Spring at Baintertown

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Spring at Baintertown

 I think maybe I have been feeling the tiniest bit jealous of a bunch of my artist friends who are plein air painters lately. There are plein air events starting in our area, and some projects which are being painted outdoors, and it seems so appealing! I know I could go out and try it, but I don't have the equipment I think I would need, and there is just something a bit intimidating about starting something unfamiliar. I have painted in my back yard a time or two, but I am not sure that quite counts, since I can run inside at any moment to get something I need... 

Anyway, today I am looking out my windows at the falling snow (sigh) and am so grateful for my camera and my studio! I have decided to paint a scene from a favorite walk that my Beloved Husband and I often visit, and I am just delighted that I am not too cold or too wet, and that I have all of my tools right at hand. I know. I am a wimp. And also, I will probably go out and try it one of these days. But for today, I painted in my studio. 

17.75" x 11"
Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on hand-made, prepared wood panel
Ready to frame

One of the things that I find challenging when painting a landscape or representational work of any kind is deciding how far to 'abstract' the painting. I could paint much tighter - much more realistically - but that is not what I like doing. I prefer paintings that are imaginative, and that could not be mistaken for a snapshot, if you know what I mean. 


Along the trail toward the
Baintertown Dam

I use a limited selection of colors of paint on almost everything I paint, including landscape paintings. I enjoy making a recognizable scene using magenta, teal, purple, yellow and white, as in this waterway painting. When I can look at a loose brush stroke and get distracted by the fade and irregularity of the stroke, and then make that serve well to express a walk near the river, it just brings a unique excitement to my studio time. 

This morning, at our early morning "couch time" - my Beloved Husband has begun working summer hours, which means we are up at 5:30 in the morning, and our time together on the couch for coffee and prayer is shortened - we were considering 


Psalm 23:1-3 
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I lack.
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He renews my life;
He leads me along the right paths
for His name’s sake.

We were talking about how many songs have been written based on this Psalm, and were considering when David may have written it - was he a king or still a shepherd boy? Whatever the case, I felt my soul relax with this reminder that I am loved and have all I need. Isn't that comforting? 

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