Zinnias

I went back to the Tuckahoe Plantation yesterday to paint the zinnia garden. They've got these wonderful rows of zinnias planted in the same spot every year, and I was happy to see that they were keeping up the tradition when I was there the other day.  I'm getting hooked on the square format canvas, but I'll have to stop soon because I'm running out of square frames! This is another 12x12". People wanted to chat yesterday so I still have to finish the crepe myrtles and add a few more touches elsewhere. I had to wrap it up though, as the sun was getting too high and hot towards the end and I was losing all of my lovely shade:

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Plein air in the garden

Yesterday I went out to the Tuckahoe Plantation here in Richmond for some morning plein air painting. Once one of the boyhood homes of Thomas Jefferson, the plantation is now a private residence. Visitors can visit the gardens for a small fee. While the grounds aren't large, they provide hundreds of  possibilities for paintings. 

 It was a fun morning. The only glitch was that once I got going I saw that I had exactly three paper towels! I use paper towels to constantly wipe my brushes off and keep my strokes full of clean color. Having only 3 tissues was....interesting. I think by the end of the session I had more paint on me than on the canvas!

Here is my painting as it appears after my morning plein air session, with no revisions. I will call it "Summer Roses". It measures 12x12", oil on canvas. I will probably go in with a touch or two here and there, but I like the freshness of this little piece, so I won't want to change it too much.

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Postcards from the Southernmost Point

Well, we're back from our Key West trip now and I am getting my bearings again--getting acclimated to waking up to 30 degree mornings again. However, the daffodils are blooming in Richmond, and so we have the promise of spring. In a few more weeks all will be abloom here, so I think I can sustain myself with some Key West memories until then. ;-) The trip was so inspiring and so much fun! I took about 800 pictures and spent my days exploring the island on bicycle with Dave, stopping often to photograph and sketch. I didn't get on the Internet as much as I thought I would, so not much opportunity to blog. But that is okay...I had to make the most of the time I had there, which was much too brief in my opinion (though I can hardly complain!)

Here are a couple of sketches I did on my trip. Along with my photos, the sketches will act as "memory triggers" for larger oil paintings I look forward to creating. This first "postcard" is a view of the courtyard and some of the beautiful gardens in our hotel. Just a quick pen and ink sketch embellished with watercolors:

This next image is a scene I painted in one of the little hidden residential alleys in Old Town, Key West. I visited this alley a couple of times and was drawn to this little scene. The structure looked like a little garden shed but it was maintained so prettily with flowers and tropical foliage. As it turned out this building was actually an artist's studio. No wonder I was attracted to it! I met the artist/owner who was kind enough to show me inside. She is a nice retired lady who lives next door and paints for her own enjoyment, mostly outside on the patio adjacent to this little studio. Don't let the modest exterior fool you...it was a wonderful space! This is a 6x8" pen and ink/watercolor on approximately 7x9" watercolor paper:

 

I will be working on a couple of commissions immediately upon returning home, but be looking for some new Key West oil paintings on my website in the near future!

To see my oil paintings of Key West, click here.