Robie Benve Art

"Parador de Cardona, Spain" 16"x20" Oil on canvas Sold A lovely couple got engaged in this beautiful castle and she commissioned the painting as a surprise gift for him. I am super happy to hear that they both were thrilled with how it turned out, and it's now hanging in their love nest. May God bless them and their new marriage with much love and happiness. A challeging process As soon as I saw the photo, I was really intrigued by the purples and blues and the complementary golden light, and quite intimidated by the all the geometrical shapes of the castle and surrounding walls. If you get theangles or proportions wrong, then the whole painting reads fake. I started with a few sketches on paper, then I drew on a toned canvas. I chose orange as the ground color, to give everything a nice glow. After painting through the beginning ugly stages in which the violet was screaming against the orange, the more I filled the gaps with the correct paint co...

I was commissioned by some good friends to paint this view of Bassano, a town in Italy that they love very much. I've had it on my easel for a while, keeping it on the back burner, adding some more paint every once in a while. One of the reasons I procrastinated was that they had no rush. The other reason was that I was afraid to mess it up for them. Now it's done, ready for delivery.  And with great relief I think it turned out well.  : ) The view is quite similar to the real one, I only "moved" several elements closer to each other, so that they all fit in the painting: the home, the bridge, and the trees on the left of the building were visible from slightly different points of views. A few preliminary sketches helped me visualize how I could fit them all in the same scene. "Bassano" Oil on canvas 18"x24" Sold As much as I was intimidated at the beginning, I actually enjoyed the whole painting process very much. I was afraid that...

Since when I joined the Dublin Area Art League, in 2011, I have entered two paintings in the Spring Show and two in the Fall show, every year. The great thing about a local art league is that all levels of skill and professionalism are represented, every member is encouraged and supported, and the fact that you get to show your work to the public on a regular basis, really serves as a great incentive to get better and do more. One of the best parts of being a member is the opportunity to network with like-minded people, and that's why I love attending the meetings and the show receptions, where I get the opportunity to chat with all the other artists and art lovers. Here I am next to one of my oil paintings in the Dublin Area Art League Fall Show, "It's Good to Be Home" oil on Canvas 16"x32" I recently ended my two-year term as DAAL president. During that time I got to know and enjoy this art league even more. I was also the co-chair for th...

Thanks a lot to Kim LaRosa for giving me the opportunity to exhibit my work at her fitness center. There was reception/party is on Friday October 20, lots of people came and enjoyed appetizers, live music, open bar, and of course my artwork. :) That's me at Powell Fitness, right before the reception started. Robie with Kim LaRosa, owner of Powell Fitness. Thanks to all that came! I got to meet some amazing people that night. :) The show includes 25 paintings, in assorted sizes and subjects; it will be on view until end of April, 2018, at Powell Fitness, 3967 Presidential Parkway #A, Powell, Ohio.

In September I committed to painting 30 paintings in 30 days, or at least getting as close as I could to painting every day. I ended up doing pretty good, considering how busy the month was. You can read the blog post with a photo of the whole "production" here . A few of the September paintings were done by covering up an old painting that I didn't like. And... oh boy!!!     I think that triggered the one single most important thing I discover about myself in September: I love starting from a complex ground, that has texture, shapes, and different colors.  I enjoy the challenge of keeping some of the under-painting showing though in between brush strokes.  It keeps the painting loose and creates interesting visual effects. And it feels finished much sooner, preventing the most popular mistake for all painters: over-painting. Below you can see how I turned an old plein air landscape into a new one, step-by-step. Over There - Painting Over an Old Unfav...

Blessings come in many ways, and sometimes they take the form of a phone call offering an exhibit opportunity. I almost passed on this one, because the phone call came in the spring, at a time when I had way too much on my plate already, but luckily for me they persisted and emailed over the summer, and that time I said YES! : ) The Powell Fitness owner, Kim La Rosa is an energetic, fun, and inspiring person, and I am very thankful for the opportunity to have my art in her center for six months! She's celebrating the 12 year anniversary on October 20, I'm hanging that week and I'll get to be part of the celebration, how cool is that? Amazing things have been happening to me. I have to admit, I have days when I wonder do I even deserve all this goodness? But hey, it would not be fair to complain right? So here I am, embracing all the opportunities I can manage, and enjoying every bit of it. The reception/party is on Friday October 20, 2017, 6:30-9 pm, with ap...

So, in September I pledged to paint as much as I could, 30 paintings in 30 days, to be precise. How did I do? Was I able to reach the goal? I don't know about you, but for me September seems to be one of the busiest months of the year, every year. I love embracing a painting challenge like the 30 in 30 because it gives me the incentive to try extra hard to paint as often as I can, on a month in which I would probably put painting on the back burner, otherwise. As expected, some days I did not get to paint, and other days I did not focus on the challenge, but worked on my hand-painted greeting cards, or I on bigger-ongoing paintings. However, on other days I was able to paint several little studies, then of course there have been the good days, when I actually started and finished a single painting. Long story short, below is a photo of the September production (minus some greeting cards and a couple of big painting there have been work in progress for a while). Not to...

Today I went out to paint with a group lead by the talented artist Joe Lombardo and we painted at the Whetstone Metro Park, in Columbus, OH. Sadly, today was the last outing of this session, but the good thing is that we managed to squeeze in a one-hour demo by Joe, a critique session with pot-lock, and a little less than a couple of hours of individual painting. Yay us! I had brought with me several panels with old paintings that plan to paint over, and I picked a small 5"x7" panel as the paint-over candidate of the day. Starting from a previously painted panel that I don't like, frees me in several ways.  First of all I have no fear of ruining it, it can't get much worse than something I don't like, right? So I paint with less fear, and it helps me keeping the strokes fresh and loose. One other advantage is that the canvas is already covered in paint, and I can use the specks of the old painting showing through in between strokes, and make them work for ...

"See You Later" 24"x24" Oil on Canvas $650 Inniswood Gardens is a wonderful Park in Westerville, Ohio. I love to go there and walk around, on my own, with friends, and also with my kids. The park has several different areas, with specific habitats, and environments, and nice areas for kids to play, including a great tree house. Anyway, this painting features the boardwalk in the wooded area, and a barred owl, a bird that can actually be seen in the park. On a personal level, I am very attached to the park because they gave me the opportunity to have my solo show in the Innis house last fall. I had several of my landscapes in the show, and the reception was well attended, thanks to the terrific support from the staff and the patrons. Can't wait for the fall colors to be back, that's my favorite season in any park! "See You Soon" will be in the show "Reflexion from the WAAL", the fall show for Worthington Area Art League Me...

  "Triad at Three Creeks Metro Park" 12"x12" Oil on masonite panel On Thursday we had another thunder-stormy and very wet day on our Plein Air outing. (At this point we look at each other and laugh "It must be Thursday!" lol)  The challenge of the day was to create a painting with a specific color scheme, and here is my painting using of a triadic color scheme: red orange, blue-violet, and yellow-green. Great exercise! Thanks Joe Lombardo for the inspiration!  To lift our spiri ts up, we were joined by a lively and excited group of graduates that were celebrating their academic successes under the same shelter that was keeping us dry.  The sun came out, and I made it out of there before a football hit my easel, and without getting soaked by water weapons. Another success story! wewwww!

"Where Yesterday Meets Tomorrow" 24"x30" Oil on canvas Available Ah, this place! Every time we go to Pompei I ask to take a walk here, on the promenade of Castellammare di Stabia. The views are always amazing, especially when the sun is setting. The place is full of life, history, nature, and then there is the beach. Just in case all of that was not enough, the food and the ice cream are to-die-for. This is where my husband grew up (lucky him), and where a lot of his friends and family still live. His high school was a few blocks from this spot. I love walking there. I love it when his yesterday meets our tomorrow.

"Yield to Pedestrian" Oil on Panel, 12"x16", framed Available on my website Every week I go on a plein air outing with a group led by the talented Joe Lombardo. Last weeek we did a few 10-minute studies of different views of the same park, then it started pouring and we had to flee. The 10-minute studies were fun and non-committal, I just had to get the main ideas down, no need to make a finished painting. And they were small. Easy peasy. This week, the task was to make a big painting en plein air, and finish it. What??? The weather was crappy again, and I really dislike painting rainy landscapes. I was really intimidated, so I picked a board that was big, but not huge. A 12"x16" would do. Much bigger than the usual 6"x6" I get out on rainy days. : ) But I was determined to do it. I had a strategy. :) I talked to my self in the car, on the way there. I told myself: I am fearless. I am talented. I am courageous. I am creativ...

"Free Spirit" 30"x48" Oil on Canvas SOLD I love skies paintings. After I started adding birds to the skies, I love them even more. This painting in particular has a lot of significance to me; I liked it so much that used it on my business cards and artist statement. Something about the many layers of meaning of a white dove flying with spread wings just captures me completely. I had it hanging at the opening reception at the High Road Gallery and Studios on Sunday, and I got a lot of great feedback about this painting in particular. To add to the happiness, I sold it! Free Spirit is going to a nice condo in Florida, home of a wonderful gentleman that I had the pleasure to meet last week. Now I am even more inspired to paint skies and birds! Feeling thankful. :) 

"Still Covered" 8"x10" Oil on panel Available On my Thursday class at the Cultural Arts Center the instructor, Brent Payne, set-up a still life for those that wanted to accept the challenge and give it a try. I loved the idea, and I painted it in a couple of hours. The relative speed kept it painterly and impressionistic, and I like that.

"Three Apples" 6"x6" oil on panel SOLD Painted from life in about a couple of hours during my Thursday morning class at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center. The instructor, Brent Payne, challenges us with still life set-ups or live models every week. I kind of need that extra encouragement to paint from observation. Very different than painting from photo. A great exercise, somehow similar to painting a landscape en plein air. The original was only  6"x6", but you can now order prints up to 24'x24' on Imagekind. Click here to see available sizes and cost.

"Sun & Snow" 9"x12" Oil on panel Sold I've had  this reference photo for a while, and always wanted to paint it, but I was always afraid of the challenging subject. Snow is not easy to paint, and all those trees can surely risk to look naive once painted. I've been pulling up the photo to paint it, only to postpone it for a while, each time. I finally found the courage, and here is is. For better or for worse: Sun and Snow. And I have to admit, I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I tried to use no pure white to represent the snow, and made the trees impressionistic. I like it. : )  (Phewww)

"Path in the Golden Field" 5"x7" Oil on panel SOLD This small painting is based on a quick study that I did at Pickerington Park back in October. I painted this not looking at a photo of the actual park, but looking at the photo of the painting I did at the park. (hope this makes sense) That was fun! And, since the painting work had already been done, and decision about composition, color, value, and temperature already been made, it made the problem solving involved with each brushstroke much faster. Curious fact: the study was actually bigger than this painting. I realize now that I have not posted most of my fall plein air paintings. I'll try to do better in the next days. In the meanwhile January is almost over and I have only partially caught up with my 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. Still working on it, though. : ) Thanks for reading. Blessings to you and your loved ones!

"Love and Peace" 3"x3" acrylic on canvas, with mini easel Available at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center gift shop  A couple of small paintings that I did thinking of the celebration of love for Valentine's Day. All we need is love. : ) "My Heart Is Your Prisoner" 2"x2" acrylic on canvas, with mini easel Available at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center gift shop      

I have been trying to get painterly productive and catch up with the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. So far I have skipped painting on many days in January, but on the days that I was able to do it, I worked on more than one painting. Below are a couple of colorful little paintings that I did at the Cultural Arts Center last Thursday, with the goal of submitting them to the Gift Shop. One sold as soon as I had completed it, thanks to Jean, a fellow artist that saw me painting it and really liked it. "Joyful" 3"x3" acrylic on canvas, with mini easel SOLD "Love You to the Poppies and Beyond" 3"x3" acrylic on canvas, with mini easel Available at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center Gift Shop

The year has started with great excitement for me! I have been offered a studio space at the High Road Gallery and Studios in Worthington, OH, and last week I moved in! My studio space at High Road Gallery and Studios The High Road Gallery is in a charming 1818's house, owned and administered by artist Carol Hershey. Carol ran it as a non-profit art gallery for many years, and in 2014 she changed it to artist studios and gallery.  I am very happy to be sharing the building with several very talented artists. High Road Gallery Artists: Dianne Bauman Robie Benve Rachel and Ken Conner Michael Crapser Dede Dufresne Joyce Fisher Jim Glover Deb Haller Carol Hershey Marty Husted   Ruth Ann Mitchell Jeri Ellis Platt Cynthia Tinapple I am looking forward to working in the new space and interacting with the other artists. The gallery and studios are located at 12 E Stafford Ave, Worthington, OH and it's open to the public on...

One sunny and happy day in December I pledged to take the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge in January. I knew it was going to be hard to find the time, so I announced my decision on social media, knowing that publicly accepting the challenge would keep me accountable for actually working on it. Shortly after, I packed and went to Italy to visit family, wishfully bringing paints, brushes, and small canvases with me. I was going to start the year there, so I needed to start painting too. Well, can you believe that I did not paint one single square inch while on vacation? (Nor on the first days back!) Now I am back home, trying to catch up with life and with painting. I keep telling myself: the challenge says 30 paintings in 30 days, it does not necessarily mean one a day. I'm allowed to paint several in a week and catch up. I CAN DO IT! With these positive and hopeful thoughts I am looking toward the second half of January and getting mentally ready to paint several small p...