Plein Air Interlude

The title almost sounds like a song played on the clarinet! We had a brief and very cold break in the weather last week. I could not resist the gorgeous light and little to no wind. I have been wanting to paint this house that sits on the road looking over the ocean. We call it the "birdhouse" because, well, it looks like a giant bird house. Wait, I will show you:

 The road is between the house and the dune grasses. This house faces the ocean, which out here, is due west. That hill behind it means that it mainly gets afternoon light. That is fine with me as I love the afternoon light. The challenge is that this time of the year the afternoon light is really brief this far north. Still, I have been wanting to paint this since I first saw it on my daily walks.
I now have my plein air gear in a special pack pretty much ready to go. I still need to get paint tubes to keep in the pack too but that is a pricey proposition at this time so I "share" the paint between my studio and the plein air pack. I grabbed my gear, bundled up and went out to about this spot on the beach. Now before you look, I have to remind you that this is only my second attempt at plein air. As the weather improves and the days lengthen, I will be getting more in. Here was the result after about an hour and a half of painting:

The tide was just at its lowest point so I had plenty of room to move back and not worry about turning my back on the ocean. The sneaker or rogue waves here are startling at times, they travel quite a distance from the surf line. I have had to occasionally run all out to avoid being drenched.
I plan to go back several times and paint this. I would like to turn this into a studio piece. I am still fumbling for the colors and since time is of the essence, I don't always get them right. I had to exaggerate a few to get them to read properly. I guess that is part of the process. I didn't have time to get the dune grasses in properly but was able to hint at the driftwood logs on the beach.
So far people have been respectful and have kept their distance from me when I am painting. I am grateful for that at this point! As I get more comfortable with the process it will be easier for me to interact with any curious onlookers. On thing I definitely learned, it is really easy to get into that zone where you are not aware of time passing or what is going on around you. After the hour and a half, I suddenly realized that the light was gone and I was painfully cold! I haven't been that cold in a while. I could barely get my gear packed up. It was a good thing to observe. I really need to make sure the ocean can't reach me when I do these paintings and take precautions! Normally I am quite aware and even if I am not looking can tell by the change in sound when a sneaker wave is coming.
When I got home I spent the evening cozied up to the fire sipping hot cider and tea. As I mentioned, I want to do a few more plein air paintings of this house and then use the sketches as reference to paint a formal piece in the studio. That will be a fun addition to the challenge!
Finally, I am going to leave you with an important piece of my vision board. A tiny bit of background first. Years before I became a weaver and now a painter, I knew(sort of) what I wanted to do and started the journey to get here. Long before it was feasible to do this, I found this picture in a magazine that summed up what I wanted my life and house to look like. I kept it all these years and had forgotten about it. It recently resurfaced in a file when I was cleaning out stuff. I put it on my vision board. I was surprised to see that I have come a long way toward achieving this. I am not quite there yet but very, very close. Weavers, note the loom in the background. That is still part of my vision even though I currently don't have the room to set up my big loom.

It looks lie this studio is facing southwest. I would definitely want west facing windows but would also want large north facing windows for that beautiful cool north light and blackout curtains for when I need them on the west windows. But, I love this picture. I had no idea when I saved it I would be making my life like this picture. The power of visions! Now it is up on my vision board where I see it daily. I have to say, I believe I have a better loom and easel than what is in the picture but, this is what I want in my life,  painting, weaving, and a beautiful studio by the sea...
-Renee

Visual Words and Wordy Visions

Happy New Year everyone! As I have said before, I believe 2011 will be an outstanding year. I just have a feeling... Of course, that doesn't mean I won't have to work really, really hard to make that happen. The past three or four years have been ones of great change for me personally. I believe the only major life stress I didn't experience was, by some miracle, divorce! So when asked what my "word" for 2011 was by several people, I searched my mind and heart and easily came up with 'Root." I knew we would like it here in our little beach town as the ocean is in my blood going back several generations. I have to say though, we love it here. I in particular have fallen quite hard for this area. It is the first place I have lived in all my adult life that feels like home. It isn't an easy place to live in but the beauty of the area and the wonderful, colorful people that make up this village community are incomparable.  Here is where I want to put down roots. So, on that level root is a good word. It is also a word that branches out, so to speak!
When I gave my word for 2011 to Dr. Robyn McKay, she upped the ante by daring us to express that visually. I had already been toying with that idea so I took the dare and painted my word. That is the picture above. It was a larger painting than I should probably do at this point as it is roughly 14"X18". I recycled an older canvas that someone didn't want to keep. It took a bit longer than I had intended because I have been finishing up the Sketchbook Project which is nearly done.
I am also working on a vision board this year. I usually like to do it sometime between the Solstice and the New Year. This year, due to a couple of projects, and a new challenge, I am a little late but it will be done soon. I decided to spare you the wordy visions and will just post a visual, with a few words, when it is finished.
Finally, I have a surprise, which was very much a surprise to me too! One of the many authors I read and highly recommend is Daniel Pink. He has written Drive and A Whole New Mind. One of the exercises in Drive was to create a sentence that sums up what you have brought, or want to bring, to this world. He put a challenge out to make a video of that exercise and send it to him. Weeeelll, I thought it a good exercise and made my video but almost didn't send it. It is a little out of my comfort zone to do that. But, because it is a little out of my comfort zone to to that, I did it. He had hundreds of submissions and could only pick a few to put into this video. I had forgotten about it. Imagine my surprise the other day when the video was sent out and I found myself staring at me in the video! There was a problem with my name though. It isn't correct but that is actually ok with me. A sort of pen name, or perhaps I should say, screen name. Here it is! My first attempt at adding a video to my blog.

 Next week I will be in the next challenge and will have the Sketchbook Project pictures and hopefully video to go with that too!
So, dear people, what is your sentence?
-Renee

Year's End-What is your Challenge/Vision?

It seems appropriate that I am finishing up one challenge, the Sketchbook Project, and launching a new one, my Mid-Century Challenge at this time. This is my final post for 2010, unless something wildly exciting happens between now and Saturday. You never know...
Here are two oil sketches from my Sketchbook Project. I have two left to go and might even get a bonus two in before the week is out.

In between painting the sketches, I am working on my vision board for 2011. I have some big visions to put up!
If you have been reading these posts, you have probably seen the personal challenge I put up in the previous post. I have a few better ideas to add to phase 2 but I will mention those later.
I would like to ask all of you, What is your personal challenge for 2011? I would love to hear about it, big or small. If you got a challenge going, or are thinking of getting one going, please mention it in the comments section.
I would also love to see any vision boards you are willing to share. Please post a link in the comments section as well. I will be posting mine here to share with others.
One final note on the Sketchbook Project, I plan to put a slideshow of the pages on this blog. It will also be touring the country with the other entries. I will have more info on that later. I am also going to try to get a video, related to my sketchbook up, weather permitting. I haven't posted a slideshow or video on my blog before so we shall see how it works.
Have a wonderful and safe New Year! 2011 is going to be amazing (hopefully amazingly good), I just feel it in my bones.
See you all next year and don't be shy about sharing your challenges and visions!
-Renee