Thanks for Listening 2016

How very grateful I am for you.

To my dear friends, colleagues, collectors, bloggers and loved ones who made 2016 such a wonderful year, you will never know how much your support is appreciated.

This Blog has been an amazing thing and has served multiple purposes. It has created a creative community of which I am a part and given me a voice to speak about the art I create. It has allowed me to think deeply about my work, art in general and its importance in the world. It has given me a window into the making of my art and by others, and a wealth of information to share and digest. I admit it has been mostly about me, for I benefit the most. But it would not exist without you.

Thank you. Thank you all for your continuing support.

“The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.”     ---Friedrich Nietzsche

Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year, Jim

For my loving wife Linda, I know that no words can express how grateful I am for you.

I am a lucky man. 

My goal and promise in life to show you every day how much I love you, appreciate you and cherish you.

All my love, and Happy Anniversary!

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Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim 

Website - jimserrett.com 
Studio Blog - jimserrettstudio.com 
Landscape Blog - Pochade Box Paintings

Studio Paintings - 3 Landscapes

I find trees to be one of the most interesting and complex things to draw and paint, there is just so much variety, from the different species and through the changing seasons they always present a new challenge. I see them as peaceful and contemplative; almost a meditation.

Autumn Shore, oil on panel, 9 x 12 in Jim Serrett

Daytime Moon, oil on panel, 8 x 10 in Jim Serrett

I had read that daytime moon was called a “children’s moon because their eyes were sharp enough to pick it out, where the old folks, with fading vision, could not tell it from the clouds.”

Turns out the prime time for a Daytime Moon is when the Moon gets close to its quarter phases that is the ideal conditions for it to be seen during the day. That is, it is bright enough, far enough away from the Sun to be seen, and rises or sets during daylight hours. When all of these conditions come together, and when the sky is clear enough, the Moon becomes visible during the daytime.

Keep an eye up to the sky, you never know what you might see.

Clouds Over Cedar Lake, oil on panel, 8 x 13 in Jim Serrett

I can spend endless hours watching the ripple rhythm and shadows sail across the lake.

These studio works are created from my Pochade studies, field sketches and my visual memory of an experience. In the studio I hope to let a concept evolve and speak with a little more information and clarity. In these works, I can explore my observations about nature in a more control environment and inject my personal vision and interpretations.

One of the characteristics of oil painting I enjoy most is the ability to create transparent, semi-transparent and opaque layers of paint. Manipulating those qualities can give an image a lot of texture and depth. I like the variation of greens you get with glazes and scumbling effects. You start playing around with the color green differently when you work in thin layers and use it to unify passages. Building up paint in layers of glazes and scumbles provides a arsenal of effects that can create atmosphere in a landscape painting.

I truly enjoy working through an idea with the process of creating thumbnails and roughs. Relying on observations made over time and my memory of the place, it becomes layers of thought, that for me, reach a higher level of understanding and refinement.

Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim 

Website - jimserrett.com 
Studio Blog - jimserrettstudio.com 
Landscape Blog - Pochade Box Paintings

Four New Pochades

The sky was filled with colors.
The Light of the Sun, oil on panel, 5 x 7 inches, Jim Serrett

The sky on the way to the concert……
Tangled Up in Blue, oil on panel, 5 x 7 inches, Jim Serrett

At Paul Ice Recreation Area, I did not paint them into this little study but two little ducks were working this cove, diving under water and paddling around. Fun to watch as I painted.
By the Lakeside, oil on panel, 5 x 7 inches, Jim Serrett

Quiet moments on the lake - where the only sounds are lapping water on the shore and the whisper of the wind through the trees.
Whispering Cedar, oil on panel, 5 x7 inches, Jim Serrett

Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim 

Website - jimserrett.com 
Studio Blog - jimserrettstudio.com 
Landscape Blog - Pochade Box Paintings