Plein Aire Painting | Ruth Soller - Blog

Eldorado Springs Trail study, oil, 8x10, $200

Have you noticed that summer is a season of rapid growth? Have you awakened to discover your lush green grass, flower beds, and shrubs have become a jungle overnight? Do you find the summer clothes and shoes you just bought for your children suddenly too tight and short for back-to-school? Summer is a perfect time for personal or career growth as well. Last summer my project was a return to water aerobics to get fit for my winter travels in Italy. Results included better muscle tone, balance, endurance and stamina as well as warm, supportive new friends. This summer I am going outside (literally) my comfort zone to try plein aire painting.


Boy, did I have plenty of excuses why this would never work! Weather, wind, rain, sunburn, bugs, snakes, mountain lions, coyotes, inquisitive bystanders … It all boiled down to fear—of failure or appearing foolish. My summer reading helped me overcome fear and excuses. Starving to Successful by J. Jason Horejs showed me that if I want to be in more galleries, I must increase my productivity and confidence in painting. Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity by Bill O’Reilly helped me focus on one dream I had yet to pursue and find courage to just do it. Even a video Encounters with John Wesley strengthened my resolve to begin painting in the field. Wesley spoke of the prayer meeting where he “felt his heart strangely warmed” and knew that Jesus Christ was his Savior and that Wesley was called to go outside the church and begin preaching in the field. Wesley ultimately traveled 200,000 miles on horseback to spread the Gospel of Christ to the masses.

Growing up Irish Catholic in Brooklyn, Bill O’Reilly learned values of self-reliance, getting educated, developing a skill, and forcing yourself to work hard. He built a support system of lifelong friends who are honest with him. O’Reilly encourages us to: Design your own life. Never give up trying to make it on your own. O’Reilly states that “true courage is not about being fearless; it’s about overcoming fear, going ahead with something worthwhile even though you’re terrified. Overcoming fear is an essential key to living a useful and honorable life.”

Planning ahead, I simplified my set-up to a bare minimum necessary to paint outdoors. In my small wooden paint box I carried a wooden palette covered in aluminum foil, a palette knife for mixing colors, small roll of paper towels, small bottle of odorless mineral spirits for cleaning brushes, hog-bristle filbert brushes #2, #4, liner or rigger brush for details, small plastic bag for trash, 8x10 canvasboard attached with poster putty to 9x12 canvasboard (because this is the size of my box/easel.) Paints included Permalba White, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Red Light, Alizaron Crimson, Transparent Red Oxide, Dioxazine Purple, Pthalo Blue, Sap Green. A limited palette of white, yellow, red, and blue would be sufficient to achieve all color mixtures needed. I put on sunscreen and wore a hat and brought drinking water and my digital camera for reference photos. A useful addition would be a small sketchbook and pencil for thumbnails or value sketches. I added a shoulder strap for hands-free carrying of my paint box; or you could carry all in a backpack. Notice I did not invest in a French easel, by was able to sit on a flat rock or bench, holding my paint box/easel in my lap to paint. After the painting session I gently rolled up the aluminum foil covering my palette to save remaining paint.

I found a 2-hour outdoor session long enough to cover my canvas with wet paint. I chose to bring these works home to finish after the initial coat of paint was dry. This allowed me to view my work in studio light and to realize that the colors I had mixed in the field were somewhat dull compared to my usual intensified colors. Above you may see Eldorado Springs Trail Study after some adjustments and highlights. If you have ever avoided outdoor painting as I had, I hope these suggestions will give you confidence to give it a try. Happy Painting!

English Tea Rooms, Rome, Italy | Ruth Soller - Blog

English Tea Rooms, Rome, Italy, oil on linen, 14x11, $600

This is my oil painting of the English Tea Rooms in Rome, Italy as seen from the Spanish Steps. At the base of the Spanish Steps is a boat-shaped fountain by Bernini. The beautiful terra cotta English Tea Rooms building glowed in the morning sun. Ferns, palms, olive and persimmon trees grew on balconies and courtyards surrounding the Tea Rooms. What are your favorite sites in Rome?

Villa de Medici, Rome, Italy | Ruth Soller - Blog

Villa de Medici, oil on linen, 16x20, $1200


http://www.SollerOriginals.com/blog/21009/villa-de-medici-rome-italy

On our last morning in Rome we walked along the Pincio above Piazza del Popolo where we came across Villa de Medici, a summer retreat for members of the Medici family of Florence. The beautiful building had also served as Academie Nationale de France and was stunningly framed with cascading fushia bouganvilia.

Fed Up with FedEx? An Artist’s Continuing Saga

FedEx came highly recommended to me by well known artists and art magazines as the best vendor for shipping artwork. My experience with FedEx began with great expectations and reasonable results in 2002 when I began shipping artwork to New York City, Washington, DC, and less populated locales in the U.S. My work arrived safely and was returned safely from exhibitions in which it did not sell. My husband built me two wooden crates of different sizes and we packed the works ourselves with foam rubber or bubble wrap, as no galleries or museums appreciate or accept pesky packing peanuts.

After the first few years FedEx decided that I needed to have a business account in order to have them prepare in advance a return shipping label to be included with the shipment for the return of my work after the shows. I willingly complied as I was promised discounts on all services by using my FedEx business account number which was attached to my credit card. I was careful to drive about 25 miles from my home to the FedEx Distribution Center, because I was told that I would receive better rates. This arrangement worked OK except that I could not be sure of the exact charges until after the services were actually performed and I received my credit card bill. There was some confusion as the statement listed only numbers rather than any written itemization for the charges by FedEx.

This year, however, FedEx is undergoing exponential problems. From my point of view as a “business client” I am not aware of the internal turmoil which most certainly manifests itself in horrendous customer service. My and my husband’s attempts to find information and answers online at www.FedEx.com were futile. The website is completely unintelligible. In my effort to sign in to the website I was led through steps to open another business account. My next step of a phone call to the toll free number led to a friendly female robot asking me irrelevant questions and not understanding my responses. After some time of this I was passed on to a friendly female human who kindly assured me that my local FedEx store could package my large painting and ship it.

My husband took off on his lunch hour to help me heft the unwieldy box to our local store, only to be refused adamantly by the “service” employee who claimed that:
•FedEx does not handle original artwork, unless it is something that can be readily replaced by purchasing another at Wal-Mart. (His words, not mine.)
•FedEx does not handle insurance. You must buy that from another vendor.
•FedEx will not do the packaging. You must do all the packaging yourself.
•FedEx will not reimburse for loss over $500 for artwork, no matter what your declared value.
(FedEx will gladly charge you more for a higher declared value.)
•Anything valued over $500 must be shipped FedEx Express.
•My package is too large for FedEx Express, so it must be shipped FedEx Freight.
•FedEx Freight will not reimburse for damage or loss over $100, no matter what your declared value. (FedEx will gladly charge you more for a higher declared value.)
•This office does not handle FedEx Freight. (FedEx Freight is a separate company.)

At this point I developed a sudden and keen understanding and affinity for “going postal”! Lucky for me, my husband quickly herded me out, into my vehicle, and back home where he perused the internet and found another FedEx shipper even closer to our home. By phone this friendly local store assured us that they would do the packaging and ship by FedEx using my business account. We went directly to this store and the managers were so very helpful and courteous. As far as I can tell they have done an exemplary job of communicating with various and vastly divergent FedEx offices and personnel who have given them numerous rules, roadblocks, and hurdles. After two days I am still receiving calls from this vendor as he attempts to coordinate and compromise with FedEx in order to make my shipment happen. He is optimistic that he has worked out all the bugs.

I am glad that I am a woman of faith, because I believe that it will take all the power of prayer to see this experience through to a glorious conclusion. I am extremely grateful for the honor of being accepted into such a prestigious exhibition; because it is quite possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, thanks to FedEx. In the meantime I am open to any leads for an affordable and reliable company which will package and transport original artwork. By the way, have you heard that, “Shipping is a hassle!”?

Denver Botanic Garden Path

Denver Botanic Garden Path, Oil on linen, 11x14, $600

This is a scene in the southwest desert habitat plants at the Denver Botanic Gardens. I enjoy the patterns of light and shadow, warm and cool colors, and the vibrancy of complementary colors such as red and green or yellow and purple placed next to one another. What do you think or feel as you view this painting?
Denver Botanic Garden Path | Ruth Soller - Blog

Beside Still Waters

My newest project is a challenge for me as I am conceptualizing a composition made up of many separate components. Before putting any marks on paper or canvas I have done much research including a photography weekend to Taos and Taos Pueblo. I have already completed two well received Taos Pueblo oil paintings and several Santa Fe scenes. My challenge is to include a Native American with her paint horse in the real setting of Taos Pueblo. I studied Pueblo Indians and their costumes online and in an encyclopedia. I next studied my collection of horse photos and paintings. My goal was to find a horse similar to the handsome Arabian Pinto whom I used to rent for riding lessons. Next, I searched my sketchbooks for figure drawings which would present a natural and believable pose. I selected the figure sketch shown above for the woman’s pose. After collecting these resources I began sketching rough ideas for a pleasing composition.


Since my goal was a finished oil painting 30x24 inches in dimensions, I wanted to increase my odds of success. I completed the 10x8 inch oil study shown above to help me decide on color harmony and to be certain that I could create consistent lighting throughout the composition. I prepared my canvas by toning it with a thin wash of Transparent Red Oxide, allowing it to dry and gridding it into thirds and fifths. These grids establish the most visually pleasing points for placement of the focal points. The Native American woman’s face is my primary focal point with the horse’s face a secondary focal point. I like the way the woman’s right leg runs on a diagonal leading the eye into the scene and her head is tilted towards the horse’s head, drawing the eye in a spiral motion within the painting. Notice that the stream leads the eye from the lower left corner up to the faces of the woman and the horse. Pleased with the study, I began sketching the composition onto my toned canvas with watercolor pencils.

My usual process is working from background to foreground and from dark to light. I painted the blues of the water while I had the sky and mountain blues mixed. After painting the sky, mountains, pueblo, and middle ground it was necessary to revise my drawing of both the woman’s face and the horse’s face. I continued working on the horse, grasses and water. Next, I painted the woman’s skin, dress, and moccasins, saving the detail of the beaded rose designs on her belt and moccasins for last. Although this one of my most challenging works, I am happy with the composition and the action of the woman’s pose. This work has a symbolic meaning to me of the scripture Psalm 23: 1-3a “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.”

Broomfield artist Ruth Soller exhibits at Salmagundi Club New York

Broomfield, CO artist Ruth Soller is thrilled that her oil painting “Black Canyon of Gunnison, CO” is accepted in the Salmagundi Club New York Non-Member Painting and Sculpture Exhibition. The Exhibition will be in the Main Gallery and is open to the public seven days a week, 1-5 pm, July 12th through July 23rd, 2010. The Awards Reception will be Friday, July 23rd, from 6-8 pm. Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003, 212.255.7740, http://www.salmagundi.org

The Salmagundi Club originated in 1871 as a sketch class in Johnathan Scott Hartley's studio and purchased this mid-nineteenth century brownstone house in 1917 as its second home. It was cited in 1957 for its architectural distinction by the Society of Architectural Historians and the Municipal Art Society. The Club adopted its present name a hundred years ago after Washington Irving published his potpourri of wit and wisdom called "The Salmagundi Papers". The name also serves as the club dining room's famous "Salmagundi Stew".

Following a tradition of 137 years, the Salmagundi Club continues to serve as a center for fine artists from New York and around the country-providing exhibitions of paintings, sculpture and photography, conducting art classes and painting demonstrations and art auctions throughout the year. Through the years the Club has been the singular gathering place for such great artists as Childe Hassam, William Merrit Chase, Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Ogden Pleisner and many others. Honorary members have included such luminaries as Sir Winston Churchill, Buckminister Fuller, Paul Cadmus, Al Hirschfeld, Thomas
Hoving and Schuyler Chapin.

Black Canyon of Gunnison, oil on canvas, 30x24