Thursday, June 14, 2012

Hatteras Boat Painting & A Plein Air exhibit

"Working Boats"
16" x 20" Acrylic on Canvas
Currently ON HOLD

Just finished up this scene in the studio a few days ago. It's a dockside view of some Hatteras boats, and it is currently on hold while a buyer in the Outer Banks decides between this one and another boat painting that I did.
Also, our Plein Air group's small exhibit "Local Landscapes" opens Friday, June 15 and the opening reception will be from 6-9pm. The show is located at Courtyard Coffee, next to the NC Arts Incubator Gallery in Siler City, NC. Go to my website at www.justinholdren.com and click on "events" to find out more. If you are in the area, I hope to see you there!

Thursday, June 07, 2012

100 Paintings Project. Am I crazy?

Starting the "100 Paintings Project" 

I have had a project idea in mind for awhile now and I finally started prep work for it yesterday. I am going to do 100 small 5 x 7 inch paintings as a mini painting project. These will be a mix of landscape, still life, and paintings with people. I do a lot of small paintings in a year anyway to work out ideas for larger gallery works, so I am used to working small.

My main reason for wanting to do this is not for sales, but for the growth that comes with completing that many paintings. I have sort of hit a plateau lately and these works will be a way to explore many new ideas and methods of working on canvas. I got out some rolls of canvas and used a 5 x 7 panel as a template to draw out the dimensions on loose canvas. I will then mount the finished pieces on gatorfoam or hardboard.

Although I would love to sell each of them as I complete them, I am toying with the idea of holding these back and mounting all 100 in an exhibition and offering them unframed at an affordable price for new collectors. I will let everyone know soon.
Due to the fact that my wife is due any day now with our second child, and I am still holding a day job, I have not set a time limit on myself to finish these, but I would like to have them done by the end of summer and plan an exhibit for fall, just in time for Christmas.
I will post each one I finish here on the blog as I complete them. Keep checking back!

Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Painting the Beauty of North Carolina






I am painting on location a lot lately for a June group show that I am in with members of NC Paint Out. These shots above show the county I was painting in Saturday along with my small, portable cigar paint box easel. I could spend hours upon hours at these locations photographing and painting. The best part is that these kinds of locations are only minutes from my house.
I find the beauty of God's creation fascinating, and North Carolina has so much varied beauty from the mountains, to the Piedmont region, to the coast. I never have to search far to find a beautiful landscape to paint.
Come visit our opening reception at Courtyard Coffee on North Chatham Ave., next to the NC Arts Incubator gallery in downtown Siler City, NC. Our opening reception will be Friday, June 15, 2012 during the 3rd Friday Art Walk from 6-9pm. Hope to see you there!

Friday, June 01, 2012

Tropical Palm Trees and Beach in Kenya

 
"Bamburi Beach View, Kenya"
12" x 12" Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas with sides painted black - Wired and ready to hang
Click HERE to view the auction and place your bid

This is an older one from some sketches and photos I did in Kenya years ago. This is a view looking at Bamburi Beach into the Indian Ocean from a hotel. I loved the colorful shadows on the sand made by the trees outside of the picture. I am offering this one for a limited time at an insane opening bid on Ebay of 49.99, much less than the normal retail price of $250.00. Click above to view the auction. You can also click my Daily Paintworks widget in the sidebar to the right and it will show this piece and link you to the Ebay auction. This item will ship for FREE. Enjoy!