Robie Benve Art

"Breathing" 8"x10" Mixed Media on panel Sold A painting from when I finally got over the shock of becoming allergic to oils and took the courage to paint en plain air with acrylic and mixed media. I loved creating this baby at Hoover Reservoir Park. The day started foggy and gray and I almost did not go out to paint. Once there, the sun came out and made it a very enjoyable experience. First, I created an abstract and colorful mixed media under-painting with paper, acrylic gel, and hand-cut stencils. Then, I picked my subject and started painting with acrylic paint and palette knife. I love how loose it came out and how the bright under-painting glows through in several spots. I think I've found a great way to use acrylics outdoors. They dry so quickly that I thought it was impossible, but this technique makes it faster and doable. Yay!!

"Evening Snow at Thompson Park" 8"x10" Oil on panel Framed Available at High Road Gallery & Studios I love how loose and impressionistic this winter scene came out, with the light snow that lets the ground peak through. I painted fairly quickly over a start of a different landscape painting that was not heading the right direction. The colors that were already on the canvas really did a great job as under-tone for the new one. The scene if a local park, near my house. I wanted to sit on the bench and look at the sunset, but it was too cold and wet for my taste, so I stood there briefly, took a photo, and then kept enjoying my walk on the path. :) Come see it at High Road Gallery & Studios, 12 E Stafford Ave, Worthington, OH. Open Fri & Sat 12-4 pm. Special receptions on Sat Dec 8, 12-4 pm, and Sunday Dec 9, 2-5 pm.

I worked two days on this. Yesterday I did the abstract underpainting using the mixed media elements, today I added layers of acrylic paint using brushes and custom made stencils. "A Bright Tomorrow" 10"x10" Mixed Media: acrylic, paper, fibers I already posted the under-painting as yesterday's work, but below is a reminder of what it looked like at the initial stage. I liked the clean look of the first stage, did I ruin it adding all the patterna and colors? I hope not, because I like the final version of it too. the mixed media under-painting for "A Bright Tomorrow" It felt god to go back to my favorite subject, a sunset on the beach, and this time I just did it from my head, without looking at a reference photo. Total freedom. :)

"Where Yesterday Meets Tomorrow" 24"x30" Oil on canvas Available Ah, this place! Every time we go to Pompei I ask to take a walk here, on the promenade of Castellammare di Stabia. The views are always amazing, especially when the sun is setting. The place is full of life, history, nature, and then there is the beach. Just in case all of that was not enough, the food and the ice cream are to-die-for. This is where my husband grew up (lucky him), and where a lot of his friends and family still live. His high school was a few blocks from this spot. I love walking there. I love it when his yesterday meets our tomorrow.

"Sun & Snow" 9"x12" Oil on panel Sold I've had  this reference photo for a while, and always wanted to paint it, but I was always afraid of the challenging subject. Snow is not easy to paint, and all those trees can surely risk to look naive once painted. I've been pulling up the photo to paint it, only to postpone it for a while, each time. I finally found the courage, and here is is. For better or for worse: Sun and Snow. And I have to admit, I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I tried to use no pure white to represent the snow, and made the trees impressionistic. I like it. : )  (Phewww)

"Sunset at Silver Lake" 20"x24" Oil on Canvas SOLD This painting reminds me of a wonderful mother and daughter weekend at a local camp site. The sunset was stunning. My daughter made fun of me when I" had to" leave the dinner table and go out to take photos of the amazing natural show. I enjoyed painting it as well as seeing it.  : ) Oil Painting for Beginners Step by Step Oil Painting Tools and Materials for Beginners

I have two paintings in the 2016 Dublin Area Art League Spring Show, and this is one of them. The other painting in the show is "Shine Your Light" (see previous post) which got an award. When I gave a talk for the Conversation and Coffee event last September, at the Columbus Arts Center, in the audience there was Inga Smith, a talented photographer, that offered to share some of her sunset pictures with me. (How wonderful is that??) She sent me some gorgeous shots of Hawaiian sunsets, and I picked one of Kamaoli Beach II as reference for this painting. "Holding Hands at Kamaoli Beach II" 20"x24" Oil on canvas Available I loved painting it, even with the challenges that I encountered; it has been fun figuring out how to render with paint the different effects in the clouds, foreground, and changes of light. Thanks for stopping by!

Sometimes not much is asked of us. There are times when we just need to B e . Be there and enjoy the moments. "Guarding" 5"x7" Oil on masonite NFS We all have a purpose in life, and that purpose is usually not obvious. It may take stillness and inaction to be able to understand it. Focusing on feelings helps. A lot. Listening to my instincts and gut feelings has been helping me in my major decisions. I learned that... If it doesn't feel right it probably isn't. Not seeing a better solution in sight is not a good reason for making wrong choices. (Feeling inspired and pensive today :)   “Painting is an attempt to come to terms with life.  There are as many solutions as there are human beings.”      ~ George Tooker 

"Dance with Me" 8"x10" Oil on canvas Available I am falling behind with my posts of daily paintings, but I have been painting more than it seems, I promise. :) This is the painting I completed last Thursday, started at the Cultural Arts Center in the morning, and finished in my studio at home in the evening. However, this week I had a hard time taking good photos of my paintings. My trusted old Canon Powershot broke, and I bought the exactly same one from ebay to replace it, but for some reason the same settings don't render the colors the same way the old one did. It takes more patience and editing in Photoshohp to make it look like the actual painting. So, here is last week's painting, In a moment of romanticism I decided to call it Dance with Me. :)

"Evening Beach" 5"x7" Oil on panel SOLD One more version of the beach we stayed last summer, in the small town of Briatico, in Calabria, Italy. I really liked the feeling of calm of that small beach, it was cozy and picturesque. This small painting could really be a study for a bigger painting. We'll see. :)

"After the Rain" 8"x10" Oil and acrylic on canvas Available Sometimes if I am driving home and I see a nice sunset I make a stop at the park to have a clear vision of the sky, across the large green area. If I am lucky enough I get decent photos from the view. This was one of those times. I started the painting in acrylics, and actually meant to finish with acrylics, but then decided that it needed some of the buttery consistence of oil paint, and covered most of it with a layer of oil paint, though some of the acrylic colors are still visible. At this point it's impossible even for me to know which is which. “The purpose of learning is growth,  and our minds, unlike our bodies,  can continue growing as long as we live.” ~ Mortimer Adler

"Sunset on River Brenta" 6"x6" oil on panel Available The region where I grew up is called "Riviera del Brenta", and it's gorgeous area, full of cute little towns and several villas and palaces that are more than 400 years old, scattered along this river, the Brenta. Credit for the reference photo goes to my friend Gianluca Lazzari, my classmate in high school, and now connected through facebook. He has a natural artist eye, and takes the most gorgeous captures of his everyday landscape scenes. Thanks to the social media I get to see his photos. BTW, today is the 7th and I am posting the 5th daily painting of the month... something does not add up! lol To be honest I have skipped one day of painting (yesterday) for lack of time, and the day before I started this small painting, but did not get to finish it, so here it is!

"Shine Your Light" 20"x24" Oil on Canvas $460 Sunshine, ocean shore, and flying seagull. What says relaxation and freedom more than that? :) OK, you may have guessed it, this painting is not a "daily painting", meaning that I couldn't have done it in one day only. However, I did finish it today, so it counts as today's painting posting, even though it took several sessions to complete. :) Sides are 1.5 " deep and painted dark, so technically it does not need a frame.

Happy New Year!!!!! "Golden Light" 11"x14" Acrylic and Oil on canvas Available A new year always starts full of promises and great intentions. My first good intention of the year is to paint every day, aiming to complete 30 paintings in 30 days. This is the painting completed on January 1st, 2016. I painted this from one of my favorite sunset (or is it a sunrise?) photos. I have done a couple of paintings with oil of the same scene, both sold, this time I tried it with acrylics. I had not painted with acrylics for a long time, and I have to say it required some adjustments on how I handled color mixing and brushstrokes. Main differences: acrylics dry very quickly and they are not as buttery as oil paint, so I had to use many layers where one brushstroke would have done it with oils. Considering I was very busy with family commitments, I am pretty proud of this first piece of the year. I did it! You can see postings by participants in the 30 ...

Me next to my painting right after the award ceremony. Third prize at the Dublin Area Art League annual fall show. Available $460 What a wonderful surprise!  I was awarded the third prize in the fine art category of the Dublin Area Art League fall show "Color My World". Sometimes I paint with other artists, in an open studio environment. Other times I take painting classes. When you are surrounded by painters it's pretty useful to give each other critiques and suggestions. Several times I have asked a fellow painter or a teacher for input on how to solve a problem or make a composition better. However, I'm particularly proud of this award because Glimpse is a painting that I have completed in my studio, all on my own, without anyone's advice. I don't remember anyone (other than my family) even seeing it before it was done. It's all my own planning and troubleshooting. And I got a prize for it! :)) At the award ceremony, being the current preside...

"Enlightened Study" 9"x12" Oil on Board NFS I am particularly proud of this painting. I took the reference photo one evening after a soccer game; a storm just ended, the sun was peaking from behind the clouds. I painted this study fairly quickly. I think the fact that I panted quickly, makes it look effortless, and I love that about it. A few weeks later I did a bigger version with a slightly different palette, that's why the name "study". It's now showcased in the "Color My World" exhibit, with other 60+ artworks by members of the Dublin Area Art League. The reception for the show is this Thursday, Nov. 19th, at 6:30,  at 5600 Post Rd, Dublin, Ohio. ______  __  ______ 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

"Sunny Waves" 9"x12" Oil on canvas Available And here it is, day one of the September daily painting challenge! I have considered doing all kinds of different themes for this challenge, but at the end I ended up painting what I love: a cloudy sky at sunset, with the bonus of being at the beach. :) Gotta paint what inspires me. The photo is not the best, will update when paint is dry. Good night!