Boathouse Again

Diane Mannion, Boathouse Again, 9x12" oil on linen

Plein Air and Studio

Boathouse Again began as a plein air study on a mostly cloudy day.  The sun was out when I started! I was struck by how the boathouse looked through the stand of palms.

When painting outside, I react to the color, light, and sense of place that is impossible to see in a photograph.  It takes intense concentration and speed.  Back in the studio, I'm able to slow down and consider what colors to mix, and experiment in new directions.  I react to my painting from memory and experience.  So another benefit of plein air painting is to inform the studio experience.  I hope this practice in the studio will be evident when heading outside again.  Plein air or studio... both are necessary!

It's very rare for me, because I'm a slow painter, to finish a plein air painting on the spot.  Most are simply studies for future work or practice, building a visual vocabulary to enrich the creation of studio paintings.  I've given myself permission to slow down while doing field studies, to consider them sketches, raw material for something wonderful later.  But like fishing... once in a while you catch a good one.

Delighted to chat with many members of the Light Chasers group and also Sally Christiansen's class who came to paint along and also see my show!  I'll be painting at the Bay Preserve as much as possible during my solo exhibit there until the end of May.

My start on the porch right before the rain moved in.

Second day.  Painted with Shadow along for the first time.  Couldn't leave her home because of the new roofing noise going on at our house, like being inside a drum.  She was perfectly well behaved!  Conehead is to keep her from chewing on stitches from a minor operation on her side.