Italy.....sigh.....

My trip was wonderful...2 weeks in Italy painting and playing.........and eating.

I'm ready to look for property for sale over there...haha...that's what happens when I really enjoy myself..... I start looking at the real estate market and imagining myself in a whole new setting.

I'd have a Vespa, that's for sure......one of the oldies, painted in a pale bluish green color.  I'd make pasta and use fresh vegetables from my garden, with olive oil on top.....and I'd eat warm, fresh picked plums everyday......sigh.....

Okay, I had a great time.  The other artists I went with were sweet and funny, their spouses...sweet and fun....the artist that was teaching the workshop, great!! (Darrell Anderson....amazing artist....you should check him out)

I had a dream the night before we started painting....I was struggling with an animal......it was trying to bite me....it wanted to harm me. At the end of the struggle and dream....I escaped.  The next day, I began painting in a way that I've always wanted to paint.....loose...juicy.....with my heart, not my mind.

I love all the paintings I came home with!!  I love them!! 

I needed to go halfway across the world, be with new people in a new place to find this.

And to think, it all started this January with a daily picture calendar about Italy....too cool!!  

This was painted on the side of a small road, in Montisi, Italy......in all fairness, most of the roads are small over there.... 

I'll post some more Italy paintings soon.

Thank you for reading and looking!

Madrona Tree

Madrona Tree

12" x 16" oil

Alright....we don't have these in Alaska!  

My first morning on my trip to Bainbridge.....I'm sitting on the deck having morning coffee, and down below in the yard is this wonderful tree!  The bark is peeling....it's old and leaning out over the bank 

~ trying to get to the beach.... like the rest of us!  

When the sunshine hit this tree... the areas with the bark peeled away, glowed a beautiful shade of orange and some reds.  I knew I was going to paint this beauty! 

I found inspiration to paint everywhere I looked.

I love that about traveling....everything is so new and exciting...I want to paint it all!

Thank you for looking!

Sunset on Mt. Rainier

"Sunset on Mt. Rainier"

8" x 18" (estimated)

I'm on a trip and painting.  I have a glorious view of Mt. Rainier from my deck.

a few days ago..... the clouds moved and I saw it standing there....kinda blew my mind!  I had no idea it was there.  I was so focused on the view of Seattle from across the water.  

Sunset was minutes away.

I scrambled...got set up and then....tried to keep up... with the ever changing colors!  Right when I thought..."This is amazing!  I'm sticking with these colors and slamming it in" then the sun would inch a little further down.....and the pinks started glowing in front of me!  I switched gears...mixed the color I saw and just frosted it on over top....haha. I didn't want it to smear in and make mud.  Sometimes a girl needs a pallet knife to lay it on thick :)

I'm happy with this one.  I'm happy with this whole painting trip!  I have met the kindest people here....so giving and friendly....most feel like old friends that I've gotten back in touch with.

What a nice surprise!  And...I feel my artwork is about to change a bit.

Feels like a pivotal moment for my paintings......I've learned some things that I really needed 

from an artist here on the island, Darrell Anderson.  

(pick on his name...it will lead you to his blog and more information on him and his beautiful artwork)

I thought the plan was to come here and be alone with my thoughts...and just quietly paint.

But.... not the case.  I now know I came here to meet new friends... and feed my mind/ heart with new information for my paintings.  I love when life pulls me where I'm supposed to go.  I don't like making ALL the decisions.  Just point me in the right direction and surprise me!

Thank you for looking ....and reading, lol.

Choices....

6" x 8" oil

I was out in my studio cleaning up yesterday, and I found this painting. The painting below.....in the post before today's, I was painting a sunset on my porch.  Well, after I was done and having a cup of coffee inside my warm kitchen......the last burst of the sunset was lighting the sky on fire.  I looked out the window and it had gotten crazy beautiful!

How could I stand there and drink coffee while a gift was being presented to me?  My set up was all still sitting there......I thought I might have about 5 minutes of that color,  so I got back out there and quickly captured my impression of what I saw.

It's always a choice.  Should I enjoy the beauty in a quiet way, just look, breath...soak it into my mind.

Or.....should I climb inside the beauty...feel it....express it the best I can?  

That's a tough choice.....but I love these little moments.  I had no idea I would be asked to make the choice when my guard was down and sipping my coffee!  and that's how life is....I love it.

That day I asked the universe......"show me how to paint it!"

I'll sit and soak it in peacefully another day :)

Alaska sunset

Alaskan Sunset

6" x 6"  oil

We had a beautiful, clear day here in Anchorage, Alaska.

 I knew I wanted to try painting the sunset today, but it was pretty cold..... -5.

This sunset was happening at about 3:45. 

  

So I set up in my yard....close to the house where I could zip inside and 

warm up by my wood stove.  This was quick, but fun.  I like painting outside, maybe next time it will be warmer.

Thank you for looking!  :)

Seward Highway

11" x 14"  oil

I feel like I might have captured the light in this one, 

but still... it's probably hard to make out what it is.

But the winding highway road and the sunlit rock wall 

caught my eye.  I'd love to go back and try this one a few more times.

 I'm getting a lot of plein air painting time in this week!

Today's plein air painting.....

11" x 14"  oil 

I did some painting along Turnagain Arm, outside of Anchorage, Alaska today. 

 I'm getting happier with my outdoor painting efforts.  It's so much

different than indoor studio painting!!  I'll get it.....just keep practicing!!!

Thank you for looking!

Morning sun

14" x 8"  oil

Okay, this is painted on clear plexiglass.  My outdoor paintings have been fun to paint,

but when I bring them indoors....all the color seems to drain out of them.

An amazing plein air artist, Darrell Anderson, has been helping me out ( Thank you Darrell!!!)

  He said to "try putting a sheet of plexi-glass over the painting and paint it again...now with colors pushed bolder and use the style of whoever your painting "hero" is."

I loved doing this.  just like he had told me, the pressure of messing up is gone.......

 and I just played!

Very fun!  I'm going to try this with a bunch of my paintings!!

Darrell is an amazing artist, and he also teaches......

He lives in the Seattle area, and teaches often at the 

Winslow Art Center on Bainbridge Island!

Check out his work.....just beautiful! 

Sings with color!!

Inlet sunset

Inlet Sunset

I painted this a few nights ago....on my parents deck. 

 They have an amazing view 

and we've been having beautiful clear skies.

The sunset was great!

I gotta say....I'm really loving this painting outside thing!

I've been painting in my studio for years,

funny how I didn't think of this earlier  :)

Turnagain Arm

This is my favorite road in the world.  I've never seen anything that has 

captured my heart as much as the Seward Highway, heading down Turnagain Arm.

Mountains and ocean together, and the road hugs the edge of where the mountains meet the water. 

It's a beautiful drive.

I'm not sure if anyone else can make out what I was painting, but I loved being out there

and this is what I saw when I painted along the roadside. 

Plein air....kinda....

Plein air?  okay....does it count if I sat in my car?

I was comfy parked in the parking lot with my set-up in my lap, and supplies in the 

passenger seat :)

I'm still getting used to hauling my stuff around, but it was fun not painting in my

studio.  Kinda like a pic-nic.... food tastes better when you're outside.

I bet this painting on location thing is going to be a new favorite.  

And if you would have told me this a year ago, 

I would not have believed it!  

Funny how things change when you least expect it.

Waiting for Spring

I'm waiting for spring.

I cropped this picture when I photographed it, I'm not sure why.  There are flowering branches above my head in the painting.  This is the time of year that I absolutely crave some color.  Alaska is all snow right now, and has been for the past 5 months.

I can't wait for green.  I have been daydreaming of plein air painting for a couple months now.

I'm planning a few trips out of Alaska this spring to do some landscape painting. 

Planning can be half the fun.

Things are starting to look promising here too.  Today was sunny and in the 30's....snow is melting.

 I like it!

Being outside feels so good....so painting and being outside sounds like heaven right now.

I'll have to give it a try.  I've never tried painting outside when it's winter :)