Spring is here. Just a few short days ago we went from winter to spring in the blink of an eye. And then there were more snow storms throughout the country. How crazy is that?

This painting, entitled Rite of Spring, by artist David Ahlsted is a welcome site for most of you who have endured mountains of snow and ice… not to mention the frigid cold temperatures. This painting is like a landscape and a still life all in one. And it’s happy… can you not feel the sun on your face? What a wonderful imagination, and a fabulous painting!

Check out David’s work, it’s so refreshing and different… wonderful in every way!

Read a blip about David from JerseyArts.com:

Catch you back here tomorrow!

F L A S H B A C K !

O n e  Y e a r  A g o:          Do you know what a Juju is? 

T w o  Y e a r s  A g o:       Featured Artist… Stuart Roper!

T h r e e  Y e a r s  A g o:  “A Kleberg Dog” (Jamie Wyeth) sells for $218,500

Derek Davis. Nice painting, eh? The light in Lone Tree is spectacular – I’m telling you, you must check out this guys website!

This is the painting that caught my eye… I was perusing Facebook… and came upon this! I love these trees, and this sky… LOVE IT! The clouds just grab you and pull you right in… Very nice indeed!

Read more about Derek on his website:

Derek Davis is a second generation artist for which painting is a process of self discovery and a means of expressing appreciation of the world around him. Searching for the poetry of the moment and reaching to express that with paint is sincerely gratifying and challenging to Derek. Although self taught, he has learned from many artists including his parents, Rink and Marilyn, and other artists such as Orlin Helgoe, Ivan Morrison, Leroy Greene, Andrew Wyeth, N.C. Wyeth, Jeanne Dobie, Edgar Whitney, Edgar Payne, Richard Schmid, Tony Couch, Skip Lawrence, Charles Reid, Betty Edwards, Ted Goerschner, Robert Henri, Nicolai Fechin and Francis Lee Jaques.

  As a child in his father’s studio, Derek was exposed to a variety of art and artists. Later in life, his mother’s forays outside with an easel at her side showed him about the possibility of outdoor painting. These influences and his brother Brett introducing him to the wonder of the outdoors combined to direct his lifes choices.  At the age of nineteen, Derek decided to learn to draw and paint.

   While working and raising a family and with books as his constant companions, Derek spent 25 years developing his drawing and then painting skills. He was joyfully oblivious to the existing commercial art world and worked diligantly in private to grow as an artist.  He worked in the traditional manner of sketching from life and painting from these sketches in the studio. During this “school” period, Derek was able to study the intricasies of painting including design, composition and color usage.

    “with every piece I continue to learn, with humility I push paint and with every step I am learning to value the process of creating and understanding ‘ becoming an artist ‘ is a journey and not a destination.” 

In 2007, he decided it was time to begin to quietly emerge from this self imposed time of learning.

  On a chance encounter during his first showing of works, he met Joe Paquet. This encounter and the conversations that would follow led to Derek choosing to focus on painting on location outdoors or”enpleinaire”. Still having occasional studio time for larger works, figure/portrait painting and still-lifes, Derek finds the challenges and joys of outdoor painting to be an exhilirating painting experience.     

     “I feel there is something about being outside that’s good for the inside of a person…”                                                                                                                                                                                            

Derek paints primarily in oil or watercolor from life and is an active teacher at his studio in St. Paul, Mn. as well as workshops abroad. Derek Davis is a former president and member of the Outdoor Painters of Minnesota as well as a member of the American Impressionist Society.

 IMAGES VIA DerekDavisStudio.com and “Derek Davis” Facebook with permission from the artist.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

F L A S H B A C K !

O n e  Y e a r  A g o:                What to eat the day before a colonoscopy!

T w o  Y e a r s  A g o:           Featured Artist… Jerry Weiss!

T h r e e  Y e a r s  A g o:      Time to change your clocks! (2011)

Tom Browning has amazing paintings, and the more you look at his website the more you find. This painting above “Mending” is quite splendid, isn’t it? I love the warm glow of the fire reflected on the woman. She looks so content. It looks cold outside, but looks so nice inside. Wonderful!

Tom paints mainly western paintings. Fabulous cowboys – truly amazing, and worth checking out! One thing I discovered was that Tom Browning is THE Santa painter! This man’s depiction of Santa Claus is so wonderful. It brings back every memory of Santa that you ever had! The images are so wonderful, warm and just like you remember from your youth! Check out the Santa’s! He also sells them in various formats!

Read a blip about Tom from the Insight Gallery website:

2009 was a big year for Tom. In January the mural (The Adoration of the Christ Child) for St. Mary’s in Boise, Idaho was installed. In June he was awarded the prestigious Prix de West Award at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for ‘Dawn of a New Day’. In October he was elected into the COWBOY ARTISTS OF AMERICA (CAA).Born in Ontario, Oregon in 1949, Tom Browning has been painting professionally since 1972. Starting out with wildlife as a choice of subject matter, Tom worked primarily in black and white using a medium known as scratchboard. This gave his work an appearance of laborious detail, however, his technique permitted him to become quite prolific and at the same time learn the most important concept of values. Learning to properly see values and creating such a convincing sense of light have been instrumental to Browning’s success.

 Now working primarily in oils, Tom’s subject matter takes in a wide scope that knows no boundaries. Still life and figures, however, make up the majority of his work, and are always the subjects in his workshops that he teaches around the country each year. And of course teaching how to see values is Tom’s main focus during these seminars. In 1994 Tom wrote an instructional book for Northlight entitled Timeless Techniques for Better Oil Paintings which was acclaimed by many schools and painting students as one of the best ever out on the market.

 Since becoming a member of the Northwest Rendezvous Group in 1986, Browning has been a four time recipient of judges’ merit awards, and in 1994 received an Award of Excellence from the NWR Group. Tom is a member of the Portrait Painters Society of America, which chose him as a finalist in a 2000 competition in New York City, and has been a guest artist’s at the National Academy of Western Art and the Plein Air Painters of America. He currently shows with Wilcox Gallery in Jackson, Wyoming, and Lahaina Galleries in Bend, Oregon. He also participates in the Prix de West at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, and Quest for the West at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian & Western Art in Indianapolis. His work can also be seen in Settler’s West Gallery in Tuscon, Arizona.

For twenty-two years Tom and his wife Joyce owned and operated a publishing business of the Tom Browning Collection a decorator print and greeting card business that carved a permanent niche in the gift market. Tom’s unique Santa designs along with his painting style earned him the reputation in the industry as the premiere Santa painter in the country. In 1997 a successful children’s book, Santa’s Time Off was published using Tom’s Santa’s as the illustrations. Over the years these wonderful images of Santa have found their way onto numerous manufactured products, and for more than fifteen years have been among the top selling designs in clothtique figurines by Possible Dreams.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

F L A S H B A C K !

O n e  Y e a r  A g o:                Marston House – Wiscasset, Maine!

T w o  Y e a r s  A g o:           Spring ahead AND change your smoke detector batteries!

T h r e e  Y e a r s  A g o:      Charles Sovek… a great artist!

What a sweet painting! So light and airy, with dreamy beautiful relaxing colors with the pops of orange and red really make this painting stand out. Fabulous color combination in this painting! I can see why it’s named Dreamscape… My eyes quickly went to this one. Love it!

Another striking painting! These sunflowers with their bright petals and abstract background. What a perfect combination! Very nice Gina!

Click HERE to read a blip about Gina from her blog, trust me, it’s worth the click! I think it’s so nice when artists tell us about their lives and what made them into the artists they are!

Gina is also in a gallery here in Charleston, Studio 151 Fine Arts, if you’re in the area, check them out and check out Gina’s work!

IMAGES VIA GinaBrownArt.com

Catch you back here tomorrow!

F L A S H B A C K !

O n e  Y e a r  A g o:                Pasta with Chicken & Mushrooms in Garlic White Wine Sauce

T w o  Y e a r s  A g o:           Feels Like Spring!

T h r e e  Y e a r s  A g o:      Vincent Van Gogh Quote

I love, love, love paintings of interiors! It’s like going on a home tour without having to actually go! A peek into someone else’s life, their taste, their style. These paintings have been done by artist David Lloyd. His work is incredible. Check it out! I love these green walls, the sofa, that fabulous orange chair, the light streaming in the window so brightly. Very nice!

This is another interior that caught my eye. I love the red rug (and the wonderful light on the rug), the chair, the bed. THE OPEN TRANSOM is so wonderful! The colors are all harmonious… and look at all those paintings within a painting… like buy one get some for free! Very nice work! David also has a fabulous blog full of wonderful paintings!

F L A S H B A C K !

O n e  Y e a r  A g o:                Spring… won’t be long!

T w o  Y e a r s  A g o:           THE SCREAM sold for how much??

T h r e e  Y e a r s  A g o:      Featured Artist… Frank Gardner!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

ALL IMAGES VIA DAVIDLLOYDGALLERY.COM