Sunset at Tolers by Leslie Pratt-Thomas 24×36″

[image]

Leslie Pratt-Thomas. Fabulous artist and nicest person ever! What a striking painting this is! I love the dramatic colors in the sky.

 Shy Guy by Leslie Pratt-Thomas 20×24″

[image]

Another fabulous painting by Leslie, it looks as if you could reach out and touch these sunflowers! So nice!

If you’re in the Charleston, SC area, you can see Leslie’s work up close and personal! Visit Edward Dare Gallery (Charleston) or Sandpiper Gallery (Sullivan’s Island)!

Read a bit about Leslie from her website:

Leslie was born in Canada and has had a rich and varied life experience – from bartending and skiing in the Rockies to working as a paralegal in Charleston, SC, her chosen home. After her post-graduate work she was a practicing therapist working with troubled children and families. Since having children of her own she has devoted her life to artistic endeavors. She approaches life with passion and paints in the same manner.  

She has been painting in oil since the mid 1990s and is driven to learn from the best. She has painted and studied in Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and Mexico with a variety of noted mentors. Although preferring to paint from life, studio work is a large part of her practice. 

In addition to her numerous local and national awards her piece titled, I Can Fly, was chosen for the cover of the novel Swimming Lessons by New York Times best-selling author Mary Alice Monroe. In 2009 she was asked to illustrate Shackles – a children’s book written by South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Heath Wentworth. Both were received with much admiration and Shackles won the Moonbeam award for multi-cultural children’s literature. Leslie was excited and challenged to illustrate these highly acclaimed creations.  

Leslie’s work has been included in both national and international venues. In 2011, three of her pieces were chosen in the Paint America Top 50 and Top 100 national competitions and were exhibited in a show at the Coutts Museum of Art in El Dorado, KS. Another piece reflecting the beauty of coastal shorebirds was chosen to exhibit through 2014 in the Art in Embassies program in Dakar, Senegal.  

In the last few years she has started teaching. According to Leslie teaching new painters is: “Pure pleasure. Seeing my new students’ perspectives and growth reminds me of when I first started painting and began viewing the world through an artistic lens – there is nothing like reliving that experience and sharing what I have learned with new painters.” Her classes are small and limited due to space and time constraints. 

Leslie’s work can be found locally at Sandpiper Gallery on Sullivan’s Island, SC, and Edward Dare Gallery in Charleston, SC, also at Muzio Designs in Essex, MA, J. A. Willy Gallery in Naples, FL and on her website, www.lesliepratt-thomas.com

All images used with permission…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Spring Still Life  16×20″  Oil

Kyle Buckland. This painting struck me, as it’s different from his usual subject matter (which is fabulous)! Nice composition. I love the many varied colors, the elegant bend of the watering can, the pops of yellow and orange and the airy quality of the white flowers near the top.

Early Spring Pastures  24×30″  Oil

Kyle paints wonderful landscapes. and this one is no exception. I love his brush strokes. What fabulous trees, wonderful color palette – what a great painting!

Read a bit about Kyle, from his website:

Kyle Buckland, born in 1984, lives with his family in the southern region of the Appalachian Mountains. Painting has always been his passion and his true calling. Kyle explains that art is a language to communicate that which cannot be communicated through any other language. It’s the soul in the exterior of all things. It relies on love, beauty and passion to exist, three things which are crucial to our well-being as humans. To me art is everything.

     His talents in painting and drawing were recognized at a very young age, and Kyle was encouraged by his family and teachers to seriously explore the possibilities of art at around age 15. After painting nonstop throughout his high school years, real life came along and Kyle needed to make a living so he began working as a scenic artist painting backdrops for a theater in his hometown. Working on sets for plays was a wonderful experience for Kyle as it allowed him to express some of his artistic yearnings and get a regular paycheck, but something was missing. That something was the complete freedom to do what he had always known he was meant to do…create masterpieces! Kyle met his wife Jennifer who is also an artist and they took a leap of faith and both quit their full-time jobs to make a living solely off of their art. It was rough at times but each year has been better than the last, and we love a good challenge, Kyle explains.

     Now Kyle’s work has been recognized by national publications on plein air painting and featured at outdoorpainter.com, home of Plein Air Magazine, on three different occasions in articles concerning contemporary impressionism. He has garnered many awards and his work hangs in hundreds of private and corporate collections in the US and around the world. No serious collector should overlook the raw talent and passion in Kyle’s work. He is inevitably one of our next great American Impressionist painters!

All images via KyleBuckland.com, used with permission…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Midday Rest by Kathie Odom  12×16″ Oil

Kathie Odom. Wonderful work! What a treat it was to peruse her paintings! I like the light feeling of this painting, the unfinished grass, the light shadows on the building and the dark interior which just made it all come together so nicely!

Interested in taking a workshop with Kathie? You may be in luck… there was a spot or two available last time I checked, I can’t promise there is still an opportunity, but it’s worth checking! I think this will be a tremendous opportunity if you’ll be in the Lake Toxaway, NC area in September (2015)!

Landscape in Oil From Photographs

Workshop Dates: 9/17/2015 – 9/19/2015
Location: Lake Toxaway, NC

Read a bit about Kathie, from her  website:

Landscape painting feels like a new-found love, but it’s actually an old love, rediscovered.

Now I am expressing what has influenced my creativity for an entire lifetime… childhood memories of having both my father and grandfather in the building trade, an ever-present attraction to things of God, and a high school art teacher that showed me I had a love and an ability to create beauty.

Beauty and creativity connect me with God. When I am building oils onto a canvas, something is happening within me that cannot be explained with the word connection. With Him I begin to paint from my gut, even from my toenails! And it draws me even nearer to His people… which then takes me back to the dwellings, homes and landscapes that I paint. I think: Who lived in them? What was their life like? Did they recognize the beauty of their surroundings like I do?

With gratitude I am beginning to see what I have been given, and I am now accepting this gift of painting. 

All images via KathieOdom.com, used with permission…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Lipstick  |  31×19.5″  |  Pastel on Paper

Ilene Gienger. Just look at how she can make pastels bring a subject to life on paper! I love the unfinished, cool abstracty background. This is an amazing piece of work! Great color harmony!

Amy on Red Couch From Life  |  8×16″  |  Oil on Panel

Another that I think is fabulous unfinished! It lets your brain finish it for you! That red… dynamite!

Check out Ilene’s blog, it’s full of great information and fabulous paintings!

Read a bit about Ilene, from her website:

Growing up in a rural area of southern Oregon, Ilene comes from a community of self-sufficient residents—a town where strong family values and hard work has shaped both her personality and her paintings. 

She was introduced to art at an early age and by the time she had reached her 20’s, she decided to pursue a career in art, enrolled in and graduated from Southern Oregon University, and in the 1990’s began instruction with renowned workshop painters.

For twenty years, Ilene has produced collectable paintings that now hang in homes, businesses and galleries across the country. She has been recognized as a highly accomplished pastelist and oil painter and has been featured in magazine articles such as the Pastel Journal, American Artist, SW Art and International Artist.  She is a signature member of Women Artist’s of the West, the Northwest Pastel Society, American Impressionist Society and the Pastel Society of America. Her honors include an award of merit from American Women Artists, first in the Women Artist’s of the West Exhibition, second in the Northwest Pastel Society’s International Exhibition, second in American Impressionist Society’s Exhibition and was an active juror for the portrait/figurative category of the Pastel Journal 100 Competition.

Whether oils or pastels Ilene’s works share the same freshness and confidence, portraying the mood and personality of ordinary and extraordinary people—figures whose inner essence comes through in a quiet and endearing manner. 

Ilene continues to share her skill and love for painting through national workshops and private instruction, both locally and nationally. She conducts weekly open modeling sessions at her home studio where local artists gather and paint from live models.

She is currently represented by Roby King Galleries in Bainbridge Island, Washington and Cole Gallery, Edmonds, Washington.  Her images can also be viewed online at: http:www.ilenegienger.com.

Images via IleneGienger.com, used with permission…

Catch you back here tomorrow!