New Award!

Evening Commute

9 x 12, oil on panel

private collection

I was very excited to find out this weekend that my painting, "Evening Commute," was given an Award of Merit in the American Women Artist's 2015 Spring Online Juried Show.  I've loved this painting, and am really happy the judge liked it, too.  Thank you, AWA!

-julie davis

On the Way Home

On the Way Home

18 x 24 in., oil on canvas

available at Davis Gallery, Austin

The pace of things lately hasn't allowed me much time to post, so my apologies for going off-line for a while.  We've had one graduate from high school last week, another get a driver's license the same week, and another finish 8th grade at her K-8 school.  It's been hard to stay in a painting routine, but I'm getting back on track.  

During the month of June, July, and August, Davis Gallery is offering a summer show, with new works by many of its artists, myself included.  On the Way Home is one of my newer pieces (you'll notice a smaller version from my January 28th post), and will go up with the show on June 7th.  The pieces will be available for immediate sale, and several events such as Meet the Artist evenings and Collector Happy Hours will take place throughout the summer.  I hope you'll stop by if you're in the Austin area over the summer.

-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

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

Point Lobos Cypress

Point Lobos Cypress, 6 x 8 in.
sold

While in California painting at Point Lobos, I saw, but never got a chance to paint, this scene, though it was at my back or just around a cove just about the entire time. I snapped several photos, and with the ability to use my studies on site for color references, painted this study this week. I've actually done a larger version already, and have had a good bit of fun with it!

-julie davis

Point Lobos Studies 3 and 4

Point Lobos, Study 3, 12 x 9 in.

white, dioxazine purple, phthalo green, cadmium orange

The second painting day at Weekend with the Masters, I again spent the day with Kevin MacPherson. This time his focus was on using a (very) limited palette, to promote harmony in the painting, and to primarily teach that everything in a painting is relationships. The colors used in this first study are listed above. Seeing what color relationships we could build just using these four--and that they were not the primaries, surprised all of us, I think.

Point Lobos Study 4, 9 x 12 in.

For this next study, he gave us individual limited palette assignments. This one was done with white, my standard "black mix" (aliz., ult. blue, raw umber), cad yellow lemon, and cad red light.

-julie davis

Point Lobos, CA

Point Lobos Study 1, 6 x 8 in.
nfs

Point Lobos Study 2, 9 x 12 in.
nfs

Last week I was able to travel to California to attend the Weekend with the Masters conference and workshop in Monterey. I spent four days soaking in everything I could in a fantastic learning environment, and painting in some very beautiful (but cold!) spots.

These are the first two studies I did--both in Kevin MacPherson's class, and both at Point Lobos. Kevin's emphasis in this class was on simplifying the outdoors--a lesson that continuously bears repeating. Doing a thumbnail sketch, or several, and keeping those simple, can help focus your composition. As Kevin pointed out, there are many things vying for our attention when we paint outdoors. Finding your darkest darks and your sunlight and shadow sides, keeping your lines connected (versus creating various separate shapes), and finding the rhythms that go through your composition help to keep a focused composition.

It was quite foggy, cold, and windy the first two days we were outside--think eight layers--so we got plenty of "gray days" studying in!

-julie davis

Northern California Fall

Northern California Fall, 6 x 8

I really had fun with this one. There aren't many pine trees around Central Texas, so I'd never painted them before. I have to say--they're quite fun to paint and I love the darks and pointy edges. :)

-julie davis

California Road

California Road, 16 x 12

sold

Again, working "larger." For me and many, time is the enemy when I paint. It's pretty easy to wedge an hour of painting time in every day--mostly. But fitting three to four hours of pure painting time is less so; it's usually a once a week occurrence at most. And more than four right now--forget it! That said, this is a 3 1/2 hour attempt from a 6 x 8 I've "grown up" to a 16 x 12 for my show. My post from October 1 is the smaller version.

-julie davis

Ocean Overlook

Ocean Overlook, 6 x 8

donation, Trinity Valley School, Ft. Worth, TX

In Frank Serrano's workshop at Weekend with the Masters, we painted on an overlook above Doheny State Beach, where a surfing competition was taking place. First lesson, simplify what you see.....therefore you see no surfers here. :) Frank Serrano is a fine painter and a relaxed teacher, and made the most of our day, keeping those of us who could stay later than required for an extra demo.

Judging the mass of color for the distant hills was much of our lesson in the morning. His demo was of this scene as well. He stressed constantly comparing colors and values--squinting to see the average color of each mass, opening your eyes to compare values. Getting the proper relationships between the three rows of hills wasn't as easy as it he made it look, but I think I got close.

-julie davis

Guardians of the Road

Guardians of the Road, 8 x 6

sold

Every time I go to California, I fall in love with its trees. I think these tall ones are eucalyptus--someone correct me if I'm wrong. Majestic and bathed in warm California sun....

-julie davis

Peaceful Grove

Peaceful Grove, 6 x 6

sold

This grove of trees had a most unusual shape. I've been longing to try a "mass" approach to a composition, and this offered the opportunity (it's from a photo I took on our trip to CA in July). Fridays are my longer paintings days, and I was able to get two finished in my three hour window. This was the first. On a side note, Austin finally got some rain tonight! Happy Friday.

-julie davis

Take Me Home

Take Me Home, 8 x 6

sold

As exciting and often restful as it is to travel and be without one's usual schedule during the summer, it always feels good to come home. "Take Me Home" felt like an apt title for this one, and reflects my readiness (or so I think) for getting back into the regularity of the school year.

-julie davis

Hillside Road

Hillside Road, 5 x 7

sold

California has the most compelling hills often with trees sprinkled atop them; I snagged a quick photo of this winding road as we drove along--I'd love to find out where it leads...

The PAA show last night had a great turnout, and looks fantastic. I even met blogging friend Camille LaRue Olsen who came to see all the work, and enjoyed seeing all the fantastic art that Austin plein air artists produce. Laurel Daniel, Quaing Huang, V....Vaughan, Trish Seigel, Stephen Parker, and so many others have work showing. Stop by if you have a chance--it's in the Corridor of Arts in the Chase Bank Building at 700 Lavaca, in Austin.

-julie davis