Farmers Market

Went to the local Sunday Farmers Market for shopping and sketching. There were no musicians, my favorite subject, so I sketched a bit, munched on a croissant and took photos. Painted this one later of a pensive produce vendor with a pile of artichokes on a sunny day.

Lavender at Stonegate

Went to West Linn in search of more blooming lavender and found the charming and aromatic Lavender at Stonegate. Besides the fields, I painted some potted lavender with other plants and the cat peeking from behind the barrel. Both are 10"x10" on gallery wrapped canvas.

Lavender at Blue Heron Herbary

Absolutely clear blue skies and a gentle breeze surrounded me on Sauvie Island yesterday. The sounds of chickens and a playful small dog kept me company as I attempted to do the lavender garden justice. The blue herons are metal sculptures, does the painting need a bird on it?

Sun at Sauvie Island

There was sunshine and a lake overflowing trees on Sauvie Island last week. I went to meet friends who were farther down the very bumpy road but this is as far as I got, and it was a lovely place to enjoy sunshine and tranquillity. Now I'm off to find some blooming lavender for the lavender festival in Yamhill to be held July 9-10.

Rain, sun & plein air, still life

This week has been a variety of rain, sunbreaks, clouds, back & forth. So I went out Wednesday to figure draw, Heather our nude model, Hipbone was hip and inspiring as usual. Concentrated on pencil drawing line and shapes instead of painting. Thursday went to Sauvie Island and painted with fellow plein air artists on the dike overlooking a meadow which was partially flooded, trees floating above their reflections, cows grazing nearby, constant change of light and shadow reflected in the water. I focused on the bright bits of sky and warm tones in grasses. For more photos of that day, see http://behindthescenes-ppasp.blogspot.com/.

Today I brought three paintings to Lake Oswego for the annual Festival of the Arts, starts on Friday June 24 through the 26th. They are of a glacier in Alaska and the Columbia Gorge. Please come to the big tent to see the unjuried show, as well as a juried show, crafts, food and music in the park!

Today is Father's Day, and my Dad passed away many years ago yet is always part of my life and was so supportive of developing my artistic talent. So I painted a quick sketch of yellow roses from the backyard, I know he would have loved them.

Wisteria

The wisteria were blooming at my friend Marcia VanderSchaaf's Victorian house. I painted in oil outside, and later painted in acrylic from a photo taken on the inside of the shady porch. There were wicker chairs and a wooden bench where I imagined a cat napping in the comfortable shade on a sunny day.

Taco Pedaler in the Park

I went to the park downtown on a recent, rare sunny day to see fountains, sculptures, bridges across the Willamette and preparations for the Rose Festival. While photographing the famous Elk Statue, I was drawn to a taco cart. There were two pedal carts with bright yellow bicycle frames and blue umbrellas and I snapped a photo of the whole scene including one of the vendors standing in a jaunty posture with her hands in the pockets of her frayed blue jeans. Later, I decided that I liked the image of the young, jaunty taco pedaler and painted her portrait on top of my previous view of the whole scene, allowing for happy "accidents" of colors and shapes.

Update: the taco pedaler, one of two partners with authentic carts from Mexico, has been located and her parents now are the owners of this painting!