Peaceful Morning

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.

Still struggling with my shadows. On some paintings I stop too soon; this painting I continued to long. I hate it when I mess up good work. Oh well. I'm looking foward to a paint-out this weekend with the PleinAirAustin group.

Lime Play

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.

Slice of Light

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.

This was intended to be paired to the Slice of Lime. Can see what's wrong, just unable to fix it. Carry on!

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.

Garden Walk

Last day of the workshop -- want to make it a good one! We painted on the property of a weaver's store. This morning was tough. I started with a porch scene -- I liked the shapes but the colors seemed so muted. I abandoned the piece and had lunch.

I moved out to the garden area and was inspired by a scene -- Gordon had commented yesterday how little paint I use. What? I always use a lot of paint. What was going on? I had gessoed my canvases -- perhaps that was the difference. I decided to pack up my brush and do a piece just with my palette knife.

This piece is my first attempt with just a knife. It was so freeing! I don't expect anyone to be impressed by it. But I'm definitely going to explore this path. I've included a detail.

Shapes and Colors of the Southwest

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.

After this piece I didn't find anything else to paint in the afternoon. Perhaps it was the heat, several people packed up early hoping for more inspiration on Wednesday.

Johnston's Cabin at Blue Hole

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!

Lazy Reflections

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.