I painted this in a dizzy flurry of color, as if I had just jumped off the swing myself.
Beach Boys
This painting started as a memory: the last morning of a great week at the beach with my family. It was cold, we carried a thermos of coffee and hot chocolate down to the ocean to watch the sun rise. We walked, and sipped, and enjoyed the cool sand beneath our feet. I love the way my boys often lean into each other when they walk.
Of course, like any good Labradors, or my children in this case, they did not stay out of the water. I packed up this memory with the kids wet and sandy sweatshirts and pajamas. Now months later, my memory finally found its way to my easel (fortunately my husband is better at unpacking than I am, he dealt with the wet clothes the midnight we came home).
Prickly Pear
Prickly Pear Cactus
Prickly pear cactus,
Yellow blossoms in the wild.
Beauty, shelter, food.
Haiku by Juan Olivarez
Garden Squash
After painting these beauties…we enjoyed them for dinner, I cooked them using Dorie Greenspan’s recipe from her cookbook, “Around My French Table”: Pumpkin Stuffed with everything good
This short NPR interview with Dorie will inspire you to cook this recipe too!
Black-eyed Susan
Black-eyed Susan
Who is this, so tall and slender
Like a graceful maiden fair,
By the roadside in the sunshine
With her locks of yellow hair?
See you how she leans and listens
To the west wind wand’ring by
As the sun god calls and woos her
Stands the bashful maiden shy?
Must I tell you in her splendor
Her quaint old-fashioned name?
Would you know her when you meet her
With her tawny yellow mane?
Arthur Bernstein (May 9,1953 / New York, New York)
Texas, in shades of lavender and green
Who brought a book and a blanket?
Sunrise 7:26am
I love how the sun waits to rise until my kids have gotten on the bus this time of year, it makes plein air painting much easier.
Sunset 6:59pm
Dim the lights and add a little color, and ever suburbia looks beautiful, I especially like the elegant swoop of the power lines.
Painting While Waiting
I remember a few years ago my husband made a comment that changed my life. He observed that everyone wanted more time, but not the time they had. I asked him to clarify. He said “everyone wants more time right?” I was with him so far…then he added “but people are constantly given little pieces of time that they don’t want.” That seemed crazy to me. He clarified…” For example people are irritated if they have to wait on an elevator, or in traffic.”
He told me that he had started to recognize these little gifts of time in his own life. It is great to have such a wise husband.
Many days I do my painting while I am waiting…at ballet class, or voice lessons, or guitar lessons, or cross country practice, or at the finish line of an ultra marathon race. I keep a small bag packed, with little pieces of paper, reference photos, and a small box of pastels…and 20 minutes of waiting becomes a delightful little gift.
Here I am, painting while waiting for my husband and sons to finish a race, fortunately for me, they prefer to run trails, and it is often somewhere lovely to do a plein air study.
Norbuck – late afternoon
Perfect place to spend an afternoon. Who is up for a short trail run?
paintandsimple 