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“Fried Pickles, Anyone?”7 x 9" watercolorYou know it’d be the South where you’d find a fried pickle. One of my old North Carolina high school chums hit the big time and now lives in Beverly Hills. In speaking of his vegan-wife, he commented, “Heck, I’m from the South, I’ve never seen anything I couldn’t fry.”This is not the actual commission I did today at the N.C. State Fair, but a small preliminary for it. I was commissioned by the folks who own Woody's Wings to paint their concession stand. My patron already has one of my Krispy Kreme* paintings, so he figured I’d be a good candidate to paint his ultra-funky concession stand (the one with the giant Gatorade balloon on top). It’s the greatest thing when a customer/patron wants you to “do your own thing” when you take on their commission.
* Another of my Krispy Kreme paintings can be seen on the title page of my website at BrendaBehr.com
“Dude on Guitar”
6 x 8" watercolor
Relative to most life form subjects, musicians are fairly stationary. I love painting them en plein air. Painted this guitar player today at the Mountains-to-Sea Trail Celebration and Art Benefit. What I liked most about the benefit was that it was a benefit for the artists. No one took a percentage of our sales. Can’t beat that. The event is now past, but if you have a mind to read more about it, please go to brendabehr.com/events While you’re on my website, check out two of the plein air paintings I sold today. Portofino Trails 2 and 3 can be viewed at brendabehr.com/blog/13753/Plein-Air-Trails
“Stick figures 1” (above) “Stick figures 2” (below)
7 x 9" watercolors
What could be more colorful than a fair? And where might you see more activity? Painting en plein air at a fair presents its challenges. But then, I don’t go there to paint portraits. The concession stands are just about the only things that stand still, but even their façades change with the onslaught of customers. Everything else is constantly moving — the rides, the people, the shadows. If you haven’t visited my Wedding Watercolors website, I invite you to go there now by clicking here.
Painting scenes like the ones at the fair, and painting animals on the loose, have given me the experience to paint weddings. My customers are the ones that don’t need everything “spelled out.” Capturing the spirit of the occasion is what my event painting is all about.
“Long before curtain time"5 1/2 x 8 1/2" watercolorThe heartbeat of my hometown is the Paramount Theater. One could hardly “paint the town” in Goldsboro without painting this historic theater. Buildings on city streets can be challenging in terms of composition. They all line up so perfectly architecturally; so boringly, to the painter’s eye. I was lucky to find a parking space in front of the theater and equally lucky that for most of the time, other cars did not obstruct my view. I like the way the van in the distance stops the viewer from going right off the format. Vehicles, people, and animals all present a challenge to the plein air painter. One never knows when they might pull right out of sight.
“Lou painting on Double Running Trail”6 x 8" oilHow I adore plein air painting! Have you noticed? And how much better it can be when it’s a shared experience. Here’s my buddy Lou, painting up a storm on just about the calmest September day one might imagine. The advantages of plein air painting with one or more other people are 1) you are spending time with a kindred spirit(s), 2) you can leave your gear setting if you need to leave momentarily, 3) it’s safer. Please visit my other blog at brendabehr.com/blog to see several other plein air trail paintings completed this month. Be sure when you get there to scroll down, as there are three days of trail paintings posted there. Happy Painting Trails to you!
View from Wilber’s Barbecue6 x 9" watercolorPeople call it the fruit stand at Wilber’s. I don’t know if the fruit stand is famous, but Wilber’s Barbecue certainly is. The dominant red vertical behind the stand is actually a neon sign for the restaurant. I’ve only done this view of the fruit stand once before. I painted it in a workshop using a photo for reference that included my mother whose eye had to be on peaches. My first year back home in North Carolina, she and I purchased so many peaches at this fruit stand that it got to the point, she would announce to me when we were out of peaches. I was still slicing peaches for her when she was on her deathbed. I am grateful now for all the peaches I have peeled and sliced.
