Brett LaGue http://www.brett-art.com Visual Art Mon, 22 Aug 2016 15:02:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.3 Fall shows 2016 http://www.brett-art.com/2016/08/fall-shows-2016/ http://www.brett-art.com/2016/08/fall-shows-2016/#respond Mon, 22 Aug 2016 14:59:14 +0000 http://www.brett-art.com/?p=1080 [read more]]]> This fall you’ll find Brett at a few new events plus his personal favorite, Open Studios Botetourt: Centerfest, Durham, NC, September 17 & 18, 2016; Leesburg Fine Arts Festival, Leesburg, VA, September 24 & 25, 2016; Port Warwick Art & Sculpture Festival, Newport News, VA, October 8 & 9, 2016; Open Studios – Botetourt, October 29 & 30, 2016, Botetourt County, VA (including the towns of Fincastle and Troutville).

]]> http://www.brett-art.com/2016/08/fall-shows-2016/feed/ 0 Easy Paintings are the most difficult. http://www.brett-art.com/2016/07/easy-paintings-are-the-most-difficult/ http://www.brett-art.com/2016/07/easy-paintings-are-the-most-difficult/#respond Mon, 11 Jul 2016 13:02:13 +0000 http://www.brett-art.com/?p=1065 [read more]]]> Pick a simple subject without defined structure for the beginnings for a good warm up painting or one last easy one. Seems like a great idea.

The problem with this idea is the artist has no place to hide if things don’t go well. No bit of extra detail is going to cover up your glaring errors. Still, simple, straightforward, paintings are so tempting. It will work! Or it won’t. As long as you know in advance it won’t be as easy as you might think, it’s worth the attempt.

From the Pearl S. Buck House during Plein Air Bucks County, Daisy Buck, 16″x12″ acrylic on linen panel.

]]> http://www.brett-art.com/2016/07/easy-paintings-are-the-most-difficult/feed/ 0 First, from Bucks County, PA. http://www.brett-art.com/2016/07/first-from-bucks-county-pa/ http://www.brett-art.com/2016/07/first-from-bucks-county-pa/#respond Fri, 08 Jul 2016 19:17:00 +0000 http://www.brett-art.com/?p=1060 [read more]]]> Getting caught up photographing and scanning artwork can be a lot less exciting than doing the actual paintings. So it isn’t unreasonable, I suppose, to sometimes fall behind. The only downside is having paintings find new homes before they are photographed. So I have no record of them, only memories.

Still, a lot of work (and I do mean a lot) remain. I will be updating the site to include new work from Lynchburg, Bucks County, Paul Smith College (in the adirondacks) as well as goodies from our neighborhood.

First up is this lake painting created as the skies cleared from a major thunderstorm earlier in the day—Bucks County, PA (Plein Air Bucks County, 2016).

]]> http://www.brett-art.com/2016/07/first-from-bucks-county-pa/feed/ 0 60 Years Young http://www.brett-art.com/2016/07/60-years-young/ http://www.brett-art.com/2016/07/60-years-young/#respond Fri, 08 Jul 2016 18:56:36 +0000 http://www.brett-art.com/?p=1051 [read more]]]> This truck may have a few years on my teammates and I rode in the back of one pretty close to it heading to and from Little League games. Of course that was back in the day you were allowed to risk your life, along with all of your friends, sitting in the back while toodling along the open road in search of a win. Or at least not a major defeat. It only goes to say that a cool truck reflected well on our coach, too. Sold.

]]> http://www.brett-art.com/2016/07/60-years-young/feed/ 0 Results from Queen City Plein Air/Lynchburg Paintout events http://www.brett-art.com/2016/05/results-from-queen-city-plein-airlynchburg-paintout-events/ http://www.brett-art.com/2016/05/results-from-queen-city-plein-airlynchburg-paintout-events/#respond Mon, 09 May 2016 14:11:37 +0000 http://www.brett-art.com/?p=1048 Despite (or because?) of the rain over he two weekends of these events, I was fortunate enough to be included with the winners in the Quick Draw and overall competition for both events. In Staunton, VA, second place for the quick draw and third overall, while in Lychburg, VA, third place in both catagories.

]]> http://www.brett-art.com/2016/05/results-from-queen-city-plein-airlynchburg-paintout-events/feed/ 0 Muscle Beach http://www.brett-art.com/2016/04/muscle-beach/ Wed, 13 Apr 2016 22:14:34 +0000 http://www.brett-art.com/?p=1017 A few old movies on TV and suddenly it’s like a groovy day in California. Surf’s up!

160410_MuscleBeach

]]> Spring events 2016 http://www.brett-art.com/2016/04/spring-events-2016/ Wed, 13 Apr 2016 21:55:35 +0000 http://www.brett-art.com/?p=1014 [read more]]]> April: Queen City Plein Air, Staunton VA – Lynchburg Plein Air, Lynchburg VA  | May: Watercolor USA 2016, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield MO (juried abstract watercolor, titled “Diving” – Art in Gypsy Hill Park, Staunton VA – Plein Air Demonstration, The Glebe, Botetourt VA | June: Taubman Museum Sidewalk Art Show, Downtown Roanoke, VA – Bucks County Plein Air, Bucks County PA | Adirondacks retreat, Paul Smith College, NY

]]> “That doesn’t look like you.” http://www.brett-art.com/2016/04/that-doesnt-look-like-you/ Mon, 11 Apr 2016 23:28:16 +0000 http://www.brett-art.com/?p=1012 [read more]]]> blogpostSketching is more than just a way to pass the time for me. More of an addiction, really, though a pleasant one. Thoughts, feelings, impressions, moods and direct observations seems to find their way onto a surface eventually. Sometimes in form of watercolors. Sometimes oil pastels. Plein air painting also feels a bit like sketching to me. Then there is good old pencils and silverpoint.

As far as I can tell, it all looks like my work. I often hear otherwise. The movement is the same. My objective is always to capture not the details of the object itself, but its underlying energy. All of it reflecting a combination of the environment and my mood at the moment of interpretation.

Happy Cloud, 6x6" acrylic

Happy Cloud, 6×6″ acrylic

Still, it confuses people. Yet there is one more way my mind seems to wander. I’ve always wanted to make the world a happier place – so Pop! was born as my small contribution for that. It cheers me up anyway. I’m a particular fan of clouds truth be told.

My suggestion is to  pick what you like best and ignore the rest. Goodness knows I can’t.

]]> Nature wants her wood back. http://www.brett-art.com/2016/03/nature-wants-her-wood-back/ Tue, 15 Mar 2016 13:32:42 +0000 http://www.brett-art.com/?p=971 [read more]]]> Brett LaGue Rooflines“Nothing lasts forever” is a phrase that sounds like a bad thing. Yes and no on that. Sure, it’s depressing when a new space heater doesn’t last six months but seeing a farm building starting to return to the earth after 70 years time has a certain beauty to it. When coming across something like this scene in “Rooflines,” time feels like it’s slowing down while the world appears a little more in balance.

Doesn’t seem like a bad thing to me.

 

]]> Looking Ahead http://www.brett-art.com/2015/11/looking-ahead/ http://www.brett-art.com/2015/11/looking-ahead/#respond Wed, 18 Nov 2015 22:14:30 +0000 http://www.brett-art.com/?p=924 [read more]]]> After adding a large number of summer paintings to my Landscapes page (give it a look), it seemed like a good idea to introduce in a dose of reality to mentally prepare myself for what’s ahead in December, January and February — so I’ll get used to it. Painting outdoors in the winter may be fun but always fails to happen quite as often as other times of the year and definitely for shorter periods of time.

The truth is, winter ideas seem to pile up and there’s more images to be painted than can ever be done on location. So a little studio time can be a good thing. Plus, there’s a space heater!

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