Rainy Day Strategies for Wayne Plein Air

"Main Line Station," oil, 20"h x 16"w, copyright Jill Banks 2012

This HAS to be a short post ... so I can go to sleep and rest up for a very full day tomorrow. Today was the first painting day for Wayne Plein Air ... and this morning it poured. All last night I was trying to think about the locations to visit today and even on the car en route, I was flip-flopping. The destination for the rainy morn turned out to be under cover outside at the Wayne Train Station ... looking in on the cafe.  This painting is prettier than it looks here. That will probably be true all week as my photography set ups are haphazard. Tomorrow night there will be no time to post ... but that just means more to tell you about later in the week.

There was another destination for this afternoon. A rather breathtaking farm. And, rather doesn't apply. Again, more later on that.

Exhibits and Events

May 1-31, "Out and About" Solo Show, Katie's Coffee at the Old Brogue, 760-C Walker Road, Great Falls, VA. Painting on site: Wednesday, May 9, 1-4pm and Wednesday, May 23, 1-4pm.  Check back here before coming in case times change or dates/times are added. Thanks! Preview the exhibit here.
 

May 15-19, Wayne Plein Air Festival 2012, one of 34 artists juried to participate in a plein air competition and exhibit in and around Wayne, PA. Gala Preview and Artists' Reception, Saturday, May 19, 6-10pm at the Wayne Art Center. Exhibition to follow May 20-June 23 at the Wayne Art Center. 

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

Email
Phone: 703.403.7435

"Dining Room": Painting of an Interior Finished

I had "Dining Room", in an almost-finished state, on an easel during the Great Falls Annual Studio Tour this past weekend ... and it garnered lots of attention. It's the dining room from the home I moved from in July. I started it there ... with my easel in the dining room, with most of the lights off and a clamp light attached to the mast of the easel so I could make out what I was doing.

I'm always painting what I love. Lots (and lots) of nights in our former home, I'd wander around ... just enjoying the beauty of it from a doorway, or over the landing, staring out a window to the patio with lights from a tree shining on the brick pavers below. It whispered warmth and welcomed life.

As I finished this, now in a different house, I peeked at photos but relied on those wanderings and the memory of standing at my easel set up in the dining room ... working on letting you see what I see.

Even though the dining room seems empty, it holds all those Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners we shared. Birthday parties. Great get togethers. Happy meals. It's just quietly waiting for the next one. And looking mighty pretty in the meantime.

Most of my previous interiors have been of restaurant scenes including views from the Inn at Little Washington (Washington, VA), L'Auberge Chez Francois (Great Falls, VA), Pasquale's (Santa Fe, NM), The Old Brogue Irish Pub (Great Falls, VA) and Tutto Mondo (Carmel, CA). (You can see these restaurant interior paintings under Places in the Gallery page on my web site.) This past summer, I started painting inside a restaurant from life (as opposed to using photos as a reference) ... something I plan to do again soon. Lots of fun. Challenging. Painting what I love.

I plan to be at the Artists' Atelier (the studio I share with 16 other artists at 1144 Walker Road, Suites D&G, Great Falls, VA 22066) for our regular Saturday open hours (noon to 4pm) this coming Saturday. The place is still pretty well decked out from Studio Tour so it would be a nice time to stop by. For folks who visited last weekend, you'll have a chance to see how I finished two paintings ("Dining Room" and "Magnolia Leaves and Gourds") this week. I hope you can stop by.

By the way, this is my second post today. Read about my painting "Sunflowers" welcoming me home in the previous post.

"Dining Room", oil on linen, 18"h x 24"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010.

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