Floral III

This was one of my star paintings at the Artists Market show at the Leepa Rattner Museum in Tarpon Spriungs last weekend - Oct. 13 and 14. It got a lot of interest and I told a few people it would be up on my website so they could look at it later.  Unfortunately I couldn't get it to post until today for some reason. This fairly large painting is a lively still life of lilies in shades of pinks and golds.  Looks especially good in the wide gold fame I showed it in. FLORAL III, Acrylic, 16x12", $325, add $100 for the frame.

Storm Approaching, Oil, 11x14 - This is one of the original paintings I sold on Saturday Oct. 20, during Studio Waltz in Dunedin, FL.  Unfortunately I don't have photos of the other two originals I sold- or at least I can't find them on my computer right now.  I also sold several matted prints and handmade cards during the day.  The weather was beautiful - in the low 80s with a fresh breeze all day - I had a great time!! As I have for the past few years, I was set up by the lake in front of Blake White and Carol Sackman's amazing Mozaic House - studio #9 on the Open Studio tour.  So I got to paint en plein air in between talking to all the visitors.  A wonderful day!

Great Publicity for Plein Air

Recently I was contacted by a reporter for the Tampa Bay Times who wanted to do a piece about plein air  painters in the area. After a few conversations, she came out one day while our group, West Coast Plein Air - Florida, was painting at Orange Lake in downtown New Port Richey. Click on the link below to see a great newspaper article about it.  (Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to figure out how to post the actual article here without all kinds of ads and other extra bits.)

http://soc.li/2jEmNXI

Three from Honeymoon Island

Our plein air group, West Coast Plein Air - Florida, painted out for a couple of months during the summer at Honeymoon Island.  We were comfortable despite the Florida heat because we were invited to paint in the shade of the South Beach Cafe.  Of course we followed our tough mornings of painting the surrounding beauty with delicious lobster rolls for lunch from the Cafe. Good times!  These three paintings are all done in oil. From the top: Honeymoon View, 8x10; Secluded Beach, 11x14; Storm Approaching, 11x14.

Swamp Spring Morning

This oil painting was painted, mostly en plein air, in May. Our plein air group was painting in downtown New Port Richey near Orange Lake.  So it's actually not  in a swamp, but the vegetation, Spanish moss, heat and humidity made me feel like I was.
Swamp Spring Morning, Oil, 11x14

First Prize in Plein Air Competition-FL Blueberry Festival

Here is my winning painting, "Red Door" which won First Place in the Plein Air competition at the Florida Blueberry Festival in Brooksville, May 5 and 6, 2012.  I painted this view of the old Christmas House in Brooksville.  It's 14x11" and done in acrylic. 

I thought I'd include some of my preliminary steps to the final painting. Above you can see a couple of pages from my sketchbook, with thumbnail sketches to work out the composition -- my students groan when I tell them they must do thumbnails first, but putting in the time to do it really helps me work out the focal point and plan my composition to get what I want to achieve.  Under the sketches, is the oil under-painting I started on Wednesday afternoon, the first day I went out painting. Because this was a plein air competition, all canvases had to be stamped before starting out and turned in at the end of each day, so that people don't go home and use photos and other technological means to enhance their paintings. When I went back out on Friday to finish up, I realized I didn't want to use this first version of the painting because it emphasized the tree and not the red door, which was my focal point.  So I started completely over, this time with acrylics since I knew I only had an hour and a half until I had to turn it in at noon.  I raced and slapped the paint on to get it done in time.  At the top of this post you can see the final painting that I submitted for judging. I was quite surprised (very happily!) when I found out I won first place.

NOTICE ---  I have just published my new website!   I'm going to be adding more paintings and information to it for a while, but I wanted it to be available now.  Please check it out!

http://jennastarfriedman.com

Pond Reflections

This is a pastel painting I did as a demo during the Landscape/Still Life class I teach at the Pasco Art Center. I'd previously done an oil sketch in plein air at the site. This little pond is actually behind a parking lot in the Trinity area. I like the colorful reflections in the pond and on the foreground tree.
Pond Reflections, Pastel, 8x10

Beach Day; Lifeguard

I thought I had posted these pictures previously, but I just noticed the images did not upload. These are six inch square oil paintings which are described more below.

Anclote River

This is a painting I did in the studio of a view along the Anclote River. I've got several versions of this scene in varying states of completion. I've entered this one in the current show for the Pastel Society of Tampa Bay, which is being held this year in Tampa at the Carrolwood Cultural Center. The opening reception will be next Friday, Feb 10, 2012 from 6 - 9:00 pm. Everyone is welcome so I hope to see you there!
Anclote River, Pastel, 12x18" $425-

Lifeguard; Beach Day

Here are a couple of oil paintings from a
beach series I've been working on lately. These are 6 inch squares which is an interesting compositional challenge, plus they sell well at the gallery I'm in. (Artist's Faire Gallery in Tarpon Springs FL) If you're longing for summer at this cold time of year, why not pick out a couple of beach paintings to hold you over til then? Two for $100, shipping and handling included. No need to frame -- these have a very wide edge that is painted too. Wired and ready to go. Thanks for visiting!