Miniature oil painting on canvas

A new cigar box miniature oil painting on canvas. "Oliva Serie O" is at my studio at the Foundry Art Centre in St, Charles, MO.

New Cigar Box Miniature

This is a photo of one of my cigar box miniatures--small oil paintings on canvas attached to cigar boxes. This one (Maxx The Curve) is a real nice looking black box. It's at my studio at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, MO.

Holiday Concert & Open Studios at the Foundry

It's a party! Come by and visit my studio during Open Studios at the Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, MO from 6-8 pm December 10 before the Erin Bode Concert.
If you are attending the concert you can reserve your seat and then come upstairs to enjoy art, wine and appetizers.
I will have some small work specially priced for the holidays.

You can buy concert tickets in advance at http://www.foundryartcentre.org/.

Foundry Art Centre
520 North Main Centre
St. Charles, MO

Final for Falling Leaves

This is the final painting:
Falling Leaves, 11x14, oil on panel.

Work in Progress

Work in progress (Falling Leaves)

Work in progress

Working title: Falling Leaves, oil on panel, 11x14

Miniature oil painting on canvas

This cigar box miniature is titled 601 Robusto (6 1/4" x 9 1/8") after the cigar brand.

Oil on canvas miniature

This cigar box miniature is titled Saint Luis Rey (6 5/8" x 9 1/2"). The subject is a wetland area in the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area. This cigar box miniature is available at the Gateway Gallery.

New oil on panel

Evening Light, oil on panel, 12x16. I painted this piece after doing a miniature that I felt could work for a larger piece. I used thin washes of oil for the sky that almost look like watercolor.

Cigar Box Miniatures

"Exquisitos" (6 x 6) is a miniature landscape in oil, mounted on a cigar box. It is available at the Gateway Gallery in Clayton, MO for $75.

Cigar Box Miniatures

"Casa Blanca 2" is a miniature landscape in oil on canvas, mounted on a cigar box. See it at the Gateway Gallery in Clayton, MO.

Cigar Box Miniatures

This miniature landscape is titled "Casa Blanca" (7.5 x 9.75) oil on canvas mounted on a cigar box. aits available at the Gateway Gallery in Clayton, MO for $95.

Cigar Box Miniatures

This little landscape is titled "Davidoff" (8 x 7) oil on canvas, mounted on a cigar box and is available at the Gateway Gallery in Clayton, MO for $95.

Cigar Box miniatures

This miniature landscape painting is titled "Romeo Y Julieta" (6.5 x 7.25),
oil on canvas mounted on a cigar box. It is available at the Gateway Gallery in Clayton, MO for $95.

Cigar Box Miniatures

This is a new series of small oils on canvas that are mounted on cigar boxes. They are currently at the Gateway Gallery in Clayton, MO and are very attractively priced for gift-giving. They are titled from the brand of cigars; this one is "My Father Cigars" (7.25 x 9.75, $95).

Apple: next stages

At this stage, I've added a yelllow glaze over the table surface, which I will tone down later with blue. I've also added a glaze of red to the apple and a white scumble in the highlights to keep it the lightest value.

Apple: work in progress

This is the next stage of the apple painting. I have brushed a glaze of ultramarine over the background and lower foreground as well as a glaze of  indian yellow over the apple.

Sunlit Path work in progress

A new work in progress, Sunlit Path is done almost entirely with a palette knife. My inspiration for painting with a palette knife came from Michael Anderson who demonstrated painting with a palette knife, outdoors during the StL Art Fair.

Work in Progress "Apple"

This is a work I'm doing for the next Gateway Gallery theme: Apple and the Tree. I'm attempting a traditional grisaille underpainting with multiple glazes for this work. This is the underpainting done over a charcoal drawing on canvas. I don't normally paint still life so this should be fun!

Mountain Stream

Mountain Stream, 11x14, oil on panel.

Gold Rush

Gold Rush, oil on panel, 11x14

is a new piece I recently completed. It is from a trip to the Shadow Mountain Lake area near Grand Lake, Colorado. The aspen were in full color and it snowed the next day.

Looking Up

Looking Up, 12x16, oil on canvas panel. This painting is of the rocks in the Deer Park area of Forest Park, a favorite area of mine. I did choose a different background, leaving out the close in trees just for a different composition.

New Work

Lake's Edge
12x16
oil on panel
This is a view of Oxbow Bend in Wyoming but without a significant geological feature; the Tetons are in the original photo but I decided to leave them out of the painting and make the sky the focal point.

Exhibition of new work in oil at the Gateway Gallery

I am hanging my new work at the Gateway Gallery today. The reception is Friday, Sept 10th, 6-9 pm. Come join us for good food and wine and a chance to talk to all the artists.

Work in Progress

This is a new landscape in oil, as yet untitled. Another phone shot, gotta love the convenience. I am happy with this piece so far. However, there is a shadow across the top of the sky - which isn't blue, anyway look at my website for final shots (when I get them finished).

Juried exhibition coming up

The River Sings (detail) is one of three pieces I will have on exhibit at a new show--"Painting: The Artful Palette" which opens at the Foundry Art Center on August 27, from 6-9pm. I will be hosting an open studios (Studio 20) during the reception.

The juror is David Spear, an award wining public artist based in Columbia, MO.

The show runs from August 27 through October 8.
The Foundry Art Centre
520 North Main Centre
St. Charles, MO 63301
http://www.foundryartcentre.org/

Bright Stream

What has been a work in progress, Bright Stream (16x12, oil on canvas panel) is complete. This is a shot from my phone so there is a bit of glare and the color isn't great. Iwill post this on my web site when I get a good shot. Go to http://www.janetfons.com/ for all final photos of my artwork.

New landscape painting

A new oil on canvas: Mirroring Trees, 16x20.
This is from a trip to the Bush Nature Preserve near O'Fallon, MO. It is a marsh area and is quite beautiful.

New landscape in oil

This is a new painting in oil titled Autumn Haze, 11x14, oil on canvas panel.

New work

Here is a new painting titled Fall Glow, 12 x 16, Oil on panel.
The previous post (work in progress) went into the 'stinker' pile. It happens. Sometimes its better to move on than to waste paint trying to fix it.

The next stage of work in progress

First rough pass of color on this painting. Lots more work to do.

New work: underpainting

Here is a piece I started with a red-brown notan to work out where the darks will work in the composition.

New work in progress: landscape in oil

I'm enjoying the progress on this painting and working to keep it very loose.

New work in progress: landscape in oil on panel

This is a new piece from a favorite place in Forest Park in St. Louis. The sun is behind the trees creating wonderful outlines. At this stage, I've added the first layer of local color over the underpainting which was an orange-red wash.

New landscape on panel

Another new oil on panel titled "Follow the Stream". This is from a photo I shot in Forest Park in St. Louis. This is a smooth gessoed panel that I added some texture to before beginning.

Check this video out

I found this all prima brushwork exercise by Larry Seiler on utube. It's a cool exercise I think I'll give it a try.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8ZeSdC5xcs

Landscape painting in oil in progress

The next stage of this new painting. It is a favorite area of mine in Forest Park, St. Louis. The phone camera is convenient but the colors do get a little washed out. When it's finished I'll take a shot with my good camera.

Underpainting or notan

This is an underpainting for a new piece in oil on panel. I started with defining the darks in a red-brown tone and then added some of the mid-range tones. I worked in the sky lightly and stopped  to let it all dry.

New Landscape in oil

This is a new painting, "Remembering" 11x14, oil on panel. Based on a view from a hilltop winery near Augusta, MO. I changed the foreground to look less like a farm and re-interpreted the color to explore reds and oranges.

New Landscape

Marsh Reflection II (12x12 Oil pastel & oil on canvas).
These two 12x12 canvases are hanging at the Gateway Gallery in Clayton, MO
Our next reception in friday, June 4th, 6-9 p.m.

New Work

Marsh Reflection I (12x12, oil pastel & oil on canvas).

New work in oil

This is another oil painting on panel I've finished. Its 12x16 and needs a title...

This is a new oil painting on panel (11x14) I'm working on. I've discovered that using my phone as a camera has its drawbacks; its hard to shoot 'square' but it is convenient.

This piece is a new oil painting on panel (12x12). I've been trying out oils lately and really enjoying working with a wet medium. A friend of a friend (D.R., friend of Jason) bought it off my easel during the Spring Artwalk in St. Charles. Thank you, D.R.!This is a photo I took with my phone - I finally bought a cable so I can download images from my phone. I hope this will help me post more regularly. I'm always forgetting my camera so the phone is pretty convenient.

New work "Reflection"

This is a new painting ('Reflection' 24"x24" oil pastel & alkyd on canvas) I just completed. I'll be hanging it at the Gateway Gallery booth at the Art Show at Queenie Park this weekend. Come by and see all the artwork. Hours are Fri: 6-9pm; Sat: 10am-7pm; Sun: 11am-4pm. The Art show is at the Greensfelder Rec. Complex, 550 Weidman Road, Manchester, MO. There will be wine tastings on Friday and Saturday night, and a free drawing for a $100 "art" certificate at 3:00 Saturday & Sunday.

New triptych: Sundown Over Marsh

I finished this trio and hung it up at the Gateway Gallery before the last reception. Each panel is 9x12, so the entire piece is 9x36. After I finished this, I took off for Florida for a week and haven't been back long but still catching up from vacation. So my blog has suffered as usual. Currently, I am trying to finish three new canvases. Two are being obstinate but the third may go quickly. That's just how it is I guess.

New painting on canvas: Golden Morning

This is the final photo of Golden Morning (30" x 40" oil pastel & alkyd on canvas). It took a long time to resolve the foreground. I originally planned to use more pink but chickened out in the end. A visitor to my studio at the Foundry told me it reminded her of flowering fields near San Diego. I liked that idea a lot. I almost named it 'roses among weeds' but decided not to. Thinking up titles is always a bit of a struggle for me. How do you think up names for your artwork?

"Golden Morning" by Janet Fons

30"x40" Oil pastel & alkyd on canvas

Color Study for "Golden Morning"

This is another color study I did for a new 30"x40" painting on canvas. I've spent quite a lot of time on the finished piece trying to resolve the foreground. I'll post that soon, stay 'tooned.

Color study

This is the color study for Exploring (see January 17 post). It is on my favorite paper (Canson Mi-Teintes buff). The study helps me figure out composition and color before starting on the large canvas. If I like the finished study, I mat and frame it, and offer it for sale at an affordable price. I have studies available in my studio at the Foundry and the Gateway Gallery.

Final "Celebrate Nature" painting

This is my painting for the CELEBRATE event. It is 8"x 8" oil pastel & alkyd on canvas. The event is a charity auction sponsored by Thirteen Squared, a group of award-winning artists whose mission is to create interest in the art community throughout the greater St. Louis area. CELEBRATE AGAIN will be shown at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar, St. Louis, MO 63112 on March 12, 2010 at 5:30 p.m.

Each 8"x 8" work will be offered for sale at an identical price of $50 and all of the proceeds will be donated to a local arts program. This year's recipient is STLOUISARTWORKS.

Come to the sale and view the art - you may find something to take home and all for a good cause.

Color study

This is a color study for a small painting I am doing for the 13 squared group (more on that later). I did a lot of changes; scraping away color and re-painting. Its a lot easier on paper than on canvas to change colors although after a while you will make mud. Ever make mud? How do you fix it?