Hillsboro Plein Air Paintout - downtown

While I was painting in downtown Hillsboro on the second day of the paintout a reporter for a local paper stopped by to take some pictures and ask some questions. I didn't think much about but a couple of different people who take that newspaper brought me copies of the next issue of the paper, showing me painting. Then today some pictures of the various artists were published on Flickr here.



The Flower Seller
oil on board
8" x 10"

We were in central Oregon last weekend; the following sketches were done in my little Moleskine book which is slightly smaller than 4x6 inches:

A view across the river from Greg's Grill where we lunched.

This view of the Deschutes River was done on the riverband at Lava Island Falls. The reddish brown is a large lava flow from ancient times. The forested land in the region is mostly lodgepole pine.

My husband and I enjoy visiting the High Desert Museum south of Bend. The best part of the living museum is the grounds surrounding the buildings with trails, forests, and a rather new replica of a pioneer farm, complete with a hand pump, a wash tub with scrub board, a garden and a corral made of 'found' timber. All the little kids were enjoying playing house: pumping water, watering the garden, washing clothes in the washtub and then hanging on the line to dry. I remember when that was a chore rather than an interesting activity to do in an interpretive museum.

The view from our balcony at Sunriver was looking out over the golf course which is dotted with small stands of pine trees, with some of the Cascade mountain range in the distance.

This view is looking across Sun River toward Mt. Bachelor in the near distance.

The Flower Seller, plein air oil painting

 

 

 

The Flower Seller

 

 

I've survived my second two-day paint-out, though it took a few naps after the day. Saturday's location was downtown Hillsboro. I walked around the area for quite awhile, taking lots of photos and assessing the area near the courthouse and the farmers market and finally decided to combine elements from two Vietnamese flower seller booths. The day was gray and rainy so I chose a spot under cover of a building overhang and set up my easel. The first step was to make some compositon/value sketches. Once that was done I sketched in the basic design using a brush and thinned blue paint, laid out my colors and started painting.

The painters and interested public were invited to the Walters Cultural Center for a mid-afternoon party on the lawn with live music, food, and wine tasting while the juror decided on awards. No, I didn't take home a ribbon this year, but I did win a large drying box and some panels from RayMar so I was a happy camper. Having this 12 x 16 panel box will enable me to work on larger oils in the field by giving me a safe way to carry the work home.  My work will be shown along with others during August at the Center.

I didn't photograph the painting I did Friday but as soon as I can do so I'll post it for you to see.

I'm happy with both paintings, and even more with myself because I gathered the courage to step up to the challenge of painting in a rather new-to-me medium in public alongside lots of people who do this on a regular basis. Everyone was kind and I hope to paint with a plein air group again.