Covid Blues

Oil on linen, 24×36″
$20,000

Limited edition prints are available
20″x30″- $300 13″x20″- $150

Best of Show, Lake Oswego Art Festival’s 2022 Artists Vision Show!

First Place Award, Oil Painters of America’s Spring Online Show! https://www.dianerussell.net/oil-painters-of-america-spring-show-1st-place/

Certificate of Merit, NY Figurative Show, Salmagundi Club NYC!  https://www.dianerussell.net/ny-figurative-show-certificate-of-merit/

Finalist in the Portrait Society of America’s Members Only Competition! https://www.dianerussell.net/portrait-society-of-america-2021-finalist/

Best of Show and the People’s Choice awards at the Oregon Society of Artists Fall Juried Show 2021! https://www.dianerussell.net/blog/

Artist comment:  “2020 was a difficult year for everyone, and artists are no exception.  I had been missing live music terribly, and one day early in July (when the Waterfront Blues Festival usually happened) I was walking to the store and walked right into one of the Blues Festival’s eight traveling concerts which they had put together especially for Covid times.  I hadn’t expected to see this concert, and to say I needed this is an understatement.  I took as many photos as I could from about half a block away, and managed to have enough photos to compose my painting.  “Covid Blues” pretty much sums up this year of no art shows and no live music.  Somehow the music finds a way to be heard, and the art gets created.  I’m glad I was able to document this historical time in a way that made sense to me… with music.  The painting features the Bayou Boys (Dave Kahl, Steve Kerin, Brian Foxworth, Jimmy Russell, Dan Berkery) plus special guest Arietta Ward, who said the painting makes them all look like super heroes.  And she’s right… they are!”

 

Portfolio Categories:

Blues & Jazz Oil Paintings 


Esperanza Spalding

Oil on linen, 18×22″
$3000

Limited edition prints are available
15″x20″- $150

Artist comment:  “Esperanza Spalding has performed many times at the Portland Jazz Festival, and last year I was able to photograph her amazing performance with Terri Lynn Carrington and Ravi Coltrane. The set was wonderful, and although I had many great photos, I chose this pose of Esperanza to work from because it best captured the joy and intensity of her performance.”

Portfolio Categories:

Blues & Jazz Oil Paintings 


TROMBONE SHORTY

Charcoal on Stonehenge, 18×22″

SOLD

Artist comment:  The first time I saw Trombone Shorty perform at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, I was blown away. That was in 2009, and since then I have not missed a performance. I’ve taken hundreds of photos of him and his band at numerous concerts in the last ten years, and each time the performances get better. After all those concerts, I finally chose one photo to use as reference for this drawing. It’s the way he ends every show, holding his trombone and trumpet in the air. The expression on his face is what drew me in to using this particular image, from his 2017 Edgefield performance.

Portfolio Categories:

Blues & Jazz Pencil Drawings 


Trombone Shorty

Oil on linen, 18×24″
SOLD

Finalist in the Portrait Society of America’s Members Only Competition!  https://www.dianerussell.net/blog/

Artist comment:  The first time I saw Trombone Shorty perform at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, I was blown away. That was in 2009, and since then I have not missed a performance. I’ve taken hundreds of photos of him and his band at numerous concerts in the last ten years, and each time the performances get better. After all those concerts, I finally had one photo that I felt would be perfect to use as reference for this painting. This one was actually from one of his most recent performances in Portland, at Revolution Hall (which was originally my old high school!)

Limited edition prints are available, 15×20″ – $150

 

Portfolio Categories:

Blues & Jazz Oil Paintings 


Cecile McLorin Salvant

Charcoal pencil on Stonehenge paper, 15×19″

$300
To purchase this drawing, contact Diane at diane@dianerussell.net

Artist comment:  “Cecile McLorin Salvant has been compared to golden-era singers like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, even though she’s still only in her 20’s. Her voice is mesmerizing, and she sings with an authority that is well beyond her years, bringing to life so many older standards from the 20’s and 30’s. I was captivated by her performance and hopefully captured her essence in my portrait of her taken from my photos at her 2018 appearance at Revolution Hall in Portland.”

Portfolio Categories:

Blues & Jazz Pencil Drawings