Robie Benve Art

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...