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By Silvia Trujillo, 308 contributed posts
View all Silvia Trujillo's posts. About the author: With a history in fashion design, Silvia Trujillo has 20 years experience in fine art study, painting, and teaching. She is a master colorist; emphasizing color harmony, and works in impressionist, realist and abstract styles, and teaches plein air and painting workshops. "My goal is to consistently produce paintings that are uniquely original and that express my love of nature." See Silvia's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
This is to let you know about a couple of upcoming events.
Since the “Improve your Painting 101” mini-workshop at Scrappy Craft was so well received last month, I’m continuing it on a monthly basis. Next week – Thursday, Sept 30, (1-4pm) is the next class. There is still room if you would like to join us! Contact me directly to reserve space, or if you have any questions.
I’m also looking forward to teaching another plein air workshop on Saturday, October 9 (10-4) at Lone Ranch alpaca farm! The workshop is sponsored by Rogue Gallery Art Center; sign up with them; either online or by phone. * attached flyer for more info
May you enjoy the beauty of Fall and its crisp, bright days!
Beginning through advanced painters welcome. All media welcome.
Saturday, October 9, 10 am-4 pm
Experience painting and drawing in the great outdoors. Enjoy painting the beautiful surroundings of Alpacas at Lone Ranch in Eagle Point, Oregon. Landscape artist Silvia Trujillo will guide you in depicting the beauty of the landscape, creating interesting compositions, and capturing a moment in time. Please bring water, a lunch, and light snack, if desired.
By Silvia Trujillo, 308 contributed posts
View all Silvia Trujillo's posts. About the author: With a history in fashion design, Silvia Trujillo has 20 years experience in fine art study, painting, and teaching. She is a master colorist; emphasizing color harmony, and works in impressionist, realist and abstract styles, and teaches plein air and painting workshops. "My goal is to consistently produce paintings that are uniquely original and that express my love of nature." See Silvia's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
Although we need rain desperately, I have been taking advantage of the dry weather by doing lots of plein air work. Several students and I have discovered new places to paint, and have had lots of fun doing it! Consider joining us while the warm weather lasts. It’s really not that difficult, and it is a great way to loosen up if you’ve been feeling like your paintings seem kind of tight lately.
The ongoing classes I’m offering (Wednesdays from 2–4pm) at Scrappy Craft are going well. There is a core group of artists who attend classes regularly, each working individually and coming up with some intriguing paintings. Plus, Scrappy Craft offers a discount to students who attend classes there. I must say, I’m super impressed with the extensive inventory of “top brand” art supplies; and all at comparable pricing to the big box stores! Come on over and check it out. I have room for more students in this space. It’s a large, well lit classroom – $30 drop-in, or 4 classes/ $100.
Since classes are ongoing, you may start at any time, and complete a 4 class series within a 6 week time frame. *We will not be meeting 11/27, 12/25, or 1/1
By Silvia Trujillo, 308 contributed posts
View all Silvia Trujillo's posts. About the author: With a history in fashion design, Silvia Trujillo has 20 years experience in fine art study, painting, and teaching. She is a master colorist; emphasizing color harmony, and works in impressionist, realist and abstract styles, and teaches plein air and painting workshops. "My goal is to consistently produce paintings that are uniquely original and that express my love of nature." See Silvia's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
The Art & Soul Gallery in Ashland has always been a special place, one where I feel particularly at home showing my work. Now that the gallery is under new ownership by Peter Stone, it has become even more of a community space offering new ways to experience art.
Peter is always coming up with new ideas to engage our patrons, and this painting demo event was one of the best. We blocked out a Sunday afternoon in June to fill the gallery with music (performed by Peter himself) and “Live Painting”.
Have you ever attended a live painting event with music? If not I will try to describe it to you but you really must attend one yourself (stay tuned to the Art & Soul Gallery Facebook page to find out about future events). The atmosphere was meditative but energized, and though it was distracting to have people watch me paint, I was able to tune into the music and focus on the demonstration despite all the attention!
In this live painting session, I demonstrated the alla prima technique — how to start and finish a painting “all at once”.
I finished this oak painting and still had an audience, so I asked what they would like me to paint next. Someone requested aurora borealis, and I had just the right colors left on my palette to make it work. Voila, two paintings!!
By Silvia Trujillo, 308 contributed posts
View all Silvia Trujillo's posts. About the author: With a history in fashion design, Silvia Trujillo has 20 years experience in fine art study, painting, and teaching. She is a master colorist; emphasizing color harmony, and works in impressionist, realist and abstract styles, and teaches plein air and painting workshops. "My goal is to consistently produce paintings that are uniquely original and that express my love of nature." See Silvia's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
Here I am with students I mentored in 2017.
Every year the Rogue Gallery Art Center connects creative teens with professional artists through the Teen Mentor program. I’ve participated in the Teen Mentor program for five years now and always feel just as inspired by the students as they do by me.
The mission of the program is to not just teach teens practical art skills, but to also give them some idea of what it’s like to be a professional artist. I’m honest, so I may have scared away one or two by now! It’s certainly not an easy job. There have been many points in my career that I’ve almost given up — and I think it’s important to be able to admit that. Life is not as it plays out on television. Sometimes you feel as if you’re taking one step back for every two steps forward.
Why do art? For the true creative, there isn’t really a choice. We feel driven to translate the beauty of the world onto the canvas (or into the page, through the camera lens, etc). We are so lucky, sometimes, to get paid to do it.
The Teen Mentor program is not something I do because it’s lucrative, but because it’s rewarding to show teens that being a professional artist is a real possibility. The Rogue Valley may be small and out-of-the-way but I have seen some very talented artists come through the program. They are the future and you never know what these kids are going to do next!
You can support the Teen Mentor program by becoming a member of Rogue Gallery & Art Center. Or, you can support me, the mentor, by purchasing a painting or contacting me about commissioned work.
Thank you for your support which allows me to give back to my community.
By Silvia Trujillo, 308 contributed posts
View all Silvia Trujillo's posts. About the author: With a history in fashion design, Silvia Trujillo has 20 years experience in fine art study, painting, and teaching. She is a master colorist; emphasizing color harmony, and works in impressionist, realist and abstract styles, and teaches plein air and painting workshops. "My goal is to consistently produce paintings that are uniquely original and that express my love of nature." See Silvia's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
The secret to creating the illusion of great distance in a two dimensional painting is… well you’ll just have to take one of my workshops to find out! This piece was a demo for my Depth and Distance workshop through the Sacramento Fine Arts Center this September.
“Hill Song”
Oil on 12×16″ canvas
$295
The fascinating thing about painting in plein air is that extra elements are incorporated into the work, sometimes without the painter knowing it. Returning to this piece on a cold winter night, I’m transported right back to the lavender fields in Oregon’s Applegate Valley. I smell the sun-baked earth and hear the hum of bees. I wonder: Is there perhaps some lavender pollen embedded in the paint? Is there still a summer breeze wafting from the distant trees? I can feel it. Can’t you?
“Lavender Fields Forever II”
Oil and sunshine on 16×20″ canvas
$495
Sometimes it’s the painter’s job not just to capture the beautiful moments in life, but the difficult ones, too. Here in southern Oregon we survived eight weeks of dense, unhealthy smoke in the late summer and early fall. When the sun did appear it wore this red disguise — like a warning light, asking us to change our ways.
“Summer Sun, 2018”
Oil and smoke on 12×9″ canvas
$195
By Silvia Trujillo, 308 contributed posts
View all Silvia Trujillo's posts. About the author: With a history in fashion design, Silvia Trujillo has 20 years experience in fine art study, painting, and teaching. She is a master colorist; emphasizing color harmony, and works in impressionist, realist and abstract styles, and teaches plein air and painting workshops. "My goal is to consistently produce paintings that are uniquely original and that express my love of nature." See Silvia's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
Every year the Rogue Gallery & Art Center in Medford puts on a Members’ Only Show. They have a great theme for it this year — “Don’t Fence Me In”. The show runs just a couple more weeks, until December 21, so while you’re out there doing your holiday shopping be sure to stop in the gallery and check out all the great art! Eighty members contributed this year, with everything from watercolors and oils to sculptures and photography.
My contribution to the Don’t Fence Me In show, titled Autumn Notes, is pictured below. I went a little bigger than usual for my plein air work, composed it in an abstract style and challenged myself to break out of my usual routines as I painted on a beautiful fall day at a friend’s property south of Ashland.
As a little holiday present to my blog readers, I wanted to take you “backstage” on my plein air process. First, check out this quick video clip of me doing my work. See if you can find the “hidden technique”.
In the picture at right, the painted scene for Autumn Notes is in the background. For the sake of the composition, I removed a few trees and tweaked the perspective.
Have you figured out my hidden technique yet? It’s going barefoot! If you’ve never tried it, you should! Taking off your shoes to paint (or embarking on any creative endeavor) is very grounding. I find that I can immerse completely in the scene I’m painting when my feet are bare.
The final image below is a close-up of the foundational stage for Autumn Notes.
I hope this inspires you to do some plein air painting in the coming year! I plan to host more outdoor classes in 2019 so stay tuned for announcements.
By Silvia Trujillo, 308 contributed posts
View all Silvia Trujillo's posts. About the author: With a history in fashion design, Silvia Trujillo has 20 years experience in fine art study, painting, and teaching. She is a master colorist; emphasizing color harmony, and works in impressionist, realist and abstract styles, and teaches plein air and painting workshops. "My goal is to consistently produce paintings that are uniquely original and that express my love of nature." See Silvia's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
As those of you who subscribe to my newsletter already know, I received a substantial grant through the The Haines and Friends Fund this fall! As an artist who has always relied on patrons and students to stay afloat, it was immensely gratifying to receive this gift.
In applying for the grant, I proposed to create some large-format works that recreate the immediacy and spontaneity of plein air work in the confines of my studio. As soon as I got the letter saying I’d received the grant, I looked around and realized that my studio is going to feel a bit smaller than usual!
Nonetheless, I ordered the canvases, all 30″x40″ and larger. Now that they’re here, they’re urging me to get to work. These paintings will be ambitious and time-consuming to complete but worth their while. As I’ve spent time this fall reviewing photographs and paintings I’ve done on my many excursions through southern Oregon and Northern California, I’m once again captivated by the landscape. My hope is for my paintings to make these places larger than life, so that many more people may fall in love with them and work to protect them.
The Haines and Friends Fund is a southern Oregon institution with several respected figures in the regional art world on its board. I am honored to have their blessing and support!
Be on the lookout this winter and spring for updates and show announcements featuring my larger works. In the meantime, I encourage you to give the gift of art this year. I am still accepting commission orders and many of my smaller works are on sale in my eBay store.
By Silvia Trujillo, 308 contributed posts
View all Silvia Trujillo's posts. About the author: With a history in fashion design, Silvia Trujillo has 20 years experience in fine art study, painting, and teaching. She is a master colorist; emphasizing color harmony, and works in impressionist, realist and abstract styles, and teaches plein air and painting workshops. "My goal is to consistently produce paintings that are uniquely original and that express my love of nature." See Silvia's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
Last summer I received a commissioned project for the Oregon Retina Center in Medford. They wanted three large abstract works to add color and energy to their halls.
Years ago, I worked primarily in large format and I’d forgotten how much I love the process. I stocked up on large brushes (like you would use to paint a house!), huge tubes of oil paint, and buckets of finishing varnish and set to work.
I think the project turned out nicely and the clients are happy. Most important, I rediscovered a passion for creating art that can really sweep you up and bring you into a landscape or abstract scene. Keep an eye out (no pun intended!) for more of these from the studio of Silvia Trujillo!
Could your home or office use more color or a calming nature scene? Contact me to discuss a commissioned work.
Here I am at the Oregon Retina Center with one of the three abstract oil paintings.
By Silvia Trujillo, 308 contributed posts
View all Silvia Trujillo's posts. About the author: With a history in fashion design, Silvia Trujillo has 20 years experience in fine art study, painting, and teaching. She is a master colorist; emphasizing color harmony, and works in impressionist, realist and abstract styles, and teaches plein air and painting workshops. "My goal is to consistently produce paintings that are uniquely original and that express my love of nature." See Silvia's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
As just about everyone knows, it’s not easy making a living as an artist. It’s definitely a job that must be done for the love of it, and with a certain amount of trust in the universe to connect each painting with its buyer.
Sometimes, this connection can take a while, but occasionally it happens with lightning speed! While teaching a workshop in Sacramento this spring, I painted the demonstration piece below. As soon as I finished it, a student decided she must have it and bought it on the spot.
I’m teaching another workshop at the Sacramento Arts Center next month – contact me if you’d like to sign up (and no, I don’t expect you to buy my demo!)
By Silvia Trujillo, 308 contributed posts
View all Silvia Trujillo's posts. About the author: With a history in fashion design, Silvia Trujillo has 20 years experience in fine art study, painting, and teaching. She is a master colorist; emphasizing color harmony, and works in impressionist, realist and abstract styles, and teaches plein air and painting workshops. "My goal is to consistently produce paintings that are uniquely original and that express my love of nature." See Silvia's listing at the Southern Oregon Artists Resource to learn more and make contact.
There’s something playful about the rolling hills of Southern Oregon and Northern California. Like someone came along and scrunched up the landscape. It makes me want to lie in the grass and roll all the way down. But rocks and burrs – no thanks! I let my brush play on the canvas and spare myself the bruises.
