skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Today was so much fun. The weather was perfect and I went to the Snoqualmie Railroad Station with the Eastside Association of Fine Arts. During the Summer they post a plein air painting location for each Tuesday. This location was right up my alley. I had a great time painting this train. There was a guy sitting on a picnic bench nearby playing guitar and harmonica and it gave a haunting atmosphere to that old train yard. The Ray for the Day is "Number 201".
Last Saturday I spent a blissful day standing on a street corner in Langley on Whidbey Island painting this street scene. The Dog House Tavern, a beloved hang out, has been painted many times. This is my take on that corner. I'm sure I will paint it again. Lots of people stopped to look, chat, watch, and comment. The weather was perfect and I couldn't have had a better time. I look forward to many more such days in that sweet, sweet town. When I started the painting the shadows were in entirely different places from when I finished. The photo at the top of the page is the street when the original shadows were gone. I noted all the darks and lights when I began the painting and tried to hold that in my mind as I completed....and as the sun did it's moving thing throughout the day. The Ray for the Day is "The Dog House Tav".
After spending most of June in Mexico, and returning to multiple crises with my 92 year old Dad, I finally painted yesterday for the first time in nearly two months. Joanne called and suggested we paint in my backyard. It was a struggle. My palette was all dry and crusty. I had to scrape all the old paint away and squirt out new. I had to remember where to begin. I made many trips back to my studio to get stuff. And it felt good to stand in the shade with Joanne across the yard, painting away. At one point I was ready to wipe it off and call it a good try, but I just hate to get skunked. I persevered. It is not a perfect painting. I may have to fix some parts of it after it is dry, but at least it is not a "wipe off". I feel I captured the feeling of the mid day sun spilling across the yard and illuminating the red umbrella, and the cool shade. That's good enough for my first plein air oil painting of the season. My Dad's okay, by the way.
SOLD
