View from the Hill

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

Earlier this fall I painted with Plein Air Austin just outside of Austin on some land near the Salt Lick (a relative barbecue institution around here). I came away from the paint-out with several studies, and this piece was derived from one of those 30 minute studies. 

For those of you in Austin for any time over the holidays, Davis Gallery is up and running with its annual Holiday Show. I dropped several new pieces by the gallery last week for it, and Bill, Jen, and crew there have been hard at work hanging everything to have it all ready this week. The show is open now through January 9. Stop by if you get the chance!

Lastly, I'm officially on Instagram now: @juliedavisstudio--give it a look:)

-julie davis

Cloudcover

Cloudcover

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

I struggled with this little piece a bit.  It's a seemingly simple scene, but my sometimes things flow and sometimes they stumble along.  Interruptions like phone calls, lack of singular focus at the start, having to leave for carpool and return to finish….hmmm…I wonder why…. Despite these conditions (under which I know better than to try to paint),  I like the result of my efforts. I do hope the next comes off more smoothly, however, because I really love scenes like this.

-julie davis

Cloud Study 1

Cloud Study 1

6 x 8 in., oil on panel

sold

Lately I've wanted to study clouds...this looking-straight-up view was the result of many photos I took last month that have been in my studio waiting for me.  I had fun with this--don't know where it will lead, but I plan to do more.  I want to become as confident about painting clouds as I am about trees.

-julie davis

Home Field

Home Field

16 x 8 in., oil on panel

Davis Gallery "No Place Like Home" Group Show

Saturday, April 20, 7-9 p.m.

837 West 12th Street

Davis Gallery in Austin is having a group show opening reception this weekend--Home Field is one of three pieces I just delivered for the show.  If you're in the Austin area and have a chance to stop by, please do!

-julie davis

So We Meet Again

So We Meet Again, 6 x 8

The way properties adjoin each other is one of the little tidbits I find interesting along the roads. Green grass can abut a field of golden flowers that can meet up with simple red dirt or a field full of cacti or cedars or oaks or all three. I liked the way the green shoulder here met with the wheat colored grass and muted flowers.

-julie davis

Summer Afternoon Rain

Summer Afternoon Rain, 9 x 12

Today's post is one I've been wanting to paint since some of us traveled to Bryan, Texas last summer for a Plein Air Austin event. We stopped at Lake Somerville, and I painted another scene that day, while everyone else painted this view. I took reference photos, and just gathered the courage to give it a shot.

FYI, the palette knife touches I'm using in these last few pieces seems busier on the computer screen than it does in person--something I'm beginning to notice and am not sure how to correct, except to put it out there.

-julie davis

Morning on the Lake

Morning on the Lake, 9 x 12

If you're lucky enough to enjoy a morning on a lake, then you know what a beautiful time of day it can be. In Calvin Liang's workshop last week, we met at Cypress Point Park on Lake Travis the last day. I painted this today from a field sketch I did that day.

-julie davis