Morning, After the Rain

6 x 12 Oil on Archival Board

SOLD

Lots of rain recently and some beautiful clouds to try to capture.  I was able to catch this scene just as the sun was beginning to come through those clouds.  Painted plain air and really fast to try to nail down what I was seeing before it disappeared, which it did in an instant!

Early Morning Plein Air Study

12 x 6 Oil on Archival Board

Our house faces the west so usually we get wonderful sunsets over lake and don't see much of the sunrise colors.  One morning last week though, we had a spectacular, colorful early sky.  As soon as I raised the blinds, I rushed to get my little compact easel and tried to capture it in paint.  The colors are so fleeting that I was thrilled I was able to get it so quickly.  It was gone in an instant...

Quiet Smith Mountain Lake (Plein Air - Commission)

8 x 8 Oil on Archival Board

 

SOLD

The weather has been so perfect this week, and here is another plein air piece (number 2 of the four commissions).  The light and the reflections of the sky on the water were pretty exceptional when I painted this.  It changed quickly, so I was glad I could get it down.

Cold Fall Day Plein Air

SOLD

8 x 10 Oil on Gessobord

It's Fall and it's freezing here at Smith Mountain Lake!  The day started out calm and beautiful and then the wind kicked up, clouds rolled in and everything changed.  It called out to be painted right then and there because everything changes minute by minute.  What is so fascinating is how the color of the water becomes so dark when the whitecaps begin to appear.  The sun was still off in the distance, but clouds overhead really changed the whole feeling of the day.

Explore Park Fall Plein Air

                                                          6 x 8 Oil on Gessobord

SOLD

Yesterday a group of artist friends and I went to paint at Explore Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway at Milepost 115 in Roanoke, VA.  I really enjoyed being with the others and taking in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and the expansive countryside.  I only had time to complete this painting, however, because the weather changed from a cool, sunny morning to a cold, gray, windy afternoon.  I wore my husband's windbreaker jacket and came home with more paint on it than on my Gessobord.  I seemed to rest my entire arm in the Titanium White on my easel and then (due to the cold) wrap on arms around my body...I had paint all over it.  So...Really, I completed two paintings.  One on the Gessobord and a white abstract on a navy background.     

Smith Mountain Lake Sailing

SOLD

6 x 8 Oil On Gessobord

I'm in the middle of a painting that is driving me crazy and I needed to get away from it for a little while.  I walked away and looked out my studio window just as these two sailboats were going by.  The shadows and really bright sun made me grab a gessobord and paint the scene plein air (or "studio air" since I was inside :-)  A fast and furious little painting because I had to catch the boats before they passed out of view, but I think it shows the brilliance of the day, and that was what I going for.  Normally, I would go back and refine certain things, but I am going to leave it as it is...A moment on a Thursday....

Painting Behind Monhegan School

8 x 11 Oil on Canvas

This was such a fun trip!  It is wonderful just being around other artists and being out in the salt air.  I learn so much from seeing what other artists choose to paint.  It's interesting to find out what captures their attention.  What I think of as mundane, others will make into masterpieces.  This was a perfect spot and a perfect day.

Claytor Nature Study Center Plein Air

6 x 8 Oil on Gessobord

Our art group, Artists on the Loose, spent a day at Claytor Nature Study Center last week.  What a beautiful place that is.  There is so much to see and paint, but we were attacked by stink bugs, so our day was a little shorter than it could have been :-)  This was a very fast painting done in between swatting and running.  I thought about doing more to it at home, but am going to leave it as is. Not too bad for painting on the run....

Plein Air Artist, Poplar Forest

5 x 7" Oil on Gessoboard

$55, Unframed

Even though the weather turned stormy, I was able to get some good little paintings out of it.  I particularly like this one.  It captures the gray haze that rolled in, and you can almost feel the temperature drop.  This painting and the one before it gave me a chance to practice mixing a variety of grays.  Wonder if this artist got any ticks after standing in the tall grass :-)