We have just completed our Dobbin Gallery (Church St) Plein Air workshop in Charleston SC. I want to thank the artists for a wonderful workshop. We started out with a get acquainted reception at the gallery, where I introduced them to a few techniques and discussed a little of the history and purpose of painting en plein air. The weather was beautiful and we put in three long days of painting in one of the most beautiful places in America. Each artist completed five to six paintings each in three days.

We spent the first half of the first day painting the marsh of the intercostals at Mt Pleasant. The expansive view to the east was lit by the early morning light and the view to the west looked to the city skyline of old historic Charleston. We moved to the Shem Creek area after a quick lunch and set up on the deck of The Wreck, a seafood restaurant at the shrimp fleet landing. The owner of the restaurant was very gracious to let us paint there and invited us to come back, which we did the next day. Once again the setting was very picturesque with the old docks and shacks and shrimp boats. We all painted a view of an old dock and shack with a couple of shrimp boats that afternoon.

We painted at The Battery on the morning of the second day focusing on a view of the #2 Meeting St house, which is one of the most painted sites in Charleston. We all had to stand in the cool shade that morning to capture the light playing through the leaves of the giant live oaks and then illuminating the house in the background. We left there at lunch for a warmer spot and went back to Shem Creek for the rest of the afternoon to catch the same light as we had from the day before to do another painting each of the shrimp docks. I think I could paint for an entire year in the same area and never paint the same picture twice.

The third day we painted at the waterfront park in Charleston. Our subject of the day was to do the interesting people in the park. Some were jogging, some were walking dogs, and some were sitting on benches reading the morning paper. We set up on the boundary path and would capture a person walking by from time to time and would just sketch them in quickly until we each had an interesting composition. We had a light lunch in the park and spent the rest of the day there touching up our paintings for the wet paint sale at the gallery.

I want to thank The Dobbin Gallery and the participants for a wonderful time. All the artists did a fantastic job and produced some beautiful work. We are planning another workshop in Charleston in the spring. I will keep everyone posted as to a final date and schedule.

I've been very busy lately with the house project. For those of you that haven't red the last blog, I'll update you on what I'm doing. Doing miles and miles (it seems) of faux burl walnut on the ballistrate as well as door arches and raised panel doors, doing Italian Plaster Veniziano, copper metalo, painting a 11x14' wall mural of Renoir's "The Luncheon of the Boating Party" , a 8' ceiling dome mural, and glazing and antiquing. I will also be doing gold highlights on much of the trim and chandeliers in the house as well. This is a very ambitious project for the homeowner, the house is 12000 sq ft and is probably the most decorative house I've had the opportunity to do. Very beautiful and well planned.

I'm also doing my paintings for the galleries and doing as much plein air painting as I can fit in, teaching a couple of art classes and preparing for my upcoming plein air workshop in Charleston. The participation for the workshop is picking up and I expect to have a good turnout. The Dobbin Gallery at Church St in Charleston is sponsoring the workshop which run Nov 5th, 6th,and 7th with a beginning reception on the 4th and a wet paint and sell along with a reception on the night of the 7th. The fee for the workshop is only $325.00 with the option for the artist to leave one work of art at the gallery to be sold. This is a good opportunity for an artist to have their work shown in a Charleston gallery. You can google up Shem Creek, the Battery, and historic downtown Charleston to review the beautiful painting locations we have in store for the painters. If you or anyone you know are interested in attending the workshop you can contact me on my e-mail at craig_reynolds@comcast.net or the gallery at Dobbingallery@yahoo.net. You can contact me by phone at 256-458-1881 or Shelby Parbel at 843-579-9725.

The gallery sales are beginning to pick up after a long slow period due to the economy. A lot of the galleries have closed and most of them are really struggling. Hopefully the economy is picking up. It is just as much the artist responsibility to help the galleries out as it is for the gallery owners themselves. My thoughts on that are for the artist to do whatever it takes to help generate sales for them as well as for ourselves by either dropping the price point slightly or maybe even painting smaller and less expensive paintings. The Dobbin Gallery of Charleston sold three paintings of mine last week and I have one under consideration at the Renaissance Gallery as well, all were negotiated sales.

I guess it's about time to update everyone on what I've been doing lately. The Dobbin Gallery at Church St in Charleston S.C. had a one man show and reception for me in September.  I took fifteen new pieces down for the show. I want to thank Shelby Parbel, the new owner for her gracious reception. The show went well and Estra and I had a wonderful time. Please stop by the gallery and check out the work there, she has some wonderful artist in the gallery which I'm sure you'll enjoy.

The Dobbin Gallery of Charleston is hosting a Plein Air workshop  on November 4th thru the 7th.  I'll be the featured artist offering a couple of my plein air painting techniques. Hopefully I can offer some enlightening techniques for the novice or the professional artist participating. We will have a "meet and greet" reception at the gallery at 6:00 pm on the 4th, paint on the 5th, 6th, and 7th followed by a wet paint sale and reception that night. Each artist can select their one best painting to leave at the gallery for the gallery to sell. This is a good opportunity for you to have your work in a Charleston gallery, who knows you may even become a successful represented artist.

You get three days of instruction, cocktail party, lunch and an opportunity to show your work in the gallery for just $325.00. For more information contact me (256) 458-1881 or Shelby Parbel at dobbingallery@yahoo.net or call her at (763) 228-3661 or (843) 579-9725.

Other than getting prepared for the Dobbin Gallery Plein Air Workshop, I have taken on a tremendous mural and decorative painting job in one of the most beautiful homes in our area. I'm doing a dining room mural (11'x14') an eight foot dia. ceiling dome mural, Italian plaster, faux burl walnut and antiquing / glazing. This is a 12000 sq ft home so I'll be busy there for a while as well as teaching art classes at night and painting pictures for the galleries.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  The Renaissance Gallery held a show for me on April 2nd, they sold three paintings at the preview and a couple of more throughout the night.  The turnout was unbelievably good in spite of the bad weather.  Thanks to Anne and Kathy for a great show.

I just completed the Southeastern Plein Air Festival on May 2nd and had a wonderfully busy week.  I  was one of the featured artist and my wife Estra took a week of vacation to participate as an amateur. We had a full schedule of painting from morning 'til night as well as attending the nightly functions. The staff from the Gadsden Museum of Art hosted the festival and  did a great job of planning the event. I am really hooked on the Plein Air painting thing now and must really be careful as to not let it interfere with my studio painting. One of my art students participated in the festival and did an outstanding job. We had a wet paint auction in the end and I sold one painting that night and have two more pending bids as well, my art student Gina Brown sold one of hers and also has pending bids. 

I did a photo shoot last week using a ballerina model, she is a beautiful girl with a lifetime of ballet training. I used the studio space at the Gadsden Museum of Art having her pose in front of a back lit arched window in different standing and sitting positions.  Watch for these paintings being posted in progress in the next couple of days.

My next art trip will be back to New Orleans on the 21st, basically to swap out some paintings at The Gale Gallery and to do lots of photos and watercolor sketches.