Mendocino Grazing

. This composition evolved from a house that I sketched in Mendocino, CA. The result was just a house so I decided to add. Eventually, the house was reduced to nothing special and I added the landscape. Finally, I put the cows in front. I'm not sure any of this fits with the lovely little town of Mendocino except for the cottage. This is fun making up scenes with no pressure to do anything. I'm ready to start abstraction. I have always felt that abstract art was on a different level. A good friend just died. Her gallery published an obituary with pictures of her abstract work. Their interpretations were wonderful. I always liked her work but she would never tell me the story she was telling.

Mendocino Home

Did this painting this morning in watercolor group while a winter storm raged outside. It is from a very old photo taken in Mendocino, CA. What a wonderful location for painters. I took lots of liberties painting and completing it in an hr. My plan was to use paint on a wet surface by mixing colors when applying the paint There is some success if you look at the front of the building where you see yellow and cobalt blue. There are lots of surprises when you rush through a painting at high speed. I generated new ideas not planned with watercolors. I intended a picket fence and then saw the whites that were left and worked out the fence, steps and rocks that you see. You should try it.

Mendocino Water Tower

A very common site in Mendocino are the water towers that remain from the past. It is cold and frosty in California these days so paintings are from memories instead of plein air. I love painting outside, on site, but not when it's cold or windy. One remedy for the cold is to paint warmer scenes. It is the placebo effect; you get lost in the painting and warm up. Save the snow scenes for hot summer days.

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.