Home Again

­ 

From the top of the big meadow on the Oftedahl Ranch, I painted this familiar scene. A doe wandered around through my Dad’s log decks behind me, inching closer and closer out of curiosity. Finally she came right up onto the hill in front of my easel, and pawed at the ground, challenging my right to paint there. I wondered how I would describe the sound a deer makes. I think I’d say it’s a cross between the word “shoo” and “chew,” whispered as loudly as possible. There’s never any end to the distractions when you’re painting, pleasant as they may be. But at least I have a supportive husband who takes turns with the kids and lets me go paint and talk to deer. 

Great Grandpa’s Garages

When I was a kid, I spent a whole summer in these sheds catching rabbits with my sisters and cousins, and  they provided a maze of good hiding places for the rabbits. Dusty, greasy, full of rusty iron tools and filthy old tires… Great grandpa filled them up with his treasures. But that's not why I painted them. I painted them because as Harvey Dunn says it, they “reflect... the glorious light of heaven.” 

 

Storing Paint for Plein Air Painting

It drives James nuts how fast the oil paint dries out in a Soltek easel (since it's not airtight), and what really gets to me is how it all slides down to one side of the palette when you're hiking if any of the pigments have some extra oil in them, so when you open it you get this big mess of paint soup to deal with. So... my latest attempt to solve this problem has worked out quite nicely so far: Airtight pillboxes.

I just set this, open, between my palette and painting on the Soltek when I'm working and scoop paint out as I need it. No need to put piles of every color on the palette, and that way there's more room to mix paint. I'm liking this a lot.

In the Works

I've slowed down on posting of late, and thought I'd take a minute to give an update on our exciting new plans! While James spends his days in the beautiful foothills near Tetonia, Idaho taking K-12 graders on nature walks and teaching art skills along with plant ID and geology, I'm busy packing all of our junk (over half of it indispensable art supplies) and planning how to remodel our recently acquired truck and camper. In June we'll officially be free for two months to head to the mountains and paint landscapes outdoors in parts of Montana and Idaho, including Glacier Park. Woohoo! Oxygen and sunshine, here we come! I can't wait. Except that I have a ton of work to do before we can go. Like take the roof of the camper off and rebuild it. And stuff. Lol. Here's what our truck looks like:

And the camper looks something like this:

These aren't my photos- It's too dark out to take photos right now so I grabbed these off the internet.
The inside of the camper is a hideous burnt orange, brown, and tan, with nasty old wood paneling and retro linoleum that doesn't match. So it's all coming out. James and I already ripped out the ceiling and insulation, and some of the wall paneling. Tonight I'm working on recovering the seat cushions. I found some upholstery fabric on etsy that I absolutely LOVE and it was only half the price of the fabric I found anywhere else of the same dimensions.

I'm going to paint the walls grey, the trim white, and put in a faux wood floor and countertop- probably dark. I'll post some before and after pics when I get that far. :)

I've also been thinking about how we'll store wet paintings, and am planning to build some sort of wet painting rack above the table. Also, since we're taking two toddlers, I need to build an easily removable railing between the table area and the floor so they don't roll out of bed. Yes, a camper crib. :) Wish me luck!

Painting Outdoors- The Easel

I haven't used a pochade box, but compared to using a french easel, I definitely love the Soltek designed by artist Jim Wilcox! It's fast and easy to set up. I haven't yet solved the problem of the paints sliding around on the palette when I pick it up, but I'm going to try keeping my paints in pillboxes instead of on the palette.