If you start your day at 4:00am with an hour of Vigil. You can squeeze in a sunrise painting and a cup of coffee before chanting Lauds for 30 minutes and then attending Mass. Then you will have time for breakfast in silence and Terce in the chapel before your work day starts at 9am.
It is safe to say a spiritual retreat at Christ in The Desert Monastery is not your typical vacation.
Heading West before dawn is a good feeling.
The noon day palette I would need to paint this scene would be quite boring, but it was interesting at dawn.
Quick analogous color study. I Ike the energy of the square edges give.
Buenos días, ¿cómo amaneció usted?
Good morning, how did the sun rise upon you?
Can you consider it plein air painting, if you paint through a window? We do. My youngest and I love to greet the day before dawn, and her easel is perfectly positioned to paint the sunrise, next to an east facing window. I switched the light on to take her photo, but we painted in the dim light and quiet of dawn, she at her easel, and I, set up in the windowsill.
I painted this sunrise plein air, but I set up in a windowsill instead of outside…pastels don’t mix well with snow flurries. The snowstorm to the north erased part of the mountains as I painted.
Quick study complete, now…where are my snow shoes?
Sunrise on Bear Lake. I love the way the snow intensifies the light and colors.
Today is the last weekday I will have to savor the changing light in the mornings for a while. I love to sit with my coffee and watch the sun rise from my kitchen or back porch. Big giant pink sun peeking over the trees, and then the light show: pink, to peach, to yellow, and then to see what color blue the day will bring. Instead of savoring the light change, I painted fast this morning, for Monday will have me urging kids to stay on task and get out the door for school. Trying to capture the changing light, I was aware of how fast things change: the light of sunrise, or the growing up of kids. I am grateful that every now and then I can stop time and savor the moment.
paintandsimple 