“Lake Side Color” 12″ x 16″ oil on panel

Exploring new places is an exciting adventure and it’s riddle with comedy for me when I realize that some of the locations I visit and regard as new are less than 3o minutes away.  The thought always passes through that says – “Why didn’t I notice this before or think of it before?”  I don’t spend a lot of time in that space these days but welcome the opportunity to experience the landscape, etc. now, in the time that is before me.

This lakeside vista happens to be at a county park not too far from where I live.  I’ve been here numerous times to walk and even participated in a rowing competition/fundraiser a few years ago.  Let’s just say that was fun and I didn’t fall in!  I guess I just never really thought of it as appealing from a painters perspective but on my last few visits with a friend the topic of painting here came up so I decided to give it a whirl!

I stood on a “jetty” and looked back toward the land and liked the architectural element of the covered pavillion on the left with the trees running in the background.  The rocks added an element of angular line and shape which seemed to work well within the composition. 

It was a beautiful morning with nice sun and a bit of wind.  Toward the end of my session my easel blew over with my painting.  Fortunately everything was ok… I guess that could have been somewhat of a nightmare.   This is one of the unexpected events that can occur while painting out doors. That’s part of what makes it exciting; well for this day anyway!  I’m not sure I would describe in quite the same manner had the  painting been affected in a way that I didn’t like.