, VA. Still Life is now full with a wait list. Sign up for the Portrait class -- it's going to be a great one!

Finishing Paintings

"Eggplant, Tomatoes and Figs," oil on Raymar panel, 8"h x 16"w, ©Jill Banks 2011

Just quickly ... today I'm working on finishing stuff. (Like signing paintings, touching up work, ordering frames, odds and ends.)

"Eggplant, Tomatoes and Figs" was one of the paintings that needed touching up. All done. (I had it leaning unframed above the door frame in my house, and it's a piece that keeps catching my eye. Those simple shapes are mesmerizing.

I'm going to work more on "Turkey Soup" but the light has been so different in the kitchen ... that the time never seems to be right. I have a plan for that piece ... just need some cooperation from the sky. I'm even going to put the soup back on the stove to boil ... to paint the steam.

Exhibits and Events

Richeson 75 Animals, Birds and Wildlife Online Exhibition, November 7- December 15, 2011. "Pretty Girl Hen" was selected as one of 75 finalists viewable online at www.richeson75.com/wildlife/index.html and in a full-color catalog.

Great Falls Studios Holiday Show and Sale, December 10 & 11, 10am-5pm at the Village Green Day School, Walker Road, Great Falls, VA

The Art League "Small Works" Exhibit, 105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA. "Kiwi" and "Ostrich and Polka Dots" are on view November 9-December 5. Both of them won Honorable Mentions this month!

To read more about the 100 Faces in 100 Days project on my web site (www.jillbanks.com), go to the 100 Faces Project Pages 1 and 2 where you can see all 100 of my volunteers. Click on the paintings, and go to my blog post for that person's sitting.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 1 (faces 1-54): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 2 (faces 55-100): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project_2.html
Email

"Tomato and Basil" Painting and Paintings To Be Arrive

"Tomato and Basil," oil on Raymar panel, 6"h x 6"w, ©Jill Banks 2011

A little one today. I just squeezed in a little bit of painting time so this is as much as I could handle.

My Book
Today I started writing ... and laying out my book, "100 Faces in 100 Days." It's forcing me to learn new software (with some bugs in it), think, write, and select images to include along the way. I'm typing directly into the book formatting software, pulling in text and images from my blog and other files, and enjoying recalling those 100 days. Still, today was one of those days that I wish I had two of me ... so at least one of those could be painting all day long.

When I'd had enough of bookmaking, I took a trip to the grocery store for a change of pace. No grocery list. Just me loose in the store figuring out what to cook. Fortunately, I ran into Eduardo, the chef owner of Jasmine's who gave me some hints about what to make with the stuff piling up in my basket. Turns out I have yet to cook it ... because I wanted to paint instead. Husband Randy's out of town until tomorrow ... so any slight regimen we have is out the window. It's because he's gone I chose today to work on the book. Writing is something I need to do with no distractions. Randy can be one of those.

Paintings To Be

I received the best package yesterday ... and unwrapped them today. I finally ordered new panels ... as my studio was running very, very low on something to paint on ... especially in smaller sizes. Today, I unwrapped ten 6"x6"(nine of which are still paintings to be), twenty 8"x10," twenty 11"x14," ten 8"x16," thirty 16"x20" and ten 18"x24" panels. That's 100, oops now 99, pretty soon to be paintings. Maybe not in 100 days, but I'll work on it. This is one of the first times I remember being excited about that many blank canvases. All of these are Raymar panels -- museum quality, oil primed, linen-lined panels -- similar to the ones I used for my 100 faces project. I need to get around to toning a big batch of them so they are ready to go. Panels, versus stretched canvases, are much more practical for plein air work -- particularly because they are hardier -- more difficult to damage. In plein air -- everything manages to fall. Constantly. It's rough out there.


And ... as an ongoing reminder:
August Exhibit of the 100 Faces in 100 Days Project at the Artists' Atelier
I'll soon be hanging the second exhibit of these 100 Faces (or 101) at the Artists' Atelier to be on view from August 1-31. You are cordially invited to visit (I'll establish open hours and post those on my web site and here on the blog) and especially invited for the two main events.

Jill Banks' 100 Faces in 100 Days Exhibit -- August 1-31, 2011
Reception: Friday, August 12, 6-9pm

Ice Cream Social: Saturday, August 13, 2-4pm
At the Artists' Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA 22066

Read more about the project on my web site (www.jillbanks.com), go to the 100 Faces Project Pages 1 and 2 where you can see all 100 of my volunteers. Click on the paintings, and go to my blog post for that person's sitting.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 1 (faces 1-54): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 2 (faces 55-100): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project_2.html
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435

"Tomatoes and Onions" Painting Today

"Tomatoes and Onions," oil on panel, 12"h x 9"w, copyright Jill Banks 2011

I actually spent all day painting a red velvet cake ... but it's not working yet and the photo I took was pretty awful. So ... maybe tomorrow. Depends on how it cooperates.

Then, realizing that I needed to switch subjects, I returned to this painting that I had started as a quick demo awhile ago in my still life class. New tomatoes and different onions were cast as replacements ... and I couldn't find the bowl the originals were placed in ... so left that part of the painting as is. I wasn't sure how successful this was until I took the photo. Funny how that works sometimes. I may still tweak it tomorrow, too  but it looks good to me at the moment. Hope that moment lasts.

We had our end of class party yesterday ... with the majority of the class staying for some good food (lots of good cooks) and fun. This has been a great session and I'm a bit sorry to see it end. I'm still working on what workshops, classes will be offered this summer. Coming very soon!

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project: www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435 

"Sauce or Salsa?" Tomatoes Painting

Often I pick subjects in rotting priority order. I think I'll have time to get to them sooner, but I don't. Perhaps that's one of the consequences of attempting to pack in as much as I possibly can into every day.

This is my second tomatoes on the vine painting. The first, "Family Ties" sold in December. "Sauce or Salsa?" is a top-down view. They were sitting on a chair right next to my easel. It put all those reds piled up on my palette (permanent alizarin crimson, permanent rose, perylene red, cadmium red, cadmium red light, cadmium orange) to good use.

Today was a meeting day ... sort of played havoc with my painting schedule ... but it should help make the Great Falls Foundation for the Arts Spring class offerings much better.

"Sauce or Salsa?", oil on Senso linen, 8"h x 10"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010.

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