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.

"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.

"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 worked on this painting, on and off, for months, every time feeling like there was something else I needed to tweak before I could consider it finished.  Last week I brought it to my easel to see what else it needed and I finally saw it as done.  Yay! No more tweaking.  Chances are, as it often happens to any painter, that at one point I'll look at it and see something else I would like to edit or add. Well, it's varnished now, I'll just have to start a new one, lol. Nevertheless, I like how it turned out. My focus was on rendering the movement of the dress and the passion of the dancer, with a hint of the live musicians in the background. I especially like how the of the dress turned out. "To the Rhythm of Music" Oil on canvas 16"x20", framed SOLD "The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing." James Brown

"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.

"Red Berries" 5"x7" Oil on Gessoboard Small oil painting of red berries. I painted it from life at one of the Metro Parks here in town. Fun! :) R

"Path to Health" 6"6" Oil on board SOLD Last year I went to a local park and painted a path in the meadow full of golden rods. Based on that image, I painted this path, but surrounded it with red flowers instead. (Are they poppies? I think they are, but you can decide. :) Paths are very symbolic, and this one in particular made me think of all the sad news I got recently about dear friends and wonderful people fighting with disease, especially cancer. I dedicated this small painting to their recovery. May there be health, strength, and happiness after the curve. To all that are fighting to gain health again: keep strong, keep the fight up. The final result is worth all the sacrifice. Love, R

"Pretty in Red" 6" x 6", Oil on gessoboard Available I painted this during a get-together with my friend Lynda. She came over to my studio for a few hours and we spent some time painting and chatting. I had a big painting to finish, but I decided to start a small painting of a pretty red rose. In the evening I went back to finish painting the rose and I realized that it was already finished! Amazing. Talking with Lynda I did not "see" how far in the painting I was already, and all I had left to do was sign it. I love good surprises! :)

"Magenta" 6x6 Oil on board I am painting every day, I promise!  I just fell behind with the posting. :) This is the painting from a couple of day ago. I did it quickly and with light heart, and I like the result, very "a la prima"  :)) I had fun toning the board magenta and letting the color come through. This small painting will be part of my solo show at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center this October. Coming up soon!!!  Sky High!

"Summer Blooms" 12"x12" Mixed media (oil and acrylic) on board, unframed Available This painting has been an experiment, with the purpose of troubleshooting a problem. First I painted it with acrylic paint on a very smooth gesso board. The smoothness made the paint slide everywhere, showing too many transparencies. Even with several layers of paint, it still looked like there was not enough and the painting was not finished. So I thought I could try painting over it with oils. In fact you can paint over acrylics with oils, though you can not paint with acrylics, which are water-based, over oils. Oils are thicker and more buttery, and they solved the problem of the thin look. I am happy with my solution. :) I may do more with this mixed media technique! In fact I have another painting similar to this one (same composition but flipped horizontally) that I did with acrylics, and somehow it looked more finished. I may go over with oils on that one too, ...

"Field of Poppies" 6"x6" Oil on Gessoboard SOLD Red, a powerful color. It can really set the mood, and it's a good, vibrant, joyful mood. : )

In the Poppy Field 12"x12" Oil on Canvas SOLD This bright poppy field reminds me of my Italy so much. My parents' house is white, even though it's not in a poppy field, they do have a big yard. When my mom asked me to bring her one of my paintings when I visited, I thought this was the perfect gift, with the cheerful flowers and the white house. I did not think at this at all while I was painting it, but I can see myself represented in that one poppy sticking up taller than the others, looking at the house in the distance. Even if I have been living in the United States for 15 years now, home is always my parents house. And I am posting this from my laptop on their kitchen table, joyful day!!!

"In The Poppy Field" 12"x12" Oil on Stretched canvas SOLD This painting is a little bigger one than my usual daily paintings, in fact I worked on it for a few sittings, and it was fun to see how it evolved and changed. For example the house was not included at the beginning, but then I thought it added some interest, and I painted it in. I know I have said this before, but I'll to say it again, because it's true: I love poppy fields, they make me smile.  :) Thanks for stopping by!

"Red Carpet" 6"x6", oil on board SOLD A serene view of Tuscan hills with a bright red poppies field in the foreground. I guess I am back to my "poppies and sunsets" period, two things that always cheer me up.  :) Prints of this painting are available at my ImageKind online store .

"The Journey is the Reward" 6"x6", Oil on Gessoboard SOLD “The journey is the reward”, a classic Chinese Proverb, that's what this painting tells me. What matters is not where we are heading, but where we are and what we do now. So true if you want to live a meaningful life. I try to enjoy the positive things that are happening today, be thankful for what is here now, not wasting too much energy waiting for what I don't have yet. We need to live the moment, don't postpone. Our children grow up too quickly, our loved ones may not be here tomorrow, as may the blessings we enjoy each day and we may give for granted. Only a now well lived makes a promising tomorrow possible. I choose to savor each moment.  :)

"Colorful Studio Plant Still Life" Oil on linen board 8"x10" This has been a week full of inspirations. :) On Wednesday I met a wonderful artist, Carol Stewart . She invited me to her studio and we talked and looked at her art. Her work is amazing. She does beautifully complex and colorful still lives. Each of her paintings could be cropped into several smaller well composed still lives; there is so much work and love into each piece. I came home truly inspired. This daily painting is from Thursday. I was at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center and I setup a still life using one of the interesting plants from the windowsill. I was inspired by Carol's paintings. Also, when I saw the plant it reminded me of an article I read some time ago about Irish artist Bob Lynn, in the International Artist magazine . I wanted to create a still life with bold colors and a dialogue of organic and geometric shapes. As a first try, in a very short amount of time, I am h...

"Fragola" 6"x6", Oil on stretched canvas What I love about making daily paintings is the variety. Since the paintings are smaller and finished in one day (that's why it's called daily painting, duh!) I get to paint a lot of different things, and every time I can choose if I paint from photo, from life, or plein air. This strawberry was from life, and I got to find out that it's not as easy to paint as it may seem!  But that was part of the fun. I ended up watching a couple of videos on youtube about painting strawberries, and I have to say it helped a lot. In particular they made me see how important the little seeds and the reflections are to make it look "strawberrish". :) Ciao!

"Proud Mama" 6" x 6", Oil on canvas panel Available Today I picked tomatoes from my garden with my daughter and we decided to sit down and paint a few. I completed this small painting fairly quickly, though, thinking about it, even if it seemed a short time it was probably a couple of hours, at least. I was a little intimidated at first by the shadows and the reflections, but I think I was able to make it look pretty similar to the idea I had in mid, so I'm quite happy with it. :) Now it's time for dinner... say bye bye to my models. :) Happy painting! Ciao

"Field of Red Heads" 6"x6" Oil on canvas panel SOLD I was born with red hair in a region where I was a very unique case, and I did not live it very well. Maybe because of that I love to see fields full of red poppies. Or maybe it's just because they are so pretty. :) Anyway, this is my first painting of poppies with oil paint. And #5 is done!  Time to go to bed. Ciao

Japanese Maple Tree 16"x20" (40.6 cm x 50.8 cm) Acrylic on stretched canvas, framed In front of our first home there was a Japanese Maple Tree. We bought the house in November, and I had no idea that the naked twisty tree in the front yard could get so pretty and colorful (not many Japanese Maples in Italy, where I was coming from). Spring is always a delight for me, and the first spring in the new house, I was so excited to discover what could be sprouting in the flower beds, what beautiful treasures were planted by strangers that lived there before us. There were tulips, daffodils, irises, but what really elated my heart was the little tree with the star shaped red leaves. A true delight. When, more recently, I saw a picture of the Japanese Maple Tree from the Portland's Japanese garden, with those beautifully bent branches and bright leaves, it brought back cheerful memories, and renewed my sense of wonder for this amazing plant. I just had to paint...