Art Reception this Saturday

I have been selected as a featured artist at the ADAS Pioneer Art Center ,Danville. I am in a two person exhibit "Close to Home and Far Away", The plein air paintings of Robin Purcell and works inspired by Diane Pruett's travels.

There is a reception this Saturday from 4 to 7 at the gallery , located at 524 Hartz Ave in Danville. The gallery is open 3 to 7 on Friday, 11 to 7 on Saturday and 1 to 5 on Sunday. The exhibit runs from Feb 1 to 12 .

I selected 15 paintings for this show, six of which are of Mount Diablo . Canyon Dance, pictured above is one of them. All are invited.

The installation looks good and I will try to post a photo here if the glare on the plexi isn't too bad.

Artist Statement, Second Draft

Well. I've had some help editing it and I am pretty happy with how the statement reads.


Robin Purcell Artist Statement


I grew up in New England and was a realistic Studio Painter for many years. California has always been a mythic land of sunshine that stirred my imagination. A fortunate set of influences helped me arrive at my own style of interpreting the California Landscape. I was probably permanently warped by doing paint by numbers as a child. I fell hard for the work of the early California Impressionists, particularly Granville Redmond and William Wendt. Their work helped me to see the landscape as shapes. It is much easier for me to control hard edges with watercolor while painting outdoors. These factors led me to develop a style that simplifies what I see and organizes it into shimmering patches of color. I am a Plein Air Painter who ventures outside to see colors and shapes from life so that I can push them in ways feel true to me and express my personal artistic vision.

Artist Statement Draft

It is too wet out to paint so I am FINALLY writing my artist statement. I've been thinking about it for a while. I've had a bio in the 3rd person for a long time, just never felt I could sum up my reasons for painting the way I do in a succinct enough form. Here is my first draft. I really would like some advise. How does it read? Does it make sense to you? As a writer I always say I am a very good painter....all suggestions welcome



Robin Purcell Artist Statement


I grew up in New England and was a realistic Studio Painter for many years. California has always been a mythic place of sunshine to me. A fortunate set of influences helped me arrive at my own style of interpreting California Landscapes. I was probably permanently warped as a child by doing paint by numbers. I loved the way flat color areas could make something. An amateur art historian, I fell hard for the work of the early California Impressionists, particularly Granville Redmond and William Wendt. Their work helped me to see the landscape as shapes and movement. This combined with the fact that in watercolor hard edges are easier for me to control in the heat, led me to develop my own style that simplifies what I see and organizes it into connecting patches of color for my eye to follow. I am a plein air painter who goes outside to see the color and shapes from life so that I can change them in ways that feel true to me.

Favorites of 2007

Day of Emeralds,14 X 21 Plein Air Watercolor

After the Rain, 14X21 Plein air watercolor

Hill at Carmel Valley, 12 X16, Plein Air Watercolor from the Carmel Art Festival

I love looking at these, for various reasons, the color blue is always my favorite. These just make me happy to look at.