workshop and retreat Day One

diagonal design, 15 x 15, acrylic on paper

I am with the Portland Women in Abstract Media this week at a very special workshop and retreat.

First day off the starting blocks we played with composition. My challenge was to create a painting with a diagonal abstract design. My personal challenge was to keep it from zipping off the edges.

This piece reminds me of the beauty of space and some of the images we've gotten to see because of the Hubble telescope.

plein air from the stern: Center Island

pastel on UART 800 red

First a water soluble graphite sketch, overpainted with black watercolor washes for the Notan. Then a pastel painting.

I am intrigued with the nearness of these two land masses and the way that boats slip between them.

We have been on the boat since the beginning of June and have not yet seen any whales. I think that the time will come soon and I am patient with the waiting. And grateful that, for the most part, whaling is a thing of the past.

Judy Collins "Farewell to Tarwathie."

sketchbook: flowers

Manet's floral masterpieces. Exquisite!

sketchbook: land shapes

July 21, 2012 sketchbook page

In some ways, this looks like a comic book style of sketchbook. The black lines add to that effect. As do the series of panels. I enjoy breaking up the larger land shapes into smaller pieces. It helps me consider the possibility of multiple paintings to convey the idea of the vast landscape. Of course, it's all experimental and I have no commitment or obligation to do anything further with these sketches if they don't excite me. 

It's pure play and playfulness is the rich compost of artistic growth. Don't you agree?

from the water

Hunter Bay, Lopez Island

waterlilies, Italian Garden, Butchart Gardens

Roche Harbor buttermilk sky

Salt Spring Island sunset

Turn Point Lighthouse, Stuart Island

plein air from the bow: Saddlebag Islands

Started out as a foggy morning, but the fog lifted and cleared as I was painting. As I worked, I could hear the sporadic tones of the nearby fog horn, the splashing and wet exhalations of a seal, and the chirping call of Bald Eagles. An irregular but beautiful symphony.

sketchbook: Roche Harbor

Park your boat

wherever you like

mariner chaos

then the float planes

land in a game of

Dodge Boat!

A little unnerving to see 

a Kenmore Air Otter

landing right at us -- 

light from the plane

shone in our pilot house

window. He stopped short

and turned, but only after

my husband coached, "TURN! TURN! TURN!"

Every evening in Roche Harbor, this:

sketchbook: time to think

in the quiet

I hear my fears

and wishes

hopes and

imaginings

and wonder

why not do 

more?