by Jill Stefani Wagner

  Its been a crazy, wonderful year of art for me. I’ve traveled all over the MidWest painting in Plein Air Festivals, taught workshops, entered national exhibitions and created art in my community and in my studio. I’m soooo grateful for every minute of the many opportunities that I’ve been privileged to experience.   All of these wonderful experiences create A LOT of paintings.  I’ve supplied my galleries with new work, but I still have lots of oil and pastel pieces in my studio. (The truth is: I’m slightly obsessive about this art gig and in an effort to improve, I paint constantly.) So [...]

[...]

“New Germany Woods” Plein Air Oil Landscape Painting   12 inches x 9 inches A simple thank you today.   If you’ve ever discussed art with me, taken one of my workshops, painted beside me or bought one of my paintings, you have brought me much joy. And I am so thankful for each and everyone of you! I am honored that we are on this art adventure together… Wishing you all a wonderful, grateful Holiday! ___________________________________________________________________This artwork was created on: Linen PanelMedium: Sennelier, Gamblin, Utrecht and Richeson Oil Paints [...]

“Down Valley Street” Plein Air Cityscape Oil Painting    12 inches x 16 inches     See Pricing I created many paintings during the Mountain Maryland Plein Air Festival which were immediately scraped down or destroyed later in the studio. For some reason, it was a difficult event for me. Of course there was the constant rain, but it was also the end of a long painting season and I had just returned from 10 days in Greece the week before. But those are all just excuses. I finally had to give myself a break and realize that some festivals turn out better than others, and just [...]

“Grateful Morning” Plein Air Landscape oil painting    11 inches x 14 inches     See Pricing One day at the Mountain Maryland Plein Air Festival, there was a slight break in the endless deluge, so I decided to head out to Garret County, the westernmost county in Maryland and part of the Allegheny Mountain range. It’s filled with gorgeous lakes, rivers, forests and state parks. I’d spent a lot of time there during last year’s festival so I knew of several beautiful views to paint.   The sun was just coming up and it was only sprinkling, so I set up my easel behind an elementary school to [...]

“Late Night at the Train Station” Interior oil painting    10 inches x 8 inches     See Pricing The September rains at the Mountain Maryland Plein Air Festival continued. So one soggy night I took dry refuge in the beautiful historical train station. I was halfway through a painting of a backlit old staircase when the janitor came by and told me it was time for him too lock up. I think he saw my exhausted disappointment (and maybe the tears in my eyes) because he reconsidered and said I could stay and finish my painting as long as I let no one else in and [...]

“Cumberland Haze” Plein Air Cityscape oil painting    12 inches x 9 inches     See Pricing Oh. Dear. Mountain Maryland Plein Air Festival was one of THOSE kind of events. The kind I have never personally experienced before, but always felt heartbroken for those who did. The kind where it rains, heck POURS, non-stop for 6 days straight. The rivers flooded and some of the bridges were closed. And it was quite, quite windy.   What to do? Well, there’s really no choice. We artists HAD to paint. We found shelter under awnings, balconies, porches, anywhere to keep from getting soaked. We painted inside bars, railroad stations, stores [...]

Pastel Waterscape Painting   18 inches x 12 inches    SOLD   What a thrill! I am so honored that my painting, “Black Pond Reflection,” was accepted into the the 33rd IAPS Juried Exhibition: The WebShow. Over 1700 talented pastelists from around the world entered this prestigious show and the jurors had to whittle that number down to 162 pieces! Each of the members of the Jury of Selection (Christine Swann, Brenda Boylan and Jacob Aguiar) had to vote for a painting for it to be juried in.   I painted this piece as a fundraiser for the Leslie Science Center in Ann Arbor. It [...]

I love to jump into a painting and start throwing around color. But sometimes, well heck, often, I haven’t done the preparatory work I need to increase the chances of a successful painting. When I’m plein air painting, I now ALWAYS do a small notan sketch first and it has improved my outcomes substantially. I usually simplify my view into simply black and white, and sometimes one grey value.   Landscape artist Mitchell Albala defines a notan as  “a Japanese word that translates as “light-dark balance.” It is a design principle that suggests that strength and balance in composition can be found through a harmonious [...]