Why do I have this feeling of not doing anything? I don’t feel like I have accomplished a thing in days. And what, pray tell, do these little paintings from my vegetable garden have to do with it?

Jim and I took the holiday weekend and built a yellow oblisk for the garden. We had planted a small circular garden several weeks ago, the first vegetable garden I’ve had in nearly thirty years! Jim has never grown vegetables. But now that he likes to cook and eat them, he is interested in learning how to identify them in the garden so he can pick them for dinner! (continue reading…)

Take time and enjoy yourself! That is the message of the bluebirds I saw flitting in this hayfield late yesterday afternoon as I set up my easel to paint.

I needed the message to be sure. I had been working all day teaching artists to write about their work. The day had taken it’s toll on me. I was tired, jittery from all the questions and needed to rest. So I headed out with my easel at 5:00.

I didn’t go far. Just down the road to a private farm where I have permission to paint at my leisure. I was anxious to find a quiet place to unwind. That’s when I saw the bluebirds.

I have never seen bluebirds before! I was struck by their stunning blue. They really are BLUE blue! I watched them for awhile, then walked across the lane and set up my easel. As I did, I could feel the stress flow out of my body into the earth beneath my feet.

The time melted away. Before I knew it the sun was getting low in the sky. I finished up and wiped off my brushes. Checking the clock in the van, I was amazed that I had been there over two hours! The painting, though I believe is one of the finest little canvases I have ever done.

Bluebirds in the Hay, oil
$400, 8″ x 10″ unframed
$450 framed size 13.5″ x 11.5″

I have not photographed the frame yet. Will do that and add it to this post tomorrow.

Many people ask me this question. Literally translated from the French, en plein air, it means in open air. It began in the late 1800s with Impressionist painters such as Monet, Pisarro and Renoir. Before them, oil painters had to grind and mix their own pigments in the studio. Now the artists were freed to take their paints and canvases outdoors. The color and temporal qualities of painting in the open air dramatically changed the way they painted. (continue reading…)