Jones Gap State Park-Middle Saluda River

I took a little drive up to one of my favorite spots today- Jones Gap State Park. Rather than using my pochade box and small panels, I wanted to attempt to paint the river on a large canvas, so I used my french easel. It was fun, but the sun was constantly in and out, so I spent the entire time just drawing the scene and plan to go back, hopefully, this week to finish it. I'm hoping that when i go back, it will either be a cloudy day or sunny the whole time. This is a photo of the underpainting. I really enjoyed painting larger, and plan to do more of it, now that I have finally learned how to stretch my own canvas.
The bonus of painting there, is when I'm done, I can eat my pb & j sandwich in a gorgeous spot and then take a nice hike on the trail. I didn't get much of a hike though, because although it was sunny on my side of the mountain, I could hear some pretty serious sounding thunder behind it. So, I quickly got back to my car and made it home just before it reached my house. Good timing so I could bring in the cushions from the deck and roll down the umbrella before the high winds hit. I took pictures of the approaching storm from my garage. It looked alot like a Nebraska sky.

Rose Garden at Furman Univ.

A couple of weeks ago,I had the joy of spending a morning in the most incredible rose garden I have ever seen. The gardener told me that I had picked the perfect time to be there, while the roses where in full bloom. I wish my painting could do the vivid colors of the roses justice. I painted this on location there, under a shady spot in the corner of the garden. I could live there, I love it so much. I must say, I was quite overwhelmed by the sights and had such a hard time deciding what to paint. Once I found my location, what a challenge it was to try to keep everything organized. The light was changing, so I had to stop after an hour and a half, leaving out the gazebo. Today, I worked from photos that I took that morning, and painted the gazebo into the scene.
Furman Rose Garden
9x12 oil
$200 unframed
$225 framed
plus $10 shipping

I'm back to blogging.

Wow, I knew it's been a while since I've posted anything on my blog, but I didn't realize my last one was in February!!! I have been painting, but, pretty sporadically. Life just gets busy sometimes, but I'm definitely looking forward to being more consistent in the very near future. I did this painting of the little pony back in March, but I was having photo editor problems on my computer and wasn't able to crop it, etc until just recently. It's working now, so I don't have that to stop me.

Some good things have happened lately, such as winning second place in the Artisphere Artists of the Upstate Art Competition. That was a great surprise. Last year, my entry wasn't even accepted and then to win 2nd place was more than I had hoped for. In late April I drove to Buford, GA to compete in a plein air competition there. What a dream come true to be able to walk in the backyards and gardens of some of the beautiful old homes there, and set up my easel to paint. I will post one of the paintings from there soon. I didn't win anything, but it was a great experience and I met alot of really nice artists. Thanks for reading my blog. I will be posting more paintings soon.

11x14 oil painting on Raymar Panel

$275 unframed

$375 framed

$10 shipping

Acceptance!!

Woo Hoo!! This painting was accepted in the Richeson 75 International Show! My first attempt at a national show, I'm very pleased!

Rose Garden, Mt Vernon Gardens in Omaha

I have been painting. Just not as often as I would like. My mom and I have both had a bunch of dr appts lately, cutting my painting time short the past few weeks. I've been getting in the studio consistently, though, even for just a short time.
This piece was done in August of 08 when I still lived in the Omaha area. It was done en plein air, at Mt Vernon Gardens. I love that place. I ran out of time that day and didn't get around to finishing it until last week. I had fun with glazing medium again, rubbing it in with my fingers and brightening the painting up with brighter, deeper colors.

Mt Vernon Gardens Email me if you are interesting in purchasing this one.
12x9 jacki.newell@gmail.com
$200 unframed $225 framed plus $10 shipping

Alaska Woods in October

I painted this one "en plein air" while in Alaska in October. This was the scene in the back yard of the people's home that we stayed at-John and Linda Luberger in Wasilla. I had to quit before I was finished and never got back to it until yesterday in my studio. I added some color to brighten it up a bit to make it more like i remember the scene. I love the lighting in Alaska that time of year. The sun is so low in the sky through out the day, so it looks like morning all day long=my favorite lighting for painting. I was so inspired to paint while there, but only got around to painting one afternoon. If I ever get to go back, I will definitely make a point to spend more time outside with my paints!

8x10
oil on gessoed board
$150 unframed $225 framed, plus $10 shipping.

October Alaska Scene

Here's a painting I finished today. 10x20 oil on canvas board. This is the first one from my trip from Alaska in October.
For sale $375 unframed, $400 framed, plus $10 shipping.
Email me at jacki.newell@gmail.com if interested in this painting.