My Plein Air Adventures

Plein Air is where I share stories of how I attempt to capture the beauty of the outdoors through painting and observation.

  • Lessons Learned,  My Plein Air Adventures,  Scapes - Coastal and Land

    Thoughts of Spring

    I can’t help myself, whenever the sun come out this time of year I get spring fever! The days are noticeably longer and I imagine the sun is actually warmer. So much so that I started a painting of Rockwood Park in the spring. I needed a change of colour…just kidding. Fresh off the Easel Spring Promises 24 x 20” oil on gallery wrap canvas I’m so pleased with this painting. You may recall that I have been focusing much of my Plein Air work on painting skies. What I have learned from all this is that the sky needs to be painted in one session. It is so important…

  • Helpful Hints,  Lessons Learned,  My Painting Process,  My Plein Air Adventures

    My Journey into Plein Air…so far

    This is a Learning Journey Initially my goal was to focus on sea and sky, and in particular, skies. For years I painted with watercolours mainly because I was confident with the media and it’s portability.  To be fair, when I started Plein Air painting I was pretty much an accomplished studio watercolour painter.  I thought the transition to Plein Air would be easy for me. For the most part it was. My first attempt with water mixable oils was another story altogether. I was attempting to paint in a high altitude desert in Wyoming. I certainly didn’t know my materials and certainly was unprepared for the dry mountain air. …

  • Artwork,  My Painting Process,  My Plein Air Adventures,  Scapes - Coastal and Land,  Travelling Colours

    May you live in interesting times…

    My father had a quote that he used to like to say quite often and it really was both a blessing and a curse. May you live in interesting times Well, 2020 proved to be a clear reflection of the meaning of that expression. So much to be grateful for and yet so much uncertainty. 2020 clearly a year of many changes Personally I made a number of changes in my world. I made the decision to leave my day job so I could dedicate more time to painting. This was truly one of the best decisions ever. Ironically though, with this decision, came the reality of isolating away in…

  • Events,  My Plein Air Adventures,  Travelling Colours

    To Santa Fe and back

    This trip had been loosely planned for a year  I mean we all registered on the last day of PACE 17 when we hear it would be in Santa Fe.  Other than that, we waited until January to book flights and the hotel room for the trip home. And maybe just maybe, we should have really scrutinized the schedule first.  Who has time to be that planful? On the road again Two friends and i planned to meet at the airport in Albuquerque, rent a car (really really expensive) and drive to Santa Fe. I Googled the satellite maps to look at the roads to mentally prepare me for the…

  • Events,  My Plein Air Adventures,  Travelling Colours

    Memories of California

    I am somewhat jet lagged after just returning home from almost three weeks in magical California. Seriously with all the flight delays my head hit the pillow at 4:30am! Other than trying to get home, it was truly an amazing experience.  Although it was seriously chillier than I expected it would be.  But the sun was shining almost every day and the sky was so blue. Never had the chance to share the experience while I was travelling.  Happiness is being that kind of busy. PACE 2017 – This is a lot of what it was about The opportunity to paint along side of plein air artists, watch what other…