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...

"Music for My Heart" 10"x10" paper, fibers, marker, water-soluble pastel, and acrylic on wood panel. See it on my website I love to use music and patterned paper in the starting layers of a painting and then use transparent paints in the areas where I want to keep them visible until the end. Music for My Heart has music paper and starred paper still showing through. I also used yellow tissue paper to create the yellow circles, and I love the energy they emanate. It was a fun project. I love the process of observing where I am in the different stages and add things as they seem needed. I also enjoyed the challenge of balancing the abstraction of the piece with the realism of the heart drawing. Blessings to you, thanks for reading. May your heat be always strong and pure.

"Circle of Life" 10"x10" paper, fibers, markers and acrylic on wood. Available on my website During the making of “Circle of Life” I experimented with intuitive painting and mixed media.  There are lots of layers of paper, fibers, markers, and acrylic paint. As I worked on it, it kept changing. Sometimes, I fall in love with some details in the early stages, and it's hard to let them go and cover them up with the next layers. The great thing is that, even when a layer is covered up, it served by informing the process, and some parts of it might still be visible at the end, contributing to the overall look of a piece. April 2020, what a time in our lives! To all that are stuck at home waiting anxiously for the end of the social isolation, I wish you good health, love, and peace.  I hope you get many opportunities to enjoy the little things.  Some aspects of what we are experiencing now will make us better people, we might even miss parts of th...

"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'm a little late posting this, it has been a very busy week. Day five of the 20-minute challenge "A Walk on the Beach" 8"x8" Mixed Media, acrylic and paper Available on my website The fun I had doing this is hard to explain. Mostly due to the fact that I worked from a mixed media under-painting done with paper, acrylic gel, plus hand-cut stencils and acrylic paint. The random texture and patterns on the base made the behavior of the paint very unpredictable, and I really enjoy the ground color shining through. I created the under-painting before deciding what I would paint on it.

Today I did something a little different for my 20-minute challenge. I used an abstract underpainting that I had ready in the studio, on a panel a bit bigger than the previous days, you can see how it looked like below. I went from a 6x6 to a 8x8. It does not seem like much of a difference but it's a good 28 extra square inches that need to be covered with paint in the same 20 minutes. The abstract base made it a little more challenging, but also so much fun! I stretched a little the rules and worked some extra minutes after the timer went off. I just needed a few extra touches. :) Here is the final painting. "Spring River" 8"x8" Mixed Media on panel, acrylic and paper $80 Do you want to see the abstract mixed media base from which I started? Here it is :) Made with paper, acrylic paint, and custom hand-cut stencils. Mixed media abstract underpainting acrylic and paper Fun!

"Red Glow" 9"x12" Mixed Media on canvas SOLD Here is another mixed media painting that started from a very random underpainting, full of colors and textures, and then I decided to turn it into a bright sunset on a rocky shore. I created the ground texture with paper of different kinds, including paper doilies, and with peelings from the dry palette. I painted over with acrylic paint, using various brushes and some home-made stencils for interesting patterns. I really like how it turned out. It makes me smile. :)

I've been starting my mixed media painting with a very random abstract under-painting. Some days I make only the under-painting and leave it be until I get an inspiration on how to continue. Today I made this, on a 10"x10" stretched canvas, using acrylic paint, tissue paper, thread, and acrylic peelings from a dried-up palette. Wat will it become? Abstract under-painting 10"x10" Mixed Media At some point I started seeing a sunset on a beach. I think I'll develop it in that direction. Unless, as I add layers, I start seeing something else, then I'll change direction. : ) Here is the link to the 30 in 30 challenge site , where most participants post a thumbnail of their daily painting, with a link.  Thanks to Leslie Saeta for creating this wonderful challenge, what an incentive to paint and an opportunity for artists to network!  

"Gotta Have the Guts II" Acrylic, paper, fibers, and markers on canvas 24"x24" Sold   I had a lot of fun making this painting. I started from a completely random abstract painting, and then built this image on top, using paint, tissue paper, fabric, and markers.  There kind of is no wrong-doing when you use mixed media, everything you add to the painting can become something else with a few more layers of abstraction. The result is an abstract representation of an intestinal cell, as seen through a transmission electron microscope. The elongated forms represent the microvilli.  Each cell has thousands of microvilli, to maximize the surface area available to absorb the nutrients from the digested food. I find that super-fascinating. I actually made this and its companion piece, Gotta Have the Guts 1, for a specific juried show that was calling for art inspired by science. And they both got juried in, how exciting!!

"Gotta Have the Guts I" Mixed Media on Canvas 24"x24" Available I am very pleased that my fourth post of the month is about this piece! And #5 will be about its companion Gotta Have the Guts 2 (see next blog post). These two started me on a new mixed media technique using acrylic paint, paper, custom made stencils, and fibers. The image for Gotta Have the Guts 1 was inspired by a dramatic close-up image of the duodenum wall, obtained with a scanning electron microscope. The duodenum is where most of our digestion takes place.  I love how the blue cross-section of the villi stands out against the lining of the small intestine. I accentuated the fictional and surreal look by using color patterns and mixed media. I'm excited that it has been juried into the Fall exhibition  Hypotheses: Art inspired by the many worlds of Science , at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center. 

"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

The mixed media adventure continues! Today I was inspired to include a figure into an abstract painting, and add layers of colors, textures, and shapes to make it unpredictable and more interesting. I took a few photos in between, just to record some of the progression in the layering, you get to see a few of the steps below. "Wisdom" 15"x20" Mixed media on paper Here are some of the steps Begining: I started by tracing my hand and doodling with water soluble markers and color pencils. Then I sprayed with water, which made the markers bleed and spread. Wisdom WIP - Beginning WIP: Then I drew a figure with colored pencils, colored the background with ink, added some purple cut paper, and magenta stencil patterns. Wisdom WIP WIP 2: I applied layers of tissue paper over many areas, creating texture and filtering the prominent purple paper.  Then I added some acrylic paint on the texture, and stenciled in positive words on ...

Fifth experiment of the month. This time using Inktense blocks and colored pencils. An abstract composition of colors and shapes, just for fun. "Boats" 9"x12" Mixed media It's not meant to be representational, but of course my brain is trying to decipher what it sees, and I definitely see boats.  :) PS: Oh, how I do like color! ______  __  ______ 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  

Day two of thirty - I loved experimenting with this one! A few facts about this: I used the coolest new media: ink blocks. Solid ink that diluted with water becomes like regular ink and dries permanent and super-colorful. I haven't gotten the smooth result yet because of the texture of the paper and the fact that I need to figure out all the different ways to use them, but I love my new Inktense Blocks! I created one of my favorite classic compositions, the Radiating Lines, making up design and colors as I went. I really like this design a lot. I might do several more using the radiating lines.... It brought me back to my beginnings, when I first started painting, I wanted to paint vibrant and colorful landscapes, then somehow along the way I started enjoying more realistic colors. But hey, I think I need to revisit the crazy colors.... they make me smile. What do you think? "Radiating Lines" Inktense blocks on paper  Thanks for visiting. :)