"US Capitol Nocturne" (oil on linen; 12" x 9") sold

sold

The US Capitol's dome turns golden against the dark night sky. The seat of the US Congress and the equestrian statue of Ulysses S. Grant and their blurry reflections in the Capitol Reflecting Pond make the image hauntingly beautiful.

August Newsletter

Hello, everybody!

Can you believe summer is almost over?  I hope you are all enjoying a great summer. We Virginians have been blessed with some lovely weather this year!  

I started a new, fun, ongoing series--"Pet Portraits".   If you love to see your beloved pet painted by me and shared on my blog and Facebook page, please email me at kimstenbergart@gmail.com.  Send me a picture or two, preferably taken in natural light without flash.  I will do a drawing at the end of September and give one painting away!  Since I first made the call for pet pictures last Friday, I already painted four pet portraits! I am totally out of photos at the moment and waiting for more.  Please check out my blog for the stories behind these beautiful cats and dogs.  

"Collage of Pet Portraits I"

When you are sending me pictures of your pets, don't forget to add their names, ages, breeds, and some fun facts.  And please send me more than one picture. My paintings will be as good as the reference photos, as I give every painting 110%.  I will work in oil for these pet portraits in various sizes, such as 6" x 8", 8" x 8", and 8" x 10". If you like the painting of your pet, you can buy it later.  By the way, it doesn't have to be cats and dogs; I can paint any animals.  Are you a birder?  I can paint from your favorite pictures!  The only condition is that you took the pictures yourself (because of copyright issues).

"Collage of Birds for Birders"

It was a summer without a vacation for me.  Instead, I've had a different kind of fun, creating watercolor paintings.  You wouldn't believe how exciting it is to switch back and forth between mediums. Watercolors do something oils cannot do; there are things one can do only with oils.  As I told a friend of mine, by renewing my watercolor ways, which were my first love, I doubled the fun!  I am sharing the collage of the paintings I did during my explorations on Yupo painting last month.  How do you like the collage of my July paintings? 

The paintings are available on my website or on my Etsy shop.  The prices are the same on both sites, but they offer you different ways of viewing and buying my art. Please check them out.

"Collage of My July 2013 Watercolor Paintings

My original plan for July was to do some more boat paintings, but I got distracted as you can see above!  A boat painting from June ("After Independence Day"), however, was juried into the prestigious annual landscape show at the Art League Gallery in Alexandria, VA this month!

"After Independence Day" (oil, 12"x 16"; $500)
For purchase information, email gallery@theartleague.org, or call 703-683-1780.

Exciting things happen in Kim Stenberg Fine Art Studio!  Thank you for your continuing interest in my art.  Enjoy the rest of the summer!

"General Stonewall Jackson in Moonlight" (watercolor on Yupo; 8" x 8")

matted size: 12" x 12"
click here to buy

The equestrian statue of General Stonewall Jackson, the Civil War hero, is located at Jackson Park in the Old Town of Charlottesville, VA.  I have painted the statue before in oil in the overcast, late afternoon light.  I thought I would try it again, this time in watercolor on Yupo.

Gone are the lush spring growth in the background as well as the stone stand, on which the horse and rider are standing.  I also conjured up an indigo blue sky--a dark, somber atmosphere that somehow seems to befit the hero who died tragically young.

As the paints don't behave as politely on Yupo as the artist wishes, I had to spray off the sky with the atomizer several times.  The statue and sky melted together in some areas, making them all mysterious.  The moon appeared behind the general too. Interesting!  Finally I restored the darks on the statue that had been washed away.  I really like the new painting!  What do you say?

"General Stonewall Jackson's Equestrian Statue"
(oil, 14" x 11"; sold)

"Gen. Stonewall Jackson's Equestrian Statue" (oil on linen; 14" x 11") sold

sold

Reference Photo

During my daughter's spring break, my family visited Charlottesville, VA. In the Old Town, we came across General Stonewall Jackson's equestrian statue at Jackson Park. There was no parking available, so I took a shot as quickly as possible from across the street. It was an overcast day; the lighting was somewhat flat. I still liked the eager gait of the general and his mount, so I decided to make a painting.

At the outset, I thought about making the sky as the background by getting rid of the building and trees so that the statue would stand out.  But there was a big concern for a lack of depth with such a treatment.  The building and trees went in, which was after all a good decision.  

"Gen. Stonewall Jackson's Equestrian Statue" is meant to be a companion piece for "Gen. Robert E. Lee's Equestrian Statue" and has a different feel from the earlier painting.  What I like about the new painting is the energetic brushstrokes and smidgens of pinkish underpainting showing throughout the statue.  The energy of the painting goes well with the young, heroic general, who seems to be going some place with purpose. 

"Gen. Robert E. Lee's Equestrian Statue" (oil, 14" x 11")
sold

"Red and Yellow Bouquet" (oil pastel; 9" x 9")

"Red and Yellow Bouquet"

Art making is fun, but can be fatiguing.  You paint all day; by the end of the day you feel pooped out.  The last thing you want to do in the evening is more art-making.  That is why so few professional artists I know of sketch daily.  I can come up with only two names!  After a hard day of painting, which is in many ways drawing with a brush, you don't feel like picking up a pen or pencil and draw for fun.  You'd rather watch TV or read a book.  Or go to bed early.  Quite a few artists create illustrated travel journals, but don't expect them to keep it up at home. 

I am embarrassed to admit that I was not an exception.  Until a few weeks ago, I used my home-made journals as scrapbooks for printouts of my blog entries and family photos.  All I can say for myself is that I have been keeping a pictorial journal for more than five years; the current book is Vol. 42! 

But my beautiful journal books with Fabriano 140 lb watercolor paper were meant to be more than the receptacles of photo printouts.  I was supposed to fill my journal pages with drawings, paintings, and insightful comments.  Perhaps, that was the problem.  I may have been intimidated by the high-quality material; how do I mess it up with insignificant sketches?  A terrible dilemma it was. 

One day, I was rereading Danny Gregory's Creative License.  He said something about how trees died for us and that's why we must "waste" our sketchbooks by drawing things inside.  A light bulb went off!  I have stacks of sketchbooks, pens, and other art supplies that haven't seen the daylight for ages.  What am I hoarding them for?  For afterlife?  It was time to use them up!

Here are some of my daily sketches--some done from life, others from photos--I want to share with my readers.  Several led to paintings.  You see, creativity thrives with practice. 

"Flowers from My Garden" (pen and wash)

"Smithsonian Castle Rose Garden" (pen and wash)

"Limes and Lemon" (pen and wash)

"Pink Hydrangea" (watercolor and water-soluble crayon)

"Snow White and the Huntsman" (water-soluble pencil)

"After Shirley Trevena's painting" (watercolor)

"General Stonewall Jackson's Equestrian Statue" (graphite)

"Ducks" (Micron pens)

"Clock Tower at Ellicott City, MD" (Micron pen)

"Cherubs at National Gallery of Arts" (watercolor)

"Limoncello Bottle" (pen and wash)

"Flute Concert" (Micron pen, 5.5 x 7")

The very last image was drawn during my daughter's end-of-the year flute concert at the Levine School of Music ten days ago. I noticed a boy who was playing with his flute while sitting out advanced pieces. He was bored out of his mind; I wasn't because I was occupied! You may notice that some sketches are on a page with my blog entry or photo. I tried to be imaginative to come up with an image that fit the odd shape and shared a theme.

Now the question is this: how long will I keep up with my daily sketching?  A month, six months, a year?  I hope forever!

"Gen. Robert E. Lee's Equestrian Statue" (oil on linen; 14" x 11") sold

sold

Reference photo

If you read my blog regularly, you may recall that during my daughter's spring break, my family visited Charlottesville, VA. In the Old Town, we came across this equestrian statue of General Robert E. Lee at Lee Park. It had been a cloudy day, but luckily the sun came out just in time to cast gentle shadows on the handsome monument.

I had first considered a different view for the painting as you can see below.  This picture shows more of the park, which was fragrant with irises, viburnum, lilac, and other spring flowers.  The park square was so enchanting that I didn't want to leave the place!

Lee Park in Charlottesville, VA in springtime

I am not a Civil War buff.  As the Civil War was, to say the least, a defining moment in American history, I would have loved to be able to intelligently speak about it with some accuracy.  All I know about Robert E. Lee is that he was an honorable man and the commander in chief of the Confederacy.  I can't say I sympathize with his cause.  If I say that I wish he had fought on the Union side, I am sure it would be a heresy to some.  As I was painting the monument, Lee's body gesture came across to me as if he was saying  that "I wish this burden had not come to me."  Altogether, it was a poignant experience to paint "Gen. Robert E. Lee's Equestrian Statue."