Posts Tagged ‘plein air painting’
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.
Open House
It’s done! Finished! Sent! The income tax, that is. And in a few days, the accountant will have another worry. I had many expenses this year with setting up a web site and blog. And recently, an on-line mall has asked me to join them – Easy Place to Shop (www.easyplacetoshop.com).
This Sunday, my friend and I are having an Open House and we invited some of the neighbors to come and visit and see our latest landscape paintings. So today, I will do some more touch-up work and photograph a few new ones for my site. However, I long for the days I can forget about responsibilities and take my easel to the park, set up, and for a couple of hours or so commune with nature!
Studio Time
On one of those very nice days recently, I was able to get in some studio time. I worked on five of my landscape paintings.
I usually do the main painting at the site and fill in the background later. Also, I generally paint the edges, and must do that in studio. This particular day I had to add palm fronds to one, paint the background, palm trees and edges of another, just the edges of the third, the roots of a banyan tree on the fourth, and a complete overhaul on the last with more lights and more darks. It felt wonderful to have these “almost done” paintings finished.
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.
The Banyan Trees
On Sunday, my friend and I drove down McGregor Boulevard, Fort Myers, with its impressive Royal Palm trees lining the street. We were looking for interesting trees to paint. Perhaps there would be some on a side street where parking was available. As luck would have it, we found nothing. Either there were no trees, or if trees, then no parking.
Eventually, as we drove around the downtown area we found 2 large banyan trees on the Court House lawn. We set up our easels in the almost vacant parking lot and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of plein air painting, something not possible during a busy week. We later learned that the Court House is to be razed and rebuilt. What a loss! It’s a beautiful old structure!
Raining, Again
Yep, you guessed it! It’s raining again today! With a 90% chance of raining tomorrow, this is just not a good time to do plein air painting!
I always have paintings that need finishing however. Sometimes I have to adjust the colors a bit, and I like to paint around the edges which is always done in studio. So today is a good day to finish some of those landscape paintings that were mostly painted on site!
The Cove on Pine Island
On Saturday, my friend and I decided to paint at the Cove Park on Pine Island, FL. We have been there many times in the past, but not yet this year.
The Cove is a small park at the end of Tropical Point Road and has in the past been a place where one could launch a boat. Not so this year. Big posts blocked the entrance to the river. However, there were many happy people enjoying a picnic.
I soon found a spot I liked and set up my easel. Before long, I had 5 palm trees and a river on my landscape painting!
Plein Air Painting in Florida
Here in Florida, we have not had a good winter for plein air painting. We have had high temps in the low 60s (most of the day was in the 50s) with 10 – 20 mph winds most of the time.
Now, I know that temps in the 60s seem like balmy zephyrs to those of you reading this who have had temps in the teens or lower, in addition to many feet of snow, but is is just now pleasant to wear your fleece jacket or wool hoodie or long undies to be in the open air for 2 hours or so to do a painting. The good news is that spring is coming and warmer temps will be here soon. I’m just now sure which month!
The Park on Coronado Parkway
A few days ago, my friend and I went to the city park on Coronado Parkway, Cape Coral, FL. to do some plein air painting. It is a fairly large park with a variety of trees.
Along the perimeters are “stubby” trees with short trunks and billowing tops. The interior of the park had larger, more elegant trees which gave lots of shade for the children’s playground and picnic shelters beneath them.
There were also some quite large shelters. I didn’t check them out, but I heard the clack of what might have been shuffleboard pucks attacking one another. Parks are great places to enjoy life.