Crazy Schedule

This past week or so I feel like I've been spinning a lot of plates much like a clown in the circus. Thankfully I haven't dropped one yet, but it has been tiring at times. The tempo started off with getting my daughter off to college for her first year out on her own. I do miss her (shhhs, don't tell her) as well as the rest of us still around at home.  We also had two trips to the emergency room along with a group show opening in Newberg. Life has been very interesting to put it mildly.

Moving my daughter into her dorm room.

A few months ago my newest gallery, ART Elements, has asked a few of their artists, who paint en plein air, if they wanted to have a plein air show. Artists Don Bishop, Romona Youngquist and Michael Orwick and I worked out in the field a lot creating beautiful works for this show as well as time put in creating larger pieces from a few of our plein air studies. The gallery put in hours of effort into the advertising (Southwest Artist and American Art Collector) as well as video clips to promote the event...and what a reception we had!  The best thing was that it looks so fabulous hanging together.

Happy artists Don Bishop, Romona Youngquist, Me, and Michael Orwick standing outside of ART Elements gallery after the opening of the show. 

We were so happy with the reception, can you see how "giddy" we are? The crowd was thick and so many wonderful compliments. You've got to check it out if you are in the area.

The reception was a full house

Each of us had a chance to talk about our art and what we did to make the show. Here is a Youtube clip of my "artist talk".

Then up bright and early at 4:45 am drive the beautiful 70 minute journey down the Gorge to Hood River to paint in the Pacific Northwest Plein Air event with 35 other juried artists. I had planned to catch the sunrise at the Hood River Marina, but my painting was a "wiper".  

Here was the awe inspiring view looking west at the marina.

Grabbed a coffee then off to the 8:30 am Artists orientation at the Gorge White House. For my next caffeine induced work, I headed a hundred yards east of the house towards the other side of the tracks to paint the Fruit Depot.

"Forgotten Rail" 14x11" Oil

Then after dinner we headed on downtown to do a bit of nocturne painting of the shop windows with the Labor Day revelers out in full force. The fun part about painting in the city is the onlookers who have never witnessed painters on the street. Perhaps it may have been their first time ever seeing such a scene. I returned home after midnight and then back out to Hood River for a second day. By now I am getting fatigued, but I still mustered up the energy to paint with a group of artists who planned a model in the flowers, much like a Sorolla or Monet kind of day. I can't say much for my piece again, because I stood in the direct sun and became pretty fatigued. I made it home after dinner hour, showered and headed straight to bed for a solid night of rest.

Tomorrow I'm headed down to Roseburg, OR to judge the Umpqua Plein Air event. I have been told it is very organized and such a picturesque place. This will be my first, of two judging opportunities planned, and I will be offering up a talk for the participants (hopefully entertaining). 

There are more plates to spin, so do stay tuned. I will mention that I have a Pastel Inside and Out workshop scheduled for September 20-22 at the Oregon Society of Artists. The focus will be on beginning to intermediate student abilities with color, mark-making, and value structures.