AHH, TAHOE!
It’s always a delight and a (hard working) gift to myself to participate in a Plein Air event. Tahoe was beautiful, crisp and blue. Here are some of my favorite paintings…
Mendocino
Mendocino Plein Air
September 16 - 22nd, 2019
September 22, 2019:
Mendocino has an amazing Plein Air event and I was very excited to be one of the participants this year.
September 16 thru 22nd, I painted in coves, on overlooks and under canopies of Cypress. Gorgeous weather and a top notch event: Seriously, they were organized and helpful in every way imaginable. Thank you Mendocino Art Center!
To top off a magical week, I was honored with a Judges Award for my ‘Cypress Canopy’ gouache plein air painting. And then to top THAT off… it sold!
mendocinoartcenter.org
Chalking Luna!
Each year I return to San Rafael, CA for their exceptional Italian Street Painting Festival. This year, the theme was 'The Wonders of Space and Time.' I was certain you'd see a lot of astronauts / planets / stars / clocks / clouds / rockets and spacecraft... so I spent a lot of time (ha, pun!) coming up with something unique.
Luna, in Roman Mythology, is the divine embodiment of the Moon and is the female compliment to the Sun.
On the clipboard is my 'rough' concept sketch for the mural. After creating a grid on the pavement I draw out my design.
The Moon, and the Sun, were my first connection to the concept of space and time. The festival theme reminded me of being a child and staring up at the Moon and the stars in the night sky wondering about life and my place within it. I spent MANY nights sleeping under the Moon!
I've always felt a connection to the Moon, have had dreams about it and even named my business Three Moons Studio.
In my imagination Luna is the Goddess who leads the Moon in its orbit around the Earth.
I almost always begin with the face. It establishes the palette/values for the rest of the mural and it is the most engaging element for anyone visiting the festival.
Getting close to finishing! Here I am working on the last bit of hair before final touchups.
I had a pretty nice view too! Love see the Mission San Rafael while I work!
One of the talented festival photographers gave me a great overhead shot of my almost-nearly completed mural. Photo : Terry Scussel
River Painting Trip: Post 6 - critters, textures and oddities
It wasn't all vast sweeping views, towering glowing cliffs, emerald waters and painting... the canyon is also, well, odd. There are textures and shapes, critters and dead things. Here are some of my favorite strange things from the river trip.
Critters. Crows, Turkey Vultures, Ringtail Cats, BATS, Swallows, Big Horn Sheep, BONES, Lizards, Song Birds and Fish... and thankfully I saw NO SNAKES.
My crow friend. Actually, he's a thief.
Just stopped by to say hello
This little fella was about 9" long
Everyone got excited when we'd spot a Big Horn Sheep
Another sighting...
A not so lucky Big Horn Sheep. Found at camp.
Assuming this is the leg to the skull...
This 3" flying creature is a Tarantula Hawk Wasp. Nasty, nasty
I'm a fan of design in nature. I see the shapes and the movement and the colors... here is some of the specialness that caught my eye!
Geology!
Gorgeous granite!
We had to skirt this giant Lava Rock sitting in the middle of the river.
Pumpkin Spring rock... Mile 212.9. This is travertine, which is a form of limestone and also contains high levels of arsenic and lead.
The Vishnu Schist looked like Rodin sculptures to me
Sun rainbow!
My first time to see a 'Sundog' or Fire rainbow. It was particularly HOT this day
River Painting Trip: Post 5 - side tripping
Most river rafting trips down the Colorado include side trips to hike to waterfalls or unique views or Anasazi Indian ruins. Because we were painters, we wanted as much time at each camp location to paint which meant that in large part we would forego side trips and save our time for painting.
Thankfully, we weren't 'all work!' and were able to experience some of the side treasures in the canyon. These were some of my trip highlights!
Approaching Redwall Cavern, mile 33.2
Actually just a lunch spot... but not just any-old-lunchspot! This was a great spot to appreciate the size of the canyon. Can you see the boats on the beach? We ate lunch at this spectacular canyon and had a bit of time to explore and soak-up the immense space that the river waters carved out in the wall of the canyon. So unique!
See the people sitting on the beach?! Mile 33.3
The Little Colorado. This river confluence, where the Little Colorado meets the Colorado, provided us with a small hike up river to play in some rapids and gawk at the gorgeous pale blue water. The contrast between the orange cliffs and this pale water was spectacular.
Confluence. Pale blue water meets emerald green water. Mile 61.7
Yes, I sported a waterproof fanny pack and a sarong most of the trip.
'Flour water' is the minute particles of dissolved travertine and limestone in the water.
Riding the little rapids on the Little Colorado
I LOVE the contrast of the pale water and orange canyon!
Mile 117, Elves Chasm
After a short scramble we were rewarded with this jewel!
I was SO TEMPTED to climb up into the Chasm to jump... 2 people did - but the water was so cold you thought your heart would stop.
Mile 136.9, Deer Creek Falls
First glimpse at Deer Creek Falls
Just a short walk, some traversing through tadpole water, over narrow rock bridges and under some brush... you come to THIS sight!
Powerful and LOUD, Deer Creek Falls
Backing up as close as I could!
Mile 157, Havasu Creek
Havasu Falls is famous for its vivid blue-green water. You also need a permit to visit them. We were able to hike the Havasu Creek up to a series of plunge pools, spillways and giant boulders. The hike was on a very narrow and precarious pathway from the Colorado River. It was so nice to be off the boat, stretch the legs, stand in cool water (not so cold it hurt!) and enjoy this very special area.
That's a long way down, beautiful though!
Hiking up Havasu Creek, mile 157
River fashion in all its glory
Fording the creek
River Painting Trip: Post 4 - truly painting on location
Never at a loss for something to paint, the dilemma/challenge/goal for me was how to capture what I see and what I feel in about an hour!
Pick a spot. Set up my gear. Do a sketch for composition. Add values to capture the light which is changing faster than usual. AND ACTUALLY PAINT! Phew.
Watercolor, 6x6, mile 19.4
WIP (work in progress) of Upper Saddle camp, mile 47
For this trip, the gear I brought was intended to be: hardy, small, minimal. I was successful in some areas and not in others :) I recently purchased a small pochade (painting box) called Strada Micro. It is really small, very compact (folds up into itself, side panels stack inside main box) and RUGGED. This was an excellent choice for the river. I usually paint on my openboxM but worried about packing it for the trip because of water + people throwing bags into the boat + people sitting on all the bags on the boat. I also found that I didn't have time to do anything bigger than a 6x8 or 8x10 so the small Micro was just what I needed. I was pretty good too about bringing a limited palette of colors. I added some favorites as well but only brought: Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Cad Yellow Medium, Raw Sienna, a peach I love, Cad Orange, an Indian Red, Naphthol Red, MH Kings Blue, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue and Diox Purple. Now that I write it out that isn't really too limited is it!?!!
This was a beautiful view! Upper Rattlesnake Camp, mile 74
Strada Micro easel set up, WIP on a cactus painting. Lower Granite Camp, mile 115
Gear/items I brought in addition to the Strada Micro and paints:
Manfrotto tripod. LOVE IT... but it took a beating on this trip. It's heavy (aka sturdy!) and not particularly small. I pack it in my old Kelty backpack but even still, our art gear got packed into really large dry bags with other people's art gear and my tripod just seemed to be in the way. Not sure how I missed this information too, but there is sand in the Grand Canyon. SAND EVERYWHERE. You eat it. You have it in your hair. It is in your sleeping bag at night. It is in your paintings. It is now in my tripod. Many of the joints and levers became increasingly difficult to open and adjust because of sand. I brought a little sketchbook and some clips, palette knife and pliers. I brought my Holbein turp container and a bottle of Gamsol. Both leaked. The boats are constantly moving and bucking in rapids; people are tossing bags and sitting on bags... they leaked. Not badly but still annoyingly. (Speaking of leaks! first night at a camp... opened my toiletry bag and EVERYTHING IN IT WAS COVERED IN SOAP. Thanks Dr. Bronner's. I had to wash batteries in the river!)
I brought 6x8 and 8x10 Raymar wet panel boxes. I also had a 9x12 panelpak with 2 panels which I never used. Panels.... I brought Trekell canvas panels on foam (loved them, super lightweight), Gessobord panels and Jack Richeson pre-toned panels in beige. I pre-toned my other panels with red or sienna acrylic before I left.
Of course also: viva paper towels! I use Gear Tie clippable twist tie 12" to attach towels to my pochades. LOVE THESE ITEMS! 2 values of grey felt markers, pencils, 3 carbothello pencils for sketching on my panels. Latex-type gloves for my hands... I always get turp/paint on my hands! and painting hats. HATS. I brought a crushable straw hat, slightly cowboy or bonnet depending on how you fold it on your head, an SPF type beige hat (never wore) and my trusty baseball cap.
6x6 Watercolor of the cliffs at Panchos Kitchen Camp, mile 137
I am very glad too that I decided to pack a small watercolor (WN Cotman) travel set with a 6x6 block of watercolor paper. Many mornings I would work in watercolor instead of setting up the easel for an oil painting. What I would do NEXT TIME... pack the watercolor sketch set in my day bag so that when we stopped for lunch or a bio-break or hike... I could do a little sketch!
I climbed over a lot of rocks to paint on this little spit. Lower National Camp, mile 167
WIP shot, painting our boat.
One night at camp I loved the quiet intimate moment of the guides on a rare rest, chatting on the boat. We'd all unloaded the boat, found our sleep spots for the night and the guides had started dinner. They have miniscule moments to themselves and I loved watching them chat, play with their hair, enjoy the view of the river... before they completed dinner and cleaned up dinner and put everything away again. We got into camp a bit late so the light was fleeting... but it was BEAUTIFUL. I remember there was this bright peach, cantaloup color hitting the water and making a gorgeous soft zigzag as the river bent around the apposing cliffs. That last sunlight was so gold, I actually had to modify it in my painting because it looked so unreal - but it WAS REAL!!!
Dinner was called so I put away my gear, carried on my back as I scrambled over rocks to camp. The next morning, I finished the painting. The light was now behind me but between photos I'd taken, the value sketch I created and the information I was able to lay down the night before I was able to create a painting I am really happy with. Horrah!
One of the other things I really enjoyed on this trip was meeting the other artists. We had both professional and beginner artists; painters from Arizona who were used to painting red canyon walls and others from Alaska who are more comfortable with Mountain peaks and snow. We had pastel painters and sketchers and oil painters. I love seeing each person capture what s/he saw... each piece of art unique and personal!
Mitch Baird and Laura Wambsgans painting
Amery Bohling painting
Cody DeLong painting
Patricia Rose Ford working on her pastel painting
River Painting Trip: Post 3 - catch that light!
The biggest challenge for me on the Colorado River trip was feeling rushed when painting. The light and the colors were amazing... and then it would change. Quickly! The canyon is only so wide and walls very, very tall - so as the sun rises and slips into the canyon, it changes minute by minute - much more obvious too than when painting a scene across a field or mountain or plateau or seascape. Also, we just woke up! I'm not exactly a morning person so making decisions as to where to paint (so many options!), what to paint (the grand view? the flowing water over an interesting rock? that cantaloup pink wall? a little cactus with just ripe red fruit beginning to appear?) and then setting up gear and making a sketch/value study and then painting - all with about an hour to an hour and a half. Well, for me, this was great exercise because each painting opportunity was like a 'quick draw' at a plein air event. Having to make decisions + see + commit + paint in an hour and half was GREAT EXERCISE. I think I was the only artist to make a sketch and quick value study! Maybe that was a waste of time in this situation??
A layered view of completely different colored canyon walls!
And on the subject of color. I, I suppose, am a colorist. One of the other artists would stop by each day to see what I was doing and say 'how is our resident colorist?' - I SEE the color. The walls of the canyon are geologically different colors. There are deep burgundies and nectarine oranges, layers of golden straw and chunks of blue black. All of this, with the bright blue sky and shadows as the river bends gets reflected in the emerald green water of the Colorado River. It's almost overload if you SEE color. I am surprised when an artist depicts the canyon and river in muted tones because I don't see that at all. I'm nearly drunk from the color, I must be a hummingbird.
Look at all the amazing colors reflected in the already green water!
Orange canyon wall on the left, soft peach and yellows on the right and lavender and blue in the back... color everywhere!
River Painting Trip: Post 2 - sleep on it
All but one night we slept under the stars on cots. Each of us scurried off the boat at the end of the day to select our camp for the night. Some liked to group together, others preferred to find a corner to themselves - I tried both! Here are some of my favorite 'bedrooms!'
My 'bedroom' at mile 47 1/2, Upper Saddle Camp
My 'bedroom' at Mile 115, Lower Garnet Camp.
My 'bedroom' at Panchos Kitchen, mile 137 1/2. I stuck driftwood into the rock crevasses to hang my clothes.
Last bedroom of the trip, I was the only one to sleep right on the river, loved listening the the rapids all night. Three Springs, mile 216 1/2.
Not to be overlooked... there is the potty situation. Tucked away as best possible, a lovely diamond plate commode was set up at every camp. A hand washing station and bag of TP was at a pathway before the potty, so if the TP bag was missing... it was in use!
River Painting Trip: Post 1 - 280 miles
... and that would be the full length of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon! May 17 – May 24th. Launched at Lees Ferry and disembarked at Pearce Ferry.
Usually described as 'a trip of a lifetime' my 8 days on the river did not disappoint. I signed up for this trip one year and one month ago! Arizona artist Cody DeLong has organized these trips for painters for the past 9 years and this trip was his 10th. Grand Canyon Expedition Company was our rafting company and two fabulous women, Den and Hannah, loaded all our gear, fed us, entertained us and above all - guided us expertly through the renowned rapids of the Colorado River
Just look at the colors in the water!
The light in the canyon is beautiful. The reflections in the already gorgeous and surprisingly GREEN water of the river was stunning and oranges, pinks and bright blue seemed just as at home on the emerald green river as they did on the canyon walls and bright blue sky of Arizona.
Our river guide, Den
Each day we'd wake at 5:15, disassemble our cots (yes! we slept under the stars!) and pack up our sleeping bags and by 5:30 we'd hear this sweet melody from our lead guide Den... "HHHHHHHHOT COFFEEEEEEEE!" Coffee-in-thermos-in-hand we'd each head back to our sleep spot to pack up our clothes and sundry items in day bags and ammo cans. The light first thing in the morning on the river is beautiful and the day isn't yet super hot so for painters this is the magic time. As the guides made breakfast and started packing items back onto the boat, we would paint/draw/write. In total, we were 2 guides and 12 painters of different media (watercolor, oil, pastel) and a writer.
Artists pack A LOT OF STUFF! The beige dry bags are just our clothes. We also had blue bags with sleeping bags/pads and a tarp.
Hannah (left) our Swamper (aka guide in training) and Den our master River Guide!
A boatload of artists.... and GEAR!
down by the rio grande
hello Santa Fe!
Thrilled to be attending my third Plein Air Painters Convention & Expo in one of my favorite places on earth: Santa Fe!!
Pre-workshop, my friend and fellow artist Sherrie Sinclair (Sinclair Wildlife Art) found a beautiful bend in the road where we could set up and do a little painting. I fell in love with the shadow of an ancient tree as it cast upon a dilapidated adobe.
The sun came and went, as did the shadow! But it felt terrific to break open the pochade and work on a painting!
