New Marsh Scene

"Tidal Pool"

8" x 10" Acrylic on Canvas

$150 unframed, $200 Framed

Email me at justin@justinholdren.com if interested and you can pay by credit/ debit card or checking account through Paypal

Here is a small marsh scene I finished up last night. I had started it a while back and forgot about it, so I decided to get it done! There are some subtle colors in the sky that aren't showing well in the digital image.

 Although I love mountain landscapes and still life and flower paintings too, I just seem to be painting the coastal regions of North Carolina lately. I have a ton of field studies and photos from that region, so I have been going through those and they inspire me to paint the coast!

I am working on another commission for a homeowner in the Outer Banks, as well as painting new works for my Siler City gallery rep and painting work to show a gallery in Beaufort, NC. Add to this a full time job, one five year old daughter and another due in July, and it can be quite a juggling act. I thank the Lord for a supportive wife!

More work to show you as I finish, so stay tuned!

Rural and coastal studies

 "Outer Banks Dune"

5" x 6" Acrylic on Primed/ Sealed Acid Free Matboard

Small study done in the studio from memory

"Pond Grasses"

6" x 5" Acrylic on Primed/Sealed Acid Free Matboard

Done on location in Chatham County

"Early Spring Study"

6" x 5" Acrylic on Primed/Sealed Acid Free Matboard

Painted on location in rural Chatham County

Contact me at justin@justinholdren.com if interested in any of these. They are super affordable studies at just $35 each. Usually this size is closer to $50 - $75 unframed, but I will accumulate many of these studies this year, so I would rather them hang on your wall than to collect dust in my studio!

Since the warm weather came out here in North Carolina, I have been doing some small plein air studies in the field. The top one here is a coastal study done in the studio as prep for some larger paintings, but the two below that were done Saturday in rural Chatham County.

After being in the studio a lot, I like to start working on location again by doing these small studies. I have tons of acid free matboard and also museum board scraps, so I gesso these to seal them completely and use them for small studies. I also seal the colored boards with an acrylic matte medium if I want to use the colored board to get interesting effects. If they are completely sealed, they can be framed like a typical oil or acrylic without glass. If I paint on them unprimed, I treat them like a work on paper and put them under mats and glass. The ones above were just sealed and primed with white gesso.

I will be attending some events this summer like the Sunshine Lavender Farm Festival where I will be painting on location. I will post the details here and on my website soon. Ok, back to the easel!



It's Plein Air Weather again!

 Painting a field study with my smallest paint box made from a cigar box

"Light Study, Early Spring"

6" x 5" acrylic on Primed/Sealed Acid Free Matboard

SOLD

Well the warmer weather is quickly approaching, and I needed to get outdoors and paint! I enjoy the winter time painting in the studio, but when warm weather arrives, I am ready to go out and paint on location and enjoy the outdoors!

This is a small study in acrylic that I did the other day. The light was being filtered by the trees behind me and some light was just striking points on these trees and the grass. I didn't really nail the values, but that's why I do these studies on location, so I can observe the color and light firsthand and learn to make a more convincing scene with light. Be looking for more paintings as I get out and enjoy the warmer weather!

Anybody out there?

Well I have not been very good at keeping my new years resolution to post more often to the blog! I apologize to my five or so readers :) I have been working steadily, just not posting. I am doing some commission work that has kept me busy, and my wife and I are expecting our second daughter in July, so we have been busy to say the least!

I have some projects on the back burner that I hope to get finished soon. I am working on paintings from my travels in North Carolina and will publish them in a book through blurb.com. I hope to have it finished by the time the baby arrives. I will post the details on how to purchase the book when finished.
I am also doing sketches for a new series of paintings, but right now I have a commissioned Hatteras marina scene to finish for a home in the Outer Banks. Will post some paintings soon!

Commission Finished

16" x 20" Oil on Canvas

Just finished this commission for a home in the Outer Banks region of North Carolina. This one is in oils, so I had some adjusting to do since I have been working almost exclusively in acrylic over the past year.
 The buyer wanted a simple marsh composition, without an overwhelming amount of detail. They wanted a small boat in the distance and lots of blues and greens in the piece. Normally I add many layers of different colors to the water, but this is the color scheme the client wanted and they are so happy with it, they have commissioned a marina, fishing type scene next.

Now to pack it up and send it to its new home!

Commissions and online marketing

Well I haven't posted lately, but I have been working away in the studio. I am currently working on a commission for a collector who will be putting some of my work in their beach home at the Outer Banks of NC. The collector actually found me through my auctions on Ebay. This is why I continue to auction small studies and sell some regular retail price gallery paintings at fixed price on Ebay. The exposure has led to larger sales from my website and commissions.
Hope to show you the finished painting once the client gives the OK to be finished with it.

In addition, I have been adding small paintings in my Etsy store and working on new pieces to upload to my website. Etsy is a website like Ebay, but for handmade items only and the items are at a fixed price instead of auction style listings. I will post the link to the Etsy store when I finish adding new work.

Traveling to France.....in Paint!

"Provence Lavender"

10"x 8" Acrylic on Canvas

$150 unframed, $200 Framed

Email me at justin@justinholdren.com if interested

Here is the first small study of a new series I am working on. This view is from an elevated view with a field of lavender and brightly lit field and mountain in the distance.

A collector of my work and friend was kind enough to let me use some of her photos from France to do a series of paintings. She owns a lavender farm here in North Carolina where I go to paint during their annual Harvest Festival.
She had recently taken a trip to France and I was blown away by the pictures of Lavender in the Provence region and the beauty of the places they visited.
Now I am breaking my unwritten rule to paint a place that I have not been to, for this series anyway. I usually paint places that I have visited to absorb the view in person. I feel I can do the paintings more justice when I have observed a place firsthand.
 I still create paintings from my imagination too, but they are usually based on a place that I have been to, although I couldn't resist doing some new paintings based on the reference photos that my collector friend let me use.
Be looking for some larger ones here soon that include some other "French" scenes!