Early Hours

12x9 oil on panel

Available at Castle Gallery

I did this sketch as an idea for a commissioned painting and decided to go ahead and send it to the gallery for their holiday opening. It looks rather festive! The setting is an Indiana restaurant "Joseph Decuis".

Jeannie Seated Serendipitously

12x9 oil on paper - work in progress

Tuesday I was finally getting to work - having moved my things into my living room downstairs where it was so sunny and bright - when V called. She was nearby and wanted to see if I could meet at Starbucks. Then her sister called her and we agreed I should focus on my work and she'd visit her sister. THEN she called back and said her sister would like to pose for us if I'd like. Well, of course I liked that!

She sat in my sunny window and we all visited while we sketched.
I am definitely going to finish this up. It's a nice start.

I am in Atlanta - Marietta specifically - come visit with me at dk Gallery tonight 6-9 pm!

Picking Up

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed
 
Ok - last one of this series. And though I am in the final throes of packing for our trip to YELLOWSTONE!!! I will write one last little story about model painting. This one isn't anything more than personality conflicts. I tired again to set up a model in public places over a year ago I guess. We had just a few artists at first, nice and small, but then someone invited so and so, and they invited another, and it grew and grew. Which is a good thing, but even the larger outdoor space we had at Mozarts on the lake, was getting cramped and I worried about our becoming a nuisance. AND we had someone join who was a real organizer and stronger leader than me (notice how politely I am saying this) so I was soon feeling pushed out of my own group. I didn't feel like it was going in the direction I had hoped. I'm kinda free-form and relaxed about things like this, and I shy away from organized stuff. If it gets too rigid, it isn't fun. Ultimately, winter came and we moved to a friend's indoor space and the models took on too traditional and stuffy a pose, so I stopped going and I believe the group kinda melted away again. 


Now I am just going to hire models when I need and want and invite a friend or two to join me if they like. No schedules, no drama, lots of variety, etc. 


We all have our ways of working that suit us best, and while its good to get out of our comfort zones to try new things, its also good to recognize what works for us and makes us happy and productive.  And there is no shame in preferring your studio, or being alone, or listening to heavy metal or talk radio, or having certain beliefs...the shame comes from not letting yourself be who you are. wow, I'm waxing kinda zen here.

May you all be happy and productive in whatever you do.  :-)

Finishing Touches

10x12 oil on panel
Available at Tidewater Gallery
$900 framed 


I had three paintings of this model in the show! I didn't realize I had quite so many of her. I'll show the others in the next couple of days. She is a lovely model and I loved the intimate "toilette" scenes we arranged during down times at a class. 

Two weeks ago my friend - and fabulous artist - V....Vaughan came over for a model session at my house. Its really wonderful to have the opportunity to compose scenes, photograph and paint from life in the comfort of your own home. Naturally, you want good people to work with in this case - and boy do I have a story for you about that!

Below is the study I started of Kelli. We had her in so many outfits and places all over the house and yard that we ended up only painting about 30 minutes. My daughter and her friend got into the action too and put on costumes and acted out scenes for us too. It was a lot of fun. I can't wait until I begin working larger scenes this fall from the images we captured during this session. I will unveil some new, big works, at the Russell Collection "Femme" show in Austin during December.

 

Dressed Up

10x12 oil on panel

Available at Tidewater Gallery

Its June and time to begin sharing some of the paintings which will be in my upcoming show in North Carolina. This is a pretty exciting event for me. My first solo show and my first series of works. Last fall, I wanted to explore rapid paint sketches and practice getting my ideas down quickly. I chose to paint on 10x12 inch panels because the size is doable in one painting session and its a nice format. The size and process of creation is 'theme' of the series, while the subject matter reflects my usual obsession with painting my observations of daily life - 

"Vignettes"

An exhibition of small works by Robin Cheers

Tidewater Gallery

107 N. Front Street

Swansboro, NC

910-325-0660

Opening reception Friday, June 15, 5-8 pm

New Year, New Projects

Happiest New Year wishes to you all! I am very much looking forward to the new year and new projects. I love this time of year actually. Its also my birthday today, so I start the new year with all kinds of new hope and determination and good feelings! I'm making plans for the year, coming up with new ideas, and setting goals. Some of those I will share here, naturally!

To start, I want to introduce a project idea that I began just before the holidays hit. I'm working on a series called "First Impressions." I hope to show the paintings as a group sometime this year.

Founder's Room
10x12 oil on panel

Having learned that I waste a lot of time looking for the best images or subject to work with, and getting overwhelmed sometimes, I've determined to stop shopping around and respond to my first impression. Usually what catches my eye is light and shadow, but sometimes just the way something seems framed naturally, happening upon a scene as I pass a doorway, things like that. Sort of like with fire, I need to "stop, drop and paint" (or sketch).

Tea For Three
10x12 oil on panel

I paint more instinctively, I think, when I paint rapidly. So I am relying on my trusty timer, and allowing that first half hour to be the pure energy of inspiration. What follows might be some focus on the main area of interest and some cleaning up, but for the most part, I want to leave these paintings loose and undefined. So its an exercise in freedom and restraint! All of the paintings are to be 10x12 and I have a lovely batch of Ampersand gessobord ready and waiting!

I feel more focused than I have in awhile. Last year, to be honest, didn't feel like the best year for me creatively. I hope that trusting my instincts and following my muse will allow me to enjoy the process and create more beautiful work than ever. Cheers!!

Chance Meeting

16x20 oil on linen

Gallery info to come.

Earlier in the week, I shared some sketches and the beginning of this scene in oil paint and here is the final piece. A lot happened in between that beginning and this end. I heard a really interesting remark from an artist who was on the Independent Lens program about origami - I can't remember it exactly but the gist was: "You try to strive for the final thing being good, but you're also aware of how beautiful the process is...people in a gallery viewing the object are missing like 2/3rds of what's special about it and how it got made..."
I liked that. Its very true. And perhaps that is why when I finish something, I feel it could be better and can't wait to move onto another painting to try again. Sometimes I wonder if its not more about making the marks on the canvas, than the actual picture they create.
Anyway, I highly recommend you watch that show (Between the Folds) online, or on your local PBS station if its airing.

Sanctuary - Mission San Jose

14x11 oil on panel

Ask Tidewater Gallery about this painting.

I don't do many interiors, but I like them a lot. Maybe its just that I don't like empty spaces. This is Mission San Jose in San Antonio. Its the first stop on the mission trail, if you are going to start from the visitor's center! What I love about these missions is that most are active parish churches still and people attend services there just as in old days. They are still loved and used and amazing spaces.

Something from the Bar

12x12 oil on panel

Available next week at Russell Collection.

Bouncing back to the darker colors and playing with interior lighting. Bars are fun because of all the spotlights, reflections, and varying neon lights creating ambiance. This is the back bar of the Cypress Creek Cafe where we had a fun dinner during our workshop in Wimberley.

Final Touches

12x8 oil on panel

Available at Castle Gallery.

This is something new for me, this lighter palette. I'm trying to lighten up a bit, use more neutrals to emphasize light and color. I think for a long time, in order to suggest or have areas that were empty, I would use dark washes. Its easier to pretend something is in shadow, and obscured if you just lose it in blacks and browns. But I think neutrals actually enhance colors and light better. And add more punch to darks as well.

You can probably guess my inspiration for this. The models were actually posing for some photos for us at Kim English's workshop. We didn't paint inside, but had them pose in our hostesses beautiful home. I wonder if Kim will paint this scene? And how his will compare. At any rate, I am really pleased.

Life & Times

12x9 oil on panel

Ask Studio 47 about this painting.

This is it! I believe I have shown most of the new pieces which are in Vermont for the group show. 15 new paintings have been sent there and my bag is packed and I'm flying to Boston tomorrow morning. I will spend the afternoon and night in Boston with a wonderful girlfriend from college. She will meet me there and go to the opening at the gallery with me on Saturday. I am really so excited to share this with such an old and dear friend. What a long way I've come from my drawing and design courses.
I'm excited to see Boston - I've never been. And excited to see Vermont. I bet its gorgeous. And excited about the opening and meeting the other artists and the gallery owner Wojtek. The space looks so beautiful online. Can't wait to see it in person.
Not sure I can blog while on the trip, but you can be sure I will when I get home!

The painting above is a scene from one of my favorite people watching places, Starbucks. I've noticed that more men than women read the newspaper. Personally, I don't read the paper because I am allergic to the inks. At least I used to be... found that out when I worked for a community paper in South Carolina and had to touch them all the time. I can't stand the way newsprint feels and it makes me itchy and sneezey. So, you won't really ever see me read a newspaper like this. I only get the first parts of stories, on the front/top page until "continued on B4" or something. I would not be a good partner for Trivial Pursuit.

All Gone

7x5 oil on panel
$100 + s/h

This may look like its glowing in the dark. Hard to tell what it will look like on other monitors! It is red. I took myself out for hot chocolate yesterday and sketched this cozy corner with its abandoned cup. I thought the mix of reds was striking and would be fun to play with.

I wonder if Starbucks puts something extra special in their hot chocolate because I seriously think I am addicted to it.

Club Room

16x16 oil on linen

This is a scene from the Salmagundi Club in NYC. The day I painted it was rainy and cool. It was just so in New York the day I was visiting there and I enjoyed recalling the comfortable warmth of the basement bar room and its one patron awaiting his drink.

Merry Souls

12x18 oil on linen

Ask Tidewater Gallery about this painting.

I'm pleased to announce that I have new representation with Tidewater Gallery in historic Swansboro, NC. I am shipping several paintings there this week and had to share this newest piece before its even dry!

This is a scene from the amazing St. Regis hotel bar, featuring Maxfield Parrish's wonderful mural of King Cole which dominates the room. In painting it, I mostly copied the other artist's work, which actually got a little boring for me. I like to include other art in my paintings, obviously, but when its almost exclusively the subject, its not quite as exciting for me. But its beautiful to look at and I like the silhouettes playing against the mural.

There are some funny spots on the image here because this is on loose linen and it wasn't laying flat for the photo. I will let it dry and then, using bookbinders glue, I will mount it to gatorboard.

Sitting Room - 60 Minute Study

9x12 on loose canvas
$50 + s/h
Purchase this study - Sold