May 16, 2016
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late snowfall
Things haven't been going too well lately and I'm getting more stressed out, but I didn't want to complain, so I've waited for somethings more interesting to write about. Recently, I got the idea to try painting on site, a little scene or more likely, a tree. Though my main focus is wildlife painting, a few years ago, I gave myself permission to try painting landscapes and skies in a small format, such as 5x7 inches. I've done a few from my window or imagination, but a few weeks ago I was at a little park by Lake Erie and really wanted to paint the water. With that in mind, I spent a week or so putting together a compact watercolor field kit so that I can take a few supplies with me and hopefully finish a scene while I'm actually looking at it. I've sketched a lot from life and have taken projects started inside outside to work on, just for a change, but I've never tried doing any 'plein air' painting. Usually, people do this in art school or early in their career, but as usual, I'm backwards. I'm hoping that the results are decent, at least part of the time, but I'm mainly doing this for the experience.
However, the weather has other ideas. It actually snowed yesterday morning, covered the ground and roofs. It was so weird seeing the white stuff surrounding the sprouting hostas in the flower bed by the back door. Evidently, my western suburb wasn't the only one affected, as the local paper showed photos from the east side of Cleveland coated in white, too.
Here's the link: snow in May
I don't ever recall snow this late in the season before.Last year it snowed at the end of April, and I was astonished, but it had been a cold, snowy winter, so was understandable.Very different from the mild one this year. Now that I've got my field painting kit ready to go, I'm quite eager to try it out, but it definitely needs to be a lot warmer before I do.
Comments (3)
I like the idea of a travel field kit for painting. I used to paint, years ago.
Snow this late does seem odd. Reading your post surprised me, but then again, weather patterns are changing all over the last few years, so perhaps it shouldn't be a shock after all.
Stay warm, be well. We will enjoy seeing the fruits of your experiences at a later date.
The water color class at the museum does the plein air painting and some of the results are spectacular! I hope the weather cooperates - we have had frost and flood warnings. The rain last night sounded a little "crunchy" but it was too late and too dark to investigate.
Can't wait to see your painting!
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