Morning Grazers - The well cared for steer series

On the back of a used envelopeI sketched these steers. Then I continused to refer to them as I painted them. This is oil on stretched canvas.

Sky Dragons Shape Shifting

I am enjoying oil again. I like going over with a new color over the previous day's tacky paint picking up a little color. These long 12" x 36" horizontal paintings are a series of three abstracts based on nature mixed with the whimsy of seeing dragon shapes every direction I look. This one is the third of the series. I will take a look at the first one of dragons surfing because I remember numerous legs and now have a notion of making the painting Dragons Beach Combing.

Surfing Dragons in process

My third step in conclusion

second step first step

Painting outdoors was very pleasant today. I fitted in about an hour after taking down and exhibit in Corvallis and squeezing it into our house. Also went hiking and blueberry picking. Here I am doing a rare oil painting 12" x 36". It might be close to finished. I enjoy the iridescent white mixing into other colors.

Rainy Season Dragons at Battle

"Rainy Season Dragons at Battle" 24" x 18" is inspired by reading Donald A. Mackenzie's, CHINA AND JAPAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS. After a draught the Blue Dragon fights the Yellow Dragon and Lightening, thunder, and rain is on the way. The breeze was blowing at me today as I painted under the cool walnut tree. The odor of the oil paints did not bother me. My husband thought the yellow dragon needed to be as bold as the green but I am happy.

Inspirations Today

I am enjoying the texture of real oil paint. I took this picture at 6:45 PM when the sun was getting low in the sky picking up the texture. I love oil paint texture even though there are times I can not tell the difference between oil and acrylic in other painters' works. But when I am working oil the textural buttery quality is an entirely different experience from painting with convenient acrylics.

This morning at 7:30 AM I saw clouds with tree dragons and the moon was like the pearl often pictured with Chinese Dragons.

Feeling The Rain Drops

The rain showers contributed to the mood and even to making my painting. The wetness of the rain mixed with the water soluble oils. Paint was everywhere on my easel and on my gloves. The messiness of painting was exciting though. The rain damp landscape was rich with color. The thunder clouds were sweeping through the air. When the sun pierced through the clouds, the fields started to steam especially under the trees. I began to think about the lane that makes two right angle bends around the end of our field. These bends are the old path going past a barn long gone.

The Tree House of Olden Times

The family who lived here before us had a little boy who drives by every now and then to view his best childhood climbing tree. One blackened board still hangs in among the perfectly trimed branches. He says that at Christmas time they use to hang a star on the tree. Now in a few months a new family will build there home by this tree and the tree will again hear the laughter of children.

Yesterday's Lighting Remembered

After rain drops fell on my painting of the day, I picked up my stuff and returned to the patio covered area. Then I worked on the sentimental painting I spoke of yesterday. I feel good about it now. I am enjoying painting on 8" x 10" x 1" Ambersand Blocks. These are the blocks my mother and I painted on just before her passing away in 2003. At the end she only collaborated on a few of the blocks. I kept my favorites and pealed off the acrylic revealing a perfectly clean surface to begin again. I put aside the pealings for collage.

From Under a Fir Tree

Under the fir tree my painting was out of the rain. The worst of the storm came in after I finished. I am really still excited about going out and painting in the morning. But the dampness is not good for my Andersen's easel. The metal bracket that holds the canvas has become floppy. The Andersen mechanism always did look a little weak. I am running out of Max cadmium yellow and orange. My blues are also low and I am mixing real oil colors with the water soluble ones. I like the richness of basic colors and will not order the mixed ones made by holbien called DUO. I am still debating about getting more MAX made by Grumbacker. I am not sure I will continue to do little oils like this 8" x 10".

The Field, the Creek and a Tree on a Rainy Day

The Rain and I Painted

Today it rained at near record amounts. I was still eager to go out and see what emotions could be stimulated by the mood of the day. I painted with Max, an oil paint so refined that it mixes with water. So I tried painting during a light shower. The rain made the thick oils run a little. Painting this way I needed to put down the idea and then react to the changes made by the soggy day. I feel that the pressure was on to express the feeling I had right away without getting bogged down by detail.

Our Back Field and Pump House

Our pump house has seldom been a subject in my painting since we lived here the past 22 years but now that we are selling our field, I am eager to enjoy our property by using it as a beginning for some works. As I work I become closer to the beauty in what was so common place to me. I am not reproducing the landscape. I am making interpretations. At first the paintings will be impressionistic. Future paintings will become more abstract and emotional.

Our Apple Trees

'Our Apple Trees' is oil on cradled wood board 14" x 11" x 1", for sale $175
I am really enjoying my early morning painting adventures, but the time has come to make up my mind if I will do more. Tomorrow the temperature will be 20 degrees colder - below freezing and the wind chill factor in addition may be more than I am willing to endure.

Rainy Day Painting of the Woods

"Rainy Day Painting of the Woods" is oil on linen, 3' x 5" for sale $86.
From our patio cover I painted what I call the nursery woods where does have their fawns and foxes have cubs.

Painting in My Own Backyard Field

This is the second morning I have tried working smaller only this time I painted one twice as large. This 8 x 10 painting was more comfortable for me to paint than the 5 x 7. Sold I was delighted by the sunrise this morning and what a good subject my own yard can be. Then my husband noticed the sun streaming through the oak tree. I painted it.

Extending Myself

Today I tried a new way of painting. With oil paints I painted from start to finish in just a little over an hour. The big change for me was to paint a very small canvas of 5" x 7". for sale $86. But can I be satisfied painting small canvases? The set up was swift and I had a fist full of small brushes so I did not clean between colors. The small brushes cleaned up easily at home afterwards. Maybe this is the way I will be painting in the future when I am traveling about the country. But I am not sure I can get all my personality into such a small area. I was pleased on this first one because I was not all tight as I anticipated. Standing up while painting had much to do with my freeling of freedom. Another bonus is the promise of a flow of work. I can think about my next painting and not go back into my first impression. On small canvases I can break the habit of making little changes for months and even years after starting a painting.