On a night like tonight, when even the walls are still warm, this preggo is too hot to sleep. So I am cataloguing the past year’s paintings. And this piece of mine from the sun drenched horse pastures at historic Beltane Ranch feels most appropriate.
True confession time: after 20+ years of active, closet painting I now consider myself an Artist. I am out! I simply love Beauty. Now, I will never claim to be a realist. Seeing the Beauty in our natural landscape and then breathing oil onto canvas to capture how a place feels is tough as nails and amazing. Something I hope to pass on to my babies. My love and pursuit of artistic Beauty is why I paint. (And it is why I fall in love with and collect art from living, Californian artists.)
Every Monday, Anni and I head out with my collapsible easel, some graham crackers, and converted picnic basket of paints, Turpenoid, and palette. And join a handful of talented Plein Aire painters all around Wine Country. In any given season we paint in Bodega Bay, Healdsburg, Sonoma Valley, Calistoga, Petaluma, Dry Creek, and Tomales Bay.
Painting outdoors is a tonic and a joy. It is also the hardest damn creative exercise I have ever under taken. Except for ceramics. I failed ceramics. And Home Ec. Literally. I kept sewing myself to my apron.
