Robie Benve Art

"Red Berries" 5"x7" Oil on Gessoboard Small oil painting of red berries. I painted it from life at one of the Metro Parks here in town. Fun! :) R

"A Stroke of Spring" Oil on masonite board Ready to pop into a 9"x12" frame Available Spring seemed to come and go this year in Oh io .  A few days of warmth, and nature was rejoicing, tender green leaves were sprouting everywhere.  Then winter seemed to come back, and it got freezing cold again, like on this c-c-cold day when I painted at Pickerington Ponds Metro Park.  But the signs of spring were there to cheer me up , and I enjo ed every minute of it. : )

A couple of weekends ago selected artists opened their studios to the public for the first Columbus Open Studio and Stage Tour, on 8 and 9 October, 2016. What a great initiative! As soon as I heard about it, I made sure I kept the Saturday open. I wanted to visit as many as I could in the hours that I had available. My friend and fellow artist Dawn Petrill joined me in this adventure, and we toured several studios, talked to the artists, enjoyed their work, observed their storage solutions, and just had a great time driving around from place to place. So much fun to do the tour with a fellow artist! We could not stop at all the places on our to-do list, but those that we were able to see were really great. I took photos with most of the artists, but regrettably I am missing a few (my phone memory kept getting full, yikes!!) Below are some pics to commemorate the great day. Too bad that I don't have a photo for each studio we visited! Other artists we met on the tour a...

One wall of the Dinsmore & Shohl LLP  - Legal Counsel lobby with some of my sky paintings A few months back I was contacted by a representative of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP  - Legal Counsel . She had seen my work online and asked if I could exhibit in their lobby. I went to see the space and loved it. It's a beautiful and big lobby with a nice hanging system that can fit several big paintings.   13 of my paintings are now on view in that great space. I am really excited and proud that Dinsmore & Shohl has given me this great opportunity.   My work will be on view there until the end of the year. at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP  - Legal Counsel 191 West Nationwide Blvd Columbus, OH 43215

At the beginning of September I pledged to paint as much as I could during the next 30 days. I joined the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, and aimed to complete as many paintings as my super busy schedule would permit. I fell behind almost immediately, but I knew it was going to happen. Too many art shows, events, kids activities, back to school nights, and lots of stuff starting up again after the summer break. I said I was aiming for 30 paintings, but in the back of my mind I thought I would be happy if I managed to paint 15. And how did it go? Well, not too shabby! I was able to paint 17 panels, of different sizes. they are all oil paintings, including two value studies that are divided into fourths (but counting then as four pieces would be cheating). The 17 oil paintings that I completed during the month of September 2016 Now I look back and the month has gone in a blur! With all that I had going on, without the incentive of the challenge I would have had post...

"Cloud Study with Mowed Field" Daily Painting Oil on panel, 9"x12" Here is another study of clouds, this time a little bigger (9"x12"). I kept the same palette of colors as the previous one, I figured if they came out well they'd look good next to each other. :) I made this a few days ago, then fell behind with the postings. I am also falling behind with the daily paintings, but I have this grand plan of catching up at some point this month.

I am very thrilled that I got accepted to show at Inniswood gardens! It's an exhibit of my landscapes, 24 works in total, representing natural scenes and parks.   Yesterday there was the Meet the artist event, and I went there afraid that I would be taking home all the cookies because no one was coming, instead I came home with mostly empty trays and a huge smle on my face. Friends, fellow artists, and park visitors came to the reception, and raised a wave of love, good vibes and wonderfully kind comments on my paintings. What can I say? In three words: I am grateful. :) Here is a photo with just some of the artists friends that came to the opening From left: Mary Nordstrom, Kathy Howard, Robie Benve, Kathy Moon, and Richard Clem. To see a few more photos see the post on my fb page The show will be up until 30 September, 2016, at the Innis House "Unplanned Beauty" 9"x10" Oil on panel $190

"Cloud Study" 8"x10" Oil on panel SOLD It has been a busy week and I am behind already on my 30 in 30 challenge, but I couldn't help it. Sometimes a girl needs to sleep at least 7 hours a day! :) Today I made it to the easel and painted Cloud Study. I also made a time lapse video of the painting session. I haven't rendered it yet, but I'll post on my facebook page soon.

"Sunset at Silver Lake" 20"x24" Oil on Canvas SOLD This painting reminds me of a wonderful mother and daughter weekend at a local camp site. The sunset was stunning. My daughter made fun of me when I" had to" leave the dinner table and go out to take photos of the amazing natural show. I enjoyed painting it as well as seeing it.  : ) Oil Painting for Beginners Step by Step Oil Painting Tools and Materials for Beginners

6"x6" Oil painting Still untitled Today was the first day of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge! Luckily enough I had a great plein air class scheduled for today, so I got to get out with a group of talented and like-minded artists and enjoy a great day of painting outdoors.  Our teacher is the amazing Joe Lombardo.  Here is a photo of the group watching Joe's demo at Three Creeks Metro Park in Groveport, OH.

I have quite a bit of  landscape paintings by now, and I am very excited that I got accepted to exhibit several of them at the Inniswood Botanical Gardens, in Westerville, Ohio. The show is in the Innis House, a nice space, open to the public and used to host various events. Innis House Hours: Tuesday through Friday 8am-4:30pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am - 4pm and is closed Monday and holidays. There will be a "Meet the artist" reception in the afternoon of Sunday 11 September, from 2-4 pm. I'll be there with cookies to meet with both friends and park visitors, coffee, tea, and soft drinks will be served alongside cookies and other sweets. I hung the show today, and I think it looks pretty good. : ) I have 20 paintings up, all landscapes. Here are a couple of pics showing some of them.

Well, here we are again! Following the lead of the amazingly energetic artist Leslie Saeta, thousands of artists from around the globe are embracing the 30 in 30 challenge, and how could I not be one of them? : ) You should have see my husband's face when I announced the coming up challenge. Priceless! I could envision images of undone laundry, poorly cooked dinners, and late bedtimes going through his mind. Completing one painting a day, taking photos, and posting online every day is not an easy task. Especially when I have lots of other commitments already. But there are no buts, I am going to do it! Well, I am going to try, anyway. :) If I don't paint 30 the world will still turn. Any number of paintings that I can accomplish to complete will be awesome. For more info on the challenge, here is the link to the sign-up page: LINK If you go to the map and zoom in to Columbus, Ohio you can see a red pin with my name. If you zoom way out, you can see how there ar...

I'm very happy and excited that one of my paintings has been accepted into The Ohio Plein Air Society Members Show: Parks en Plein Air At The Springfield Museum of Art,  A Juried, Plein Air Gallery Exhibition On view: Saturday, October 1, 2016 to Saturday, February 4, 2017 This is my first year as Ohio Plein Air Society (OPAS) member, and my first time submitting to this show. I'm thrilled that my painting will be hanging next to those of extremely talented artists "Sunny Flowers at Jeffrey Mansion" Oil on Board 9"x12" When I painted "Sunny Flowers at Jeffrey Mansion" I knew something good must have been happening on my easel, for total strangers passing by had lots of good comments. Well, when you paint en plein air you kind of get used to strangers commenting on what you are doing, but on that day they were way more enthusiastic than usual, so I figured if I had to pick one painting to submit for the OPAS show, it should be th...

My second solo exhibit of sky paintings is currently up at the Northwood Artspace in Columbus, OH, it will be on show until August 15th. Last weekend I had the opening reception. That's me with my husband Enzo at the Summer Skies show. It was the Friday before the 4th of July, and I was afraid that with people out of town or attending events, I was going to be there only with my close family, but thankfully we had a good turnout. I am very grateful for the opportunity to show my work and for the friends and supporters that came to the opening. Robie Benve with Diane Efsic, artists and coordinator of Northwood Artspace exhibits. Most of them did not know it, but the day after was my birthday, and their presence has been a wonderful birthday gift. There are 20 oil paintings in the show, all representing skies, sunsets, or dawns of assorted sizes. The collection has been created in the last two years from my own photos and some from friends' vacation photos. I ...

I have said it already and I am saying it again, this last year has been amazing for me. I had several opportunities coming up unexpected, and I am very glad that my mind was open to accept the surprises and last minute change of plans. The last great thing that happened: they invited me to show my sky paintings at the Nothwood ARTSpace here in Columbus. Of course I said yes right away, and now I'm busy getting ready to hang in less than two weeks. SUMMER SKIES will be on show from July 1st to August 15th 3016. We are having a reception on Friday July 1st, 6-8 pm. The address is 2231 N High St. Columbus, OH ... just in case you were thinking of coming. :) This painting passion of mine has brought me into a wonderful and interesting journey. I am determined to enjoy the ride, feeling thankful for all the blessings, without letting panic and anxiety take over my heart and mind. Rejoice and be glad, it'll be all right! Thanks a lot for stopping by! ”Do not...

Every year the Dublin Area Art League (DAAL) hosts a Paint Out in Historic Dublin, Ohio. This year I was the Paint Out chair - I am also the current DAAL president, I guess I could not be less involved in the Paint Out. :) I planned it, advertised it, worked hard to create community awareness and coordinate our wonderful volunteers and the day of the outdoor painting event we got pouring rain and cold. Bummer! Thank Goodness several brave and talented plein air painter came down and participated in the event anyway. Everyone did a wonderful job! The judge for the competition was Michael McEwan, and he seemed surprised too of the great paintings entered in spite of the weather. : ) If you don't know Michael he is a nationally renown, award-winning artist, landscape and plein air painter. I painted the cute store across the street from the booth "Chelsea Borough Home" and I tried to make it colorful, notwithstanding the gray day. My efforts were rewarded becaus...

I am so happy, I can barely believe it! In the last few months I entered my paintings in a few judged exhibitions, and I have brought home several ribbons - which stand for awards received. It's amazing to me! Every time that I am deciding what to enter in a show I get attacked by hundreds of self-doubting dilemmas, and usually I ponder not entering at all. "54 S. High St." by Robie Benve. I was very nervous about this painting, done at the Dublin Paint Out, on a cold and rainy day, while I was very busy being the chair of the event. I was also intimidated by the caliber of the other artists that participated. Yet, I got an Honorable Mention award. :D So grateful! What if my work is the worst of the show? What if it's hung next of a wonderfully executed piece and all the flaws are even more evident? When it comes to expose my work to the public viewing, I become hyper sensitive. I look at pieces that I enjoyed painting and see things that I could have...

This is one of those serendipity events in my life that I can't keep from bragging about. I am very proud of it. I was contacted by Gabriella Moreno, LCSW director of the Path Program at UCSF, and she kindly asked me if they could use the image of one of my painting for they brochure. I was thrilled and honored. I'm in amazement that they found my painting in the universe of images on the web!I'm very happy that they liked it and it fit so well the meaning of the Program. The title I picked for the image is absolutely perfect, and that is where the true serendipity takes place. The original title of the painting was "Hope", as simple as that. When I posted it on FAA, where I have my art available for prints, I changed the title to "Hope - Path to Tomorrow", to make it more searchable, and that made all the difference. The effect of enriching the title with more keywords really made the magic of making it "searchable". Note ...

"Bright Rainy Day" 9"x12" Oil on board, unframed What do you do when you get a gray, rainy day? I try to make it colorful. This was my intent with this painting. It was such a dull day that I took it upon myself to put some color into it. I started by toning the board red, and that really gave a popping start to the composition. I also kept the greens brighter than what I saw. Overall I think that I succeeded making it look like there was no sun, but without the typical grayish colors of an overcast day. Some days that's exactly what we need to do.  Keep the smile on our lips and the love in our hearts, even if life is not smiling back at us. I painted this at Scioto Park in Dublin, OH, which happens to be one of my favorite outdoors painting locations. It's right on the banks of the Scioto river, and that offers so many opportunities for painting inspirations. I do prefer when it's sunny, though, when I can get out from under the sh...

"Bright Rainy Day" 9"x12" Oil on board, unframed What do you do when you get a gray, rainy day? I try to make it colorful. This was my intent with this painting. It was such a dull day that I took it upon myself to put some color into it. I started by toning the board red, and that really gave a popping start to the composition. I also kept the greens brighter than what I saw. Overall I think that I succeeded making it look like there was no sun, but without the typical grayish colors of an overcast day. Some days that's exactly what we need to do.  Keep the smile on our lips and the love in our hearts, even if life is not smiling back at us. I painted this at Scioto Park in Dublin, OH, which happens to be one of my favorite outdoors painting locations. It's right on the banks of the Scioto river, and that offers so many opportunities for painting inspirations. I do prefer when it's sunny, though, when I can get out from under the shelt...

"These Clouds Too Shall Pass" 8"x10" Oil on board Some days start as a nuisance from the beginning. You can just tell. The only way to survive and keep good things coming your way is to realize that no matter what, things are deemed to get better. The clouds are only temporary, the sun will shine again. Have faith. Think positive. Expect only the best to happen. Good times will come. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,  by prayer and petition,  with thanksgiving,  present your requests to God.  Philippians 4:6 I painted this picture at a local park, specifically Walnut Woods Metro park, in Groveport, OH. It was a windy day, and the clouds kept coming and then moving out, just for more clouds to come. The light was changing quickly from sunny to cloudy, one of the typical challenges for plein air painters, you've got to learn to stick with the impression you want to render and avoid "chasing the light...

"Sticking Out For You" 9"x12" Oil on Board All winter I waited for spring to get the opportunity to paint outside. I love to go to the local parks and challenge myself to paint despite the changing light, the wind, the bugs, and so on. Two things I could do without when I paint outdoors: cold and rain. On the day I painted this painting it was sooo freezing! And it was raining too! Not the best conditions for the first outdoor painting of the year! lol I've been tempted to give up and stop painting so many times during the session, but I liked that tree quite a bit, and that kept me going. I have to say, considering the weather, the frozen limbs, and the rain wetting my palette, I made surprising progress on the painting, it was practically finished when I took it home. So here it is: my first plein air painting of 2016. painted at Schiller's Park, in the heart of Columbus' German Village, in a freezing day of this crazy April 2016.

I have two paintings in the 2016 Dublin Area Art League Spring Show, and this is one of them. The other painting in the show is "Shine Your Light" (see previous post) which got an award. When I gave a talk for the Conversation and Coffee event last September, at the Columbus Arts Center, in the audience there was Inga Smith, a talented photographer, that offered to share some of her sunset pictures with me. (How wonderful is that??) She sent me some gorgeous shots of Hawaiian sunsets, and I picked one of Kamaoli Beach II as reference for this painting. "Holding Hands at Kamaoli Beach II" 20"x24" Oil on canvas Available I loved painting it, even with the challenges that I encountered; it has been fun figuring out how to render with paint the different effects in the clouds, foreground, and changes of light. Thanks for stopping by!

I entered two paintings in the Spring Solace art show by the Dublin Area Art League members. Last night was the award ceremony and I was happily surprised to hear that I received an Honorable Mention award in the fine art category for my painting "Shine Your Light". Me next to my awarded painting. Can you see the "happily surprised" expression? lol The Judge of the competition was Vivian Ripley, artist. This is her comment on the award:  "Shine Your Light" holds my attention with its excellent design depicting a specific time of day using complimentary colors."   Thanks Vivian!  "Shine Your Light" Oil on Canvas 20"x24" (51 x 61 cm) Available The Spring Solace show will be up at the Dublin Recreation Center until May 14th, 2016. 5600 Post Road, Dublin, OH. Free entrance. The show includes a great variety of paintings, drawings, mixed media, digital art, and photography. If you are in the area,...

Sometimes not much is asked of us. There are times when we just need to B e . Be there and enjoy the moments. "Guarding" 5"x7" Oil on masonite NFS We all have a purpose in life, and that purpose is usually not obvious. It may take stillness and inaction to be able to understand it. Focusing on feelings helps. A lot. Listening to my instincts and gut feelings has been helping me in my major decisions. I learned that... If it doesn't feel right it probably isn't. Not seeing a better solution in sight is not a good reason for making wrong choices. (Feeling inspired and pensive today :)   “Painting is an attempt to come to terms with life.  There are as many solutions as there are human beings.”      ~ George Tooker