Catching Up

Have had internet issues (part of RV travel) so now I’m playing  catch up. First plein air of the trip (back at the end of August) on Flathead Lake in Polson, Montana. 

I painted from a parking lot overlooking a meadow leading down to the lake owned by the Conferedated Salish and Kootenai tribes. 

Signs were posted saying this land was sacred tribal ground; I enjoyed the view of this gorgeous lake.

A view from my easel.

A little 5x5 sitting at the campsite overlooking the lake.

Hope

Nothing brings more hope that Spring will actually come again than the appearance of daffodils. I picked a bunch of them at my sisters house on Easter morning, enjoying the great variety of blooms. There are plants that our grandmother planted eons ago showing the hardiness and longevity of these bulbs. 
This is a single Trumpet; I love the soft white petals and the vibrant yellow cup.
Painted from direct observation, then follow up from a photo as I am working in a slower way, making layers of paint for depth and considering composition of the background as important as my subject.

A Bare Start

I almost didn't post this because its the very beginning of a painting and EVERYTHING needs to be resolved. On the other hand, it's interesting to see the artists mind at work, how the bones of a painting are conceived.I began this from multiple reference photos that I took during the torrential rains we had earlier this week as I want to show a wide angle view. I have wanted to do a series of Newport intersections for some time now, this one is America's Cup Ave with Mill Street on the right. The park is Queen Anne's Square with Trinity Church at the center of the painting. 24x36

Studio Input

I was painting merrily along yesterday and asked for (be careful what you ask for) some input from my studio colleagues and here's what I heard

1. It's looking like 2 different paintings, the chair on the right and the flowers on the left.

2. The upper right corner is too heavy and the bottom right corner pulls you out.

Now first, let me say, I asked for feedback. With it I have choices. Leave it my way or take suggestions. In the end, I just want a good painting! Note: they gave me all positive feedback first! I love being in a studio with such caring, talented, and generous artists who want and help me be a better painter!

I have integrated the colors, putting more reds into the flowers, lost the upper chair arm altogether, lightened the color of the cast iron of the chair, it now has the colors of the shadows in the paper, lost some edges and now it will hang on the studio wall until I say, "Finished!" As usual, I welcome comments.

Lunaria annua 2

Turned the branch of this dried Money plant upside down, and tried again, this one 5x5. Happy Halloween!

Red Pear

Painted this pear entirely with a palette knife, which is a departure for me. When I took Catherine Kehoe's class this summer, she urged us to mix paint with the knife and not the brush for cleaner,truer color. I have been policing myself to do this (lapsing back to mixing on the palette as I was taught at The Lyme Academy ). One way is not more "right" than the other, for me it is about finding my own path, discovering what works,what excites, what facilitates my expression at a particular moment in time. And this morning, with the pear on a sunny southfacing windowsill, the knife was the way to go!

Shell Study 2

Another day with the same shell. I believe that the more I paint a particular subject,whether a still life or outside plein air, the greater my powers of observation will become. I often want to flit from one subject to another, am trying to change this about myself. Think about Morandi and how he painted those bottles again and again. There is no way we can say, "There is nothing inspiring to paint!" It lies in how we see what's in front of us.