"Swedish Sunset" (oil on linen; 11" x 14") nfs

nfs

The day after my daughter's fainting, she had recovered enough to go to visit my husband's fifth cousin on the Stockholm Archipelago.  After a long day of trains, ferries, and car rides, we came home for a feast to remember, prepared by Hans's sister and brother-in-law.  The dinner started about 7:30 and went on until midnight. 

The sun set around 10:30, with the sky of the ever-changing, spectacular colors of gold, pink, mauve, and blues.  The family started playing a "Viking" game of throwing sticks.  I was more interested in watching the sky, trying to remember the night for this painting I had in mind for Hans.

My family were privileged to be invited to this intimate family gathering.  We were in Sweden, not as strangers, but as family and friends.  We were neither tourists nor outsiders.  We were home, thanks to Dr. Hans Andersson.  I am grateful for his warm hospitality.

Annakaren on the far right and her husband who is at the grill.

Hans, on the far right, is the patriarch of the family.

The rest of Hans's family and my husband and daughter (to the left).

"Lavender Patch by the Barn" (oil on linen; 9" x 12")

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"Lavender Patch by the Barn" was painted last summer during the plein-air painting workshop with Bobbi Pratte at Fairfield, PA. It had been an exceptionally hot spring AND hot summer last year.  Regardless of the sweltering heat at the lavender fields of Willow Pond Farm, we painted away, sweating profusely.

After the morning session and a nice luncheon buffet, the workshop participants were supposed to rest and take a siesta.  Did I?  Of course not.  I noticed a lavender patch by the barn glowing in the afternoon sun.  I sat down under a big tree and painted the scene.  I worked on it in my studio later in the summer to the current glory.  I am quite pleased with this painting, and that is why I am sharing it again for Leslie's challenge.

Anyhow, when the class met for the late afternoon session, I was pooped out.  Did I rest?  What do you think?  I painted again!  In two days, I produced five paintings all together, breaking the class record.  Here is what I learned from my experience.  DON'T OVERDO IT!  I was so burned out that I didn't go out to paint again for the rest of the year.

"Country Snowman" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

sold

A jolly snowman with a green hat and red scarf greets a frosty morning by the barn.  If this painting doesn't cheer you up, I don't know what will!  Would you be surprised if I tell you that I painted the scene from an old black-and-white photo?

"Lavender Patch by the Barn" (oil on linen; 9" x 12")

After
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Before

The scene that inspired the painting

"Lavender Patch by the Barn" was one of the paintings done during the workshop with Bobbi Pratte at Willow Pond Farm in Fairfield, PA in June.  I painted the lovely scene in the shade of a big tree. As the painting progressed, the sun moved, enveloping the purple lavenders in the back in shadow and highlighting those in front. Perfect!

The teacher and several of the workshop participants loved the painting very much, so I figured it must be good and I should like it too.  But deep inside, something bothered me.  I will tell you all about my doubts and how I worked things out of system. 

Bobbi was thrilled to see me working so hard while everybody was taking a well-earned break after lunch on the first day of the workshop.  She was particularly happy with my choice of the painting subject.  She would have painted it herself if she had not been so busy taking care of students.  She gave me several good suggestions, one of which was "don't paint the white wall of the barn too high-keyed" because it would come forward.  She told me to paint it grayed blue.  So did I dutifully. 

But that dingy blue wall in the back kept nagging me ever since.  To me, it was a depressing color in a happy, sunny painting.  It just didn't belong there.  The white wall, although in shadow, had a lot of light bounced back from everywhere.  Thus, while keeping the value low enough, I brought light back to the wall.  The painting finally began to sing.  I made a slew of adjustments, but the most important change was the afore-mentioned barn wall.

The whole business made me wonder.  What is the right thing?  Do I always act upon what the teacher says?  Or do I trust my own judgment and do my own thing?  For last two months, I have been taking a break from classes, workshops, and even paint-outs with friends.  In other words, I have been doing "my own thing," figuring things out on my own, and allowing my own voice to sing my own song.  I see big changes in my work and I like my new style.  I will go back to the classroom in the fall, but I don't think I will always follow the teacher's advice.  I will continue to do my own thing.

"Strawberry Pickers" (oil on stretched canvas; 16" x 20")

Reference photo

The scene is from Schlagel Farms in Charles County, MD, where I was picking strawberries with a friend in May last year. I looked up and noticed two young women; one was seriously trying to fill her flat while the other was daintily selecting the juiciest one at a time. I happened to have a camera with me and took a couple of shots.

As I am always intrigued by the concept of putting figures in a landscape, I was delighted with the above photo and went for it. I think I nailed the gesture of two women without getting too fussy.  The figures with their warm tones and bright clothing pop out against the sea of backlit, green strawberry leaves and the soft, hazy, purple trees in the background.  Can you feel the heat, humidity, and sun?  The strawberry season is just around the corner.  I can't wait!

"Snowman and Barn" (oil on linen; 9" x 12") sold

sold

As I was painting "Snowman and Barn" on Monday, it started snowing!  There had been no forecast for snow, but it kept falling.  The first snow of this winter made all of us giddy with joy like the kids on the Christmas morning.  Alas, by yesterday, with the balmy spring-like temperature, there was no more white stuff to be seen. 

Another reason for my happiness was that I was painting a landscape, not a figure!  Boy, I was glad to be back to what I normally do--paint loose and suggestively.  No more uptight measuring and hours of staring a nude person to figure out the subtle color changes in the skin tone.  The moral of my experience last week is this: get out of your comfort zone once in a while; do something wild and get back to your life.  You will be wiser for the adventure.

The painting was based on a black and white photo.  The advantage of a challenge like this is that one gets to make up colors.  Ha!  it wasn't that hard to come up with lovely violets for distant woods; brownish wood colors for the barn; and the red scarf for the snowman.  I made the big tree on the right not clearly defined, although it was in the middle ground and a lot closer to the viewer than the barn, because I made the latter the secondary interest.  Of course, the snowman is the star.  I boldly put it in the middle of the picture.  Why not?  Relax and have fun.