It has been awhile since my last blog post! I have been busy and also had technical issues with the website template (and hence the default template). I have new updates to share over next few days.
My latest mini-show is at Coffee & Crepes in Cary NC. I am one of the featured artists. The opening reception was today and paintings will be up till end of May. Please stop by! Their crepes are delicious!
Here are the paintings on the display and for sale (please contact me to purchase original or prints):
Lazy Daze by Tesh Parekh. Official 2014 commissionCary Downtown by Tesh Parekh. Plein air oil paintingCary Farmer’s Market by Tesh Parekh. Plein air watercolor
My recent live wedding painting commissions- not in any particular order. As you can see, I paint both ceremony and reception and I also paint in oils as well as watercolors. I paint indoors as well as outdoors! I will be blogging about each painting on my dedicated Live Wedding Painting website- please be sure to check out and register for updates!
If you like my work and would like to commission me for your upcoming wedding, please contact me. I also accept studio commissions.
You can check out reviews from latest clients on my Facebook page.
– Tesh Parekh
Fine Artist & Live Wedding Painter
2017 Poster Artist for NC Seafood Festival
Available for People, Pet & Home Portrait commissions
I accept commissions of home portraits. I paint house portraits in Watercolor and Oil. I can paint from photos, take my own photos (for local locations) and I also paint on location. A custom house portrait of past or new home will make a precious keepsake and will make a great gift- whether for your spouse, family member, friend or client.Please contact me to commission me for your very own custom home portrait!
Here are sample paintings of homes in Watercolor and Oil.
– Tesh Parekh
Award-Winning Fine Artist & Live Wedding Painter
Available for People, Pet & Home Portrait commissions
Annapolis Paintings done recently in my studio. From a trip I had taken couple of years ago. I was there with Mica and Ian. We had a great time walking around the waterfront. We also took a Cruise which helped me see and capture panoramic view of the city and its harbor. These new paintings have both- boats and cars!
“Annapolis Evening” is watercolor. I may have used bit of opaque white. I wanted to capture colors and energy of the evening so kept the painting loose. I also liked another composition of this same view- I may paint that in the future. Busy traffic on the left side is in contrast to the docked boat on the right side.
“Maryland Avenue, Annapolis” is watercolor. With State House in the background. The shadows define the early afternoon on the street.
“Annapolis Harbor” is oil on linen panel. I used pre-primed linen and applied couple of additional coats of traditional lead ground. Painted in alla prima manner without use of solvents and mediums.
NC State Fair is our family favorite! Have visited it many many times, and have taken Ian every year since he was a baby. I have also painted en plein air at the fair. But, it has been awhile since I had entered my paintings into NC State Fair’s Professional Juried competition. So, I decided to enter this year. I entered two oil paintings- both were juried in and are currently on display during the fair at the Kerr Scott building.
“Carolina Beach Day” was inspired by one of our family trips to the Carolina Beach. I loved the clouds, colorful umbrellas and crowds enjoying the beach day. I used stretched linen. Although I buy pre-primed linen, I apply additional coats of ground. That is something I have learned from studying master artist Richard Schmid. Richard recommends using Lead Ground. I use it every now and then, but, it is a hassle to use it since I have small home studio space. So, I also use Gamblin’s Titanium Ground. I have also used Lead Ground from Natural Pigments and Williamsburg. Both are good. But, toxicity, especially when working at home is always a concern. So, I may also try Williamsburg’s Titanium Ground. I know- not the same thing as Lead, but, will work for me. Preparing my support this way is important for me as I do not use solvents. I had bought solvents and mediums hoping those will magically improve my paintings! Well, that did not work. All I got was headaches from using those. So, I am happy keeping things solvent free. I have to occassionally use little bit of Gamsol or Turpentine when I apply ground. But, I do that in the garage, so, I suffer less. Schmid uses Mineral Spirits, Turpentine and Painting medium, and uses Mineral Spirits to clean brushes while painting. This doesn’t work foe me, as even Gamsol bothers me. So, I use nothing but Linseed Oil to apply a very thin couch prior to painting, and also to clean brushes. Or I just wipe the brushes with paper towels as I go. I may write another blog once I have tried all the different grounds. If you have any questions, please contact me.
“Free Range” painting is of Brothers Farm in La Grange NC. I had painted there during Kinston’s Annual Paint Out. That painting- “Lenoir County” is currently with Kinston CCA. I loved the farm and plan to create more paintings. In “Free Range”, I was able to capture the light and the mood of a North Carolina farm. As I write this, Kinston was recently flooded during Hurricane Matthew. I am hoping that life will soon return back to normal there. And I look forward to painting there next year.
If you visit the fair, please check out my paintings in the professional section…
My Elizabeth City paintings from last year. Painted plein air for the Splash paint out. “Safe Harbor” won third place. “White House” and “Mariner’s Wharf” currently available with Arts of the Albemarle. Other two paintings were sold and are available as prints.
This was my first time visiting and painting beautiful Elizabeth City. I painted for one and half days. First day was stormy! What can you do? Just paint when the rain stops or paint in the car (I am quite used to painting in the car). I enjoyed my stay in this little town and plan to be back later this year for the plein air printout again.
“White House”. Watercolor on paper.“Mariner’s Wharf”. Oil on linen.“Storm over Elizabeth City”. Watercolor on paper. Original sold- prints available.“Safe Harbor”. Watercolor on paper. Third place win in the Splash paint out. Original sold- prints available.
I was back in Kinston this year for the annual plain air paint out. Last year my painting “Rainy Day in Kinston” had won the first place. The painting was sold and was the poster for this year’s annual Kinston BBQ festival. It had rained last year everyday of the paint out. So, I had painted sitting in my car. It was almost a repeat this year! first day the weather was storm but it cleared up. I painted “Gordon Street” in the morning. I had done one of my first paintings at the exact same location back in 2009. I was right near Chef & The Farmer. In the afternoon I headed to the Brothers Farm in La Grange NC. Kinston CCA has added this location as part of the paint out. Over the years, I have enjoyed working with Kinston CCA team. They are very helpful and make artists feel at home. Brothers Farm is full of painting subjects! Many old structures, tractors, pigs, chickens and sunny bits. I had limited time so I decided to paint open view from the farm. This was an oil and I used custom primed linen. I returned next day to the torrential rain. So, here I was again painting from my car! I had always wanted to paint the Heritage Street just to capture those poles and wires! This painting ended up winning the second place. The contest was judged by artist John Poon. I was back in Raleigh so missed the judging and awards ceremony. Couple of my paintings are still available with Kinston CCA. I plan to be back in 2017…
“Gordon Street”. 11×14 Watercolor on paper. Available.“Wet Day in Kinston”. 2nd place winner in 2016 Kinston annual plein air paint out. 12×16. Watercolor on paper. Original sold. Prints available.“Lenoir County”. 16×20. Oil on linen.
“Rainy Day in Kinston”. First place winner in 2015 annual Kinston plein air paint out. Original sold- prints available. 2016 official poster of the Kinston BBQ festival
I have been painting beautiful town of Southport for few years now. The town invites artists to plein air paintouts and wet-paint sales every spring and fall. I have enjoyed painting this quaint town and am thankful to many art patrons who have purchased my original paintings. This year, I did two watercolors and one oil. I did oil painting on Friday and watercolors on Saturday. The oil painting sold on the same day and watercolor sold at the Wet-paint sale. This year, I decided to change locations and compositions of my paintings. I have always painted water and boats- so, Bay Street painting was a definite change! It is possible that I may be doing a live wedding painting at the Gazebo next year!
“Southport Marsh”. Oil painting on linen. Original sold- prints available.“Bay Street, Southport”. Watercolor on paper. Original sold, prints available“View from Gazebo”. 12×16. Watercolor on paper. Available.
Lately, I have been making custom surface for my oil paintings. I usually paint on oil-primed linen. And now I apply titanium or lead ground to make a smoother and less absorbent surface. This makes a marked difference for all prima and plein air work. I haven’t settled on the ideal surface for my watercolors yet. I usually do plein air work on rough surface. Southport watercolors above were done on cold-pressed surface. I very rarely use hot-pressed surface for pen air work. I stick with Arches most of the time and sometimes Saunder’s Waterford. When I paint figures and nudes during my life drawing/ painting sessions, I use many different varieties. More on that later…
Holly Springs, NC is a quaint town that is truly that suburb that has it all to be able to call home, but is also not to far from the big city. I paint in Holly Springs as often as I can and I enjoy the area, no matter what season. Holly Springs Cultural Center has been so kind to display my work, and will house it there until the end of the month. There are a lot of things that attracted me to the area, and you can see that through my watercolors of the area. Also, I have hung several of my most favorite paintings for you to view in oil and watercolor from my own collection. All are for sale and all can have prints made of them as well. Whenever you visit the Holly Springs Library, think of just taking a few minutes to peruse my work!
Flag of Lodge #115, Holly Springs, NC. 11×14. Watercolor on paperMims House, Holly Springs, NC. 9×12. Watercolor on paper
I had the honor to paint LIVE for the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau for an event that they sponsored for MPI Carolinas Chapter at The Durham Hotel earlier this month. I love corporate painting opportunities as much as painting at weddings ~ its such a different view, different feel, but in the end the result is the same. I completed this LIVE 16×20 painting in oil before the end of the event. April Ellerbe, with The Durham CVB was gushing with thanks even before the painting was complete and was so excited that it would be a fine art piece for the CVB that they would treasure for many decades to come! MPI-CC has a great group and they all were very kind to come up and take photos and ask questions while I painted ~ that is of course why I do what I do! The Durham Hotel was beautiful and its’ staff eager to please and they have exciting plans for the roof top where I was painting that evening. Be on the lookout for all that they are going to be doing in the coming months. The view is amazing and I hope to return to paint other events there in the near future! Thanks to IWP Photography & Video for the great photos!
Painting LIVE at The Durham Hotel for the Durham CVBPainting LIVE at The Durham HotelPainting LIVE at The Durham Hotel for the Durham CVBPainting LIVE at The Durham Hotel for the Durham CVBPainting LIVE at The Durham Hotel for the Durham CVBPainting LIVE at The Durham Hotel for the Durham CVBPainting LIVE at The Durham Hotel for the Durham CVBPainting LIVE at The Durham Hotel for the Durham CVB
