This will be my last post to this blog for 2010: our plein air schedule ended on October 29. We were supposed to paint at Great Falls, but as far as I know, I was the only one who went. I think next year we’ll either skip this trip (no one seems to want to go that far) or maybe set it up for earlier in the year. The day was just as beautiful as last week’s – sunny and clear – but cooler and much windier. I tried all three of the overlooks, but none offered any protection from the wind or the brilliant sunshine. My ShadeBuddy artist’s umbrella was also not an option: it’s the kind that stakes into the ground, and the overlooks are all rock and/or concrete. Besides, it would have been airborne almost immediately. I was also worried that if I set up to paint, my easel and pastels would sail back to Maryland without me. So I settled for taking a ton of photos, enough to keep me busy all winter.

Although it started off on a tragic note with the loss of our dear friend and fellow plein air painter Donni Dingman, this ultimately turned into a wonderful plein air year. Only two days had weather bad enough to cancel (one rainy, one too hot), and we’ve had the opportunity to meet and paint with a lot of wonderful artists as several different plein air groups began to find one another and share schedules. Donni would have loved it! My thanks for all that great company and for tuning in this year: we’ll be back in May 2011!