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Sometimes I just have fun playing with paint.

I used two different photo references from a trip I took aboard a 50 foot sailboat to the British Virgin Islands (The BVI) to create the sketch for this painting.   My daughter and I had soooooooo much fun on this trip!!!  It was exotic, exciting and beautiful.   It was one of those memories that will never fade.

I find that I enjoy working with a palette knife.  I suppose the more I do it, the better I'll get!  As I was creating this colorful scene, I thought it might look as exotic as the place that inspired it.

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

I guess it's time to look back at the goals I set last year and see how I did.   I've been avoiding this, because I suspect I didn't meet many of them.... but here goes:

• Increase my painting skills though continual daily painting.
  Okay....  I think I did well with this one.   I did paint ALMOST every day and I do think my skills have improved.   Of course I will always hope to improve, and there are a variety ways of evaluating this... but for now, I'd say this goal has been met.   (YAY)
  
• Study regularly with a high level plein air and studio artist so that I regularly can take plein air studies to make larger, studio pieces.
  Ha!  ...  Met this one too.   So far, so good.   I studied with David Gallup for most of the year.  I took some time off toward the end of the year, but plan to return to his regular classes in the new year.   (Check)
  
• Paint en plein air AT LEAST three times a month.
  Yep!!..   Another one met... With pleasure and joy!
  
• Sketch or draw at least weekly.
  Oops...  Not weekly... maybe monthly... if you're just talking about sketching and drawing and not counting the sketches to get ready to paint.  :o(
  
• Continue exhibiting in "La Galeria Gitana" and seek other appropriate venues to exhibit my work.
  Met...  but I really need to work on this one.  The themes for La Galeria Gitana aren't ones I think I'd like to work at so I'll need to seek another regular venue.../ gallery.
  
• Show in appropriate venues that will enable me to expand my collector base.
  Also met.   I've gained quite a few new collectors this year and they were mostly sold from galleries and new venues.
  
• Sell 50% more paintings (and make more $) than in 2010.
  NOPE... not met.   I made approximately the same $$ that I did in 2010.   I'll have to evaluate this one a bit more.   Not sure if it's my work, the economy or "just because".

I guess I didn't do as badly as I had feared.   Of course there is still lots of room for growth.   I've read several blog posts from artists and other experts on marketing and on evaluating and setting goals so I'll look through those and use them to help set goals for 2012.

I hope your 2012 is filled with joyous occasions and satisfaction!!

This plein air nocturne was so much fun to paint!!

When David Gallup planned our Channel Islands Adventure each year, he checked to see when we would have full moons.  This September, however, the weather wasn't cooperating.  We had lots of clouds and some fog.  

But on one spectacular night we saw what I thought of as a harvest moon.   The moon peeked through the layers of clouds and each time I looked up from my palette it changed.   I was pretty much just trying to get the canvas covered with my impression of the moonrise before it changed too dramatically.

Isn't this a silly picture? Painting nocturnes really brings out the "weird" element I think.

~~~I hope each of you has a wonderful 2012~~~

Twenty-seven painters and adventurers were aboard the Conception last September.   Each of us was having a wonderful experience that I doubt any of us will forget.

We pulled up to the beautiful Arch Rock off of Santa Cruz Island.   It is an absolutely GORGEOUS area!   Last year after returning from the Channel Islands trip, I painted a nice large painting of Arch Rock which I titled

"Channel Islands Awe".   

	Photo of critique session courtesy of Dorene White

This time when I arrived at Arch Rock, I decided to paint the arch NEXT to Arch Rock.   Most of the other painters did lovely paintings of Arch Rock.

On the way home, David Gallup, who was leading this adventure, took some time and critiqued most of our work.   I enjoyed hearing about how my work and that of others can be made better.   This 9x12 inch plein air was one of David Gallup's favorites during our critique session.  He liked the composition.  I guess we all have our favorites among our own work but we sure can learn from other's opinions too.

You Never Know
You may remember that I went to the Channel Islands back in September with David Gallup and a group of artists.  We all had a wonderful time and I painted many studies during the trip and several studio pieces afterwards.   I posted and talked about the trip so much that I figured everyone who reads this blog had grown tired of it.   I never posted the last three plein air pieces from the trip.

Lately I've been really busy painting some more complicated pieces.   Once again I'm trying to paint for a show.  All painting... nothing finished enough to post and no blog posts.   I guess I need to catch up.

The good news is that three of the last shows my work has been in have sold my paintings!!!   What a thrill!

	From the kayak

A Surprise
Then the other night, a wonderful follower from the internet told me she wanted to buy one of my Channel Island plein air paintings.    She wanted it as a gift for her husband.  She hasn't even been the the Channel Islands,  but maybe she will one day.   I hope so... just so she can see them in person!   It's a place that should not be missed.

You just never know.   I was figuring that no one was really interested in even seeing any more of my Channel Island plein airs.  Now that someone seems to have been interested enough to purchase one, I decided that just to finish up posting the series.   I will post the last three before I post any of my current work.

For this little painting, we were anchored off the largest Island of the Channel Islands, Santa Cruz Island.   We were either at Twin Harbor or Platts Harbor (I can't remember which).   Most of us who were on the ship had gone out on a kayak to paint.  Having done it once before, I decided to try paddling out to paint once again.   I found my spot.  I was trying to capture the beautiful shadow and light pattern on the sides of the cliff in the inlet.

I had a great time.  This time I had more trouble because the kelp bed I "parked" in wasn't very thick and the strands kept letting my kayak drift away.   I had to keep paddling back to my spot and trying to re-attach.  However, I didn't lose my camera overboard and I was able to paint a little study.

It was a beautiful way to spend the morning!

One of the many wonderful things I enjoy about plein air painting is when I get to discover a beautiful new hidden corner of my world. 

On Facebook, your birthday is announced and all of your FB friends tend to send you well wishes.   Many of them suggested that I spend my day doing what I love best and I sure did!!!

I went out painting... I decided to paint with the San Gabriel group called "Thursdays En Plein Air". It is led by Brenda Swenson and Walter McNall. Last Thursday, on my birthday, I painted at E. Ward Ranch in Sierra Madre.   There is an orange / citrus grove right in the middle of a residential neighborhood with barns and equipment all ready for creating delicious jams and preserves from the harvest.   I almost drove right on past it ... thank goodness for GPS!   

I rarely paint with this group because the locations are usually pretty far for me to drive but all of my usual painting buddies were either

	Critique Time

layed-up or out of town so I joined them and had an absolutely WONDERFUL day!!  I saw many painting friends and talked with some new ones.    I continue to challenge myself to select and compose a scene which isn't "ordinary".   That's a pretty tall order ... I know all of it has been painted before, but one more postcard landscape is something I'm trying to avoid.

Walter and Brenda always do a critique session during lunch so we all learned something... always a good thing>>>>> AND... I didn't embarrass myself.

A GREAT Great day.... Thanks to all of you who encourage and support my love for the outdoors and for painting!

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As a gift, my girlfriend, Beverly, sent her son, Aaron, to a winter photography workshop in Yosemite National Park.  Photography is one of his passions and he is very good at it.  He took many, many excellent photos.
He captures beauty often and has been generous with sharing his work with me. 

Since  here in SoCal I rarely get a chance to even get close to snow, and I wanted to paint a snow scene, I decided to use one of Aaron's photographs on which to base my painting.  Happily he gave me permission.   It was difficult trying to decide which snowy scene to choose as a reference, but I thought this one might be nice and would be appropriate for the season.

One of these days -- perhaps this winter -- I'm actually going to try to go out and paint a snowy scene en plein air.  Hopefully my SoCal blood isn't too thin!!!

Many thanks to Aaron Dahlstedt whose original photograph inspired my experiment with painting winter and snow.

Enjoy

Last summer my husband and I were visiting down in Venice Beach.... Santa Monica, CA.   In the years before and after I first met my husband, Gastone, in Venice Italy, I was living in Venice, California.   We laughed because I traveled from one Venice to meet him in another.  We met in the summer in Venice and then the winter after we met he flew out to California.   He met my parents and proposed.   We were married the next summer in Venice....  The Italian Venice.  Many a time that winter we walked the beach at sunset.  

On this day last summer, we did it again.   It was dream-like.

I decided I would use one of the photos I had taken to try to capture that "California feeling".   I sort of painted it in layers.  I put in the background sky and mountains, sea and sand and used a red as a "background ground" for where I was planning to put the palms.  After the background was mostly dry, I used a palette knife for the palms and a credit card edge to put in the volley ball net.

Right now our California weather, while certainly not nearly as harsh as in many states, isn't all that idyllic.   It's cold and VERY windy.   It doesn't lend much to painting outdoors...  I could maybe deal with the cold... but the winds have been brutal.   The nearby San Gabriel Valley was practically blown and torn apart by the recent winds.  Hopefully all the repairs will be made soon... trees chopped up and removed, power restored and buildings repaired. 

In the meantime I'll paint sunsets and palms from my warm upstairs studio.    Hmmmm... Maybe I should have titled this one, "California Dreamin'".   What do you think?

"In The High Sierra" - Jack Wilkinson Smith Private Collection Courtesy of the Irvine Museum

Each time I take classes from wonderful artists and teachers they inspire me not just because of their skills and knowledge but because they share the work of other artists.

I not only get to hear what my teacher thinks are important points about line, composition, color, style, brushwork, etc.  but I can see how different artists have applied those points in their own work.

Those of you who have followed my blog, know that painting rocks has always been difficult for me.  In my last post I featured a recent painting I had done to study what rushing water looks like, but there were also lots of rocks.

After I had finished most of it, I decided to look to the masters.   I have MANY art books, but one of my more recent purchases is called "California Light - A Century of Landscapes:  Paintings of the California Art Club".   The book was written and edited by Jean Stern and Molly Siple.  It is a beautiful book filled with inspiring stories and beautiful colored plates of the work of some of California's most wonderful landscape painters --- from the past and also present day masters.

	Cascade

I was stopped in my tracks by this painting called "In the High Sierra" by Jack Wilkinson Smith (1873-1949).   Just look at the beautiful color of the rocks and of the rushing water.  

California Light

I know that my "Cascade" doesn't compare, but I will continue to use examples from the masters as I work on developing my skills and my ability to capture the color and the light and the composition as well as Smith did.

If you're interested in a beautiful gift for the holidays, you should consider purchasing, "California Light" for anyone who loves art or just enjoys lovely landscape scenery.  

It is available from the California Art Club or from Amazon.

California Light: A Century of Landscapes

Published for the California Art Club's Centennial, this beautiful 278-page book features the artwork and history of the CAC.

If you haven't done so already, please feel free to sign up for my free email Newsletter.    Additionally, if you know hikers, campers, fishermen or other people who enjoy the outdoors and scenes of beautiful spots around the state, send them a link to the newsletter.  

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