by Jill Stefani Wagner

"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 [...]