Plein Air Day

Plein Air Day, oil on board, 10x8"

The last few times I have attempted to paint on location, I have failed miserably, to the point of frustration. Part of the frustration comes from the fact that I would spend all my waking time outside if I could, so to paint outside is all I want to do. But to have the opportunity but no success is enough to make me crazed.  This painting worked. Finally!! I tweaked only the color of the road, but not the shadow when I got home but other then that it remains how it was painted on the side of the park road. 

Signs of Fall, Tipsaw Lake

Signs of Fall, Tipsaw Lake, oil on board, 10x8"

A couple weeks I went on a day trip to several river towns in Indiana, and then stopped at a few state parks within Hoosier National Forest.  One of those was Tipsaw, which had a cute little swimming beach for its fishing lake.  At that time, Indiana was already showing small signs of Fall.

Fall's Energy

Fall's Energy, oil on gessobord, 12x12"

I started "Fall's Energy" over two weeks ago, and returned to  it today.  I feel quite rusty because, in these two weeks, I haven't painted anything else at all. 

"Fall's Energy" is a scene of just that...energy from every direction.  Color, lines, and composition all converging to form this energetic painting.  Which is funny, because as of this writing, I have no energy.

 I've been very busy lately with preparations.  I participated in a wonderful event Friday, called An Evening with the Arts, in a small town right outside of Louisville.  The event featured local artists displaying their work, prior to a lovely performance by Louisville Orchestra. My youngest daughter Barrett was my helper that night. She plays for the Louisville youth orchestra, so that was her common denominator.  The last two weeks I've spent cataloguing the work I took with me to display (75 paintings), constructing hand-made frames, varnishing, framing, wiring....all that stuff. It left me tired, but satisfied when it was over. 

I talked to a lot of interesting folks that night. And I am now  prepared for a solo show I've been granted for the month of January. More on that later.

Red on Green

"Red on green"

oil on gessoed board

9x12"

200

Sometime when you fall into a ballpit of lemons, you do come face-to-face with the one lemon that will give you a pitcher of lemonade (after you add the water and sugar).  Or whatever that expression is.  I painted last night to the point of an extreme headache, and overwhelming fibromyalgic pain, without finishing what I set out to do. This morning, nature awoke me at 5 (not unusual), so that I could go back into the studio to feel accomplished before heading into work. This is fresh off the easel and not the best photo of it. Still I'm excited about this painting. What say ye?

oil sketch, Parklands

Oil Sketch, Parklands, oil on gessobord, 6x8 inches

After returning from an out-of-town trip at midnight last night, and working a long day at my normal job today, I sat down to paint and counted 9 days since I've picked up a paintbrush.  Man, was I rusty.  In order not to force a painting or even put up a palette power struggle, I did a loose, quick sketch of a photo from a beautiful walk I took before my trip to Napa, CA.  I normally don't post sketches but was glad that in my ongoing exhaustion, I still made room in my quickly evaporating day to paint.
**Day 8/30 challenge**

The Cheese Stands Alone

The Cheese Stands Alone, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches 

I went out over the beautiful weekend that Louisville brought to the table and traversed the local parks shooting a nice batch of photos.  There was a lovely path that had this last gorgeous yellow maple blazing in the sun, showing off, so I took advantage.  It was so dynamic, thus I tried to convey this by changing up my brush strokes a bit more. The color was definitely fun to work with.