Betatakin

On Monday, my little girls and I went to town to buy some baling wire for our garden fence. The store, rural as it is, was out and said to come back in the afternoon. Hmmm. Not wanting to waste an hour of driving, I decided to go exploring. We ended up in Betatakin at the Navajo National Monument, where nestled at the base of deep canyons are some ruins of an ancient Anasazi apartment complex. I didn't think my toddlers were up for the 8 mile hike to the bottom, and as we got there, they both fell asleep in the car. So naturally it was a good time to step out and paint for a couple of hours. And... I just happened to have an easel and paints and thinner and some spare panels with me. ;) One of my favorite things about painting outside is getting to meet all of the people who stop alongside the road to see what you're doing. On Monday I got to meet people from Sasketchewan, China, Indonesia I think, Texas, and some local coal mine workers. It's always fun to hear people's stories and make connections.

Down in the Valley

From a stretch of the Flathead river where I was fishing with Grandpa in his driftboats... Well, he was fishing. I was a little distracted. It was so interesting to see the cool pink grazing the trees and grass right next to the blazing hot orange of the sky. I was trying to figure out what pigments to use in which places, since the instant you snap the photo the camera makes it either all warm or all cool, or some muddy combination. Congrats to Angela and Josh Erickson! This was their wedding present. ;)

Home Again

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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.” 

 

Jewel Basin

Staying in Jewel Basin for a weekend was a treat and we got to meet lots of great people. One couple said they came from Billings and were thinking about moving to Kalispell because they are liberal (politically) and the people in Billings are so close minded to liberals. I almost laughed out loud but caught myself and politely told them I thought they might find some of the same problem here. We hiked up to the top of Lower Aneas a couple of times, and a billy goat threatened to knock over my easel while I painted the view. When I finished that painting, it was a mixed media piece with about 60 gnats and mosquitoes in it, plus some sticks and leaves. I had so many bites on the back of my neck they all blended together. But it was good practice and I was reminded how easy it is to paint too dark when you're in direct sun.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But I'm always happy if I get the chance to try. And it was nice to come back to camp after my turn to paint and find that James had built a fire and gotten out the food. Food fixes everything. And herbal tea with honey. Mmmm.

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.