Rise From Water, 24x24

"Rise From Water" 24x24" Pastel on sanded paper ©Brenda Boylan

I have been in the studio a bit on and off, and have finally pushed to finish the demo piece that I started at the American Art Co. back in June. My summer painting practices have been rather slow at best, and it frustrates me a bit because this is the best time of year to be out painting. (school starts in a couple of weeks, YEAH!) I guess I have been saving up for the big push of 5 full days of plein air painting in Hood River, OR. in the Pacific Northwest Plein Air Event. The adventure starts tomorrow, bright and early, and hopefully I can paint a couple of good ones to share for my next post. Yeah!

Dawson Creek Lilies, 16x12

"Dawson Creek Lilies", 16x12" Pastel on sanded paper

Dawson Creek is a manmade water park complete with fountains, bridges, and small rushing waterfalls and graceful pathways that meander behind the Hillsboro Library in Oregon. I'd painted here before, but this time around there were water lilies which is one of my most favorite subjects to paint. What caught my eye was the bright sunlit grasses growing at the base of this stand of trees and the clear reflected sky from above. This is a bit larger painting than what I usually commit to for plein air painting, and hopefully this piece will be my pass into the juried Pacific Northwest Plein Air 2010 Show and Paint-Out this coming August 26~30 at the Columbia Center for the Arts.