Fun Little Square Paintings

Three fun little square paintings that I painted with two friends. Jeanie, Lynda and I had our own little workshop at Lynda's house.  We all got a few good little paintings. 

Goshen Arkansas is beautiful today

Fall is such a wonderful time to paint outside.  Today, the local Wednesday outdoor painting group was near Goshen, Ar.  One of our members has an antique log cabin, and I painted  in the front yard of her cabin, looking back toward the highway.  The leaves were wonderful today, and we had just enough sun, and a little too much wind.  About three times my umbrella took off, and I had to run after it.  That would have been a funny video.  Bob has rigged up a way for me to attach an umbrella to a leg of my easel, I thought it was vented enough, but not enough for today.  The group of about 14 people enjoyed lunch in the log cabin in front  of the fireplace. The paint was done in about 1 ½ hours and is an 8x10. 

Trees and the Red Mountains

The bright yellow trees against the purple mtn. was fantastic to paint.  When I was really looking at it that morning  the dark color behind the trees almost looked black. This was our first day at Ghost Ranch, under a large tree, in front of the main check in lodge, and trading post.  A large field was in front of us, and a poor horse with a terrible sway back was just grazing around the pasture.  Everyone in the class just jumped in and started to paint, the bright colors that were in front of us.  Ann Templeton did a demo after lunch, she has a light touch, doesn't use any white until the last finishing stage of the painting.  As I look at this painting now, it could use a few changes, but I like to just leave them alone once I get home.  The fast work you do outside isn't always perfect, but it is fun.  If you keep going back into the painting, you might as well just stay home and paint in the studio, and make it perfect. This was a fun girl trip, and we all had to fly into Santa Fe with all the equipment for a week of painting outside.  It takes alot of planning to get the right equipment, paints, easels and umbrellas into your suitcase.  Because we are oil painting, we get the paint all over us.  Old clothes and comfortable shoes are a must, it is just about painting and you forget everything else in the world.  Ok, I did take a little radio, I had to know what was going on in the real world. 

Big Mountains, small painting

This is some big famous mountain, that you see from everywhere at Ghost Ranch, but I can't remember the name of the mountain.   When painting outside it is nice to do small paintings so that you get finished in just a few hours, as the sun is always changing.  This is a 8x10 that I did one afternoon, and it was a new experience for me to paint red/purple mountains. 

Ghost Ranch the Mesa area with new lodging

From the road leading up to the main buildings at Ghost Ranch, this is the view of the building where we stayed.  We were up on a mesa, in front of the large bluffs.  Our lodging was the roof tops to the right.

Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

This painting was done in early October, 2010 at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico.  This is my favorite painting from the week.  The class painted on and around the ranch for a week.  Each night after dinner we would have a class with the teacher, Ann Templeton and she would discuss our days work.  This site is the Chama River which runs beside the 13 mile road that goes to the Chapel that the local Monks have built.  They live and work at the chapel, which is really out in the middle of nowhere.  Oh wait, the Ghost Ranch is out in the middle of nowhere, it was like being at an adult summer camp, and it was fun to visit with everyone else in the class.

Building plus old gas pump, hidden on the long driveway into Big Cedar

Friday morning, I decided to paint the old building and gas pump along the entrance to Big Cedar Lodge.  Although it was morning, it seemed to me the light would be more interesting as afternoon sun.  The week before the paint out I did take some pictures of the building with afternoon sun, which helped me with the shadows.  The old red gas pump, that is rusted was much better in the sunlight than the shade.  When painting outside it is all about the shadows.  Well come to think of it, it seems all painting of still life as well as landscape need shadows to make them interesting.  The fun part of being on the entrance to the resort is that I got to talk to alot of people driving within inches of me.  If they had a Razorback of anytype on their cars, I would give them a thumbs up, and they would stop and we talked about the upcoming football game the next day.  Many people wanted directions, they didn't know they were just on the entrance road, I guess they thought they were lost in the Ozarks. 

Truman House, afternoon view



Afternoon light on the right side of the Truman House at Big Cedar.
Painted on Thursday afternoon, while standing under a big cedar tree.
This is the view from a campfire where they roasted marshmallows later
that evening, and the kids were loving it.



Big Cedar Paint Out, Branson, Mo. October 2010

Truman House, is the cute little building, that we love to have lunch on the patio.  This painting was done on the 1st day of the paint out, Thursday morning.  My sister, Cathy came up to lunch with me, and the weather was perfect for outdoor painting.