Jones Family Farm 'En Plein Air' for the CT Farmland Trust

It was a spectacular warm and sunny day for painting at the Jones Family Farm. This outing was organized by the CT Plein Air Painters, and the goal was artists supporting the preservation of CT's farms by creating paintings that may be purchased during the Trust huge fall event. Last year's event was very successful, and information can be seen by Googling CT Farmland Trust. The Jones family asked that artists show up only on designated days as they are a working farm. It's been a tough spring weather wise. Yesterday really was a 'work out'! We painted at Pumpkinseed Hill in the morning and at the main farm in the afternoon. I painted two watercolors. The first showed a group having a tour of the Pumpkinseed Hill farm. The view included a panorama that looks over the main farm with it's vast tree farm and winery. I want to go back and paint the piggies! Spotted piggies, with awesome personality! In the afternoon, we painted a section of the tree farm. Lots of new growth provided ample opportunity to learn about tree shapes and the huge variety of greens out there. I'm not thrilled with my second painting. But, the day was great and I was outside enjoying it.

More Rain, More Fog, etc.

The weather this week has been oddly wet and rainy. It's been good for catching up with paperwork, filing, phone calls. The lilacs picked earlier in the week made their way to the compost pile. No replacements yet. After a short tour of the yard between rainstorms, I planted some seeds sprouted on a wet paper towel in my kitchen. The vegetable garden needs to be turned over and planted. Cleaned and refilled the hummingbird feeder and it took just about one minute for hummingbird entertainment to begin.
We have a group preparing to paint out tomorrow and Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it. My paints, easel, and other necessary equipment are already in my car. Need to add big spray and a good hat.
Let the sunshine appear!

Fog, Rain, Mist, Rain and More Fog!

Enjoyed a mostly cool and rainy week in Maine. I am very grateful to the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell, Maine for the opportunity to speak, share my ppt presentation, and show paintings and sketchbooks from my month-long art residency in France. Those who gathered in the gallery that evening were very kind and generous with their enthusiasm and comments. Several signed up to paint en plein air in the Hallowell area. We'll see what we can do to get something going in the next month or so. The Maine Plein Air painters go out, usually, on Wednesdays (I was really happy to paint with them in East Boothbay on Wednesday) and the Western Maine group goes out, I think, on Saturdays. Since we all want the join up with them when we can, we will choose another day of the week for our paint out. Anyone who is interested may e-mail me and I will add their names to the list.
Most of last week was rainy, overcast, and wet. It was a challenge finding a spot to paint out with watercolors. But, I was successful going back to two locations and completing paintings I previously started. I also planted a few flowering somthings, and hope to return in a few weeks and find they are beautiful. Spent a day prepping some of the papers for future paintings. I like to thoroughly wet both sides, and lay in a transparent wash of color. I use a hair dryer to speed up the process and sometimes direct the paint into interesting patterns. Often painting on a previously tinted paper helps unify a painting. And, wetting the paper removes some of the sizing. Paintings done on a pre-washed paper have a very different look than those painted directly.
Kept up with my sketchbook most days. Hurray!! It was great fun going back over sketches (dated) from previous years and remembering the sights and weather, and reminding myself and others of great places to stop and paint. Also, had a good couple of evenings drawing ancestors from old photos! We had some awesome family gatherings, both my family and my husband's family. I'm reminded we have to make our own good times.