Afternoon Adagio, 20x16"

It is with great anticipation that I post this new piece "Afternoon Adagio. You see, I will be sending this piece off to Atlanta for the Olmsted Plein Air Invitational. It is a rather new event located in Atlanta, GA. and boasts a large following in a very short period. I will be 1 of thirty plein air artists that will gather from across the US to paint for Olmsted, and as part of the event we are required to send in a piece for the Collector's Preview Gallery. I am so excited to be a part of it! Since the weather has brought us snow I kept inside my studio and created something warm and summery.

The Collector's Preview Exhibit will be at The Booth Wester Museum in the Bergman Gallery, during the month of March, 2017.

Modifying an Open Box M for Simplicity

I don't know about you, but when I go out to paint on location I am all about putting paint down as soon as possible. When a scene calls out to be painted, setting up your gear needs to be quick and streamline. When equipment has more that 4 steps to setting up, it gets nerve-racking. This could include setting up the tripod and attaching the box to a tripod, squeezing out the pigment, and setting out the brushes and turp, The sun is your clock in plein air, and so a simple and speedy set-up is important. 

Many plein air boxes on the market are clam-shell design, and in my opinion are the most efficient type of pochade box available. The clam shell box I like most is the bomb proof Open Box M. I love it's simple design, but over the years have despised it's fussy hinge system that seems to get caught up in my backpack, and it takes 6 wingnut twists to adjust into position. If I could eliminate 6 twists down to a one-knobbed twist, then I could eliminate a bit of fussiness and frustration as well as a quicker set up. It may seem nerdy to have to go through the trouble of changing out the hinge system, but I am all about simplification here.  

Here is what I did to ease the set up of my already well used box:

The Open Box M with the hinge system. Each side has 3 wing nuts to adjust.  As you can see, the wing nuts stick out on the sides of the box and they often get caught up onto other equipment.

All the fussy hardware was impractical, so I removed the hardware and replaced with the two piece system that I picked up from Judson's. 

Guerrilla Painter Replacement Lid Bracket for 102 Series Boxes can be found in the Do It Yourself section HERE. Measures 3 1/2" long, 7/8" wide, 1/4" thick.

Your local hardware store can help if you don't have the tools or the know-how with woodworking and set-up. Most times I have found that the guys in the hardware store love problem solving and this one proved to have a few challenging sessions. One of the challenges was to allow room for the black knob to clear the glass on the inside of the wood wall.  In order to do that, we had to completely replace the old glass mixing surface and install a new piece with a cut-out clearance area for the knob. Use a dremmel tool to cut a notch out for the knob. Finally, we attached the hinge system and now it opens and closes with just one twist.

Have you ever adapted or streamlined your equipment to aid in your production? If so, please share.

Cattails, 14x14

"Cattails" 14x14" Oil on canvas panel (plein air)

Brrrrr. It's winter alright. Here in Oregon we are being treated to the coldest temps in a long time. Makes me wish for the heat of summer, but I think I'd even settle for mild temps of Fall. I painted this scene last October at the edge of a swampy wetland on the property of a horse stable. I went there to paint horses, but came home with a cattail painting.  Subtle greys, inspired with a hint of warm and cool colors.

Winterglow, 9x12

"Winterglow" 9x12" Oil

Winter. Well I tell you, it is either cold outside or raining. Take your pick, Oregon has some crappy weather in the winter for plein air artists. However, if you can find your way outside while the rain stops or the sun shines, then by all means take that opportunity to paint. We recently had a dumping of fresh snow up at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and the snow reports have been nothing short of "perfect".  So my family and I went up for a snow day. They get to ski, and I get to paint, and it was my first time painting in the snow. 

Plein air setup with a sun-shield

The snow is beautiful in the sunlight, with glittering color and shifts of light, however that sunlight can really burn you up with all the reflective light.  I clipped on a car shield to my easel to protect my eyes from the glare and eye fatigue. I think next time I'll bring a black tarp too, to stand upon so that the brightness of the snow is not reflecting back up at me.

Overall, I had a great time painting in the snow and plan on more opportunities to do so again.