Robie Benve Art

March Sky Mixed media: paper and acrylic on wood panel 8"x10" see on my website I'm a big Harry Potter fan, I've read all the books several times, and of course watched all the movies, even more times. I love the fact that the Hogwarts March music score (from my kids' practice sheets... shhhh ;) is still visible under this night view of the LeVeque tower in Columbus, OH. There is a lot going on in this little painting, and it reminds me of the busy night life of the city. I really enjoy the challenge of creating semi-abstract mixed media painting using layers of paper, paint, and creating unexpected patterns with my hand-cut stencils.

OMG, MY PAINTING IS ON A MURAL IN THE SHORT NORTH!! This year, I have been blessed with my art on a billboard and now on a mural. Wow! My excitement might be slightly visible in the photo below... You know those times when you see other people accomplish something and you think, yeah, but they are amazing, I'm not even hoping for that. I'll do my own little thing. And then BOOM! it happens to you? Exactly. Wow. I'm enjoying every moment, don't wake me up yet, please. I'm very exited to that one of my paintings has been made into a mural in the Short North Arts District in Columbus, OH. The Colosseum Installed at 685 N. High St. on the South side of ROOH restaurant, facing Chase Bank. The Colosseum Mixed Media on wood panel 12"x12" Sold Thanks so much to the Marcia Evans Gallery for submitting my painting for the mural! And thanks to the Short North Arts District for sponsoring this wonderful program. This year is the seventh edition of the Short North Temp...

"Short North in Red" 8"x10" Acrylic, paper, ink, and charcoal on wood panel The Columbus Short North never fails to get me excited about painting it. :) Every time I go I just have to take pictures that I stash away in a reference photo folder and boy, do they come in handy! This photo in particular (see below) was taken from the car, thanks to my lovely passenger at the time. Gotta love when you have someone snapping away for you, so that you don't become a danger on the road, lol. I started with a ground of various papers, including music sheets, ink, and paint, and I built it from there. See the picture below... Start of the painting above. The mixed media includes paper, acrylic paint, charcoal, and ink. I painted most of it at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center, in a painting class. You should have seen the faces of my classmates as they approached and peeked at what I was doing, all confused by the random patterns, trying to say somethin...

I really like the impressionistic look I get when I paint a landscape on location. "Walking the Dog at Schiller Park" 12"x12" Oil on panel Available I kept this painting very loose but at the same time detailed enough to know exactly what you are seeing, and there are quite a few things that I like about it. My favorite detail is probably the person walking the dog, the moment he walked by I just had to capture that red shirt and its reflection on the water. Just what all that green needed!

"Schiller Park Bridge" 9"x12" Oil on panel Sold   Plein air painting is all about immersing yourself in the landscape during the painting process, and fully enjoying the experience . After many spring outings with awful weather, this day was really beautiful. Sunny and breezy. I finally truly enjoyed every second of it. Sometimes I add a few final touches to the plain air paintings in the studio, after I get home. That's because: 1. Two hours are usually not enough (at least for me) to complete a painting and also add final details. 2. Back in my studio I can look at the painting with fresh eyes, and notice right away some things or changes that are needed. But this time I did not touch it any more. This is true 100% done on location, with no come-backs. Some areas are a little unresolved, but I like that. In my learning curve of painting skills and techniques, I am at the point where I try to stop while I am ahead. Too often I end up over-wor...

"Revitalized Short North" Oil on canvas 18"x24" SOLD The Short North, the Columbus Arts District, gets better and better. Every time I visit there something new going on, and I'm not only talking about the never-ending constructions, lol. I have painted quite a few versions of the iconic arches with the glowing lights. This one it's a little bigger than the other arch paintings that I have completed so far; the bigger size allowed me to get more details in, though still trying to keep it loose. I really like how it turned out. Thanks a lot to the collector that purchased it from the Marcia Evans Gallery, in the Columbus Short North Arts District.

"Short North Lit Up" 8"x10" Oil on linen $200 Available through Marcia Evans Gallery I've been fascinated by the Columbus Short North arches and evening lights for a while. I love walking there - even now that there is quite a mess with major constructions everywhere, lol. It's a beautiful part of the city that feels very lively and it's full of restaurants and art galleries. Every first Saturday of the month there is a Gallery Hop, and when I went to the September one I took a bunch of photos for reference. This is one more painting from those images, this time in oil. Marcia Evans Gallery 8 E Lincoln St Columbus, OH

"City Hub" 9"x12" Mixed media on canvas Framed $225 Available at Marcia Evans Gallery 8 E Lincoln St, Columbus, OH 43215 Guess what? Another mixed media study of the Short North, in Columbus, OH. Experimenting with acrylic paint, fabric, paper, thread, and custom made stencils. The fun continues. It may seem that I'm going in a totally different direction, but it's still me, just having fun and exploring. :) Thanks for looking.

"First Lights of the Evening" 8"x10" Mixed media on canvas SOLD For this month I've switched from oil painting to mixed media, and I'm having a blast! It took me more than a day to complete this one, and I can still see things that I'd like to tweak, but that's how my life as a painter is, I could go on adding details and changing things forever, it's hard to stop and call it done. The 30 in 30 challenge is a good incentive to move on to the next piece; it might be underdone, but at least it's not overworked. :) The mixed media includes, acrylic paint, custom made stencils, tissue paper, and thread. I am behind on my 30 paintings in 30 days challenge, but I'm hoping to catch up before the end of the month.  Fingers crossed! Thanks a lot for stopping by. Blessings.

"Switch On" Acrylic, paper, and fibers on canvas 8"x10" $140 Another image of the Short North Arts District in Columbus, Ohio. Every first Saturday of the month there is the Gallery Hop. I missed the September one, but at the August Gallery Hop I took lots of pictures, that means I have a lot of different views of the Arts District to work from. Just a hint to let you know what might be coming from my easel in the near future, lol. I used to be scared of painting cars, they are a hard subject, now I'm actually learning to embrace the challenge. I think I'm liking the progress, they look like cars in traffic, right? :) Available at Marcia Evans Gallery 8 E Lincoln St, Columbus, OH 43215

I've been having fun experimenting with mixed media recently. As a matter of fact, I found out that I love mixed media! Last February my 30 in 30 challenge was focused on mixed media, and that's when it all started. Recently I worked on three pieces (to be posted soon) using acrylics, tissue paper, fabric, markers, and stencils, and I had a blast making them! This small cityscape is also created with all those materials, and with fun. :) "Ready to Go" 6"x6" Acrylic, paper, and fibers on canvas. SOLD Part of the fun was making my own stencils with an X-acto knife. I really enjoyed turning one of my favorite views in Columbus, the Short North Arts District, into an abstract and colorful image. Another one is on my easel already! :)

I almost forgot to join the 30 in 30 challenge this year, thanks a lot Leslie Saeta for the reminder email! I have been doing the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge for a few years now, I believe this is my sixth year - wow! Hard to believe! I love it because it makes me push the "painting every day" thing, and, believe me, the extra motivation to finish a piece is truly needed some days. Yes, the posting part demands quite a bit of extra time and energy, but it's all worth it. In fact , after I complete a daily painting, I have to take a photo, crop and make some basic edits, created a blog post, and finally post a link on the challenge site. Here is the link to the 30 in 30 challenge site , if you want to see all the other entries. My first painting  for this month is a scene of the Columbus, OH Short North Arts District and its lovely arches. This was commissioned to me from nonetheless than my lovely husband, as farewell gift to one of his postdocs. ...

You know the feeling when something worth celebrating has happened in your life? That's how I felt when Marcia Evans from Marcia Evans Gallery texted me that my painting Evening Promenade had sold in 24 hours! Yee-haw! I've been working with Marcia for a few months now, I brought over a few paintings, then picked them up, brought a few more. This is the first time that something of mine actually sells through the gallery, and it feels great! As an artist, but I think most people would relate to this, it is very hard for me to promote my own work to a potential buyer. It's much easier to say great things about someone else's work, but mine? I feel too involved to "talk it up". I could sell other people's work much easier. When it comes to talking to visitors at my booth or my studio, I end up talking about all kind of stuff, more or less personal, but not much about the paintings. Travel, Italy - where I come from - food, weather, and even politics...

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...

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 ...

  "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!

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

"Glowing in the Dark" 9"x12" Oil on Masonite Panel Available By nature I am a night awl. I miss all the sunrises, buy I get very active after dusk. I always enjoy taking a walk at night, and the Short North, here in Columbus, OH is a great place to walk.

"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. ...