Smith Rock

 This is a studio alla prima painting 6" x 12" "High Desert Golden Shades" from a photo at Smith Rock.

At the Smith Rock Paint Out, "Desert Shades" on my easel.  We had between 8 am and 1 pm to complete and present framed paintings.  All the views were beautiful and the weather perfect!

 "Desert Shades" after studio work.  The rock perched against distant Cascade mountains is called "Snoopy"!

"Towers Meet Sky" 6" x 12", my second plein air painting on June 21, was selected by judges from the High Desert Art League to be included in the exhibit at Roberts Field, Redmond Municipal Airport, through August 20.  Central Oregon High Desert rocks!

Plein Air

Last week went to a ranch in Mulino where my friend Renita boards her horse.  She rode while I painted next to a couple of horses grazing just on the other side of a fence.  My subject was the neighbor's old red barn.  Cows were seen in the distance.  Dogs napped in the sunshine, all very peaceful.  

Plein air

The coast is less than 100 miles from Portland but seems like another world, so I don't go often enough. Last week  went to Nehalem Bay State Park, my first time there, a beautiful, quiet place with twisted driftwood, blooming yellow Scotch broom, a deer hidden behind trees.  There was a stiff wind that blew my easel over three times before I even got set up, so I painted holding on with my left hand! I finished one 9" x 12" plein air there without dropping it in the sand, later painted another 10" x 10" view in my studio.