Refuge

In an effort to return to plein air painting a friend allowed me to come to her home. I took photos for future reference. And then I took refuge in a small corner of her beautiful home and yard.  I have a thing for pathways and entries.  This, though not obvious, is the front entrance to this cottage nestled in the hills of Tustin.  It is a warm place of reception.   This was a place of comfort for me as I started to paint with some assembly of order and thought.  There is a strong process to painting.  The direct dialog with the left and right side of the brain must be refereed.  Being dazzled by what we see and want to paint is our right side.  Seeing the order and understanding the materials in the process of painting is the left side.  Putting it to poetic verse and music is the right side and getting that far is like climbing a mountain. Plein air is not very forgiving to those who turn their backs for any length of time.  I am happy with my progress and hope to be up and running for when I meet with Kim Vanderhoek next week for her class.  

Green is not green.  It is an infinite range of hues within the spectrum.  Make me crazy and it does.

8x16 oil on canvas board

RAIN

16x8, oil on raymar panel, $185

Another day of rain.  Quiet and steady as it comes, washing away the dirt and dust of the summer.

"CAROLYN'S PERSPECTIVE"

16x8, oil on raymar canvas panel, $185.00

 I enjoy the quiet view into a city street.  The sharp angled shapes breaking up the canvas are interesting.  Chicago streets are truly beautiful.  They have lovely planters and trees lining the streets.

Last summer we visited Chicago and had a chance to spend some time with a good friend of my sons.  This is the view from her balcony.

"JUST ABOVE CIVILIZATION"

16x8 oil on canvas panel $185.00+$15.00 S/H

Not very far from where I like is a wonderful park called Peter's Canyon.  It is a hiking park and the last stretch in an ever growing housing area that connect the City of Orange to the City of Irvine.  The wonderful thing about being in the canyon is civilization seems to disappear.  Then as you reach a pinnacle point and have a clear view, there it is.  The world and all the people and things I walked away from for just a moment in time.  I am grateful for the hour or two I wander on my hikes in the canyon.  It is peaceful and refreshing.  I love the serenity.

This painting was lots of fun.  I loved the paint application and found myself using a palette knife and just feeling free as I do when I am there in the canyon.

"UP HILL"

16x8 oil on canvas board, $165.00 + $15.00 S/H

This is not easy.  I can barely hike up some of the hills in our local areas, so biking is hard to imagine doing.  This was a very narrow path and we had to stand in the bushes so the the cyclists could get by.  I was a little freaked as I have heard that there are snakes.  I still have not seen one.

Kept it a pretty basic palette.  I wanted to gray down the hills behind without washing them out.  The cyclist is the focus with the greens of the foreground shrubs framing him and the path.