By the Grand Basin, St. Louis Art Museum.... love the railings around the water

     The sun seemed to be "after me" all day long.  I love to try to get a shady space to paint, but that was nearly impossible. At least I started out in the shade... I had to leave my easel where I started, then the sun started beating down on me, so I darted back and forth.... I would paint, move back, go forward, paint again...  I was doing the dance with the painting... ha ha
     I liked the results.  At first I thought the subject was too simple and uninteresting, then quickly decided it was difficult.... Oh, whoa is me... HA !!

Tuscany

Not plein air, instead a commission from a friend.  27 x 10... for over the kitchen doorway. 

Fun city backyard garden

Not a plein air, but instead from a photo I took in a friend's garden a few weeks ago.   I lovely woman that I paint with wanted to show me her garden after we painted on a Sunday a few weeks ago at Tower Grove Park.  She is amazing with design and color, and has the most beautiful big century home with a garden boasting almost every conceivable variety of flower.  Her garage on the alley has this cool color scheme.  I had to get a picture of it.  If I had to guess, I'd say it's a split-complementary, with yellow, plus the two colors on either side of it's complement, red-violet, and blue-violet... (periwinkle)
     NOW I'm sounding like my "art teacher" mode.... ha ha
     This one is a 10 x 10, on canvas board.

Grand Basin plein air

  We met at the Grand Basin this morning, in front of the Art Museum to paint plein air today.  It was beautiful everywhere, making it hard to decide what to paint.  I picked this bridge, because somehow these bridges tell a story, I guess.   Seems like I learn something every time I go out with this wonderful group of artists.  Today I learned a bit about different brushes !  I even stopped and got a few new ones on the way home.  I've never used 'flats' before, only 'brights', so I'm excited about getting to know these new ones !

  

Plein air- beautiful day !

Last weekend was a beautiful sunny day.  Our group met at the Muny and found our spots.... I picked my bridge again, with several other painters.   We stopped briefly for lunch, then got back to work.  I finished around 3:00, when Gwendolyn and I were the last to leave.  Such fun.  Here's my painting, it's 8 x 10 on gessoboard.

Muny Opera St. Louis, plein aire

     Restful lunch by the bridge over the pond.  Plein air is so much fun, and so challenging.  Finished this one in the studio.  16 x 20 oil on canvas.

Tower Grove Park, St. Louis, Missouri

     Tower Grove Park is a wonderful park inside the St. Louis city limits.  Joggers,  cyclists, families, dog walkers, and plein air painters occupied a small, beautiful, area of the park today.  We positioned ourselves by the Piper Palm House... famous for it's fabulous Sunday brunch.....I tried to stay in the shade, and found this great pond with lily pads, and a few flowering water lilies in view.    This time I worked with an 8 x 10 gessobord, and was able to complete my painting.  I was very happy with the flow and movement I tried to convey.  It seems I learn something every time I paint outdoors... Either something TO DO, or something  NOT TO DO..... ha
      We had a great big group of at least 12 artists painting.... such fun, and such support everyone gives to each other... love it.

Webster Groves High School

      I just put the finishing touches on this painting of my good ole alma mater, Webster Groves High School.  Our much celebrated reunion (the biggie) is this year, and I'm on the committee to get classmates signed up to come.   I don't think they have changed the entrance to the building in 50 years !  Brings back memories.... most of them are great. 
     If there is enough interest, I will have some prints of this made.  We'll see.....

Plein air on the Mississippi River

     I joined the St. Louis plein air group for another jaunt to the park, south of the city, on the river.  Beautiful sunny, yet a bit hot day.  I guess I'll look into a shade umbrella as my next purchase....

Plein air Sunday July 27, 2014. Lagoon at Steinberg skating rink

          My second meet up with the MOPAPA group on Sunday July 27, 2014.  We met again in front of the skating rink by the lagoon.   I stationed myself under a big tree and worked on this little bridge over the  water.   It was challenging to get the correct dynamics of the bridge, and yet keep the brushwork loose.   I think these kind of challenges are beneficial to help me learn the process.

Plein air Forest Park, in St. Louis, July 18, 2014.  Clear skies, beautiful day...16 x 20 oil on canvas.

Sunday morning Forest Park

I started working with a great group of plein air painters in the St. Louis area.  They choose a different spot to meet, generally going to a place for 2 weeks in a row.  The first time I joined them they met at Forest Park, by Steinberg skating rink.  I picked out a tree that I thought was interesting and got to work on my 24 x 24 canvas...  All of the others were working much smaller, but since I've done that for so long, I decided it was time to paint bigger. 
     One DOES need to bring bug spray, I found that out, and a lunch, too, is a good idea.   I'll have to scale down all the numerous things I thought I needed.   This for me is definately a learning curve.....


     Here is my first plein air finished painting.   Wow... there are SO  MANY  greens !! challenging...

Return to the humble pear

I painted in the breakfast room while my granddaughter took a nap the other day.  Peaceful.....

Look what arrived in the mail today.   It's the book I designed, through Blurb, with 70 of my favorite small paintings.   I love it...

     The reason I decided to do it was because my computer was not working, and we thought we might lose everything on it, including all my pictures... I thought I'd better get them into a book before that happened.  --We DID manage to get the computer working again, too !  yay !

Here are some of my peonies from my garden.  I've got to paint fast.  They completely disintegrate in one day, when I bring them inside. 

I've set up my paints and table easel in the breakfast room, currently.  That means I can sit and paint instead of standing, but it also means I'll probably be working smaller, which I'm not sure is the greatest idea.  It WILL get my energy back into painting, though, and that IS a good thing.  
     Here's another small one from yesterday.  It's my tulips from Trader Joes.  I love their flower selection.

Farmer's Market succulent

     I haven't painted for awhile, and feel bad about that, but last weekend the plein air event in Webster got me going again.   I'm going to do my best to keep my paints handy, and MAKE this happen !  Yesterday I was able to set up in the breakfast room, while my granddaughter napped in the studio.  I managed 2 paintings.... whew.... here is the first one.

PAINT WEBSTER event May 10

Our neighboring community sponsors an annual event for artists to paint and draw the city, it's business district, churches, wonderful old houses, etc.  There were over 150 participants in their 8th annual plein aire event.  I decided to paint this lovely home in the area, with the early morning sun casting interesting shadows on it's face.  The biggest 2 challenges for me were the hot sun shining on my back, neck and canvas, and the constantly changing arrangement of the shadows on my subject.  I had a great time and had fun seeing all the entries at the award ceremony later in the afternoon.  The collection of paintings will hang at a nearby gallery for the next week.

Baby Marigolds

Getting ready for Spring... FINALLY !   We still have weather here that's a bit out of whack, but I'm hoping for a pleasant, not too hot, spring, and summer, too !
     Time to think about shopping for new plants!  They say that rabbits don't like to nibble on marigolds, so I'm giving them a try !

Sleepwalking

     This reminds me of the middle of the night, when I can hardly make out the shapes in my own house, as I wander to the kitchen at 3:00 in the morning.   Sleeplessness is baffling, and bothersome, but not so much that I'd take a medication for it.... ever.  The moon is sometimes surprisingly bright.  Bright enough to read my book.... who knew?