A moment in Maine and Vermont

I now understand the appeal of a real, on-time, colorful September fall. As a Texan, I know a long, hot summer, and I always appreciate when fall finally decides to reach us, but some lucky people get it way earlier than we do in Austin. Obviously, theirs comes with a long, hard winter, so I can't say I'd trade them, but real fall in September is terrific, and feels really, really good!

Since my husband and I are living in New York this fall, we've tried to explore areas that are relatively close. So, we took a long weekend drive to Maine and Vermont last weekend, and I took my plein air pack and thoroughly enjoyed the times I got to unpack it and paint.

The photo above is in Kennebunkport, Maine, down by the docks where they bring the lobster pots in from the morning fishing trip. While I was painting these lobster buoys, a couple of fishermen walked by and struck up a conversation with me. One told the other I was "memorializing McDougall's buoys." I guess I was. I sure enjoyed the piece.

This is near Manchester, VT, at the covered bridge near Norman Rockwell's home, and below is my process on a gorgeous barn near Barnard, VT.

I could've stayed for days and painted this barn from many angles. The autumn foliage was the icing on the cake. I got a lot of photos and sketches, and hope to get to painting more on this unique structure when we're home. For now, I'm back in NYC painting on the rooftop!

-julie davis

Cross-training

The Drive

8 x 10, oil on panel

$800, available at Davis Gallery, Austin

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a wonderful week surrounded by those you love. Our girls return home for the holiday, and I've begun cooking--baking, really. Naturally, I have put my art on hold for a few days. I always think of exercising creative muscle in a different way is a bit like cross-training. I know l need that break from the routine to make me freshly eager to create, and I do come back to my studio with new ideas and a feeling of anticipation that almost makes my easel seem magnetic.

I hope you all get that break this week. If you want an infusion of art on Saturday as part of that break and are in Austin, stop into the gallery that represents me from 2:00-4:00. I'll be stretching my public speaking muscle with Gallery Director Kevin Iverson, answering questions about my process, and showing some studies and materials I use. I'd love to see you. And it's not a bad place to pick up a pretty killer Christmas gift. :) 

-julie davis

Davis Gallery

837 West 12th St.

Austin, Texas

512.477.4929

Earth, Land, Property - Oct. 27 through Dec. 1

It's been an insanely long time since I've posted to my blog. I'm sure if you're still paying attention, you've assumed I was never coming back to this platform. Instagram has co-opted my daily posts and made frequent posts easy, but I wanted to put a plug in here for my biggest show yet. Earth, Land, Property opens this Saturday, October 27, and runs through December 1. The opening is at Davis Gallery in Austin, 837 W. 12th St., and is from 7 - 9 pm.

"This five-person exhibit featuring work by Nicholas Baxter, Julie Davis, David Leonard, Garrett Middaugh, and Jason Webb, examines the human perspective of land. This show intends to question our place among nature and how we've chosen to use our land. Each of the five artist's work will represent a specific "locale" on the spectrum between natural land and dense metropolis.

Julie Davis explores the space just outside of our town centers. Her paintings imply a delicate harmony between man and nature. In some of her work, fields are plowed or simple homes are seen in the distance. In other paintings, Davis illustrates nature steadily reclaiming old shuttered shacks."

The pieces below are a few of the 31 pieces I dropped off last week for the show. If you're in the Austin area and can stop by for the opening reception, please find me and introduce yourself!

- julie davis

Kickstand

12 x 9 in., oil on panel 

sold

Marfa Blues

16 x 20 oil on panel

$1100

Grandfather's Barn

11 x 14, oil on panel

$900

Outreach

14 x 11, oil on panel

$900

Tipsy

Tipsy

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

My apologies for the inconsistent posts lately! I've been hard at work all spring behind the scenes. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I've taken two workshops, one with Randall Sexton and Plein Air Austin here in the city, and one in Kerrville with Matt Smith through Kerrville Arts and Cultural Center. Both workshops have kept me trying new techniques reinventing some old, and renewing some of my equipment and supplies. Spring is a time of renewal, and I'm on board. :)

This little guy is a tree out on a golf course in Bastrop, Texas. I spent a couple of days out there following my youngest at her tournament, and sketched and photographed more than a few trees in the process. Despite the overcast skies, I got some fun study material.  This painting sold to a dear friend of one of my daughters. She's just finishing college, but is already an art lover and a collector! 

-julie davis

Hill Country Cold Front

untitled

12 x 16 in., oil on panel

available

Picking up where I left off...:) As I mentioned a post or two back, I've been building my more daily presence on Instagram (@juliedavisstudio) rather than here on my blog, but going forward I'll continue to post small works (6 x 8 and under) for sale here. I may post some larger ones, but those will end up for sale in galleries or shows, and like this one, will not be for sale online. 

2016 held a ton of changes for me personally, and I won't get into all of them, but a high school graduation, a move, and a remodel are just a few. So I put on my mom/wife/house manager hat for a while, and haven't been able to paint as consistently as I would like. I believe I'm finally getting a crack at consistency as of this week (!!), so look for posts several times a month here, and several times a week on Instagram.

This piece I worked up in the studio from a plein air study I did in November at Wenmoh's Ranch near Austin. A cold front blew in just as we drove up--the beautiful blue skies gave way to gray, and temps dropped instantly--but it was welcomed cold weather in this unseasonably warm winter!

-julie

@juliedavisstudio

Hillside

Hillside

8 x 6 in., oil on panel

sold in Hurricane Harvey fundraiser for the Rockport Center for the Arts

Small cedar trees like this one dot the landscape in and around Austin, and soon some festive folks will begin decorating the roadside ones with tinsel and ornaments in celebration of the Christmas season. Last year I managed to do a painting of one near our house. I'll definitely try to get to one again this year. 

I liked the way this tree had a small cut in the ground that led up to it with the grasses working to fill in the gaps. I've done a slightly larger version of this study for Davis Gallery's annual holiday show that opens soon here in Austin--I'll announce dates when I have them.

-julie davis

Cool Hilltop

Cool Hilltop

8 x 6 in., oil on panel

Fortunately, spring has been relatively rainy in the Austin area this year--and we are grateful. It's made for a wonderful wildflower season, and the bluebonnets this year are no exception. This little piece came from my outing last week near Marble Falls. It was an on-again, off-again morning with the sun and clouds vying for dominance.  

-julie davis

Passage

Passage

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

This is one of my favorite kinds of scenes--why I paint landscapes.  Long views with distant hills and gentle giants.   It's the peacefulness, I think, and I will never grow tired of it.

-julie davis

Tree Lines

Tree Lines

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

As with my post from Tuesday, "objects in blog are not as vivid as they appear." I have got to get my camera sorted out--the photos I'm taking are in technicolor, and I haven't changed anything.  The auto-focus, however, has not worked, so I'm perplexed.  I'm bound for the camera shop.  This little piece is a relative of "Compatible," in that they're both from the same area of the Irish countryside.

-julie davis

An Austin Christmas

An Austin Christmas

8 x 6, oil on panel

sold

Well, I got my act together and managed to paint this morning--early--before anyone in my house awoke (it's actually a nice time to paint).  For those of you who do not live in Austin, this piece is emblematic of some of our roadsides during the Christmas season.  You'll find hundreds of cedars that dot the landscape along our major roads decorated by folks who feel inspired...some have themes, but this one is how I like them best. I really enjoy the holiday spirit, and equally appreciate the good citizens who take it upon themselves to pick up after the season ends to leave these cedars back in their natural state.

I found this particular tree on Mt. Bonnell road, on the bend just past the Dry Creek Cafe. 

Merry Christmas, everyone.

-julie davis

Well-Traveled Path

Well-Traveled Path

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

Another piece from our time in France.  Though this is a simple scene, I was so over-stimulated with beautiful landscape there.  Since I began painting a few years ago, the very first thing I notice when I visit a new region is the trees--and then the colors in the landscape, which added an entirely new aspect to travel for me.  I chose to study this familiar scene because it was a family trip with little time to paint, but I'm definitely looking forward to a trip back someday to work on the less familiar aspects of the landscape there. 

-julie davis

Gold Leaf

Gold Leaf

11 x 14 in., oil on panel

available at Davis Gallery, Austin, $900

These trees were intertwined, and the yellow one, though in decline, still invested the energy to produce a few beautiful golden leaves.  I found it compelling, though my husband thought I should name the painting "Old Yeller," or "Yella Wood."  See what kind of help I get around here?

-julie davis

Shaded Farm Road

Shaded Farm Road

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

This piece of land is just outside of Kerrville, Texas.  The composition didn't require much creativity on my part--it was ready and waiting for me.  The shaded dirt road led right to the lit bales of hay and around to an old hidden structure behind a fence. I just tried to do it a little justice...

-julie davis

Evening Commute

Evening Commute

9 x 12 in., oil on panel

NFS

After a fairly lengthy absence from posting for me, I offer this.  Evening Commute was born of a trip to California last summer--I posted a warm-up for it a few posts back (In the Tall Grass).  I painted this one, a 9 x 12, at the start of this month.  It's been a long absence from posting, but I think over that period I've developed some confidence about my painting style that I attribute to time, practice, and a modicum of success when I needed a shot in the arm.  I feel really good about this one, and I want to keep it to remind me of where I want to be.  I hope you like it.

I hope to post more regularly going forward--many goals for the new year, and much to accomplish!  Thank you for following. :)

-julie davis

End of the Line

End of the Line

8 x 16 in., oil on panel

nfs

On the second day of KOPE I painted at a farm that I'd been to last year--lots of goats roam freely on this one.  Unfortunately, goats aren't my subject of choice or I'd have been in heaven.  :)  There was, however, this old garage and shed behind it at the end of a drive with a little bridge leading up to them.  I found shade in a field under the hatchback of my car (is that even the right word anymore?) and painted among the goats.  I kept this format throughout the competition, and love the way it suited the landscape.

-julie davis

KOPE participation 2013

Surrounded by Sunflowers

8 x 16 in., oil on panel

The show for the Kerrville Outdoor Painter's Event in Kerrville, Texas, in which I took part earlier this month, came to a close this weekend.  At the close, I was able to get some better photos of the pieces I entered (the ones I took initially were, frankly, terrible quality, so I haven't posted them), but I'll post the new ones over the next week.  This was the first painting I did during the competition; I kept all of them in this 1:2 format for the remainder of the week.

-julie davis

Barn, Late Evening

Barn, Late Evening

8 x 6 inches, oil on panel

I'm back from my summer posting hiatus, and happily so.  Our family took priority this summer--lots of travel and down time with the girls and Ben. Our eldest is a senior this year, so my tendency to put my kids above my painting has been in full force.  Now that they're back in school and I have blocks of time, though, I'm diving headlong into my work with a healthy mixture of fear and anticipation.  Fear that I've forgotten everything (including how to post) and anticipation of the lofty goals I've set for myself.  Bear with me as I "brush" the rust off and get back in the flow.

This piece is from a scene I came across this summer in a valley in northern California.  I wish I could've stayed there and painted for a month. So many beautiful scenes, and this subtle evening light was delightful.

-julie davis

Early April

Early April

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

I've at last had a chance to work on some 6 x 8 studies--something I love to do because of the amount of practice it allows.  When I'm able to do a few in a row it's great practice in composition, and it keeps me interested. :)

I actually started this piece a little over a week ago as a quick sketch after I wiped down a larger plein air piece (of a totally different subject). I had to stop about 10 minutes into it at the time, but picked it up today, and I like where it went.

-julie davis

Tree Study

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

I'm finally back into a bit of a painting "routine" post-holidays and now that the kids are back in school and settled.  This tree study was a warm-up before I worked on another piece.  I'm trying to jump back in with plenty of quick studies, but my ultimate goal for the year is to paint larger...I've created one already that's bigger than anything I've ever done, and I'm about to start another.  Kind of exciting, and intimidating!

-julie davis

Convergent Paths

Convergent Paths

9 x 12 in., oil on panel

This is one of the pieces included with my current work in the Davis Gallery Holiday show.  I painted it at a local park here in Austin called Mayfield Park--known for its beautiful gardens and peacocks, of all things.  Of course, I chose to head down a trail and paint trees. :)  

-julie davis