Welcome to My Project!

I was born and raised in Florida. After many years of travel, attending plein air paint outs, I discovered that residencies are the best way to explore the natural world I love. Working for an extended period from seven to ten days really enhances my painting experience. I am lucky to have friends and collectors who make it possible to explore the exciting and interesting locations I love to paint. Supporters provide their unoccupied vacation homes or hotel lodging for my residencies throughout the year. I am always delighted to leave an original framed painting for them as my thanks for their generous gift. If you would like to sponsor a residency, I would love to hear from you.
Contact me at: linda@lindablondheim.com

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Friday, August 31, 2012

The Residency Continues in the Painting Studio

Light on the Marshes

Crystal River Marshes 2

Crystal River Marshes

Study on Canvas Paper

Notes From my Residency Journal

As I often note, the real residency begins long after the journey ends, when I am settled back into the painting studio. It is a process of going through many image files, saving them and choosing likely candidates for paintings. Once those are filed and considered, I choose one at a time to paint. Most of the studio pieces I do are in the 12x16 to 24x36 inch size range, though some are larger.

The painting process starts with canvas paper studies like the one above. Sometimes those move up to 5x7 or 8x10 paintings and then finally to larger format paintings. I am a slow learner and so I feel the need to study a subject first, getting to know it and feel comfortable in that space. I have my memories of the adventure and the plein air paintings I do on site to guide the process later in the studio.

I will often take a particular part of a painting to study for awhile. See the example of Cypress trees:


Doing a number of studies of a particular part of the painting or subject will really help me to get an understanding of the characteristics of my subject. I take these residencies seriously. They teach me so much about the character of the regions I visit and allow me to be an ambassador for conservation and Eco-tourism for Florida. If we can make natural Florida the place to love we will be able to limit development. That's my dream anyway. Thanks to all of my sponsors who provide housing and materials for this project. Bless you all!!

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