Plein Air Summer

This Summer I decided to try hosting Plein Air painting/drawing sessions here at Stonewood Gardens.  It was a lot of work getting things in order to have folks out who wished to spend a day of creative adventure in the wilds of Damascus.  Well, parts of our area are still wild, and the development of this area has been pretty well thought out.  There are concessions made for greenspaces and pedestrian trails, small village centers and transportation.  There have been many meetings and much discussion, but also many codes and rules -- not very rural like, more like a  home owner's association, not the best for the transition of rural to urban. 

As you can see the studio sits at the top of a flower field.  Several acres of dahlias, zinnias, sunflowers and many others grace us with a beautiful array of color and texture.  For me, a painter's dream, the view is not bad either -- with about  180 degree view of the western hillsides and in the farthest hazy distance, the Oregon coast range.  We are so lucky to see this view every day.  So, I invited a few friends to share and paint along with me.  Summers are a busy time but a few painters came out to enjoy the opportunity to turn away from the hectic world and enjoy the peaceful aura of this place.

It has been wonderful to have the time off from my regular teaching job to be able to do this.  Springtime was hectic along with some difficulties with a physical ailment which was spurned along by the hectivity --and unfortunately the pocketbook collection had to be put aside.  Teaching, plus a solo show, plus family -- well, something had to give -- my sincere apologies to my subscribers.  After I correct the last foible with these prints -- more about this story in another post. I will make the correction, and post the new prints for July, August and September.

For now, here are some of the photos of the Plein Air sessions so far.  Did I mention that we are on a windy hill top, I am looking into a windmill for power.  Here is what happened to the awning:  I had already removed the top and then thought to take a photo -- it looked like an upside down green and white spider when I came up on it -- the table and chair were also flipped over -- this happens up here.  I think it's a great place for a windmill.  The van in the background belongs to the flower growers, on Friday evenings they fill buckets of flowers for the Farmer's Markets, beautiful!