FW Hilton Vase With Peppers 16x20 oil

So I put the peppers up and got started. When it seemed to still need 'something', I added the jalapeno. That helped. 

Then it started storming insane amounts of rain and hail, on and off for two days, so the light was changing a lot. Even with our light boxes. 

Here is the painting from week four of the Tuesday Still Life Class here in Tryon. Everyone's work is improving, and we painters are trying different things each week. The set-ups are getting more complex. It is so good working with a group on a regular basis!

This set-up was a bit different for me. Nowell brought me this vase, and told me it was basically irreplaceable! It is somewhere in the $3,000 price range. That made me nervous! Then I put up some of my homemade bread (ask me for the recipe; it is so easy and pretty darn good). The oil and garlic had strong translucent colored light which is new for me. And the background is a 20x24 painting(?) that was laying around the Tryon Painters And Sculptors studio at TFAC. Sheesh.

I'm excited about the opening of the show at the Asheville Airport tomorrow. It will be up for three months! And I'm really looking forward to getting out and painting the changing Autumn landscape over the weekend. Hope you're doing well there.

It was another frantic day at painting class this week. Most of the 15 painters showed up, and worked very hard with excellent results. With so much going on, I didn't get set up until 11 or so. My friend Nowell Guffey had loaned me a Bybee vase from the 1920's or 30's. With some apples, and some navy fabric it was good to go!

Last Thursday was a terrific day in Charlotte; I delivered not one, but two portraits. 

Addison is a very sweet, bright, energetic girl; the youngest in her family. I've previously had the honor of painting her sister Brit, and we went in a very different direction for Addison. This painting is calm, indoors, reflective, traditional, horizontal... the polar opposite of Brit's! And to make things even more interesting, their oldest sister's portrait is square; how's that for an adventurous family!

I wanted to capture Addison's intelligent gaze and warm heart, in the home she has grown up in. There are large reminders like the panelling of the room and the chair, and small ones like the family heirloom clock, box, and books next to her. 

It is always such an honor to work with families, and reps like Kathy Southerland to create a painting like this. And things seem to be picking up. My 'Summer Special' pricing (nearly 25% discount on oil portraits) is ending October 31. If you're interested in discussing commissioning an oil portrait before prices go up, let me know.

But I have made a goal to paint a still life each week of this six week class. I think we learn more about the process when our instructor is painting and confronting the same challenges as the rest of the class. 

The thing I've learned is to schedule the class in the morning, so I can come back after lunch and finish my painting. This helps everyone; often half the class is still at the Tryon Fine Arts Center at 4PM.

So, again my friend Nowell Guffey loaned me another piece of Carolina pottery. This is a large jug, from the Catawba Valley (Hickory, NC area?). Nowell says it was probably made for moonshine in the late 19th or early 20th century.

Again, I set up a pretty colorful composition. I seem to be leaning heavily on the complementary colors these days. 

While getting the studio back into some semblance of order around 5pm, it was a joy as always to grab the peeled orange and eat it up. See the finished painting and other still life here.

Carson is a beautiful, effervescent child in Charlotte. She has a terrific family with two younger brothers, really sweet parents, and a three legged Lab named Emma. There is a lot of life and energy in their home!

Although Carson is very active and athletic, we chose a more classic, timeless approach for her portrait. We did include her 'lamby' to show her connection to her early childhood, as she continues to blossom.

Carson and Rich 10-8-10.

I have to thank Carson's family, Kathy Southerland in Charlotte, North Carolina and everyone at Portraits Inc. All the fantastic clients, portrait agents, and gallery folks make days like yesterday possible, and they have my sincere gratitude. I take very seriously my responsibility to make your trust in me prove well-placed a thousand times over.

We found this place completely by chance. The crazy thing is that as we set out, I mentioned that I had seen a great spot last year, but had no idea how I got there. As we were meandering, Jim took a left for absolutely no reason at all, and after a few seconds I exclaimed "this is the spot!" Talley Road west of Hendersonville. 

Join me for my Autumn Landscape Workshop and we'll take in this small slice of heaven together.

If your life is at all like mine then you sometimes feel like a juggler. Working on marketing efforts, following through on commitments to gallery and portrait clients, preparing to travel, being away, and getting home and back into the groove, teaching classes and workshops, and just life's ordinary course can all make it seem impossible to be at the easel!

And as much as I hate to admit it, there is often less than optimal news at many of these junctures. Gallery sales and commissions are not great despite incentives and diligent marketing. This or that sale or commission are on "hold", the six charcoal portrait sittings you thought you were doing on your trip are now three, the painting that went out on approval has made its way back to the gallery, the workshop is not filling up... statistically things are not looking great.

So you redouble your efforts; a new resolve to blog or send email newsletters more consistently, more effort to stay in touch with your sales team, increased commitment to get to the pesky last things on your to-do list; the ones that you've really been putting off because you know they will truly suck you into a black hole of time and expense. Things like a new website, or brochure, or redesigning your business materials.

Well, I'm here to tell you the best therapy (in my humble opinion). After finishing my new FASO website last Monday, I painted a still life demo at our first painting class here on Tuesday. Geez, that felt good. Then I had three full days to work on a new portrait. Somehow those days at the easel have released some needed substance into my brain. I have new resolve that this is what I do, what I am meant to do, what I have been doing for many years, and will be doing until, well... you know. Getting in touch with that inner core which has been sparking since the start is a powerful way to get past those nagging fears and doubts that can just suck the wind out of our sails.

Not to get all Pollyanna-ish on you. The world is still here, and it can be tough. But we too are resilient creatures. The marketing and travel and such are critical elements of our careers. They are 'work' and we can't beat ourselves up for giving them the time they require. But be sure to make time for what's most important. By spending time doing what we were put on Earth to do, we are immersing ourselves in some of the best therapy there is.

Here's my demo from Tuesday's first class at Tryon Painters And Sculptors in the Tryon Fine Arts Center. I teach this class every Autumn. This year we have sixteen painters!

My friend Nowell Guffey is kind enough to loan me his beautiful early Twentieth Century North Carolina mountain pottery. This is a Pisgah vase from 1928.

I always start a class or workshop with an explanation of my approach and materials, and then paint something. I say "painting is HARD!" So we try to break it down into its elements to figure out what makes a 'good' painting, and then go through the process over and over.

The first step is inspiration; what are we going to paint? It has to really get us jazzed, so as we struggle we aren't tempted to give up! I love that these pieces of pottery were crafted by artists here in the Carolinas. And apples are a big thing here too. North Carolina is one of the largest apple producers in the world, especially right here in the foothills. But for me it is color, with the turquoise cloth backdrop and variety of apples there is a sweet range of color to offset the dusky gray vase.

There will be five more classes and demos, so maybe I will address the other 'elements' over the next few weeks. If you want the full immersion, come paint outdoors with us October 23-27.

PS- You can buy this painting (and others!) here