Robie Benve Art

My second solo exhibit of sky paintings is currently up at the Northwood Artspace in Columbus, OH, it will be on show until August 15th. Last weekend I had the opening reception. That's me with my husband Enzo at the Summer Skies show. It was the Friday before the 4th of July, and I was afraid that with people out of town or attending events, I was going to be there only with my close family, but thankfully we had a good turnout. I am very grateful for the opportunity to show my work and for the friends and supporters that came to the opening. Robie Benve with Diane Efsic, artists and coordinator of Northwood Artspace exhibits. Most of them did not know it, but the day after was my birthday, and their presence has been a wonderful birthday gift. There are 20 oil paintings in the show, all representing skies, sunsets, or dawns of assorted sizes. The collection has been created in the last two years from my own photos and some from friends' vacation photos. I ...

I have said it already and I am saying it again, this last year has been amazing for me. I had several opportunities coming up unexpected, and I am very glad that my mind was open to accept the surprises and last minute change of plans. The last great thing that happened: they invited me to show my sky paintings at the Nothwood ARTSpace here in Columbus. Of course I said yes right away, and now I'm busy getting ready to hang in less than two weeks. SUMMER SKIES will be on show from July 1st to August 15th 3016. We are having a reception on Friday July 1st, 6-8 pm. The address is 2231 N High St. Columbus, OH ... just in case you were thinking of coming. :) This painting passion of mine has brought me into a wonderful and interesting journey. I am determined to enjoy the ride, feeling thankful for all the blessings, without letting panic and anxiety take over my heart and mind. Rejoice and be glad, it'll be all right! Thanks a lot for stopping by! ”Do not...

Every year the Dublin Area Art League (DAAL) hosts a Paint Out in Historic Dublin, Ohio. This year I was the Paint Out chair - I am also the current DAAL president, I guess I could not be less involved in the Paint Out. :) I planned it, advertised it, worked hard to create community awareness and coordinate our wonderful volunteers and the day of the outdoor painting event we got pouring rain and cold. Bummer! Thank Goodness several brave and talented plein air painter came down and participated in the event anyway. Everyone did a wonderful job! The judge for the competition was Michael McEwan, and he seemed surprised too of the great paintings entered in spite of the weather. : ) If you don't know Michael he is a nationally renown, award-winning artist, landscape and plein air painter. I painted the cute store across the street from the booth "Chelsea Borough Home" and I tried to make it colorful, notwithstanding the gray day. My efforts were rewarded becaus...

I am so happy, I can barely believe it! In the last few months I entered my paintings in a few judged exhibitions, and I have brought home several ribbons - which stand for awards received. It's amazing to me! Every time that I am deciding what to enter in a show I get attacked by hundreds of self-doubting dilemmas, and usually I ponder not entering at all. "54 S. High St." by Robie Benve. I was very nervous about this painting, done at the Dublin Paint Out, on a cold and rainy day, while I was very busy being the chair of the event. I was also intimidated by the caliber of the other artists that participated. Yet, I got an Honorable Mention award. :D So grateful! What if my work is the worst of the show? What if it's hung next of a wonderfully executed piece and all the flaws are even more evident? When it comes to expose my work to the public viewing, I become hyper sensitive. I look at pieces that I enjoyed painting and see things that I could have...

This is one of those serendipity events in my life that I can't keep from bragging about. I am very proud of it. I was contacted by Gabriella Moreno, LCSW director of the Path Program at UCSF, and she kindly asked me if they could use the image of one of my painting for they brochure. I was thrilled and honored. I'm in amazement that they found my painting in the universe of images on the web!I'm very happy that they liked it and it fit so well the meaning of the Program. The title I picked for the image is absolutely perfect, and that is where the true serendipity takes place. The original title of the painting was "Hope", as simple as that. When I posted it on FAA, where I have my art available for prints, I changed the title to "Hope - Path to Tomorrow", to make it more searchable, and that made all the difference. The effect of enriching the title with more keywords really made the magic of making it "searchable". Note ...

"Bright Rainy Day" 9"x12" Oil on board, unframed What do you do when you get a gray, rainy day? I try to make it colorful. This was my intent with this painting. It was such a dull day that I took it upon myself to put some color into it. I started by toning the board red, and that really gave a popping start to the composition. I also kept the greens brighter than what I saw. Overall I think that I succeeded making it look like there was no sun, but without the typical grayish colors of an overcast day. Some days that's exactly what we need to do.  Keep the smile on our lips and the love in our hearts, even if life is not smiling back at us. I painted this at Scioto Park in Dublin, OH, which happens to be one of my favorite outdoors painting locations. It's right on the banks of the Scioto river, and that offers so many opportunities for painting inspirations. I do prefer when it's sunny, though, when I can get out from under the sh...

"Bright Rainy Day" 9"x12" Oil on board, unframed What do you do when you get a gray, rainy day? I try to make it colorful. This was my intent with this painting. It was such a dull day that I took it upon myself to put some color into it. I started by toning the board red, and that really gave a popping start to the composition. I also kept the greens brighter than what I saw. Overall I think that I succeeded making it look like there was no sun, but without the typical grayish colors of an overcast day. Some days that's exactly what we need to do.  Keep the smile on our lips and the love in our hearts, even if life is not smiling back at us. I painted this at Scioto Park in Dublin, OH, which happens to be one of my favorite outdoors painting locations. It's right on the banks of the Scioto river, and that offers so many opportunities for painting inspirations. I do prefer when it's sunny, though, when I can get out from under the shelt...