SpringFest Ellicott City Art

This year Ellicott City's SpringFest adds art demonstrations, face painting, and an Art Display with selections of artwork by artists and galleries sprinkled throughout Old Ellicott City.  As a member of the Ellicott City Arts Coalition and an artist represented by HorseSpirit Arts Gallery, I will have art both in HorseSpirit Arts Gallery and in an Art Display Tent.

Caboose, Snack Time, and Sunset by April M Rimpo

At left are some of April's artwork that will be available for purchase.

Caboose
Acrylic on Canvas
4" X 6" gallery wrap

Snack Time
Fluid Acrylic
8"X8" in
10"X10" silver wood frame



Sunset
Fluid Acrylic on Aquabord
in 6.5" X 6.5" golden wood frame

It's bound to be a fun day with 7 artists engaging you with art demonstrations, face painting for the children (and young at heart), plus artwork by more than a dozen artists and 6 galleries on display. 

Learn more about SpringFest here

Click here to Contact April

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

"Worth the Price?" Fluid Acrylic Triptych 2' X 6'

Worth the Price? (Mississippi River) by April M Rimpo (Click on the image to see it larger)

Worth the Price? (Mississippi River)
Fluid Acrylic Triptych
24" X 72"

$3800

On exhibit at the Pocono Arts Center April 6 - 28, 2018

Recipient of the
"Ka6 & Girard Lichty Climate Crisis Award"

I remember as a young teen being aware of how badly our environment was suffering from various pollutants: in the water, on the ground, in the air. Our family had a small power boat and would occasionally go on the Connecticut River and my father would pull my brother and I with the boat, while standing on a wide board designed for "surfing". It was great fun, but I remember how badly the water smelled and how I couldn't wait to get home to shower afterwards. 

It was not many years later when new laws required major cleanup of our waterways and reductions of the pollutants spewed into the air. When I was in my late teens the problem of DDT impacting the strength of eagle eggs was in the news along with worries about the fate of our National Bird. DDT was a commonly-used pesticide for insect control in the United States until it was banned in 1972 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Now we see so many EPA regulations being canceled and I worry about the fate of our planet.

A recent trip to New Orleans was a subject of great inspiration. The music, the food, the art were all so beautiful and such a joy to experience. However, we also took a ferry boat cruise on the Mississippi and when it neared the delta we began to see huge refineries along the river. The shift in sceneries from the beauty of the region to these refineries was startling. I had been thinking about doing a painting about protecting our environment for an upcoming juried exhibit, titled Art of Engagement. 

When I saw the refineries I knew what I wanted to paint. For me it brought to mind the question of whether our country was abandoning alternate fuel initiatives and ignoring the problems of too much carbon monoxide emissions. How much will the corporations and states decide to honor our planet and do their best to continue to reduce emissions? So far many States have stood up for the Paris Agreement, so time will tell. 

I found this quote by Edward Abbey and decided it was time for me to create this painting. These words may have been written about 50 years ago, but maybe even more true today.

“It is no longer sufficient to describe the world of nature. The point is to defend it.”  

See more about the creation of this painting here.

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.

Starting a large Triptych Titled, "Worth the Price?"

Early Work In Process - Worth the Price?
- Sky and Water Close to Done 
- Towers and Wharf only light values

Although I plan to display this as a triptych with three segments that will be 24" X 24", I started Worth the Price? as a single 6' long painting so I can make sure the water and sky are cohesive.  This will ensure they are in alignment and the colors are the same in adjacent panels.

The image below was taken at the same point in the painting. I've added the vertical lines to show where the three segments will be cut. 

End Day One - Showing where the painting will be separated to form the Triptych

Day two - I've cut the painting apart and mounted them so I can paint on each 24" X 24" segment individually. I thought it would be much easier to handle each segment while painting the towers and dock. I"ll also be able to move back into my studio with my normal LED lighting that has the same temperature and properties as sunlight. The 6' painting was too large so I did that on a large table in the garage.

Moving into the structure of the buildings and docs

In the image above, a few days have passed and I've been working on each segment to keep them at the same stage as I progress.  Here they have additional mask to protect some of the mid-tones plus I stamped in some dark patterns to begin the structure of the buildings, towers, and dock. I have some texture materials I like to use for stamping. I apply some thicker tube acrylic paint to the texturing material then stamp it in areas where I want the texture. Once this is dry I'll return to a brush to finish the painting.

Interested in learning more about April's art inspirations, tips about her painting process, or art business tidbits? Want to know when her art is in exhibits? Consider joining her friends and collectors by signing up for her twice-monthly email.

Copyright April M Rimpo All Rights Reserved. You may share my work with attribution and a link to this source site, but all other uses are prohibited.