I’ve decided to start maintaining a blog documenting our plein air painting sessions over the course of the spring and summer of 2009. It’s mostly for my own reference, although I hope it may also encourage some of you Maryland Pastel Society painters we’ve not seen yet to come out and join us as we hit many of the beauty spots of central Maryland.

That said, we’ve been getting a pretty good turn-out for our plein air sessions, despite the iffy weather – I guess we have a lot of optimists in our group! Our first session, on May 1st at the Brighton Dam Azalea Gardens, was damp and cool. About half of the azaleas were in bloom, and it was beautiful, despite the gloom under the trees. I think we had about six painters: several came just to sketch and take photos, while others of us worked from the shelter of our cars. My first plein air attempt of the season is not strong enough to stand on its own, but will provide excellent color and composition notes for a studio piece later on.