Summer Daze

It always seems like summer gets jammed up behind the 4th of July. Our little town is a destination spot with thousands of visitors converging upon our town and beaches. The crowds, coupled with hot-for-us weather can try the patience. Even our amiable shop keepers lose their cool once in a while!

Yesterday my mate and I spent the morning preparing to march in our parade. My guy pulls together a local marching band every year. We are lined up and ready to march before 1:00 and away we go through a solid tunnel of people. Here is a 20 sec. video clip. It is rough and shaky as I took it with my phone, while marching and banging a drum.

Directly from the parade we jumped into our truck and headed up to Cannon Beach where my husband was playing a two hour concert in the park with another band he is in. In case you are wondering, I am marching directly behind him in the video, he is the one with the trumpet!
We made it through that and the late, late night (it doesn't start to get really dark until after 10:00pm) firework show and general town craziness.

It has been good to rest today. In the meantime, I have been painting and drawing. I have painted at three of the four markets and am getting better each time. Here is a picture of the one before last in progress.  I still have a ways to go.

Painting at the Manzanita Famers Market

I decided not to paint at the July 3rd market. I brought a sketchbook and sketched the people. There were so many people that I wouldn't have been able to see or move!

I have been out plein air painting as well. Here is a study of the south end of Short Sands beach.

© 2015 R.L. Delight, South End Shorty Study, 9"x12", oil on canvas, plein air.

I am also participating in a local show called Word and Image and have started to work on my painting for that. I will be posting on the show, and the work in progress soon.

I know I have been a bit remiss at regular blogging. It has been a super busy summer so far. I will do better. It is easier to post at least once a week so things don't get stacked up and crammed all together like this. I also had to leave a lot out.

Until next week. Praying for rain,

-Renee

Behind the Sphinx

"Behind the Sphinx", 8"x10", oil on canvas panel, plein air

It has been a very busy painting week! The weather has been spectacular. The warm sunshine also brings the winds, which are challenging, but I managed to find shelter from the worst of the winds. There is a reason why I call this blog "Gritty Paint"! The plein air paintings of the sea and beach pretty much all contain sand from the Oregon coast and "Behind the Sphinx" has its share.

The painting above was done on Wednesday of this week at Arcadia State Park. I have painted this rock formation before from a different angle. Here is my painting set up, which sheltered me from the winds, until they shifted.

Painting at Arcadia State Park

Tuesday mornings are community garden days. I love working in this beautiful community garden. It once was a dairy farm but now is part of a large parcel of land that a few generous and forward thinking people purchased and then put it into a land trust. The community garden is worked communally instead of in private individual plots. I am learning so much! On days when the weather cooperates, I bring my painting gear. I have to admit, I haven't been able to paint there as often as I thought I would. This week I decided to paint the beautiful double poppies in the orchard area. It is good for me to change things up once in a while.

"Peace Prayers", 8"x6", oil on canvas panel, plein air

I haven't had a chance to get  a good picture of this in better light. I will get one when I can.

Monday I was at my favorite painting spot, Short Sands beach in Oswald West State Park. I did another study at the north end of the beach. There was a marine layer when I started, making the light beautifully opalescent. Here is the work in progress:

Short Sands Fall, WIP, 10"x8" oil on canvas panel, plein air

This is another painting I need to get a better picture of. I might be just leaving this painting as is in spite of it not being completely finished. It makes a great study and reference painting. I plan to return to Shorty this coming week. 

Thursday I needed to regroup and clean and organize my gear so I worked in the studio on my gear and drawing skills. That will be in a future post.

Friday was a very challenging day. I stepped far outside my comfort zone and painted at the seasonal opening of our local Farmer's Market. it is a somewhat small one but growing larger and every nook and cranny of the small area is filled. I found a corner to squeeze myself into and my set up in and painted, or at least tried to!

Usually, the first hour or two is fairly crowded but then the crowds thin out a bit toward the end. Not this time! I only caught 30 second glimpses of my subject, one of the farmer's booth, before the crowds blocked the view for 15 or more minutes at a time. It took me an hour to get an incomplete Notan sketch for reference! The market goes for 3 hours from 5pm to 8pm. I was finally able to see the whole booth five minutes before closing time, when they were packing up!

Here is what I mostly saw:

The booth I was trying to paint is behind the booth with the blue awning. I was able to get a brief Notan sketch and some color and composition notes on the painting.

This was the first time I have painted in such a venue. It is also a departure from my usual seascapes and landscapes. Quite a challenge! I will be returning next week to a different spot. So far, I have decided to make a few changes in my approach. Because I would like to get a completed painting of my spot from this week, I plan to go back a bit before the market opens with my sketchbook and get in some of the important details that I wasn't able to see due to the crowds. I will also make more efficient use of my time by keeping the sketchbook near by to sketch people, once I have my composition down, while I am waiting for the crowd to thin enough to paint.

We shall see how it goes next Friday. This is a pretty steep learning curve for me and a bit nerve-wracking as a lot of friendly people stop by to see what I am doing. I am hoping I will have some good progress to show by the last market of the season in late September.

That was my week! It feels great to get out and paint. I will be out again next week and will be working on drawing skills in the studio. I am trying hard to get a daily drawing practice going. I also want to get back to painting wave studies. So much to do!

Finally, I will be starting to put paintings up for sale. I need to buy art supplies as I am getting low.

I will try to post more during the week so these posts won't be so long.

-Renee

Short Sands Fall Study

© 2015 R.L. Delight, Short Sands Fall Study, 10"x8", oil on canvas

Every now and then I take a stab at painting the falls at the north end of Short Sands. Most of the time there is tiny improvement and I get a little closer to what I want to convey. The cliffs in this area are actually formed from ancient seabed. The "rock" is soft and crumbly and has many layers. It has been carved by sea, wind, and rain. It is quite beautiful and has been very challenging for me to depict to my satisfaction. I learn something more every time I paint it.

I painted in the late afternoon when the tide was just coming to its highest point. What I have the hardest time with, along with a few other things,  is depicting the scale of the falls. I am actually a bit of a distance away since it was high tide. During the lower tides, it is possible to get to the foot of the falls. They are far, far larger than what they look like here. The shadows in this area change quite rapidly and dramatically too, no matter what time of the year. I will keep trying. With every study I see more and more. Here are a few pictures of work in progress and the area.

As can be seen in the picture with my easel, the area I was painting was in shadow within a fairly short time-span. I have been doing my Notan sketches before starting to paint and am finding them immensely helpful, specially when the light and shadows change so fast. The last picture is looking south as I head back to the car which is about 1/2 a mile away through a beautiful old growth forest trail. I plan to paint this view too but will need to wait for the right tide. The waves were much larger than they looked and quite powerful.

Today I got my new two-year park pass and worked on my gear and in the studio. We will be having a warm weekend here on the coast.

Enjoy the weekend!

-Renee

Lurking on the Horizon

 © 2015 R.L. Delight, Lurking on the Horizon, 9"x12", oil on canvas panel, plein air

I decided to head up to Cannon Beach to paint yesterday to paint at Ecola State Park. My decision was mainly based on two reasons. The first is that my two year park pass expires at the end of this month and, while I will get a new one, I seem to want to cram in as many visits as I can in the remaining time. I am sure there is a psychological reason for that! The second reason is that I wanted to stop at the White Bird Art Gallery to have a look at a couple of artist's work. I admire both of these artists and both are local.

I stopped at the art gallery first. It is always a treat to go and enjoy and admire the art, one I don't partake in nearly enough. I was not disappointed either! I even managed to find a parking place in Cannon Beach the day before a very busy weekend. Memorial Day weekend kicks off our busiest season on the coast. This year, probably due to the nice weather, seems to be busier than usual, even during the off season.

After the gallery, I headed up to Ecola State Park. I wanted to paint at Chapman Point again. The day was foggy but I love the mysterious diffused light. It brings out the most amazing colors in the sea. When I reached my painting spot, Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach's breathtaking icon, was barely visible. I have been putting off painting Haystack Rock because of its famous icon status. I wanted to wait until I was ready, but I loved the misty illusiveness of it hanging on the horizon and decided to put it in. Of course once I started in, the fog thickened and it wasn't visible. I wasn't worried though, I knew it would be back. Sure enough, it reappeared and I was ready for it.

Here are a few more pictures of the day:

Chapman Point looking toward Haystack Rock.

A foggy view with Crescent Beach

A visit from a crow friend hoping to be invited to tea.

Breathtaking beauty.

Today is a catch-up day for the small things that need to be done to make life go a bit more smoothly. I know I am spoiled with the solitude that can be found in such a beautiful area but I find it challenging to be out painting on a holiday weekend. I don't mind talking to people when I am out painting but when they outnumber me by such large amounts it is hard to get work done and concentrate. I will be working close to home until next week.

Have an enjoyable, safe Memorial Day weekend and remember to take time to honor the spirit of the holiday!

-Renee

Contemplating Spirit

Yesterday I joined a local group of artists and painted on the grounds of a local church, St. Catherine's. This church is one of my favorites as it was designed by a local architect with Spirit in mind. It is beautiful, inside and out. Nature plays a big roll in the design here.

The afternoon shadows were lovely and I was drawn to this quiet contemplative spot. I admit, I misjudged the direction of the path of the sun. I will need to pull out my compass when in unfamiliar spots! This was a bit of a change for me, which is always a good thing to do. I have come to the realization that I really don't like human-made artifacts in my paintings and I prefer the wild places to those that are deliberately shaped by people. It is a beautiful spot, just a different kind of beauty.

The wild places touch my soul more than cultivated spots. They call to me.

Here are two pictures of the final painting. The first was taken on the spot before packing up. The second was taken this morning with filtered overcast light. I love the light in the first one. The second one is nice too but gives a different mood. This gives me food for thought about photographing my work. Something I will have to work on.

© 2015 R.L. Delight, Contemplating Spirit, 6"x8", oil on canvas panel, plein air.

© 2015 R.L. Delight, Contemplating Spirit, 6"x8", oil on canvas panel, plein air

I am heading up to Cannon Beach this afternoon to paint. Back to the wild places...

-Renee

Change Over

© 2015 R.L. Delight, "Change Over", 10"x8", oil on linen panel, plein air + studio

I am finally able to get out to many of my favorite spots to paint. I even managed the hike into Short Sands last week! The painting above, however, is not from Short Sands beach in Oswald West State Park but from a few miles north, at Falcon Cove. This was painted at a vacation rental, owned by a friend. My mate was doing some work there so I went along too and painted. Oh my! I couldn't have asked for better conditions or a more beautiful spot.

I didn't quite finish the painting before we left. Not only did I have a small interruption from the garden maintenance crew but the light, tides, and color of the ocean shifted dramatically. I don't usually see such a dramatic color change in the ocean over such a short period of time. It was beautiful to behold. The name of the piece is derived from all the changes that happened as I painted. The tide turned, the light, the color of the sea, and wave direction changed, and there was a change in color from the horizon to where the ocean approached the breakwater.  I finished the painting yesterday in the studio using my Notan sketch and memory. Here is a picture of the painting on site while still in progress:

"Change Over" WIP

I did not make major changes, just a few corrections and finishing. I will probably be putting this one up for sale. I want to consider if I want to use it for a reference for a larger painting before I do that.

Since this is such a beautiful spot, here are a few pictures of the view I took:

Cape Falcon looking north to Cannon Beach

Looking out to sea.

Needless to say, I could happily stay there at least a month painting all day, every day. The ocean energy is quite fierce at this spot as it is on the cliff side. I can imagine it would be intense during a storm! Such beauty here where I live. I am fortunate.

-Renee

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