"Petite Picassos"

The next morning, this picture appeared as a 1/2 page in the Aspen Daily News.  The caption reads: 

"Artist Jennifer Vranes teaches kids how to paint landscapes on Friday at the Royal Aspen Gallery.  The lesson is part of Miami Fitness Connection's Aspen Summer Camp."

Art Show in Aspen, Colorado!

Every year I do a one person show for my favorite Art Gallery in Aspen, Colorado -- Royal Street Fine Art.  This year, they asked if I would be willing to teach an art class to about 30 kids, ages 4 to 14.  The local newspaper would be there to do a write up of the event.  I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, so I agreed.  Just as we drove up, after a 20 hour trip, we were told that the kids were already there!  We quickly got everything set up, and 5 minutes later I started the art class.  I taught the kids how to paint one of my chunky Aspen Trees -- much like the tree I do in my "Daydreaming" series.  The vantage point is one looking up a tree through lots of yellow leaves.  I gave each child a 6" x 6" canvas and a palette knife they got to keep.  They were thrilled!  They had a lot of fun building out the thick texture with a knife.  They thought it was quite like "frosting a cake!"

Later that night, Royal Street Fine Art, hosted a Gallery Reception for me.  The Callahan family were visiting Aspen that weekend, and happened by the Gallery.  They love art and after some discussion, they unanimously agreed that my painting, "Colorado Aspens" was the one for them!

When not at the Gallery, Matt and I had fun exploring the town.  We can understand why this little town attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year!  It's a very cute place with great shopping and fantastic restaurants. We rode a ski lift up Aspen Mountain, and lunched at Sundeck Restaurant.  What an incredible view!

Giclées-- Oh the Things you can Do!

A couple of weeks ago I got a call from Designer Wendy Van Horne in Sacramento, CA. She had a client who was interested in my vineyard series. His wedding anniversary was coming up and he wanted to surprise his wife with artwork for three niches in their entry. He wanted to know if I could make my "Coming Home II" triptych fit perfectly inside the niches. I called him up and explained that I could indeed crop the series to fit any dimensions he needed! He was thrilled. The original "Coming Home II" triptych had three children walking hand in hand up a vineyard path. The client wanted to know if I could possibly paint their 5 children in place of the existing three. Yes! I responded. I could easily do that! Truly, anything is possible when creating artwork...even Giclees can be customized! I actually quite enjoy doing whatever it takes to make an art piece more special for my collectors. I know it will be something they will be enjoying for many years...so whatever they're envisioning, I can make happen! :)

"Coming Home II" 72 x 24 (each panel 24 x 24), enhanced Giclee on canvas.

This is how we cropped it! "Coming Home II", middle panel 48 x 60, side panels 48 x 16, ultra-enhanced Giclee on canvas.
The client sent me a picture of his 5 kids and I painted them in the painting.


His wife was very surprised! She had no idea her husband was planning this for her wedding anniversary. We thought it would be extra neat if I could deliver the triptych to her in person to their home in Sacramento. That was fun. I love a chance to meet and connect personally with my collectors! This is the email I received later that day:

Jennifer,

Thank you so much for coming over and spending some of your valuable time with us today. My wife was just numb about it all. She was so happy, it made her cry.

Thank you and Matt for delivering the pieces. The artwork is spectacular. My wife and I are just amazed at how beautiful it is.

Thank you so much!

Weekend at Árdíri!

This is the Ardiri Team: Karen, Linda, John, (me), Gail and Justin. They all did a fabulous job putting on a very successful grand opening for Árdíri Winery and Vineyards! It was a very busy weekend.
It was busy for me as well. I sold quite a few minis. Even the mayor of Hillsboro (below) took a painting home for his wife.


I finished up the painting: "Árdíri 2009 Oregon Harvest" during the show, and Gail Lizak, one of my top collectors, added the piece to her personal Vranes art collection. When I say that Gail and John are my two best collectors, it's true! Between the two of them they have more than 60 paintings!

"Árdíri 2009 Oregon Harvest" 24 x 30, thick acrylic on canvas

This is the painting that is featured on the wine label of their newest release, "Chehalem Gold." I brought it to the Grand Opening and John Compagno added it to his art collection. It is one of my favorite vineyard scenes, depicting Árdíri in Autumn.

"Ardiri Fall" 30 x 40, thick Acrylic on canvas

closeup of the thick palette knife texture!

Inside the Árdíri House are a few of the vineyard paintings I did for John. Above is a series of 24 x 24 paintings: "Summer, Fall, Grapes, Winter, Spring"

"Oregon Vintage", 48 x 48, thick acrylic on canvas

Memorial Day Weekend -- Árdíri's Grand Opening!

For Memorial Day weekend, my husband Matt and I drove up from Southern Oregon to Árdíri--a winery and vineyard located in the Willamette Valley outside Portland, Oregon. Art collectors John Compagno and Gail Lizak invited us to participate in the Grand Opening of their newly remodeled Winery.
To Matt's delight, he was immediately put in charge of hoisting a huge red balloon into the air. You could see this giant beacon from miles away. It's not often something can make my huge 6' 6" husband look small!
The 15 acres of vineyards are planted primarily in Pinot noir. The narrow spacing vineyard is one of the most densely-planted in Oregon; this spacing allows for rich and complex characteristics that come through in the wines.

The setting couldn't have been more picturesque! The view of Mt. Hood was positively breathtaking! I couldn't wait to break out my paints and start painting!

6" x 6" mini original paintings on canvas!

One of my new collectors sent me the most thoughtful card! This is what she had to say about her two mini paintings:

Dear Jen,

Thank you for taking the time to make everything perfect! I'm crazy about my new minis. They are beautiful on so many levels! I'm hoping to add to my collection during the winter auction. In time I'd like to purchase an even larger masterpiece. Thank you for making my home beautiful!

Love,

Lisa

My Painting "Ardiri Fall" on Wine Label

Two of my very best art collectors, John Campagno and Gail Lizak own Ardíri Winery and Vineyard--a 15 acre vineyard located in the Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon.

You can find more information about their beautiful Winery on their website: (http://www.ardiriwine.com).

Ardíri is Sicilian for “taking a risk” and can also mean “being consumed by fire“. Árdíri thus defines the concerted efforts to personally nurture vineyards in the Carneros appellation of Napa Valley and the Chehalem Mountains appellation of Willamette Valley. The vineyards’ unique Pinot noir clones have generated a traditional harvest of quality fruit that have been blended in French oak to form a striking and complex vintage especially complementary to meals.

Though I myself am a non-drinker, I find the art of wine making very interesting. The process is highly complex; an art form in and of itself.

The latest vintage, Chehalem Gold, is slated to be formally released on Memorial Day Weekend 2010. It is a white wine blend 50% Pinot gris and 50% Pinot blanc. My painting, Ardíri Fall is featured on the label. John and Gail have invited me to participate in the grand opening coming up Memorial Day Weekend, May 28th through 31st. They've done some extensive remodeling to the winery, and I'm excited to see it. I will be setting up my easel and painting on site. Ardíri has a spectacular view of Mt. Hood that I can't wait to capture.

"Tuscan Meadow" -- 36 x 60

This is the Higginson Family! They also happen to be dear friends of ours. It always means so much more when friends want to collect my work. The Higginsons already have quite a Vranes collection going...but this is their biggest piece yet! They just moved into a new home, and had a large wall to fill in the living room. Kristi was looking for a scene with red to go above their red couch, and Spencer wanted something "Italian" because he served an LDS mission in Italy. They both agreed that "Tuscan Meadow" was the perfect piece. They were right!

Team Vranes!

This is the man who made this NY trip happen! My husband Matt is the best! I couldn't have asked for a better business partner. When we decided to make this trip at the last minute, he organized the whole thing--boxing and shipping the artwork out, designing and ordering all new marketing materials (in less than a week, mind you!), organizing multiple babysitters for our 4 kids back home, booking flights/hotel...you name it, he did it. He also had the brilliant idea to print some of our full-page Art Business News ads onto plexiglas and have them displayed in the booth. They were a big hit with our ABN partners!

But the best thing about Matt is that he is great with people. He has a big personality that people are drawn to instantly. This makes him the perfect partner in a show like this--he helps alleviate the social stress I would normally feel. We had a ball being in NY together and experiencing first hand all the adventures that come with a big show like this. It was a whirlwind of excitement!

"Artist Profile" in Art Business News!

Art Business News (ABN) has planned to spotlight me as their "Artist Profile" in one of their upcoming issues...so it was perfect timing to have Kristin Stefek Brashares (Editor-in-Chief of Art Business News and DECOR & VOLUME Magazines) in our booth all weekend long! We did manage to find some time for an "official" interview. The article is slated to appear in June's issue of ABN.

Nature's Scene, Fine Art Distributors

Nature's Scene is a family run Distributor/ Publishing company based in Ontario Canada. Nature's Scene is the exclusive distributors for Millpond Press, a foremost publisher of limited edition prints. This family run company (Jack Cole and his four sons: Steve, Brandon, Peter and Philip) brings in sales between $5-$10 million a year. They are well known in the industry for their high integrity and good relationships with their artists.

I was delighted when Jack and Philip came into my booth and responded very positively to my work. Jack was especially excited about my colorful landscapes. He's very passionate about art, and liked how bold and vibrant my pieces were. He picked 6 of my images right off the bat to start with! He told me that when he sees something he likes, he jumps on it! No need to go home and think about it for weeks...he knows immediately what artist will work. I'm just happy he chose me. I couldn't be more thrilled!

Large artwork needed for a NJ office!

This NJ Design Group came to ArtExpo to find a couple of large pieces for their office. They instantly felt a connection with my work! They ordered the top painting, "Aspens in Autumn (triptych)" as a 60" tall by 90" wide three panel Giclée for a big wall in their conference room! And for another spot in the office, they all agreed that a 48" tall by 60" wide, ultra-enhanced Giclée of "Treasure Trove" would be perfect! I do hope they send me pictures. It sounds like a fabulous space for my large pieces.

10 x 10 Giclées make a splash in NY!

I decided to bring a series of 10 x 10 Giclées to NY...and they were an instant hit! At only $250 each, these enhanced Giclées are not only affordable, but truly stunning pieces of art! And they can fit anywhere! They look great hanging alone on a wall, or together as a grouping. The possibilities are limitless. These smaller prints also make perfect gifts for family and friends.

ABN sales reps!

Kim Klatt (left) is a sales representative for the two leading art-and-framing trade publications, Art Business News and DECOR and the two leading art and framing trade shows, Artexpo and Decor Expo. It was because of him that we got this opportunity to share a booth this weekend! Fred Rogers Jr. (right) is the west coast rep for Art Business News. It's been fun getting to know them and the whole ABN gang better. My husband and I manned the booth, while these two charismatic salesmen roamed the show. I'm convinced Kim Klatt knows everyone in the Art world!

Wyland at ArtExpo

Recognize this man? Chances are, you've seen his work! He's marine artist Wyland-- world famous for his large, outdoor murals of whales and other ocean life. The symbol on his hat was a dead giveaway when he came into my booth. I asked if he was doing this show, and he gave me a bit of a smirk and said, "heck no! I don't have to!"