plein air painting – Page 18 – Marianne Thompson

June 8th, 2013

June 8th, 2013
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24 in
(sold)

The plein air group (led by my favorite living American artist, David P. Curtis) (favorite living Canadian artist is John Smith) that I normally go out with had cancelled the day’s painting in favor of Sunday, which promised better weather. I work on Sundays, so went out to Essex regardless. It didn’t rain, in spite of the forecast, and I enjoyed a very peaceful day of painting. As you can see, there was a lot of springtime debris in the air that made it onto my canvas. I still have to tweak a few things but on the whole, this one’s done.

Incidentally, this is the same view I painted the day I learned Ray Allen had opted for the Heat over the Celtics. There is a cedar tree that stands at the edge of the cluster of trees on the right. In my earlier painting (July 8th? 2012?) that solitary cedar, sitting at a crossroads between meadow and marsh, represented Ray Allen to me – and it has stuck, I can’t see the tree without thinking of him.

In my mind, Ray Allen’s choice to leave the Celtics was justified when I realized had he been here, he and his kids would very likely have been at the finish line of the Boston Marathon at the time the first bomb went off, cheering on his wife and his mother who would have been running. It’s horrible as it is with the number of victims and devastation we had, to add him and his young family to the list would be awful. So I made my peace with it then. However, this past week Ray was in the news saying that for him, the fact that his team is in the Finals justifies his choice. This just – dropped him in my esteem. Completely irrelevant though it is to him, I’m ignoring Ray. Hence my exclusion of the tree from the picture.
Yes, I know I’m nuts.

June 3rd, 2013

June 3rd, 2013
Lake of the Woods, Memory
Oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 in
(sold)

Without realizing it, I did something just like this exactly a year ago. This one – I can’t seem to take a picture of it without a distracting glare that ill affects the balance of the painting. It’s a moody kind of scene, from a moody kind of day.

May 25th, 2013

Backyard, MA
Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24 in

It’s been raining all day and I resent it; Saturday is supposed to be painting day. So I put on my warmest hat and winter coat, and went out back and sat in the rain for three or four hours, painting this. Oil paint, I found, is not adversely affected by water – and in fact, with the knife it can produce some really interesting effects. However the volume of water that accumulated on the canvas, palette, and on my person eventually made it extraordinarily difficult to see what I was doing. So I stopped, will revisit tomorrow. It bothers me that the green of the flowers’ leaves is obviously very different from how it looks in the photo. I’ll have to look into that tomorrow.

May 19th, 2013

May 19th, 2013
Cox Reservation
Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20 in
(sold)

I wanted to paint the river at low tide because I liked the reflection of the sky in the puddles on the mudflats – so I hurried at the beginning to get my sky and water in (because they obviously have to match.) By the time I had nearly finished all the rest of it, I was frustrated by how different my painting looked from what was in front of me – at that point, a swollen tidal river at high tide. However, both halves were accurate to the space / time they were painted in, and they are very harmonious in tone as the light was consistent throughout the day as I looked northward. It was a beautiful day for painting and being outside. I loved the sinuous riverbed and its echo in the footpath, I think I conveyed this adequately too.

May 8th-12th, 2013

May 8th-12th, 2013
My backyard, MA
Oil on Canvas, 22 x 30 in

This is the painting as it stands, about 6/7ths of the way complete. I was captivated earlier this spring by the fresh cool bloom of spring leaves and flowers, as they lit up in the warm glow of sunset. I took pictures, then didn’t get out to paint it quickly enough, and the whole aspect of the plant had changed.

I worked outside on location with the picture in hand to reconstruct what I had seen, and use the real trees and surroundings to inform my coloration. I did not go to Essex today. The weatherman said it would be raining and stormy, and I knew if I went, trusting in my star, it would pour. So I stayed here to finish this, and ensure by my absence the day would be clement for my friends out in the Greenbelt today.

May 4th, 2013

May 4th, 2013
Cox Reservation,
Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20 in

This photo is a little askew, and it doesn’t do the texture justice – will retake. Had a better painting day than the previous few.

April 27th, 2013

April 27th, 2013
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 20 x 24 in

I hate this painting. I had a dreadful time trying to do it. I deemed this one unworthy even of the “Disasters” page. Then eventually I decided to fess up, partially. This is a small tolerable segment. Maybe when I’m done having wounded pride I’ll post the whole thing on Disasters.

April 20th, 2013

April 20th, 2013
Cox Reservation, Essex MA
Pencil Sketch, 16 x 20 in

Though I carried all my painting gear around the Greenbelt for at least an hour in search of something to paint, nothing “spoke to me.” Whatever’s been dogging me these past months, Lyme or otherwise, flared up again this weekend. I almost went home in defeat – but instead remembered I had a pad of paper in the car. I sat myself down in front of this tree and started drawing. What was nice about this was that with a pencil I can get all those tiny details that my knife is too clumsy for. I really needed to focus on something outside of myself and this was a very good way for me to do that. I stopped when the light had changed too much – I am undecided as to whether to try and finish it or leave it as is.

April 15th-19th, 2013

April 15th-19th, 2013
Massachusetts
Felt tip pen on paper, 16 x 20 in

One of the reasons I love Plein Air is that it turns my attention out of my thoughts and anchors them into the world around me. This week there’s been no escaping the world around me. I’ve been inundated with images and information of horrific events, and as it surely is for all in Massachusetts or with ties to Boston – and to those to whom this sort of violence is routine – it’s been overwhelming. The goodness of people is overwhelming too, but I think in this stream of consciousness doodle you see more of the darker side.

April 13th, 2013

April 13th, 2013
Cox Reservation, Essex Greenbelt, Essex MA
Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24 in
(sold)

I’ve painted in this same spot several times – most recently, January 19th (though standing in the same spot, that time I was looking to my right.) I am excited that some of the dingy grey grasses are beginning to take on new life and new colour! I see a few things I want to change in this painting, will go do so – but on the whole it was not too bad of a day’s work.