September Plein Air

Country Home, oil, 9x12, $650.
Last week I painted with the GVA plein air group at the Frozen Creek Farm. 

Glad Fields, oil, 11x14, $800.

White Farm House, oil, 9x12, $650.The childhood home of an old school friend.

Hope you enjoy my recent plein air paintings for the month of September.

Recent Plein Air Paintings

Distant Shore - Wau-ke-na, oil, 12x9
Painted last Saturday, August 24 at the  Wau-ke-Na South tract  owned by the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy (SWMLC) during the annual Art Walk. Many artists from the Plein Air Artists of West Michigan (PAAWM) set up to paint this beautiful property. Guests were able to walk from artist to artist, look at paintings and converse with the artists. Also, the 2013 "Painted Sanctuary" Calendar was debuted and for sale. See SWMLC to find out more about the calendars and land conservancy.

Field and Distant Farm, oil, 12x16
Yesterday, I returned to the Merizon Studio property  on Kalamazoo Ave. with Barb S. and Connie K. We wanted to paint a few more pieces for the upcoming exhibit to be held in the Merizon farmhouse. There will be 20 artists from the PAAWM group showing their plein air work. The exhibit opens on Saturday, September 15 from 3-7pm.

Rose of Sharon, oil, 11x14
The second painting of the Merizon property. This corncrib is in beautiful condition, though not as red as this photo makes my painting look! The flowering trees were in their prime as they framed the front of the building. I invented the foreground shadow to create more contrast and the added diagonal repeats the other diagonals within the composition. I like the feeling of bright light of this afternoon painting.

Two Pines, oil, 9x12
My second painting of the day at the Wau-ke-na Art Walk event.

Flower Fields

Last Saturday, I attended the PAAWM paint out held at the Merizon Studio farm. It is beautiful property and the day was perfect for painting! The fields were filled with wild daylilies, sweet peas, and crown vetch. The field with the lone tree caught my eye, even though the tree was front lit, I was up for the challenge. I used my shade umbrella so the palette and panel were shaded from the sun. That helped with keeping my values true. I concentrated on using color temperature and slight value changes to keep the tree from blending into the background tree line.

Work in progress.
I made some changes after taking a short break.

Armond's Flower Fields, oil, 11x14

I may be using this study for a larger painting!