A great day of painting en plein air in Colorado with my mom. The weather and setting were perfect, so the fact that the paintings turned out nice put our day in the bonus.
The location is just off highway 36 north of Lyons, a couple miles up the canyon towards Estes Park. The compositional options were wide-ranging and, in all honesty, a little overwhelming. Upstream or downstream? Canyon walls or creek… or both? Wide focus or narrow? Ultimately, I opted to highlight the creek while leveraging the canyon walls for perspective.
I haven’t done a lot of plein air this year, but it continues to be preferred over painting in the studio, in large part because it makes me paint smarter. The quick pace forces one to make instinctive decisions without overthinking things, which can fail sometimes, but on this day it proved effective.
This piece will need some refinement in the studio, but I’d say it’s 80% complete, which is pretty good for me in terms of getting it done outside in one session. My mom did a bang-up job on her piece, too, opting for the wider view of the canyon to include the water and the tops of the canyon walls. And, like I said, painting with my mom on a perfect afternoon was pretty awesome!
New Collector John with Artist Bern (me, wearing SoPo shirt)
I recently had the good fortune of selling 2 pieces from my solo show, “Something for Everyone”, at Kerbey Lane Restaurant in San Marcos, TX. I got to meet John, who bought 2 of my favorite pieces, “Porto Venere Bell Tower” and “Spring Point Lighthouse”. It’s awesome that he liked two pieces that were different in so many ways – size (small vs large), pallets (bright, warm vs subdued, cool), and landscape locations (Porto Venere, Italy vs South Portland, Maine)! Just proves how versatile art can be!
One of the most rewarding things about selling a painting, even rivaling the cold hard cash, is the chance to meet people who are actually intrigued by something I created. The inspiration I have for a composition isn’t always what piques a collector’s interest. Having the opportunity to chat with new buyers is always an interesting and enjoyable experience for me, as I get to learn about some sliver of their lives and where their newly purchased artwork will fit into their world.
Say hello to the inaugural composition for 2025, HILL OF LIFE. If you’re a mountain biker living in Austin, then you know. For the rest of you, this is the northern endpoint of the Barton Creek Greenbelt, 7 miles upstream from one of Austin’s most iconic sights, Barton Springs.
It’s fitting that the two ends of the greenbelt are polar opposites. The southern end is accessible via a short walk from a parking lot, and is suited for swimming, cooling off, and relaxing in the shade of live oaks. Conversely, the northern entry is a sketchy ride down a steep, rocky, 300 foot drop-in and is suited for mountain bikers with a death wish or adrenaline junkies.
The HOL is actually an old maintenance road that was used (I believe) by the city to access the trail in emergencies, be it fire fighting or EMS services for some poor bastard who’s riding skills couldn’t cash the check their ego was writing. Over the years, the road was decommissioned and all that remains are the cement joints that connected the main sections. Over the years, erosion has created big “steps” off the lip of these joints… and therein lies the focal point of HILL OF LIFE. Oh, and great sunsets, too!
This piece started with plein air sketches, which was easy to do given this location is a 5 minute hike from my house. I had intended to do a plein air study from this location, too, but after the sketches and my own personal experience with this trail over 20+ years, I felt like a study wasn’t necessary. So I teed this up in the studio and started throwing paint at the canvas!
Hill of Life Old RoadHill of Life SunsetImpasto SunHill of Life Kerbey Lane Show
The obvious focal point is the huge setting sun, but I also consider the darkest section, namely the last ledge down the trail, as a main hook for the viewer. The odd looking concrete bar at the base of the painting is one of the aforementioned joints in the original road, which makes a little more sense when you look at the painting and reference photo side-by-side. I spent considerable time ensuring this was more realistic than impressionistic to garner interest in the piece, hopefully without causing confusion for those who haven’t been to the Hill of Life.
Lastly, the sun is done primarily with thicker paint application using a palette knife, which gives it more texture and a stronger presence on this larger canvas. It also allows for more blending, which I find helpful when trying to nail the value and warmth of something as intimidating as the sun.
For those of you in the Austin area, this piece is part of my solo show, “Something for Everyone”, on display (and for sale) through end of June at Kerbey Lane in San Marcos.
Exciting news on the art event front… I’ll be participating in the 31st edition of the Austin Studio Tour the weekend of November 16 & 17th! For those of you in the Austin area, if you haven’t checked out the studio tour in the past, I highly recommend it, even if I weren’t involved. It’s a very rare Austin event that’s chock full of talented artists, free of charge, and it doesn’t take over Zilker Park or Auditorium Shores for the month!
The Austin Studio Tour, in a nutshell: over the course of two weekends, more than 400 artists open up their studios or display in public spaces/galleries… for FREE! The city is basically split into East and West sides (I35 being the demarcation), whereby weekend 1 is “WEST” studio tour, and weekend 2 is what I like to call the OG “EAST” studio tour.
Weekend 1 is today and tomorrow, Nov 9 & 10th, weekend 2 is Nov 16 & 17th. Official opening times are noon – 6pm each day, but there are some that open beyond those times, including Friday evening.
I’m stop #327 at a building called EASTBOUND located at 3232 E Cesar Chavez St. I’ll be joined by a dozen of my painting friends from Plein Air Austin, well, more like I’ll be joining them, so visitors get a chance to see a TON of art at a single location.
I’ll have at least 20 pieces of original artwork for sale, including a bunch of new pieces that will make their debut at this show. It’s a mix of plein air originals, studio work, and per some interest from friends and family I’ll be adding some drawings to the mix.
Stay tuned for more updates, including a list of other artists showcasing their talents at our location, live plein air demo details, and “Beers with Bern” after party locations.
Get out and explore the talent of Austin artists! Hope to see y’all next weekend!
ACORN STREET progress ACORN STREET | 12×9 | Oil on Art Board
As promised, here is the finished work (maybe) of the ACORN STREET study. I say “maybe” because I might opt to add people and give it more activity, but I also like the calm, quiet morning vibe this gives off. I’m guessing the early mornings are the favorite time for the residents of this street as the tourist throngs are still in their AirBnBs second guessing why they hadn’t opted for a hotel with an in-room coffee machine and room service.
I wanted to ensure value contrasts and a loose painting style were key elements of this piece. The flag and sunlit building opposite were intended to draw the viewer down the street, which wasn’t difficult to do as this composition kinda designed itself. The big challenge since the original progress post was adjusting the light from the photo reference so that it realistically “hit” the flag, which meant letting it sneak up the end of the street more than was originally planned.
Lastly, the cobblestones were a last minute addition. I was trying to avoid anything too detailed in an effort to keep the painterly feel, but anyone who’s been on this street knows the cobblestones are integral to the charm. I need to refine my technique in future work, but there are a lot of cobblestone streets that I’d love to paint in the future!
