Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association Auction

This past Saturday, the Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association (BRMAA) held their annual auction to benefit the association. It has been my pleasure to participate for many years and give back to this wonderful Art Center. I paint from beginning to end, then frame a painting and it is auctioned off live toward the end of the evening.

Talk about pressure! But, I totally enjoy it and talking to everyone as they come by to see how the painting is progressing. I painted on an Ampersand Pastelbord that was 18" x 24". This is a sanded surface, and I put a watercolor underpainting on the board before I left home. Knowing this was a rather large piece to complete in the span of about 1 1/2 to 2 hours -- I thought it should be done. This way I did have the gist of the scene down, and I did not have to wait for the surface to dry to begin the actual pastel painting.

Here are photos of scenes that I combined elements to create the painting! The first image is the creek snaking through the pasture, and some of the background for inspiration.

The next image is for the mountains -- hopefully I have arranged these in the "blog" and it took them correctly. But, you can see the tree and pasture, and then the mountains in the distance. This scene is from Mrs. Parks property where I paint plein air quite frequently!

Here is the little creek snaking its way through the pasture and the lonely tree I have based my foreground tree upon.

The next photo shows a chicken house -- but I have not included it into the painting. I just wanted more information for the creek and the foreground grasses. And . . . the last photo in this group is for the grasses with the flowers and the creek information.

So, you can see I had my work cut out for me. I did a thumbnail at home to work out some of the elements, but I did not follow it religiously. Maybe a mistake, maybe not. So the next shot should be a view of the courtroom where the Art Center is located. You can see my underpainting, and all the appropriate stuff for me to paint with the pastels. You can even see three paintings that I brought along for reference and to show attendees what some of my work looks like.

And here is the finished product on the easel -- with Jack Morton and Jill Becker in the background. They were the emcees (did I spell that correctly?) for the evening. I think this is their third or fourth year to do the Art Auction. And, below this text is the painting itself. Remember, I only had a limited amount of time to produce the piece, get it into the frame and back out to the floor for the "live" part of the auction.

Title is "Around Blue Ridge" because many of the photos were taken around Blue Ridge, but you cannot find this actual scene if you are riding around.

Successfully finished and auctioned off to a wonderful patron of the Art Center!