Ratha Grimes, Artist

Ratha Grimes, Artist Oil painting landscapes and still lifes in Sunset Valley, TX (Austin metro area).

These are the three paintings I made on location during the two weekends of Austin Studio Tour. It was fun to paint in a...
11/13/2023

These are the three paintings I made on location during the two weekends of Austin Studio Tour. It was fun to paint in a social setting and chat with visitors about the process.

Here are my favorite 5 plein air paintings from the St.-Remy-de-Provence plein air workshop, out of the ten I made durin...
10/04/2023

Here are my favorite 5 plein air paintings from the St.-Remy-de-Provence plein air workshop, out of the ten I made during the 6 days. They are in reverse order:

#1: Day 5, evening light hitting a street corner
#2: Day 3: vineyard
#3: Day 2: Van Gogh asylum, lavender gardens in back
#4: Day 2: Van Gogh asylum, interior courtyard
#5: Day 1: Nostradamus fountain

Is there one you like best?

Plein air painting at the Chateau Romanin vineyard and winery, St-Remy-de-Provence.Unbelievably beautiful place but a ch...
09/30/2023

Plein air painting at the Chateau Romanin vineyard and winery, St-Remy-de-Provence.

Unbelievably beautiful place but a challenge for painting. My easel nearly tipped over in the wind, there was no working bathroom, and shade was all but gone by midday. But we persevered! I made a 12x8, reference photo on second slide.

In the last slide, note the glider coming in for a landing. It looks far away in the photo but it seemed super close in real life! We ended the excursion with a wine tasting, which I skipped but there were truffle infused chips, mmm so nice and salty after sweating and sunburning all day.

Painted on location on day two of the Provence plein-air workshop! This is the courtyard of the St. Paul monastery where...
09/30/2023

Painted on location on day two of the Provence plein-air workshop! This is the courtyard of the St. Paul monastery where Van Gogh was a mental patient for the last year of his life and he made over 100 paintings including some of his most famous. The courtyard alone is insanely beautiful (pun intended) but the lavender gardens out back and massive shady trees in front are also astonishing.

This painting is 8x12 inches and took about 2 hours including setup. I am def learning to work faster. Unfortunately the photo doesn't really show the purples in the darks - trying to incorporate more impressionistic color.

Spent 4 days in London with my new graduate niece. It was my second time in this fine city and we took the opportunity t...
09/27/2023

Spent 4 days in London with my new graduate niece. It was my second time in this fine city and we took the opportunity to see sites in the surrounding area like Stonehenge and the Roman Baths.

Now we are on a train to the south of France to take a workshop in plein air painting with .

Hey y'all I will be at Sunset Valley city hall with 7 other artists for the WEST weekends of Austin Studio Tour.Sunset V...
09/21/2023

Hey y'all I will be at Sunset Valley city hall with 7 other artists for the WEST weekends of Austin Studio Tour.

Sunset Valley City Hall
3205 Jones Rd
Sunset Valley 78745

Big Medium's Austin Studio Tour
30th edition
21st year
Featuring 570 stops
Artists, Art Experiences, and Dedicated Art Spaces
bigmedium.org/austinstudiotour
West Weekends Nov 4-5 and 11-12
East Weekends Nov 11-12 and 18-19

Cafe Vivace 12“x12“ --- Reference was a photo I took in Capitol Hill, Seattle, just before I moved to Austin. It was d...
07/10/2022

Cafe Vivace 12“x12“ --- Reference was a photo I took in Capitol Hill, Seattle, just before I moved to Austin. It was during lockdown, summer 2020, and the light-dappled sidewalk was deserted. Operations were limited at the coffee shop and I had to coax the barista into giving me a ceramic cup and letting me take it outside.

I took this photo early in my oil painting learning curve and thought at the time that if I could paint this subject halfway successfully, it would be a milestone. Well, I think this is halfway successful, so I'll say achievement unlocked.

But I feel like I should take a break from all these ellipses for a bit. They are so hard to get right and I can never unsee the flaws in the shape even after the piece is "done" 😖

Painting number 53.

Cherries study, 8"x8" oil on ACM panel. 🍒
06/30/2022

Cherries study, 8"x8" oil on ACM panel. 🍒

I was lazy and didn't put my palette in the freezer on Sunday night, so of course the paints started tacking up. So I ra...
06/22/2022

I was lazy and didn't put my palette in the freezer on Sunday night, so of course the paints started tacking up. So I rallied and finished the painting tonight. Plus it was summer solstice today and this is supposed to be a spring wildflower. Sheesh. "One Last Shot" 12x12 oil on polyester film. Painting number 49.

Finished it finally... Second Infusion, 9x9 oil on duralar. From a lovely photo on Pexels by What I did differently thi...
05/09/2022

Finished it finally... Second Infusion, 9x9 oil on duralar. From a lovely photo on Pexels by

What I did differently this time was treat the paint like charcoal, using as little as possible and scrubbing it in. Also I made a detailed underdrawing in colored pencil instead of winging it.

I can see lots of things to improve... ellipse on teacup isn't quite right, shadow on bottom of cream pitcher is too dark, most of the color could be warmer. But for the st

After this, I was planning to launch into a 30-day painting-a-day challenge, but I dunno, I enjoyed this and kinda want to do another one.

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Sunset Valley, TX
78735, 78745

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