No. 622 Palouse Falls - Plein Air

 

 

Palouse Falls - Plein Air

Oil on Linen Panel

7" x 5"

 

Last weekend I went on a most excellent trip with the PAWA group to southeastern Washington. The landscape is so different over there. Here we are hemmed in with lush vegetation, there it is wide open skies with sagebrush and dry grasses. Also, they have the occasional amazing geological feature like Palouse Falls.

 

 

 

 

Looking in the opposite direction from the falls.

 

 

 

The paint gang at the KOA campground café. One evening a huge lightening storm rolled in and we were very happy to hang there instead of our thin walled tents.

 

 

Palouse Falls has quite the colony of marmots. They were everywhere and they were not afraid to stare back!

 

 

 

Melanie, our fearless leader for the weekend. She excels at painting this landscape. We stopped to see her one person show at the Clymer Museum in Ellensburg on our way over. It was stunning. If you would like to see pics of her show click here.

 

 

Kathryn Townsend painting away with the falls thundering nearby.

 

A big thanks to my carpool partner Karen. She kept me well entertained on the long drive over and back and kindly let me stop here there and everywhere to take pictures and sneak in a little extra sightseeing. You're the best Karen!



No. 621 Pear with Gold and Silver

 

 

Pear with Gold and Silver

Oil on Gessobord

6" x 6"

 

I purchased a large quantity of pears for one of my classes. They are such a charming and forgiving fruit to paint. After seeing the wonderful work they inspired my students to create, I had to come home and paint them myself.

 



Click to Bid

No. 620 The Last But Not The Least

 

The Last But Not the Least

Oil on Gessobord

6" x 6"

 

While it looks like this will be the last of the tulip paintings this year it is also the one I'm most pleased with. Oh tulips, you rascally devils, we will meet again.



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No. 619 Arboretum Paint Out

 

 

Spring at the Arboretum - Plein Air

Oil on Gessbord

6" x 6"

 

The Washington Park Arbortetum was the first place I had a chance to paint outside with PAWA members this year. Wow, what a beautiful place to begin the plein air painting season. My problem at paint-outs these days is spending more time chatting with friends than painting. Why do PAWA members have to be so interesting?

 

Click to Bid

 

Spring at the Arboretum 2 - Plein Air

Oil on Gessobord

5" x 7" 

 

A few photos from the park...

 

 

 

 

 

No. 618 Double Whites Revisited

 

 

 

Double Whites Revisited

Oil on Canvas Panel

12" x 9"

 

I was so enthralled with those glorious tulips I had to paint them one more time in a larger format.

 



No. 617 The Cadyville House 2015 - Plein Air

 

 

The Cadyville House 2015 - Plein Air

Oil on Linen Panel

5" x 7"

 

I simply love painting this home. There is something about those bright red azaleas in front of the very charming blue home I cannot resist. It helps that the owners are very charming too.

 

Off to the right of the house is the carriage house bed and breakfast. If you are looking for a great place to stay in Snohomish just blocks away from many boutiques, restaurants and antique stores, this is the place for you. Just call Joanne & Merle Kirkley at 360-568-5390 for more info or check their website cadyvillecarriage.com. 

 



No. 616 Sunflower Art Walk Demo

 

 

Sunflower Art Walk Demo

Oil on Canvas Panel

12" x 9"

 

Art is alive and well at Penny Creek Elementary! Both of my daughters are Penny Creek alumni so I was honored to be invited to demo at their second annual art walk.  What a terrific event! The walls were absolutely covered with art inside the hallways and outside in the courtyard. All kinds of wonderful creations were to be seen from mobiles based on Chihuly's glass pieces to Andy Warhol styled self portraits. The kids and art docents of Penny Creek truly have something to be proud of. Congratulations, Diana, on spearheading such an inspiring celebration of art! 

 

Just a taste of the wonderful art to be seen on the walk:

 



 

Rockin' the Andy Warhol styled self portraits

 



 

 Flowers! One of my favorite subjects.

 

 

Check out the great colors and textures.

  

Love those dioramas!

No. 615 Double Whites Opening

 

 

Double Whites Opening

Oil on Canvas Panel

8" x 8"

 

These tulips were simply magnificent. I'm sorry I wasn't able to do them justice.

I did enjoy trying.

 

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No. 614 Big Fancy Double Tulips and My First Day of Class

 

 

Big Fancy Double Tulips

Oil on Linen Panel

7" x 5"

These were some of the biggest, most gorgeous tulips I've ever come across.

The best news of the day is my oil class is up and running! Woo! Hoo!
I couldn't ask for a better group of students. I had a terrific time and I hope they did too. During the month of May we are working on values. Since value is the foundation of a successful painting it seemed like a good place to start...

 

 

 

The front doors to the building Holly's studio is located in.

 

Holly herself working on a value study of a pear. Thanks so much Holly for letting me hold my class in your studio!!!

 

Karen Bakke finessing a value study of three pears.

 

Diana making sure her pear study has plenty of texture.

 

A view across the studio.

 

Nikki, with an impressive collection of brushes and a light touch, working on a pair of pears.

All of the studies turned out great. So do I attribute that to a great teacher or great students? Or maybe both? :))) I huge, huge thanks to all my family and friends for supporting and encouraging me on this new adventure. And most especially a humungous thank you to my new students!

 

I starting something else new. I have many people tell me they would like to leave comments here but for one reason or anther Blogger won't let them. Recently I came across the idea of putting a Facebook link in the blog post so people can post their comments there.  Sounded good to me. Let's give it a try!

 

To comment on Facebook click here.



No. 613 Brunch with Tulips

 

 

Brunch with Tulips 

Oil on Stretched Canvas

11" x 14"

 

Another lovely bunch of tulips from the tulip fields in Mt. Vernon.

 

Intense preparations are under way for the first day of class on Wednesday.

So many ideas it's hard to narrow it down!