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Four of us – me, Barbara, Brenda, and Jane – enjoyed a crisp and sunny morning at the Howard County Conservancy. The sky was an incredible warm blue, with low thin clouds adding a little pinkish-peach along the horizon. After Wednesday’s architectural challenge at Woodlawn Manor, I decided to keep it very simple, focusing on that lovely sky with one nicely-shaped tree on the horizon. I wanted to capture the look and feel of the morning, and I am happy with the result.

I also learned today that I have been juried in to the 2012 Paint It! Ellicott City Plein Air event, which will take place July 6 – 8. That’s the good news: the bad news is that I’ve had to withdraw as one of the alternates from the Frederick plein air event – the logistics and circumstances are just not do-able this year.

Our first visit to Woodlawn Manor in Sandy Spring was another gorgeous day, with bright sunshine and mild temps. (I don’t know how long we can keep this up, but I’m not complaining!) I was joined by Nancy H, Maria G, Brenda J, and new member Sharon B, and apart from the gnats, we had a very nice morning of painting. The grounds are beautifully laid out, and the Manor and outbuildings are varied and interesting. I’m finding that, more often than not, I prefer to incorporate buildings in my plein air pieces, and this time I decided to focus on the Manor house, a decision I came to realize was overly ambitious after I’d been at work for over an hour with only the house rendered. Once that was done – and I was getting a bit tired, for some reason – I just did a very quick and loose lay-in of the trees, shrubs, path, and grass, which, it turned out, was probably a good thing. I should get sloppy more often! I added some violet to the path on the left to balance out the voilet of the lavender bed on the right, but I clearly overdid it. Once that’s corrected, though, I think it’s done.

This was our first visit to Brookside Gardens this year, always a popular painting spot. Before I got started, I stopped in to see my friend Kay’s show of her signature florals in the Visitors’ Center – just beautiful! Kay was there to paint with us, as were Mary Ellen and new member Nancy H – plus I received a message from a kind stranger that there was another painter there, too, but I did not ever see anyone else and don’t know who it was. We’ve been very lucky with the weather so far (knock wood) – this was a lovely morning: mild and sunny, with lots of people in the Gardens. Brookside was holding its annual plant sale, but many people stayed to stroll. I made my way with Kay down to the Japanese tea house and painted the view across the little pond. Lots of people came up to ask questions and watch us paint, so it took me longer to finish than usual. I think the piece came out a bit too dark, but I like the composition and I’ll probably make a few adjustments and frame it.

A sunny warm day at Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge in Delaware. Kim Lordier, a splendid pastelist and teacher, was giving a workshop for the Maryland Pastel Society this week and very kindly opened her morning demo on the last day to those members who, like me, were unable to attend the full workshop. The demo was truly inspiring, and it was clear that Kim had established an excellent rapport with the students during her time there. Afterwards I stayed to paint, working larger than my usual 9 x 12: this piece is 12 x 18. I was curious to see whether I could pull it off, and I think it’s a good start. Like the piece done at the sheep farm, it needs some work (especially on the water!), but on the whole it has promise. If you have not been to Bombay Hook, it’s truly awe-inspiring. A wide gravel road circumnavigates the Refuge, leading you past tidal marshes and bays teeming with wildlife. Paintable views in every direction!

This was an absolutely beautiful morning at Greenberry Sheep Farm, in western Howard County, on a MAPAPA painting trip. Our hostess, Viveca, was there to welcome us, and it was very difficult to decide which of numerous breath-taking views to paint. Ultimately I plumped for the sheep barn, which had some lovely shadows on it. I’m mostly pleased with the result, although it needs some tweaking before it’s frame-ready – mainly in reference to those afore-mentioned shadows…I made the mistake of letting them change on the painting surface, instead of blocking them in early and keeping them that way. Bad girl. Thanks to Mark Coates for setting this up and to the family for allowing us to visit and paint!

A foggy morning at the Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum. I haven’t done many misty paintings so I welcomed the chance to try one. It was just me, Mary Ellen, and Kim, and I worked small – 8 x 10 -  because I thought the morning would clear fairly quickly. I was right. I wasn’t even half done before the sun broke out. I finished based on memory, but looking at the piece now, I see one major issue. While I am happy at the overall fogginess of the palette and the close value range, I managed (as usual) to make my edges too sharp. Need to work on that!

This was our first session for 2012, and we began as we usually do, at the Brighton Dam Azalea Gardens. I was joined by Jane, Judy, Brenda, Mary, and Kim, and the trick that day was to keep out of the cold wind. It had been raining most of the night, and the morning was mainly overcast, with occasional breaks of sun, and much colder than I’d anticipated. The spot I’d had in mind when starting out that morning proved too chilly (I had not thought to bring all those layers with me!), with a strong breeze coming straight at me from the reservoir, so instead I found a more sheltered spot. I had also been worried a bit that the mild winter and early spring would have brought the azaleas out early – that’s why I decided to start the season in April instead of waiting for May – and in fact many of the bushes were past their peak. There was still enough color, though, to let you pull out those pinks and fuchsia pastels you so seldom get to use. The painting I did is too dark, and the tangle of stuff on the left side is definitely unattractive. Not a keeper! It was great to see everyone again, though, and I’m really looking forward to the 2012 season!

My plein air season started early this year, on January 14, when I joined the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters’ Association (MAPAPA) at the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in Lothian, MD. Yes, it was cold, mild winter notwithstanding. I wore multiple layers and brought a few more, just in case: spent the day looking like Joey wearing all of Chandler’s clothes. It’s a beautiful place, with many places to paint, and we were lucky to have permission to go to a wide variety of sites. I started the morning at the River Farm, trying to capture the golden light, the placid river, and the serenity of the place. I think I was only partially successful. I really do need to get better at this!

After a short break in the car to warm up, I went back to the visitors’ center and then went to the overlook. Holy crap, that really blew me away. Literally: a strong cold wind was coming off the river and I knew I’d have only a very short time to capture the view. Time for those extra layers! But it was worth it. The gorgeous blues, siennas, and ochres of the river, sky, and land were just a treat for the eyes, and in the distance, one nicely shaped dark tree mass to serve as a focal point. How could you lose? (Other than a possible finger or toe to frostbite, that is.) I was very pleased with the piece I did (“From the Overlook,” above). Good day!

On March 1 I joined my Paint 360 friends at the River Hill Garden Center in Howard County. This outing interested me particularly because I’d been eyeing the view across Route 108 from there for several years – lovely rolling land, soft distant tree line, and naturally occurring tree forms to move the eye into and around the painting. It was a beautiful day: mild weather and brilliant sun. The only problem was that I’d forgotten my clamp-on umbrella, and the ShadeBuddy, which I love and had with me, doesn’t work on concrete. So I painted from the back of my car, under the protection of the swing-up rear hatch (love my Highlander!). The result was “Winter Fields.”

Another beautiful day drew me out on March 14: simply could not pass it up. After driving around a bit I settled in a spot I’d had my eye on since 2010, when I was scouting out sites for the Ellicott City plein air event. A small parking lot on Frederick Road, near the top of Rogers Ave, provides a view to houses across the road. I did one painting there, focusing on an interesting turquoise house and eliminating the surrounding houses, but I think I allowed myself to get too involved in detail (as usual). However, I do plan to go back to that spot: it’s a good place to practice integrating buildings into the landscape.

MAPAPA’s annual meeting in Bel Air on April 14 provided another opportunity for some outdoors time. Maria and I set up across from a small pond near the John Carroll School and made the most of the morning sunshine and mild weather. My goal this year is to use underpainting more effectively to organize the masses within the picture plane, to be more deliberate and sparing with the strokes of pastel I lay on top, and to use the view in front of me to develop an idea for the composition, rather than try too hard to replicate exactly what I see. Sometimes I actually remember to try to do that (!), and this was one of those times. The painting has its issues, but I deem it a success from the perspective of my goals, and in fact it won third place (a peer award) for work done that day.

My last outing before the official start of the Howard County Plein Air season was on April 26, when JoEllen and I went to the National Zoo. She was hoping to paint either elephants or flamingos, but the elephants were hard to see (their habitat is being renovated), and the flamingoes were all asleep when we got there. They looked like big fluorescent pink hams. On sticks. You could paint them, but more than likely what you’d get would be a painting of big fluorescent pink hams. On sticks. So, we gave up on elephants and flamingoes and found a dead-end path in the shade with a view of the pond on one side (JoEllen did that one) and of a sunlit wall and nice shadow shapes on the other, which I painted. Not as successfully as I’d have liked…forgot those goals!