Rue Saint-Dominique

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I'm back at my easel after a busy, fun-filled summer that included a two week vacation in Paris. We took lots of photos while we were there, so I plan to spend this autumn painting Paris scenes and rekindling fond memories of that enchanting city.

Saffron Fields Vineyard

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Saffron Fields Vineyard was on our list of beautiful places to stop and paint lavender. The vineyard is located in an idyllic country setting in Yamhill, Oregon. It offers a panoramic view so breathtaking that it was hard to settle down and focus on painting. The vineyard was kind enough to let us set our easels up on their tasting room patio, so we stayed relatively cool during the late afternoon. Since we had to drive back to Eugene, we couldn't partake of their wine - however, we each bought a bottle to bring home. Delicious! It's definitely worth making another trip to Yamhill, just to visit Saffron Fields.

Ravencroft Lavender

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During the Lavender Festival paint out, my plein air buddy, Patti Hanneman McNutt, and I found a beautiful lavender field located in Mulino, Oregon, in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. It was hot, hot, hot that day...over 100 degrees. The intoxicating scent of lavender and the sound of buzzing bees were almost hypnotic. We found a tad bit of shade under the treess and powered through our paintings. It was a dreamy day.

Lavender Time - Second Place!!!

Well, guess what happened! I entered the Willamette Valley Lavender Festival Plein Air Paint Out and placed second in the open division! Who knew? I'm gob-smacked! Completely unexpected, and I didn't quite believe it when I heard...I thought perhaps a mistake had been made. I'm just over the moon about this, and feeling so encouraged to keep on keepin' on. What a delightful surprise.

This week I'll be spending four days at the Oregon Coast paint out. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to do some plein air and meet other Oregon painters. Life is good right now!

Shorty

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Years ago, I collected little clay-like figurines created by Tom Clark, Cairn Studios. Clark's little sculptures are whimsical gnomes and wood spirits and each sports a profusion of leaves and acorns, along with an embedded coin, at the base. As time passes, my interests have changed and I'm more concerned with minimizing than with collecting. Nevertheless,  I'm still fond of these little gnomes - they make me smile whenever I look at them.

This gnome is Shorty. Shorty has strawberries in addition to the ubiquitous leaves and acorns at his base.

Jackson School Lavender Farm

This farm is on Jackson School Road in North Plains, along the Oregon Sunset Corridor. It's one of the farms Patti McNutt, Sarah Peroutka, and I visited during the Lavender Festival Paint Out. We've been having a blast painting lavender! The weather has been hot, hot, hot, but as long as we can find a shady tree we're good.

This little hut was sitting next to the lavender field - not sure what it's used for - it seemed too small to be a shed, but it looked charming sitting in front of those huge trees.

Green Apple with Flowers

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We're enjoying an abundance of color along with beautiful summer-like weather.

Florabunda and Daisies

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The garden is going crazy this June and the roses are especially beautiful.  I've been following Sarah Sedwick's postings recently. She's been creating some amazing paintings with limited palettes. I took a page from Sarah's book and attempted a limited the palette for this painting. I used ultramarine blue, cad red, and lemon yellow. It was a bit of a challenge, but overall, it was easier to control the colors when there were fewer choices.

Running in Circles

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The cherries appear to chasing each other around the vase - it's appropriate since this painting had me chasing my tail!

Color Therapy

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Spring sunshine lifts the spirit, but spring colors make the spirit float!

Red Chimney

This is one of the little houses that dot the older sections of our city. There are lots of them. In it's heyday, Eugene was a thriving lumber and university town.  These old houses were where Eugene's baby boom generation grew up.

Oakland

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Yesterday, two of my painting buddies and I took a trip to Oakland, Oregon to do a little plein air painting.  Oakland is a sweet little old Oregon town located between Eugene and Roseburg. Before we settled in to paint, we paid a visit to the town barber/artist, Adam Baker. Adam's one-chair barber shop is also a studio and gallery. He specializes in Western art and his paintings are beautifully displayed on every wall.  Afterwards, we took a short stroll through the town to admire the Victorian houses and gardens, then set up our easels on the sidewalk and spent the rest of the morning painting. A perfect painting day!

Breezy

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My little sunflowers are still perking right along. They've lasted a long time, bless 'em. They look a bit unkempt, as if their yellow hair has been blowing in the wind.

Sun Daze

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These small sunflowers are the last holdouts from my Mother's Day bouquet. They're a harbinger of the sunny days ahead.

May Days

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I'm still floating on a high from yesterday's art exhibit at the Benton County Historical Society and Museum. The venue was beautiful. The folks from the museum, Mark Tolonen and Irene Zenev, did a fabulous job of displaying the paintings and hosting the reception. We had a successful turnout and just had a great evening. I really appreciate the help and support of everyone involved.

I'm taking a little break from landscapes to paint flowers. Our garden has exploded in color and I'll need to paint fast if I want to capture the season. The flowers in this painting were part of my Mother's Day bouquet. They're still fresh and beautiful. So much color - so little time!

The paintings are finished, framed and ready for the "Shared Landscapes" exhibit at the Benton County Historical Society and Museum, 1101 Main Street, Philomath, OR. 

The reception will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.  

Hope to see you there!

Florence Old Town

This is a painting of the Old Town area in Florence Oregon. It will be part of the "Shared Landscapes" exhibit at the Benton Country Historical Society and Museum in Philomath. The reception for the exhibit will be on Friday, May 15th, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The museum is located at 1101 Main Street in Philomath. Hope to see you there!

Clear Lake Creek

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Here is another landscape painting for the "Shared Landscapes" exhibit at the Benton County Historical Society and Museum. The exhibit runs from May 15-June 27.

This painting is a larger version of a sketch done last summer at Clear Lake in Springfield, Oregon. I had found a secluded little trail alongside the creek running adjacent to the lake and set up my easel. It was a beautiful, peaceful day and I soon became so enrapt with the scene that I lost all sense of time and place. I was happily painting away when a voice behind me said, "Excuse me!" A man was standing three feet away on the trail, and wanted to get by. I nearly jumped out of my skin! Fortunately, he was a harmless hiker, but I realized how foolish I'd been. I was all by myself in a secluded area and had been completely unaware of my surroundings. Lesson learned! After that, I resolved never to go plein air painting without friends nearby. (The second lesson that day was to remember the bug repellent!)

Shades of Green

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I've been painting like crazy, getting ready for my first show at the Benton County Historical Society and Museum.  The show, "Shared Landscapes" runs from May 15-June 27. There will be a reception from 5:00-7:00 on Friday, May 15. I'll be exhibiting along with two very talented artists, Carolee Clark and Tom Allen, and to say I'm a bit nervous would be putting it mildly - frankly, I'm scared to death!

At any rate, I'm at the point where I can start framing my paintings. Here's my first frame - I'm pretty happy with how it came together...thank you, Patti McNutt, for the framing lesson. If I keep moving, I'll be ready by the 15th.

The Old Orchard

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This is one of the paths through the old filbert orchard at Dorris Ranch in Springfield. The path leads down to the Willamette river. It's a wonderful place for a quiet contemplative stroll.

I'm finishing up my landscapes for the exhibition at the Benton County Historical Society and Museum. The exhibition, "Shared Landscapes," will run from May 15 through June 27. My good friend, Patti McNutt, showed me how to make frames, so I'll spend the next week or two framing paintings.