Morning in the Pumpkin Patch

 It's always a beautiful day when I'm painting at Shreves Pumpkin Patch - even when I'm caught out in the rain!  I had paint on my panel surface when it really started raining, so I just kept on painting until I was done!  It was warm and I had my raincoat on and a palm leaf hat, so I was perfectly comfortable!  I poured the water out of my palette when I finished and prepared to do another.  So happy this painting has a new home with this family, too!  I look forward to this place all year long!  Painting number 3915 in 3915 days. 

Retired

 I saw this scene as I headed to Willow Creek this morning, and I could envision the painting and the name instantly.  So, of course I had to return as soon as I finished up at Willow Creek.  The row of pump jacks were so interesting - and like a puzzle to sketch out!  I love a complex painting challenge,  and this was a fun one to paint. Focus is everything as those lines and angels go in, then the color defines the masses as ink pushes up the contrast. I love that this painting is going to the bank in Main Street, to join a few others I have hanging there!  Painting number 3914 in 3914 days, and day 30 of the #stradaeasel challenge. 

Golden Hour at the Saddle Club

My first ever Quick Paint at a Saddle Club - and it was SUPER FUN!  I could paint here every day and never tire of this!  Tonight we were scheduled at the Wayne County Saddle Club, and cowpokes and their horses were on hand for painting during the 2 hour paint.  The grounds are lovely, the light was perfect, and it was an amazing night for painting! I had so much fun, and finished early to boot!  I've been thinking of painting western art lately - and this confirms that direction! Painting number 3913 in 3913 days, and day 29 of the #stradaeasel challenge. 

In the Pumpkin Patch

 

I know autumn is here when I'm painting pumpkins in Fairfield!  I LOVE painting in this pumpkin patch, and try to get here soon after arrival.  I waited until the early morning rain let up, but still the sprinkling hit half way there.  I set up with my panel tilted slightly down, so I could get the paint on it before the surface could get wet.  At one point it really rained hard, but I had my rain gear on and kept painting.  When I finished, I dumped the water out of me easel and prepared to paint another!  Painting number 3912 in 3912 days, and day 28 #stradaeasel challenge.

Dramatic Clouds over the Corn Fields

 I stared at those clouds the whole drive to Fairfield, anticipating a perfect painting.  Once I found high ground and started painting, the raindrops started.  I worked faster until I had to duck for cover.  After seeking shelter I was able to return to finish this up.  Those clouds had moved to the south, but the other colors remained.  I absolutely love painting farmland after so many town paintings of late.  Painting number 3911 in 3911 days. 

Bone Gap Silos

 

I love exploring Bone Gap with ink and watercolor!  This old  silo won't stand forever!  Already crumbling, when I saw this I knew I must paint it!  Painting number 3910 in 3910 days. 

Butterflies and Sunchokes

 

I LOVE sketching the butterflies in my garden while listening to cricket song!  It is so very relaxing, such I needed on this day.  A painting very like this one was accepted into a juried show, and I could not find it anywhere!  Normally very organized and methodical, I have been extra busy as of late, so thought I must have misplaced it. After painting, framing and tagging this one for the show, I realized that my missing painting was already juried into the previous show at the same gallery. I only realized it when they handed it to me when I was dropping off the new paintings!  I'm so happy it didn't sell, so I could turn it in for the Manhatten Edition of the Flint Hills Show through the Buttonwood Art Space.  And now I have another, a little brighter and bolder to enter into something else.  Painting number 3906 in 3906 days. 

Carmel Farmer's Market

 

So THIS is the 8:00 version of the quick paint at the farmer's market. I thought the event started at 8, and it really started at 9:00!  Already in my groove, i kept working, and finished this one up just in time to start the next one - lol!  The light was amazing and I had the whole hour free, so why not?  This painting is now showing at All Things Carmel on Main Street 🤩🎨 day 21 of the #stradaeasel challenge and painting number 3905 in 3905 days. 

Bub's Burgers

 

While Mom and I were waiting for our food to arrive , I painted the classic local icon Bub's Burgers!  It's a great place to get a burger or ice cream in Carmel! I love the charming, vintage building still standing as it was so many years ago.  Progress approaches from all sides, but Bub's remains the same!  This painting is now showing at All Things Carmel on Main Street!  Stop by to see this in person!  Painting number 3904 in 3904 days. 

Indiana Design Center

 

So excited this painting won the Indiana Design Center Purchase Award!  It was the very last thing I painted for this event, finishing just before turn in time.  After walking all sides of this building with the bold lines, I decided on this entry. The front side was definitely more glorious, but the strong lines and changing light on this side pulled me in.  Rain threatened as the skies darkened enough for the interior lights to shine a glow from within.  Working fast, I painted that light even as I finished my sketch in pen and ink.  I love when a painting simply falls into place.  Thanks to the Indiana Design Center for choosing my painting and the organizers of Carmel on Canvas for hosting such a fun plein air event!  ♥️🎨 day 19 #stradaeasel challenge

Monan Blvd and Main Street

What a vibrant downtown arts district to paint!  Carmel, Indiana is an amazing place to visit and capture in ink and watercolor. 

Morning at the Farmer's Market

 I'm so honored this painting won the Quick Paint this morning at the Farmer's Market by popular vote!  The Carmel Farmer's Market is the nicest one I've ever been to - upscale in every way, and very paintable!  I thought the quick paint started at 8am, so started a different painting similar to this one - and finished it before beginning this one shortly after 9am! This one then had to be framed and turned in by 10:30, where the public voted for the winners.  Then tonight, this painting was honored with a Merit Award and sold to a lovely couple, too! Painting number 3901 in 3901 days. 

Downtown Carmel on Main

 

We're having so much fun painting on the street in downtown Carmel, Indiana!  This place has grown so much since I first started painting here, and the whole arts district is vibrant with life.  As people walked and shopped, we'd visit and paint the special details of this place.  It was a bit chilly this morning, but I finally warmed up after leaving this shady spot! Painting number 3900 in 3900 days. 

Zinnia Garden

Oh my!  I love painting a zinnia garden in full bloom!  What a glorious sight to capture in paint, especially in oils.  Carefully marking the masses with color and value, this painting unfolded as I worked.  Getting to use full strength oil paint on those vibrant blooms is so much fun - as seldom do I get the chance to do that.  These zinnias are really a celebration of color - and I'm so happy I get to paint them!  Painting number 3899 in 3899 days. 

Two Goats

 

These goats are the sweetest!  They are super fun to paint, and I LOVE seeing them just beyond our front lawn!  We all go out and hang with them, it's just so relaxing to watch them mow.  They've now moved past this area to the pole barn,  to start working their miracles with the brush. These guys have us seriously considering a few goats of our own!  Painting number 3898 in 3898 days. 

Two Zinnias

 

I am painting my indoor zinnias since I didn't come to my easel until after dark!  What started as trimming a few trees on the wooded path through the raspberry patch, turned into a work until dark day.  With no daylight left and no desire to go back or for a nocturne paint, I turned once again to my hydronic garden for floral support!  These blooms just get bigger and bigger, and in fact, I had to take the plant out of my Gardyn and set it up Kratky style in a large mason jar. It was not getting enough water in the small cup of the garden set up.  I chose to plant my collected seed in there, knowing it would be far too large one day.  I love having those blooms in the house! Thank goodness for hydronics! Painting number 3897 in 3897 days, abs day13 of the stradaeasel challenge.  It seems that some of my posts have not been posting recently.  When I get a little time, I'm going to have to go back through and reload the missing ones.  

Oak Street Mansion

 

What a gorgeous morning to sketch at Oak Street Mansion with the Urban Sketchers KC!  We normally meet the first Saturday of each month in a different Kansas City location, and this was my month to host our event!  This lovely, historic boutique hotel is up the street from the Nelson Atkins Art Gallery, nestled in a neighborhood of grand homes.  What fun to get to paint here on such a beautiful day.  Perfect weather and historic architecture - win-win! Painting number 3895 in 3895 days. 

Garden Phlox

 

What a gorgeous evening for painting in the garden!  It's been a very busy day of housework, yard work and chores, so getting to enjoy a little beauty with my paints is a treat.  These tall garden phlox have bloomed into November before (in a wet year), and I hope to nurture them through the heat and drought through October.  They could be lovely for our son's wedding here, with plenty of coaxing!  Since they have rallied through the worst of it, I have high hopes for them!  Now,  I'm off to finally clean and reload my oil palette - it is WAY past time, lol! Painting number 3893 in 3893 days. 

Zinnia and American Lady

 

The butterflies absolutely LOVE my zinnias - especially this American Lady!  She and two silver spotted skippers are constantly in attendance.  I like to spend a little time in the garden just observing, watching the activity of living things.  There are so many bees and butterflies moving in and out among the blooms, and the occasional skink comes out to bask in the sun.  When I see something new, I look it up, and learn a little something, too.  A quick paint and I'm on to the tending of these flowers - and many more. The work is endless here, but the life bursting forth from these beds is sweet reward. Painting number 3892 in 3892 days. 

Trumpet Vine

ink and watercolor on handmade paper

 

I love painting these old fashioned trumpet vines - much more than I like weeding them out of my other flower beds! Grandma had them growing on the cellar, and I can remember her keeping them at bay.  Not realizing how out of hand they could become, I let all things grow outside their boundaries, with reckless abandon!  I thin and transplant when necessary, but I will almost never pull flowers like weeds! As a result these beauties pop up everywhere, and the cellar has a whole side edged with this like a hedge!  The hummingbirds especially love it, and they dart in and out of the blooms constantly. I'm painting small as night approaches, as I am running out of time again.  The days are growing shorter, and I am already missing those extra minutes of daylight!  Painting number 3891 in 3891 days. 

Geraniums in Great-Grandma's Teapot

 

Geraniums are one of my favorite summer flowers to paint - and these are in my Great Grandmother's teapot!  I seem to edit a scene for a painting, without even realizing that I've done it.  I often don't see the things that weaken a composition until another points it out to me.  In this painting, I didn't realize I was overlooking the stonecrop that spilled from the teapot - until I looked at this photo!  It would only detract from the painting to add it in, so I didn't see it!  It's funny how skills progress into an auto-pilot process until pushing towards the finish.  That's when things kick into high gear for me, and I want to fully describe my feelings in a place - with paint.  All I strive for is to improve a little each and every day.  Painting number 3890 in 3890 days. 

Hydrangea Bouquet

 

After a busy day of hosting family birthdays and more, I'm enjoying a little chill time at day's end.  Too dark now to paint in my gardens, I'm painting the hydrangeas on the table, from my garden.  These Little Lime beauties start as a fresh lime green color, then ripen into warm and pink tinged blooms, still with the tiniest of green glimmering.  They grow larger and fuller every year, and are a shining jewel in the garden.  I'm so lucky to get to paint them whenever I want!  Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day! Painting number 3889 in 3889 days 

Country Road

 

Oh, how I love painting old country roads, and Missouri is full of them! Winding through the countryside, the landscape unfolds into countless paintings.  Love spending quiet moments among the sounds of birds and bees, and it is a joy to capture this place in oils.  Painting number 3888 in 3888 days. 

Sunflower Solo

 

Oh boy! The sunflowers are blooming like crazy now!  I look forward to painting these beauties all year long, and not storms or heat has kept them from their glory.  What began as a chance wild sunflower in this bed several years ago, has become a whole sunflower section at the front of a raised vegetable garden!  I thinned them out early, transplanting some of the volunteer seedlings to other beds. Two of these were blown sideways, and one has bloomed from the ground, as 8 or 9 stand tall and loaded.  They are wild and wonderful, and it is so fun to watch the birds pluck seeds from the heads as pollinators of all kinds flock to them!  With oil, I'm painting this sunflower now, after a fun day of working on the gardens.  I hope to paint these multiple times before they fade for another year!  Painting number 3887 in 3887 days.