Shawnee Park

Yesterday it rained but we gathered at the park to paint anyway. After much socializing I did this sketch of a painting I want to call 'the music a park makes' and then today I did a quick pre-painting.

Bare Fruit

We all know we are to go forth and bear fruit! Some of us ask why do painters always paint bare fruit? Have patience with us...we are trying to copy the beauty we see and feel around us. Our tools, like our natures are limited and we are always trying to improve upon our last effort. Mary Anne Currier advises the artist to work upon the same subject - green apples may be my subject! Painting them will help my brush and canvas bear fruit!

Once Again with Feeling #14

Before this peony drops its petals, I painted it again and learned I should have chosen the crimson one (from yesterday's session) as it would have been easier than shades of white. Live and learn. Fun anyway.

Peonies #13

The peonies are bloomng in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. This effort I timed at 1 1/2 hours. I am hapy to be back at the easel as the last week has been busy with few opportunites to sneak one in.

T C Steele at Work in the Open Air

T C Steele is shown here painting from his home in the Brown County hills where my husband and I visited this weekend. We took a 24 hour getaway that was delightful. We heard an old friend perform at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in Bloomington, spent the night at a lovely B&B in the middle of a red oak forest, and toured Singing Hills, Steele's beloved home and studio. http://www.tcsteele.org/site.asp Our guide was exceptional and one of our group was a founding member of the Indiana Plein Air Painters. Together they made our tour fantastic. Steele was a fine portrait artist but what really made his soul sing was painting en plein air. In addition to his home and studio there are walking tours of the vistas he loved to paint. And all this is only two hours from my home. How lucky!

When we returned home we had dinner cooked by our dear son and his girlfriend. I could not have had a better Mother's Day!

Oz/Louisville #11

Today was the first day of plein air painting for my friends and I. We were glad the weather cooperated and the rain halted for awhile. We are painting the Olmstead Parks in Louisville this year. The first park on our list is Iroquois. I went early and found a secluded spot on a little used trail that afforded me a view of downtown. Not finished but you get the idea because I focussed on the values. Rule of painting #1 Get the values right and you can use almost any color.

To the Point #10

There is a famous painter who started this knife composition thing and his name escapes me now.

Tea and Oranges #9

Here is a request for the blue hand-painted china that was my dear Aunt Louise's.

Julep for You

Yesterday we enjoyed watching the Kentucky Derby and a julep too! Here's one for you!