Thursday, December 30, 2021

Christmas Lights in the Village, #112221S 9×12

POSTED ON DECEMBER 20, 2021 BY CHARLENE MARSH

Merry Christmas Lights in the Village

So, I want to share with you another Christmas painting from the village of Nashville, where I live. Well, I live 5.5 miles outside of Nashville but it is my mailing address. Little, tiny Helmsburg is the closest little burg with a general store, post office, fire station, a church, storage units, and a sawmill. 1st and 2nd Streets run into Main Street, making a cozy neighborhood off of State Road 45.

Nashville, which only has 800 residents, hosts three million visitors a year! Brown County only has 15,000 residents in the entire county with much of the county designated state forest, national forest, and the largest state park in Indiana. So, it is a special place to live.

Magical Village

Because of all the tourists that visit Nashville, the town puts on it’s holiday splendor and is transformed into a magical village. This year, for the first time, they hosted a Christkindl Market. I went to the market Saturday evening with the idea of collecting reference photos for future paintings. And arrived just in time to see the start of the Christmas Light parade led by the decked out Jackson Township firetruck. You know that fire station in Helmsburg? That’s the Jackson Township Fire Department.

All kinds of vehicles were lit up with lights and decorations and more than one Santa. Marchers and twirlers and horses were all part of the parade. Candy was thrown from some floats. Yes! There were even fancy, albeit homemade, floats on flatbed trailers. All fun. So, I took a lot of pictures and have a ton of material for future paintings.

Be sure to check out the other new Christmas paintings HERE and HERE.

In the meantime, let’s jump into the latest painting of Nashville, decked out in holiday finery.

Here are some details of the painting which is looking up a side street towards Madelaine’s and the Artist Colony Inn, across the street on Van Buren.

Artist Colony Inn, details, Christmas Lights in the Village, oil painting.

Christmas tree:

Christmas Lights in the Village, oil painting — Christmas tree, detail, oil painting.

Reflections:

Cold, rainy night with the Christmas lights reflected on the wet pavement.

Turret at Madelaine’s:

Signature:

And here is the finished oil painting:

Framed painting:

Wishing you, your family and friends a wonderful, peaceful, joyful holiday season! May blessings and beauty fill your soul with hope, happiness, and faith.

Merry Christmas!

Happy trails,

Charlene

Merry Christmas

Saturday, December 11, 2021

Peace On Earth, #111921 S 9×12

POSTED ON DECEMBER 12, 2021 BY CHARLENE MARSH

Christmas Paintings of the Village

This month, I am working on a series of Christmas paintings that capture all the happiness and joy of the season. So, I have three new paintings of downtown Nashville, here in Brown County, Indiana, all decked out in holiday finery. You can see the one I shared last week HERE.

These paintings capture the winter holiday feeling with the bright, festive lights and warm colors that lift the spirits on the long, dark, cold nights of winter. I love the cozy, magical transformation of the village during the Christmas holiday with the sparkling lights, garlands, and Christmas trees. Always brings back happy memories of Christmases past and conjures hope for a beautiful future.

Here are some details of today’s new painting:

Peace On Earth, Christmas oil painting — Detail, Christmas trees and lights on the porch of a shop.

Here’s a tight, close up detail of the signature on the painting:

Detail of the reflections on the road:

Christmas lights:

Traffic lights in the distance:

Wider detail of the signature:

Finished Painting:

Framed Painting:

Thanks so much for following along! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season without too much stress.

Happy trails,

Charlene

Isaiah 40:31 KJV: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Silent Night, Holy Night, 111621 S 9×12

POSTED ON NOVEMBER 29, 2021 BY CHARLENE MARSH

Christmas Art Launch 2021

First, I want to make sure you know about the upcoming Christmas Art Launch scheduled to start December 6 and run through December 8, 2021. At 9:00 a.m., December 6, I will send my VIPs a code to get 20% special savings on everything in the shop including original, framed oil paintings, yoga mats, mugs, prints on canvas, and more.

Also, the Christmas Art Launch will be good on both websites, CharleneMarshStudio.com and CharleneMarshDesigns.com. Santa’s elves are hard at work getting new paintings and other goodies ready in the shop. You will be able to sort paintings and products by price from low to high or high to low and also by category.

This event is exclusively for my VIPs so, if you are not already a VIP, please go HERE and sign up.

Or sign up here:

Stay tuned!

Silent Night, Holy Night

Christmas Paintings

To celebrate the Christmas season, I have been working on a series of new holiday themed paintings. This is the first one that features the Christmas lights in the village of Nashville in Brown County, Indiana. This series of paintings capture the winter holiday feeling with the bright, festive lights and warm colors that lift the spirits on the long, dark, cold nights of winter.

I love the cozy, magical transformation of the village during the Christmas holiday with the sparkling lights, garlands, and Christmas trees. Always brings back happy memories of Christmases past and conjures hope for a beautiful future.

Details

Here are some detail shots of the painting.

Silent Night, Holy Night, oil painting — One of the Christmas trees, oil painting.

Finished Painting:

Finished, Framed Oil Painting:

The painting is framed in a stunning, closed corner, antique black with a gold lip, museum frame.

This painting will be part of a special Winter Holiday Flash Sale put on by Singulart, my international gallery based in Paris. They invited 15-20 artists to create three new paintings just for this event. All paintings are specially priced at 1000 Euros. This Winter Holiday Flash Sale runs December 2-9 and is separate from my Christmas Art Launch. But, good news, I have some other holiday paintings I will be including in the Christmas Art Launch.

That’s all for today! Thanks so much for following along. I’ll be sending more information about the 2021 Christmas Art Launch this week.

Happy trails,

Charlene

Sunday, November 21, 2021

Painting in Yellowwood, November 4, 2021

POSTED ON NOVEMBER 9, 2021 BY CHARLENE MARSH

Painting in Yellowwood, November 4, 2021

First Frost

Fall is running late this year! The first frost was November 3 here on my ridgetop, just the day before creating this plein air oil painting. First hard freeze was a day or two later. So, the leaves are changing slowly. Still lots of green!

Hiking Out

I hiked with my gear out into Yellowwood State Forest. I hiked about 1 1/2 miles out a ridge, heading south, and then dropped down to the creek below. I followed the creek a short ways until I settled on a spot to paint. There are so many choices to paint it can be tough to decide! The day started out feeling comfortable but got colder as the afternoon approached evening. My feet were downright cold by the time I packed up and headed home at dusk! I was ready to get moving and warm up!

Video

Here is a video I made of the plein air painting from set up to pack up. Three hours of painting condensed down to two minutes!

Link to Video

Video Player

00:00

02:29

On YouTube

So, here is the finished painting and detail shots.

Painting Yellowwood, November 4, 2021, plein air oil painting — Painting in Yellowwood, November 4, 2021, 16″ x 12″, plein air oil painting, ©Charlene Marsh.

Jack, the Wanderer

The plan was to tie Jack, the foxhound, so I wouldn’t have to worry about keeping track of him while I painted. Tommy stays right with me so I don’t need to worry about where he is while I am painting. Jack can be a mile away in three minutes if I am not watching him.

But, when I decided on the spot where I wanted to paint and beeped Jack back to me to let him know I would be setting up there, he took off. Never saw him again while I was painting. Once I packed up, I started to call and beep him just in case he was still within range. Walking home, I was thinking I would just have to leave him at home in the future, that he just couldn’t go with me painting.

Good Boy

But, much to my pleasant surprise, when I got to the hill that leads to the back of my property and the back gate at the top, there was Jack! Waiting for us! To say I was shocked would be an understatement. So, I guess he can still go painting with me.

Back in the studio, an unpleasant surprise awaited me when I unpacked my backpack and found my painting had been schmooshed and some of the knife marks were marred. I suspect that the damage occurred while packing up when Tommy, who weighs in at maybe 80-90 pounds, stepped on my pack with the painting in a carrier inside. I was a bit crestfallen at first to see the mooshed paint after all my hard work. But, after reworking it in the studio, I was happy with the result.

Field Notes

I always write my field notes on the back of the painting as soon as I unpack it in the studio. I wrote: “Plein air oil painting. 2:45-6:15, Sunny, 50°, turns chilly as the sun goes down, COLD towards the end. Cold feet. 1 1/2 miles back in Yellowwood State Forest, Brown County, Indiana.”

Once again, let’s end with the finished painting:

Thanks for following along! Enjoy what is left of the autumn!

Happy trails,

Charlene