| Berkey the Pig and GolfBarbara Benda

Sketch of Berkey by Barbara Benda 2021

Watercolor Study of Berkey by Barbara Benda

Berkey the Pig by Barbara Benda

Summer Greetings! I am attending the Rural Art Exhibition reception tonight in Wahpeton this Thursday, August 12th. I have entered a pig and other paintings ( see below) to represent the rural theme. To prepare for this show, I visited the farm of my new friends Trish and Aaron and wandered around with my artist sister Beverly to explore subject matter. We brought our plein-air (open air) painting equipment to set up outdoors and paint studies of our ideas. There is always a process with art– if you want to do it the right way. Many artists splatter paint around and add a price tag, but that’s not my approach. If I am going to sell art, I like to put careful thought into what I do. I’m not against splashing paint around and, yes, I do that for fun, but, often those pieces lack depth, composition, color scheme, and basic principles of art-the components that require advance thinking. It is much like strategizing how to score well on a hole in golf ( stay below the pin, take the wind into consideration, avoid bunkers and water, observe the slope of the green, etc.) Golf and painting both require thoughtful attention, and results are important to me in both of these disciplines.

Above, you will see two studies and a final piece. I did the middle one first- my sweet pig was oinking and nodding his head at me asking for a treat and he would not keep his head still, so I walked around him and painted with my watercolor block in one hand and paintbrush and palette in the other. It took less than 5 minutes to capture his spirit. I came home, and did the value study in pencil to determine lights and darks, then I painted the final picture, accentuating the mud on his nose. These are good examples that demonstrate a peek into my process of creating a painting.

Below are my other paintings in the Rural Art Exhibit as well as Beverly Benda’s paintings that were inspired by a chicken and a beautiful horse at Trish and Aaron’s farm. If you can join us at the reception from 5:00-7:00, I look forward to seeing you. If you cannot make it, please visit the exhibit as it will be open for viewing at the Red Door Art Gallery until October 1st, 2021. Go to http://www.reddoorgallerywahpeton.com for more information.