Update: Demo this coming Friday 9/2

As part of the monthly Marietta First Friday Artwalk,  the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art will be hosting my plein air painting demonstration, as well as a display of my recent paintings, this coming Friday, September 2nd , from 5pm to 9pm.  I plan to be out on the front porch, weather permitting. Please drop over and say hello, (and bring me a large iced tea!).  Also, if you have any inquiries about my upcoming classes, it's a good opportunity to ask questions and get an idea of my painting process.
Have a good labor day weekend!

Saturday painting 'demo'

Above is my 'demo' from this past Saturday, painted at Blick's Art Store in Roswell.

  I particularly enjoy painting scenes which are a combination of garden, landscape, and buildings. Buildings and homes , particularly older ones, seem to have a character or story about them; and combined with the natural world of plants and landscapes, they seem to stir some memories , or maybe offer implications, which you can't quite grasp.  At least that's the case for me.   

Thanks to the friendly staff at Blick's, and to those who came out to see the demo.  I appreciated your comments. 

It's looking like a busy September; I'll plan to post an updated event list soon.  Hope to see you around!

John

A painting of Providence Canyon State Park

Hello blog readers,

FYI....I've added references, on the right side, to some galleries currently carrying my work. I hope you'll drop in and visit sometime. They're both beautiful spaces, and you'll find the owners to be some of friendliest people you'd ever want to meet.

A recent event update......I'll be giving a painting demo this coming Saturday, August 20th, at the Blick Art Superstore in Roswell., GA.   I'll be there from 11am-2pm.  Please drop by and say hello!

All for now

John

painting outside (aka: plein air)

Here's the painting I started at Friday night's Marietta ArtWalk, (and finished there again last night, Saturday, in an additional half hour).  Friday, I was dodging back and forth with customers looking at my small display of paintings, with which I had some modest sales success, so it slowed my painting a bit. It was a pretty good turnout of friends, a nice former student, and quite a good crowd in general, on such a warm evening.  Okay, here's the bad part...I even hestitate to remark, since this sort of thing just 'bugs' me a bit.... but remember, I've mentioned before, often 'things' happen nearby when you're out painting.....Anyway, when I was finishing up the painting Saturday, (around 6pm....and i was just across the street from the Marietta Square , painting this scene)....a huge 'flash mob' occurred on the square... with at least several hundred people involved, singing and dancing to some dumb song.....(I learned later it was said to be for a good cause; helping support a charity);  but even so...i don't know.... I guess I'm a spoil sport, but I generally don't like mobs of any kind.......except those that flock to artshows, of course!

A reminder to any interested oil painting students......my upcoming classes are starting in September......(9/12 for the studio class, and 9/24 for the plein air class)......please feel free to contact me if any questions, etc.....

best wishes to you, and thanks again for checking out my blog. 

john

Yosemite Valley

When I was a kid, our family always went to Yosemite for summer vacations, and it's places like this (pictured) where we often had picnics,  and went air matressing on the icy cold Merced River. 

After posting this painting, I've now have noticed a few small corrections I need to make.....seems one can sometimes spot little problems in photos that you don't see when looking at the painting in person.  Oh well, it's always something. 

I keep forgetting to add my gallery info onto the blog-site....should be forthcoming soon.....

Take care

John