Friday 24 April 2015

Time Flies


I have returned from my trip to Texas for my daughter's wedding! I always bring my plein air set up with me but barely had time to take photos let alone paint - not really "up" on how much time preparing for a wedding can take. The wedding was beautiful and I am really happy for my baby - a good time was truly had by all and it was nice to see family members of my ex-husband that I hadn't seen in years.

Of course upon my return, I felt like I had to relearn how to paint and then there were the 3,000 emails...........wow, do I hate email! I am slowly getting back on track. This 10x12" study of Stewartia was done yesterday. The Beaufort Plein Air painters met up with members of the Sea Island Garden Club to paint the exceedingly rare shrub while it was in bloom. The setting was in a very forested area and lit with rapidly changing dappled light.............a scenario I tend to avoid because there's little distance to get a view and little drama in the lighting. Normally I would have driven right past the spot! Because our group had made the arrangements I felt I had to stay and was glad I did. It was a lesson in site selection and seeing how to work in an environment that I couldn't control at all - it also freed me from my sometimes obsessive need for an accurate rendering of a scene rather than my own decisions of how to make the painting work. I had a lot of fun and felt myself pulled right back into the painting process. 

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