Plein air watercolor painting of a palm tree against a blue sky.
Plein air watercolor painting 6 inches x 9.5 inches
Hard to believe I was in sunny Florida just days ago. The sky was a bright clear blue that we won’t see here in Michigan for months. All of the colors down there felt so tropical and unfamiliar to me. Very unlike the muted hues of Michigan right now. It always takes me a while to switch gears and feel comfortable with a completely new color palette–especially one that is so bright and vibrant. I painted this watercolor landscape of palm trees sitting in the shade under a canopy to protect myself from the harsh rays and glare. I WISH that was my problem here in the frozen tundra…
Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a sailboat at a dock.
Plein air watercolor painting 6 inches x 9.5 inches
This plein air watercolor landscape is painted on plastic yupo paper. I tend to go back and forth between that and more traditional Waterford. I get frustrated with one paper and technique and switch to the other. Yupo lets me paint more like an oil or acrylic painter. The paper doesn’t absorb the paint and gives a completely different effect.
Plein air watercolor painting of a pond with water lillies
Plein air watercolor painting 7 inches x 10.5 inches
Back from a wonderful, sunny month in Naples, Florida. We left frigid Michigan just in time–right before it was socked with two huge blizzards.
I painted quite a few pastels and watercolors when we were down there, spending a couple of hours every day looking for interesting sites. One of my favorite places was the Naples Botanical Gardens. Every Tuesday morning they welcome artists, easels and all, to paint on their beautiful grounds. I was fascinated with all of the gorgeous water lilies in the ponds at the park. I’d never painted them before, but was really happy with the way this plein air watercolor painting came out. I took tons of photos to work larger, possibly in pastel, back in the studio.
Plein air watercolor painting of the president's house at the University of Montana Western
Plein air Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6 inches
My sister lived in Dillon, the biggest city in Beaverhead County, Montana. Whoa, 4,000 population! But its a wonderful town, full of really nice people. The University of Montana Western is located there, and one day we explored the campus. The president’s house was a beautiful old building just made for a plein air watercolor painting of architecture. The great thing about being a watercolor artist is that you can always carry a small bag of supplies with you and stop at the drop of a hat to paint!
Watercolor portrait of two cowgirls on their horses.
Watercolor portrait painting 12 inches x 9 inches
My Bonanza Creek dreaming wouldn’t be complete without a watercolor portrait of the two intrepid cowgirls! Here we are moving cattle in September, living the good life!
Plein air watercolor landscape painting of a road leading to a Montana ranch
Plein air Watercolor painting 15 inches x 5.5 inches
Sometimes an extreme horizontal format is the best way to capture the feeling of a location, especially if you want to create a panorama effect. This Montana watercolor landscape was painted in July when the fields had already turned to gold, but before everything has greyed down and lost its vibrancy.
Plein air watercolor landscape painting of an old building in Montana
Plein air Watercolor painting 9 inches x 6.5 inches
Beth worked on a ranch out in western Montana and I visited her a couple of times out there. While she slaved all day trying to sell high-end quarter horses to well-off matrons, I would wander the ranch and paint. This little building was actually some type of water house but it reminded me of an old mission. The bright sunlight and shadows made a nice comp0sition for a watercolor landscape. I especially liked the grasses highlighted against the dark door.
When asked, I always say that a painting like this takes me about an hour to complete….plus 30 years of learning and practice…
Pastel landscape painting of an old homestead in Montana
Pastel painting 14 inches x 18 inches
I never brought my pastels with me when we traveled out west. At the time, I was new to the medium and I just couldn’t get my mind around carting all the dusty supplies and actually making pastel paintings on site. Plus, protecting the resulting art seemed difficult.
I’ve come a long way since then. But I still shoot hundreds of research photos wherever I travel for inspiration during the winter months when I paint in my studio. This pastel landscape shows another very special little homestead that we often visited on our horseback riding adventures. We would rest our horses and peer into the open windows of the cabins, imagining what it must have been like to live there in the late 1800s. This piece was all about composition and color for me. The spring grass in Montana after a snowy winter is an unbelievable shade of green!
