Dusk landscape oil painting; Between the Dark and the Daylight

This new oil painting is of the countryside near Staunton, Virginia. It captures my favorite time of day when the evening sky puts on a brilliant show.  It has been quite a while since I've been able to actually complete a studio oil painting. What can I say, it's been a hell of a summer! But I'm gearing up for the fall season so I am back at it. This painting is one of a new series I'm working on for a fall show about the "luminous landscape".  The title comes from a poem by Longfellow called "The Children's Hour" (one of my mother's favorite and oft quoted poems.) 

"Between the Dark and the Daylight" Oil on Canvas 24" x 20" (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

Buying art online

Have you ever had a miscommunication in email? Email is great, but because we are not dealing face to face, we have none of the subtleties of communication to observe when words alone are insufficient. Just as there is no experience like chatting face to face, there is no experience like seeing a work of art in person. Art is a visceral experience. On the other hand, viewing art online offers convenience & accessibility. You can look at your computer monitor after dinner in your jammies  (something you really can't do in most of the galleries I've visited!)  And probably one of the biggest advantages is that you can search through a massive array of styles, subject matter and price ranges all with a few keystrokes.  Of course, the down side is that you can also search through a huge range in quality as well, so you kind of have to love a good scavenger hunt!

But the online experience can provide a certain intimacy as well. One can become intimately involved in a work of art through various aspects of the online experience. This includes artist's blogs, information on the website, demonstrations, videos and more. By intimacy  I don't really mean people knowing each other's personal life; just intimacy with the artwork and the artistic experience through stories, connections, information about the art, etc. Many online collectors have the advantage of knowing a little something extra about the artwork or the artist. And often unlike some gallery experiences, one can even dialogue more readily with the artist as well.

I show my work both online and in the "real world". They both offer certain benefits to me as an artist, and I think each venue complements the other very well. I also shop both online and in the real world, (yes, for art! and other things too) but more and more I am becoming quite comfortable with shopping online. Of course I want to know that my purchase is guaranteed with a sound return policy and that there are testimonials that speak to quality and the buying experience, so those are things I would look for. But the world is changing and I think soon buying art online will come into its own.

Plein air painting in Maymont Park

It was such a beautiful morning (and uncharacteristically NOT humid!) that I went down to Maymont Park to paint the crepe myrtles in full bloom. I was dissuaded from heading into the main part of the park because several busloads of people were unloading themselves at the entrance. Sometimes I don't care about the crowds but today I wasn't in the mood. So I looked around and saw a rather ignored (and slightly overgrown) little park just across the street with some nice pink crepe myrtles and a stone obelisk. I will probably touch this piece up a bit, so I am calling it a work in progress, though I consider it nearly completed on site. 

"Dooley Monument, Richmond" 12"x9" (work in progress)

I don't know if this obelisk has another name than the one I've given it. My research so far has turned up nothing on this specific monument, though the writing on the stone clearly honors Mr. James H. Dooley, benefactor of many charitable and civic causes in the City of Richmond and the former owner of the property that is now Maymont Park.

What attracted me to this particular scene was the vertical movement of the monument and the trees, countered by the horizontal shadows that spilled across the ground.

Watercolor/pen and ink - Ocracoke Lighthouse

Getting back to the topic of my recent visit to Ocracoke Island, here's another sketch from my travels. I haven't painted many lighthouses in my day (okay this is the first one!) but the lighthouse of Ocracoke is such a visible landmark on this tiny island. In fact it is also historically significant as is the second oldest operating lighthouse in the nation. (In case you're wondering, the oldest is the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey.)

"Ocracoke Lighthouse" Original Watercolor & Ink on Paper

New Richmond Gallery: Metrospace Gallery

Last Friday evening I had the opportunity to hang some of my figurative paintings at the soft-opening of a new gallery on Broad Street. My work hung on one wall and the other wall displayed the abstract paintings of Will Turner (alas, no link provided because his website isn't finished yet.) For those who are familiar with my landscape paintings, you will see that, aside from my love of vibrant color, my figurative paintings seem quite a departure. Below are the paintings included in this show. These are large works focusing on women, with strong psychological and narrative content. While I am steadily continuing to develop and grow as a landscape painter, I will also be developing some new works more closely aligned with these large figure paintings, perhaps moving away from the narrative and further into abstraction. We will see! For more information on these paintings please contact me.

Regarding Metro Space Gallery: This is a huge new gallery and event space located in the heart of the downtown First Fridays Art Walk. It isn't quite finished yet (they are finishing the floors today as I write this) but even in its austere state it is a beautiful new space. The gallery is located at 119 W. Broad Street, right next door to Metro Sound and Music (same owner). I am not a gallery spokesperson, but from what I could gather, I believe they are on target to open in September if not before.

Update 7/25/07: The paintings of mine that hung in this exhibition are now on display at Plant Zero in the exhibition hall near the event space. :-)