Friday

Plein Air Rockies 2012 competition -day 2


 "Mrs. Walsh's Colours", 11x14" plein air oil on board

The second morning I went to a wonderful little garden right on the edge of downtown, created in honour of -you guessed it -Mrs Walsh! The space that was originally slated for more t-shirt shops and condos was rescued by Mrs Walsh and turned into a public garden. There wasn't much blooming while we were there, but when I saw the turquoise of the sage-family plants lit up by the sun I was hooked. Each participant in the competition could enter one piece painted in the garden as part of the show, and it had its own ribbon and award. The photo above is not very good, as the painting was very wet and shiny when I took the photo, but I think you get the idea. I didn't win the prize, but the judge from the quick draw did chose my painting as her personal favorite of the show, so I was very pleased!

"Fall River Calm", 11x14" plein air oil on board

I began this piece that same afternoon. By this time the wind had begun to blow and I nearly froze painting under the shade of a huge, old ponderosa pine, while my hubby was getting sunburned sitting 5 feet beside me reading a book and waiting for me to finish. I only got half of the painting done that day and had to return to finish it another day.

You might be wondering how I fared with my foot in a cast! Well, it definitely cramped my style as I could only paint within a few feet of the car, but the biggest effect I felt was that I just didn't have the stamina to paint that I have had in the past. I guess I hadn't taken into account the effect of being handicapped for the previous 7 weeks, and what that had done to degrade my physical conditioning. I was very thankful that my dear hubby went to all my painting spots with me, carting my gear for me, and then he entertained himself by hiking up whatever was nearby or by riding his bike for miles on the very steep park roads. He got tired physically and I was wiped emotionally and mentally at the end of the day.

All in all I am glad that I went, but I only produced 7 paintings compared to the 14 that I did the previous year, and I went back more than once for most of them -something I don't usually do. I did discover that it is a good thing to do if you can catch similar weather and light, because on the return I tended to simplify things which ended up in stronger paintings I think.

NEWS FLASH!!! I have just posted my workshop schedule for September and October on the right hand side of this blog, and on the 'Classes' section of my website. Perhaps you will be able to join me for an art adventure?

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

Share |

Wednesday

Plein Air Rockies 2012 competition -day 1


"Cascade -Big Thompson", 9x12" plein air oil on board
SOLD

This is the first painting I did during the Plein Air Rockies 2012 painting competition. We arrived on Saturday morning and I painted this from beside the long twisting road up to Estes Park -almost 20 miles of canyon with the Big Thompson River swooshing down, pretty amazing!
"Nature's Sculpture", 11x14" plein air oil on board

I began this painting after supper on the first day. I chose a panel that I had prepared with Gamblin's Oil Ground, which was way more slick on my board than I am used to (love it on canvas, but without any tooth, it became like glass). The paint just seemed to slide around, so I took advantage of this fact, and did some glazing and wiping away to develop the layers, as well as taking a rubber scrapper to add texture in some areas. I came back to this spot twice more before I finished this painting, which I entered into the competition, along with the one at the top of this post. I figured that it may not have been my very best work, but I doubted it would be ignored!! There is a neat mix of transparent vs opaque passages in the painting which makes it very compelling.

These paintings are in the show at the Cultural Arts Centre in Estes Park until the end of September if you are in the area and would like to see the show -it is amazing, and I am proud to be in such fine company -but more about that in the days to come : )

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)


Share |

Sunday

"Making A Way", plein air oil painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Making A Way", plein air oil on board, 12 x 9"
$250 unframed, click here to purchase

This is the last post from my Plein Air Retreat at Diamond Willow Artisan Retreat in June. I did this painting outside when the rain finally stopped at 2pm on the last day of the workshop (which was to end at 4pm!). Talk about cutting it close! All that rain had made the little creek channels swell into mini rivers.


This is Rodney and Karima working from the kitchen windows. Rodney was very happy to produce his first painting ever!
And here is a group shot of everyone that took part in our wonderful, if not wet, adventure. Thanks guys, it was great fun!!

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, commission your own painting, or contact me about a workshop, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

Share |

Thursday

"Diamond Willow In Flood", plein air acrylic by Sharon Lynn Williams


 "Diamond Willow In Flood", 9x12" plein air acrylic on board
$250 unframed, click here to purchase

It has been quite a while since I have posted and a lot has been going on in my life. The trip to the family reunion in St Louis was wonderful -you should have seen us at the airport -Dave had to deal with his Dad in a wheelchair, me in a wheelchair (too far to hobble on crutches) and all our luggage!! The Air Canada staff was extremely helpful once we got our boarding passes, got to really give them credit.

Then we were off to the cottage for 2 weeks. It was quite a challenge dealing with the rocky terrain on crutches, but I did manage to have a great time. My dear hubby had bought me a XeroSoc, which is a heavy latex sock that went over my cast to above my knee, and it has a bulb that you use to suck the air out of the sock. The result was that I could actually go swimming, which was great in the strong heat.

We got back and then I turned around and went on a 3 day plein air painting trip with my friend Patti -more to follow on that! I am home packing today as we leave tomorrow for 10 days, going to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. I will be once again participating in the Plein Air Rockies painting competition in Estes Park (kind of like Banff here). So I will have a LOT to post about when I get back. PLUS I have firmed up the plans for TUSCANY 2013 painting trip -STAY TUNED!!!!

 I thought I would get caught up showing you my work from this summer (before its over!). I taught a weekend painting retreat at Diamond Willow Artisan Retreat in June. Unfortunately it rained from when I left home until about 3 hours before the end of the workshop on Sunday! Good thing that Diamond Willow has lots of large windows and covered balconies, so we did our plein air from the comfort of inside (still counts as we were painting from life...) Above I am doing the demo for the painting shown at the start of this post.
 Holly and Ken working in watercolours on the covered porch.
 Sheila and Sharon working in oils, keeping mostly dry.

 Our hostess Pat doing a great job of multitasking, while keeping our bellies full with all sorts of wonderful food. I will post more on the retreat tomorrow.

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)


Share |