Drifter in Repose
1st Place Overall PleinAir Salon
18 x 36 in.
Oil on board
$7,000
Available at ArtCenter Manatee in Bradenton, FL during OPA Exhibition

Johanne Mangi: The idea for this painting occurred while visiting a friend. Drifter was seeking attention as we were looking at images of her other dogs. He eventually got bored and climbed onto a couch beneath a window. I literally couldn’t take my eyes off him. The light was amazing and he had a dreamy quality. I couldn’t wait to get home to paint a small study while the vision remained vivid. I had reference photos but they were so deceiving. I knew I could make a good painting from them but something would be missing. Fortunately, he lives nearby, and through frequent visits I was able to observe the all-important nuances. I am always stunned by the narrowness of a Borzoi’s muzzle and of course, their gracefulness. Portraiture for me is more than a likeness. It means capturing whatever elusive quality exists for that particular animal.

In a short span of time this painting has not only been recognized by the PleinAir Salon by winning 1st Place Overall but is headed to Oil Painters of America’s Eastern Regional Exhibition opening September 28.

Art has always hovered in and out of my life. Since I can remember, I tried to draw anything and everything. When I was about 7 years old there was an Easter Bunny Coloring Contest through a local business where I spent a concentrated amount of time on my submission. The winner’s work was a mere scribble! I admit I was insulted when my effort wasn’t recognized. This would be my first lesson in being judged.

College was filled with more practical courses yet I somehow managed to include art. After graduation I explored art off and on while I pursued more traditional methods to support myself. I never believed I could be a full-time artist, but I do know the power of a dream. I’m living proof.

Dogs and horses have always been a passion. I’ve had several of each throughout my life. My dogs have always been an inspiration, and since I am an avid proponent of painting from life, I heartily use them as reference. Whenever I get stuck, I don’t have to look very far for help. I paint best when I incorporate sessions from life. This could be in my extensive gardens, figure models, or portraits with my Studio Group, Third Floor Studio.

Portrait work interests me because I enjoy the challenge of intuitively interpreting my subject. In pursuit of developing this skill further, I am devoting more time to painting for myself.

Any advancement I’ve achieved has been through my association with painting groups, some well-known, some not. In 2008 I pursued drawing in a serious manner, and by 2010 jumped into painting. Immersive workshops have been a wonderful resource in my ongoing education as well as the generous support of accomplished artists. The never-ending process attracts me. I tell my students to embrace this process as the glory is short lived.

My work is collected widely here in the States as well as Internationally, gathering awards along the way. It’s a wonderful feeling, yet I believe you are only as good as your next painting! I’ve been featured in many magazines, and I am a regular Faculty Member for the PleinAir Convention and Expo as well as other high profile events.

Organizations: Oil Painters of America, Portrait Society of America, American Impressionist Society, Salmagundi Club.

Sponsors:
Art Ambassador for Royal Talens (Rembrandt brand)
Rosemary Brushes
Raymar Panels

Gallery Representation:
West Wind Fine Art

Videos:
The Fine Art of Painting Dog Portraits
The Fine Art of Painting Horses

To see more of Johanne’s work, visit www.johannemangi.com

Mass Ascension
Oil on Linen
60 x 108 in., Triptych
Available through Gallery Wild

Patricia A Griffin had read about the numbers expected and drove with anticipation to witness the snow geese migration in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Nearing the site, the numbers swelled, and for four hours she watched the geese go from the field to the water and back again. Far in the distance, hundreds of thin threads filled the sky, fresh flocks coming in. The shutter of Griffin’s camera was barely audible over the calls of the downy, white birds. You could recognize the young from the old and see family members reuniting on the ground, after a day of air travel; there were geese everywhere.

They were not one, but one of thousands moving in masses. Snow Geese filled the fields like ten inches of fresh snow, and covered the water like thick ice. The sound, their beauty, the overwhelming numbers, was pure magic.

The sun was setting and the golden warmth of the fields reflecting under the birds. The purple winter sky was above. Griffin felt their vocal vibration in her core. The fields emptied into the sky, creating gushes of wind as the birds ascended in waves, a moving, three-dimensional Jackson Pollack painting with soundtrack of calls and flapping. Nothing could have prepared Griffin for the experience.

Griffin paints from her own images and experiences in the field with her subjects. This Triptych is a part of a series focused on documenting the amazing migrations of animals. The three panel pieces honors the geese, their legacy, and land set aside for them by forward-thinking individuals.

Griffin, is a member of Artists for Conservation. “Mass Ascension” is featured in AFC’s International Exhibit of Nature in Art 2021 hardcover book available September 2021.

See more of Griffin’s work at www.griffingallery.com

A New Day Dawns Bright
By Susie Hyer
48 x 30 in.
Oil on linen

During the 13th annual Grand Canyon Celebration of Art, 25 plein air artists from around the country will gather at Grand Canyon National Park to face the challenges the canyon presents to those who attempt to capture its beauty, its vastness, and its ever-changing light and weather patterns on canvas. During Plein Air at Grand Canyon from September 11th through September 18th, visitors can watch the artists at work, painting along the park’s South Rim.

This year the event includes Colorado artist Susie Hyer.
Susie Hyer has been drawing and painting since she was a child. “I remember drawing a pair of ceramic flamingos my mother used to keep on her dining room table when I was four years old,” she says. “I knew from that moment I would be an artist when I grew up.”
All of the participating Celebration of Art artists submit a Grand Canyon themed studio painting prior to the event. Of her studio painting for this year’s event, “A New Day Dawns Bright” (48 x 30 in., oil on linen), Hyer says:

“All this is the Canyon in my relative perception. It is blended concoction of poetry, peace, and panic. These are the memories that inform my painting process and product. This studio painting, while based on a photograph I took from the Rim a few years back, cannot help but be a product of a relative perception I have acquired from many experiences here. In short, it is a fantasy. But it’s an honest one.”

Beginning September 19, 2021 through January 17, 2022, the work of this accomplished artist will be exhibited and available for purchase at Kolb Studio on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park or online at: www.grandcanyon.org/events/celebration-of-art/

For more information contact Kathy Duley at [email protected] or 480-277-0458.

Tennessee Ford
By Lori Putnam
36 x 48 in.
Oil on linen
2021

Native Tennessee artist Lori Putnam spent the last two years creating a new body of work inspired by the landscape that surrounds her. In her upcoming solo exhibition, “Lori Putnam: Close to Home” the artist celebrates each of the four, distinct seasons with landscapes ranging in size from 8 x 10 inches to 36 x 48 inches. Shown here is a studio work created from a plein air sketch made just two miles from her Charlotte, Tennessee studio.

Having grown up in the countryside with no neighbors for miles, Putnam credits her passion and familiarity with the area’s colors, natural harmonies, rhythms, and patterns to those many hours spent exploring nature as a young child.

She is the Vice President of Art Ambassador for a Colorful World, and winner of last year’s PleinAir Salon Art Competition Annual Grand Prize presented by PleinAir Magazine.

To see more of Lori’s work, visit www.loriputnam.com

Wade Away
24 x 24 in.
Oil on linen
$4,350
Available through the artist

Wade Away was started plein air on location in Charleston, South Carolina, but went through a couple of iterations on the canvas before arriving on this one. One of the aspects of painting on location I love is the ability to really observe and soak in what is special about the scene. Here it was the joy of youngsters playing in the fountain, a permitted activity. My two sketches below this painting had a wider view. Focusing more closely on the joy of those splashing youths made all the difference.

My paintings are about capturing life in oils. I want you to feel what it’s like to be there witnessing the scene unfold.

I am a Signature member of American Women Artists, Women Artists of the West, and the Washington Society of Landscape Painters.

In September, I’ll be participating in two fine art festivals on the East Coast:

• Northern Virginia Fine Art Festival in Reston VA – Sept. 10-12
• Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Show in Philadelphia PA – Sept. 17-19

More info about those events and other exhibits can be found on my Events page.

My studio is in a wonderful space I share with fellow artists in Great Falls, Virginia, at 756 Walker Road. Come visit by appointment or during regular open hours on Wednesdays, noon to 4pm; Saturdays, 10am to 2pm and First Friday Art Walks, 6-8pm most of the year. Send me an email about your plans to visit to make sure I’ll be in. I’d love to see you!

To see more of my work, visit: www.jillbanks.com and www.instagram.com/jillbanks1 and www.facebook.com/JillBanksStudio. Subscribe to my newsletter for more art, plus news on upcoming shows & workshops.

Contact:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 703.403.7435