by Jill Stefani Wagner

  I’m not a real big fan of New Year’s Resolutions. Making a blanket declaration that on January 1st I will immediately START or STOP doing something seems pretty arbitrary...and ripe for failure. But I do believe in having goals: something tangible that I can work toward.   When I owned my advertising agency, January was the time that I diligently made lists of tactics that would help us improve our current client relationships, increase the quality of our creative ideas and bring more interesting work in the door. There was no simple resolution to bring these goals to fruition, it was often a [...]

"Eden Soaring"   oil   11x14   At the end of September I snuck in one more 2019 plein event. It had been a long season but I couldn't pass up painting the area around Cincinatti with my friends in the Ohio Plein Air Society. They hold this 4-day event every year in a different region of Ohio. This year it was SWELTERING, but fun just the same. Every night, groups of artists would get together to eat, laught and talk art. My idea of heaven. In fact this comradery is every bit as important to me as the actual glorious hours of painting.   The first [...]

  For the last couple of years, I've invited everyone to come to my studio on two days during the Holiday Season. Friends, acquaintances, art patrons, students and family all stopped by to visit and see new work. We had tons of fun. But there were so many people there that I wasn't always able to talk with everyone. And one day there was a blizzard which basically wiped out any travel.   So this year I thought I'd try something a little different for my Open Studio. Instead of holding it on one specific weekend, I'm inviting everyone to come on their [...]

"Vega de Carmona Shacks"   oil   9x12   I'll admit it. Spain would not have been my very first choice for another European painting workshop. I mean, really. There's no place as wonderful as Italy, right?   But my good friend Nora Venturelli had been hired to teach in a tiny town outside of Seville, and the more I thought about it, the more it intrigued me. I'd visited Spain a couple of times, but never armed with my oil painting supplies. And heck, we were going to be housed in a lovely refurbished castle with a pool, 2 bars and a restaurant. What's not to [...]

"Antiques"   oil   12x16   As usual at plein air events, I got up and out early in the morning, driving til I saw something that caught my artistic eye. I slammed on the brakes when I saw this old antique store bathed in dappled light. It was on a busy street, and it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I just had to paint it.   "Vineyard with a View"   oil   11x14   I returned to a favorite vineyard on the lake... and spent a whole day at a iris farm filled with flowers and old farm buildings. But I have reached the stage in [...]

"Near the Vineyard"   oil   12x16   My next painting adventure this summer took place in New York State at the Finger Lakes Plein Air Festival. I've painted in this event quite a few times and it's a favorite of mine. Our painting area included the entire area around Lake Canandaigua and some miles east and west. That's a lot of ground to cover if you don't know exactly where you want to paint! But the roads aren't crowded and the scenery is breathtaking. What's not to like?     One day the artists concentrated on the southern part of the lake to paint the many vineyards, [...]

"Table for Two?"   oil   8x8   The first couple of days at the Wayne Plein Air Festival, it rained. For some reason that seems to happen more often than not. In this event we were allowed to paint indoors if the weather was bad. (Others force us outside to paint in hail storms with combat helmets.) So I headed to a beautiful floral/decorating store to paint my first piece. Then off to a bar to capture the lunch crowd. To say that patrons in these establishments were curious is a gross understatement. "What? Painting in a bar?" Much explaining ensued.   "Liquid Lunch"   oil   12x12   I [...]

"Golden Daze"   oil 9x12   I spent a lot of my time this spring, summer and fall "on the circuit." To tell the truth, I have for the last five years or so...and it has become a bit of an addiction.   What is "the circuit" you may ask? It is a slang term for the many plein air festivals that outdoor painters attend. Over the last 10 years, these art events have multiplied with each state offering their own versions of non-stop painting bonanzas. Each attracts different types and levels of artists, with the best festivals jurying in 35-45 top notch painters from around [...]

Part of our jobs as a full-time artists is to get our work out in the world to be seen by art lovers, collectors, galleries and curators. One of the ways to do that is to enter national exhibitions. We decide which shows best suit our style of work, and then we take a chance, send our money and cross our fingers. More often than not, our work is rejected. Hundreds and sometimes thousands of painters will enter any given show and usually only a very small percentage are accepted. It's a lesson in humility and we have to grow thick [...]

"Arbor Lane"    Plein Air Oil Landscape Painting    8 inches x 10 inches       See Pricing   I've been off my artblog grid for awhile. And to those who follow me or have been trying to figure out where I disappeared to... I apologize! Its been a crazy year and I've had a hard time keeping up. I've been at 2 plein air festivals and 2 additional painting trips since the last time I've communicated with y'all. Sometimes I am so consumed with this art journey, I don't know where I am. Or where home is.   Some of the biggest joys in my new [...]

"From Lands End"    Pastel Landscape Painting    12 inches x 9 inches    See Pricing Saturday at the Plein Air Convention more wonderful presentations and demos, and then we all went out to paint at Lands End and the Legion of Honor Park. More beautiful views to capture! I walked around helping students and snuck the little pastel above at the end of the afternoon. (I think I chose this view because it the reminded me of Italy...)   Saturday night was the closing party...and what a party! The theme was based on San Francisco in the late 60s and hippies and flower children were [...]

"Tuscan View" Pastel Landscape Painting   9 inches x 12 inches     SOLD     I have been traveling the rowdy plein air road and haven't been able to blog for awhile. But I thought I'd tell you a little be bit more about the Plein Air Convention in San Francisco (PACE). After Wednesday night's opening, I had one day to enjoy the demo's of other artists, visit the huge Expo Hall filled with art suppliers and visit with friends. In the afternoon we all went out to Crissy Field to paint together. It was a beautiful location with the Bay [...]

"Palace of Fine Arts" Pastel Cityscape Painting   8 inches x 8 inches     SOLD    Nancie King Mertz and I arrived early for the Plein Air Convention and took some time to paint an amazing icon of San Francisco, the Palace of Fine Arts. It’s a gorgeous monument honoring creativity that was built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and seemed an appropriate subject matter as we began a week of celebrating painting outdoors.   "Palace Grandeur"   Pastel Cityscape Painting    12 inches x 9 inches        See Pricing The next day I stole a little time and painted the trolley turnaround just a [...]

  ANOTHER fantastic Plein Air Convention and Expo (PACE) is in the books! This year we spent a wonderful (but slightly chilly and damp) week in San Francisco. With over 900 students and 80 faculty (including me as pastel demonstrator!) the place was hoppin!! The event opening (above) is hosted by Eric Rhoades and lets us know all of the wonderful demos, lectures, painting trips and parties that lay ahead. As I’ve explained to my friends, there is so much to do, see and hear, it feels like drinking from a fire hose. You can’t possible do it all. So we PACE ourselves and [...]

“Pointe Santo Palms” plein air waterscape oil painting   8 inches x 10 inches    See Pricing During our last week in Florida, my bestie, Nora Venturelli, came down to Sanibel to paint with me in the warmth of sun. I think I’d finally adjusted to the tropical colors and shapes, and painting with another artist probably raised my game. We are very comfortable working en plein air together, easily finding locations that offer good views for both of us. It’s a joy to share this passion for art with each other.   The painting below is my favorite from the whole trip. Its not perfect [...]

“Sanctuary” plein air waterscape oil painting   8 inches x 8 inches      See Pricing In my never ending quest to stop painting every dang detail I see, I gave myself a tough project while I was in Sanibel. Paint shapes, not things. Areas of color and value, not details. It seemed to work pretty well and I’m trying to ALWAYS work that way. But sometimes I wander back to my old comfort zone of persnickety overworking. I tell ya, it’s a struggle.   “Point Santo Reflections” plein air waterscape oil painting   8 inches x 8 inches     See Pricing ___________________________________________________________________This artwork was created on: Linen [...]

“Beach Appointment” plein air oil painting   8 inches x 8 inches      See Pricing After our week in the middle of Florida, we headed south for some time at one of my favorite places, Sanibel Island. This little isle is free of most of the touristy things that have taken over the state. There are no high-rise condos on the beach or anywhere, no fast food joints or big box stores, and over half of the island is the protected Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Feels like what Florida must have been like back in the day.   The first two days I couldn’t tear [...]

“Preserve Shadows” plein air oil painting   12 inches x 9 inches      See Pricing When we were down south, I headed out to a nearby nature preserve one day to paint. It was quite a thick jungle but I found a little clearing where the light was shining down on a swampy area. I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking at it now this piece is almost abstract in it’s composition.   The next day we traveled to Winter Park (a place I had a preconceived aversion to because they outlawed artists painting on their city streets, even though they host [...]

“Seeking the Light” plein air oil painting   10 inches x 8 inches       See Pricing When I paint in a new location it often takes me a couple of days to get my sea legs. And even though I’ve visited Florida quite a few times, it’s still a shock to my system to go from the frozen white tundra of Michigan to the tropical warm hues of the south. And not only the colors change. The shapes, the atmosphere and the lay of the land are all different from my home turf.   So I start with small plein air studies to get [...]

“Into the Light” plein air oil painting   14 inches x 11 inches   See Pricing People who know me well are aware of the fact that I tend to be a bit of a pit bull. When I want to achieve something, I work endlessly toward that goal. Sometimes that can be seen as a negative trait, but I’ve always seen it as one of my strongest attributes.  What I lack in classical training, I make up for with dogged perseverance.   And in reality, I think anyone who has aspirations in ANY field has to put in the “ten thousand hours” to improve. [...]

I’m so pleased to be invited Pastel Faculty at this year’s Plein Air Convention (PACE). I absolutely loved teaching at PACE 2016 and 2017. I had wanted to attend the convention for years, but something always got in the way. It wasn’t til they asked me to teach at PACE 2016 that I got a chance to experience it.   It was AMAZING. 900 students and 6o faculty learning to paint outdoors in a supportive, no-drama atmosphere.   Marketing Bootcamp with Eric Rhoads early every morning, then Home Room with tons of door prizes. Four days of  demos by my favorite artists in 3 or [...]

"Down Pine Street" Pastel Plein Air Cityscape Painting  9 inches x 12 inchesPlease contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork.   It was the last day of Paint Grand Traverse and I was up at dawn to paint Traverse City. It was cloudy with a bit of fog and the sun was just coming up over the bay. I found a sweet street view near downtown which I painted on a board prepared with pastel ground. The random brush strokes create texture and dynamics to an otherwise quiet scene. My wonderful hosts, Debra Van Leen and her husband 'T' [...]

"Elk Rapids" Pastel Plein Air Landscape/Waterscape Painting    12 inches x 16 inches    See PricingPlease contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork. Thursday was Elk Rapids day at Paint Grand Traverse Plein Air Festival and I zeroed in on the bridge at the Kids Pond near the harbor. Of course, at least 10 other artists did too. We all had different views of the scene and very different colors and techniques. It's so interesting to see how other painters process a scene and make it their own.   "On the Bay" Pastel Plein Air Waterscape Painting  8 inches x [...]

"Fountain Point Daze" Pastel Plein Air Architecture Painting  9 inches x 12 inches   See PricingPlease contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork. Midweek Paint Grand Traverse Plein Air Festival held a Quick Paint event at the historic Fountain Point Resort. Little white cottages and boat houses dot the grounds on Lake Leelanau, and the whole place has the comfortable feeling of times gone by. There were 40 professional and 60 emerging artists participating along with hundreds of viewers and guests. I arrived late to find my spot and decided to forgo the water scenes at the crowded lake [...]

"Mawby Horizon" Pastel Plein Air Landscape Painting  20 inches x 16 inches   See PricingPlease contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork. Another day, another beautiful vineyard at the Paint Grand Traverse Plein Air Festival ! The painting above (one of my faves!) was painted at Mawby, a gorgeous winery on Leelanau Penisula. I decided to go big again on this one. First (always!), I did a sketch to get down my view and values. Working on a tan piece of Ampersand Pastelbord , I blocked in a dark purple pastel underpainting which I brushed down with alcohol to [...]

"Chantal Ridge" Pastel Plein Air Landscape Painting  8 inches x 8 inches   SOLDPlease contact me if you are interested in this or similar artwork. Two pastel paintings from the beautiful winery, Chateau Chantal on Mission Peninsula. The vineyards were perched high on a ridge and both bays were visible from their property. Drop dead gorgeous views. The top piece (painted very quickly!) won an Honorable Mention Award at the Small Works Show that night. Considering the amazing artists at this event, I was over the moon!   Two of my close friends came down from Northern Michigan to view the artists paint and [...]