"The Brook"- A plein air adventure in Bryan Park

Last week I took another early morning stab at painting in Bryan Park. Since I had already done a couple of plein air paintings at the park of Young's Pond, (which you can see here and here) I decided this time to tackle the shady brook that feeds it:

"The Brook" Oil on birch panel, 12x9" ©Jennifer Young

Even though everything seemed to be lining up for me when I launched into this painting, I did have a couple of unanticipated challenges. At the time I was dealing with "umbrella issues", so after hassling with it for about 10 minutes to no avail, I gave up and just tried to position myself so that my painting and palette would be shaded from the sun. Sometimes it's hard to anticipate this, but I keep a compass handy for that reason, and I figured I would have at least an hour before the sun would overtake me.

But then there was "Billy" (not his real name.) Let me preface by saying that Billy was an incredibly kind and gentle soul, and exceedingly complimentary. But Billy liked to chat. A lot. And ask lots of questions. I love meeting people, and I am always blown away by how lovely people are when I'm out painting, complimenting my work as they stop briefly to take a look. But I find it pretty much impossible to chat for extended periods and stay "in the zone" when I am painting.

At the same time,  I have yet to figure out how to express this to someone without feeling like I am being a big jerk. My husband's advice is matter-of-fact- "Tell them you are W-O-R-K-I-N-G." This seems so simple and rational until I am in a real life situation. I guess I just hate to be rude, and it feels so ungracious when someone is being so genuinely enthusiastic. But really, Dave's right. This is my work, and it's up to me to respect it and value my time, regardless of whether any one else thinks to do so.

As it was, I was a total wimp and did not tell him anything close to that--at most, merely *hinting* that, "Well, ahem! I'd better get to this thing and focus, ha-ha!" (which apparently was a bit too subtle for dear Bill). The end result was that it took me far longer than I wanted to take, and all too quickly I lost my beautiful shade.

When I got back to the studio, I had the inevitable but still unpleasant surprise of seeing a resulting painting far darker than I thought it was when I was on site, due to the sun's glare (what I call "retina burn"). I did about 20 minutes of rework from memory to lighten it up in places, and I think I've still managed to maintain the feeling of the light and the place.

The odd thing is that even though I seem more often than not to have to deal with the pitfalls (and pratfalls) of painting on location, there is still something about it that leaves some part of me feeling exhilarated. There's a clarity to it; a feeling of losing myself and being in fully the moment, even alongside the sunburn and bugs and chatterboxes. So I'll return. And hopefully next time I do so it will be with a working umbrella AND a backbone!  ;-)

Sunset on the Sound

I did bring my watercolors with me on our recent anniversary trip to Cape Hatteras, but I really didn't do much in the way of painting, save for this quick and light-hearted attempt below (done when we were sitting on the beach).  It just wasn't that kind of trip.

In fact, I even forgot to bring my camera, which is a real rarity for me! In a way it was a shame, because the B& B where we stayed had a fantastic vantage point on the sound, and provided us with some of the most beautiful sunsets we'd seen in a while. In another way, taking a real vacation to just "be", without feeling the need to work, was quite nice and very relaxing (though, believe me, there were times when the views were so compelling that the pull was strong!)

Our room had a view, so we'd sit on our balcony each evening and watch the sun set. I never tire of doing this. You can watch the setting sun from the same spot each evening and yet each time the experience is unique. It's the best show in town, and the sky seems to delight itself in its endless variations.

In the end, it's just as well that I left the camera at home, because the large majority of my amateur snapshots fail to capture the depth of color and the subtler transitions from sky to water. If not painting on the spot, the next best thing is to just sit and observe and to try and commit what I see to memory as best I can. So that's what I did. Once we got home, I painted this little watercolor from memory:

"Sunset on the Sound" Watercolor, 7x10" (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

Beynac- final (or close to it)

Back from our mini-vacation in Hatteras now, and I've finally taken the Beynac painting off of the easel to work on other things.

"Beynac", Oil on Canvas, 36x48" ©Jennifer Young

This painting shows my view prior to hiking up to the top of the village to tour the chateauat the summit. The village of Beynac would be worth a visit just because it is so storybook pretty. But it is also the home of a magnificently preserved 13th century castle where Richard the Lionheart fought, won, then loss, only to meet his death shortly thereafter. From the top of the Chateau de Beynac one can see out over the beautiful Dordogne valley in all directions. The day I paid a visit to Beynac is definitely one of my favorite and memories of my visit to this most beautiful part of France.

Away for a few

Well, the Beynac painting is kicking my butt. I wasn't happy with the treatment of the sky so I ended up scraping a good portion of it down and reworking it. Much happier now with it and the cliffs and village have developed nicely.

I'd intended to post the dramatic conclusion but Dave is whisking me away for a few days in Hatteras to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary and I ran out of time. I'm leaving the laptop at home (I'm posting this from the car with my Blackberry!) and will post the final when I return.

Beynac WIP, continued

The Beynac painting is coming along. I did snap a couple of stages during the process, though things have advanced since these pics. It was raining when I shot these, and the photos aren't color-corrected, but at least it gives an idea: Clouds and cliffs....

(this is where white paint in caluking tubes comes in really handy!)

The village and cliffs coming more into view....This one is taking me a while, but I should have the finished piece ready to post (with a better quality photo) in a day or two.

Meanwhile, last week Paul Hammond paid a visit to my studio. Paul runs a couple of interesting Richmond-centric blogs, including the All Things Richmond blog, where I've been invited to be a periodic guest on his site and occaisionally feature some of my paintings. He's kicked things off with an introductory blurb and a few photos of the studio and the surrounding gardens. Thanks Paul!