Bar Mitzvah in Harrisburg

24x36, Bar Mitzvah at the Zembo Temple in Harrisburg, PA, Patricia Bennett

Last night I painted a wonderful Bar Mitzvah in Harrisburg.  It was at the Zembo shrine in the arena where they used to have the circus.  There was a batting cage set up, basketball hoops, a caricaturist, a tattoo-artist, a photo-booth, a fun D.J. with five friendly back-up dancers, a videographer, a few photographers, a lighting crew, and me!  Very nice people, and the event planner/caterer was very helpful.  The theme was sports, as the boy in question loves to ski, play basketball, and baseball.

The lighting guys put a nice light on my canvas, which was greatly appreciated.  Fun all night.

Portrait of a Child

Portrait of a Child, 24x24, in progress, Patricia Bennett

She is a very active, creative child, and she loves the outdoors.
I'm going to add more color and adjust her hair a little less gold.

Painting at the Baltimore Country Club Black Tie

Baltimore Country Club Black Tie Ball, painted by Patricia Bennett

Below is the painting which the guests saw at the end of the night.  I cleaned up the chandeliers and added a figure, otherwise there is little difference.

Baltimore Country Club Black Tie, December 7, 2013, painted by Patricia Bennett

and a copy, commissioned by one of the attendees:

Baltimore Country Club copy, painted by Patricia Bennett

The copy took me a month to paint.  I had to use rulers to be accurate.  It was extremely challenging.  The copy took more than ten times longer to paint than the original.  I left the added figure out, because the painting was better without it, and I further cleaned up the chandeliers.  I also used a ruler to draw the perspective lines, although they were pretty accurate.

Process:

I arrived at the Club around 1pm, and spoke to the General Manager about where they wanted me to paint.  There are two main rooms: the Dining Room, and the Dancing Room (those are my names for them).  The Event Coordinator had suggested I set up in the Dining Room, however, the GM preferred the Dancing Room, as there would be a large fire, the Christmas tree was there, and people would be dancing.  

I found a corner out of the way, yet visible to guests so they could see the painting.  I wanted to see the bar, and the tree and the fire.  I realized that I needed to compress the room spatially in order to show a nice size for the tree, so I left out an archway or two.  That was the hardest part.  I am so literal that it confuses me to not paint what I see.  I also compressed the bar in order to fit in the remaining archways.  Then I painted and painted until 7pm, when the event began.  As I painted, the bar was set up, then the lights were dimmed, and the band arrived.  The fire was started, and a large pile of firewood stacked.  The sun went down, and candles were lit.

First was cocktails, and then dinner, which was in the other room, and then dancing.  During the dinner, I cleaned up the chandeliers and other fixtures.  I took no breaks, because there wasn't time.  When I got tired one of the servers brought me a giant cup of coffee.  At midnight I packed up and took the painting with me.

Patricia Bennett's painting In Baltimore Style Magazine, December 2013

http://www.baltimorestyle.com/index.php/style/fashion_article/feelin_lucky/

Suzin Boddiford, Style fashion editor, invited me to be at the photoshoot.  It was really cool and I feel quite lucky.

The painting next to the model is mine, it wasn't really there because it didn't exist yet.  During this photoshoot, I painted the model as she posed.  I had a few seconds to paint her in.  I also painted the photographer in, Nemo Neimann, as he held a very heavy camera and photographed her.  Afterwards, I sent my painting image to Nemo and he photoshopped it into the empty frame that they had sitting next to the model.  

I especially like the reflection that Nemo put on the floor in front of the painting to make it extra real.  

It was very exciting to be at the photoshoot.  I have never seen one before, and the Belvedere Hotel location was splendid.  

Style Magazine Superstition Photoshoot at the Belvedere, 24x36, Patricia Bennett

Please note the cute black cat running across the floor.  The cat was very shy and kept running away.

Painting at the Four Seasons, Baltimore

The Four Seasons Lobby, Baltimore, 18x24, Patricia Bennett

I'm finishing up my painting of the Four Seasons, Baltimore Lobby.  I was there today, Sunday December 1, until 2:30pm.

The Public Relations department at the Four Seasons took photos of me and put them on their Instagram account.

Four Seasons Baltimore Instagram

Live Event Painting Film

I have attached a link to a video about Live Event Painting that was produced by June Soh at Voice of America.  My work is the focus of the video.

http://www.voanews.com/content/artists-find-niche-capturing-events-unfold/1794558.html?nocache=1

24x36 by Patricia Bennett

A wonderful, beautiful, and generous bride agreed to have her wedding reception filmed.  Without her support, this film would not have been possible.

June Soh contacted me several months ago and asked if she could do a piece on Live Event Painting.  I love video and thought it sounded interesting.  I am happy with the result, I consider it to be a work of art.

Some of the quotes were taken out of context: I was interviewed for several minutes, but June selected only a few sentences (leaving out her questions).  I would like to iterate that I feel honored when someone allows me to paint their wedding, and that I think that their wedding is very important.  I think June asked me: Do you think that Weddings are the most Important things in History, and then used my response in the film!

Zoll STudio Art Show Opens today

You are invited to the Zoll Studio Art Exhibit, Opens Friday November 22, 6-9pm

I have three pieces in the show and will be at the opening tonight.

The Zoll Studio is owned by Matt Zoll, a hightly successful realist painter.