Jim Oberst's Art Blog

Ratindra Das Workshop and Brush Strokes Exhibit

2008-05-04T20:49:00.003-06:00

Last week I attended a 3-day watercolor workshop in Hot Springs Village taught by Ratindra Das and sponsored by Brush Strokes. I learned some important things about managing paint on wet paper, and I painted four paintings wet on wet on a vertical easel. However, I don't favor Ratindra's "flat shapes" painting style, and was unsuccessful replicating it in my paintings. I've attached a painting of sailboats in a harbor on Maui that I did in the workshop, but it looks a lot like my usual style.

Ratindra also judged the annual Brush Strokes exhibit hanging in the Woodlands auditorium lobby in Hot Springs Village, and I was awarded second place for my painting Mountain View Arkansas Barn. This is a rather old painting. I had planned to exhibit a different painting, but it sold from my This Fair Land exhibit at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs in March.

Close of Show at the Fine Arts Center

2008-04-06T15:12:00.004-06:00

My exhibit at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs closed last week. Unfortunately, neither of the Gallery Walk evenings worked well for me... the Fine Arts Center closed for the actual evening, due to snow earlier in the day, and we had very few visitors for the following Friday's special reception. However, my sales at the Center were good, with seven original paintings and a fair number of prints and notecard sets finding new homes during the month. To top it all off, due to some heavy rain around the end of the month, five of my paintings hanging in the Center suffered water damage. Fortunately, the paintings themselves and their frames were not damaged, but I needed to disassemble, clean, re-mat, and reassemble them.

My next major exhibit will be at Artists Workshop Gallery in Hot Springs for the month of July, with an opening reception during Gallery Walk on July 4. Perhaps we'll see some of of the art fans who did not make it to my exhibit at the Fine Arts Center. I also have my large painting Mountain View Arkansas Barn currently hanging in the lobby of the Woodlands Auditorium in Hot Springs Village.

Painting Donation to Habitat for Humanities

2008-03-17T21:07:00.002-06:00

Members of Brush Strokes art club donate original art to each new Habitat for Humanities home. It was my turn on Saturday, March 15. I donated my painting In The Woods, 26" x 36" framed, to the new homeowners at 103 Vivien Street in Hot Springs: Brenda Hammock and her daughters Shakedra and Shoniqua. It gave me a good feeling; I hope it helps them to turn their new house into a home.

Our Fair Land Exhibit - Reprise

2008-03-13T11:04:00.003-06:00

My opening reception last Friday was cancelled because the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs closed due to bad weather. I am happy to announce that the reception has been rescheduled for this Friday, March 14, from 5 to 9 p.m. I am told that several galleries which closed last Friday will be staying open late. I hope you will be able to stop by this Friday to say Hello and enjoy the art. If you cannot make it, my paintings will be on display (without me) at the Fine Arts Center until April 2. The Center is open Tuesday through Friday 10 - 4, and Saturday 12 - 4.

Second Prize in Richard Stephens Students Watercolor Exhibit

2008-03-05T20:50:00.005-06:00

Richard Stephens sponsored an exhibit for everyone who took his beginners watercolor course at the Garland County Library. Richard has been teaching this six-week course for about eight years. I took his course in the summer of 2004 - it was just about the first watercolor course I attended. I entered the painting Lazy Afternoon into Richard's exhibit, the same painting juried into the 2008 MSW Annual Exhibit (see 2nd previous post). At the library reception on March 5, I was awarded second prize. Gary Simmons was the exhibit judge. Richard has been a very positive influence - both in training and encouragement - during my four-year watercolor journey.

Our Fair Land Exhibit

2008-02-28T10:56:00.003-06:00

I am featured artist for the month of March at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs, 610A Central Avenue. I will be exhibiting over 30 paintings, a number of which have never been shown before. My painting Mountain View Arkansas Barn (shown here), whose image is included in the 2008 Arkansas Artists Calendar published by the Governor's Mansion Association, will be included. Most of these paintings capture the beauty and tranquility of Our Fair Land - rural America and its coastal waters. I will also have some matted, unframed paintings and prints available. Please stop by and say "hello" at my opening reception on Friday, March 7, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., during Hot Springs Gallery Walk.

Painting Juried Into MSW 2008 Annual Exhibit

2008-02-13T22:23:00.004-06:00

This week, I found out that my painting Lazy Afternoon was juried into the Mid-Southern Watercolorists 2008 Annual Exhibit. This is a vignette style painting, and is one of my all-time favorites. I feel fortunate, as there are many high-quality submissions to the MSW exhibit each year. I'll also be displaying this painting at Richard Stephens' Student Exhibit at the Garland County Library in Hot Springs during March. The Reception for that exhibit is at 5 pm on Wednesday, March 5.

Portrait Demonstrations

2008-02-13T22:05:00.003-06:00

Because I won the Gold Award at the Mid-Southern Watercolorists 2007 Annual Exhibition, I was invited to present "How I Did It" at the January MSW meeting. Because of time constraints, I spent most of the time describing my portrait-painting process, and just demonstrated a few of the steps. I've attached a photo of me in the process. (It was more fun than it looks like.)

I'll be repeating this program at the Brush Strokes meeting on February 22. There, I'll do the painting vertically, to avoid having to have the overhead mirror set up. I've also prepared a handout of the steps so people can leave with some simple instructions.

Brush Strokes Galleria

2007-10-28T14:26:00.000-06:00

Join me at the second annual Brush Strokes Galleria, which will be held at Coronado Center in Hot Springs Village on Saturday, November 3, from 10 am to 3 pm. There will be many Brush Strokes members exhibiting and selling their art, as well as artist demonstrations and free refreshments. In addition to original paintings, I will have prints and note cards available.

Featured Artist at Lauray's

2007-10-28T14:23:00.000-06:00

I will be featured artist for the month of November at Lauray’s The Diamond Center, located at 402 Central Avenue in Hot Springs. There will be an opening reception from 5 pm to 9 pm on Friday, November 2, during Gallery Walk. I will have more than a dozen small and medium size paintings on display. Stop by to say “hello”, have a snack, and enjoy the art.

Ken Hosmer Workshop

2007-10-28T14:12:00.000-06:00

I just returned from a workshop in Corpus Christi, Texas with Ken Hosmer. Ken is known as a "colorist", and he taught a great deal about how to approach color logically, but his workshop covered many more topics than that. I found his "pathways" approach to value design particularly interesting, and his technique of painting from dark to light, opposite the "normal" watercolor process, was well worth trying. Ken dealt a lot with how light affects both value and color, and how to capture these effects in our paintings. Overall, the workshop was very interesting and valuable for me. I've included an image of Ken doing one of his demo paintings.

Featured Artist at Lauray's Jewelers

2007-10-18T14:09:00.000-06:00

I will be featured artist for the month of November at Lauray's The Diamond Center, located at 402 Central Avenue in Hot Springs. There will be an opening reception from 5 pm to 9 pm on Friday, November 2. I will have more than a dozen small and medium size paintings on display. Please join me to say "hello", have a snack, and enjoy the art.

First Place in Diamond Exhibit

2007-09-08T16:26:00.000-06:00

Yesterday evening I was awarded the First Place Purchase Award in the Watercolor category of the Diamond National Juried Exhibit for my painting Lake House. I was surprised and honored, as the quality of the paintings in this exhibition is very high. Thanks to everyone who worked to make the exhibition a success, and especially to judge Marlene Gremillion, president of Mid-Southern Watercolorists and an accomplished artist and art teacher.

The award was $750, with my painting going into the permanent collection of the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs. I'm very excited about having one of my paintings on continual exhibition at the Fine Arts Center.

Featured Artist at Mountain Valley Spring Company

2007-09-02T15:07:00.000-06:00

John Keller and I will be featured artists at Mountain Valley Spring Company, 150 Central Avenue, Hot Springs, Arkansas, 71901, for the months of September and October. Please join us at our opening reception during gallery walk on Friday, September 7, at 5 pm. Mountain Valley has a beautiful art venue on the mezzanine level overlooking the main floor. There is free parking during gallery walk in the lot on the north side of the building.

I will have a large number of paintings on display, including many new paintings, some nicely framed prints of barns and Hot Springs bathhouses, and a good selection of unframed original paintings, prints, and note cards. I hope to welcome many friends, both old and new, this Friday evening.

Commission Work

2007-07-22T10:22:00.000-06:00

Until now, I had not considered taking commission work because of the likely constraints on the painting. However, when Marshall Riggan approached me to do a painting of the sailboat Fandango that he and his wife Betty lived on for many years, I was intrigued. He asked for a painting of their boat in a rolling offshore sea, consistent with other paintings I've done. So, I decided to give it a try.

Working from photos of Fandango at dockside, and a similar boat under sail, I was able to create a painting that we all liked. Marshall and Betty have summed up their feelings about the painting as follows: "We are extremely pleased with the painting Jim created of our beloved sailboat Fandango. It's as if she is back in our lives and we are reminded daily of the wonderful adventures we had aboard for so many years." I've included an image of the Riggans taking delivery of their painting.

I found that it was very satisfying to provide a painting to clients that is really meaningful to them. This was such a good experience that I decided to add a page on commissions to my website. What I plan to do is to only accept commissions that are consistent with my style and usual subject matter.

Two Paintings Juried Into Diamond Exhibition

2007-07-19T16:58:00.000-06:00

The Third Annual Diamond Exhibition will be held at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs from September 5 through October 2, with a reception on Friday, September 7 from 5 to 9 pm. This is a regional competition for all media of original artwork. This year's judge will be Marlene Gremillion of Hot Springs Village.

Forty paintings were juried into the exhibition by an artist panel, and I was very pleased to learn that two of my entries were accepted, In The Woods and Lake House.

Arkansas Artist Calendar Competition

2007-07-07T20:55:00.000-06:00

The Arkansas Governor’s Mansion Association is planning to publish an arts calendar to introduce the work of Arkansas artists. A panel of jurors chose 88 works for inclusion in the first annual calendar, and from those entries, several will be purchased for the Mansion’s private collection. I am happy to report that my painting Mountain View Arkansas Barn has been chosen for inclusion in the calendar.

Brush Strokes Exhibition at Garland County Library

2007-07-04T21:03:00.000-06:00

The annual Brush Strokes competitive exhibition at Garland County Library opened on Saturday, June 30 with an afternoon reception. Unfortunately, I was away and unable to attend the reception. Charles Harrington, a very accomplished acrylics painter, judged the exhibit. Charles had just taught a 3-day workshop for the Brush Strokes art club in Hot Springs Village.

I saw the exhibit yesterday, and was impressed with the quality of the entries. There are almost 40 paintings hanging. I entered Country Christmas, a half-sheet snow scene (image attached), but did not win an award.

This exhibit is well worth seeing. It will be hanging in the library until the end of August.

Brush Strokes Exhibition at Woodlands Auditorium

2007-06-12T09:03:00.000-06:00

The annual Brush Strokes art club exhibition at Woodlands Auditorium in Hot Springs Village will be hanging during June, July and August. I took a look at it a few days ago, and was very impressed. The work is all of very high quality, and it is hung nicely, without any crowding. It is very much worth a visit.

I have two paintings hanging in this exhibition. They are both quarter-sheet paintings, and are waterscapes... one with a shrimp boat working in rough seas, and the other a fishing boat docked in a swampy area. I've included their images here.

Gallery Walk Evening

2007-06-03T14:46:00.000-06:00

The Hot Springs Gallery Walk on Friday evening, June 1, was a success for me and Sheliah, the featured artists at Artists' Workshop Gallery. We had lots of help, including my wife Jeanette, Millie Steveken, Tony and Amanda Tabone, and Joe and Azelia Efferson, and that was a good thing, because the gallery was very busy. A number of personal friends and previous collectors stopped by. We didn't have much food or drink left at the end of the evening.

I sold three original paintings, including one sold earlier in the day, and several packages of note cards. One of these was Solitude, the largest painting I've yet done (28 x 40" framed). I've included an image of it here. I promised Jeanette I'd paint her another similar painting in the near future, as it was one of her favorites... so, there it is in writing.

Hopefully I'll sell a few more paintings and prints during June, as I have quite a bit of hanging space this month as featured artist.

Featured Artist at Artists Workshop Gallery in June

2007-05-23T16:35:00.000-06:00

Sheliah Halderman and I will be featured artists at Artists Workshop Gallery for the month of June. Our kickoff is Friday evening, June 1, during the Hot Springs Gallery Walk. We will host a reception from 5 to 9 pm.

I will be exhibiting many new paintings, from small (16 x 20" framed) to very large (28 x 40" framed). There will be rural landscapes and "lakescapes", several boats being pounded by waves in the open sea, and even a tropical sunset. I'll also have available a framed giclee print of a young boy fishing - I can't bring myself to let go of the original, as the model is my grandson. I'll also have some original paintings with dramatic skies available matted but unframed for very reasonable prices. And as always, note cards of my favorite paintings will be available in sets, and I'll have two sizes of inexpensive matted prints of my bathhouse paintings available (the originals have all been sold long ago).

There will be plenty of variety, with something to capture the imagination of just about everyone. So please stop by on Friday evening June 1 to say "hello" and partake of some refreshments while you're enjoying my artwork, and if you can't make it Friday evening, visit the gallery some other time during June to see a large and varied collection of my watercolors.

Sterling Edwards Watercolor Workshop

2007-04-22T12:32:00.000-06:00

Last week I traveled to Fort Worth, Texas to attend a 3-day watercolor workshop given by Sterling Edwards under the auspices of the Society of Watercolor Artists (SWA). It was an excellent workshop with about 20 mostly local artists. Sterling is one of the best teachers I have experienced.

In addition to a birch forest scene demo at the SWA meeting the evening before, Sterling did many demonstrations at the workshop: a barn scene, a monochromatic value study, tree demos, flowers, a waterfall, examples of three different dramatic skies, a European street scene, several demos of negative painting, and an abstract. He was willing to demonstrate anything people asked about. Sterling teaches a “4-step process” that describes the sequence that he works in. He also demonstrated a unique method of using bristle brushes for watercolor paintings, and an interesting physical palette design that I’ll be trying out. He provided individual help, a critique on the final day, and lots of philosophy and jokes along the way. I painted two half-sheets and two quarter-sheets during the “free time”. I’m holding one of these with Sterling in the accompanying image.

Sterling also paints in acrylics and oils, and is a founding member and teacher of Art Academy Live. He would be an excellent teacher for one of our arts organizations to host in central Arkansas.

Mid-Southern Watercolorists Gold Award

2007-04-14T12:42:00.000-06:00

This year the 37th Annual Mid-Southern Watercolorists Juried Exhibition included 38 paintings selected from 172 entries submitted by members from 9 states, and I felt fortunate to have my painting Biker juried into the exhibit. The exhibit is ongoing until May 19 at the Cox Creative Center, 2nd floor, 120 Commerce Street, Little Rock, AR 72201. It is a terrific venue... one can stand in the center of the exhibit area and see almost all of the paintings without having to walk from room to room.

Last night awards were announced, and I was extremely pleased to receive the Gold Award, the top award, for my painting. It was a real honor to be highly placed among so many excellent watercolor artists, and an experience that I won't forget for a long time.

Biker was also selected by the Arkansas Art Center as part of an 18-painting traveling exhibit that will be shown in vairous venues around Arkansas during the rest of 2007.

Welcome to my new blog

2007-04-12T13:35:00.000-06:00

Well, I've finally decided to put a blog on my website. It should be a simple way for me to update people on news and events related to my painting activities. This is still somewhat of an experiment; I'm not sure just how useful it will be, but I decided I'd never know without trying it out. I'm not planning to post regularly, just when there's a good reason, as I still need to protect some time for my painting.

You can get to this blog directly, using the path http://www.jimoberst.com/blog.html, or by choosing the Blog link at the top of any of my website pages. I welcome your comments.

If you'd like to sign up to receive email updates whenever there is a new post, there is a button at the bottom of the page for this purpose.