While waiting for my brother and nieces to finish their farm chores, I painted a cherry tree in their little orchard. It was fun to watch the girls help drive a tractor and watch the border collies help drive some goats. All in a day’s work on the farm.
Say that ten times fast.
It was a windy afternoon at Piper Park in Larkspur, and I had to hold on to my canvas to keep it from flying away. Despite the wind, the light was great – bright but not blinding, though.
The kids are currently on vacation with their mom, so instead of going Easter egg hunting, I enjoyed a lovely painting session with Benjamin Noah Benetton. We were blessed with perfect, warm and bright Easter weather, although it was almost too bright. I spent the entire painting session huddled under my umbrella, which was complicated by the fact that I had forgotten my painting palette and had to use one of my other painting panels instead. Needless to say, I had my hands full!
I was surprised to find that the last storm had washed away a tree that had been blocking the best view of the creek. This wouldn’t have been possible two weeks ago.
Staring at neon orange poppies surrounded by shiny white cement and chrome electrical boxes for an hour was a painful experience. It felt like my eyes were going to shrivel up in their sockets by the time I called it quits and packed up to go home. It was impossibly bright, and I think I seared this image onto the back of my retina.
Got one more snowy landscape in before driving back down the mountain. This one was just fifty meters east of the main lodge at Sugar Bowl looking south down the side road towards Nob hill and part of Mt. Disney.
I had a fantastic day skiing at Sugar Bowl today, and even managed to squeeze in a quick painting before the lifts closed. The view of Crows Nest from Jerome Hill, as seen from Central Pacific. Despite feeling a bit frozen after my hour-long session, I couldn’t help but grin as I skied up to the cabin. It was a truly great day.
Really clear sky’s in the Bay Area today. I could see the snowy cap of Mt. Diablo from the hills here in Larkspur. Had fun painting the view until I got rained out once again.
Rolling rain clouds and sun were present over Corte Madera and Larkspur today. It was a lovely panorama from the Greenbrae overlook, with sharp blues and steel grays contrasting against each other. I wished I had more time to paint, but the storm was moving quickly; suddenly, it started hailing, and I had to run for my car.
It snowed last night so the boys and I drove up the hill to check out the view from the Geysers overlook. It’s pretty uncommon to get snow here so we were having a great time of it. The boys and I threw a few snowballs and had fun driving our RC tank around in the snow. Afterwards I set up my gear and went to work. A few other people had the same idea as us and pulled over to admire the view. One of them was photographer Jerry Dodrill who was out hunting winter landscapes. His work is really beautiful, if you haven’t seen it he currently has a show at Sessions climbing gym in Santa Rosa and a photo gallery in Bodega, CA. Go Check it out.
There was an absolutely beautiful lavender sunset across the water last night. I wasn’t prepared and rushed out the door to try and capture it. Alas, I was too late. The light faded just as the painting was starting to get good. The golden hour had passed.
Freezing and frustrated I cleaned up the mess I had made and walked back home alone in the dark, regretful. If only I had more time or been there sooner… maybe things would have been different. The only thing for sure was that my timing was off. I wanted more time with that lovely light and I didn’t get it. Sigh, at least I got to experience something truly beautiful. It has been a long time since I saw a sky like that. As I wake and write this it dawns on me that this beautiful sunset got me outside painting again and for that I am grateful. The sun also rises.
