Solo Exhibition

Here is the completed painting from my last post. I decided to use it for the post card for my upcoming solo exhibit at Lost Acres Vineyard in North Granby CT.  I am so excited about this show. It's been a little over a year in the making. I've been hoarding paintings all year to create this body of work.

Last year I had a two man show with Caleb Stone which was a great experience. For that exhibition I really began broadening my vocabulary in terms of painting the landscape. The pieces I exhibited were small but honest. I took those works and over the last year I've creatively exploded.

I think my greatest accomplishment over the last year was improving my sense of composition. I owe a lot of this to a group of guys on Instagram who have provided me with some great feedback.  Jon Hayes, Brian Martin and the legendary Donald Jurney have really expanded my concept of composition and how to approach a painting. Except for Jon who doesn't live in New England we all now get together once in a  while and spend the day painting along with some other great artists who we've all connected with via Instagram. It's really been a cool thing.

Ok enough about Instagram and some of the friends I've made through there. Here's the finished piece as a promo card for my show. This painting is titled "Eastward Morning" and is a 40x30 oil on canvas. This piece was created from some sketches I did on a cool summer morning somewhere around North Cornwall here in CT.

Back in the Garage!

Honestly I've been all over New England this summer painting, taking photos and making sketches in preparation for my upcoming show in Sept. Well now I've pretty much got myself on lockdown as I try to put together all of those studies and produce a body of work that I'm proud of. So far I've been really excited bringing all of these paintings to life but I can't help but be nervous of that deadline soon approaching.

Unlike last years two man show with Caleb Stone where I exhibited very small works this show is going to be BIG. I have a huge space to fill and tons of stuff I want to paint. I've been pushing myself all year to find new subject matter, challenge myself with new palettes, and the scale of these pieces and  amount of which I have painted has got me so excited. For now I'll leave you with what's currently on my easel in the garage. (Yeah I paint in the garage, you can laugh, it's not fancy but it serves it's purpose. :)

Currently Untitled 30x40 Oil on Canvas

OPA! Oil Painters of America

I'm excited to announce that this portrait I painted of Kerri will be included in the Oil Painters of America's Eastern Regional exhibition. The show opens on September 12th at the Eisele Gallery of Fine Art in Cincinnati Ohio. This is the 3rd painting I've done of Kerri and I believe it's the most successful one I've done of her.

I've been inspired by the work of Steven Assael for some time now and one of the many things I love about his work is what he does with light and color.  This painting is my second attempt at using a colored light bulb in a portrait. I think the colored light really adds another level to the piece. I lit Kerri with a 5K light bulb over head and had a red 60w shining in from the side. I'm going to continue exploring with this some more as I find it very challenging to try and get that strong color and light to work on the face.

Here's the painting. It measures 16x10 and is oil on panel.

Portrait Society of America 2014!

Super excited to announce that one of my drawings of Waleska was chosen as a finalist for this years PSOA show.  As a result I get to go to the portrait convention this year and check out all the awesome demos. I know I'm going to be like a little fan boy running around taking pictures of all the artists there whose work I admire. I'll post some pics from the show and workshop when I get back!

Here's a little warmth amidst all of the snow.

Since I'm in the midst of a winter wonderland here in CT I'm enjoying working on a bunch of landscapes with snow. I'll post more about that later since they are not finished...in the meantime here is a recent painting fresh of the easel. Hope you enjoy.

                                                   Farmington Sunset, 5x7" Oil on Panel

New Show in September

I'm excited to announce that I will be having a two-man show with the great Caleb Stone at the Gallery at the Mill House in Chester CT coming up in September. This will be my first show since we had our son, Paulie, last year. Wow does time fly when you have a baby! Anyway I still have a lot of work to do before everything is ready but I did want to post a sneak peak at one of the pieces that I will be including in the show.

"Evening at State Line Pond" 6x8 oil on paper mounted on panel

Instagram & Tumblr

Now on Instagram and Tumblr! For more "in progress" pics follow me on either or both of these sites. 

On Instagram at http://instagram.com/paulbatch

For Tumblr go to http://paulbatchpainting.tumblr.com/

Both sites are going to have a lot more images than I will post here or on my facebook page so if you are already interested in my artistic endeavors you might find it worthwhile to check out.

The image below is on Instagram but on a side note I really am enjoying working on Arches new paper for oils. So far it has been able to take an unexpected amount of abuse.