Robie Benve Art

Map showing the people from around the world that joined the challenge. Soooo, I don't really feel like I have the time or the energy to tackle this challenge right now, buy to tell you the truth this is actually the main reason why I joined the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge launched by Leslie Saeta. I need to have a stronger commitment to paint every day. Life has been getting in the way a lot. Events, messy house, kids activities, holiday shopping, and a general lack of energy over all. I have not painted much this month. I'm very disappointed in my performance in the studio. I know from previous experience that the 30 in 30 challenge is hard to carry on, but at the end of the month I look back at what I have painted and for some miracle it is always more and better than I thought while I was doing it. So I signed up. With one resolution: To paint every day. One small painting a day. One composition, from start to finish, daily. What a wonderful practi

"Pretty in Red" 6" x 6", Oil on gessoboard Available I painted this during a get-together with my friend Lynda. She came over to my studio for a few hours and we spent some time painting and chatting. I had a big painting to finish, but I decided to start a small painting of a pretty red rose. In the evening I went back to finish painting the rose and I realized that it was already finished! Amazing. Talking with Lynda I did not "see" how far in the painting I was already, and all I had left to do was sign it. I love good surprises! :)

Me next to my painting right after the award ceremony. Third prize at the Dublin Area Art League annual fall show. Available $460 What a wonderful surprise!  I was awarded the third prize in the fine art category of the Dublin Area Art League fall show "Color My World". Sometimes I paint with other artists, in an open studio environment. Other times I take painting classes. When you are surrounded by painters it's pretty useful to give each other critiques and suggestions. Several times I have asked a fellow painter or a teacher for input on how to solve a problem or make a composition better. However, I'm particularly proud of this award because Glimpse is a painting that I have completed in my studio, all on my own, without anyone's advice. I don't remember anyone (other than my family) even seeing it before it was done. It's all my own planning and troubleshooting. And I got a prize for it! :)) At the award ceremony, being the current preside

"Colorful Walk" Oil on masonite panel Ready to pop into a 5"x7" frame SOLD A small colorful landscape painting that I did last fall at a local park. I love to paint small when I paint on location, it gives me the chance to finish in a short time. The colors where so nice and warm, it was a pleasure to paint outdoors surrounded by people walking on the beautiful paths.

"Enlightened Study" 9"x12" Oil on Board NFS I am particularly proud of this painting. I took the reference photo one evening after a soccer game; a storm just ended, the sun was peaking from behind the clouds. I painted this study fairly quickly. I think the fact that I panted quickly, makes it look effortless, and I love that about it. A few weeks later I did a bigger version with a slightly different palette, that's why the name "study". It's now showcased in the "Color My World" exhibit, with other 60+ artworks by members of the Dublin Area Art League. The reception for the show is this Thursday, Nov. 19th, at 6:30,  at 5600 Post Rd, Dublin, Ohio. ______  __  ______ Are you receiving my newsletter? I send one every 2-3 months, with updates about my paintings, events that I'm involved with, and other news. Interested? Sign up here

For the second time this year I will be participating in the Annual Studio Sale at the Cultural Arts Center. Last year I just LOVED being a part of it, the place was full of artists and art lovers, the energy was sparkling and positive. Many people did their holiday shopping there, what a wonderful things to give art as gifts! Come over and check it out, very nice art sale! Not only paintings: ceramic, fabrics, jewelry, sculpture, and much more. Fri Nov. 20, 5-8 pm Sat Nov 21, 10-2 pm At the Cultural Arts Center 139 W. Main St. Columbus, OH 43215

After my solo show (THANKS again to all of those that came to see it!!) and a few more exhibits in Dublin, OH, during the month of October, I am now busy with a couple of more events. "Color My World" Dublin Area Art League (DAAL) Fall Show This exhibit by members of the DAAL is now on display at the Dublin Rec Center, at 5600 Post Rd. Some amazing artworks have been submitted, with great variety of styles and showcase of skills. Stop by and check them out! Reception and award ceremony will be on  Thursday, November 19th, at 6:30.  Dublin Rec Center, 5600 Post Rd, Dublin, OH. Come on over, meet the artists and enjoy the art. Light refreshments will be served. The show will be up until December 11th. Coming Up Soon   Color My World : Artists reception and award ceremony Thursday 19 November, 6:30-8:30 PM CAC Annual Studio Art Sale: Friday, November 20, 5-8 pm Saturday, November 21, 10 a - 2 pm

"Glimpse" 20"x24" Oil on Canvas Available Every year the Dublin Area Art League (DAAL) has a fall show. It's time for another great art exhibit! I entered two paintings, and Glimpse is one of them. I love this painting. It's from a photo that a friend posted on facebook one day that he went biking in Italy. The moment I saw it I knew I had to try painting it! The reference picture, photo by Gianluca Lazzari. The "Color my World" show is judged, prizes are awarded, artwork is on display for several weeks in a high traffic location... what's not to like?? Entry categories are digital and non-digital fine art. $530 in prizes will be awarded on Thursday the 19th. If you are local, you may want to join us for our reception and award ceremony: Nov 19th, 6:30 pm at the Dublin Rec Center, 5600 Post Rd. Of course this is Dublin, Ohio, not Ireland, just in case you were wondering ______  __  ______ Are you receiv

"Tuscan Bales" 20"x24" Acrylic on Canvas Available at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center Art Store Hello, and happy winter everyone! I don't know how it is where you are, but here in Ohio snow falls, temperatures drop, and time flies in winter. I can't believe I haven't posted since the Holidays! Nevertheless, things have been happening and brushes have kept swishing even if I wasn't at the computer much, and did not post many updates - I actually did post some updates, but only on my facebook page. So here is one of my winter babies: Tuscan Bales . Working on this painting made my days feel a little warmer, and looking at it now makes me want to roll down that hill, and smell the hay, which is a great feeling, especially when I look our the window and I see only white, cold snow everywhere. Not much smell in the snow either. :D I had fun painting it, The challenge with Tuscan bales has been trying to create some texture an

"Believe in Life" 20"x24" Oil on Canvas $460 Prints Available Sometimes it feels like winter inside. Some days are harder to live. There are seasons in our lives when all the fun seems far, far away, and our world seems dark and cold. Those are the days to NEVER GIVE UP. Life is creeping withing. Have faith. It'll be better. It's not really that bad, it's mainly your perception of it at this particular time, in these circumnstances. Believe in life. The miracle will happen, as it always happens for the trees in spring.

My First Solo Exhibit! at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center 1-30 October 2015 My first solo show, and I am so proud of it! Who would have thought that this day will come? Yeah, maybe I did wish it was coming, but it came sooner than I thought. Yay me!!!! I look at the photos and I think "that's my work, in a gallery, and it looks great". There are many reasons for me to feel proud today, here are some. I have been able to create a body of work that stands together, with a theme and a flow. Considering how I like change and experimentation, this is quite an achievement on its own. I can't even cook the same recipe exactly the same twice, I like to tweak and change, improvise. The trick has been finding a subject matter that I really love: skies and sunsets, and how they influence the landscape. That never tires me. Plus the paintings are all a little different, even being connected by a thread. Of the five years that I've been painting, this last ye

"Self Portrait" 11"x14" Acrylic on canvas Cool, my first self portrait!  :) A few times I tried to pint myself looking in the mirror, but boy is it hard to keep the same expression. AND I found out I look terribly serious when I paint! So after a few failed attempts in the last year or so, today I finally decided to paint from a photo, and it has been MUCH easier. I did this today in short and hurried time periods between kids activities and errands, a true daily painting, started and finished in an afternoon (with many breaks). I have to say the breaks helped me getting back to it with fresh eyes, they actually made it easier. Overall I like it. Does it look like me?  I'm not sure, I'll have to ask my family, they'll usually tell me exactly how it is. : )

"Scioto River" 12"x12" Oil on Board SOLD This is one of my daily paintings for the month of September. 30 days of painting, even though I will not end up with 30 artworks, because some days I am working on bigger pieces - I don't actually get to finish one a day. I really enjoyed painting this landscape, for many reasons. Here are a few: I love this location for plein air, it's at Scioto Park in Dublin, OH. I was able to cover a 12"x12" completely with paint in a relatively short amount of time, which means I am becoming more confident (thus fast) in my painting decisions. The day was just gorgeous: sun shining, light breeze, birds everywhere, including a blue heron and a bald eagle (for real!). The magic of painting outdoors: you get to experience and appreciate the surrounding nature. I had fun rendering the rocks and the water with paint. Both are always a challenge, but I embraced it with positive attitude and I liked the results.

As member of the Central Ohio Plein Air (COPA) I was invited to paint at the grand opening of a local farmer's market store "Fresh Thyme". What a wonderful event! The store staff is lovely, there was live music, a chef competition, balloons, free samples, great sales. A great environment to paint, full of the positive energy I love so much. I had planned to paint something else, but when I set up my easel next to the salt water taffy display, I couldn't resist to challenge myself to paint a cellophane bag of candies. Not as easy as it may seem... I think I did pretty good for being "alla prima", wet on wet, and painted while conversing with the wonderful customers and staff members. (photos below) Selfie at the painting event I was in the great company of Tom Rodgers painting the produce display Bill Westerman Candice VanSchoyck painting pumpkins My bag of salt water taffy painting, almost done

"Magenta" 6x6 Oil on board I am painting every day, I promise!  I just fell behind with the posting. :) This is the painting from a couple of day ago. I did it quickly and with light heart, and I like the result, very "a la prima"  :)) I had fun toning the board magenta and letting the color come through. This small painting will be part of my solo show at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center this October. Coming up soon!!!  Sky High!

"Summer Blooms" 12"x12" Mixed media (oil and acrylic) on board, unframed Available This painting has been an experiment, with the purpose of troubleshooting a problem. First I painted it with acrylic paint on a very smooth gesso board. The smoothness made the paint slide everywhere, showing too many transparencies. Even with several layers of paint, it still looked like there was not enough and the painting was not finished. So I thought I could try painting over it with oils. In fact you can paint over acrylics with oils, though you can not paint with acrylics, which are water-based, over oils. Oils are thicker and more buttery, and they solved the problem of the thin look. I am happy with my solution. :) I may do more with this mixed media technique! In fact I have another painting similar to this one (same composition but flipped horizontally) that I did with acrylics, and somehow it looked more finished. I may go over with oils on that one too,

"Featherlike" 8"x10" Oil on masonite, framed Available Here is my painting for today, a thin and colorful cloud that seems to have been sparsed by the wind. Sometimes I have a hard time coming up with a title, but this one has been in my mind from the start. Featherlike will go to the group of paintings that will be in my solo show in October (I know, isn't that awesome??) at the Cultural Arts Center: Sky High. Here is a preview of the card for the show: I'm very excited and a little nervous about it... my very first artist reception!

Me and my work-in-progress cityscape Today I went to a local park thinking I was going to paint something natural, like this side of the park The scene I thought I was going to paint from But I was taking a class, see, and the teacher did a great demo on the busy cityscape across the street from the park. I did not want to paint it. The busy scene did not inspire me. At first, that is. Then I actually took a photo of it and realized that cropping out all the junk, or some of it, it looked ok. So I decided to give it a try... and so I did my daily painting of a cityscape. Hurray for my challenge-embracing self! Unfortunately the painting served as landing surface for my supply bag in the car, and when I got home the paint was smooshed around in parts. So I did not take a photo of the final painting, but I may be able to mend it tomorrow and post it. The cropped scene that I painted

"Christ the Redeemer" 11"x14" Oil on Masonite $210 As I am working on bigger paintings today for a show that is coming up, I am posting a painting that was not actually completed today, but I hadn't posted it yet. This is going to be in a show starting next week: an exhibit of works by members of the Worthington Area Art League, and I am submitting Christ the Redeemer and my Autumn Walk. There is going to be a reception on September 13, from 2-4. I'm looking forward to seeing all the artworks and meet the artists. The Church at Mill Run is at 3500 Mill Run Drive, Hilliard, OH 43026 Left is how it looks framed. The other painting that I'm submitting to this show is a large acrylic landscape: "Autumn Walk" 24"30" Acrylic on canvas $650

"Sunny Waves" 9"x12" Oil on canvas Available And here it is, day one of the September daily painting challenge! I have considered doing all kinds of different themes for this challenge, but at the end I ended up painting what I love: a cloudy sky at sunset, with the bonus of being at the beach. :) Gotta paint what inspires me. The photo is not the best, will update when paint is dry. Good night!

Woo Hoo!  I did it! I dared to sign up for the 30/30 challenge again, despite the fact that this period of the year is the busiest and craziest.  Or maybe that is exactly why I signed up, because without the challenge commitment I may end up not painting on most days, due to life taking over my schedule. Anyway, I'm in! Exciting and scary at the same time. I'll try to complete 30 (small) paintings in the 30 days of September. However, if I really can't manage to do it, I know that even with a few missing pieces, it'll be a great opportunity to get my painting muscles exercised. It can be only a positive thing for me. If you want to sign up as well. or only check out what's all about go to Leslie Saeta's Blog or to the registration link . You can see the map of all the people that signed up. I think we are thousands!  So far I'm the only one in Columbus Ohio, unbelievable! Here are photos of a couple of my previous daily painting challenges:

Me setting up my booth at the yART 2015 What a great day. I worked hard to get ready, setup, and organize, but it was all worth it. I partecipated in the yART, a small local art fair, a low key event for which you don't need a fancy booth and all the shananigans that some bigger art fairs require. Nevertheless I had a nice setup, and I made quite an investment in frames, to have everything looking professional. My amount of work was multiplied by the fact that I also coordinated the adjacent booth, belonging to the Dublin Area Art League, that recently has kindly elected me its president. Getting the two things going and organized have taken some effort, but at the end I was overwhelmed by the great response from the members, the wonderful artwork that has been turned in, and the amazing look of the DAAL's booth. Dublin Area Art league booth at the yART Of course I need to share the credit with the volunteers from the art league that made today happe

"Just Mowed" 6"x6" Oil on board Available Sometimes, when I go out and paint on location with a group, other painters are surprised at the small size of my board. A 6"x6" looks quite small on an easel (and even off the easel, lol) But painting small is a wonderful way to give myself the opportunity to finish the painting in one sitting, on location, taking fully advantage of the limited time available. I usually am productive for a couple of hours tops, then I need to take a break. If I'm with a group I love to walk around to see what everyone else is painting. That gives me an extra boost, because I have some excellent painting companions, and their work can be very inspirational. After two hours a 6"x6" is very close to completion. So the break provides a "fresh view"upon my return, and I am able to better see what's needed as far as finishing touches. If I paint a bigger size board I often end up going home wit

"Waterfalls at Franklin Park" 8"x10" Sold I recently completed my third session of plein air classes with Joe Lombardo, the first session being last spring.  In these classes we go to a different park each week, Joe does a demo, then we all paint and he comes around and provides constructive critique. Joe has really pushed me to paint faster and loser, two things that I always strive to achieve. A couple of weeks ago we went to Franklin Park, and behind the Conservatory there are these nice waterfalls. However, running water is not easy to paint, an I usually dislike most waterfall paintings I see, be mine or other people's. There is always something "off" about them. At first I thought I was going to choose another subject, but then I said to myself "what the heck, I'm here to learn, I should embrace challenges". I decided to give it a try. A photo of me at Franklin Park while painting the waterfall. To make things a li

"Rolling Fields at Walnut Woods" 8"x10" SOLD In Ohio it's pretty rare to find hills or mountains. So when I see places with clear terrain lines or a hint of hills, I get very excited about painting them. Walnut Woods Metro Park is one of the few parks around Columbus that offers some nice terrain lines, and I painted this piece on location, a day in early spring, with a few strokes added later in the studio. I realized that that happens a lot to me: finishing a plein air painting in the studio. Truth is, it's hard for me to completely finish a painting on location. Part of it is due to the fact that most days I run out of time and I have to run home to get the kids from school. But to be completely honest with myself, I have to admit that my brain needs a little detachment from the image, I need to see it after a break of time, with fresh eyes, and then I can really see what needs to be done next. Sometimes when I see it again after a break I can

"Field of Poppies" 6"x6" Oil on Gessoboard SOLD Red, a powerful color. It can really set the mood, and it's a good, vibrant, joyful mood. : )

"The White House at the Corner" 6"x6" Oil on gesso board SOLD Two weeks ago there has been the 12th Annual Historic Dublin PaintOut, and I was one of the organizers. I knew that between setting up things and handling some of the registrations I wouldn't have much time to paint, so I thought a 6"x6" should be small enough for me to handle easily. However, I did not consider the possibility of my kids' piano recital being scheduled exactly on that day. But it happened. I only had a very short amount of time to pick a spot and start the painting. Then I had to leave for the recital. I planned to come back and finish later, but it started pouring, and the recital (wonderful by the way, they both did a great job!) ran longer than usual. So, I ended up not entering a painting into the competition that I had worked so hard putting together. Not even a tiny 6"x6". However, despite the weather, several of the participants were

"Changing Season" 9"x12" Oil on gesso board Last fall I spent a nice Saturday morning at Highbanks park, painting with a group called COPA (Central Ohio Plein Air). The group is open and friendly, and every Saturday they go to a different outdoors location, paint until about 11:30, then have a critique. I don't make it very often, but when I do I really enjoy it. As I was saying this painting is from last fall, but it was not quite finished that day, I still had a few areas of paint to fill when it was critique time. I took it home and did not work on it for a while. Part of the reason is that I had a reference photo, but it's not the same.When you see the landscape in person it's so much better! And going back was not appealing because it got REALLY cold and all the leaves had fallen. So I had no choice but work from the reference photo and finish it up. The pavilion roof gave me some trouble, the color it was did not fit in well with the pai