Robie Benve Art

My painting Xmas Time at the Ohio Theater is one of those that for some reason resonate with a lot of people at a deeper level. Not only I received great feedback from viewers, but it also got accepted into two juried shows: the 2020 Ohio Art League Fall Juried Show and the 2021 Bryn Du Art Show. Moreover, a few weeks ago,  Brenda Layman, a talented writer, surprised me with an email telling me that she was inspired by my painting to write a beautiful poem! When I read it, I felt so honored and humbled that I started thinking on how we could present them together. I ended up creating a video featuring both images of my painting and Brenda's voice reciting the poem. Below is the link to the video. Brenda Layman and I are both members of the National League of American Pen Women, a wonderful group of professional writers, composers, choreographers, and visual artists. You can learn more about our NLAPW Central Ohio Branch on the website NLAPW Central Ohio Branch Click on the image ...

"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...

I painted this lovely still life alla prima, all in one go, wet on wet. I even made a video and wrote an article about the experience - links are below, at the end of this post. "Fresh" Oil painting 9"x12" framed Available The price for the framed painting is $190, inclusive of tax. Free shipping or optional free delivery (in the Columbus, Ohio area). The images below show Fresh in its current frame. If you don't like the frame, contact me and I'm sure we can find a solution. "Fresh" in its white floater frame Front view "Fresh" in its white floater frame angular view The colors of the painting might be a little off depending on your the screen and on the camera settings. There might be weeks when I'm traveling, like part of September 2019, in which case it may take a couple of weeks from me to be able to actually ship the painting. If you are in a hurry, feel free to contact me bef...

Recently I was contacted by a student from Connecticut that needed help for a school project.  Her assignment was to interview an artist (and she picked me, amazingly! I guess having a web presence pays off, lol). She sent me some questions and I type up the answers and emailed them to her. I love it when I get the opportunity to help young people. They were good questions. Thinking that many people might be wondering the same things, I decided to post them here on my blog. A few of the questions are fully covered by articles I've written online, so I included a link to my articles for more info. Here it goes. Question: What inspires you to make art? Answer: There are many different reasons for me to pick up the brushes and start a painting. I love the challenge of trying something slightly new, in fact I learn something from each painting, and each one starts with the idea that it could potentially be my best one ever. I get very excited about t...

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...