Robie Benve Art

"Joyful Sunset" 6"x6" Oil on Gessoboard SOLD I really enjoy painting these small sunsets. Most of them are from photos that some of my friends took by chance (lucky!). Sunsets make me smile, and I love to see them framed too. This one is currently at UOF Art Gallery in the Columbus, OH Short North in an exhibit with 150 small paintings by local artists. If you are in the area check it out! :)

Thumb Box Exhibition, all art 6x6 or smaller Me at the opening Many galleries organize shows of small artwork for the Holidays. Small usually means affordable and provides a great selling opportunity as original gift. This year for the first time I am participating in two galleries that do this, and today was the opening of one exhibit, the Annual Thumb Box Show by the Ohio Art League. Vibrant Tree I - SOLD Each artist could submit up to three pieces, and I entered three of my vibrant trees, all acrylic on canvas. I attended the opening tonight and got to enjoy all the interesting art, so much great creativity and skills in such a small size art! The good news surprise was that when I got there one of my paintings had a red dot already. Neat! The exhibit will be up until the 28th of December.

For the months of December 2013 and January 2014 I'll have some of my art on show at Edward Jones Investments in Dublin, OH. Isn't it wonderful when businesses welcome and support local artists? Some businesses in Dublin, OH open their doors and lent their walls to members of the Dublin Area Art League. We all take turns showing our creations in these great locations. Being over the Holidays I get two months in a row.  Awesome! If you walk by when the offices are closed you can still peak in, and one of my paintings (View of Tulum) is right by the window, as you can see on the left.

"November Sunset" 6"x6", Oil on Gessoboard SOLD I don't do a small painting every day, but when I do I really enjoy it! This one I did it in one session, no breaks, and it took me a little longer than an hour. I painted it with my friend Lynda Guenther, in her studio. It's nice to meet and paint together, we work on different things, but the creative energy seems to multiply. It must be the chatting in between strokes that helps. :) I like painting alone too, but rarely in silence: I listen to music - Most of the times singing along and dancing to the rhythm - or some radio program like the Artists Helping Artists podcasts (so inspiring!). I enjoy company when I paint, as long as it's not someone standing by me just watching what I'm doing. That makes me too self conscious, takes away spontaneity, and it's very distracting, as my family know pretty well by now.  #leavemealoneplease   :) ______  __  ______   Are you receiving m

"Line Dancing on the Scioto" got third place at the DAAL Fall Show 2013 18"x24" Oil on canvas $540 I am very proud to announce my first painting award. I got third place at the Dublin Area Art League Fall Show! I surely did not expect it because there is a lot of great art in the show I would not have hoped to get an award. I've got an honorable mention before at a plein air competition, but this is the first time a qualify in the first three.  The judge was Jim Glover, very talented impressionist painter. His comments made me so happy, Here is what he said about my painting. "Like its title suggests, this painting takes the eye dancing from one red/orange sphere to the next, pulling back into the depth of the picture plane. The blue-green/orange/red complementary colors create a subtle vibration for the retina, adding visual interest to the piece. The hillside is believable, the tree line in the background is varied and organic and the ba

"The Journey is the Reward" 6"x6", Oil on Gessoboard SOLD “The journey is the reward”, a classic Chinese Proverb, that's what this painting tells me. What matters is not where we are heading, but where we are and what we do now. So true if you want to live a meaningful life. I try to enjoy the positive things that are happening today, be thankful for what is here now, not wasting too much energy waiting for what I don't have yet. We need to live the moment, don't postpone. Our children grow up too quickly, our loved ones may not be here tomorrow, as may the blessings we enjoy each day and we may give for granted. Only a now well lived makes a promising tomorrow possible. I choose to savor each moment.  :)

"Cielo - Clouds at Sea" 6x6, Oil on Gessoboard SOLD I don't know if I am just more attentive to the sky in this period, or if the clouds are really more spectacular this time of the year, but over the fall I seem to have developed an obsession for watching clouds, how they change shape and color. My family is probably tired of hearing excited comments about the atmosphere. What can I say, I love sunshine, but cloudy skies are much more interesting, and I make sure I share with whom is around me. :) Sunsets without clouds are not as fascinating. Strangely I never realized that until painting became a main part of my life. If you asked me a few years ago I would have said that I loved sunsets and sunrises, period. Now every time I see a beautiful sky I think of how I would paint it, and this extra attention made me realized that I love cloudy skies better. The things you learn! :) Happy cloud watching!  :)

"Hearts of the Ocean" 9" x 12" Oil on canvas panel Finally, after months of hopes and desires, I was able to join a group of artists that meets each Saturday morning to paint. During the warm months they do plein air painting, in different locations all around Columbus, OH. Now that it's colder and often wet, they meet indoors. With young children and a husband that works on weekends it has been impossible for me to join in the painting fun earlier, but last Saturday I was finally able to participate. One artist brought two big shells for a still life, and I challenged myself to paint them in a couple of hours. What I found most challenging about this painting was that the shells' exterior did not have much variation in color and the ceiling lights were shining from all directions, without creating any good shadow, so there was barely any contrast. Somehow I managed to make them look like shells (I think) AND I got to meet some very neat people! :)

"Remembrance" 9"x12" Oil on canvas panel I've officially broken the ice:  for the first time I painted a portrait with oils! AND it came out pretty resemblant to the model, amazing uh? :)) I'm happy with the flesh colors that I came up with. Skin color is not easy to mix, and I with my limited palette I was able to create nice combinations of lights and darks, though the photo changed the hues a little. I don't know if it is a good painting at the stranger's eyer, but it's great to me because it's the first one of a its kind. I love giving myself new challenges and get over my own fears (or at least trying to! lol) Thanks for stopping by, Robie

Phase 1 of a two-week pose We are in October already, can you believe it?? After painting every day in September, I changed a little bit gears for this month. My goal is to keep painting as often as I can, but work on bigger paintings. This means my postings will become more sparse, but it does not mean I'm not working. :) Yesterday I started a painting a sunset on a 22" x 28" canvas. It's going to be a bigger version of a small one that I did in September. Today I went to my weekly figure painting session, and started my first ever oil painting of a model. She'll be  back next week with the same pose, so it's not even close to finished yet. My biggest challenge is mixing flesh colors. It has been fun overall, and for being the first oil portrait I can only be happy with the midpoint results. We'll see how it evolves next week. :) Have a wonderful day!  :)

Collage of Most of My Small Paintings Completed in September 2013 In September 2013 I tried to paint daily for the first time, and I loved the experience!  I did not get to create 30 paintings, but it's OK. Some days I did drawings, which are not included in the collage. Some days I panted a scraper , so you'll never get to see those. lol But here it is, the collage of most of my September daily paintings. I've never been so productive before!  Yay!

"Studio Plant Still Life" 8" x 10" Oil on canvas panel Ladies and Gentlemen, my last painting for September!!!! During the month of September I joined the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge started by the amazing Leslie Saeta, and I did pretty well with it! :))) OK, I have to admit that some days I just could not paint, but that's part of being a mom, a wife, and a friend. Some days you can't postpone those pleasures. But I did well! If I counted right I did 19 paintings and 7 drawings, 26 things in total. I'm only missing four, not too bad. :) It sure feels like I painted more than that, probably because it was right after a summer break, when I had not much time to do anything for myself. Being creative (almost) every day feels great and keeps me busy. :) I liked it so much that I really want to keep it up now. Let's keep painting! 

Still life set up in the studio Work in progress painting, detail Today I wanted to do another plant still life painting, but I think I was too ambitious in my setup to be able to complete it in one day. The previous still life had only one plant, with few big leaves and I managed to complete it. This time I was at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center again for my three hour session. I wanted to paint a more complex still life and I spent time looking for things, setting them up and all. So of course I did not manage to finish the painting. Ahah But here is a detail of the work in progress, I'm quite behind, a lot will change. Blessings to all!

"Bubble Heads" 8" x 10" Oil on Board Plein air painting is awesome!  It's like a huge still life with changing light and extra challenges. I need to find the time and courage to paint plein air more often!  :) This is a study for a bigger painting done in the studio. Have a happy and creative day!

"Wide Open" 8" x 10" Oil on canvas panel On Sunday I bought some beautiful roses at a great price. They opened up so beautifully, every time I see them I smile. Ah, the little joys of life! I thought that painting them would be a fabulous idea, so I set up a simple still life using the prettiest rose.I have to admit it gave me some challenges. I so admire artists that can paint roses making it seem like a simple task!  My tendency is to overwork them. When I thought I was done I took a photo and loaded into my computer. As soon as I saw it on the screen I realized there were things I need to fix. It's amazing how on the screen you see things with fresher eyes!  So I went back and added some darks, and here it is. My Monday daily painting. :) Have a Happy and Creative day! :) R

"Sarah" drawing Here in Columbus, OH there is a place where I love to go painting and creating art: the Cultural Arts Center. Since I have small children  I can't take classes when they are out of school, so my good time is the morning. On Friday morning there is a life drawing/painting session that is awesome. I looove it because the people is very friendly and talented, including the instructor, Susan Ward. Anyway, this class gets full so quickly that I have a very hard time registering for it, even on the first day registration opens. With my positive thinking self, when I don't get in, I'm not upset, I think it was meant to be, for some reason I wasn't supposed to be there on Fridays. :) But for this session apparently that studio is my place to be on Fridays, and I am enjoying so much! This drawing is from a two-week pose (wonderful for those who choose to paint, a little long for me)  and I decided to experience a lot of first time things:

"Colorful Studio Plant Still Life" Oil on linen board 8"x10" This has been a week full of inspirations. :) On Wednesday I met a wonderful artist, Carol Stewart . She invited me to her studio and we talked and looked at her art. Her work is amazing. She does beautifully complex and colorful still lives. Each of her paintings could be cropped into several smaller well composed still lives; there is so much work and love into each piece. I came home truly inspired. This daily painting is from Thursday. I was at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center and I setup a still life using one of the interesting plants from the windowsill. I was inspired by Carol's paintings. Also, when I saw the plant it reminded me of an article I read some time ago about Irish artist Bob Lynn, in the International Artist magazine . I wanted to create a still life with bold colors and a dialogue of organic and geometric shapes. As a first try, in a very short amount of time, I am h

I have downloaded on my IPod this new app that makes my IPod take photos at a set time interval and then makes a video clip out of it. The name of the app is Lapse It. I tried it out on Thursday for the first time, and I set it to take photos every 15 seconds. 1 hour and 30 minutes of painting got juiced up in a 20 second clip. The resulting video was pretty bad, you can barely see anything that is going on. But It was a good learning experience. Some things I learned making this first time clip:  I have to find a way to get a better view of the canvas. Unfortunately I don't have shelving behind me, so I have to be creative finding something that can support my IPod. The light is on the way!  I did dot realize how much the light was in the picture, and it blinds the camera. 15 seconds is too long, next time I'll have smaller intervals of time between photos. Incidentally I was painting the small painting that I did not like, so maybe knowing I was "on came

"Fragola" 6"x6", Oil on stretched canvas What I love about making daily paintings is the variety. Since the paintings are smaller and finished in one day (that's why it's called daily painting, duh!) I get to paint a lot of different things, and every time I can choose if I paint from photo, from life, or plein air. This strawberry was from life, and I got to find out that it's not as easy to paint as it may seem!  But that was part of the fun. I ended up watching a couple of videos on youtube about painting strawberries, and I have to say it helped a lot. In particular they made me see how important the little seeds and the reflections are to make it look "strawberrish". :) Ciao!

"Cetriolo" 5"x7", Oil on canvas panel $45 So proud of my garden fruits! Despite the low care I was able to provide this year, I'm picking all kinds of goodies every day. Rewards have been much higher than expected! I must have done things right at the beginning of the season to deserve so much forgiveness. This guy had the fastest career ever: from hiding in a leafy bush in my garden to modeling for a portrait, in five minute!  :) I lost count of how many daily paintings I have done, this must be number 14, I'll have to double check. I believe I am a couple of paintings behind in my 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, but it does not matter. All I know is that I am painting almost every day and I'm learning so much with each single painting. Happiness can really be found in front of an easel. :)

Model Drawing - work in progress Charcoal During my 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, some days I'll have to draw instead of painting, especially on Fridays when I go to a 3-hour life drawing session - very hard to get in, always full, but this time I made it, yay! Today I went to the first class of the Life Drawing session, and this is a two week pose, which means the model will come back next week and she'll sit in the same exact pose, wearing the same expression. So I'll have the opportunity to finish this drawing next week. Preliminary sketch of model done in about 30 minutes. In this life drawing class the model poses for a periods of 20-30 minutes with breaks in between. In three hours we usually get three, max four periods of posing, which is not a lot, really. In the first period I did a preliminary sketch, to get my hands warm after a long time without drawing models, and to test the lines of the composition. Then I started the drawing using a med

"Thankful Ending, study" 5"x7", Oil on canvas panel SOLD Feeling thankful is a very powerful emotion. As it is important to feel thankful all day long for all the little blessing that we have - starting from those we give for granted like being alive, being able to walk, being able to see, etc. There are even more reasons at the end of the day to look back and find the positive, be thankful for whatever good happened that day. The sunset in this painting reminds me of the powerful sweet feeling that I get when I succeed to feel thankful at the end of my day. Isn't that a great way to go to bed and get ready for a new day?  PS: I'm thankful you stopped by! :)

"Spring Beauty" 5"x7" Oil on canvas panel The comment that I get the most from people (apart from "you have an accent, where I you from?") is that I am always cheerful. This to me is the best compliment. :) "How can you stay so positive in a situation like this?" "I admire how you always manage to focus on the good" "You smile a lot" "There she goes finding the positive" and so on. It can be worded out differently, depending on the situation, but the bottom line is that I am a positive and cheerful being and people notice it. Honestly, I never understood the importance of this until few years ago.  I thought seeing the positive, trying to put myself in other people shoes before judging, finding humor in everyday little snafus was normal. Apparently not. It struck me at one point how much easier it is to be negative, to dwell in criticism and negative thoughts. I learned to stay away from those k

"I'm not talking to you!" 6"x6", Oil on stretched canvas, unframed Sold Hello world, this was my daily painting from yesterday that I could not post because of a squirrel. Apparently he thought it was a good idea to have fun with the electric lines, and managed to leave us all in the dark - and with no internet! So I'm posting the painting today, while today's painting is started but not done yet. Ah, the hard life of an artist!  :)))))) (honey, that's for you if you are reading this, lol) These two sunflowers seemed to have an attitude going on, I couldn't hold a smile while I was painting because I was imagining all kind of silly reasons for their temporary grudge. Here is to a fast and fun reconciliation! :) Nice and hot outside, hope you are all enjoying this fine day! Ciao  

"I'll See You Tomorrow" 6"x6", Oil on canvas panel SOLD I'm practicing painting roses once more. I love painting roses, and I'm trying to be looser while having fun with it. I'm pretty pleased with this one. The best part is that I was able to do a daily painting today too, despite being a busy Sunday!  :)) Ciao!

"Proud Mama" 6" x 6", Oil on canvas panel Available Today I picked tomatoes from my garden with my daughter and we decided to sit down and paint a few. I completed this small painting fairly quickly, though, thinking about it, even if it seemed a short time it was probably a couple of hours, at least. I was a little intimidated at first by the shadows and the reflections, but I think I was able to make it look pretty similar to the idea I had in mid, so I'm quite happy with it. :) Now it's time for dinner... say bye bye to my models. :) Happy painting! Ciao

"Field of Red Heads" 6"x6" Oil on canvas panel SOLD I was born with red hair in a region where I was a very unique case, and I did not live it very well. Maybe because of that I love to see fields full of red poppies. Or maybe it's just because they are so pretty. :) Anyway, this is my first painting of poppies with oil paint. And #5 is done!  Time to go to bed. Ciao

"Inspiration From The Heavens" 9"x12" Oil on board This landscape made me think of how even in a dry everyday routine there is always special things I should be grateful for. I may not see them if I look only at eye level, often the real value of things is above and beyond what we can see. In this case the show is not around the viewer, but above. Sometimes if I can't see much going on in your life I have to pause, look up, and have faith. Clouds are one of the wonderful things in life that I would spend hours watching move and evolve in the sky, with their beautiful shadows and lights. These clouds have been particularly challenging for me to paint because of their colors and shades and because it's an oil painting, and I'm still learning how to paint wet-on-wet. I started this painting last week, but I have worked on finishing it most of today, so this is my daily painting #3. :)

"Vibrant Tree #7"  SOLD 6" x 6" Watermedia on stretched canvas Today I changed genre, and opted for a colorful and fun quick-stroke painting using a technique I really enjoy: I dip a large flat brush into paint colors and I let the paint mix on the canvas, without pre-mixing the color. I started from a orange-tinted canvas, and I let the background color peek through. The result is fresh and vivacious (I think). I sure had fun painting it. :)

"Want a lift?" 5"x7" Watermedia on canvas panel SOLD My daughter goes through phases of being crazy about a specific animal, we got the kitty, doggy, ladybug, turtle, mouse periods - and more - but we never had the elephant period... yet. Her birthday was two days ago, she turned to be the fantastic age of eight, and she made sure people knew she was in her "elephant loving period", so she received 9 elephants. Thank goodness they are not too big and they are veeery cute. I have to say her friends have great taste when it comes to elephants. :) The heard of elephants my daughter got for her birthday. So to break the ice for the 30 in 30 painting challenge, I decided an elephant was an almost due choice. lol And here he is, a cute little fellow so light minded that he floats and the poor balloon does not. - Sure the string may have something to do with it, but don't tell him, he really thought he could fly.

After a (too) long time of little painting and even less writing on my blog, I am to the point I need to dig in and get busy! Me at the Kim Casebeer Plein Air Workshop few days ago. I have just taken a wonderful workshop with Kim Casebeer, amazing plein air painter, in which I learned a ton, and all this new concepts and theories in my head need to get tested and practiced on canvas; the only way to do it is to paint, paint, paint. What better way to flex my painitng muscles than to join the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge launched by Leslie Saeta, for the month of September? As scary as it sounds, I'm in!  With two children ages 8 and 11 the fall season gets crazy on its own, all kinds of activities starting up, and finding time to paint is challenging. The fall craziness is an extra reason to embrace the challenge, because if I don't have to paint, I will not find the time to do it. Painting every day, small paintings by the way, will be sooo good for me.  Daily