Plein Air.Day 2-Part 1

On the second day of the plein air workshop, it was clear that rain was imminent. Actually, it had already rained earlier that day. Our instructor invited us to paint outside as long as we wished but made it clear that was not required. Two of us found a spot right near the doorway to the lower part of the building, an old carriage house built on a hill with the the lower level opening to the gardens behind the building. Everyone else went upstairs to the main level. I stayed outside as long as I could but rain and watercolor do not get along so well. I soon moved just inside the doorway and finished the first painting.

It's an OK painting; nothing special. The trees are not grounded; they levitate. The good part was that I worked quickly and did not belabor the process with lots of brush strokes. I did not feel inspired enough to really capture the details of the trees in the background, the bush on the left, or the hedges in the foreground. I have no photo of the scene.

While I was finishing up this piece, one of our classmates came downstairs and encouraged us to come upstairs and join the rest of the group, pointing out that the big carriage house doors had been opened! That space is also used as a gallery. I'd never before seen the the space with the big doors opened. At this point things changed a lot. Stay tuned.