paintandsimple

My dear husband invited me to do the 16 mile Vicksburg battlefield before the park opened this morning. We arrived, and had the place to ourselves at 5:45am. When I say it was dark, it is an understatement. I was planning on riding the loop on a bike, and paint the sunrise – he ran. I guessed that I would know I was off the road when I felt the surface change to grass beneath my tires. I rode the beautiful hills in the black, and slowly let dawn creep in. I of course was on the look out for ghosts, Matthew spotted coyotes and deer. When I reached the Illinois monument, I climbed the steps and got out my paint box. The sunrise was spectacular, and the silence and history, powerful.

My steps:

10″x8″ oil on panel

It wasn’t a great view by day, but by sunset this parking lot was breathtaking.

I had ambitious plans to bring home a dozen paintings from this trip. I had slots for 12 wet paintings, and by George I intended to fill them! My last morning I rose in the dark to pack (for a few minutes). I had a very wise professor tell me in college “everything takes longer than you think”. As often as I repeat that phrase I often refuse to remember the lesson. I didn’t really have time to paint this, but as mothers with young children often do, I stretched time (and painted fast). It was a fun challenge to be painting number 12, and also use up all the leftover greys I had mixed during my week of painting.

Time granted me a nick of itself, and this painting turned out to be one of my favorites from my week.

I hiked the Mesa this morning to paint the sunrise, and as I was looking down into my summer home, I searched for something more tangible than a memory that I could see. The tents and bikes have all been taken home for the season, but I could barely see Dale and Olive’s camper peeking out in the lower right. They have gifted the Ranch with their art instruction for many, many years, this fall will they will teach their last class. I wonder if this is the last time I will see their camper parked here.

I was shocked to learn Dale is 85, I would have guessed 20 years younger. May we all be so involved in our lives that our activities forget to slow down as our years increase.

I love a limited palette, and a complimentary color palette just delights me. Nature provided a beautiful one here.

The yellow of fall continues to impress me. The Chamisa bloomed right before the cotton woods changed color, so I missed most of them. I found this late bloomer and captured it!

As I painted this, I could almost see my kids splashing down the Arollo, like ghosts left from summer.

After getting up to paint the sunrise (28•), I felt like a lizard warming myself in mid morning sun.