2019 Salem County Farmlands Calendar

The 2019 Salem County Farmlands Calendar is a collection of photographs by me, Kimberly English, featuring the farmers and farmland of Salem County. $5 of each calendar sold will be donated to the Salem Vo-Tech Future Farmers of America Program. A great holiday gift that gives back to our farming community!

Earlier this year I reached out to last year's calendar customers to ask for their feedback on the ordering process, quality, and content. I received wonderful ideas and I took them to heart when designing this year's calendar. Many people requested the preview of the previous and next month on the calendar grid and I have to agree that that is a hand feature so I incorporated that into this year's design. I continued to choose one photo per month as it was almost unanimous that was enjoyed by customers. I like that it gives the customer the opportunity to frame the photo(s) if they choose after the calendar has been used. A new feature this year: I added photos along the side the calendar grid. I really like this update and I hope that you do, too!

Preorder your calendar today! Orders will be taken until November 20th. Calendars will be available for free local pick up at my Holiday Open House December 1-2, 2018. For non-local customers, please choose your shipping option at checkout. Click here to order.

Featuring: Featuring: After Six Farms, Alexis & Laura Coleman, A. Williams Farms, Coleman Brothers Farms, Coleman Feed, Coombs Sod Farm, Cowtown Farmers Market, Dusty Lane Farms, Emel Farms, English Farms, Frog Ocean Honey, It'll Do Acres, Jimmy Coleman, Kurt Sickler, Myers Farms, Schaeffer Ag Services, Scheese Farms, R.M. Sicker Farm, Robinson Farms, Sickler Farm, Tice Farms, Wilson Brothers Farms.

If you are a Salem County farmer that would like to have their operations and/or land photographed to be included in next year's calendar, please sign up by clicking here.

New Painting Reveal at Gallery 50

This past week I finished my newest painting! I had just enough time to prepare it to be apart of the Salem County Arts in Bloom exhibition at Gallery 50. The opening reception is this Friday, March 2nd from 6-9 PM. I will be revealing my new painting at this exhibition and give a brief talk around 7PM. My fellow Arts in Bloom artists will also be in attendance and refreshments will be served. Gallery 50 is located at 50 East Commerce Street, Bridgeton, NJ 08302. The show will be on display until March 30th.

 I hope to see you Friday night!

Looking Ahead to 2018

It's always exciting starting a new year! After reflecting on the past year, it is natural to look ahead at the new possibilities to focus on as the new year begins. I have a lot of artistic plans and events for 2018 and thought I'd organize some my thoughts and ideas into a blog post to share with you.

I would like to continue to develop my acrylic painting portfolio in 2018. I plan to create paintings of vintage trucks, local landscapes, and depicting the various seasons we are so fortunate to experience. However, I also want to stretch my artistic muscles and explore different mediums as well.  This year I would like to revisit my original medium of choice: drawing. I thought a great way to do that is through a 30 day drawing challenge where I will create a drawing everyday for one month. I even thought I could share the process of the drawing challenge via social media live feeds. I am hoping it will provide me the opportunity to be more creative, fulfill my need to teach,  and reach a different audience that I have previously with my paintings.

I will be a participating artist in the 10th Annual Salem County Arts in Bloom Studio Tour. While I was reflecting where I was 10 years ago in my artistic career, I realized that it was at that time that I began studying to become an art educator. I decided to do a retrospective exhibition this year to provide the studio tour goers a look at where I started and how I have developed. I will have collections of drawings and paintings from college assignments as well as my first acrylic paintings that have not been on display before. I am really looking forward to putting this exhibition together to share with everyone!

This year I also plan to design a "Hometown Collection" of artwork and home goods featuring local towns and recognizable landmarks. My hope is to instill pride in local residents and to provide people who grew up here but have since moved the opportunity to reminisce. I am looking for input for my Hometown Collection of South Jersey Towns. To share your input and opinions on towns and landmarks I should include, please click here. I would greatly appreciate it! I plan to have the collection debut during the Arts in Bloom Studio Tour and then available online and locally at retail stores.

I am looking forward to 2018 and sharing my creations with you along the way. 

As always, thank you for your support!

Finished Live Wedding Painting: Leevon & Daniel

Yesterday I delivered the finished live wedding painting to Leevon & Daniel. After completing about 90% of the painting at the wedding, I brought it back to my studio to add more details and colors to the painting. You can see the progress that was made at the wedding by clicking here. After the wedding, I painted in the arena fence, flowers, lightened the grass and clouds, and added details to the couple.

My favorite part to paint were the beautiful clouds and Leevon's stunning dress! The lighting during their ceremony was amazing which created shadows and glowing highlights on the couple. While I was painting I thought about how perfect the day was for them! It was hard to believe that a severe thunderstorm with straightline winds had gone through just hours before.

As landscape painter, I was excited that their ceremony was outside! I created the composition to include as much of the background as possible. The clouds were perfect that day and I definitely wanted to capture them.

The most difficult part were the couple's hands and faces since they were smaller than the size of a dime! I enjoyed the challenge and worked from reference pictures I took during the ceremony to create them on such a small scale. I focused on the most important shapes to paint them in as few of strokes as possible. 

It was such a privledge to be able to attend Leevon and Daniel's wedding! I had so much fun creating their painting. I wish them many years of happiness together and I hope this painting will also remind them of their special day each time they look at it. 

Below is the final painting and Leevon's review of the experience.

Leevon & Daniel - 16" x 20" - Acrylics on Canvas by Kimberly English © 2017

"I had never been to an event where a live painting was taking place, so I was extremely excited to have this opportunity at our wedding by not only a local artist but a friend. I have known Kim for several years, working with her through various events, she has always been very professional, friendly and dependable. When Kim approached me with her new business venture, I was SO excited and knew I wanted her to be a part of our big day. Kim's artwork is always astonishing and I knew she would do an amazing job!

Kim arrived to our venue the day before the wedding, as she was already very familiar with our venue (Salem County Fairgrounds)- she wanted to meet in person to go over the details of what we'd like to see in the painting, take reference pictures and clarify where she would set up.

Her set up was discrete and clean and our guest enjoyed watching the progression and interacting with Kim through out the evening. After the wedding, Kim frequently posted clips on Instagram of parts of the painting she was working on, which was really exciting to see the progression of the painting and sneak peeks before she was finished, which was just over a week after the wedding.

We were so impressed to receive the painting hand delivered by Kim, packaged and framed beautifully in such a short amount of time. The detail of the painting was amazing and this was an overall wonderful experience that I will highly recommend to anyone looking for something unique for their guest and a painting they will forever cherish of their special day."

-Leevon Lacy Cogdill

Photos courtesy of Tina Jay Photography

Why Landscapes?

I first began to paint when I was in college studying to become an art educator. At the same time, I also had just started dating my husband. We spent a lot of our dates on tractors in spinach or hay fields and on his four wheeler exploring his family's farm. I would take my camera along to capture the sights of our adventures.

The photographs from our time together served as subject matter for my college assignments. Learning how to paint using the landscapes from special places and moments that I had experienced really helped me connect to the painting process. I had a better understanding of the structures and lighting I was trying to render rather than if I had found a picture on the internet. I created the image while I was in landscape which greatly helped me recall the conditions of my surroundings (i.e., the dry texture of the ground)

Now, 9 years later, most of the pictures that I take are either in our yard or the fields surrounding our home. Where I live provides endless inspiration! I am so lucky to have so many beautiful scenes right outside of my door. Since I am a stay at home mom it is very convenient to walk out the back door and find a landscape that can become a painting while my children are taking their naps or tucked in to bed at night.

My paintings all have special significants and stories about that particular point in my life. They serve as an autobiography and illustrate the landscapes that have shaped who I am. Having the opportunity to paint my surroundings and have people not only recognize the location but also connect with it provides me with so much fulfillment.

Below are some of my first paintings that  I completed in college as well as pictures take from around our home.

"Watson's Mill Road" - Acrylics on Canvas - 9" x 17"

Completed for a college assignment

"Wilson's #601" - Acrylics on Canvas - 22" x 28"

Completed for a college assignment

"Any Given Sunday" - Acrylics on Masonite - 15" x 21.75"

Completed for a college assignment

A Milkhouse Holiday Sale

Yesterday I participated in A Milkhouse Party's Holiday Sale. I had such a great time! I met a lot of great new people, saw some old friends and even made some new ones.

I was so excited to start using my new art show display (you can read more about it here) that I set it up in my dining room on Wednesday. I wanted to get acquainted with how all the parts worked and the best way to handle the large panels. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to assemble. Below is a picture of my trial run.

I began setting up at the Milkhouse on Friday afternoon. I set everything up but due to my location being right in front of the back door, I had to open the panels to allow other vendors easier access. I had a great location and was glad to help out the fellow sellers! To avoid any mishaps, I labeled where everything would go and packed them up until the following morning. 

I always wake up super early when I have a big event and without fail I got up at 3AM. I used that time to finish last minute preparations and finish packing. I really enjoyed the quiet time before the kids woke up to get organized.

After getting everyone ready for the day, I arrived early Saturday morning to run electrical cords, close the panels and finish hanging things. My mom was nice enough to come help and give her expert staging advice. I ended up switching a lot of my display around to highlight my new products: Canvas prints and framed prints. 10 A.M. rolled around fast and after I scarfed down a Wawa gobbler bowl, I was ready to greet customers!

I had an amazing time meeting new people that live in the area. It's so inspiring to see people recognize the places that I paint or connect with the artwork personally with a memory. It's awesome to know so many people identify with farm life through the farm animals and landscapes that I paint. I truly enjoyed listening to all of their stories and sharing my own.

The day went by fast and my friend, Courtney, showed up to help me tear down. While I was going out back to get my truck, I was lucky enough to see a beautiful sunset.

Thank you to everyone who came to visit me and to those who purchased my artwork!

Eagles

It's a normal occurrence to see bald eagles around our home because we are surrounded by south jersey farmlands with multiple lakes in the area. Usually around 7:30 A.M. I can spot an eagle on it's daily route from the nest (near the lake) toward the power lines. After making breakfast for my family yesterday, my husband spotted two eagles across the street from our home. I quickly grabbed my camera and went out the door to see how close I could get for some pictures. I started sneaking up the hedgerow next to our house; the eagles were not phased. I walked across the street to get a better view and noticed what the birds were interested in: a dead possum. I was about 25 yards from the eagles and they couldn't have cared less that I was there!

Later in the morning, one of the eagles remained in the tree keeping a close watch on the possum. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to photograph when it swooped down to pick it up the road kill. However, I did get some action shots of two hawks trying to take the possum from the eagle.

Have you spotted any bald eagles? I'd love to see pictures! Please leave them in the comments below!

Painting Progression: Daretown Lake

On a beautiful afternoon in the early fall, I took a short drive to Daretown Lake for reference pictures for an upcoming exhibition with my good friend, Janice Chassier. The joint show will be in Kennett Square, PA at Mala Galleria and I decided I needed to create more paintings that reflected the habitat of Janice's favorite subject: Canadian Geese. Below is the video progression of the painting.

Video progression of "Daretown Lake"

"Daretown Lake" - Acrylics on Gessobord - 5" x 7" by Kimberly English © 2016

Painting Progression: On The Edge

Below is the video of the painting progression of "On The Edge"

Painting Progression: Watson's Mill in Bloom

Below is the video of the painting progression of my acrylic painting: "Watson's Mill in Bloom" I hope you enjoy!

Recent Commissions

This holiday season I had a couple of paintings that were commissioned for gifts. The first was a wedding gift commission for someone who frequently participates in my painting workshops. Her cousin was married in October and wanted to get a personalized gift for their home. She asked that I paint a tree with fall foliage, two birds, their names and wedding date. Burgundy was their wedding color so I chose that as the background to contrast the white tree of interlocking bark.

The second painting was a commission for a Facebook Fan's in-laws. She asked for a watermelon patch representing the grandchildren in their family with the message "Childhood Memories made at Mom-Mom and Pap's". She also wanted the names of each child on the watermelon.

The size of each watermelon correlates to the age of the children; the largest is the oldest and the smallest is the youngest. There is a pair of twins in their family and I illustrated that relationship by having the watermelons share the same vine. I chose to create a wooden sign to display the message (I LOVE painting wood) and to paint the names on the vines.

Honorable Mention

Out of 89 entries, I received The Honorable Mention Award in Gallery 50's "Petite Moments" an International Juried Miniature Art Competition with "Sunday Stars II". I was completely surprised and very excited to be recognized among so many outstanding artists! One of my great friends, Janice Chassier, was there to share the moment with me and also snapped the photo of me with painting and ribbon.

Chassier Pond

This is my latest work of art that has been in the making for about a year. It is the largest piece I have ever painted (24" x 36") and one with just as much significance. This painting was commissioned by one of my closest friend's husband. He wanted me to create a painting of their backyard pond. This landscape holds special meaning because they created the pond when they built their house and have many memories associated with it; He wanted a painting of it so she would always have her pond wherever life may take them (Cue romantic music).

I found this painting challenging because of the size and the the way in which I work; extremely detailed. I hoped my style could be translated to cover such a large area and I believe I accomplished just that. Even though it was a challenge (a welcomed one at that) I enjoyed this painting because of the emotional connection the client had to the landscape. We worked closely to get the exact photograph to work from and throughout the process to capture their special place.

For more information about commissions, please go to: http://www.kimberlyenglish.com/commissions.html

Works in Progress: Ebeemee,Maine & Joanie's Wild Flowers

A week has flown by already and I thought I'd share some in progress photographs of the two paintings I am currently working on.

The first painting is a commission based on a 4"x6" vacation photograph from Ebeemee, Maine. I realized while beginning work that I found it difficult to connect with the painting because I had never experienced the place that I was depicting. All of the paintings that I have created are locations of significance to me and where I visit often. However, I was very determined to understand this landscape with what information I had.

I had the amazing opportunity to visit Ebeemee while I was on vacation in Maine this July. I took many reference pictures to gain a better understanding of Maine's landscape as it drastically differs from the farm fields of Southern New Jersey! After vacation, I began working with a new found inspiration. From this painting I have come to realize how important it is to fully experience a landscape to gain a better comprehension of the specific characteristics it has to offer.

Ebeemee, Maine - Acrylics on Canvas - 8" x 12"

I am still working the clouds in the sky and their respective reflections in the lake.

The second painting is based on a picture that I took of wild flowers on Watson's Mill Road. In the two pictures I have shown the progress I have made in the last two sessions. In the first picture, I painted the sky and location of the stems. In the second picture, I blocked out some of the flowers and most importantly started the daunting task of adding more values and textures in the grass. In this painting I want to focus upon the beauty nature offers within chaos.

Joanie's Wild Flowers - Acrylics on Paper - 9"x12" 

I am still working to create depth and texture in the grass as well as forming the flowers

If you have any comments, please feel free to share!