Bringing the Everyday to Life

I just spent the weekend in Spring City, Utah painting.  I had a great time painting and meeting new people.  I had entered the 2011 Spring City Plein Air Competition.  I painted 4 plein air paintings, sold 3 of the paintings, and received an Award of Merit.  I was very excited!  Not only did I get some good painting time, I got to meet a lot of great painters:  John Poon, Doug Freyer, David Koch, Zachary Procter, Matt Larsen, and Joseph Alleman (a fantastic watercolor artist whose work I admire).  I also got to spend some time with my friend Tom Howard, who [...]

This is my 10th painting for my Utah Plein Air Project.  I had painted this farm earlier in the summer and wanted to do another one.  The first one I did on an overcast day, but a week ago Saturday was sunny.  My husband's family owns a farm and so the idea of a family farm is close to home.  I liked the idea of a man showing his son how to keep the family farm.  Just as my father-in-law showed my husband and as my husband may show my son some day.  I intentionally kept the colors subdued except the [...]

This is my ninth painting for my Utah Plein Air Project.  I started painting at high noon, my least favorite time because it is hot and the shadows aren't very interesting.  However, I found this dark clump of trees and a single runner ran infront of the trees and the image intrigued me.  I was on the dirt road towards Mormon Flats.  This man was running in the heat of the day.  I had to admire his dedication.  The tall dark trees silhouetting the lone runner seems to emphasize his solitude.  That is also why I have an extra tall format.       [...]

I painted this painting today with some friends of mine, Gene Klatt and Jan Foust.  Gene has a great property and wonderful chickens.  I have wanted to paint her chicken's for some time.  I finally got my wish.  It is good to have simple desires because then you are more likely to succeed.  It was definitely hard to get them to sit still, especially in the hot sun.  They are not that dumb:)  But, what wonderfully delightful animals.  One chicken in particular, Rosy, kept checking on us to see what we were up to and testing our paints to see if they were eatable.   This [...]

I painted this last Saturday, it has just taken me a while to post it.  I went to Ogden Utah with some friends from the Utah Watercolor Society.  I painted in the same spot as my friend and fellow artist Tom Howard.  It was a wonderful summer day.  We were in the shade next to a painted statue of a horse.  People kept commenting on the horses involvement in our work.  Maybe he did help...    I like the main figures and the abstract shapes of the distant people in this painting.  I think the mountains and the tree got a little flat, [...]

  This is my 6th painting since starting the Utah Plein Air Painting Project.  I went back to Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake City to paint.  It was really hot, I started out in the sun...  Not very bright of me.  So, after I completed my thumbnail sketch and blocked out the shapes on my paper, I moved into the shade.  I wasn't at the same angle, but I could still see most of the scene and I had a picture in my head of what I had seen when I started.  It just goes to show that as long as you stick [...]

Last week I started a project to paint two plein air paintings per week of Utah scenes.  This week I was able to do three paintings.  To see last week paintings, go to this link here.    Sugarhouse Park 7" x 10" Watercolor   This is my third painting of my Utah project.  I was painting with my fellow watercolor friend Kristi Grussendorf.  You should check out her fabulous work (www.kristigrussendorf.com).  We met and painted at Sugerhouse Park in Salt Lake City, UT.  There were a lot of ducks and geese around the pond.  I tried to capture the fading evening light with the wonderful sparkle [...]

Timberline Evening 10" x 14" Watercolor I am starting a project.  For three months, I am going to paint on location two times per week.  My goal is produce two paintings "en plein air" per week.  I will paint some of the scenes of Utah that I love.  This week I painted right around home again.  Timberline Evening is on the frontage road of I-80 near Parley's Summit, my home.  I was driving home one day and saw this scene.  The light and the lines of the telephone poles delighted me.  A couple of days later, I convinced my husband to tend the kids.  I left [...]