Posts Tagged ‘landscape painting’
A Respite
I just had to take a few days off from landscape painting and work in my yard. After driving from Florida to Maryland, there was little time to rest when the Snow Hill Paint Out began. Three busy days of painting and 1 day of framing and hanging – and hanging around – when last Monday arrived and it was time to paint again!
My yard was calling me. Of course, the grass was ankle high when I arrived from Florida, so I mowed it – and a week later, again! Then there were the flower beds – all 12 of them – from mail box size to 5′ x 30′ of so! Because I had used a mulch designed to keep the weeds out for 6 months, there were only a few weeds compared to other years. (Even so, there were still a lot!) At this point, I have 6 beds weed free and with granules to keep the weeds out for 3 months, I’m ready to paint tomorrow!
Painting on Sunset Drive
On Monday, my two friends and I met again to do landscape painting. We have a standing agreement that we will paint out of doors if the weather is pleasant, otherwise we paint in my garage/studio. Today, Betty had found a place new to us – the home of one of her friends who lives near the village of Bivalve on the Nanticoke River.
We met at a local restaurant aptly named “Boonies,” and caravanned from there. The owner wasn’t home, but we had permission to paint, so we set up our easels and began. Betty and Suzanne were over by the river because they like to feature the water in their paintings. I found 3 trees I liked a little distance away, but where I also could see the river and included it in my painting. What a wonderful way to spend a day!
Snow Hill Paint Out – Day 4
Last evening I finished my third and last landscape painting for the Paint Out. The background trees were just not the right color and some of the other paint was thin or streaked, so I repainted most of the picture. This morning I planned to frame the 3 paintings, take them to Snow Hill and hang them. But I had a big problem! The frames for these paintings are new to me and a different kind of wood than that to which I was accustomed. It was oak and needed a drill before a screw would go in! I hadn’t planned on that happening and my drill was not charged! Time was running out and the drill just did not charge fast enough!
A friend made several calls for me and Bill, the owner of the Auction House, was kind enough to use his drill to make the holes and put in the screws. I got to the show site on time and talked with many of the other artists, old friends and new, but didn’t sell a thing!
The Drive to Maryland
On Friday, I had lunch with my sister and her family in Venice, FL, and later spent the night at the home of my brother and his wife in Spring Hill, a little town north of Tampa. I had thought that driving the long distance to Maryland on the weekend would be a good idea because there would be no construction workers and few semi trucks on the roads then.
The theory was OK, but the fact was different. In both Florida and Georgia, for a period of 40 miles each, the traffic was so heavy that we could only go 20 mph or less! All the snowbirds in Florida had decided this was the time to go North! When I finally reached South Carolina, it was 7 PM and I was ready to call it a day. That left me 600 miles to go on Sunday in order to reach home! After all that, I have to rest a while before I do any landscape painting!
The Paint Out at Snow Hill
Next week I will definitely make up for the lack of landscape painting this week. Next week is a Paint Out at Snow Hill, MD, a little town not far from Salisbury on the Eastern Shore.
If you are not familiar with a Paint Out, it works something like this: The sponsoring gallery sends out notices to nearby galleries and artists on its list as to the date of the Paint Out. The artists apply and pay the requested fees. Sometimes the artists must be juried in to the show, sometimes not, like this one.
On the appointed date, in this case Friday, April 16, artists check in at the gallery and pick up a packet of helpful information. They are free to paint Friday and Saturday at the designated locations or within the designated area. The paintings need to be framed and hung by Sunday noon. In this case there will be voting for Artists” Choice Award and the show and sale is always open to the public. The gallery has previously advertised the show so, hopefully, there will be a large attendance. The gallery takes a percentage of each sale and sometimes makes a good bit. Needless to say, artists are always happy to sell their works, so this is a win-win situation.
Going Home to Illinois
It’s going to be difficult to do any landscape painting this week. My friend goes home tomorrow and I will leave on Friday. We packed up her paintings yesterday and took them to the shipping company today. Of course, we also had to set her up with frequent flyer miles and print out her boarding passes.
On the way home, we stopped at the bank, but at 4:10 PM it was closed. I had noticed an unauthorized deduction from my account on Friday, and emailed the bank immediately – all after the bank had closed. The bank called this afternoon and said a that a hold had been put on my account, so it is safe. I had forgotten about it earlier today, unfortunately, so will go there first thing tomorrow – after I get my friend to the airport at 5 AM for her 6:30 AM departure and a nap!
The House on Old Burnt Store Road
My neighbor dog-sits for some nice folks who live on Old Burnt Store Road, in the most western part of Cape Coral, FL. The owners have been on a rather extended trip and will be home later tonight and my neighbor invited my friend and me to enjoy their lawn and do some landscape painting.
The house is on a canal with boats going up and down it and the nearby homes are gorgeous with their typical Florida landscaping of palm trees, philodendron and sometimes banana trees. Across the canal was a scene typical of a preserve with uncultivated grasses and trees and, in this case, many dead trees. What a difference there was between the two sides of the canal!
Yearning to Paint
It’s difficult these days to find time to do any landscape painting. Take today, for example: I must take my friend to 2 appointments, and then vacuum the house in preparation for Sunday’s Open House. In between the appointments, there is just enough time to pick up some paintings at a gallery in Matlacha that have been left on consignment, in the hopes that someone would buy them.
In a little more than a week, my friend will go back to her home in Illinois and shortly afterward, I’ll be trekking up I95 to Maryland. We are both happy to have spent the winter in FL, but it will be great to get back to the fun of painting out-of-doors.
Income Tax Time
I’m glad the weekend is almost here. There is always a change of pace during the weekend. The weatherman says temps are expected to be in the mid 70s with lots of sun on Friday and Saturday, but isolated rain perhaps on Sunday and Monday. Maybe I can get some landscape painting done either Friday or Saturday, and the rest of the time must be dedicated to working on income tax.
Now, I know that many of you are eager beavers and have sent yours in already, and probably even received your refund. However, although I’m not a member of that club, mine will be finished on time.
The Caloosahatchee Creek Preserve West II
Yesterday, my friend and I again visited the Caloosahatchee Creek Preserve in North Fort Myers, FL to do some landscape painting. It is only a short distance from the parking lot to the water and an easy access for canoe or kayak. Also, it is almost below the I75 bridge, so traffic was whizzing by as we painted.
I walked a short distance down a path and chose a scene including a small stream. There were several palm trees, a variety of grasses and dead reeds. A preserve has many types of trees and grasses growing at random. Some are living, some dead, but always in a state of becoming.