Day 151 El Noa Noa

I painted this morning with PAAC on Santa Fe in the arts district. This Mexican restaurant caught my eye. I liked the light on the umbrellas, the trees, the sign, the wrought iron ... and there I went trying to paint way too many things and jumping around from one side to the other. Then they opened a doorway and the shadows changed completely in 1 1/2 hours. This is not easy at all. I decided to just enjoy the process today though, and I did.

El Noa Noa
9x12 pastel

Day 150 The Color of Trees

Spring is here and I've been looking at trees a lot lately. You might think summer but I have been snowed and hailed on 3 times this weekend. I love aspen and have spent hours looking at them in the fall, but never, ever paid attention to them in the spring. The leaves are so bright, hard to describe the green color, "spring green" perhaps? Then I look at the pine trees next to the aspen and the green has so much deep blue in it, it looks teal. I'm sure I will struggle with "green" all summer. So after yesterday's struggle I took the easy way out and just put every color I see in this painting of trees.

The Color of Trees
Acrylic 16x20
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Day 149 Spring Aspen at Shoreline

Today was a perfect day. Almost. I packed up the pastels, hiking boots, snacks and music. We got out the boat and headed to the far end of Lake Granby. I found a spot along the shoreline to paint. The trees, the water, the mountains ... which do I paint? The aspen trees won because of their vibrant spring green leaves. It was beautiful, serene. On to my second painting location. Then driving back the boat died. Completely.
In the middle of the lake miles from the dock. Miles.
Hello stranger #1 for towing us slowly back. Thank you. There was an extra battery, a motor that wouldn't raise, hail rolling through and 3 more sets of strangers trying to help. A couple hours after it started we finally got the boat on the trailer and home. My straw poll determined that the percentage of strangers willing to help was upwards of 80%. Yay, mankind. Turn off the TV, never talk politics and you'll see again that people are just people. So it was almost a perfect day, the boat is still dead after all.

Spring Aspen at Shoreline
9x12 pastel
sold

Day 148 The Color of Wheat

This was painted from a photo my son sent me today. He sent several pictures that he took while traveling through Iowa and Minnesota. I always appreciate it when he sends me photo references.

As I flipped through the pictures on my phone, he explained that this picture showed a wheat field, with a corn field and grass. I may have asked a stupid question like "which part is the wheat" but only because I was painting while talking on the phone and barely paying attention. Go ahead and laugh. He kindly explained the color of wheat with minimal disdain. It's like texting and driving, just don't do it - as they both need your complete attention. So, I think I can see what section the wheat is growing in now and hope you can too.

The Color of Wheat

acrylic 6x6
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Day 147 French Mini

This small pastel was done in France in 2012. It was raining out and I was itching to paint, so I sat down with my pastels and looked out the window of our hotel. It was a very tiny window, no screen with a clear view, and I was careful to not get pastel dust on the rug. I love the stone buildings on the hillsides with their terra cotta roofs. Then, I tucked the painting away for a few years. I did some cropping (it was initially 11x14ish) and now I like the composition much more. If a composition isn't working I'm glad I can change it by picking out a section that I like and creating a mini painting.

French Mini
9x9 pastel
sold

Day 146 Wheels After All

So, I did this pastel a while back. I wanted to paint something for my son since I had painted something while thinking of my daughter the day before.
Here is the funny thing. I started out drawing the wheels (tires?) from my son's bike. Then all those circles turned into flowers. But really, it's wheels. Is my love of flowers taking over everything? So next time you look at art, and you aren't sure you know what it is - it might be something else after all.

Wheels After All
16x18 pastel

Day 145 Movement and Color

I know I'm still behind a day. I almost didn't post tonight because it was such a busy day but then I'd be behind 2 days. Then I'm afraid December would come along and I'll have lost a week or 10 days?So ... here is an abstract I've been working on. It's a study in movement and color. My abstracts are starting to take longer (hard to finish in a day) and are starting to have more layers to them. This one will get done, it might become Day 160 or Day 170 - who knows. Meanwhile, I spent all morning looking at art (150+ pieces to be exact from Memories in the Making artists and professional pairings) so I'm still meeting my goal of having an Art Filled Life. So far it's working well.

Movement and Color
24x24 acrylic