The Duck Pond

5x7 inches

 Saturday afternoon,  Kathy Hocker and I went to the duck pond with our art bags, hoping to paint some swans.  They were quite far away and seemed skittish, so Kathy painted tree trunks and I painted a landscape.  The light kept changing, I couldn't get my stool on a flat place, I dumped my water twice and ants were crawling on me.  But it was still very enjoyable.

View Out the Kitchen Window

6x4

 Once more, the view out the kitchen window.  It looks so different each time.  I started this yesterday at about 4:30 then stopped to fix dinner and finished this morning and had to darken up things, though sky looks the same.   A bit of rain this morning.  I hope to get outside later to paint.

Cottonwood from the South

7x5 inches

  I see this cottonwood everyday from my south facing window and I've sketched and painted it several times from the house..  Today it was sunny again and I sketched it from the other side, looking towards the house.  I think this tree is due for an oil painting before it buds out.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.  There are still patches of snow in the woods, but it was quite comfortable outside this afternoon.

From the Smoke House Balcony

Rain this morning.  These were done this afternoon from the Smokehouse balcony.  It was warm enough to be comfortable with my coat and hat, but moisture in the air made drying slow.  I decided to start a second one while waiting for the first to dry, but went back into both of them too soon and lost edges and made mud.

Salmon River Bridge

6x4

 The Salmon River Bridge yesterday afternoon from across from the City Hall.  It was a beautiful day, not one to be inside.

Hemlock and Blueberry

7x5

 Yesterday, I went into the woods north of our house to  get a few blueberry branches.  I've put them in a vase and will enjoy watching the leaves buds open. A couple of small hemlocks along the ditch were discovered.  I'd forgotten how relaxing it is to just draw plants...another page for my Sketchbook Project book on Nidiggen paper.

The Wonegon

4x6 inches

After a walk, I stopped along the Salmon River and drew the wonegon with a pencil, came home and painted it.  I didn't have my paints but glad I at least had paper and pencil.   It was another bright warm day, but the sky was hazy.

The wonegon is a float house from a logging camp and once was a house of ill repute.  It was brought up on the beach along the river years ago and with the land rise, its high and dry now.

Wayne and Kim's View 2

7x10 inches

 This is a second painting that I did yesterday.  I went back and worked on them both today. Much better now.  This  one will be a two-page spread  in my Sketchbook Project book.

Wayne and Kim's View

4x6 inches

This is one of my favorite views to paint, and I have done so quite often, sometimes from a window but this time sitting on the porch.   Sun kept me warm enough for a while, but by the time I'd finished, I was quite cold.

No Particular Place

6x4

This was a try to paint the little clouds which I want to put in a larger painting.  No particular place, bu the left mountain looks like Crillion.

Full Moon Rising Last Night

4x6 inches

Last night, Van and I joined friends at their home on the Salmon River to watch the full moon come up over the Chilkats.  I was working on this expecting the moon to come up in this area, but it came up further south.  I did capture the color and value of the spruce just before the sun went below the horizon.

6x4

This was of the moon after it was up a ways.  I painted it on a piece of mat board which is another paper that is too absorbent.  Both of these were painted pretty fast.  I left the houses out along the tree line.

Golden Willow

4x6 inches

Hard to believe that just a few days ago we had several inches of snow.  I painted this this afternoon from friend's tower room  along the Salmon River.  I was going to paint the river, but the golden willow (not native here) drew my eyes in their direction.  I left a house and other structures out of the painting.

A Gouache Painting

about 5x4

There is a watercolor underneath this now gouache painting.  I worked on it for a day and a half and didn't like it, then got out the gouache and played with them for another day..... looked better as a watercolor, but not one to frame.  This is only a small section of the painting. 

Snow Again

So much for spring.  "Significant snowfall" predicted for tonight.  It started this afternoon.
 
This was a test to watercolor on Stonehenge paper from my old collection of printing paper...... not good.  I'll give the rest to a printmaker. 

Spruce Behind the House

4x4

 I just had to get out and paint in the sunshine this afternoon.  I did this very quickly as it was really cold, less than 40 degrees and some wind.  These trees are behind the house near the kinnickinnick that I painted yesterday.

Kinnickinnick

4x4

 The kinnickinnick behind the house is now free of snow.... another sign of winters end.

Looks Like Spring

6x4

It looked like spring yesterday, with much of the snow gone.  But it didn't feel like it with a strong north wind blowing.  I did this from my window yesterday afternoon..  The willow look different every time I paint them, and the paint affect is different on different papers.  This was on Arches Cover

Sunset at the Shrine

6x4

I painted this today of the sunset from Saturday night at the shrine.  I was going to paint from the painting I'd started earlier on Saturday and posted yesterday, but realized I had taken photos.  Upon looking at the photos, I remembered that I had worked on that painting after going inside when the sun was going down, viewing from the window.  Obviously I couldn't see too well, because I painted an extra tree on the right. I was at a different vantage point and couldn't see the foreground.  I did it on some mystery paper that I like a lot in my Sketchbook Project book.

Here is the Saturday painting which I finish today.

                                         

8x8

Juneau Trip

 I got to Juneau Wednesday night and on Thursday and Friday I shopped, went to the dentist, visited friends, got the taxes done and  finally visited the new Alaska State Museum. 

On Friday afternoon, I drove to Greuning State Park where I'd spent 2 weeks in August.   It looked quite different in the woods with the bushes bare.  There was little snow left, so it was easy walking; snow and ice covered the lake.

Later in the afternoon, I joined the Juneau Plein Rein Painters for a retreat at the Shrine of St. Therese Lodge which lasted into Sunday.  There were about a dozen artists there much of the time and much plein air painting was done.  I love getting together with this group.  They are dedicated to plein air painting and always an inspiration. 

With lots of layers and  foot warmers in my boots, I was able to sit outside and paint for the first time this year.

5.5x5 inches

I worked on this with watercolor on Friday afternoon as the sun was shining on the trees.  I should have left it alone, but added gouache the next day in different light.

4x5

This was Saturday morning as fog was coming and going.

8x8

And this late Saturday.  I got too cold to finish it.  I might just crop the bottom.

2.5x3 inches

 I painted this small one in my Sketchbook Project book from the lodge window on Sunday morning.

 I was pretty much exhausted when I got home yesterday... getting up at 4:30 to get on the 7 AM ferry always does me in.  I"m still trying to catch up.  I missed a couple of days painting everyday, but will get back to it tomorrow. 

3-14-18

6x4

 On my way to Juneau on the ferry, LeConte.  I painted this while stopped in Hoonah.

3-13-18

about 3x4 inches

 My two favorite trees at the beach, and several smaller ones that are becoming more noticeable.  There is much concern that we will lose the open upper beach meadows if the new  little spruce aren't eliminated.   The land here is rising due to post-glacial rebound (also called either isostatic rebound or crustal rebound)   which is the rise of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glaciel period, through a process known as isostatic depression.  What use to be beach and tidelands is now high and dry.  Here is an interesting article about the phenomenon in our area.

3/12/18

Dreary rainy day.  The snow is melting.  A little bit of color in my window..... spider plant, hoya and jade plant.  Drawn with Micron and painted with watercolor and gouache on NIdeggen paper

3/11/18

6x4 inches

Looking  out the window again. The spruce in the middle had an eagles next in it which we watched for years.  Then one year the pair didn't come back in the spring.  But there was a new nest in another part of town and I hope it was them.

3-10-18

4x6 inches

Heavy snow again today.

Sketchbook Project

6.5x4.5

I recently read about the Sketchbook Project which you can read about here.  I immediately ordered a blank sketchbook to fill  and this is my second page.... a little spruce and hemlock with snow.  The paper is quite light weight and not really suitable for watercolor.  I drew with a .01 black Micron, painted the snow with watercolor, and added the yellow background with a colored pencil.

It is OK to rebind with different paper which I have decided to do.  I will have to fill the book and put it in the mail by April 30 and will do most of my daily postcards in it until it is full.

3-8-18

I pulled out an assortment of paper from when I did intaglio printing to see how they will do with watercolor.  This was done of Arches Cover.  It is more absorbent than watercolor paper; I could work longer wet in wet.  I'll keep working with it.

3-7-18

5x3

 More willow and spruce, these on a frosty day, which wasn't today.

3-6-18

6.5x4.5

This time I painted on a smooth paper

3-5-18

4x4 inches

This is pretty much the same section of the view from the kitchen that I painted yesterday.  This was from a photo that I took yesterday at about 4 PM.  I really struggle with the willow trees.  I was about to toss this one then got my gouache paints out and made some improvement.  I might try the same view again tomorrow.

3-4-18

6x4 inches

I painted this at about 9 this morning from the kitchen window.   Another gorgeous day.

March 3 2018

4x6 inches

  Beach trees again.  I parked on the driveway to the tanks and painted these in the distance with Excursion Ridge behind them, about 12:30.  It was 8 degrees this morning, but I was so warm in the car this afternoon sitting in the sun that I had to open the window.

3-2-18

6x3.5 inches

My view from the kitchen window about 5.  A month ago it was getting dark by this time. 

3-1-18

6x6 inches

This is another attempt to capture the sunset from Sunday evening

2-28-18

4x6 inches

Lots of snow and wind today.

2-27-18

From my studio window about 9 AM,   A bit of blue sky between snow flurries.

2-26-18

I tried to improve on the sunset from last night with a photo I took, but it was not a success.  This is a small section of the 6x9 painting.

Sunday 2-25-18

4x6 inches

From the boat harbor about 4:30 as the sun was setting north of Lemesier Island... the days are getting longer.

2-24-18

Today, an alder tree in our yard painted from the living room as it snowed.  I used masking fluid with a small brush and splattered gouache for the snow.

February 23, 2018

4x6  inches

Back to the beach about four this afternoon and painted from the car.  Cold north wind.  Beautiful day.

In the Woods

6x4 inches

I spent much of today working on a couple of oil paintings, and hardly got out of the house.  It probably looked much like this in the woods between our house and the main road, painted from a photo I took earlier this month.

View from Aimee's Kitchen

4x6 incches

 I painted this while having coffee with my neighbor Aimee this morning.

Its on some kind of printing paper that sucks.... literally.  It has little sizing, I guess, and the pigment sits on the surface as the water is absorbed and there isn't much way to get any gradation.  We had some sunshine today, but probably snow tonight.

From the Dock Island Again

4 x 6 inches

 I painted from my car again from the dock island looking towards the mouth of the Salmon River. The tide came in and covered part of the sandbar (the strip in the water) as I painted.  Not much color today.  I was about to start another painting and then it started snowing.  I added the snow after I got home with gouache.

From the Upstairs Window

watercolor 5.5x4 inches

I painted this from my upstairs window looking down at the path and oil shed.   I think its the first time I've ever painted from up here.

 

One More Time

I went through my 100's of little paintings yesterday, mostly from around 2006 and so much enjoyed looking at them.  I t was surprised by the changes in the landscape in the last decade and it was interesting to see all the ways I've tried to paint the same places over the years.  I'm so glad I have them... they bring back many wonderful memories.

Well,  I decided to try to do one everyday again and post here.  I'm having a feeling of deja vu, as I've been here before, resolving to paint something everyday and not following through.  Its been especially hard the last few years since I've started doing mostly oils.  Whatever, I'm starting again one more time.

I drove down to the beach and painted this from the car looking east from the dock island.  It's small, about 3x3 inches done in a little handmade book.   Its almost 4 PM now and I haven't done anything yet today.... better get with it if I'm going to.