Watch painter Linda Blondheim in action

Cow Art and More acrylic and oil painter Linda Blondheim will painting at two "paint-outs" in Florida between now and May 1. The first live painting event is the Evinston Paint Out in Evinston, Florida. The best Florida landscape painters are invited to come and paint. They then sell the artwork as "fresh and wet" paintings in the wetroom gallery located in the Wood & Swink Old Store and Post Office. Proceeds of the art sales benefit the store and its restoration. Linda is this year's poster artist (seen in the poster at left). The Evinston paint out is April 17 to 24, 2010.










Just as Linda finishes up the Evinston paint out, she travels south to Winter Park, Florida (a suburb of Orlando). The Winter Park paint out runs from April 24 to May 1, 2010. Dur­ing this spe­cial event, 26 of Florida’s finest plein air artists will roam across our fair city cap­tur­ing many of your favorite land­scapes and land­marks with oils, water­col­ors and pastels.

Plein Air is a French term mean­ing “in the open air”. This term is used to describe art works painted out­doors with the sub­ject directly in view rather than in a stu­dio. Plein air artists cap­ture the spirit and essence of a land­scape or sub­ject by incor­po­rat­ing nat­ural light, color and move­ment into their works.

Video of the collage process

Enjoy this time lapse video showing one of Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson's paper painting collages in progress.

Afternoon on the Avenue

A conversation with Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson: Part 8

How does it take you to get the average creation?

My process is multistep. After finding imagery that I am inspired by, I take photos and manipulate them in Photoshop on my computer until I achieve a composition I am happy with. I might take one cow out of a group or combine her/him with another cow from a different photo, add a barn and drastically raise (or lower) the horizon line behind them. Once I get this worked out on my computer, I print a color image and this is my reference. I then sketch onto primed wood panel. After sketching I do a quick acrylic underpainting in order to work out my values and my colors. When the underpainting is dry, I then start collaging my hand-painted and hand-made papers over the top of the acrylic painting. Keep in mind that the hand-painting of the papers also takes time and I create all my own papers in advance of the collaging process. When the collage is complete, I coat it with two layers of acrylic UV protective varnish and then I do my own framing.

The time it takes in the collage process depends on how it's going, some days things are really working for me and it's coming together quickly, other days nothing is working and I end up going over the same area a few times before I am happy with it. Some subject matter is more complex than others. Some subjects I am good at and have worked out the challenges with practice, so I can really do roosters very efficiently, but dogs are more of a challenge since I have only ever done two. Peacocks take a long time because of all the eyes and detail in the tail feathers.

I guess I'd have to say, it varies!

Photo credit: "Song of Sunrise"

Click here to learn more about this rooster art mixed media painting

Learn beginning photography techniques from Kent Weakley

Cow Art and More photographer, Kent Weakley, and photographer Mark Emery will be conducting a Beginners Photography Workshop for anyone wanting to make consistently great photos with their DSLR camera. The workshop is Saturday, April 17, from 9 AM to 5 PM, Ocala, Florida.

They will be covering all the basics and getting into the details of what makes a great photo. Kent and Mark will also be sharing many tips and techniques used by the pros on a daily basis. This class is for anyone who loves making and sharing photographs and wants to improve their photography skills. At the end of the day you will be equipped with the information needed to make great photos consistently time and time again.

To register for the beginner photography class, use this link.

Photo credit: Bovine Shade

Studio visit with Linda Blondheim

I am very fortunate to work with a very talented group of artists across the country. I wish I had the time and opportunity to visit with all of them, but it is just about impossible. However, I am only a few miles from oil painter Linda Blondheim. I was able to spend a lovely afternoon with her in her studio just north of Gainesville, Florida. She, and her French Bulldog Henry, treated me to an afternoon of art and business talk. In addition to the cow art oil paintings she does for Cow Art and More, Linda is widely recognized as one of the premier landscape painters of the southeastern United States. She has an expanded portfolio of her work on www.lindablondheim.com. Linda is kind enough to receive visitors on appointment. She also participates in outdoor painting events across the state.

Picture credit: Linda's French Bulldog, Henry, waits for his newest friend to sit next to him on the futon

Friday's art website of interest: THE KEY WEST ART CENTER AND GALLERY

Since I am in Key West, Florida, on business today, I thought it would only be fitting to write about the art scene here. Today's website is for The Key West Art Center and Gallery. The center is a non-profit organization devoted to the encouragement of local artists by furnishing them with a central market place for their work. The art center and gallery is currently housed in a historic quaint wooden building in the midst of the city’s old town waterfront area. The membership has monthly meetings where not only do they discuss the business of the gallery, but they also provide demonstrations of their art to the public.

Jon Ellis featured artist for April.

Cow Art and More is excited to feature acrylic paintings and mixed media creations from Florida artist Jon Ellis. Over the years, Ellis’ fanciful work has graced the cover of many popular books, advertisements and periodicals, including the cover of Time and National Geographic. His work has been exhibited at such prestigious galleries as the ‘Helander Gallery’ on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, as well as, maintained in permanent archival collections at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. Such notable private collectors as Attorney Robert Shapiro have also enjoyed ownership of his work.

The complete line of Jon's work can be seen on our specials page. His work will have free shipping the entire month of April.

Picture credit: "Dining Cow," acrylic on Fabriano art board

Click here to go to Cow Art and More to learn more about this painting

Linda Blondheim talks more about her painting

Do you ever have goof ups or work you don't like?

All the time. Those are the most instructive. I consider painting to be an ongoing study, never a finished skill set.

Picture credit: "North Florida Cattle Ranch", oil on birch panel, 20 inches by 24 inches

Click here to go to Cow Art and More to purchase this painting

Linda Blondheim reveals how she picks her subjects

How did you decide what to paint?

I became very interested in the Southern Landscape about 20 years ago. I started painting on location then and continue to work both on location with a small paint box and in the studio for larger format work. My fascination with the landscape goes on endlessly. I also enjoy Bovines and Canines as subjects.

Picture credit: Linda painting on location

Click here to go to the Cow Art and More website to see Linda's work

Linda Blondheim talks about her technique

What is your technique?

I paint with oils, acrylics and gouache. I am representational expressionist, in that I don't copy nature but rather invent it in my on style.

Picture credit: "Wood Farm", oil on canvas, 18 inches by 24 inches, framed

Click here to go the website to purchase this painting

Linda talks about how she got started

How did you get started?

I started an art club for the neighborhood kids when I was nine. We painted together one day a week. I also had a horse club which crossed over into horse art. We were all horse crazy at that age.

Picture credit: "Florida Cattle Ranch", oil on birch panel, 24 inches by 30 inches

Go to the Cow Art and More website to purchase this painting

Horse photography from Kent Weakley

Over the next few days, I will be sharing some of Kent Weakley's horse images featured this month on the Cow Art and More website.

Picture credit: "Equine 16", 20 inch wide by 16 inch high archival giclee open edition art print

Click here to learn more about this print

Kent discusses how he selects his photography subjects

I've shot many different subject matter in infrared, however certain things work best. For instance, living trees and grass "glow" or reflect infrared light the best in direct sunlight. I love trees and I've always looked for a way to showcase their majestic appearance, so they are usually my main focus. Rural, rustic scenic landscapes are always calling to me. I try not to do any alterations of the scene in the computer, so it takes lots of driving and searching to find a location that will truly work.

Picture credit: "Bridlewood Morning", 36" inch wide by 16" high archival giclee print or signed, numbered, framed limited edition print of the original photograph; actual image is 30" wide

Click here to see more information about this image