Plein Air in Taos, New Mexico

Walt Gonske's Garden

It’s always a good time to visit New Mexico so, when I heard that Ron Rencher was offering a plein air workshop in Taos, I signed up! It had been years since I had painted en plein air, a fancy, schmancy way of saying “painting outside”, and boy, was I ever rusty! That’s ok…it was Taos after all!

The above photo is our group and Walt Gonske after painting in his beautiful garden. In the back right of the photo you can see the view poor Walt has to endure…the Sacred Taos Mountain. 

Sonja's Bouquet

"Sonja's Bouquet"

9"x12", Oil on Linen, Plein Air
SOLD

Along the Guadalupe

8"x10", oil on canvas

In early June, I had the privilege of taking a workshop with Kim Casebeer. She is a wonderful artist, a great teacher and a really nice person, too! 

This painting was done on the banks of the Guadalupe River, just off of River Road, near New Braunfels, Texas. It is usually blazing hot by this time of year but, it was nice and cool along the river. The only uncool thing was the snake that fell from the tree across from us. Such are the adventures of plein air painters! SOLD

Early Texas Spring

Early Texas Spring, 8"x10", oil
Fellow artist Bonny White and her husband, Roy, recently hosted a paint out for the Texas Paint Slingers.  The fields were full of very bright and wonderfully fragrant wildflowers, which just glowed when the sun came out.  Not only did the Whites kindly offer us the run of their ranch, they fed us some pretty darn good eats.  Thank you Bonny and Roy for a great day!
SOLD

Plein Air at Warbler Woods

This was painted at Warbler Woods, just outside of San Antonio. What a peaceful and beautiful wild bird sanctuary! I must confess that I have now been bitten by the bird watching bug. So many interests, so little time!!!
6"x8", original, oil on linen

Plein Air at Live Oak City Park Lake

Several of the Texas Paint Slingers went to Live Oak City Park last week. There was a threat of rain but it did not keep us away. We've been needing rain so badly I think we would have happily painted while dancing in it!
It was overcast, making the light flat but, the air was cool. It was so nice getting back outside after our long, hot summer!
8"x6", original, oil on linen

Plein Air at Crane's Mill Marina

Our plein air group, the Texas Paint Slingers , went to Crane's Mill Marina for our first paint out of 2011. It was a beautiful day! The weather was supposed to be overcast and drizzling until noon but it was a picture perfect day. It is such a quiet and peaceful place. The only company we had were a few bass splashing and a family of ducks swimming in the lake. We didn't even mind the cedar! Sometimes you've just got to paint!
8"x 10", oil on linen SOLD

Plein Air in Austin

Another plein air painting done at the Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin. I think a person could paint there every day of the year and never have to paint the same thing twice. The gardens are so beautiful, peaceful and serene.There is definitely something there for everyone!
8" x 10", oil on linen

San Antonio Botanical Gardens

This is a plein air painting done at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens last fall. It was such a lovely day that we ended up staying until it was almost dark. I did a second painting from the opposite side of the lake that turned out rather disappointing. Oh, well. You can't win 'em all!
8" x 10", oil on board

Sentinel

I apologize if you got this post earlier. I am having some problems with blogger. So, Take Two!
This is another painting from the Wimberely Lavender Farm. It is almost the same view as my previous post so I obviously find it a favorite perspective!
8"x10", original, oil on board

Summer's Coming

Yesterday several of us met at the beautiful home of Liz Maness, www.lizmaness.com, for an "art" day. After a tour of her lovely garden, we got busy painting. It wasn't easy choosing from all there was to offer but I settled on the beautiful potted geraniums on Liz's deck.
8x10, original, oil on board

Cunningham Ranch

I absolutely love our native persimmon trees. Their smooth, gray trunks & branches catch the light and glisten as if they were polished silver. Their growth habits also add to their beauty. In my opinion, they are one of the most beautiful little trees in all of Texas! This one was done en plein air but I took MANY photos of others and am planning a series of persimmon tree studies. As a side note, this was a wonderful day, with the exception of the rattlesnake that less than welcomed us as we unloaded our gear! Thank God it rattled or it would have been a very bad day for one of us!

Rockwall Ranch

Here is a painting of a small building at the Rockwall Ranch in New Braunfels. It was so charming that I had to paint it. The weather was perfect and the day was beautiful and relaxing. I walked around to see what the other artists were painting and found that one was painting me while I was painting this little building. It was so cool!
6x8, original, oil on board