The Fixer-Upper

This house was on a photo I had from Mendocino, CA. Today, in California, there was cold with wind and I canceled my plans to go outside and paint. Instead, I played with the painting and tried a lot of different shapes. Notice the 3 eucalyptus trees in the left background and the puddles in the foreground. The laundry on the line was a balance to the painting. There is a lot in this painting and I usually only feature one subject with everything else subordinate. This is what happens when plans suddenly change. It was fun experimenting.

Plein Air Painting in Martinez

Last week went off to Martinez, CA to paint with a plein air group. It was a good experience that included new friends, a cookout, and a very friendly critique of everyone's work. There were plenty of good works from this group that meets weekly.
Martinez is a major train hub and I doubt that many get a full night of sleep with all of the whistles that sound from arriving and departing trains. I loved it.
My painting was done on the edge of the marsh with the bright sky emerging. There was no egret, but I needed a focal point and some balance to the weight of objects on the left side.

Plein air painting

This is the main street of Winters, CA. We had a wonderful time painting with great weather and plenty of artists. I did set up in one field to paint a barn only to be confronted by a snarling dog dragging a chain. Hmm, need to add dog biscuits along with bug spray and sunbloc to my painting kit. Three of my paintings are in the Briggs Gallery in Winters, with one of them with a tiny red dot (sold). Yea!