This year California Plein Air painters came out in droves to attend the Winters "Paint the Town 2010" Plein Air Festival. Eight days of painting in and around beautiful, historic Winters, CA! Hosted by Shaunie Briggs, of Briggs and Co., www.briggsandco.com , a fun and unique Fine Art and Crafts gallery in Winters, CA, the event drew over 50 painters over the course of the 8 day event. We had a 15 mi radius around Winters to paint, a fabulous dinner party given by Shaunie for the artists, and on the last day, an exhibition and sale of the paintings done during the week. Beautiful countryside to paint, great people, wonderful food, wine, live music... What more could a person ask for!?!
Last week my friends Richard Lindenberg and Christine Coy came up to visit me and get in some wonderful winter painting while the snow was still fresh on the ground, and the weather good. We had five good long days of paintings and covered a lot of ground. The Truckee River, Mt Rose, Donner Summit, the beach at Bristlecone, and the backside of Ward Peak, facing Twin Peaks. As I had been painting in the studio most of the winter, with the exception of a couple of weeks in FL over Christmas, these were my first plein air paintings of the year. It felt amazing being outside, hearing the birds and the sound of the wind, and the creeks beginning to run off into the lake. I did not need a reminder of why I love plein air painting, but it sure was great to get back out there! This next week I'll be painting in the Winters "Paint the Town 2010"
O.K. The "American Women Artists 2009" show is now posted on their website. Check it out- Looks like I'm in pretty good company! I'm thrilled to be a part of this!
American Women Artists is a non-profit organization dedicated to the inspiration, celebration and encouragement of Women in the Arts.
I am thrilled to report that my painting, "Tioga Peaks" has recently been juried into the American Women Artists 2009 National Juried Exhibition! This painting was done at the end of a wonderful week of painting in Yosemite National Park, and represented a breakthrough for me in my work. I have always been drawn to the textures and richness of color in nature, and have tried to achieve a feeling of that in my work, first in my pastel paintings, by "layering up" my colors to achieve a sort of texture, and now in my oil paintings, by working with a brushstroke loaded with paint, and using some palette knife work to add extra definition, texture and a clean sweep of color. Working thickly definitely poses some challenges, and many end as "scrapers". This painting gave me a glimmer of hope!
American Women Artists is a non-profit organization dedicated to the inspiration, celebration and encouragement of Women in the Arts.
I just returned revitalized and exhilarated from 5 days of painting in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne Meadows side. It was a spur of the moment thing, where two friends said "our niece had to cancel and gave her campground to us, do you want to go?" I didn't have to think twice. You bet 'cha! This time of year is magical there, with things in full bloom, and I arrived in time to paint Toulumne Meadows at sunset, with the deer coming out to graze with their fawns. I did this painting on my last day near Tioga Pass. More later...it's late!
This would be a cool thing to attend (see below). If I could just beam myself to New York... In lieu of flying back east, I re-watched the Passport & Palette segment on PBS of Kevin Macpherson painting a New Mexico river on a grey winter's day. He used an old palette board full of colors used for a previous painting as his canvas. His paintings are so full of energy, excitement and life! You can feel his joy. Way to go!
Come out for the day to plein air paint with Kevin Macpherson
NYC Central Park Paint-out
Saturday, July 18, 2009 8:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.
The master artists featured on the new public television series Passport & Palette, Kevin Macpherson, Joe Anna Arnett, Kenn Backhaus and James Asher, will be painting in areas between the Bethesda Fountain and the Lake.
We invite artists and art enthusiasts alike to join us by painting and sketching along with the master artists and/or simply observing them at work.
Location Central Park
Between the Bethesda Fountain and the Lake
Manhattan
Here's the painting I did at Sand Harbor. I'm pretty happy with it as I think it really conveys the atmosphere of the day, and is very different in mood from most of my other paintings.
The first day they were here, Richard, Christin and I painted at Sand Harbor. It's one of those classic, East Shore spots, with something for everyone as far as painting goes. What a treat to witness the most dramatic incoming storm clouds rolling in over the lake- and a challenge to paint! We left tired and exhilerated.
I just had a visit from my Marin painting friends Christin Coy and Richard Lindenberg. We spent the better part of a week painting some of my favorite Tahoe spots; Sand Harbor, Squaw Valley, Sandy Beach, and Bliss State Park. The weather couldn't have been better for painting- cool, crisp air with light breezes, dramatic thunderheads rolling in in the afternoons, a common spring weather pattern in the Sierra, resulting from spring runoff of the winter's snow on the mountains. A perfect way to spend the sweet first days of summer!
