A Dream of Climbing Roses

A Dream of Climbing Roses
Oil on panel, 12x9
Overland Park Arboretum
Stems Plein Air Event

After two classes and an awards picnic for my oldest grandson, I headed over to the arboretum to paint with Crystal Manning.  This landscape was begging to be painted - and paint it we did!  I have painted it at least 2 previous times, but this year it is simply overflowing with roses!  The first bloom is the fullest - and I wanted to take full advantage of the timing.  I only had two hours to paint before I needed to get to Five Petals in Lee's Summit to paint for the Fourth Fridays event.  So, I slapped on the paint in a rather mad and fast dash - and not in my usual order, either.  Instead, I painted intuitively, hopping from mass to mass in random order.  I wish I had taken a photo of the process, because at one point, it looked crazy with all those darks marked out with pink rose masses - and plenty of orange underpainting showing!  I really didn't tie together the masses until almost the end - and then I did it in a hop-scotch fashion.  Perhaps it was just a reflection of my chaotic day - and the therapy of painting with abandon under a shady tree surrounded with all that beauty, and visiting besides.  I guess this is about as close as I get to painting on auto-pilot!  Painting number 508 in as many days.