I've gotten numerous questions about my car plein-air setup (for painting in the car, not painting pictures of cars), so here is the official introduction to my car pochade box.     This was originally a fancy box with a plush, velvet interior that held a set of silverware. I scavenged it from the dumpster of my apartment when I lived in Syracuse 20 years ago, and over the years, I've made adjustments and additions until it became what you see today. It measures approximately 11" x 14", so it is portable and light enough to carry around. Before I received my Daytripper Easel from P ..read more

I remember last year, my plan was to blog through the whole Adirondack Plein Air Festival, and I think I managed one day. This year, a month has past since the event, and I'm just getting around to it now. Ah, how the unbridled enthusiasm of youth has faded... lol! I've just had a lot going on, but better late than never. So without further ado, the Adirondack Plein Air Festival Painting Extravaganza 2023.     Monday:  This year, because I started a new job with an accrual time-off system, I just barely had enough time to cover the four official days of painting. That mean ..read more

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting up with fellow plein air aficionado, Carrie Pill.   We spent a Sunday morning enjoying/suffering through all that plein air has to offer: the immediacy of all the subtle colors unseeable in a photograph; the entertainment of tunes by a cover band, wafting over from a nearby street festival; the frustrations of weather that seems to delight in raining not long after you start painting, all the way until you almost finish; the discomfort of stifling heat when the rain ended but the humidity did not; the joy of hearing someone nearby spontaneously bur ..read more

Every spring, it has become tradition to visit my favorite waterfall and make a record of it, plein air style. It was the first waterfall (big one) that I had ever attempted, so now I feel compelled to chart my progress through it.    Last year, I was blessed by two otters who cavorted past. Although they remained hidden this year, I did have my camera ready and remembered to film the painting process in the hopes it might help/inspire others. Water is very intimidating, and falling water even more so. I have to psych myself up with lots of positive self-talk.    A problem ..read more

Around this time last year, I announced that this was going to be my Year of Trees. I had been actively avoiding painting trees because they're hard and I would get discouraged. My announcement was supposed to help keep me accountable so that I would face my fears and practice painting trees. As I review now, I see I have indeed painted some trees. But they're primarily all without foliage ... ugh. The foliage! Bane of my existence ...    [Side note: I don't feel so bad avoiding trees, because when I took a workshop with Famous Artist before the pandemic, this other lady and I were ..read more

In a departure from my usual ramblings, I'd like to share some more practical information for the naturalists out there. On my winter snowshoe adventures, I've come across many types of animal tracks, and while I've found a lot of information on how to identify most animals tracks in the snow, I've yet to find a comprehensive guide to identifying plein air painters. Thus, I have created my own illustrated guide with the photographic evidence I have gathered. You're welcome.    While the tracks of the plein air painter can be easily confused with those of other humans, there is one d ..read more

Hello!    I can't believe we're more than halfway through October. I've been meaning to chronicle September's paintings for posterity earlier, but with one thing and another (and stupid work!!!), I'm just getting around to it now. So without further ado, my paintings from the Strada Easel 30-day painting challenge.    (And so we're all on the same page, this was the thing I was doing last month, hosted by the Strada Easel company. The challenge: paint from life every day for the month of September and share your efforts on Instagram or Facebook. The reward: glory and honor ..read more

Well. So much for my plans to blog throughout the Adirondack Plein Air Festival. It ended yesterday, and I spend much of the morning and early afternoon today snoozing. But what a great and valuable experience! It's all a blur now, but here's my after action report, as far as I can remember.    Day 1: Getting there and signing in. Then going out to paint under a bridge. Then a very awkward mixer in the evening, which is not my thing at all, followed by some nocturne painting. Sometime I will have to write about the unnerving and kind encounters I had during that adventure.  &nb ..read more

Day 1 The 2022 Adirondack Plein Air Festival begins! I will try to write about it each day, but no promises. Long days painting in hot sun do not for an energetic blogger make. I checked in mid-morning and got my bag of swag (!!!), then cruised around town, ultimately returning to a spot I have passed in previous visits to Saranac -- one) because I remembered the interesting shapes and architecture, and two) because it was under a bridge in the shade. Deliciously cool and breezy! I also knew it was the spot for the day because I saw my Patron Animal, a mink, frolicking along the edge of the ..read more

It's rare that I actually really like something I paint — AND actually remember to photograph the painting process. This piece is one that actually mostly satisfies both those requirements. So I thought I'd share how I went about it.      STEP 1: Roughing in the design with a thin mix of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue.   You will notice the blurred image of a scraped painting. This was actually my third attempt to get something satisfactory on this canvas. I scraped the previous two attempts from other days and mixed what remained together, creating the brown undertone ..read more