IT WAS A LOVELY DAY FOR PLEIN AIR IN SW VIRGINIA

Hey Friends,  Hope you made it outside today!  We don't get these lovely days very often anymore, so you have to make the most of them.

We DLP's, Double Line Painters, went to the Wheatland Farm on Rt. 639 to stretch our plein air muscles.  They have gotten pretty weak.  I even sat down and made a couple sketches, Notans.  The sketch book is on my palette above

Needless to say but it SUCKED out loud and I wiped it off.  And just pretended the sunflowers were up and gave it a whirl.  To Be Continued.

And on the journey home we saw a lot of cows and farms and old sheds and silos.

All that stuff you want to cram into one painting.  HA.

We all know it looks much more pleasing to concentrate on one thing at a time.

Get your stuff ready, It's Time !!

HAPPY TRAILS

RIVERSIDE NURSERY HAS THE BLOOMS YOU WANT

Hey Friends,  Yesterday was a fun day for me at Riverside Nursery painting the koi pond.

The pond reflected the inside of the green house, of course, so that was not very pretty.  And I had a bit of a stroke trying to imagine the reflections if it were outside.

Can't say it was the most imaginative but I like it anyway.

Thank you Bruce for letting us set up inside your lovely house of blooms.

I bought some of the gorgeous yellow pansies for my sister's front porch.  I have never seen such giant pansy blooms.  You know you need some!

HAPPY TRAILS

Enjoy your weekend

PLEIN AIR AT A GORGEOUS FARM

Hey Friends,  I was out this morning with my friends in the Smith Mountain Lake area.  Off of Rt.122 to be exact.  At a friends Farm.  An unbelievable mansion with a pond and horse pasture and more, more.

The painting above was done by my friend, don't want you to think I'm taking any credit for her work.  Didn't show you mine because they look so amateurish beside of hers.

So now, don't forget to come and visit at South Peaks 3rd annual plein air paint out !! Sat, day after tomorrow and Sun.  AND  the weather is going to be fabulous.

There will be plenty to see, besides the painters.

See you then

Happy Trails

WE HAD A BEAUTIFUL DAY HERE IN SW VIRGINIA

Hey Friends,  Myself and Linda went to practice a little more plein aire today. Not sure I'll be ready by Oct. 14th for the BIG plein aire event "PLEIN AIRE SOUTH PEAK"

The top 2 photos are from last week, just been a tad busy and not blogging like I should.  

I don't think I've finished this one yet.

This bottom piece is from this morning.  Just to be fair to myself, I have been trying the palettes of the guy that wrote the book "YIN YANG" Mr. Zhang works with

He has 3 palettes

Yellow-Purple

Blue-Orange

and

Red-Green.

The photo directly above is using the Red-Green Palette.  The one I painted before this one (which I scrubbed off) was using the Purple-Yellow Palette.  And the Purple-Yellow is not a good one for landscapes.  I guess it would be good for still life or a pale cat or dog.  You can't get a good dark or a good green.  It was ugly.

That is another good reason to practice plein aire when you want to use a different palette or try new colors.  For the next session, I will try the Blue-Orange and then the common palette of a cold and a warm of the 3 primary colors.  That will be fun, getting back to the basics.

Til next time.

Take care of your neighbors when it counts.

Plenty of prayers and good MoJo to our neighbors in Florida.

Happy Trails

"WHAT OF DREAMS" - 9X18 ORIGINAL SKYSCAPE OIL PAINTING

Hey Friends,   Wouldn't you love to be at a beach right now??  I WOULD!!

Tired of the drizzle, cold, dreary sky and mud.

I'm pretending I'm in the Caribbean.

This is 9" x 18" deep cradled panel, varnish should be dry soon.

Then it is ready to hang, no frame necessary.

It is available in my new Website - HERE.

Take a look at my new Blog too - HERE.

And if you live close to Salem, Va. and you are headed to the shore, stop and pick me up !

PLEASE

Otherwise have a joyous drippy day.

Happy Trails

WORKING ON SERIES OF SKYSCAPE OIL PAINTINGS

12x12 DeepOil   "Places in my Heart"

Hey Friends,  Have enjoyed having the time to paint, almost non-stop, a series of #SKYSCAPES.

This particular one was the most fun.

I snuck up to my Secret Place because the gate was open and I could drive.  This place is for sale, because the company that owns it went bankrupt, that's why the gate was open.

I especially like this little peak because when the sun shines on it, it shines like metal.  May be some Fools Gold up there.

And the way the mountains blocked the sun on the lower half of the clouds, leaving the top warm and sunny, and the bottom half chilly, was extra spice for this piece.

Available Here

And please click over to my new blog HERE

Happy Trails