Tumbledown Plein Air

I finally wrenched myself out of bed today, loaded up my gear and went outside to paint.  The only goof I made was not packing the bug spray.  I am not sure how many times I have attempted to paint Tumbledown Mountain, but this is the first time I have done it plein air and I feel pretty good about it.

There are a few peaks that are a bit sharp, but I am making progress outside.  A wide brim hat and no sunglasses help tremendously with the colors.   I am afraid I really do need some more pastels however, as I had a hard time with the greens...and some bug dope!

Back to painting after a week in Acadia.  I did get some sketches done, but not enough.  

Spring showers!

Our daffidills are nearly done blooming.  We are finally having a good hard rain, and we are watching everything turn green, it is amazing.

 Technology has had me miffed for a few weeks.  My laptops motherboard quit, but I had enough warning to subscribe to Carbonite, so my new laptop has all my old photos!  Then my old camera's memory sticks are too old for the new laptop. and Sony does not make a driver for my camera to hook up with Windows 7.  I did not want to buy another camera, so I hunted around cyberspace until I found a way to work around the problem.  It is not perfect, but it works.

The whole camera issue made me long for my old film camera.  I have a huge telephote lens, which would be awesme for my digital.  They do make some digital cameras that take the old standard lenses, but of course, not for my model.  I don't think I can go back to film, but I can't quite say goodbye either, so it hangs in a bag and collects dust.  I like being able to manipulate my reference photos easily.  I finally got comfortable using Picnic, and that went away last week.  Now I will have to use some program with monkey in its name.   I guess I will have to stop getting used to things and keep embracing change, because everything certainly does and frequently.  A new week ahead and I will try to fill it with ART!

I snapped the reference for this during an early morning bike ride last Sunday.  I wish I had done this small study before I wasted paper doing a pastel....I would have left out the center tree.  I am training myself to stop putting in details that do not support my intentions.....not easy for me.

We are on the verge of a week of much needed rain.  The weekend is hours away, and I  hope to find something more to do than clean the fridge, necessary as that is.  Perhaps a series of still lifes are in order...that usually gets me going.

#93, Wilton Road Farm

This is a small, postcard sized gouache.  We pass this barn on the way back to town, I just love old barns.  This time of year there are a couple cows tied outside.   I am feeling a little better about painting today.  Doing it every day really keeps you in shape, and I am quite rusty, but I am going to plug away!

Hopefully this is the last Winter scene for a while.  My lilac bushes are half way leafed out, the grass almost needs to be mowed and my daffodils are blooming away....

Painting 92, I'm Back!

I have had a long vacation from painting, and while I have a long list of excuses, (laptop crashed, camera won't interface with new laptop, helping kids move into new home, severe eye inflammation, lack of inspiration), it has been a very depressing time for me.  Every day I thought about painting, and every day I felt I had let myself down, but I still felt like my brain was full of glue and I could not paint.  I bought the book , "Art and Fear" and it reaffirmed the need to just work.  All the angst I went through did confirm for me that I am meant to do this.  So, the break was a good thing, no matter how painful.

One of my "issues" is still that I am "wasting" materials.  I don't know why I can't get past that.  This pastel of a local barn was done on Wallis paper, a very precious surface.  The next two days I did small gouache paintings on postcard size paper, and I am pleased.  They serve two purposes, I can do one per day, and they make great color studies for larger pieces.  I will post them tomorrow.

I wrote to Dick Blick for samples of the new product from Canson, the Touch paper.  They sent me samples of all the colors, and while the surface is not as gritty as the Wallis, I think I might like it. So, back to work!

Painting 91

Snow shoeing is getting a little rough due to lack of snow! This is a long over due post. Family obligations and lack of inspiration have slowed down my painting, but this morning I woke up to 34 degrees and took the dogs for their early morning walk. My camera did not get used, but soon it will and hopefully the paintings will follow. I am longing to get outside and paint!

Day 90

Marshes seem to be my "thing" this year. We have gone for several rides just looking for photo ops of them. This is another of Thompson Marsh near Acadia. We plan on a week there in about three long months.

My painting muse seems to be on vacation, this one took a week. I have been relearning how to cut a mat by hand, and I did manage to do one without need for bandaids. Now off to find some inspiration for the next one!