Breezy Viewpoint 6x8 oil SOLD

Doing the things I love are usually in conflict with the things I need to do. All summer I have been trying to get out and walk as much as I can. I walk in the morning and I love to paint in the morning and I love to hang with my husband and family in the morning too. So I have been making myself get out to walk a little early so that I might get the exercise (a must) and then have time to visit with Bob and have a cup of "joe". The thing that has been the most difficult has been getting my act together to paint in the morning because I didn't want to give up my time with husband and family. I am the best in the morning and the rest of the day is down hill.

So today I walked, had coffee with Bob and then went off to paint with my friend Cindy. I felt complete.

This little painting was done out behind Cindy's house in East Bluff. We were on a beautiful green belt over looking the back bay with a cool breeze. The struggle was the overcast to sun and sun to overcast, so the light does not seem right. I like it anyway. I had fun with being loose and just brushing on the paint and leaving it alone.

So...walk, fam, paint, friend. It was a very good day.

Out Behind the Inn 6x4 oil

The time to leave came quickly.  The Inn served breakfast from 9:00 to 10:00AM and check out was 11:00.  This did not give much time for painting, but I knew I wanted just one more shot at a painting before leaving town.  So I went out before breakfast and got this little one laid down to my satisfaction.  The rest was a blur...breakfast, pack, pay the bill and go back to the traffic and responsibilities of life.

Garden Charm 6x6 oil

On my last post I had spent the morning painting the hillside above Ojai.  When we got back to the Lavendar Inn there was still about an hour or so before I had to get ready for the wedding and Bob had office work.  I took the time to work on a small study of the charming arbor in the yard.  I was a little to close and wished I had given it more room to enter the scene.  It can be hard to paint small.  

Meditation Mount 10x8 oil

Still in Ojai.  The wedding we were attending wasn't till 5:00pm which left us with time to site see.  We decided to go to Meditation Mount above Ojai and take in the views.  It was truly a place of peace and silence.  The walk took us out on an overlook where we could see much of the valley and groves of fruit trees.  It was just beautiful.  I took lots of pictures.  They even had a library room for meditation and reading with green tea to savor.  My husband took a snooze and read from a book published at the turn of last century about "New Age" religion.  I again had some time to paint and went to the other end and painted this view to a house a top a hill.  It was 106 degrees, with a breeze.  I found a tree and painted beneath it.

Back Road 6x8 oil SOLD

Just got back from a wedding in Ojai. We had a great time and there was even a bit of time to paint. Last time I was in Ojai I was not plein air painting. Ojai is like taking a step back to the 50's and 60's of what California was when I first came as a child from New York. It was country. I remember all the lovely trees and back roads. The thing I was reminded of was the wonderful sound of silence and the sound of a car or airplane in the far distance. It was so peaceful and revitalizing.

This painting was done on a back road near a ranch of fruit trees. I love roads. They just go until you can't see anymore. I have been thinking a lot about atmosphere. I struggle with values and color that push a scene into the distance. I want to understand what is going on back there and why it looks so far away. I know the academics, but I fight with it. Ojai offered major atmosphere without smog to gray everything down. The distant mountains were truly a dreamy blue. I was happy to have this wonderful California country side to practice. It was a nice relaxing weekend and my husband was a great sport. Actually he was very encouraging and made it so easy for me to do my thing. He brought his chair and book and snoozed from time to time on the side of the road.

Old Town 6x4 oil SOLD

Old Town Orange can be a visual overwhelm. Lots to see and edit. Cars and people are always moving. So it can be a hard one to get down on canvas. And at the same time it is a really cool historical place I am oh so grateful to have just 10 minutes from home. Also. if I am just not having a good day I can go to Starbucks for a brake and regroup if neccessary.

Today was fun because I spent time with my good painting bud Kim Vanderhoek. Her life has been busy, which she can tell you about on her blog. It was nice to paint and just get caught up.

This scene is at the northwest corner of the plaza. It caught my eye because of the green umbrellas and the light building next to the building in shadow. The light did change and I asked myself many times what was the thing that caught my eye. Don't think I captured it, but I am okay with what I got.

Different Strokes Challenge, Blue Man 10x8 oil

This was much harder than I thought it would be.  Just wanted to paint all these little details and then I would wipe it off.  Not a close likeness, but I think we were to work on the figure.  Just wanted to stay loose.  I finally decided to just post it and let go.  I enjoyed getting to paint again.  

Summer school is over and now I have some time to enjoy summer and get things done of course.  I posted my students work on their own blog if you want to take a peek, artartandmoreart.blogspot.com.  This way they can share their summer school adventure with family and friends.

Close up

Pattern and Design 3.5x3.5 pen, ink and graphite on card stock

Every summer for the past several years I have taught summer school to kids ages 8 to 13.  It is a wonderful chance for me to revisit some basic elements.  Long before I did oil and pastel I did ink.  I would sit for hours and draw with my rapidograph pen mindless drawings of lines and repeated lines.  Shapes would evolve out of these lines and lead the pen in another direction and I would fill pages with these designs that seem to appear out of the pulp in the paper.  It was calming and meditative.  I felt revived and full of creative thought after these sessions.

It had been a number of years since I had the time to sit and do these drawings, when I came across a company that actually sells this concept of drawings and does workshops on learning designs to incorporate into these drawings.  The company is called Zentangles.  This sparked my interest once more and I decided to teach my students to do them too.  It's much like flow of consciousness journaling without words.  My students and I over a 20 day period would fill in time while waiting for projects to dry doing Zentangles on 3.5x3.5 inch cards.  We accumulated a number of them and created a book to take home.  

I share these because it is important for me to have creative freedom to expand and nurture my creative process.  It has taught me to go with the flow and not get so hung up on the end result.  You have got to love the process! 

the Last of the Morning 4x6 oil

This was the last one I did Sunday.  I was tired and kept messing with it.  I always think the first paint to go down is the best.  This got worse the more I played with it.    Oh well.

A View To the Other Side 6x6 oil

This was challenging.  There were lots of layers and not a lot of value changes.  It was a good one for brushwork practice.
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Hot Morning by the Creek 4x6 oil

I went back to Irvine Regional for another look at the creek.  It was much hotter than last week.  I managed to paint three small canvases.  I think this was the best and the first done.  I will post them in progression.  My husband came along again and walked and read and rested.  I love the sounds in the park.  It was a really great morning.

Taking a Walk in the Park 6x6 oil

This was the second painting on Sunday.  It was a quicky 6x6.  I played more with color and trying to get a figure suggested in this one.   

Sunday in the Park 8x10 oil

Today is the day after the 4th of July and what a beautiful day it is.  I went out to paint...YES!  I am a lucky girl.  My dear husband encouraged and came along on my paint out.  It was wonderful.  He walked the dry bed and took lots of photos for me to use for painting, read a bit  and then put his feet up and took a nap.  I have got to say it was very nice of him to come along.  What a peaceful day.  

Not being out for a while I decide to try and take it a step at a time.  I scraped a lot of paint off with my palette knife and used it more than ever before, which was fun.  I did a second small 6x6 that I will post next.  Well back to work tomorrow.  I hope to get Karin Jurick's challenge done this week...will see.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Just wanted to post something.  I have been busy teaching art in summer school to kids third through eighth grades.  It is a lot of fun and with the 2 classes combined I have 19 students.  That makes it easy to give each student the attention they need.  The work these kids are producing is so good I made a blog for them to share with their family and friends.  That has been a big commitment, but totally worth it.  Check it out, click here.

I haven't been able to get out and paint, but I have been making art as examples for my kids projects.  We just hit the half way point with 10 more class days and so I hope to be back painting steady in 2 weeks.  I really hope to sneak in a few hours tomorrow.