Wintry Afternoon in the Whit 6"x 6"

There was a big snow storm on Friday but I couldn't get out to paint until yesterday.  There was still quite a lot left.  I love this!  Painting in my car is great!--except for sitting for so long and having to find a good composition from the car.  I love the privacy of it.

Lawrence Street in the Whitaker 6"x 8"

I am having so much fun painting in my car/studio!  Clamping the panel holder to the steering wheel worked out great.  I don't really like the paper palette so plan to get a piece of plastic cut to fit  the box.
I made quite a few mistakes in drawing and value but still, I'm happy and so excited that I can paint outside in winter.  It topped out at 47* when I was finished and I was nice and warm the whole time.

Trial Run 6"x 8"

I've been wanting to see if I can paint while sitting in my car because I'm just no good at cold weather.  It was pretty messy and cramped.  Tried to use my Easy-L paint box on my lap but the seat wouldn't go back far enough so I had to do it kind of sideways.
I plan to try again with a tiny paint box my husband made for me when I first started painting outside. I much prefer standing but I'm going to try to figure this out so I can paint outside this winter.

Persimmon on a Flowered Plate 6" x 6"

The starlings have ravaged the persimmon tree but I have several on the kitchen window sill.

Japanese Shoes 6"x 6"

I've really liked paintings women do of shoes but I'm not the kind of girl who has cute shoes.  But I do have these little Japanese shoes from when I was two living in Japan.  They are a block of wood with a straw sole. They are lacquered and have cranes flying around on them--way too complicated.  The block of wood is hollowed out and each shoe has two little bells in that spot.  Not sure of the function of that little brass knobs in front.  Maybe it protects the lacquered part when you walk.

Persimmon on a French Plate 6"x 6"

Today my goal was to use thick paint, try not to fuss too much over the accuracy of the drawing and to put down decisive strokes.  I would like the drawing to be better but I think sometimes, for me, it's better to just get on with it.  I love the blue color on the plate.

October at Bond Butte Pond 8" x 10"

I have painted a few times lately but the results have been so bad that I didn't bother posting. Today I'm real happy with this one.  It even looks a little better in real life.
I wanted to work on painting distant hills, getting a much lighter value but still having some attractive colors.
Bond Butte Pond is my new FAVORITE place to paint.  I hope we'll get a few more good days so I can go back.

Mosby Creek Cpvered Bridge 8"x 10"

I went  down to Cottage Grove today to paint covered bridges because they are having a festival this weekend, It was a really lovely day and so great.  I'm thinking if I paint once a week that will be a good goal.

Clump of Small Trees on Bond Butte Road 7"x 11"

I may be too optimistic, but I think I may be back to painting.  I have fallen in love with this area north of Eugene.  There are so many paintings and it's safe and just so great.  Only drawback, it takes half an hour to get there.  I did another one at Bond Butte Pond last week. Will post soon.

Road to the Parking Lot 11"x 14"

I decided to try yesterday's painting inside.  Bigger canvas and brushes.  The pollen count is way too high for me these days.  I like the composition and colors but it doesn't have the realistic quality of a plein air piece.  I'm not sure how much that bothers me.

Thr Road Back 8"x 10"

Another kind of disappointing day, but I did enjoy the nice sunny weather.

Royal Ave Wetlands 6"x 8"

I finally have been able to get back to painting outside but am pretty unhappy with my results.  The placement of all those little clumps of reeds could use some work.  But at least I went out and tried.

Morning Sun on a Rhododendron 6"x 6"

I love the effect of sunlight on one part of a flowering shrub while another part is in shade.  The morning light was just breaking over my son's house.

Kifli 6"x 6"

This is Kifli, my granddaughter Stella's rat.  It was a struggle but I'm real happy with it and hope she will be too.

Alice's House 6"x 6"

This is my neighbor Alice's house one sunny morning not too long ago.  I'm thinking I should go put some blue in that chimney shadow.

Summer Light 8"x 6"

I am so happy to be painting again!  I can't say that loud enough.  I've been getting my dad settled into a memory care home and wasn't able to put my mind to painting.  Also there's just been a whole lot to do to get to this point.  It's working out well.
This is my neighbors' house with that first blast of spring sun.  I'm happy with it.

Cloud Study Checkermallow 6"x 8"

So many clouds yesterday and I've rarely tried to paint them.  So a learning experience that I want to try again.

Looking South at Checkermallow 8"x 10"

I am having loads more fun painting since I switched to this palette.  The Plein Air group will be at Checkermallow Wed, Fri & Sat but rain is predicted so I went today.  It started off pretty cloudy but as I was cleaning up the sun came out.  So nice.  Midway through the painting a great horde of geese came over. I love it out there in Oregon.

Alpaca Barn 8"x 10"

This painting and the last are done with a limited palette that I am exploring.  I'm liking it .  Easier for me to remember which combinations make which colors.  I really wish I hadn't let that barn run off the side of the canvas.  And a few other problems but I am liking the tree colors and some of the grass/shadow colors.  Wish I'd broken up some of that green.

Thompson's Mills near Shedd

Thompson's Mill Waterway 8"x 10"

I was doing some exploring yesterday looking for quiet places to paint.  It's pretty much wide open GREEN farmland up between Brownsville and Int. 5.  I took a road called Boston Mill Road and came across an amazing State Park called Thompson's Mills State Historic Site.  A big white flour mill restored by the state.  There is a historic residence as well.  The mill makes an awesome reflection in the the water.
Anyway there were only 2 other people there.  The ranger told me I could paint anywhere I wanted.  So I followed the waterway on the other side of the road and had the place to myself.  Bliss.

Little Swale near Autzen 10"x 8"

A few days ago the weather was really grim but I really wanted practice.  Values are way too dark but I think any day of painting is worth while.  I loved being out there.

Looking North at a Rest Area 8"x 10"

I've gotten quite behind in posting because I've been working on finding a memory care facility for my dad.  Anyway, I thought I would try painting at rest areas because they seem like a safe place.  This is the closest one north of Eugene.  The mountain was quite visible when I started but it kept getting stormier so it pretty much disappeared.  Kind of challenging weather but it was nice to be outside.

Everglades study 8"x 10"

This is from a photo I took when we visited the Everglades in February.  I really like the composition but there wasn't enough information in the photo for me to take it further.

Show at Palace Bakery

Sunday my husband and I hung my show at Palace Bakery on Pearl St. here in Eugene.  It was a challenge because you can't put any nails in the walls.  There are pre-positioned hooks nailed into a moulding strip so you have to hang the paintings on fishing line from the hooks--and they rarely are positioned where one would like.  But my husband had the brilliant idea of running a wire between several hooks so we could then use that to hang from.  It's certainly not as well hung as I would like but, given the circumstances, it's fine.
Palace Bakery will be on the Art Walk on April 5.  The show runs through April 21.

March Day at Stewart Pond 8"x 10"

It's so great to have a stretch of decent weather.  I'm hoping to push myself to paint often.  My goals today were to make an interesting sky shape and to paint lighter.  I was pretty happy with both of those.  The trees came out a little orangey.  Still struggling with leafless trees.
Using round brushes has really helped me.  I had no trouble getting this canvas covered.

Amazon Slough at Bertelson 8"x 10"

 I've been painting outside lately but this is the first one I've felt comfortable posting.  I started using #4 rounds and am finding I can get a lot more paint on the panel quickly than with my little flats.  So I'm feeling good about the direction I'm heading.  Those 2 little black spots on the right bank are bugs who gave their lives for art.

Egg with Shells 6"x 6"

On our last class with Sarah we painted eggs and mine were so horrible that I decided to practice some at home.  I totally love these egg shells and their shadows.  I got a little help with the shells from looking at Carol Marine's work.  As far as painting fast, I think I'm just not a fast person.  This took about 4 hours.

Rosie 6"x 6"

My granddaughters' rats are beginning to age so I thought it might be nice to do some rat portraits.  This is Rosie, Julia's little friend.  The photo was taken on her first birthday.

Sara's Class--Compliments 6"x 6"

Today we mixed 7 seven piles arranged by value.  These were all made (in my case) from orange and blue.  Then we added some white to a second pile of each one to have a lighter value.  I was pleased with my composition but it did take me too long time to get the drawing right.

Orange Sections with an Orange Cup 6"x 6"

I just loved this when I finished it but now I see the orange in front is misshapen.  My paints are all cleaned up and I'm exhausted.  I guess there's a lesson there.  I love this color combination!

Tomato in a Silver Bowl 6"x 6"

I was really taken with Sara Sedwick's idea of putting an orange in a silver bowl and painting the reflections.  So I tried a tomato.  Well, I'm not happy with it.  Hard edges seem like the main problem.  But I did paint faster than usual and decided to try another.  I have never done 2 on the same day before!

Limes and Cup 6"x 6" 15 minutes

I was just starting to put down the white rind when the timer went off so I let myself have a minute more to do that.
This was real interesting to do but I'm still trying to figure out what the lesson is.  I think trying to figure out the big color changes on the first pass, then refining later.  Normally I spend a lot of time fiddling with the little nuances the first time through.  I put those oranges in the shadows after I already had the purple in.  Mixing big gobs of the main colors saves time but I pretty much already have been doing that.  Just using one brush might be faster.  3 more classes.  I'm excited to find out what we'll be doing.

Limes and Cup 6"x 6" 30 minutes

I actually had trouble telling the difference between the 30 & 45 min. ones.

Limes and Orange Cup 45 min. 6"x 6"

I started Sarah Sedwick's Fast Painting workshop yesterday at Maude Kerns.  The first day focused on doing 3 paintings--One which took 45 min, the next 30 min and the third, 15 min.  During the class we had to change subject matter each time.  Also had to mix our paint during the time alotted.  That was real difficult for me although other people did well with it.  So to practice at home today I let myself do the same set up so I could use the same pencil sketch each time.  Also since I was mixing the same colors each time, it went faster.

Lemon with Bottle 6"x 6"

I enjoyed painting something I could actually look at instead from photos--altho I generally like painting from photos, since the drawing part is easier for me.  This is a little Meyer lemon from my tree.

Drummer Girl 18"x 18"

It's been awfully wintry so I've been working inside.  I decided to do a few larger paintings from photos I have around.  Some parts of this I'm really happy with, others I just wish I could do better.  But I'm calling it finished and will move on.