FREE Painting Winner

Congratulations to Kathleen Gosman! She is the Free Painting winner for this month. Remember, I will be doing these monthly for at least the rest of the year, so keep watching for my monthly email newsletter to find out when to enter for the next one!
To sign up for my newsletter, just go to www.justinholdren.com and click on the "email newsletter" link.

Free painting contest extended

Hey everyone, I've extended the time to enter for the free painting until Wednesday at midnight. I will announce the winner by email on Thursday. Quite a few have entered, but there's still time to get your entry in.
Just email me with the word "free painting" and your name in the body of the email. Good luck!

Email at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com

Free Painting drawing now open!

"Bahama Breezes" 5 x 7 inches

Acrylic on Canvas

Click on the image to see a more detailed view

This piece is on gallery wrap canvas with 3/4 inch sides. The picture continues around the edges and it is already wired in the back for hanging so you have the option of displaying it unframed.

This is the painting I am giving away this month for free! To enter your name for the drawing just send me a blank email with the word "free painting" in it and your name. The contest will be open until Friday, July 17th at midnight. The next day, the names will be compiled and someone other than myself will draw a name at random. That person wins this free painting!

Remember, I am doing this monthly, but the time each month will vary, so sign up for my email newsletter by going to www.justinholdren.com and clicking on the "email newsletter" link - the time I will do the giveaway each month will be revealed in the newsletter. Good luck!

To enter, email me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com with the word "free painting" and your name in the email.

Asheboro Library exhibit 2010

Hello all! Just got off of the phone with the Asheboro Public Library. I will have an exhibit there for the months of March & April 2010. They don't have a large amount of space for the show, so I will probably be exhibiting smaller framed pieces. I will update you more with times and pictures of the exhibit as the date draws closer. It seems far off, but it will be here before I know it! I can't believe 2009 is over half gone.

Ocracoke Coastal Painting

"Ocracoke Surf"

8 x 10 inches, Acrylic on Canvas

$150 unframed, $200 Framed

Available by paypal at http://www.justinholdren.com/ or by emailing me

This is a small painting I did in the studio the other night. Ocracoke Island is a place of great beauty. I could paint 1000 paintings there and never run out of material. Be on the lookout for my email newsletter this week about the free painting giveaway. You can sign up for my email newsletter by going to http://www.justinholdren.com/ and clicking on the "email newsletter" link.

My own Stimulus package

Hello friends! As a way to uplift people's spirits in this down economy, I have will be starting a free monthly painting giveaway. I can afford to do this because I accumulate a lot of small studies that are small versions of larger, more detailed works I want to do. So Starting in July, I will be giving away one small 5 x 7 painting a month until I decide to end this promotion.
To find out when I will post these paintings and how to enter, sign up for my monthly email newsletter by going to www.justinholdren.com and click on the "email newsletter" link. Good luck!

New painting, Tennessee Farmland

"Tennessee Farmland"

8 x 10 inches, Acrylic on Canvas

$200 Framed in Gold metal leaf Frame with carved corners

This is a new one I did recently from some sketches and photos of a farm in Tennessee. The landscape was beautiful with the Great Smoky Mountains in the background. This painting is available at Raleigh Street Gallery in Siler City, NC. If you want it, contact the gallery owner Chana Meeks through the gallery's website at http://www.raleighstreetgallery.com/ .

Forgive my abscence!

Sorry I have not posted any new paintings folks. I have been traveling about every weekend and am getting ready to head out today to Ocean Isle, NC to the beach! I have new work photographed, I just have not had the time to upload it to the blog or website. More to come next week - I promise!!!!

By the way, I am starting a new project in July that will enable some people to win a free 5 x 7 painting. Stay tuned here and I will tell you how!

Santee Cooper Fishing trip

Here I am half asleep in front of our catch

I wasn't ready for the camera and have a stupid grin on my face!

Beautiful Lake Marion - Part of the Santee Cooper Lakes in South Carolina



My father in law with a big catfish!

Had a great weekend fishing trip with my father in law and brother in laws. We fished on beautiful Lake Marion in SC. We caught catfish from the teens up to about 25 pounds. Sunday night we battered and fried some and it was great!

Our guide was Lee Jackson and he was fantastic! His website is www.santeecooperfatcats.com

I didn't have time to paint, it was a whirlwind trip, but I did get some photos and sketches from memory done. I will have new paintings soon!

Myrtle Beach Trip

My daughter Sophia ready to roll to the beach!

Our hotel - Did some paintings from the oceanfront balcony

Daylight starting to fade in Myrtle Beach, SC.

My family and I went to Myrtle Beach last weekend and had a blast. I did do some small plein air studies while I was there. I will post them as soon as I unpack and photograph them. I am off again this weekend to Santee Cooper, SC to do some fishing with my father -in-law and some others. I probably won't have time to paint as this will be a quick trip, but I will get some photos to work from later and can maybe get some pen or pencil sketching done.

Eastern NC Plein Air Study

"Goldsboro Farmland"

Acrylic on archival canvas panel

$50 unframed

To purchase by paypal, send me an email.

This is a quick plein air study I did on location in Goldsboro, NC on Saturday. I was in town dropping paintings off at the Wayne County Arts Council. I thought that before driving 2 hours home, I would paint. I did this quickly from the Wal-Mart parking lot, which was across the street from this farm field. The field had some sort of plantings that had already been harvested. The light was kind of hazy and flat that day.

Plein air painting and a day trip

Well, I drove 2 hours to Goldsboro, NC on Saturday to deliver paintings to the Wayne County Arts Council for a juried exhibition. I did a small plein air painting of a farm field, but I haven't taken a picture of it yet, so I will upload it tomorrow. I am gearing up for some painting at the beach this weekend, so my posts will be sporadic over the next week. Stay tuned!

Plein air study and some news

"Backyard Trees"

7 x 5 inches, Oil on canvas

$50 Unframed

You can purchase by sending me an email or you can purchase through paypal at my website HERE

I have been getting ready for my upcoming trips. I will be in Myrtle Beach next weekend, Santee Cooper Lake in SC the next weekend, and two weeks after that I will be in Georgia for a few days. I have my smallest travel paintbox and supplies ready to go. These are family trips, but I will get some paintings done, usually before anyone gets out of bed! We always sleep in a bit on vacation.

Some news - My show at Tatum Optical Shoppe in Burlington, NC has been cancelled. Due to the economy, the place will be closing before the date my show was scheduled. I wish them luck and am thankful they wanted to show my work.

Show preparations and upcoming trips

I haven't posted in awhile, but I will have some new work to show you this week.
I have been working in the studio like crazy lately. I am submitting two pieces to a juried show in Goldsboro this week for the Wayne County Arts Council. I have also been preparing for an exhibit at Tatum Optical Shoppe in Burlington, NC. That exhibit will be in July and August.
Next weekend I will be heading to Myrtle Beach, SC with the family and to do some plein air painting. Then, the following weekend, I am supposed to be on a fishing trip with my father in law and brother in laws. We will be heading to Santee Cooper Lake in South Carolina. Hope to get in some painting time there as well. Hope to have some new work for you later this week!

Playing with tonalist painting

"Reflections at Dusk"

14" x 11" Oil on Canvas

Sorry for the glare on this photo. The paint was still wet. I will try to get a better shot of it later.

Well, this doesn't necessarily meet the criteria for a tonalist painting as far as the color, maybe, but I was interested in playing with this technique of using darker tones and trying something new. This is just a scene from my head of a small water inlet that empties into this creek running through this marsh or field. This was so much fun just to play with a different approach than I normally use. I need much practice with tonalist painting if I want to do some more of these. To see work by a real tonalist master, go to http://www.deborahparis.com/ - her work is awesome! If you're interested in this, just email me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com .

New Plein Air Painting and small studio study

"Pond Grasses"

10" x 10" Oil on canvas

$200 unframed

This one above is a plein air study I did a couple weeks ago down by the pond on my inlaws property. The grasses where I was standing were still rust and ochre colors, but the pond grasses had already started to turn green. If you want this before it goes to a gallery, email me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com - If you wish to pay by credit/debit card, go to my website at http://www.justinholdren.com/ and this piece will be in the "paintings" section with a "buy now" button by the end of today.

"Coastal Marsh"

6" x 8"

Acrylic on Panel

$100 unframed

This is a small study I did in the studio last night from some photos I took of the marshes near Oak Island and Bald Head Island. I did this to work out an idea for a possible larger piece. Email me if you want it, and if you wish to pay with Paypal, go to http://www.justinholdren.com/ and this piece will be in the "paintings" section by the end of today.

Plein air in the country

I went plein air painting on my inlaws rural 50 acre property last weekend. Everyone was gone so I had the whole property to myself. I did a 10" x 10" oil of some grasses near the pond and I got a 16" x 20" acrylic started, but had to retreat due to intense wind blowing my canvas like a sail! I will post the oil tomorrow. It needs a few color tweaks to add a bit more contrast.

Down by the pond

Here's my setup with the first marks of a 16" x 20" acrylic painting. I usually use a smaller paintbox mounted to a tripod when I am in the field, but I wanted the option of doing some larger canvases, so I hauled out the old french easel for this day. Due to the wind, I didn't get to work on any larger canvases except for this one, which I didn't finish!
If you have some acreage or land, I might be interested in painting it, just send me an email to paintinlandscapes@yahoo.com .
I will call to set up a time and will clean up my mess and leave the place cleaner than I found it!

Plein Air Painting- 6 x 8 - $100

"Cedarock Tree Study"

6 x 8 inches Acrylic on panel

$100 Unframed

Purchase by emailing me at paintinglandscapes@yahoo.com and you can pay by check or by credit card through Paypal.

This is a plein air study I did awhile back at Cedarock Park Historical Farm. I changed the lighting a bit, because the scene was really backlit and hard to make believable in the short time of remaining sunlight I had. I will use this to create a larger studio painting and try to make the lighting more dramatic.

More paintings tonight!

Hello all. I am in a rush today, but will post some new paintings and a work in progress tonight. Did some plein air painting on a 50 acre rural property in Siler City this weekend and had a great time. I will post those hopefully tonight once I get a picture of the paintings.

Hectic Schedule, no sleep, and a special project

Taken in the Smoky Mountians of Tennessee. I will have some large paintings of this trip soon.

Hello friends! Well, as we make our way into spring, my schedule is starting to fill up for the rest of the year. I will be talking with the owner of an optical shop next week about a 2 month exhibit of my work. They are exhibting the work of local artists, which I think is great. These alternative venues can sometimes yield great results and can get your name out to new collectors. I will still have work available at the Alamance Arts Council, Raleigh Street Gallery, and the Roasted Coffee Depot Coffee Shop as usual. Visit http://www.justinholdren.com/ for more information on those venues. I also have a paint out coming up this summer that I attend every year, so I need to get promo materials ready for that.

Next, we are preparing for a birthday party this weekend - my little girl Sophia will be 2 years old! I can hardly believe it! All of this going on, and my body decides to stay awake at night lately. I am running on empty lately.

Also, I have a large special project that I have been working on, that I will soon reveal here. There will also be a press release about it if all goes as planned! Let's just say it will be a fantastic opportunity in this poor economic climate to get my original paintings for a steal, and there will be a lot of them available.
For now, I leave you with a picture taken this summer in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.