Just as the salmonella scare hit, the tomatoes in my garden were beginning to ripen. Celebrity variety has been the clear winner this year, beautiful AND tasty. Laying on the color with the palette knife provides an experience I just don't get with the brush. I think I need to harden some of the edges on the right side.
I returned to the same spot at Bull Creek this morning and had another go at this scene. Perhaps I should consider a studio piece using all three plein air pieces as reference.
Since painting the dusk at Blanco State Park I've been wanting to paint some sunsets. We are hitting the 100's everyday -- so to avoid the hottest part of the day I'm trying to get out in the morning -- but it is also cool in the evening -- so also ideal painting time.
I returned to Bull Creek today to again try to capture this scene. I liked some of my knife work in this piece. Still playing, still learning and loving every minute!
I was meeting friends a Chuy's -- to sit outside under the cool trees and relax over lunch. I took my new little cigar box -- hoping to be able to sit at a table and paint. I arrived early, but didn't get up the courage to pull out my paints. After my friends left I used a piece of uncovered, unsealed birch to capture my first "street life" scene. I started another piece on linen, but it turns out it wasn't as cool as I had hoped. The heat got the best of me and I headed home.
Since I have lots of scrap birch, I thought I'd play with painting just on the wood. I think the paint is sucking up the oil -- since the wood is not sealed. This little flower is one of many around the pond in my backyard.
Jumped out of bed this morning when I woke up at 6:30, grabbed my paint box, a Diet Coke and jumped in the car. Drove two blocks away and positioned myself to watch the sunrise. It was an adrenaline rush to be sure. My bleery eyes tried to mix color and make sense of a composition -- I only had a few minutes. I put down the beautiful orange rising above the trees, then the trees. Tried to capture the sky and clouds. Finally I put in the sun. I headed home and back to bed to catch a few more winks. When I woke up, and looked at my first real sun rise, I realized my biggest mistake. Did you spot it? I painted the sun about 20 minutes after I painted the sun rising! What fun it is to paint in plein air. It's all about improving and that was just the first of several big problems with this little early morning work. Next time I need to have some of my Coke on the way to the paint site!
Just couldn't resist painting the hybiscus on my back porch. It was fun to paint this bright red, especially after all the more muted colors I've been using lately. These linen panels are really nice -- so smooth.
Summer isn't summer for many Austinites until they visit Austin's most popular swimming hole, Barton Springs. It was fun to join my fellow Plein Air Austin painters as we headed out to capture the day in paint.
My camping trip was timed to coincide with the annual Lavender Festival. The PAA was scheduled to paint at one of the local lavender farms. Unfortunately for everyone, the lavender isn't blooming in the Texas Hill Country because of the lack of rain. In this piece I wanted to capture shapes and colors.
Man is it hot today! As a couple of my fellow painters Vicki and Rae sat down to eat their lunch I joined them under the shade tree. But it was too hot to eat, so I painted instead. This was our view from the top of the lavender farm. Part of the hills were bare of vegetation, thus the sandy appearance. As I was finishing this piece, a nice couple happened by and admired the painting. That made for a nice ending to my adventure in camping and painting the lavender farm. It felt so good to get home to the air-conditioning and nice bed!
Now this is painting made easy. I left my Soltek Easel just outside the tent last night. Got up this morning, picked up the easel, and moved over to my view of the farm to catch the late morning sun. The shadow of the tree in the foreground was short lived. Should I have included the tree casting the shadow in the foreground?
This trip was a great idea. I'm focused on nothing but painting. I was really taken with this birdhouse. It wasn't my first choice of angle. I saw it last night and could have stood in the road to paint it then, but this morning there is too much traffic so I found a spot across the street. I still want to add some barbed wire and correct a few things. I'm also thinking of glazing the background above the fence.
I'm hanging out at Blanco State Park for a few days to paint. I arrived Thursday afternoon, set up camp and painted this scene, just behind my campsite as day was coming to an end. Because of the problems I've had recently painting impasto on loose canvas, I've mounted some of my canvas on 1/4" Baltic Birch. What a difference this support offers as I'm working with my knife.
This little area of Bull Creek is a favorite spot for many kids. We arrived early. I scooped out this spot in the middle of the creek. This was a challenge for me. I want to come back several times to try again. This is progress, the last time I went to an area of Bull Creek I scraped my painting off before I left.
Carole and Charles Sikes invited the Plein Air Austin group to their home on Lake Travis for a paint-out. I had a great time doing this piece. I'm feeling more comfortable and in control of the knife; I was most pleased with the hills on the horizon. Unfortunately when I put the painting in my wet-paint carrier for the ride home, the painting fell against the inside of the carrier. I did my best to rework it. Between this experience and the impasto style I'm playing with I think I need to begin working on material that is mounted on wood. I'm afraid the days of painting on loose canvas are about gone.
More knife play here. I liked the textures, especially with the slice. I'm still struggling with the color of my shadows. Elizabeth suggested I try a glaze to darken and add color. Oh, that was fun.
Okay, back to my comfort zone. Decided to try using the palette knife on a small still life. I don't have the color of the shadow correct -- still might go back and correct it.
I was excited to paint in Terrytown this morning at a private residence with fellow members of PleinAirAustin. This was my second attempt with at a painting using just my palette knife. It's quiet a mess -- but I learned from it -- and that's the point. I made my biggest mistake by not selecting the best angle of my subject. These canvases are heavy due to all the paint. I love the sensation of applying paint with the knife.
Tuesday of Gordon Fowler's workshop we remained at the Johnston's farm -- it reminded me of the Southwest. Gordon did another demo and then we were off on our own. I zeroed in on the colors of this building right away. Shapes and color. Gordon came by and did some painting on this piece. That's such a struggle for me, when a teacher paints on my work. Typically I just abandon the painting. The workshop has been both confirming and a struggle. I liked using more paint in this work -- especially to provide texture to the wall.
When Gordon did his second demo at this little cabin Mr. Johnson build by himself many years ago, the workshop participants all painted the building. Today was about capturing shapes -- so that's what I tried to do. I noticed my paint isn't as thick on the canvas as it usually is. Not sure why, perhaps I'm using too much oil. Gordon was encouraging to me. This workshop is turning out to give me just what I needed -- the experience and courage to just get out there!
Today was the first of three days of a workshop in Wimberley, Texas with Gordon Fowler. The Wimberley Valley Art League. We went first to Blue Hole on the Johnston's property. Gordon has a fabulous lively sense of humor. As he discussed subject selection, I spotted these beautiful cypress trees and was in love with their reflection in the water. Gordon liked it -- he thought it was Abstract Expressionism.
Finally today I had the courage to try to paint on location. Two fellow plein-air painters Laurel and Terri, met me at Bull Creek. My first mistake was standing where those walking by could see me paint. I was so self conscious, I couldn't think straight! Then I couldn't settle on a simple composition. I scrapped off my painting and went home. Determined to do something today, I made another attempt and then finally this one. It somewhat resembles the area we painted today. Clearly the painting isn't the success today -- the success was in the learning experience. I've signed up for a plein air workshop with Gordon Fowler; I must gain some comfort with plein air before I go to Taos this summer.
Couldn't decide on what to paint today. I love the colors in the piece yesterday, so I painted this with the same colors but with no picture. Might help if the water were level! LOL
A few friends will look at this and know exactly what it is -- a person unfamiliar with the location thought it was a refrigerator. Who can identify this location?
Reflections in water are sooo beautiful. When I saw this orange kayak on the blue lake, I knew I had to paint it.
Thought I'd try another cloth -- but be more certain of what I loved most, so my focal point would be better placed. Which do you like best? 
I had fun setting this up and mixing the black paint. It was a challenge to gray down the black paint to show the distance from the light.
On the trails close to my house the path passes under a canopy of trees. Once through the canopy, one is back in the sunlight. Still haven't mustered the courage to take my easel out, so I painted this from a photo.
When Elizabeth, my teacher, suggested I paint a piece of cloth I both loved and dreaded the idea. Getting the cloth in a position that intrigued me and would hold it's shape took most of my painting time yesterday. The cloth was on an icy blue background, but once I'd finished painting the cloth, I thought the black would give it the elegant moment I wanted to capture. The focal point is on the right edge -- this wasn't my original intent, but the more I looked at the cloth the more I was attracted to the beautiful fold so it is the most developed area.
