Heat of the Day

Heat of the Day - Oil on Linen Panel - 5x7

I had a fantastic day out painting with a couple other painters today, we braved the outdoors despite predictions of temperatures in the 100s. Definitely worth it!

Summer Squall

Summer Squall - Oil on Linen Panel - 5x7

I almost named this one something about spring, but then I realized that it's summer! The weather east of the Cascades has been so mild I'm losing track of what season it is. I painted this at a lovely little park outside of LaGrande, Oregon, looking across the Grand Ronde River valley. What a view!

McNary Summer

McNary Summer - 6x6 - Oil on Gessobord

This was a great little wetland area on the outskirts of town. As I drove out to the spot I wanted to paint on a summer morning I was looking forward to painting the hazy light, but as I started working the haze moved off and left a blinding, hot sun. It was still beautiful!

Touch of Green

Touch of Green - Oil on Linen Panel - 5x7

I'm a sucker for the reddish brown shade the cottonwoods take on for winter, but this little Russian Olive was stubbornly holding on to it's leaves and I thought it made for a great complimentary scene.

Golden Cluster

Golden Cluster - Oil on Linen Panel - 5x7

One of the more interesting things I've noticed as the cottonwoods and poplars are turning for fall is how different the yellow looks against various elements in the landscape. Against the hillsides and other land features the yellow appears quite light, but when you see the same color against the sky it becomes clear how dark an ochre the leaves really are. Trees have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves to confuse us poor artists!

Cottonwoods at Dusk

Cottonwoods at Dusk - Oil on linen panel - 5x7

I found a fantastic new little area to paint just outside of town! It's not really new, just a little gravel road in a wildlife area that I never took before. The cottonwoods are turning colors and dropping their leaves, but these guys were stubbornly keeping their green!

Walla Walla Skies

Walla Walla Skies - 6x8 - Oil on Panel

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Capturing the building clouds over the Blue Mountains is something I could probably do forever and not get tired of! Anyone in the Walla Walla Valley will be able to tell this painting was done a couple months ago, as wildfire smoke has been hazing the view of the foothills for quite some time now.

Grey Delta

Grey Delta - 5x7 - Oil on Linen Panel 

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This little plein air piece is the companion of yesterdays, I did them both on the same afternoon from a slightly different spot!

Marsh

Marsh - 5x7 - Oil on Linen Panel

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A little break from my virtual ramble through Yellowstone, this one is a REAL plein air! I love the willow and cottonwood filled marshes that surround the Yakima River Delta, where this was painted.

Backlit Bonneville

Backlit Bonneville - 6x8 - Oil on Linen Panel

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This was painted not far from my camping spot outside of Joseph, Oregon along the Wallowa River. The clouds were beautifully rimlit behind a dark mountain, the view made it worth tangling with the giant ants along the river shore!

Blue Mountain Afternoon

Blue Mountain Afternoon - 6x8 - Oil on Linen

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I've had an absolutely fantastic couple of weeks! I've attended the Wallowa Valley Festival in Joseph, Oregon, where I won second place in my category, and the very next weekend I facilitated a paint out in beautiful Walla Walla for Plein Air Washington Artists. This little painting was completed on location in Walla Walla, near Rooks Park on the edge of town where the Blue Mountains peak above rolling wheat fields.

Barn Under Pikes Peak

Barn under Pikes Peak - Oil on Linen Panel - 5x7

This little plein air sketch was done from my car to keep me out of the wind and rain. All the nasty weather made for great atmosphere!

Frost in the Air

Frost in the Air - Oil on Linen - 5x7

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I painted this little one on location back when we still had snow on the ground, now the past few days we've had highs in the 50s and 60s!

Winters Touch

Winters Touch - 5x7 - Oil on Panel

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A little plein air piece, completed at my new favorite car painting site along the Yakima River Delta, where the Yakima River meets the Columbia. I'm a sucker for the red willows in winter already, but I loved to golden cottonwoods and the patterns the snow made.

January Skies

January Skies - Oil on Linen Panel - 6x8

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It's been a fun experience returning to the same (or nearby) location daily for a painting. The weather here has gotten chilly, grey, and foggy, which leaves me wishing for the sunny days I painted last week!

Yakima Delta - Day 14, 30 in 30 Challenge

Yakima Delta - Oil on Canvas Panel - 6x8

Click Here to BidThe crisp winter air seemed to make the water bluer today!

Palisade Study

Palisade Study - 6x8 - Oil on Linen Panel

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**Please note, I didn't sign this one while on location, a signature has been added in the lower right corner since this photo was taken**

I had the most fantastic New Years Eve and Day! My husband was working in Condon, Oregon, and I decided to tag along and paint the scenery. That's right, this desert scene is from the Pacific Northwest, believe it or not! These palisades are part of a huge National Monument called the John Day Fossil Beds, in the remote Clarno Unit. They are the remains of ancient mud flows, called lahars, and are chock full of fossils! But more importantly to this plein air painter, they are stunning and have a decent restroom nearby!

Work in progress on the trail

Complementary Winter

Complementary Winter - 6x6 -  Oil on Gessobord

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The winter haze was thick over the Horse Heaven Hills, the name for a ridge line overlooking Benton City here in beautiful eastern Washington. There was something about the way the cool purple upper crest transitioned into the golden slopes that really caught my eye. The atmosphere was a little mysterious and very paintable!

Winter Calm

Winter Calm - Oil on Panel - 6x6

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A cold winter fog was cast over Bateman Island while I was taking a walk. I kept looking and looking for something that spoke to me, and then I turned around and saw this bend in the trail and the beautiful colors in the trees. Who knows what I would have painted had I not turned  around, but I'm glad I did!

Tidal Pool Jigsaw - Ocean Landscape Painting

Tidal Pool Jigsaw - Landscape - 6x6 - Oil on Panel

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The most fascinating thing to me about the beach near Ocean Park, WA, is the dancing patterns of tidal pools. Always changing shape, reflecting back the different shades of sand and sky; they're simply mesmerizing!

Like the previous  painting, due to the wind while I painted this en plein air there is sand along the bottom. It's a feature, not a defect! The painting captured the essence of the beach, and took some actual beach along with it for good measure.