WILLAMETTE CUMULUS

Willamette Cumulus, 12 x 16 oil

It is the first day of the Lake Oswego Chronicle paintout.  Several artists have beat me to the river in George Rogers' Park, but I think I have timed it just right.  The heavy morning cloud cover is breaking up, and some brighter light reflects off the river.  The spring greens are just about to turn into summer.  A great day to be outdoors.

CHARTIERS VALLEY FALL

Chartiers Valley Fall, 9 x 12 oil

September 2013
Clouds have moved in over southwestern Pennsylvania, where I am visiting my mother.  And though there are still bits of blue peeking through the lowering veil, rain is on its way.  A bit of blue sky appears, and I paint it in.  Then the clouds darken, and I finish just before the rain begins.

CLOUDS

White Cloud Patterns

I have finished painting a coastal pine against the sea.  It's getting windier and I have brought my umbrella down to the ground to keep it from catching the gusts.  Lying back on my mat, I notice the clouds moving overhead.  They move, not as discrete objects, but pour like a viscous fluid in the medium of the sky, deforming around the edges, reforming at the back. To paint this pattern, I must move my brush as the clouds move.

SWIRLING CLOUDS AND MT HOOD

Swirling Clouds and Mt Hood
More about this painting

I am painting at the Gorge Crest Vinyard in Washington, with hordes of other painters in the Pacific Northwest Plein Air 2011.  The vinyard has an expansive lawn, bordered by tall Douglas-firs, highlighting this view of Mt. Hood.  It is a sunny day, but we can see hints of weather to come.  The mountain collects weather around its skirts like small children wanting to dance and play.

VALLEY SPRING

I am delivering a painting to Eugene for THE LIVING RIVER, a juried show to benefit the McKenzie River Trust. Different rivers down here, and I ought to be able to find a spot along the McKenzie River to paint. The threatened rain clouds are breaking up, presenting me with lovely, varied clouds to paint. I deliver my painting, then miss the riverside exit somehow. So I stop in the lower Willamette valley. The clouds are warm, billowy, ever-changing. I would be content painting just the clouds. Almost reluctantly, I balance the sky masses with a group of trees, and add some of the spring almost-greenery. A nice change of scene from my usual haunts, and a nice way to break up the drive.

SUN CURTAIN

This painting is relatively high key, whether it looks like that on a monitor or not. I have the most difficulty with my photos when I look at them on my laptop. This is when they look least like themselves.

OPEN STUDIO FAVORITE

CLOUD ROUNDUP

This started out as a class demo, during which I painted the clouds and the trees against the sky. Having painted several times in the late afternoon at the boat launch, I used my color memory to enrich this painting, inspired by photos of a highly mobile cloud bank I caught one afternoon.