Dear Blog Readers,
I am back after too long with the promised painting of the spring verbena at our place.  This was done before the last posted painting and shows the small pasture at our place in early spring when the verbena were just getting started.  Note how sedate the colors and the abundance compared to how loud and lush it got later.  Actually, I like this one better.  It rings a tad truer just because it is not so garish.  But the other one is true too, just wilder color because that's the way it was.  We may never see verbena like that again.

I've been busy painting and working on sculpture and have more to show you and plan to get it on the blog faster than I have been.  I get going on the blog and then I think I am overwhelming people with too many posts, and then I get lost in what I am doing and forget about it.

I did give a demonstration last month to the Trinity Art League in San Antonio and enjoyed it very much.  I talked to the group about how to put a plein air kit together and what colors to take with you, and then showed them how I amend plein air works I have done in the field.  I was gratified to have 8 people sign up for a half day workshop plein air and seven of them actually show up.  We worked on a scene along the San Antonio River in Brackenridge Park.  It was of the old Number One Pump House which was built back in the 1800's as a source of clean water for the city.  It is now overgrown with foliage and is quite picturesque and very paintable, although we are told it needs desperately to be renovated.  I'll send that painting along soon.  I just finished the one I started at the workshop and will photo it soon. 

I am always appreciative of any feedback you have to offer.  If nothing else, it lets me know you have seen the blog.

Thanks!
Jay

Big Bend

Readers,

I know I said I'd post more sculptures, but I forgot I had this painting which I thought needed to be posted. It's an oil, done on gessoed canvas, and is 16x20, which is all different from my usual painting base.

Several of my artist friends and I made a couple of trips out to Big Bend in the late winter a few years ago and while most of those plein air paintings are sold, this painting, done from photos taken on those trips, is still around. Actually, I did this about a year ago after attending a workshop by a famous western landscape artist who came to the Coppini. She works from photos and I decided to try that, since I rarely do that at all. I think she had a good influence on me.

The purple verbena here is still a riot of lavender color all over our place. I've had a couple of groups of painters come out to paint but I can see that the plants are starting to get leggy and it won't be long before Steve will insist on mowing it all. Well, we need to let the grass, such as it is, grow without being shaded out by flowers. Texas is really nice when the rains come regularly.

Friends

Dear All,

Here is the second of the series of beach-woman-dog paintings. This one is much smaller than the first and is a square gallery wrapped piece. It is not framed and needs no frame. Again, this is based on my sister-in-law, Barb, and Maggie, the dog. For this one, I used the set of photos my brother took for me, at my request as reference. Because the photos were taken at the same time, the lighting was the same, but distance and a change in camera direction made the colors slightly different. This one is a bit more pastel in color. I am thinking of making a minor change in the female figure's face, as I am thinking the smile is not rendered well. Other than that, it is what it is. Opinions?

Jay

Spring in Brush Country

Hey all,

I have been a little slow to get something new on the blog lately so I thought I'd show this old piece which is another dragged from the "fix" bin. I've had so much fun with what's come out of that box that I find myself leafing through it weekly. Most of them don't need much to make them more finished and I am tickled that with passing time, I've learned to see the problems and be able to address them so easily. Time matures the artist?

This is another plein air piece, done several years ago, in the early spring on a ranch way south of San Antonio. It needed only a little addition to the vegetation and some darks in very small places to bring it up to par.

I hope you enjoy it.

Jay

South Texas Phlox

Dear Folks,

This is a rarity for me. It is a painting done plein air and it is on canvas, 16"x20". I did it a few years ago at a ranch south of San Antonio where the owners encouraged as many wild flowers as they could allow to grow and still run cattle on the place. At this particular time, the phlox were the dominant color on the landscape, but there were splashes of other color from a few bluebonnets, some sort of irisy looking thing and some white daisy-like flowers. Wish I could be more specific but I didn't get their names.

I have been tempted more than once to rework this piece because it is so Eastery looking. It doesn't look real I think. But as with the other flower landscapes you've seen recently, this was painted on location and that's what the location looked like. It's just the way it was. Spring in South Texas can sometimes be that way. Just too good to be true.

I'm going to put it in the gallery soon as I think this is the time of year someone would appreciate it. I hope you enjoy it.

Jay

Dry Wash

And here's one more of the resurrected landscapes I had stored away. I really like this one. It was very basic when I pulled it out of the bin and I have made only a few changes to make it more finished. I particularly like the edges which reveal the underpainting along the ridge of the hill. I think it gives the distance some vibrancy.

Still waiting to photo the two workshop pieces.

A reminder to all of you on the email list: if you are tired of hearing from me with the blog, feel free to ask to be removed. It will not hurt my feelings and I can always add other names.

We are again awaiting rain. It is such a big deal here!
Jay

Out of My Element-Snow!

Faithful Readers,

Here's something I didn't think I'd ever do--a snow scene. But my friend Sally sent me a fantastic picture of the valley in front of her house in Virginia this winter. Plainly they had way too much snow. It was just too beautiful a view not to paint so here it is. Sally will note that I eliminated a few buildings in the distance and shuffled a couple of trees and shrubs, but I don't think that matters. The rest of us don't care.

I am just off a three day workshop with Vie Dunn-Har, who does rampant vibrant florals and was gracious enough to let me apply some of her techniques to animals. I feel a wave of new ideas coming on. I'll post the two results of the workshop as soon as I get them photoed. I am anxious to hear how you like these new things as I am thinking of a dozen ways to put my new knowledge to work in my own way. Stay tuned.

Jay

East Texas Spring

Dear Folks,

I told you I had a backlog of stuff to get on this blog. Here's another one. This is another 8"x10" oil on board. It was done several years ago at the Botanical Center in San Antonio. It is a little cabin brought in and planted around to represent East Texas. And it does that beautifully. This may be the only place we are likely to see wildflowers this year. They plant and water this so the field is very representative of what you see in that part of the country.

It needed very little to finish it off--a little sharpening of the roof of the building--a little emphasis on some of the field flowers--and there you are.

Jay

South Texas in the Spring

Here is one more bluebonnet done at the same ranch as the last painting. Again, done plein air, on 8"x10" board, and now, years later, fussed with in the studio to bring it up to code. The one from yesterday is at the gallery downtown now, and this will go down there as soon as it dries. I have more to post, so stay tuned!

Have a great day!

Jay

A little bit of blue

Folks,

Here is another piece of the group I just finished. It was done on location at a friends ranch south of San Antonio several years ago. I put it away and never finished it. All it required was a bit more paint to give it a more painterly look. I don't do real detailed bluebonnets but have come to appreciate why the public likes bluebonnet paintings. Often we artists look down our noses at bluebonnet paintings and those who do them as trite and overdone, but the fact is, when you are faced with the things in real life, they draw you into their landscape. A field of bluebonnets is a wonder to behold. I try not to go that spectacular, because it always looks fake to me, but really, they do exist in those huge fields and are impossibly spectacular.

Jay

Hill Country Woods

All,

I am feeling most accomplished today. I spent all morning in the studio working away at a group of paintings from my "To Be Fixed" pile. This is one of them. I painted this 8'x10" oil on location several years ago but was never satisfied with it as a finished painting. I wasn't exactly sure of what was wrong with it, but after letting it sit all this time, I showed it to one of my cohorts at the studio and he went right to the problem. I had never finished the tree tops! Oooh. Why didn't I see that? Because I was so focused on the distance in the thing I never looked above that central blue. Now you know why I go to the studio downtown when I have a perfectly good one to paint in at home. I need those extra eyes now and then.

Anyway, this is typical of the cedar woodlands of the Texas Hill Country and was actually painted not far from my house.

Jay

Sunset

Dear All,
I can't believe it's been a whole month since last I published something on the blog. I've been working on three or four works at a time and this is one of them. I did this from a photo I took in Charleston's harbor area. I learned or relearned a lot from this one. One thing which continually amazes me is that nature works so consistently in telling you what the complements of colors are. In this case, the late sun reflected such strong red-oranges and yellows that one would expect the complements of purples and lilacs to show up somewhere. And by gum, there they were in the photo.

As usual this one is an 8"x10", oil on board and it looks particularly nice in an ornate black frame I have. It has more than the usual impasto (for me) on it as I am still striving for that painterly effect.

Now stay with me for the next few days as I have a couple more that are finally done and are ready for Jay Lauver's Art Blog.

We are beginning spring here in South Texas, and I will soon be outside again, with paint brush in hand. For a change, it will be the art paint brush and not the barn paint brush!

Hope you like this one.
Jay

A Cove at Point Lobos

This was done on the California trip a couple of years ago. It is a plein air piece, on 8x10 board, in oil and was done in a morning on the cliffs overlooking the convoluted rock and water landscape of the Point Lobos area. I was excited because the first thing I saw when I hiked to this location was a big fat seal lazing on the little beach sunning himself. I let out a gasp of surprise, which unfortunately, he heard and I think was surprised himself as he rolled into the water and floated off. Otherwise I'd have added him to the painting and it would have been better for it.

But I enjoyed the color of the rocks and the wonderful green of the shallow water over the sandy beach. California truly is blessed with great color in their landscape.

This is one of my favorite pieces from that trip.
Jay

South Texas in the Spring

Hi again y'all!

Sorry to have been so slow to repost on the blog lately. I've been getting stuff ready for the big River Art Show in downtown San Antonio this weekend, Oct. 4 and 5. If you are in the area, my booth will be inside the La Villita Assembly Hall in the air-conditioning. You should drop by.

This piece will be there on display. For Sale. Available cheap. Why? Because, good as it is, it is done on canvas board. Oh. Why does that make it cheaper? Because it makes it non-archival. Will it melt away? Only if you soak the backing in your bathtub. Is there anything you can do to protect it? Yes, you can gesso the back of it and keep it dry. It will last for years and years and years. And years. It's 9x12, for a change, and framed nicely in a gold plein air frame.

I did this of my neighbor's vacant land in the late spring when the yellow flowers have taken over from the bluebonnets. They are almost as rampant and make for some pretty bright landscapes. I like the contrast with the bluey cedar (juniper) trees.

I think it has a slightly (very slightly) Van Goghish look to it. You may disagree. You can feel free to say so!

See you at the show?

Jay

Bridle Path

This painting was done on location at a friends ranch a little south of San Antonio several years ago. She ran horse trials on her place and had made wonderful trails through the brush by clearing and mowing and a little bit of bull dozing. I rode there many times and found it to be a great riding venue. One day I went out to her place and parked my truck along this favorite trail and painted it.

The painting later won a Grumbacher Medal and I have always counted it among my favorite pieces. It remains with me. A keeper.

Again, an oil on 8"x10" gessoed board. I know you get tired of me telling you that, but it's what I usually paint on.

Hope everyone is getting over the hurricane faster than Galveston and Houston are. But it sounds like some places in Ohio got it pretty bad. My good wishes go out to you.
Jay

Spanish Dagger

Dear Folks,

This time we go back to Texas landscapes. This one was done in my very own front yard. These Spanish Dagger--a type of yucca to those of you not familiar with Texas--were already here when we built our house on what had been a cow pasture. It was just a wild native. We built a little rock garden around it and have given it minimal water so it looks a bit hard scrabble most of the time. But come spring, the old yucca puts out these spectacular large multiple blooms which are most impressive.

This piece was done plein air, meaning I sat on a chair outside in the sunshine and painted it the way you see it. That's the horse pasture behind it. See?

I like this one very much and have opted to keep it rather than offer it for sale. I like the red underpainting. Remember my discussion about bright colors as underpainting in those coastal pieces? Well, here we have it in a more desert type environment. And it works nicely as a counterpoint to the muted greens of the various plants.

I have to tell you about my friend Anne, who visited us from upstate New York a few years ago. She was wearing white pants when she got too interested in the various native plants in this grouping and walked right into one of the pointed ends of the Spanish Dagger. She got a very good lesson on why these plants are called that. The blood on that white pair of pants was quite stunning. I think she still remembers that incident. So, these things are fun to look at, but don't get too close!

Jay

Palmettos

Dear Folks,

Now here is truly something different for me. This is the view outside my brother's house in Charleston, SC. I was inspired by artwork he already had in his house by another artist. The vibrant colors were perfect for that coastal setting. I learned a lot from doing this and the several other views and versions of that yard. I am hoping that it keeps me reminded that just because I am used to only mild variations on arid and semi-arid landscapes,my work doesn't need to all be yellow ochre. Even if the view in front of me really is. One can extrapolate to push color if one is careful how one does it.

I feel that the teaching artists I've worked with over the past have given me a pretty good grasp of color theory and I've usually been pretty determined to tell the absolute truth about a landscape. That's what I try to do in my plein air work. But you can have some fun with the color notes you make in the field when you take it into the studio. You have to be conscious of your color choices though. There aren't exactly rules to follow, but you need to stay true to value and consistency or it won't read right.

I've been very happy with these particular pieces and am trying to work a bit more of that sort of color choice into my landscapes. I've always put a little of these bright colors into my work, but it's it often so muted by the overpainting that it's lost. I need to be reminded to let those colors stand sometimes.

Do you like this type of thing? Or do you prefer the more naturalistic form of landscape?

Jay

Morning in the Hill Country

Dear Folks,

I am back at it with the Jay Lauver's Art Blog and wanted to show you another piece done for reference purposes for a later bigger studio piece. This one is another 8x10 done on location. I took photos and used both this and the photos for a canvas, 16x20. It looks much the same so I won't bother to put that on the blog, and besides, I kinda like this a little better. I think the things done plein air are actually a bit more free and lively.

This was at a ranch in Comfort Texas, and in fact, the place where the previous blog posting painting was done. Peggy and I got up early one morning and found this lovely misty morning glowing outside the door. Hard to resist.

I've had several rather shy inquiries about my prices and while I am not doing this blog strictly as a commercial enterprise, I am not averse to lettting you know that my work is mostly for sale. Almost all of my plein air pieces of the 8"x10" size come framed and range in price from $200 to $500. The vast majority of them are about $300 framed. I have gotten to the point too, where I do not sell them unframed unless there are extraordinary circumstances. I learned this the hard way when I would see pieces I had sold unframed put in cheap thin black frames which did not complement the work and presented it very poorly. Framing does not necessarily make the painting but it certainly can belittle it. I don't understand why you would pay for an original work of art and then not present it like you were proud of it.

Oops. I think that's another lecture. And if you are reading this, I am likely preaching to the choir. Sorry.

I hope you are enjoying the rain, which is a big weather break for us South Texans. Maybe the drought is going away?

Jay

Hill Country Cedar

Dear Folks,

Thanks for the positive feedback on that exotic painting from last time. It's not my usual thing, but it was fun.

Today's painting is more my usual thing. This was done plein air at a ranch up near Comfort in the Texas Hill Country. We sat outside on a gray day during the late winter. Technically, the trees we all call "Cedar" in this part of the country are actually junipers, but tradition holds sway over biological accuracy.

Again, this was done on an 8"x10" gessoed board. You may ask why so many of my pieces are done on this board, and the answer is twofold. One: it's very convenient to carry when going on location. It fits in a backpack with several other boards until I am ready to use it and it takes up no room. When it is a done painting I can either leave it in my paint box or put it in a wet box designed specifically for that size painting. I have carried many wet paintings of that size board all at the same time in such a box. Mine holds six at a time. They even dry well in there. Secondly: I like this surface for a more impressionistic work. My brushes are very soft because this surface does not really allow the use of bristle brushes, but it allows me to control edges and make good blending lines and color.

Sometimes these small paintings make great reference material for a bigger, more studious piece, but I am usually trying my best to produce something complete when I paint out. Or at least something which can be easily made finished. Sometimes I go out with a plan to work on a specific element of art--such as color or light--and then I don't necessarily worry about producing a finished piece. This painting did not require much attention in the studio as I had time and unchanging light the day we were out.

That's my lecture for today. It may be more than you wanted to know!
Jay

Christmas on the Riverwalk

Readers,

Here we have something very different for me. This is the San Antonio Riverwalk during the holidays. I can never remember if it's actually Thanksgiving day or the day after, there is a big ceremony to light the lights along the famous Riverwalk. All the huge cypress trees are completely festooned with bright Christmas lights and it just makes for a fairyland of color.

Of course this brings out scads of people, and the boat ride people and sidewalk vendors and stores and restaurants gear up for that. Lots of activity. This was done from a photo my brother, the ace photographer, took last year. I was a little dubious about it as it is so far off my usual path. But the further I got into it, the more fun it became.

There were lots of challenges to it, some of which I did better than others. The lights themselves had to be depicted with straight color from the tubes, and then there was the light reflected on the water and then the light reflected on more absorbant surfaces like the trees and the boat parts and the umbrellas. I took liberties with some of the lighting just to give the piece a more painterly feel. Note the halos around the Christmas lights.

I have no idea what I'll do with this painting. It's little again, 8"x10" on board, but I am wondering if there might be a place for it during the holidays. Maybe there will be a contest?

Just wanted to show you something different from all the recent animals.

Jay