On the Mend

I am finally on the mend. I am not quite up to the hike out to my favorite spot at Short Sands, but I can manage some of the other beaches. Today was a lovely spring day to get out to paint. The tides were perfect to paint at Hug Point. Hug Point is a little further north of Short Sands. It has been a while since I have been to Hug Point. The cliffs are mostly sandstone and the waves are continually carving the stone. The beaches are always in flux, ever changing.

There has been another wash up of Vellela vellela jellyfish. It was impossible to avoid stepping on them. I could smell the odor as soon as I opened the car door.

Vellela, vellela on the beach.

I took a bit of time poking around before setting up. It has been a while since I have been there after all and I like to look around at what is different. The best time to paint at Hug Point is when the tide is just going out. The tides can trap the unwary if they are coming in. Low tide was around 5:30. I got there about 12:30 so I had a good long time to paint without concern.

I spent much of my healing time studying art and am finally able to start putting what I learned to practice. Sometimes easier said than done. Here are a few more pictures and the final plein air painting:

Hug Point, Oregon Coast

Hug Point, Oregon Coast. Plein Air Painting

© 2015 R.L. Delight, Hug Point Falls, 8"x10", oil on canvas. Plein Air

I am looking forward to a good spring, summer, and fall of painting!

-Renee

Studio Changes

It has been an interesting month since my last post. I worked hard going through every nook and cranny in my studio cleaning, culling, and reorganizing. There have been many changes both large and small.

I actually was pretty much finished a couple of weeks ago but due to getting hit with a rather nasty cold virus that has been going around and spraining my foot a week ago, I have not been able to get back to work quite yet.

Yesterday I couldn't take it anymore. I wrapped a garbage back around the armored boot protecting my foot, hoisted my painting pack on, and hobbled the 1/4 mile out to the north end of Neahkahnie beach to paint. The winds were fairly strong and the tide was going out. Not the best time to paint. This time in the tide cycle I usually head out to Short Sands beach or Hug Point to paint. I am not quite up to those spots yet but hopefully next week.

I made notan sketches while waiting to see if the winds would die down. They didn't so I weighted my easel with rocks and got to work. I wasn't trying for a masterpiece, I just wanted to paint. I did spend much of my downtime studying and I wanted to play a bit. The winds increased to the point where they were blowing me around to much to paint so I had to head home.  Here is a photo I took from yesterday:

The painting wasn't that great but I am actually pleased with it as it is showing some of the things I have been learning. It will take more practice.

I have a surprise addition to the studio.  I wanted to find a way to take some of the financial pressure off the art making while continuing to put in the time and effort to improve and using resources I already have. I have been a weaver in the past and have a rather large weaving loom and the skills to use it. The skills may be a bit dusty but they will come back fast. We live in an area that has a tourist economy. I have decided to spend a bit of my day weaving accessories to sell in area shops. Weaving has given me many skills that have been beneficial to my painting. Weaving and music both. My painting also helps my weaving.

So with all of that, here are the pictures of my refreshed studio. The loom is empty at the moment, waiting for my foot to heal!

The back of the loom, looking toward the painting area.

Side front of the loom. I have a few plaster casts for drawing, and a Lego phone!

This is the drawing nook, with my canvas and paint supplies on one side, and art books on the other. The photo of the handsome man on my bulletin board is my wonderful supportive husband Bob.

One final mention, I do have a weaving blog. It has been in virtual mothballs these past 5 years while I worked on art. I will be posting my weaving results there and not on this blog in the future. The site can be found here.

The studio is a bit crowded but definitely workable. Now to get to work!

-Renee

Spring Cleaning in the Studio

First Day of Spring

Welcome Spring! It has been a beautiful rainy, blustery day for the first day of spring. I am spring cleaning my studio, very thoroughly. Everything is coming off the shelves and being culled, cleaned, reorganized and re-arranged. I now have a nice little drawing area in one corner. Three more corners and the middle to arrange! After such huge changes these past few years, it was time to go through everything to reflect my direction and focus. Painting has slowed way down at the moment but not stopped entirely. It will pick up with a renewed studio soon!

I seem to be struggling a bit with my painting at the community garden. Part of the reason is I am still trying new approaches. I also realized that I am not used to painting in such cultivated areas. I usually am painting on the beach looking at waves, water, cliffs, and falls. I think it is a very good thing to be working in gardens, orchards, and old farmland too. I want to be more versatile and I know the same principles apply. That said, I am going to bring my sketchbook for the next couple of weeks and get some graphite sketching in before attempting another painting.

Here is last week's attempt at painting. The wind had picked up and it was raining a bit so I set up behind the duck house for protection to paint this old pear tree. It hasn't bloomed yet but is covered with moss and a few ferns in some areas. Quite the character.

Alder Creek Farm Painting in Progress

I thought about wiping this one off the panel. I waited to make that decision after I got home. I still considered it but, as I looked at what still needed to be done and corrected, I decided to keep it and play with it in the studio. I know what I was trying to achieve. It will be a good learning tool to see if I can achieve it in the studio. Working at it this way will allow me to have more success in the future while out in the field.

I will post again when the studio spring cleaning is finished!

Wishing everyone a joyful spring season.

-Renee

Working the Studies

I have been painting a lot of studies the past few weeks. I am pushing my skill level again. It is always a challenge often fraught with frustration and the appearance of little progress. Perhaps artistic growth follows a different timeline. It definitely isn't a straight line!

I have two works in progress. One was at Short Sands. It was a beautiful afternoon. We have been fortunate to have many of these this winter, if you can call it that. While Eastern U.S. has been hammered with snow and wind, we have had mild days with little rain and much sunshine. It is as if the storms back East have sucked all the water from the west and dumped it, in the form of snow, on the storm weary people and animals there.

I got a great start on a more detailed study but had a small time window to work. I thought I would be able to go back within a day or two but weather and life circumstances have kept me from it. So, it waits. I am hoping there will be an opportunity next week. Here is a picture of the start of the painting:

Short Sands North End-WIP

Short Sands South

I woke up this morning with emails announcing not only a gale warning but heavy rains. I figured I had better get out today before the storm arrives. I just made it. The tide was hitting low when I arrived. It is always surprising how little time the tide takes to come back in. When I left, the waves were coming within a foot or two of my easel. This is another work in progress. I got enough that I will be able to finish this study from memory in the studio.

Calm before the storm, Neahkahnie Beach

Storm Building, Neahkahnie Beach

© 2015 R.L. Delight, Mood Change, WIP, 9"x12", oil on canvas

The day was not sunny but the gray filtered light was bright. It was not hazy though. One of the things I love about gray days are the amazing colors that pop out in the sea. This study still needs work to capture what I was seeing. I put the waves in last so they were done in haste.

The wind was picking up as I was leaving the beach. I had heard the eagles behind me but suddenly one swooped right above my head and landed up the beach a bit. The crows always follow or chase the eagles. This one had a nice tidbit it was eating and as I stood there watching, it finished it off and cleaned its beak in the sand. I did take pictures but the exposure on my cell phone camera went haywire and they did not come out. I always enjoy watching our local Bald Eagles. Such a treat, and a nice ending to the day.

I have big changes happening in my studio which involves a clearing out and re-arranging. It is always a good thing to do as one learns and grows.

Spring is coming!

-Renee

Painting at Alder Creek Farm

Lower Nehalem Community Trust

I am very excited this year to join the community garden at Alder Creek Farm/Lower Nehalem Community Trust. This community garden is one of the many examples of the reasons why we love living here and being part of this community. The garden is on land that was purchased by a small group of local people to restore and preserve the land. The garden is worked collectively so instead of small individual plots, we all work the entire garden. The harvest is shared and the extra goes to the community food bank. They donated an impressive few thousand pounds of fresh vegetables and fruit last year.

Tuesday, which was yesterday, was the official first day of work for the 2015 season. I will be working for 3 hours every Tuesday morning. The garden is about 5 miles from my house. I not only packed my garden gloves but a lunch and my painting pack. I spent the morning working in the garden alongside of my fellow gardeners, had a picnic lunch, and then got to work painting.

I decided to paint outside the garden perimeter near a small pond. There was a local herd of elk laying down in the distance. They were far enough away and didn't seem to be moving around much so I decided to go for it.

I got about 1 1/2 hours into the painting when I noticed the elk herd was on the move. I kept painting and kept one eye on the herd. They are big animals and I don't have a lot of experience with them close up. I really did not want to be painting with them grazing around me as I am not sure what they would do. I was just to the point where I could bring the painting to the finish when they moved a bit too close. This time they spotted me and I was a bit disconcerted to see about a dozen elk with heads and ears up looking directly at me.

I slowly started packing up my painting gear. Most of them went back to grazing but there were a couple of elk that watched me. Once I got packed up, I casually strolled back to the barn and garden area. It may take a while for them to get used to me and me to get used to them.

Here are a couple of pictures of the elk herd from where I was painting:

Elk herd approaching. If you look closely you can see them grazing just above the line of bushes at the edge of the pond.

Getting Closer.

So, I did not quite get my painting finished yesterday. Today I decided to finish it from memory. There are a couple of challenges I had with it, besides the elk herd. It has been quite a while since I painted on Gessobord. I have a stack of it I want to use up. I can't say that I like painting on it anymore. I really like painting on canvas panels. I also need more practice painting trees. I tend to paint waves, sand, and stone. I wasn't very satisfied with the cedar tree in the mid-ground. Here is the final painting:

© 2015 R.L. Delight, Alder Creek Farm Pond, 5"x7", oil on archival panel

I plan to paint at Alder Creek Farm every Tuesday afternoon for the garden season, which runs from now until fall. I thought it would be fun to have such a series of paintings. This means that I will be painting them plein air, or plein air plus a bit of studio time like this one was.They might not always turn out to my satisfaction but that will be part of the process and challenge.

Tomorrow I plan to head out to one of my favorite seascape painting spots. I haven't decided which one yet!

-Renee

Time Vault

©2015 R.L. Delight, Time Vault, 14"x 11", oil on canvas

I am going to do this post a bit backward, time-wise. I am starting with this finished painting and explaining my thoughts that went into this painting. I will finish with the final process pictures.

To begin this still life, I started with an idea that came to me while looking at my collection of jetsam and flotsam. I love using finds gathered from the beach for still life subjects, particularly wood, stone, and glass. I am looking for a way to put these informal, organic natural elements into a formal still life. I believe pulling these objects out of their natural surroundings can bring a sharp focus to their individual beauty. I find these to be not only beautiful, but they also embody a sensuous quality of their own outside of being part of the beautiful whole of a natural scene, such as a beach.

I don't feel I have been entirely successful in achieving that yet, but I am just getting started. I worked a bit with the composition. I love the big chunk of wood board that is starting to be battered smooth from its pounding of waves, sand, and rock. The iron spike has been hammered by the elements to wrap around the board. I wanted to show the point of entry, and that wrapping that has been forged by nature.

The rocks have crumbled down from the cliffs that surround Short Sands beach. Those cliffs were once underwater and formed an ancient seabed. There are layers and fossils. The rocks are composed of compressed sand and silty organic matter. They make very smooth and interesting shapes. I must confess, rocks have always fascinated me. My parents joked that whenever we moved, most of the weight in my moving boxes were rocks. To live with me, one must tolerate rocks. I have bowls of rocks around me rather than vases of flowers, although, I like flowers too.

When I set this still life up, I chose the board and rocks mainly on my response to their shape and texture. Once set up, I realized that I was looking at not only rocks and wood, but a slice of time that spanned more than my life time. The title, Time Vault, seemed fitting as the remnants of a once living seabed and tree are bound up in these present day forms.

Once I set up the still life to my satisfaction I immediately saw that within each angular form, there was a circular form that gives another repetition and relation. I rather liked that!

As always, I used this opportunity to experiment and grow in my understanding of technique. It is a joy and a challenge.

Here are the remaining process pictures starting with where I left off, with drawing, dark accents, shadow shapes, and light shapes completed.

Light shapes added.

Values and drawing corrected. Details added.

Continuing to refine drawing and values, adding detail

And just for fun!:

Tomorrow I will be cleaning the studio and getting ready for my next project. Have a great weekend!

-Renee

Afternoon Painting at Short Sands Beach

Today was a beautiful day. The wind wasn't too bad and the sun was warm. Apparently the winter has decided to stay in the Eastern part of the country. We are just having  strange perpetual spring-like weather. I might even have to water my yard!

I am trying a few new approaches in my painting and gave myself about an hour and a half of painting time in the late afternoon. The light changes very rapidly. Here is a view from my easel:

And the final study:

©2015 R.L. Delight, Short Sands Study 2/23/15, 8"x10", oil on canvas

My still life will be left hanging if this weather continues for the next couple of days. It is nice to get out and paint!

-Renee