The Air-Plein Art Blog

2014-06-28T17:04:00.002-04:00

I was determined to make it this week, to join Dale and Mary for a plein air outing at the Ormond Memorial Art Museum. They were painting in the garden, and there was an international colored pencil exhibit inside. With a late start, Ed & I headed south down Rt 1 towards Grenada Blvd... We parked on the east side of the garden and walked down the paved path to find Mary set up with oils, painting some jungle greenery...and just down the path a little further, past a pretty lily covered pond, we saw Dale. What a wonderful spot she chose I thought, admiring the tall thicket of baby bamboo nearby, and the winding stream circling her chair...But getting closer I could see a small cloud of mosquitoes, enjoying the same location, and Dale too! She got up to move, and I went in to see the exhibit, which was truly impressive!...I wondered at the great number of talented artists we have in this world...So many expert draftsmen and prolific with colored pencil as well!
Well, my considerate husband promised to get lost for a while, leaving me to paint with Mary and Dale. I thought I'd last possibly a half hour in that heat, and sat down next to Mary on the bench... It was exotic and tropical enough, with banana trees, ginger and wildflowers everywhere! What a great place to paint! There were turtles, frogs, birds, waterfalls and ponds making this more of a tropical rainforest than a beachside city park! I thought I'd at least sketch, but there was way too much to talk about, and I hadn't seen my plein aire friends in a while.

...so we had a nice relaxing time chatting instead..., and we had a little discussion about ethical and not so ethical ways artists use to achieve a good drawing...which I think would make an interesting talk should anyone venture the topic!... but before I could really get started with any artwork, Ed had returned and wanted to get some lunch....what a nice little visit..short but sweet!
This place is definitely going to be revisited I'm sure!

Lots of 'Air' painting!

2014-05-16T06:15:00.000-04:00

While Mary Lee, Dale Petruska and others continue their exciting and adventurous plein air painting each week, the Air-Plein Art blog has been put on hold for the time being, due to a wonderful time consuming experience with a jazzy outdoor mural project! Take a peak at PAD !!

2014-04-09T21:28:00.006-04:00

No posting by me for a while due to sickness..however....

The group still meets, and tomorrow plan on getting together at Bulow Ruins State Park at 10AM.
Mary writes...'This is south of 100 on Old Kings about a mile or so? On the left. Do note it is not Bulow State Park, that is farther south. While there are ruins at this one, we have been painting near the parking lot on the water. Some really nice views from there.'

Highbridge Park, Ormond

2014-01-17T12:17:00.003-05:00

Mary heading off to paint!

Well, I'm happy to be back in Florida again and anticipating painting again with the group. I heard from Dale, who also sent these pictures and their outing this week must have been wonderful. She writes "We went out painting Wednesday, a neat place, at Highbridge park in Ormond! across the way -a very pleasant Coastal Strand trail, a mile and a quarter walkway along Smiths Creek, lovely."

A beautiful scene of the creek

Flat Creek Baptist Church Winter Watercolor

2013-12-12T19:08:00.004-05:00

10 x 4" watercolor & ink on rice paper

For the first time visitor to this Florida art blog it might seem strange to see such a snowy scene, but it's not Florida at all..My husband and I are wanna-be snow-birds temporarily living in New York in the remote chilly mountain town of Gilboa. I know...it's December and any self respecting snow-bird by now is comfortably settled in his Florida nest! Well we'll leave these single digit temps and get back there eventually I suppose.... Sounds crazy but I love the quiet crisp sparkly days at our little cabin in the hills and for the plein air painter, old snow covered barns, churches, farmhouses and bridges are everywhere, just waiting to be painted! It's been coming down since early November, and each morning brings a new blanket of that white stuff!

The church I've painted here has a history dating back to 1831...and although the congregation doesn't date back that far, there are some members who remember when cars, homes and church doors were left unlocked, especially up in the mountains!

Well, this is our little church, and it's a wonderful group of people that attend Flat Creek Baptist, and quite a few good cooks too...who bring the most delicious home baked treats to the Fellowship Hour after the service! Not only is the location perfect, being just minutes from our house, but the Pastor is right on with his sermons! As for the desserts, enjoyable company and friendly conversation, just can't say enough, and so this past Sunday, with a satisfied sweet tooth, and in a forgetful mood, I left my bible behind that day...which was the reason for my visit today...Thank goodness the Pastor lives right past the church, and was gracious enough to give me the key...and as I was unlocking the side door, I thought to myself what a shame it is that even a remote mountain church can't be left open! .Anyway..I did find my bible, just where I left it... and decided to sketch the church as well.It looked so pretty in the snow!

Safford Hill in Mackey, Gilboa, NY ..Watercolors on rice paper

2013-10-08T19:26:00.001-04:00

Looking around for something to paint, I pulled off to the side of the road opposite a peaceful scene with hay bales scattered around this amazingly green field. The mountains beyond took a dip and seem to disappear off to the left. It's so quiet in these mountains...a different kind of peace..there's just no one around..except for a few cows, roosters, owls, the occasional farmer...someone hanging clothes or gardening, picking blueberries, apples or flowers...and if you look closely, the occasional plein air painter.. I comfortably painted Safford Hill. Not a car went by for the duration. Finally, in the distance one lonely figure appeared at the bend in the road...it turned out to be our neighbor, who walks up that road every day to meet her husband coming back from work. We said hello and talked for a while, and then another neighbor drove by and stopped to see what was going on. Then her husband came by and stopped...must have looked like a traffic jam at that point I guess!

Safford Hill in October

Safford Hill off Guinea Rd

New Paintings by Dale Petruska

2013-09-15T18:50:00.002-04:00

These 2 beautiful paintings were emailed today
and I just had to post them!

Bouganvilla watercolor by Dale Petruska

Abstract Stream in Oils by Dale Petruska

Watercolor Journal of Gilboa, NY...some Aug & Sept sketches

2013-09-12T18:42:00.001-04:00

The miniscule collection so far....we're told we may need at the very least 3 cords!!! that is 4X4X8' multiplied by 3!!!slotta woood!!!

Our wonderful Forester safely parked in our driveway....a few days before the collision..which totaled the car....

The sun rises above the mountain, mist and trees- new every morning!

a suet cage hanging high up off the deck

Leonard Mountain (Hubbard Hill) looking a little blue!

PG chewing on a choice selection out of her deer bone collection! see a glimpse of Leonard Mountain in the distance!

a quick sketch of our very neglected bird feeder!

East view from deck-Gilboa, NY ...watercolor on rice paper

2013-08-27T20:10:00.001-04:00

WE found a mountain view behind those trees...and once we removed a few branches.... Voila! a mini vista! Great mountain scenery for plein air!
Before/\ after\/
Our view of Leonard Mtn (originally known as Hubbard Hill)!

Could it be? PG admiring the new mountain scenery? Gotta love that face!

Berry picking with Dakota and PG

You take the high road...and I'll take the low road.no wait..lets stick together!

Soooo much space to run!

My vantage point

Eddy and one of his famous fires under the stars..

Kayaking and Plein Air - a great combination!

2013-07-12T22:54:00.003-04:00

Painting in this heat can be a bit discouraging, and since there was very little positive feedback for this week, I couldn't resist Dale's invitation to take her kayaks out on the Intracoastal! With my sketch pad and bare painting essentials safely zip locked in waterproof plastic, I met her at her home in the C's. We climbed aboard our crafts and effortlessly paddled out thru the canals to the ICW. There was a delightful breeze, and gliding along admiring the beautiful homes and docks restored my faith in Palm Coast again. It's quite a wonderful place really, in spite of its nasty red light cameras, unfair taxes, ridiculously high water bills, fees and fines!

In the perfect world on Thursdays, artists everywhere should abandon laundry, facebook obligations and Zimmerman episodes and drive or paddle far away from the house to sketch or paint! Finding a place this day was no problem since there were unlimited places of interest along either shore. We discovered a heavily wooded spot with shade where the deeply exposed roots of the pines dropped off onto the bank below, creating an interesting subject for our masterpieces! Our kayaks made excellent waterside seats as we sketched away to the sound of birds and dolphins.

I've decided it all makes perfect sense to explore this part of Palm Coast repeatedly, and very often if possible, by kayak!! If anyone else in our group has the same opportunity, I suggest jumping on it!

Not wanting to chance getting my real camera wet, I brought my antiquated cell phone. But since each picture requires clearing the limited memory, it's too time consuming to take each one, time enough for me to drift away in the kayak. Ha! Here's what was supposed to be a nice closeup of Dale paddling! and in this next picture, if you look carefully with a magnifying glass
you can see a carousel horse in the window of that house!
So, now that it's obvious that kayaking and plein air make a great combination, I'll be taking advantage of ery op from now on!

Dale's vibrant Watercolor and ink

My 'Florida Roots' in watercolor and ink

a distant shot of the carousel horse

The ICW at Herschel King was Kinda Orange!!

2013-06-22T11:16:00.001-04:00

But the view from the dock was magnificent!!

.and there were lively schools of fish darting back and forth along the waters edge below. I was so startled by the scene, I just forgot to snap a picture...but the water really was orange...a sort of murky orange, and I assumed it might have been the red tide you hear about from time to time. Not that it bothered the fishing though, according to a couple of locals who were able to catch a few.

Dale and I set up camp at the dock and focused on the scene to our west. It looked almost prehistoric I thought..with craggy palms reaching up thru the tangle of jungle growth to the clouds, some missing their tops

my pallet knife and brush experiment

probably a result of some past hurricane from years gone by. I had wanted to paint that view in oils for a while now, and this was the day!

Dale's pallet knife sharpened the scene before us!
Georgia and Audrey painted in the pavilion and produced some nice pieces!

Georgia's pallet knife cuts thru the woods with style!!

Audrey's enchanting tree study! ...

   Flo came out to check on us, and we before we knew it, we were gabbing away about all sorts of things unrelated to our mission! We also met a fisherman...er fisherwoman, and her husband,..so Alice, we enjoyed your company and hope someday you'll join us!!

Wooden Ships..no-'fiberglass' ships on the water..very free.... . found a very nice dreamy clip of that song below !!
   Also, we wanted to say hi to Mary Lee! We miss you! Have fun over there and keep painting!!

Plein Air at Bing's Landing 2013

2013-06-14T12:24:00.000-04:00

We arrived (no, not by kayak!) at Bings with our painting paraphernalia at around 9:45. With temps in the 90's all week, we were expecting a brutally hot day, but were surprised by a nice breeze blowing thru the pavilion! We had shade, scenery, cool air, picnic tables and a BBQ Chicken aroma from next door! There were just three of us, but it's always nice to have company when you paint, and that was just fine!
Packing for plein air is always a challenge for me, and it changes with the medium of choice! So today, I decided on oils, as did Dale, and Flo travels light with an enviable small package for her watercolor painting...doesn't even use an easel!! Well, for some reason I remembered most of what I needed that day..water...camera....something to snack on. I remember being so thankful once when Dale had an extra rag on hand..Another time I forgot my brushes!!! Well, I guess it happens to the best of us, and Dale came well prepared with her oil painting luggage, but forgot to pack something to paint on!...so now I don't feel so bad..She did bring her bicycle painting though! and all I can say is...it rocks!!! take a look!

Brush strokes packed with movement! Can you feel the energy?!

Love the subtle water reflections in Flo's WC!

Well no, it wasn't the paint fumes!!

And we weren't giddy from exhaustion!!

Nothing but H2O in this bottle!! Just no explanation!

Inspired by the color in Dale's bicycle painting, I had to add some interest in mine!

Here's one walkway I've yet to explore! Maybe next time! There's just no end to perfect locations! The hidden treasure is in the wooded scenes like this..just waiting for a paintbrush!


Who's that behind those Foster Grants!!

Flo travels light, with just the bare essentials! We're thinking Herschel King next time??any other suggestions are welcome.!!!

Painting at Herschel King

2013-05-31T16:09:00.000-04:00

Incredulously, the month of May has come and gone, and we wonder in amazement if time has really accelerated ! Some of the theories out there point to a different relationship between gravity, space and the speed of light....or the rotation of the earth etc..etc..... Whatever!! I just know I can't get as much done in a 24 hour period as I used to! And so, with that in mind, for the plein air painter, there may be only one logical approach to the dilemma.... Paint faster and more often?? ..but observe the speed limits til you get there!!
This week, we were treated to an absolutely perfect painting day weather wise, and Herschel King Park's spacious pavilion served as an ideal outdoor studio for our group. Georgia, Dale and Audrey had their oil compositions already laid out and were deep in creation mode when I arrived. Rita and Audrey Rosen showed up a little later, but all made the most of it as you can see from the works below!

Georgia's inviting waterview is a mix of brush and pallet knife!


Audrey's dramatic composition is alive with strong value contrasts!

Rita's impressionistic view of the sky and boat launch brings us to the entrance to the ICW and beyond!

The vantage point with a great view of the launch!


Such cooperative subject matter for my figure study in watercolor!!

Dale transforms mild mannered scenery into fire and fury....

and taken further into completion, is just beautiful!

The much admired tree painting of Audrey's. Love her handling of color, light and shadow!

Audrey shares her expertise and advice


Such a perfect day...great company and conversation! Too bad it had to end.

My choice spot for next time..somewhere along this dock...with oils!

Looks like we'll be back next week for more..just can't seem to get enough of this place!! It'll be Thursday again before you know it!!

It was OK to paint at the Marina!

2013-05-24T20:02:00.000-04:00

The Palm Harbor Resort Marina...a quiet nautical place.. Our plein air day was a hot one, and there were 6 of us sizzling under the oaks at various angles painting the dock scenes. After some serious conversation with the manager about the privacy rights of their boat owners, and advice against photographing private property, we cautiously settled into the business of painting! During our short stay, we attracted the attention of several patrons and a few friendly boat owners who all admired and complimented our work!! One of them inquired about taking classes at the art league and even asked for directions! And, since none of them complained or threatened us with lawsuits, we soon felt very welcome and even appreciated!

Nice initial oil composition by Audrey...unfortunately, my hasty photos were taken in the shade.

Dale uses a vibrant palette to bring the Marina to life!

A tree lover herself, Georgia gives hers real personality on canvas!...

In this picture, it's hard to see Audrey's painting of sailors dining under the marina's umbrellas! But it was very nice!

Dale's amazing Mini I-Pad! Didn't know I needed one til today!

A squirrel politely holds a pose and becomes part of my watercolor!

Having been a sailor herself, Rita makes sense of the confusing set of booms and shrouds, and a handsome dock hand comes over and confirms her understanding of the rigging!

Time to retreat when it becomes an oven in the shade!
Until Next Time!!

A plein air watercolor scene by artist Gisele Long

2013-04-22T14:12:00.000-04:00

Thank you Gisele for sharing this wonderful piece!

Attn: Air-Plein Art Group!

2013-04-09T11:10:00.002-04:00

This is an appeal to our plein air group to email in any paintings made over the last few weeks!
I've missed the outings, but would be happy to post your artwork here!
Link to a small watercolor of mine done last week.
http://ninapaints.blogspot.com/2013/04/possible-paper-whiteswatercolor-on-paper.html

A Backwoods Point of View-watercolor on paper

2013-03-30T19:13:00.001-04:00

On the eastern side of our house near the woods is a small sunny corner where we have oregano, rosemary, kale and a few pathetic looking pineapple plants. We also grow a very successful patch of Boston Fern, two immature avocado trees and two unfruitful citrus! Sweet Basil is more of an annual here when we remember to plant it on time. Our garden is fenced in with Home Depot lattice, and somehow functions as a temporary dog enclosure. I've never sat in this exact spot to paint til now and am happy I did, because I've discovered something once again about ordinary looking places. They are not what you think til you've spent time attempting to recreate them on paper. In a few short hours, I realize that a crack in the cement can be an asset and that a broken down fence makes a wonderful support for wild muscadine grapes!

A plein air day at Gary Greene's ! !

2013-03-23T12:45:00.000-04:00

Shared secrets and the magic brush!

Our day started out with doubtful weather conditions, and getting there early was a priority since it was predicted we'd have rain by 3 pm. When I arrived around 10, I could see Gary outside smiling and directing everyone to the parking places. Inside, Pat welcomed us with crackers, cheese, muffins and bottled water! What a nice day it was! The pond was a magnet for wildlife, with egrets, herons, a gator, and a whole slew of noisy birds very busy collecting nesting material and carrying it to the trees. The presence of 7 painters lining the grassy bank with easels and assorted art paraphernalia didn't seem to interfere with their social life one bit! As we set up, we could hear a wildcat's cry from somewhere across the the deserted golf course! There was also some drama in the pond and we watched with anticipation as an alligator slithered in the rushes along the opposite shore! His intentions became clear as he moved closer and closer to a little family of Moorhens (river chickens) who seemed oblivious to the danger!
It was an exciting morning as each of us created our own visual interpretations of this freshwater habitat!

Rita's creates the effect of reflective light with oils!

Early afternoon wind picked up as the temp dropped!

Recovering from the Flu didn't keep Mary away! Her watercolor tells the story! Will Mrs. Moor Hen's family become dinner?

Dale's energetic palms in oil! Just love it!!

Gary's experiment with a new shape! Absolutely love those bright colors!

Audrey's soft muted pallet is truly an inspiration!

Gary sharing his painting secrets with the group! One bit of advice he wanted to give us was to use distilled water in painting with watercolor. He says the chlorine in tap H2O bleaches out the colors and weakens the paper! Never knew that!

Cindy simplifies this complicated scene with gentle pastel colors and shapes!

My take on things with Mr Gator waiting for his dinner!


The source of our inspiration!

Expecting rain any minute, we packed up our masterpieces and skedaddled to our cars..

Thanks to Pat and Gary for your hospitality and shared tidbits of knowledge!

Linear Park Again!

2013-03-06T11:26:00.001-05:00

Pulling off the Greenway into Linear Park's parking lot, I spotted Mary's cool looking T-Bird and Mary, waiting patiently by the curb. Dale and Jean arrived next. Then, a busy looking man with a clipboard hurried by and asked if we were the 'judges'! Apparently there was a high school science contest of some sort being held in the park, so we told him we'd be happy to do some judging if he wanted! After a few more minutes, we decided to get started and rolled our assorted paraphernalia past the playground and away from the noisy exercise class to favorite spots around the park, but close enough to each other, to visit for friendly critiquing. We took a walk around, and I visited the Butterfly Garden across the bridge. It was manned by the young gardeners themselves! They politely answered my questions, and explained how they had to carry the heavy coquina stones to the site, and haul water to the garden from across the bridge! After admiring their beautifully painted butterfly and moth picnic table, I decided to go and paint my birdhouse again, this time in oils! Dale set up too, in front of the same pretty water scene she painted last week. I was just positioning my easel when Mary and Jean came over looking very upset. They had gone over the bridge to see the Butterfly Garden and inadvertently crossed paths with a nasty red fire ant colony! How Awful! These were not the tiny variety we have all over our lawns, but large and ferocious! Thank God for Jean's bug spray (With Deet!) The rest of the afternoon was peaceful, and we were serenaded by a thousand little voices, singing away in the trees! I finished a small painting of one birdhouse, and decided to try the other with my pallet knife. Unfortunately it slipped later on and smeared all over my arm. Oh well. I'll just have to go back and try again! Mary sketched and painted seated figures of Dale and Jean, and produced this wonderful watercolor! And Jean's delicate study in watercolor is beautiful even in its unfinished state! Dale started another painting of her tree scene, and it promises to be very energetic too! Oh, I forgot to mention, Marge joined us too, and we all took turns visiting her at the picnic table. She was visited a few times by a strange looking critter that hopped onto my back and, scaring me as it crawled around into view

Day 14 - Annie Oakley Mural

2012-10-19T11:10:00.003-04:00

http://www.conleemurals.org/CMC-NEWPressRelease--PalatkasWallArt.html

Here's Dakota, our vigilant mural painting companion,
on this our 14th day! He stays put, unleashed, well
mannered and friendly to everyone who comes by! What
did we do to deserve such a dog!!
Well, a few moments after this picture was taken,
the scaffolding lost a wheel and tipped over!!
Thankfully we weren't on it, and it fell upright
against the wall! It was a little too heavy for Ed and
I to right it and replace the wheel..Just then, as we
were wondering what to do, a young man, who had stopped
earlier to admire our work came walking by again, and
with his help, Ed was able to lift the corner up high
enough for me to insert the wheel into its place!! We
thanked him, and learned that his day was spent all
morning walking from his home to a job interview there
in town. Ed offered to give him a lift home and he
gratefully accepted...we're hoping he gets the job!

Here's my day's progress, a real challenge getting
those windows to look right! This in addition to Ed
laying on a second layer of white to the two white horses,
and the rodeo rider's shirt! So far, we've put a few
hundred $ worth of paint on the wall, spilled some of
it on the parking lot, and of course we take home quite
a bit on our clothes and hands! It seems the further
along we get, the more I see needs to be done, but I'm
guessing now, it might be really close to the end in
about 12-13 more visits!

And speaking of visits, thanks for yours!!

Annie Mural: Day 12

2012-10-13T12:34:00.000-04:00

photo of Annie ( real name: Phoebe Ann Moses) go to link for info on her life

Annie's husband Frank Butler ( see the cowboy's face)

Annie gets her gun, and Ed & I get our paintbrushes!! Into our 3rd week, and 12th visit to Palatka. We're using our old '95 Cavalier, so as not to get paint in the Nissan, and all that extra mileage...Only a few more miles left on that warranty! But our old faithful is an amazing vehicle. It may not go into 'Park' anymore but works just fine in 'Drive' and 'Reverse'! Once on the road, it's decent, and doubles every night as a little delivery truck! We usually leave the house at around 7am to be set up and painting 50 miles away at 8! We're using the amazing 'Modern Masters Theme Paints' from Starscenic in Orlando...the same company that supplies Disney World! You just can't buy a blue like that from any paint store!! I would recommend these paints to anyone doing mural work!

Ed's progress on the Framing on either side, Annie's gun painted in and some portraiture as well! Special thanks to Tomoyuki.Uchida for his permission to use one of his photos for a reference in the painting of Annie's horse http://www.yunphoto.net/en/)

One of the rough riders gets a face! With a different hat, could this be a Frank Butler lookalike?

Frank Butler? maybe?

And still working on the buggy and figure on the corner

Looking closely, you can see it's not an easy wall surface for portraiture! The Conlee Snyder Mural Committee Chairman, a jaunty John Alexander perhaps?


And another portrait attempt on this rough wall! And I hope this does justice to Clint Snyder, a founding member of the Conlee Snyder Mural Committee!

We're painting into the afternoon now that it has dropped into the 70-85 temps and hoping to finish in a few weeks! It was exciting to see ourselves on the front page of the Palatka Daily News, and look forward to the commemoration ceremony in December! I'm told they throw a big celebration for each mural completed!

Palatka Mural Painting of Annie Oakley

2012-10-09T17:23:00.003-04:00

Our tenth day with Annie in Palatka! While this technically doesn't qualify as 'plein air', we sure have been getting a lot of fresh air, and altitude too!! Our 56' mural is well underway, with most of the wall covered in bright 'Modern Masters Theme paint.. Come visit and see this mural taking shape on the Atomic Tee's west side wall in McKinnon's Furniture Outlet parking lot!

Special thanks to Tomoyuki.Uchida for his permission to use one of his photos for a reference in the painting of Annie's horse
http://www.yunphoto.net/en/)

Flagler down by Blue

2012-08-24T20:00:00.000-04:00

No rain so far today!! We decided to take Dakota and my paints as well. Turning right on A1A, we noticed a few emergency vehicles around the pier area, but kept driving to find a spot where we could bring the dog. I decided since we had an hour or so, before Ed's eyeglasses would be ready, I'd start my sketch right away. As usual, at the beach there never seems to be much to paint at first glance, so instead of doing the usual half hour search, I plopped down to sketch the stairs, which turned out to be a lot of fun! Ed took Dakota down a ways for a walk, while I went into my own little world once again trying my hand at watercolor!

This one from Ireland

2012-08-20T12:32:00.000-04:00

Ireland's 'Art in the Open2012' video...representing hundreds of plein air artist from all over the world!

2012-08-10T21:34:00.000-04:00

http://pleineire.ning.com/video/boyne-valley-in-connemara

Being of Irish decent, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for anything from that part of the world, and when I found this plein air ( Plein eire) blog from the Emerald Isle, I looked into it, and joined. They have a 'Yanks' group, representing Irish painters from the States, of which I became a part. Anyway, this link is a charming little video which I thought I'd post here, showing some wonderful footage of a place called Connemara. I would imagine it's a favorite painting spot and if I lived within a hundred mile radius, I might spend a considerable amount of time there. Check it out, and take a look at some of the art from this site. Enjoy!


Dale's amazing Mini I-Pad! Didn't know I needed one til today!