Back in the Studio

Okay, I am back hard at work painting like I am afire again. The holidays and some of the running around with shows threw me off pace. So I have catching up to do.

Bayshore Arts is having an exhibtion in February and I will be submitting at least one piece for this show. The theme is LOVE.
The work will premiere here first in a day or so. I painted the work using water based oils in the hopes that it will be dry enough to submit by NEXT Saturday! One painting should be fine, but I am concerned about the other....I love thick paint.

I just joined this fine organization (on December 21st) and got the canvasses that day as well. I finished the paintings YESTERDAY. I am cutting this one close!

Longest Night

I have lots of reasons to dislike December 21st. I rue long dark nights and short cloudy days.
I never used to understand why anyone would not find December an uplifting month, however this changed just after moving to Naples in December 2002. Both my my mother and my father-in-law passed away within 10 days of each other and before Christmas. Change happens and sometimes "it leaves a mark".
So it is the longest night and my most difficult day and night of the year.
Ironically on this unfortunate day, I learned a lesson in the business of art that has me smarting. The lesson will make me stronger as a business person.
I wrote about it in my ArtNews blog. Time will pass and I will have moved on, but on the longest night, I am in no mood to look on the bright side yet.

New paintings will be posted soon. I have so many ideas, but in preparation for a number of things, my work has been on the back burner for a bit.

Longest night...then tomorrow each day, just a bit more sunshine (rain in the forecast?)...oh well, I will just take an umbrella and lots of plastic backs to pick up my work!

Next show

Moving on to the next show. December 2nd, Naples Community Hospital has a reception for the Atelier Lizio group show. I have 3 pieces showing. The community in Naples is very art oriented. Even some Starbucks feature the work of local artists.
August Skyscape is one of my paintings hanging in the NCH show.

Catalog of work! Exhibition schedule for November

It is possible the pdf file will load with page 14 first!
When this link is accessed via my website or
Blogger newsletter it loads correctly.

The theme of my work this season is characterized
by a painting titled (I'll take) Romance
http://www.trudybentleyrech.com/Romance.htm

Hope even if you are not in town, you will visit my website &
browse the catalog. I am seeking commissions and will
be happy to work out details for shipping work.

Twilight

Thought I would add the very latest painting here. I am very interested in how fading or early daylight influences the landscape. We have lovely pink clouds often in this part of the world. I find myself studying the sky every chance I can get to look at the colors. At dusk and dawn the transitions that take place have a pleasant little twitch to them...kind of a clash but not jarring (at least to me). The sun influences the clouds and sky more strongly while the trees and ground deepen. This is the view I have in my backyard. Golfers think of a fairway...I just think of the long view and the enjoyment of watching native birds and other critters enjoy their home.

Circle of Life

This painting is one of my newest ones. Don't know if it will be dry enough to frame for November 1st, when I am in a two person show at the Norris Center in the City of Naples, but if not, there are a couple of other opportunities coming up the 2006-07 season.

It is a small painting 9 X 12 inches in oil and on an archival panel.

Love of my life

I paid for many art supplies doing dog portraits when I was in art school. I do love dogs. All dogs but not just dogs. I love critters in general: birds, cats, dogs, frogs...etc...CRITTERS :-D.

This painting is a 16 X 20 oil on archival panel and framed in a gilded frame. It is "in the collection of the artist" and not for sale. The title is If Dogs Could Talk.
This dog does communicate very well with her eyes, ears, tail and amazingly word like expressions. She CAN spell and count. Dogs...I love dogs.

The friendship of other artists

No images with this brief post today. Just a thank you to my friends/peers who provide insight and encouragement as well as fresh perspectives. Arts organizations provide another type of support for artists, but it is the artist to artist connection that I value the most. Thank you for your comments and input, Ron Barsano, Dave Kuszinski and Larry Blovits as well as those artists who have made comments directly here following posts, I am grateful for the time you took to share your valuable thoughts. Gaining insight into one's own work is difficult. We can use a physical mirror to check it, but the eyes of others whose work you respect is the best mirror of all. Without reflection and hard work, little growth can be expected.
Now, to the studio!

Glades Song

I am not sure why, but painting the figure is so much fun for me. A local group of artists meet weekly to draw the figure from life. I am so happy to have this opportunity again. Hiring models is difficult on a tight budget, but being able to practice my craft with others not only keeps my skills honed, it is just plain fun. I believe artists need other artists. We have such a great informal group comprised of members of Jo-Ann Lizio's organization: Atlier Lizio
Occasionally, I hire a model or two just for myself. This painting: Glades Song is a result of such a session. I prefer not to do formal portraits, but to put people in natural settings and try to capture not only a likeness but the essence of the person/people in the picture. Here two friends/collegues are just visiting and enjoying a quiet song in a park like setting near the Everglades.

Whew

Balancing painting and real life can be interesting. I am coming up for "air" today. I just updated my website and added new paintings. Three are strictly about native Florida and one is about people enjoying natural beauty. I really enjoy figurative work the best, but nature comes in close second. Please visit my website and see the 4 newest pieces. Rabbit, Rabbit replaces Dancing Oak on the homepage. Old Spirit: Survivor is the painting of a gopher tortoise who has large scars on his shell as a result of being run over in traffic. A neighbor rescued him and brought him to his property. It isn't good to move critters (not sure if what he did was legal), however, this fellow would have been dead had he not been rescued. Development and roadways put animals like this amazing old fellow in grave jeopardy.

New related blogs

I took time yesterday to catch up with photographing my latest paintings and to create two new blogs!
Fun with Paint is all about having fun with paint or other material where the medium itself just takes over. It is about relaxing after working hard and playing with color and or images.

http://fun-with-paint.blogspot.com/
Check it out this is where I will be posting my experimental work.

The second blog is my Newsletter Blog. Trudy's ArtNewsLetter
http://trudybentleyrechs-artnews.blogspot.com/

While the plan is to update this site weekly, I will likely send out the link to my email subscribers only monthly. I do not want to become a spammer!

Lonestar

Met this fellow during a trip to Ft. Worth, Texas, last year. I took dozens of digital images of him and a few other cowboys who were there for a special event. I prefer working from life, but working out sketches for this painting could almost hear his charming laugh. I took many more images of the rodeo and some other interesting cowboys, and Indians.

To see more of my latest work, please visit my virtual gallery website.

Lost in painting

Well I hope that I can get a bit caught up this week. Been painting so much, that I haven't had time to post.
I will post a few new pieces here and of course on my home page.

This one is called Dancing Oak.

I have done so many still lifes that I needed to literally take a breath of fresh air. Check back again in a day and see another piece. I am also going to post some experimental works on another blog. Check for the link here later today.

Time

Where does it go? In case you didn't visit my home page this is the painting that "won" the front image.

Updated my website again

I have been working hard. Have two upcoming exhibitions that will add to exposure locally. More about these opportunities for you to see work in person as they approach.
I had a hard time deciding which of the paintings done in the last week or so to put on the front page of my site. I finally chose Eastern Influence, but wanted to showcase another painting as well. Do you think I made the right decision? The paintings are very different in mood.
This is the other contender:

It is a 16 x 20 inch oil on archival panel called (I'll take) Romance

Completed yesterday

I am using the working title, Patio Plants for this 16 x 20 oil on Masonite panel. I started it Friday and almost completed it in a short painting session. I was finally able to put finishing touches on it yesterday. The orchid is a cultivated variety with origins back to a native Florida orchid called the Butterfly Orchid. I have a Butterfly Orchid growing naturally in one of my trees but it took a hit from Wilma last fall and I don't think it will bloom this year. The blue flowers are plumbago and very intense in color. I got close to portraying the intensity of the hue, but I am not sure there is a pigment made to hit this color on the head. The other flower is a native wildflower which shows up in many states: common name...Blanket Flower.

New work: Feeling Sentimental

Feeling Sentimental is a painting of my favorite flowers...roses in a color my mother loved. I included her pearls in this 18 x24 " oil on archival Masonite.

Major website overhaul complete

As I get my business plan together, I am learning about how to reach out and share my work with the world. Following some excellent suggestions from collectors, friends, fellow artists and my husband, I made some major website changes. The new work is now shown first as thumbnails and can be enlarged by clicking. I am using only Contribute3 to edit and create pages. This software is excellent, but pretty limiting. One day I hope to be able to delegate my website maintenance to a real professional. For now, I have learned a lot and will continue to improve the site. Please take a moment to visit and send feedback via the links. An E-Newsletter will be forthcoming. You can sign up on the website or contact me via my profile here to subscribe. http://www.trudybentleyrech.com/

Newest painting

My newest painting is of a delightful woman who models part time. She is the first model I have hired for just myself.

I titled this painting “…brings her own light”




It is a 16x20 inch oil painting on archival panel. I am pleased with the result and plan on keeping it in my own “collection” for now.

Time to go plan the next painting!

Conte figure drawing

What I did to keep myself busy while the gesso on the new panels dried...a drawing on Bristol board (a type of stiff paper) treated with gesso. The gesso was applied as to create a random texture. This drawing is a study for a future painting.

Conte portrait

Had a nice opportunity to have a model sit for me. This is one of many images I will be working on in the future.

Tea and Roses

This is the painting in its almost completed state. I am ignoring it for about a week so I can look at it more objectively. Then, I can make any need adjustments and sign it.

Closer

The title is Tea and Roses.

Busy as a bee: underpainting

Been very busy painting. Thought you might like to see the latest one. Have a few minor things to do before I consider it complete. Depicted in this post is the underpainting. I had fun with Photoshop losing the background of my studio.

Another new painting

The three roses used in the other smaller paint were used again, but with a different perspective. When placed in a bleach and sugar solution, fresh flowers last a long time. This piece is a 24 x 24 oil on a masonite panel. I am using more panels now. Likely that I will be moving toward using Belgian linen in the near future.


The Key

New painting

The title is Three Roses.

Think of Roses

I have been so busy painting, that I haven't done any household chores...the garden is weedy, my hair needs cutting, but I am painting like a person possessed.
Hot off the easel, too wet to sign yet, this is one of the last three paintings I did. Working title: March Roses.

The workshop

Ok, I had planned on posting more during the workshop with Karol Kintz. But...I have been working my tail off. Good thing.
I see paintings everywhere I look...that is everything I see seems to be in painting form right now. Even the newspaper seems to be transformed. Boy is it ever hard work, yet fun and very exciting. Am painting some plumbago flowers now. I finished a painting of tropical flowers and posted it on my website. See for yourself the side by side comparison of the plumbago painting and the tropical flowers.

The plumbago flower has a very difficult to photograph and paint color. I am some paint straigt out of the tube to get the intense purple/blue hue seen in the shadows of this flower. It is a challenge to get the right feeling.

Red

This post isn't about RED tape, but about red roses.
I will be taking a workshop with Karol Kintz on still life painting. Karol (who I mentioned before in this blog) is an accomplished artist who is featured at the Knox galleries in Naples. She studied at the American Academy of Art where I studied as well. Karol also studied with the very famous David Leffel. Google his name! Wow, I would love to have one of my paintings sell for 25K or more someday...
I plan on posting a work from her workshop weekly. To begin, however, this is a small painting of roses I did as a begining point before the workshop. The format for this oil is 5x7 inches.
If you got to this page from my website, you can return by clicking here
http://www.trudybentleyrech.com/

Progress

Learned a lot this weekend about getting into being an artist as a business. Where I live in order to work professionally, one must have an occupational license and really set up with various State and Federal entities as a business. Lots of RED tape. I went to a workshop by a group of volunteers with SCORE. They are usually retired business people who have lots of experience. The Small Business Administration works through this organization.
I have a lot to learn and my target to be fully operational as a business is fall of 2006. I will first make a business plan. Nothing in art school or even college covers this type of thing. I am happy there is an organization like SCORE.

I will be taking a workshop this week. Posting a painting done to prep for it tomorrow. More about the workshop with the painting!

Website is updated

If you are reading my blog, take a moment and check out my new website....
http://www.trudybentleyrech.com

I have learned a lot. Most artists post their bio in the third person. This is the web. I want to be more informal. My Bio and formal resume will go with a package to folks who want this kind of documentation or if I am in an gallery exhibition or museum type show, but for online...I am staying casual...at least for now. What do you think of this painting? I am donating it to a charity event for Step by Step Early Childhood Development Center. They help children with developmental delays catch up. It is a great center. They use art to reach out to the young children. It is one of my favorite pieces, but theirs is a great cause. Hope it brings them much needed funding.

One more thing

New artist statement part one...more candid
Why do I make variety of art I make?
I am an intensely visual person with a huge curiosity about life science and the arts.
My artwork is about connecting both.
For example, when my subject is a person, I like to look beyond the physical shell to connect with the personality of my subject.
Capturing the physical image of the subject is fun. I see mass and form, flesh and structure with a spark of the person inside.
Painting becomes my dance inspired by vision, being actualized by my own muscles and bones.

Working on new site

Put up the site and now am revising it in a major way. Took down all the pictures. Building the site with only Contribute 3 and limited templates is frustrating, but I have learned to go around a lot of obstacles. Helps to play with software. I could envision getting Dreamweaver someday, but have some other items on my wish list, like an Epson 4800 printer. Great way to make digital prints AKA giclees with such archival qualities as to probably outlast most actual paintings.

My official website

I just published it tonight after finding a host and registering the domain name. I will have it looking better by tomorrow. Will be adding a counter to gauge traffic.

The Visit

This painting got me started back painting my favorite subject: People.

It is an acrylic painting done Alla Prima style on a 24 x 36 inch canvas. I don't ever really intend on selling this piece. "She" is what brought me back to painting representationally again.

Some artists and collectors only feel oil paintings are the most desireable. I like to use a lot of different mediums to express myself. I do love working in oil, but acrylic paint has wonderful qualities as well.

Growth

The sketch group was better than ever last night. One of the artists who was there is another American Academy of Art graduate. Her name is Karol Kintz. She will be teaching a limited sized class on painting flowers "Alla Prima". The style Richard Schmid http://www.richardschmid.com/book.html uses. I started at this school a few years after Richard Schmid went there. He was already quite well known. Mr. Mosby was his teacher and mentor. Although Mosby was still there when I went to classes there during the summers while still in high school, I was enrolled in life and fundamentals classes and didn't have the honor of studying with this wonderful painter. Fortunately Mosby's influence prevailed when I attended full time. Mosby's friend and fellow artist Joseph Vanden Broucke was my teacher. Mr. Van was a wonderful teacher. I hold the distinction of winning the Mosby scholarship. The year I won, my friend David Hettinger also won. They split the scholarship between us. My growth was stunted in some ways because of life choices, circumstances and perhaps even fear of failure/fear of success. Now, I am focused and enjoying growth. What will be will be. I have to paint. I have to draw. I am eating, dreaming and living my work again. The fellowship of fellow artists really helps. It is all about growth.

Conte crayon still life

This is a fully developed Conte crayon drawing. It is in the collection of a colleague. I really enjoy working in the medium. The subject? The seed pods of the mahogany tree. This species of mahogany is native to south Florida.

Conte crayon drawing

This is a nude from one of the drawing sessions. I will post more drawings, however, I am self censoring until I have my own website. Some people find nudes offensive. I don't. I started drawing nudes while still in high school. I did medical and biological illustrations while in college and later worked as a nurse. I find the undraped human figure to be beautiful.

My Friend David Hettinger

If you look close, David has a Salon de Garage postcard in his shirt pocket. Our visit was just wonderful. His success is inspirational to me. Not only is he very talented, but he is a very good person and loyal friend. I have a picture of the two of us taken with the camera's timer, but...I like being behind the camera and not the focus of it.
More links and pictures to come. Check back daily or at least every other day. I am looking over some drawings made at the Atelier Lizio's sketch group to post. After I resize them for the web, I will select a sample to add to the blog.

Good News with Plums and Green Apples

May have an opportunity to show in a gallery not too far away from Naples. Developments will be posted once confirmed. Not a good time to sit back and relax. I don't mind being busy this way one bit.

Good show

Well, I am happy to have sold 10 pieces. I was pleased to meet a number of people interested enough in my art to purchase it. Surprisingly, the small nudes sold the best. I enjoyed the exhibition. The funds from this show will be used to resupply and further establish myself. The biggest compliment anyone can give an artist is to buy a piece of that artist's work. Thank you to my new patrons. I look forward to additional encounters with these nice people and hopefully others who decide to add my original work to their walls in the future. Sona Gallery owner, Deb Angus went above and beyond to be helpful. The gallery business isn't an easy one. It was an honor to hang work in such a nice space. Angus is also an artist. You can visit the Sona gallery site by visiting the site below.
http://www.sonagallery.com/sona.htm


Check back tomorrow for an update

Hanging the show

Tonight, I will be at the Sona Gallery in Naples later today to hang my own work. Although the space is restricted because this event has 12 other artists showing, I have a great hanging plan. All the extras are under control. I have a guest book, business cards, bio and artist's statement as well as some brochures showing past and present work. The show opens tomorrow evening. I will be happy to take some of the day to relax. Today, I am adding a still life to this blog. I am feeling a bit hungry!

Another slice of the sky...

Sky Slices

Entitled Sky Slice: Blue this acrylic painting reflects my interest in clouds. I tried to add more than on file to show the other slices, but wasn't sucessful, so I will make seperate posts.

Plumbago in the Afternoon

This 5x7 inch oil will be part of the Salon de Garage exhibit opening next Friday evening and running through the day Saturday.

Violet at last

I thought "Violet" was not going to make it online. It is a "Naples" nude...in that the painting is pretty modest for an undraped figure. You can enlarge the images and then click the back button to return to the page.

Making a catalog

Today, I am working on a catalog of work currently available. I photographed most of the pieces on Tuesday and am now importing the RAW format images into PhotoshopCS to make certain the color profiles accurately reflect the work and to make smaller, web friendly files.
This is one of the paintings that will be at Salon de Garage at the Sona Gallery in Naples this coming Friday night and all day Saturday. The title, Violet, is not a woman's name, but refers to the primary pigments used in creating this small oil from drawings I made during the Tuesday sketching sessions.

Violet...doesn't seem to want to load so I am going to try "In the Rookery" to see what happens.

Reconnecting

Had a fantastic visit with David Hettinger yesterday. Dave's work is currently showing in one of Florida's premier galleries: Weatherburn Gallery. Their website is www.weatherburn.com
David is a Master in the Oil Painter of America. His work is absolutely beautiful. Have also reconnected with another former American Academy of Art student and now excellent painter Dave Kuczynski. His work can be seen on this site http://www.mowsart.com/ (check the gallery section.) One of our old group includes Ron Barsano. Ron is the first person I found when using Google to search for classmates. His work is just beautiful also. http://www.barsano.com/index.html I have asked for help from a fellow blogger and artist, Martha Marshall. http://marthabrooksmarshall.com/ She has set up links on her blog on a side area and I will be doing this soon as well. She has links to some of our other friends on her blog and website. Martha was very instrumental in my return to painting. The synergy from a group called BRAVA in the Tampa area gave me confidence to paint outside of the closet again and take my work public before we moved to Naples and it was time to get reestablished once again. BRAVA has a blog http://bravaartists.blogspot.com/

Exciting news

Not only will my work be featured in a show in Naples called Salon de Garage January 19th and 20th, but a very good art school buddy is going to be in town for the "season" openning show featuring his wonderful paintings at a very prestigious gallery. Woo hoo. The artist I refer to is named David Hettinger. His work is part of a group show at Weatherburn Gallery. He is a Master in Oil Painters of America. I am thrilled for him and very much look forward to seeing him after many years. We competed for and split the Mosby Scholarship at the American Academy of Art. He has more than paid his dues and I am playing catch up. Our competition was always friendly. Tomorrow I will do a digital photo shoot of all the pieces I will have showing to compile my catalogue for the show. It is my humble hope that someday, I will be a featured artist in a prestigious gallery such as above. I have had too many interests and not enough focus. It is harder now, but I am determined to keep pushing. I am very fortunate to be able to concentrate my efforts now.
I will post at least one of the pictures I will be showing...and hopefully selling! Very soon. Made an Access database for my currently available work yesterday. I looking to build my art as a business without losing contact with my creative side AND find a way to get the daily chores done!