Wide Open Skies

Where are wide open skies? Oh I can’t wait to share with you, gentle reader! But first, here’s a bit about me. And, if you are seeking weekly, colorful paintings in your world (and why not, right?), you can sign up here.

Onward to take a look at this week’s painting.

Where Are Wide Open Skies

You might be thinking, if you are slightly smart alecky, you can find wide open skies anywhere. And, you would be right. But! There’s a feeling, I think, that comes with wide open skies that is just…the best.

Why? For me anyway, wide open skies can mean an unlimited opportunity, or it can mean unbridled imagination or even just possibility. There is something about a vast view of the horizon that sets me free. Don’t just take my word for it though. Here’s an article about the value of seeing big vistas.

The Set Up

In this week’s painting, I initially set up my plein air easel on the deck of our sound side view during my birthday week in late May. Here’s a photo of it and, as you can see, it was definitely sky, cloud and sea painting paradise!

The first pass of this painting is in acrylic. I brought it home and put it and all the other paintings in a bit of a time out. Then, in this painting’s case, I brought it with me to Richmond last weekend.

Why? I am lucky to have a gallery wall at Crossroads Art Center and they had a festive art opening. I knew I wanted to paint while I was there. Here’s a photo of my wall, painting set up (I know I know – messy!!!) and self.

What Happens Next

So now that you see the set up, it’s worth sharing that there are a few things I do before I start painting. On the messy floor, there’s a white lined pad of paper. And, before every painting, these days, I write down my intention for the painting.

This painting’s intention? I wrote “Fun!” Confession: I also wrote “warm up,” “tweak,” and “fresh, new.” So all these words were percolating in my head as I mixed up paint for that painting. And, even though I had a chance to talk with people, I was there at Crossroads for about 4 or 5 hours. That’s plenty of time to use my imagination to tweak a 6 inch by 4 inch painting on Arches oil paper.

Here it is. And, I may use it for a larger painting so it’s not for sale right now.

I think the other fun part about this painting is that it brought back some wonderful memories of that beach week on the sound. And, for that, I’m super grateful.

Raleigh and Richmond News

Bear with me on this. While I was in Richmond, My Better Half (MBH) was working away in our garden. We have had a heck of time with invasive bamboo literally suffocating some of our native plants in our garden. So, MBH has been digging up the bamboo for weeks (months really) including last weekend. This, of course, is an ongoing project but we are a ready to take the next step. What’s that? Read on!

We found out about a super cool service that delivers tree mulch from local arborists. We signed up and within an hour a truckload of tree mulch was delivered in front of our house. The driver, with a tree removal company, said we were receiving the mulch of two recently felled white oak trees. While it breaks my heart to think of two more oaks trees felled here in the City of Oaks, I am stoked about this service. This mulch is going to help us in our gardening adventures now instead of languishing in a dump somewhere.

And, guess what? Chip Drop is available in Richmond and maybe even near you. So, before you pay for mulch in a plastic (gah!) bag from that big box store, check out this link to see if you can get Chip Drop where you live. The only real catch? You have to take an entire truckload! Maybe you and a few neighbors can share? We will probably use every bit of ours? But, if you live nearby, get in touch with me if you think you might like a wheelbarrow full.

So, as much as I would love to share more about this week’s painting, I gotta go! See? Yipes!

What About You

How are you doing gentle reader? Have you had the experience of seeing open skies this summer? Or are you, like us, gardening (wrestling) the weeds away? Either way, I would love to hear from you. Please share your summer adventures and experiences in the comments below.