Cannon Beach on Friday

We took a late afternoon trip to Cannon Beach on Friday and it turned out lovely. The sun finally broke through about 4 pm, right when we arrived. We found a nice quiet spot on the beach and painted for about an hour, then Allan wandered through the surf and took pictures, while I snoozed on the blanket! I did two little paintings in gouache (above) and the last shot is one Allan took of our actual view. You can see his paintings on his blog. They are quite nice watercolors. He's getting better all the time! Well, here's to the rest of this weekend. Marie

Nympheas No. 2

Nympheas No. 2 - 11 x 14 - oil on panel

I painted this at the Longview Artwalk. I had plenty of time--we only had three visitors! I'd taken the photo the previous Saturday when I was at the lake doing this painting. It's the very same view, only this paintingwas done from the photo, not from life. I like it better. I think I worked out the composition and colors. Maybe I'm not cut out for plein air!

We had a nice day with lunch with Anne and Scott, and plenty of time to munch on caramel popcorn and people watch!

Nympheas No. 1

Nympheas No. 1 - 11" x 14" - oil on panel

Painted en plein air at Lake Sacajawea on Sunday, June 29. The paint is still wet one week later. Allan painted an even more delicate and lovely watercolor that day. I love it and want to frame it for my office.

Yesterday we took in First Thursday in downtown Portland. We fell in love with the plein air artist Phyllis Trowbridge at the Mark Woolley gallery. Her colors were lovely and muted with lots of vibrant grays. I wish I could paint like that. Allan might take a workshop from her at Portland Community College.

We were also intriqued by the garden/botanical creations of Tamara English.

And we stopped in at JAX to see my friend Katie's paintings of motherhood and children. It was a lovely July 3rd.

Today is July 4 and I hope everyone has a safe and happy Independence Day.

Marie