Great Falls Foundation for the Arts Gala This Friday

About 60 pieces of artwork were received, hung and arranged in the Artists' Atelier -- where my studio is -- in anticipation of Great Falls Foundation for the Arts (GFFFTA) Gala being held this coming Friday, November 21, 7pm to 10pm. All the work was donated by regional and local artists and collectors to benefit the newly founded Great Falls School of Art.

As a teacher (and student) of the School, I can attest that we need a suitable space and equipment, supplies and materials to make the school work and really benefit the community. I donated the three pieces shown above.
"Horse and Carriage", 5.5"h x 8.5"w (I think), pen & ink and ink wash, graphite and sketch & wash pencils; "Full House" (painting of three lemons and two plums), 16"h x 20"w, oil on linen; "On the Chopping Block", 30" x 30", oil on linen. The pieces will be sold at a silent auction Friday night. I believe the starting bids for the three pieces are as follows, in order, $112.50, $600, and $2450 versus retail of $225, $1200 and $3500. Tickets for the gala are $75 per person and may possibly be purchased at the door (number of guests total is limited to 300)-- but notify GFFFTA that you plan to attend. See the GFFFTA web site for more information. The Artists' Atelier is located at 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA 22066

"Pumpkin Pie" Preview -- Another Two-Day Painting of the Day

I'm not quite done ... highlights on the porcelain tend to work better when the paint has had a chance to set up ... but I decided to offer a sneak peek at today's painting. By the way, whenever you see a painting on my blog, unless it's a commission, it is probably available for sale. This one will be soon. 12" x 12", oil on stretched canvas, copyright Jill Banks 2008. Contact me: jillbanks1@aol.com.

I've been busy this weekend with some different activities. Saturday a.m. I attended a marketing seminar offered by the Arts Council of Fairfax County and learned about a great site, artdc.org -- where I plan to post a bio and access regularly for all sorts of art-related info. In the afternoon, I attended Heidi Mraz's workshop on "PhotoShop Elements: Beyond the Basics". This is the third of Heidi's crash courses I attended and I learned a ridiculous amount. This info is going to help me so much in preparing my photos (for my blog and portfolio) and working with source photos for my paintings. It's incredible! Heidi again did an amazing job. I highly recommend attending her courses.

After that, I tried to paint -- working on my portrait commission -- but I wasn't in top form so I undid my errors and worked on a different painting a day of some candy bars. You will see that soon.

Tomorrow I'm helping to hang donated work in the Artists' Atelier (my shared studio at 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA) for this coming Friday's gala for the Great Falls Foundation for the Arts to help fund an expansion of the Great Falls School of Art where I teach. Tickets are $75. Over 50 pieces of art are being donated. Starting bids are set at 50% (to 70%) of retail so this is an excellent chance to help a good cause and possibly get a bargain on some high quality art. I hope to see you there. See the GFFFTA site (www.greatfallsfoundationforarts.org) for more info.

Receiving Bob Hof Award at the Art League

I had the pleasure of going to last Thursday's evening reception and award ceremony at the Art League ... and Randy snapped this photo of me receiving my certificate for winning the Bob Hof Award, Best in Show for "Orange Peeled" in the "Small Works" show this month. Also see the Art League blog for more info about the show. See my earlier post to see the painting.
Hopefully, you'll return to my own blog regularly and check out older posts as well -- if you're a new visitor.

A Hersheys Kiss and Opening Reception Tonight at the Art League

These should probably be two separate posts -- but... Tonight's the opening reception at the Art League for the "Small Works" show where my painting "Orange Peeled" won Best of Show, the Bob Hof Award. The reception's from 6:30 to 9:30 with the Award Ceremony starting around 7pm. The Art League is located at 105 N. Union Street, Alexandria, VA.








The "Small Works" show was juried by Dr. Susan Frank, assistant curator at the Phillips Collection. Here's an excerpt from the Jurors Dialogue written by Erica Fortwengler at the Art League:

"I was looking for something a little different – a fresh take on a traditional subject such as still life, figure, landscape. I have a particular fondness for still life. I am interested to see how an artist can take a traditional subject like still life and make it new and interesting."

The pieces Frank selected as award winners are reflective of the works seen throughout the show. Frank awarded "Orange Peeled," by Jill Banks best in show. "This is a fresh take on still life, a different perspective."

"Hershey's Kiss" is the latest painting a day. The reflections in the wrapper are tough! It's a slightly different size, 6"h x 4"w, oil on stretched canvas. Most of the paintings you see on this blog are for sale. For the little ones -- the paintings a day pieces, I'm still trying to figure out a price, but I'll entertain any offers. Pretend like this is Priceline. Email me at jillbanks1@aol.com or call 703.403.7435. I'm thinking about getting set up on Ebay to try to make purchases easier. I do accept Mastercard and Visa payments. "Hershey's Kiss" copyright Jill Banks 2008.

Cupcake Alla Prima Painting a Day

So, "Cupcake" is yesterday's painting a day. It's 5" x 5", oil on stretched canvas, copyright Jill Banks 2008 ... so I'm back to the mini paintings and note: single object only (unless individual sprinkles count). Soooo much faster and easier!

Funny thing about all these paintings of food lately is that I've been on the South Beach diet for the last three weeks. So I get to stare at these goodies and paint them ... but not eat them.

This Painting a Day Took Two

I've been dying to post this one. I painted "Sunday Morning" on Saturday -- all day until my arm felt like it was going to fall off. Then I put some finishing touches on it today.

This is too large a painting for me to accomplish in one session -- at least for this detailed a style. It breaks every rule ... multiple objects, size of canvas, degree of finish. But I loved doing it!

I was tackling this project for two reasons ... my painting a day schedule plus my artist colleagues and I are putting on an exhibit of artwork featuring coffee cups (or teacups) to be displayed at the Conscious Bean in December. The Conscious Bean is a coffee shop across the street from my studio in Great Falls, VA. The Conscious Bean is located at: 10123 Colvin Run Rd
Great Falls, VA 22066. Phone: 571-237-3886

"Sunday Morning", 12" x 12", oil on canvas, copyright Jill Banks 2008. All rights reserved.

Today's Donuts: A Painting a Day Continues

I bought six donuts today at Dunkin' Donuts... all different and chosen for their beauty, not to eat. So, I have some subjects for the next few days. Today's discovery? Sprinkled donuts take longer to paint than plain ones and powdered sugar ones make pretty interesting subjects. "Four Square", oil on linen, 5" x 5", copyright Jill Banks 2008.

Alla Prima Painting a Day

So, after having just won the "Best of Show" for a small works -- I started painting even smaller. These two paintings -- the "Donut" from Tuesday and the "French Bread" done today are both 5" x 5" on gallery wrapped canvases. I really want to get into creating one each day -- or at least close. I bought a bunch of canvases at Plaza this am -- so I'm ready to go!

These are ridiculously fun to do... and hopefully will be fun to collect. They are painted alla prima -- or all at once, wet-into-wet oils. I work at getting it right from first to last brushstroke.

"Best of Show" - More Info

"Orange Peeled" won the Bob Hof Award for "Best of Show" in the "Small Works" Exhibit at the Art League (Alexandria, VA). That's number 1 out of 538 entries. The awards ceremony will be at the Art League on Thursday, November 13 around 7pm. The reception runs from 6:30 to 9:30pm.

Randy and I went back down to Alexandria today to take a photo of "Orange Peeled" and one of me. There will be a lettering added to the wall plus a tag with blue ribbon before the awards ceremony comes around. I'll show you that next week.

The Art League is located at 105 North Union Street, Alexandria, VA.

My name also appears in the December issue of Artist's Magazine -- as I was a finalist in their Annual Art Competition. Just a note: in 2005, I won my first Best of Show at the Art League and was a finalist in Artist's Magazine's Annual Art Competition for the first time. This year is my second time winning both of those honors.

My Mom's doing better -- out of the ICU and emailing me encouraging words. That's the best news.

"Best of Show" at the Art League

Last night, Randy and I trekked down to Alexandria, VA to the Torpedo Factory to enter this month's "Small Works" and "Large Works" shows at the Art League. Regular readers know that I torture myself over what to enter and where my various pieces should be. This evening, after teaching my portrait painting class in Great Falls I called the Art League to see whether or not my pieces got in. Rose O'Donnell, the Gallery Director who I know well ... and love ... answered the phone. She told me in her most nonchalant voice that no, sorry, #76 didn't get in. Oh, and #77, my second entry in the "Small Works" show won Best of Show!!!! I couldn't believe it! Really.

The award winner is "Orange Peeled", oil on Raymar panel, 8" x 6", $450. Contact the Art League if you are interested in purchasing. The juror for the Small Works show was Dr. Susan Frank, Assistant Curator at the Phillips Collection. Nice!

I last won Best of Show at the Art League in 2005 with "Alice with a Bad Case of Wanderlust." The Art League, with its 1000+ artist members is very competitive with a high caliber of art work in each of its monthly shows. This is an exciting honor indeed!

On a personal note, my Mom was operated on today to remove a parathyroid gland at NIH. The operation went smoothly with the outcome as expected according to my Dad. Tonight she moved into the ICU because of an irregular heartbeat ... so all the people who love her -- which probably is the whole world, and if it isn't, it should be ... will be anxiously awaiting news that all is completely well. I LOVE YOU MOM.