by Jill Stefani Wagner

“Waiting” Interior oil painting    12 inches x 24 inches    SOLD

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be painting the interiors of bars and restaurants. It was simply not one of my goals… or even in my wildest dreams. But extreme frustration can drive an artist to outlandish lengths.

I’ve always loved painting landscapes. Capturing the colors, shapes and light of the beautiful land around me gave me joy. But, ironically, when I first started painting en plein air outdoors and saw what those scenes REALLY looked like, I couldn’t paint them from photographs anymore. I missed all of the important information that I could only gather on site. I tried to create landscape paintings in my studio, lord knows I tried. But they never lived up to my vision. I kept scrapping or painting over them and became increasing depressed by the outcomes.

In an act of desperation, I pulled out some reference shots of a cool restaurant we had visited down south. The people at the bar were back lit by the afternoon sun and created a dramatic and vibrant image. I thought, what the heck. I’m always trying capture the light outdoors,  maybe I could capture it indoors too…

Since I didn’t have any expectations at all, I painted quickly, with abandon, in an impressionist style. I did 5 small interior paintings in a week. And I liked them. I enjoyed painting them and I liked what I created. Taking that chance, on a whim, opened up a whole new subject matter for me. So far there are 33 paintings in this series, with only a few still available.

Lesson learned: I have to remember to let myself “play” sometimes and not be constantly tethered to the subjects that have always worked for me.

So pleased that this painting of the bar in the lobby of the Palmer House in Chicago recently sold at J. Petter Galleries.

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This artwork was created on: Linen Panel
Medium: Sennelier, Gamblin, Michael Harding, Utrecht and Richeson Oil Paints